((So, it's not quite as long a chapter as i thought it would end up being, but i've actually decided to split into a couple chapters and so in this episode ends Moria, and next episode will continue into Lothlorien ... with an Uruk as a guide?! =O tee hee, you'll just have to see!
lol, in the meantime, enjoy ...))
The Helping (White) Hand
The Uruk are an intriguing form of corruption, to those who have a more studious mind of things, of course. They are heartier and more intelligent than goblins and other orcish ilk, and thusly far more dangerous. Yet still Uruk are but a corruption, and inferior to the uncorrupted. But that does not mean one should let their guard down when dealing with them, especially as an ally.
~ ~ ~
Gangarr and Edan travelled the dark halls of Khazad-dum in secret. Keeping deep to the shadows, Gangarr led them on a secret way that Edan had never discovered or knew existed, and thus he quickly became lost. Every so often the Uruk would look back at Edan, his murky yellow eyes gleamin up and down as if calculating the Man that followed him, but for a long time the Uruk said nothing, only grinned ferally in a manner that Edan presumed to be friendly.
But Gangarr's grin was one of calculating menace. He was a leading lieutenant in Sharku's army for good reason and he knew this Man to not be an agent of the Boss. Neither was he an enemy though. And so Gangarr clenched his teeth in a mock grin, calculating, determining, and trying to figure this Man out.
After several hours the Uruk finally determined that it would be through speech with the Man that he would learn anything of him, so he thought to start a conversation. "Hold here," the Uruk spoke to Edan, an oafish and grizzly hand raising up to halt the Captain. "Almost time for 'trols."
"Trolls?" queried Edan. He turned his head all about, eyeing the terrain of the caverns they traveled, but he was utterly lost now. His best guess was that they were somewhere in the Redhorn Lodes nearing the deepest darks of Khazad-dum and the Foundations of Stone. He did not want to deal with anymore Moria-trolls, especially ones from this region. He quietly began to remove his halberd from his back strap and ready it, but Gangarr stopped him with a steady hand.
"Stupid goblins 'trol area here. We wait it out and sneak past. Too many to fight."
PA-trol Edan mouthed silently and relaxed, stowing his halberd back on his back. Gangarr pointed to a dark corner and the Captain followed him into a seemingly hidden niche there where they sat down to wait out the patrol's passing.
Edan whispered softly, "How long 'til they pass?"
Gangarr cocked his head as if listening to something only he could hear. Shortly he answered Edan, "Not long now. More than few minutes, but not long."
The Uruk looked at Edan, though he could only tell this by the slight yellow gleaming eyes in the deep dark where they waited. Edan could almost feel a smile coming from the Uruk as he spoke to him, "What Boss' urgent mission for you?"
Edan wanted to squirm as he sat there in the dark, those two pale yellow eyes watching him, but he had seen this coming and was prepared for it. "I must reclaim a prisoner of Sharku's, taken in trade with Mordor. But Sharku wants her back and without risk to himself."
Gangarr let out a sort of hissed breath, as if to say "Ah." then queried the Captain more, "So you are not really part of the army?"
"Of course not," Edan didn't hesitate with his prepared explanation. "I am a hired agent for Sharku not a follower. I make no pretense about it. I do his work because he has paid me well to do it and no other reason."
A long silence split the air as Edan could feel Gangarr's dark scrutiny, a warning shot out in his mind, but he kept himself still.
"I want more proofs," Gangarr spoke up then.
"That was not the deal," Edan spoke quickly, "You'll get the rest of your pay when I get safely to Mirkwood."
"No, not golds," Gangarr then spoke up and Edan stirred slightly to look in the direction of the gleaming yellow eyes in the dark,
Not the gold? he thought. "Gangar want to see papers. Boss orders."
Edan visibly sighed in relief, "I told you, my mission is urgent, but secret- to be done without risk to Sharku. If I were to be captured by the enemy, or failed and caught by Mordor, then I was not allowed to have anything upon me to trace me back to Sharku."
So suddenly that Edan could not react to it at all, Gangarr's gleaming yellow eyes brightened as they shot forward and the Uruk grabbed the Captain up and pinned him back against the stone wall of the tunnel. A waff of fetid Uruk breath heated up his face as Gangarr growled at him, "You carry his coin, Mordor would know these if not the enemy!"
Edan grunted for breath and gasped at the Uruk's foul odor, but he did not struggle back yet. To do so at THIS moment would only mean his death. Gangarr was far craftier than Edan had given him credit for, but he felt he still had a chance to weasle through this unscathed.
"Tell why I don't kill you now, Man, and eat your flesh!" Gangarr spit in Edan's face.
Now Edan threw up his hands to catch the Uruk by the wrists, he strained against the Uruk's grip, but Gangarr was far stronger than he, so he grunted as he strained, "Because I am not lying about the envoy and the prisoner, I must stop them and reclaim her!"
Gangarr pressed harder still against Edan, his feral grin menacing and odorous in Edan's face, "But not for Sharku!"
Edan stopped struggling again and sighed, "No, not for Sharku," he breathed out in a sigh trying not to choke on the Uruk's foul breath.
Gangarr relaxed his pressure ever so slightly, but his menace still held the Captain but a quick squeeze from death. "Then who? Free people!"
"NO!" Edan choked out, "NO! *I* am not your Enemy Gangarr! I do this for me! For myself!"
Gangarr held Edan crushingly against the wall, the Captain stared back seeing, now, more than simple death in the gleamings of those pale yellow eyes, there was a dangerous intelligence that Edan had grossly understimated. So he confessed to the Uruk.
"I am not your enemy Gangarr. The captive being brought to Mordor is my mother, and I go to free her for myself, of my own decision, of my own accord. If you will still help me, I will still pay you, though it be in coin of the Free Peoples for I have no more coin of the White Hand.
The Uruk glared at Edan, calculating, and the Man fumbled in humility, "Please Gangarr," Edan begged the Uruk, "I am not YOUR enemy, I only want to save my mother, and I only need you to get me to Mirkwood."
Suddenly Edan found himself thumping painfully to the floor of the tunnel, Gangarr's yellow eyes glared down at him through the dark and the Uruk seethed, "Your lies will cost you more than gold, Man." The eyes turned away and Gangarr's shadowy blob headed back towards the opening into the cavern, he turned back to Edan and spoke almost softly, "The 'trols have passed now. Follow me if you still wish to pay...
friend."
Edan stared back at the Uruk for a minute and swallowed, wondering what he meant about paying more than gold, but he didn't hesitate long before jumping back to his feet and following the Uruk on his strange path through Khazad-dum.
After a few minutes, a slight feral grin emerged upon his face as he thought,
I'm coming mother!