Wonderful...

[ms]

Elu had been asleep when they had come. He always seemed to attract the roving bands of thieves, and he never seemed to be able to keep them off him. He had made himself a nice, clean, acceptable camp for once. Back against a big, old tree, nestled between two roots, he had slept quite happily wrapped in his cloak. The fire had been well stocked; his dinner had been a fat rabbit with wild potatoes and even a turnip! Bow and arrows were leaned against him, and he was clean from a near-by stream. Life looked good then.

Now, though, not so much so. He had been awoken not long before dawn by a fist in his face. The band was small, maybe four members total. One of them was going through his pack, taking what little food he had. Another was trying to figure out the longbow that had become Elu’s life. The boss, or, so Elu guessed, was the one that had knocked a tooth loose and bloodied his nose. Half awake, and slightly dazed by the sudden hit, Elu wasn’t ready for the leader and the last man to grab him and heft him upright as the one that had his bow (which was now high up in a tree, strung the wrong way) proceeded to take off Elu’s boots.

He wasn’t sure what happened next, but he knew he woke up again in the dark. It took him a few minutes to figure out that the dark he saw was his cloak tied around his face. Taking stock, he found that his hands were tied behind his back, his boots were gone, his weapons were not on his person, and he was hanging upside-down from the tree he had been sleeping against.

Wonderful.

The blood had rushed to his head by now, and it was pounding both from being upturned, and from the hit he had taken before. His nose was still bleeding, which was making it hard to breathe. He wanted down now.

“’Lo?” He called, trying to sound louder than he really was. “Anbeyody ‘ere? I bant ‘own bow!” Simply put… I want down now…

[curandir]

Elrohir, gestured his horse to a sudden stop and gripped in with his heals to stay atop his steed. He had heard something, or at least thought he had, above the throb of cantering hooves.

"Elladan stop!"

His brother had been lost in thought, for it was on the pass of Redhorn mountain that, Celebrian, their mother, had been taken by the wild Orcs of Hithaeglir. Although nearly five hundred years had past since then and vengeance sought and made, it was still a memory of great sorrow and anguish. But now their mother was safe and in a place where evil would not dare to stay her again.
Elladan, slowed and made a tight circle back to Elrohir.

" What is it, Elrohir, why do we stop here? "

" Quiet! I heard something, over there past those trees... "

Elladan looked all about his brother's cause and listened intently through the wind for sign of trouble.
Nothing.
All, was indeed quiet.

" I hear nothing, brother. We should make as good time as we may to Lorien: for we are entrusted, and with the greatest speed, the matters pressing to our mother's kin. Remember? "

Elrohir, knew all of this, and would have made good these words had his heart not been awoken by the muffled cry he had heard. He could not leave an injured or wear worn traveler to the mercy of thieves and Orcs at the Caradhras Gate. In these days of doubt, lawlessness was a spreading fear and made this high path all the more treacherous.

" We will make good time, Elladan: but I will answer my hearts call, before I move on... "

Elrohir, silently slipped from his horse and taking a long leafed blade for his safety moved cautiously toward the thicket. The ground dipped beyond the trodden path and found larger girth in trees lower down the rolling slopes of Dimril dale. It was then he caught sight the baggage, hanging from the bough of a great tree... and bellow it the remains of a desecrated attempt to camp for the night.

If not a trap for bears and strangers, then what have we here?

Elrohir, Stealthy made his approach, blade grip relaxed in his readyness to fight or be away...