Scouting Ahead, Part 6: The Road to Rivendell

[arienv]

The dwarf got to his feet with astonishing agility - not after casting an appraising look at the Elf on whose feet he had planted himself so firmly and bowing acknowledgingly at Meren. He decided to ignore the horse for the moment, these creatures were definitely way too big and intelligent for his taste (not to mention the lack of bolstering for the rear parts)!

"My pleasure to be at your service, Lady Fainan," the dwarf smiled. "Aye, and tough as the mountains we are, made of stern stuff", he added with somewhat more confidence than he actually felt.

"Are you all right, lady?" he asked Fainan, while he was walking to the corpse of the spiders and pulled his throwing axes out of the spider, not without tearing a bit of cloth from his leather shirt he wore under the mailcoat and wiping the blades of gore and any residing poison.

[ArPharazon]

Calion:

Seeing the third spider also fallen dead, Calion put the dagger back in his clothing. Now, he thought, it was time to move out again. After retrieving his first dagger from its position near the Orc corpse, he walked over to one of the spiders' corpses, supporting himself on the sword and limping slightly. Poison or no poison, the wound still hurt. With a tug he took back his second dagger from the spider, and proceeded to approach Meren in a similar manner.

"Lady Meren!" he said. "Would you by any chance have any herbs that can help with a spider-wound?" He pointed at his leg. He leaned on his horse to accomodate Meren, while letting the sword fall on the ground. "Frali, do you care for a trophy from the Orc you slew? It's all yours."

[arienv]

Frali looked first at Calion who now stood leaning against his horse, nodded at him with a smile and then at the sword , that lay on the ground.

It was a sturdy weapon , slightly longer than what he was used to but feeling somehow lighter than he expected. The craftmanship was crude and simple, but of good quality and it had a sharp edge.

He picked it up and tried a few moves , then nodded in approval. "I might as well, Lord Elf, I might as well", Frali answered with a grim smile.

With that Frali fastened the sword as good as he could and scrambled on his pony that patiently stood beside the elves' horses and only cast a slightly bemused look at him as it felt his weight on his back.

[Indis]

Bending over Calion's leg for a better view, Meren looked, touched lightly, and sniffed the wound. "You are fortunate, Hir Calion, for there appears to be no poison left. You must have bled it out, and so I am more concerned with the loss of blood. I will pack and bind it, lest it become contaminated and inflamed, but for now I see little else to do for you. Please let me know if you feel any effects such as dizziness from your loss of blood, but other than that, as I say, you have escaped a truly nasty wound."

Following her words, Meren packed the wound with herbs to prevent contamination and bound it firmly. Elven constitutions were such that she had little fear that Calion would suffer any further ill effects. Then she packed up her herbs and potions and ensured that Duroch was ready to travel.

[Varda]

Fainan:

"We need to leave and travel both quickly and quietly. Another orc scout may have seen us and be ready to report in."

Having nothing to pack that was not already on her horse, now loose, Fainan ran towards Hithceleb and leaped up from behind, using two hands to land on the rump at the same time and hurtling between them to land in a controlled manner on the blanket tied across the withers. Hithceleb snorted in excitement and pranced sideways, knowing this signal to mean lively travel rather than the previous dull plodding.

"Let's go!"

[Eonwë]

Auros:

The cries of his compatriots, the neighs of the horses, the chittering of the spiders. These were all lost to Auros in the deepening sound of the rain as he focused his thought on the wood. Searching,... questioning.... the forest, seeking for the orcs, if they were on the prowl, and if so, where. Try as he might, there was little he could learn. Darkness had laid upon Mirkwood for almost two thousand years, and he was a stranger here. It seemed to him even the fresh memories of orcs were lost in the long marching years of gloom. The stones of Eregion may remember and lament his people, but to the forest of Mirkwood Auros was as a fleeting breeze: temporary, however refreshing it may be.

Auros closed his eyes and put his hand against the nearest tree for a moment, somewhat wearied from the endeavor. He turned his attention once again to the party just as Fainan shouted "Let's go!"

Walking by Estarion, he found the Avar had finally awakened, and extended a hand to him to help him to his feet. As the Avar firmed his stance, Auros said, "You certainly do have a rough time with these woods." The line was delivered drily, but a gleam in his eyes revealed he'd meant it in jest.

After hoisting himself onto Sulenar's back, he gave a nod to Fainan to take the lead, and shouted "Mount up!"

[Varda]

Fainan:

Fainan led them through intermittent rain until they simply had to camp. She pushed the group on just a little farther until they reached what seemed a pile of wrack fallen against underbrush by more of the huge trees just off the path.

They entered beneath the wrack through a narrow opening, just wide enough for an elf leading a horse. She waved to the two elves of a hunting party that were already present, friends since childhood. "Mae govannen! Would you mind a bit of company for the night? We shall do our best to crowd you out."

"Fainan! You had better have something decent to drink in your bags. If so, your people are even welcome to a rabbit stew. At least this terrible cook calls it rabbit stew although it has preciious little rabbit."

Knowing that such drink was as much currency as good for wounds, and removing paint from arrows, Fainan always carried a few skins. "Of course, knowing you might be in these woods." She rummaged through the tightly packed items and untied a skin. "Catch it or lose it to a dwarf! I brought one just in case."

They laughed happily at the unexpected extra cheer, and made quick room for the weary, soaked newcomers. Fainan helped set up a drying rack by the fire for the dripping cloaks. Bedrolls spread quickly in the shelter of the welcoming hollow in the lower part of the ancient tree. She touched the old bark and thanked it, and felt the return joy of having so many folk join it.

[Eonwë]

Auros:

Night had fallen, and there was no choice but to stop. The Noldo relented and allowed Fainan to lead the group to shelter. The least of Auros' worries was that the group's trail would be followed that night; no evidence of a pursuit had come from behind, and the rain would wash away evidence of their detour quickly enough.

Dismounting, Auros followed Fainan under the makeshift roof, leading Sulenar, who, bearing no one, now felt no reluctance shaking the rain from his mane. Coming into the opening, an expanse a view from the outside would belie, Auros brought his horse to where Fainan had left hers. Sulenar seemed content where he was, and so Auros walked over to the fire, pulling back his hood. The warmth of the fire permeated the enclosure.

As the others filed into the area and came to the fire, Fainan began the introductions, and Auros gave a nod to each of the other party's fellows.

[Indis]

Meren:

Wet and tired, Meren dismounted gratefully at the camp and led Duroch to join the mounts already under the shelter of the woven boughs. After rubbing him down and providing a well-earned meal, she sought the same for herself. Following the welcome odor of rabbit stew, she entered the hollow tree with a grateful touch much like Fainan's. There she saw some scouts already ensconced, among them some of her students, both former and current, and she greeted them gladly. To their curious questions about what a scholar was doing on such an expedition, she smiled and gestured to Auros and Fainan. "I expect that my companions will explain our mission soon, perhaps over the contents of your stewpot and Fainan's wineskins," she responded with a wink at Fainan.

[Varda]

Fainan:

Helping ladle stew into carved wooden bowls and passing one to Frali, Fainan said off-handedly, "We're escorting our noble guest from Rivendell, Lord Auros," and she handed him a bowl, "back to the Forest Gate and probably beyond, considering how ugly things have become recently. We don't want Lord Elrond wondering why we let his people be spider munchies, after all. A fine scholar like Lady Meren is very welcome to continue discussions they have that are quite beyond me, since time is pressing."

Fainan smiled as she saw how quickly one of the hunters took a chance to hand a bowl of stew to Meren, before Fainan could.

[arienv]

Frali:

The dwarf 's elation from the skirmish at the river was quickly washed away by the dismal weather and miserable he followed the elves as good as he could. Therefore Frali was very relieved when Fainan led their soggy party into a well camouflaged hunting camp.

Frali bowed politely to the present hunters and smiled at Fainan's comment , even if a bit tired: "You brought an extra rabbit or an extra dwarf, my lady?" He chuckled quietly and added:" At least the extra dwarf is there allright, and dont you worry, Master Elf," he addressed now the hunter who had complained about there cook. "I am sure it wont be worse than what i would have myself to suffer if i was alone on the road, which i am more than glad that i am not."

With a tired but still slightly mischievous grin and a polite bow the young dwarf accepted the a bowl of soup that Fainan had brought him and settled as close to the fire as he could without stealing any more comfortable place to the two females.

[Eonwë]

Auros:

Auros had not spoken much during the meal, considering instead the day’s events. Once the meal was over, however, Auros spoke of their encounter. “I suspect you will find the path near the river less pleasant for a day or two.”

The Silvan named Lingalad spoke. “That is probably true,” he said. Grinning, he added, “If we don’t make it more pleasant sooner.” The rest of his party smiled and cheered.

“What of the path westward?” Auros asked. “Can we expect a safe journey through Mirkwood?”

Lingalad paused. “Well, we came from hunting southward. I can assure you nothing is within a day’s march of this lodge from the south.” With another grin he said, “We made sure of that.”

“What of the north and west?” Auros asked, trying not to sound impatient.

“Scouts from the north spoke of something going on up there, but they’re not close enough to pick up a trail, if the rain keeps up like this. We had intended to head north and see if we could intercept them, or at least get a better idea of what’s going on, but your news about the River makes me think we should gather with some other hunters and deal with that threat first. What awaits further west, however, I can’t tell you. We haven’t met anyone coming eastward.”

“Very well,” Auros sighed. “Hopefully we can gather some news in the morning.”

One of the other Elves asked, “What brings one of Lord Elrond’s people to Mirkwood anyway?”

Auros’ eyes reflected the fire as he leaned closer to it. “Enemy movements,” was all he said.

[Varda]

Fainan:

The next morning at an unseen sunrise, the two parties moved out in different directions with cheery waves of parting. Thunder and rain had not kept them from sleep, but it did keep them from moving at much speed. Fainan hoped Auros would not feel too badly delayed, but she tried to keep them at a steady clip on the path. Frali and Estarion seemed to be learning, although understandably sore. They would toughen in new ways on this journey!

[Indis]

Meren:

After a time riding, Meren noticed a new rippling in Duroch's mane, and she felt an unusual twitching of his tail. Patting him gently, she felt muscles jumping in an unusual way. Duroch sensed something that was beginning to alarm him. Urging him up to the head of the party, she muttered to Fainan that something wasn't right, that Duroch was becoming anxious, and come to think of it, something was beginning to "smell' wrong to her too. She guessed that Fainan, expert scout that she was, was already aware but mentioned it just in case.

[Varda]

Fainan:

"I agree, Meren!" Hithceleb crabbed sideways yet again and Fainan lightly squeezed her knee against that side, then a bit more to edge closer to Auros.

"Lord Auros, a shadow has been growing in my mind, and our horses' nervousness confirm that it is not merely overcaution. Something, not of the usual orc or spider infestation, is nearing us from yonder way." She pointed with her chin only. "It is similar to the shadowy feeling that we associate with the lords that now hold Dol Guldur when they are about. We must be very careful not to stray from the protection of the path."

Fainan knew the other elves could hear her if they were paying attention through the rain and their own thoughts, but Frali might not, so she looked about her to gain attention and said, "Be certain to keep to the path in this area, my friends. And untie the peace knots from your weapons."