Out of the Safety of the Woods | By : NoTears Category: -Multi-Age > General Views: 3073 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own the Lord of the Rings (and associated) book series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
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"Come on, Elfling, you can do better than that!"
Naruhitu groaned as another kick was aimed at his abdomen, causing him to curl into a fetal position in order to protect himself. About six men stood around him in a circle, each taking turns in beating him as he lay helpless in the dirt with his arms bound behind him. This activity had been going on for about ten minutes now, with the men showno sno signs of letting up in either their harsh blows or excessive taunts and jeers.
A kick to his left eye had caused it to swell almost immediately, making him rely almost entirely on his right eye for his vision. Not that there was much he wished to see; the maliciously grinning faces of the cruel men towering over him had made him cringe more than once already. And even his right eye’s sight was becoming blurry due to unshed tears.
A hard fist crunched into his jaw, and he let out a muffled grunt. Boots smashed into his ribs and stomach, and he bit back a wail as one of them managed to find an area that had already contained a broken rib. His face contorting into a grimace, Naruhitu took shallow, wheezing breaths in through his clenched teeth as he tried his best to endure the pain. The men around him continued to laugh.
"Looks like this one’s almost finished, boys." one of the men chuckled, his harsh baritone grating on the dark haired Elf’s hearing.
Stifling another moan that was beginning to make its way up his throat, Naruhitu shook his dark hair out of his eyes to turn wary and pain-filled eyes on his captors. If they were going to kill him, then he was going to watch them as they did it and not avert his eyes like the coward he had acted so far.
He had seen them throw an unconscious and bound Legolas into a cage in the back of a wagon just before his beating had started. There had been several men, women and children in what looked like one giant caravan. One of the men had grabbed a thick, dark layer of cloth and thrown it over the cage in which Legolas had been imprisoned, perfectly camouflaging it. Anyone who would pass would think it was merely a box covered in a cloth, not a small prison for an Elven prince.
The younger Elf had cursed at the men and yelled at them to set Legolas free, but they had only laughed at him. He had lowered his head in shame, and tears of frustration and despair welled up, but he would not allow himself to cry. To do so would be submitting himself even further to even lower indignity. Yet he could not bring himself to fight anymore, even when the caravan-like group had begun moving away, along with Legolas, who he could not even see. He had just stood there, his eyes desperate, but his body unmoving. Once the group had gotten a fair distance ahead, he had been thrown to the grown and that was when the beating starstarted.
As the sun’s rays shone down on him now, he resisted the urge to cry out his anguish. Who knew what penalties Legolas was going to suffer for his stupidity. And as for himself...well, he was to die in the dirt, wallowing in self shame and despair for a comrade. He could think of hardly any worse fates than these.
He wished Legolas was there. At least if he had been then he would be able to lend some of his strength so Naruhitu would not be so terrified of death. Bg dog down on his tongue as a sob threatened to break from him, the Elf cursed himself and his cowardice. Even when it was Legolas who was in most desperate need now he still thought of himself. Maybe he deserved this.
One of the men smiled cruelly down at him, taking a blunt club from his belt and raising it above the bound Elf. He swung down, missing the raven haired Elf’s head and landing a blow to his shoulder. Naruhitu could not suppress the smothered yelp that escaped him as his shoulder protested painfully to this treatment. This just amused those around him.
"C’mon, Turkan!" one of the men laughed. "You are the most blind fool I’ve ever known. Hit his head!"
The man named Turkan turned slight red with embarrassment, but raised the club again. Naruhitu fought the urge to close his eyes, silently giving a prayer to Elbereth for Legolas’s safety. The club swung down, hitting his skull with a deafening crack, and then it was over.
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The wagon had stopped.
Legolas strained his ears, listening intently for anything that would indicate movement on the outside. There were several things that did, actually, but he had earlier learned that these were merely people walking alongside wherever he was. If they knew that he was trapped inside here, then they payed him no heed. What he was listening for now, was any sign that someone was approaching where he was imprisoned.
He finally caught the sound of footsteps crunching gravel underfoot, and when they got close he heard the rustle of the fabric as the veil over his confinement was removed. Quickly closing his eyes before it was completely taken away, the prince tried to give off the deceptive air that he was yet unconscious. He could feel the presence of the man who had removed the blanket behind him, and he knew that was where the man currently stood, watching him. The warm sunlight felt nice on the Elf’s skin, and he longed to open his eyes to gaze at the sun herself.
A loud human voice sounded out then, and he made himself be still. "See here, this Elfling thinks he’s smart!" There were a few chuckles, and then someone roughly grabbed a fistful of his hair, shaking his head slightly. "Open your eyes! I know you’re awake; I heard the clink of your chains while up front."
Resigning himself for the moment, Legolas clenched his bound hands in anger and opened his eyes.
"There’s a good lad." the voice said, and his head was wrenched so that he was forced to turn and look up into the face of his apparent captor.
He was a doughty man with a red beard that framed his face in lines of thin stubble, and his shoulder length auburn hair was tied back with a black strip of cloth. Keen, dark, apathetic eyes ran over Legolas’s body, checking that the Elf was still secured. Any questions that would have spilled forth from Legolas’s mouth were kept restrained behind the tight leather encircling his head. All he could do was glare in mute anger at the man, who was not even making eye contact with him at the moment as his eyes lingered on the curves of his prisoner’s body.
"You’d best keep your pretty words in your throat." the man said then, his gruff voice low as his eyes came back to lock onto Legolas’s. "As long as you’re in my care, you’ll remain gagged. I’ve worked with Elves ere now, and I know the nature of their voices. They can sway the hearts of their captors. Or, at least, that’s the case with my men, bloody weaklings that they are." The man seemed to be speaking more to himself than Legolas now. "They’ve been the cause of four escapes this year. I’m not going to have another one, especially when the price for one of your kind is being payed by a rather wealthy man."
Legolas tried to draw his head back when the man brought a hand up to cup his chin. The hand still fisted in his hair tightened, and he winced and ceased his struggles. The man’s eyes looked deeply into his, and then a smile formed on the other’s face.
"I can see the wildfire searing in your eyes." The fingers on his chin clenched harder, causing the man’s short nails to dig into his skin. "I don’t take kindly to bad attitudes around here, Elfling. I tell you now that should you get on my bad side, the outcome will be excruciating for you. I’ve dealt with your kind before, so don’t think I am unaware of what it takes to make an Elf scream."
Legolas’s glare did not waver, and he did not outwardly show the inner fear that was growing within him. The man held his eyes for a momeore,ore, before releasing his chin and using the hand that was still in his hair to pull him back to the position he had been lying in. The blanket was once more placed over the cage, leaving Legolas in darkness.
"We continue on until nightfall," the man’s voice boomed. "Then we make camp. If I catch anyone messing around with the prisoner, they’ll have to deal with me."
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