The men walked and walked for a several hours, having left the forest of Lothlórien a ways back. Now, they were heading across the planes alongside the river Anduin. Legolas knew the land well enough from his studies to understand where they where headed. And it wasn't Mirkwood.

They were headed straight for the edges of Fangorn forest. A forest that not even elves dared to enter. Too much was unknown about that wood for anyone with a brain to risk it. Unfortunately, it seemed that Legolas had not been captured by anyone intelligent. Or so he thought.

After trudging along for several more hours, Legolas began to feel weary. He had not eaten anything since yesterday morning and fatigue was catching up to him. The combined elements of his situation were bearing heavily upon the elfling's shoulders. His arms were aching from being forced to have them stretched constantly and tugged in front of him.

He whimpered when he stepped on a particularly sharp rock and felt the familiar tug of the rope as he slowed down to nurse his foot. The rope was tugged again and he tripped, falling onto the ground face first. He heard the men laughing and struggled to stand back up. Abruptly, large hands grabbed his shoulders and hauled him to his feet.

"Try to keep up, little elf," the man said scornfully. Legolas avoided the man's gaze and obediently followed as they picked up their pace.

Finally, they arrived at the edge of Fangorn after quite the journey. There was a camp partly hidden at the edge of the forest filled with men. When some of them noticed their companions returning, they walked over to meet them.

Right away, the men noticed Legolas. "What have you got there, Darren?" One asked the man who held Legolas' rope.

"We found quite the prize at the ol' wood. An elf child," Darren answered proudly and pushed Legolas forward towards the men.

The men ogled him with glares and smirks causing the little one to cower even more. Darren chuckled and set the rope connecting to Legolas' hands in another man's hands.

"Take him to Arleck," Darren ordered, "I'm going to get something to eat."

The man nodded and yanked the rope to get Legolas moving. The elf trudged through the center of the camp, eyes downcast and shoulder hunched. He tried his best to keep out of sight and not be noticed.

A moment later, Legolas was pulled to a stop and he lifted his eyes to see that they were in front of a large tent. The man pulled him into the tent and he looked around it. It was barely furnished with only a bed of skins to one side and a desk by the other. On the desk, an older man rested, his dark eyes studying something on the desk. When they came to a stop right inside, the man looked up.

"Welcome back, Rannen. I see you've brought me something."

The man holding Legolas' rope bowed slightly in respect and nodded, "Yessir. We found him hiding in the Golden Wood."

The man stood up and approached Legolas. He towered over the lean elf and jerked Legolas' chin up, forcing the elfling to look him in the eyes. "What is your name?"

Legolas panicked and memories flooded back to him of when he had been captured by orcs. He quickly came up with a different name to use and answered quietly, "Melh-honin." It was the first name he could think of that wouldn't sound suspicious.

The man let go of Legolas' chin and rubbed his own thoughtfully. "Oh really?" He looked away from Legolas and towards Rannen. "Prepare him."

Rannen frowned, but nodded. He knew exactly what his boss meant. He pulled the rope and yanked Legolas out of the tent. Legolas was confused. Prepare him? What did the man mean? He was already scared enough.

Rannen brought Legolas to another tent and went inside. This tent had another bed of furs, but that was it. On each end of the furs, there was a stake sticking up out of the ground. Legolas stared at it curiously.

Rannen closed the tent flaps and untied Legolas' hands. Legolas looked up at him in confusion.

"Take off your shirt," Rannen ordered the elfling.

"What?" Legolas squeaked.

"Take off your shirt." the man repeated slower.

"Why?" Legolas dared to ask.

Rannen stepped closer to Legolas and growled, "Do it. Now." Legolas stepped back fearfully. He slowly began to undress. He pulled his loose shirt over his head and shivered in the cold.

Satisfied, Rannen grabbed the elfling's skinny arm and pushed him onto the furs. He pulled Legolas hands together in front of him and tied them tightly. Then, he pulled Legolas towards the stake and secured his bound hands around it, forcing the young boy to rest on his knees, his arms outstretched. By now, Legolas was panicking. He tugged on the ropes frantically, his heart rate increasing. "P-Please...please let me go," he sobbed.

Rannen shook his head, "I'm sorry, little one. I must obey my master. Now, let me finish."

"What's going to happen to me?" Legolas asked, his eyes wide. Rannen twisted Legolas around and pushed him down so he was lying on his bare back, arms above his head and still attached to the pole. Legolas hiked up his knees to protect himself from Rannen.

"You will find out soon enough." the man answered. "Now lower your legs." he instructed patiently.

The shaking elfling drew up his courage and shook his head, "N-No."

Rannen sighed and forced Legolas' to lie flat on the furs. He tied Legolas' legs to the other stake so he couldn't move.

"Please...don't h-hurt me." Legolas begged, tears streaking down his cheeks. Rannen pressed his knees on Legolas' legs to keep him still.

"I'm...sorry." was all the man said. Rannen left for a moment before returning with several things in his hands. One of the things was a metal rod with a symbol on the end. It was glowing red.

Legolas realized what he was doing and shrieked. "NOOO!! P-Pleas-se no..." he sobbed harder. Rannen sighed and pulled out one more thing from his pocket. A gag. He wrapped it around Legolas' head, silencing his cries. Then, he continued what he was doing. Legolas whimpered through the gag.

Rannen stood up and rolled up his sleeves. Then, he lowered the burning hot brand onto Legolas' lower belly. Legolas screamed through the gag and cried harder. Rannen took a deep breath and slowly lifted the metal brand off the elfling, leaving a mess behind. He symbol had been burned into the child's lower abdomen.

Rannen gently dabbed at the burn with a damp cloth he had brought as well, causing Legolas to sob louder. He removed the rag and frowned.

"I'm sorry, young one." Rannen whispered before leaving.

Not long later, the man in charge, Arleck, entered. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of the cowering elfling, shivering and in pain. "It's just business." he muttered and opened the tent flap wider. Two other men walked in after him.

The one who seemed older to Legolas spoke up, "This is it?"

"Yes, gentlemen. As you can see, my man has already prepared him for you." Alarck smiled. The man nodded.

His companion spoke up, "We'll check him out before we decide."

The first man added, "Yes, we want to make sure he actually is an elf, Alarck."

Alarck loked surprised, "Why, gentlemen, do you doubt my word?"

They both snorted. "You've lied to us before." The older one said. Legolas watched the exchanged fearfully, his vision blurry from crying and the pain of his stomach. It even hurt to breath!

"Well, I can assure that I am not now." Alarck replied, a smirk on his face.

"Alright then. Don't worry, you'll get your money soon enough." they answered him.

"Perfect. I'll be in my tent when you have decided and then we can figure out the payment," Alarck confirmed as he left the tent, leaving Legolas alone with the two men.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH......I am so mean!!!! I did not want to write this chapter but my evil writing companion made me! I'm sorry! But have no fear, things WILL get better! Hopefully...

In the meantime, don't forget to let me know what you think! (Just, be gentle) I'll try not to leave you guys waiting as long for the next chapter...I realize that was kind of mean of me...heehee

Ithildae