No Way Out

CH X

Author(s): Mawgy & Ash
Rating: PG-13 for now
Beta: Mawgy’s mum
Warning(s): Slash, angst, BDSM
Summary: When the young Prince Legolas and the Lorien Marchwarden Haldir are captured by Haradrim they must work together in order to escape.

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The cell to which the two Elves returned to was seemed quieter and darker than it had first previously appeared. The beaming sun and the fresh air they had been privileged with for a short time in the pit only made their surroundings more dull and depressing than they were before. Legolas sat in the pile of straw he and Haldir had occupied since first being imprisoned, waiting patiently for the guards to come with the anticipated sacks of bread and water flasks. The fight had left his throat parched, and his stomach occasionally let out a complaining growl of hunger. He was also quite tired, but he could not sleep with the discomfort of an empty belly. Looking over at the other Elf, the Prince wondered what the Marchwarden was thinking, his eyes blank as if lost in thought.

Haldir looked blindly around the cell, his mind replaying the height of the ring wall and the dispersed crowd. He watched as his fantasies became reality in his imagination.

The cage door was pulled up, their enemies were already racing towards them and Haldir charged full-pace, Legolas not far behind. Time slowed and their movements with it. Golden and silver hair flapped out behind the Elves, seemingly floating upon the air. The closer the men came, the more Haldir sped up, rejuvenated to full strength and he felt as though he were invincible. The men were almost on top of him when Haldir changed direction at the last second, grabbing Legolas’ hand and yanked the Prince with him.

The men fell over in the ring, expecting a fight and encountering nothing but air as they hit out, then skidded across the gravel as they attempted to alter direction with the Elves.

Haldir smiled as the sound of stones being strewn across the ground behind him reached his ears. Slowing his pace, he released Legolas, the Silvan immediately knowing what to do. Reaching the wall first, Legolas turned just in time to support Haldir as he jumped onto the Blonde’s hands then shoulders, grasping the edge of the wall with his fingers and hurling himself over the top in one easy motion. He rolled to a stop, disappearing from view for a moment then reappeared as he dangled over the edge, his arm reaching down for Legolas to grasp onto before pulling him up as well.

Legolas jumped and their fingertips barely touched. Taking two steps back, he tried again and they grasped one another, but soon let go as the hold was not firm enough.

Out of the corner of his eye, Haldir saw the men in the ring begin to stand and approach Legolas.

“Hurry,” he hissed down.

Taking a three-metre run-up, Legolas tried again, this time holding onto Haldir’s forearm. The Sindar’s upper-body strength easily lifted the Prince up the wall far enough for him to then hold onto the ledge and help pull himself up. No time to catch their breath, they stood quickly to survey the guards that had been dispatched towards them and the crowd quickly running to assist in halting their escape.

Still where the crowd was less numerous, Haldir ran up the stone seats, hoping Legolas was following him, but had no time to make sure. Once at the top, Haldir took a chance and leapt over the railing, hoping it was not too far to the ground and that he would land relatively safely. Being a forest-dwelling Elf had many advantages. Jumping great heights when in a crisis after many years of practice being one… not to mention the occasional fall.

Landing with a hard thump, Haldir rolled to avoid his legs taking the full-force of the jump and quickly stood. A similar sound behind him announced Legolas’ arrival. Flashing the Prince a victorious grin, Haldir took his hand in a strong grip, then quickly set off at a fast pace, avoiding guards and men when they could, then running so fast they even out-ran the arrows fired at them.

Horses were soon heard in hot pursuit, but so sweet and near was their freedom that their desire could not be refused, and with little urging from either, both Elves sped up, darting this way and that through the streets, losing most of the horses and out-running the rest. Soon, the streets and buildings died away, but Haldir and Legolas continued their search for freedom.

Running in a vague northerly direction, early morning became dusk as the sun set to their left. Having run all day, Haldir stopped to watch Anor make her final appearance for the day, revelling in the blues, pinks and purples that painted the sky and took a long, deep breath, finally free once more, as Elves were born to be.

Looking at Legolas in the failing light, Haldir smiled sweetly as the Prince’s best features were lit up for his own viewing and he silently thanked the Valar for their kind gift. Stepping closer to the other Elf, Haldir wrapped his arms around the Prince as they continued to watch the sun set.

Haldir’s eyes fired brightly in the darkness as he suddenly turned to Legolas.

“We can do it!” He claimed excitedly, a boyish joy written all over his face.

Legolas’ brow furrowed in confusion. “Haldir?” he asked uncertainly.

“We can do it!” He repeated. “We can escape! Up, onto the wall, up the stadium seats, over the side, and then on to freedom!”

“Haldir,” Legolas sighed with a shake of his head. “You make it sound so very simple… it would be difficult to get past the guards.”

“Alright, yes, I concede that, however, once we get past them, and I know we will, because, well, we’re Elves, we can just run on home!” he said, raising to his knees as his hands flew around wildly, already wanting to go back to the arena so they could do it right now.

“Our next match will not be for several days. And we do not know if we will be fighting in teams the next time. For all we know, only one of us will be going into the arena.”

“Oh…” Haldir said, and leaned back against the wall as he thought hard about this problem. “Doesn’t matter. We shall find a way for them to take us both! Maybe if we both start a fight in here, they’ll think to punish us out there… Or, I’ll drag you out with me, even if they say no. It doesn’t matter. Whatever it takes! Doesn’t the thought of freedom override any difficulties we may face in achieving it?”

Legolas sighed slowly. “I doubt the guards would let us get away with that… My father raised me to think realistically, Haldir. We live in a fell wood, accustomed to darkness and disappointment. My faith, my hope- it’s so much less than what it once was.”

“Such negativity is depressing in one so young…” Haldir shook his head sadly, wondering what he could say to help motivate Legolas.

The Prince could find no words to reply. He had witnessed so many horrors in his young life, despite his father’s best efforts to protect him from the outside world. When he had reached his majority there was little Thranduil could do to shield him when his son chose to join the Mirkwood patrols. His first hunt had nearly destroyed him; training had not completely prepared him for what he experienced. And each hunt brought on more horrors one after the other, until very soon Legolas simply learned to expect the harshness of what reality brought to him.

There was a sudden clanging noise, and heavy footfalls approached them.

Haldir started as the guards came to the door, rummaging with the lock to open it.

“We need all our strength Legolas, when the food is thrown in, you try to get at least two skins of water, and I will take care of the bread. Understand?” Haldir asked, but before the Prince could reply, the door was flung open, long enough for the Haradrim to throw the food and water into the cell before closing it again. “Go!” he yelled, then dove into the men already scurrying for as much bread as they could gather.

Diving into the group of men without a second thought, Legolas’ eyes searched out the water flasks. He managed to grab one, but was bumped from the side and pushed out of reach before grabbing another. Regaining his balance quickly, he forced his way back into the crowd of starving inmates, managing to fit his arm between the bodies and grab another water skin.

Haldir used every trick he knew to wrestle the men away from the food. At one point he had even grabbed four loaves of bread, but while disentangling himself from the other prisoners one was snatched from his hands. Crawling away as fast as possible, he sat down, waiting for Legolas to emerge.

Fumbling his way passed the inmates, while cringing as he tried to make as little physical contact with them as possible, he directed his attention to Haldir’s person, and once spotting him, Legolas quietly headed to their straw bed where the Silver haired Elf already sat.

“I have three loaves of bread,” Haldir whispered triumphantly below Man’s capability of hearing. “How did you do?”

“I managed to capture two water skins,” Legolas replied, lifting his hand to present said flasks.

“Excellent!” Haldir congratulated. “I suggest we eat half a loaf each now, a bit of water and repeat for tomorrow and the day after. Hopefully we will have recovered our strength by then and be summoned to fight once more. Here,” he broke a loaf in half and gave the slightly bigger side to Legolas.

The Prince nodded in silent thanks before quickly sinking his teeth into the precious food while passing Haldir a flask. His hunger seemed to intensify as his tongue touched the soft crust.

“Fankuu,” Haldir muttered through the bread he munched into heartily, taking the water bottle and setting it down in his lap. Eagerly biting into the food, Haldir relished the nourishment it would provide; his heart much lightened since he was first brought to this dreadful place.

As he chewed, he watched the rest of the men scuffle between themselves; fighting, gnashing, snarling and clawing to capture what little remained of the food. Most of the bread was torn apart in the brawl, dissipating into tiny crumbs, lost upon the dirty floor. Little more than a quarter of a loaf bounced along the stone to where the man coughing earlier lay dying.

Haldir watched as he struggled to bring his eyes into focus upon the food. Ever so slowly a bony limb stretched out towards the bread and curled over it, too weak to bring it back to his mouth to feast upon. Not that it mattered. Seconds later another prisoner pounced upon him, punching him in the face and standing on the wrist, not wanting to damage the food. Bending down, the attacker moved the hand away, still standing on the other’s wrist, surely breaking the bone from the odd angle and the strangled gasp the man released. Seizing his reward, the prisoner put the bread in his mouth and swallowed without thought or regret, thinking only of his empty stomach, then abandoned his victim.

Haldir watched the injured man as he lifted his arm again, not caring for the broken limb, just looking for the tiny crumb that had by chance come his way. It took some time, but he finally accepted it was gone and brought his arm back to his body, his milky white eyes shining into the cell as the last of the men retreated to eat their food.

Looking down at all he and Legolas had gathered Haldir felt at a loss. Surely there was barely enough for both of them to last more than a few days, but that was no excuse to allow an innocent man to lay dying, without food or comfort in his hour of need. Suddenly finding his appetite gone, Haldir stood with his half loaf, having only taken three bites from it. Walking to the man, he knelt in front of him, gently prising the arm away and placing the bread in it then returned the limb to the body.

“Eat, you need your strength,” he said softly, then returned to Legolas’ side. He flashed the man a small encouraging smile as shining white eyes glistened at him through the darkness.

As Haldir settled back down beside him, Legolas eyed the other Elf strangely as he lowered his own piece of bread. He couldn’t understand Haldir’s compassion towards the man, whom despite being ill, would not have shown them the same sympathy had their positions been reversed.

“Why did you do that?”

“Because my conscience would not allow me to do nothing,” Haldir answered simply, not going into further detail.

“Oh?” The Prince challenged. “Do you truly believe he would have done the same for us?”

“Most likely not, but that is irrelevant. Being compasssionate to someone, just because you would expect it in return speaks volumes about One’s character. Anyone can be civil to his or her equal. It is how someone treats their inferiors that shows their true quality,” Haldir spoke, turning to face Legolas, watching the Prince closely for his reaction.

“But,” Legolas said, “you told me that Men are not like us…”

“All the more reason not to use their example to rule our lives, Legolas. They are selfish beings, only interested in themselves. Elves would be extinct by now should we also live this way. Killing our own, hurting others for personal gain… it is no way to spend eternity,” Haldir shook his head sadly.

Looking a bit more humbled than he had a moment ago; Legolas lowered his eyes ashamedly. Pushing what was left of his bread into Haldir’s lap for him to finish, the Prince quickly removed himself from where he sat to lie down on the straw behind the Marchwarden on his side, his eyes facing the damp wall. Of course, Haldir was right. And Legolas could not deny the small bit of pity he felt for the dying man. But he was still angry. These creatures had nearly violated him, had threatened his right to exist. The Haradrim- also Men, had kidnapped him from his home and brought him here, forcing him to fight. He was starting to doubt that he and Haldir would ever escape, and he would die here, all because of Men.

A/N: So sorry for the long delay, Mawgy's finally gotten a break from Uni, giving us a chance to edit this thing. Happy Holidays!!!


REVIEWS:

Ertia: Oh, don't worry... we won't let them get off too easily... not till we've had a bit more fun with them first!

Naira: Yes, Legolas is just so huggable, ain't he? ^_^


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