Elendor
An elf in the shire!
Keldean is chatting with a Shire hobbit when a familiar face shows up.
Sort Date: no date set
Location: The Shire
IC Time: Evening
Weather: Wet, After rain.
Description: [Chalcedony(#30911)] It is near dark this October day, a tiny breeze blowing from the northeast. Throughout the day, the slivery clouds above had been sprinking gently on Buckland and the Shire, making everything just muddy enough to be a little annoying. They have ceased by now.
While few hobbits are out an about this evening, there does appear to be an exception or two. Coming up from Stock is a ladyhobbit, strolling casually along, a curly-haired lass dangling from one hand. They both appear to be in good spirits and are chatting away as they go.
"Mama, did you travel this road lots when you were my age?"
"Gracious, Ammy, not your age. Before I met you papa, though, I did travel it some."
"Did you have lots of scary 'ventures?"
The ladyhobbit smiles. "Only one or two."
Keldean is sitting on the bridge, one long leg (at least compared to hobbits) dangling down towards the water and the other other pulled close. He has his arms wrapped around his knee, hugging it to his chest as he stares down at the flowing water below. The sound of voices pulls the attention of the teen, and the human looks up at the two curiously.
[Chalcedony(#30911)] The two hobbits reach the crossroads, both still chatting away. The little one looks around curiously, then squeaks. "Mama! Look, a lot of wagons! And really big people, too! Are they the Big People you tell me about? Like from Breen?"
The mother hobbit frowns quickly. "It's 'Bree,' dear. Come here." Without further ado, she scoops up the child and deposits her on her hip. "I'm not sure." She looks down at her daughter. "Listen, Amarinda - be very polite and on your best behavior. And if Mama tells you to do something, then no matter what it is, you do exactly what I say and don't argue. Understand?" The lass nods, eyes wide.
Behind the young man are the wagons, but things are fairly quiet in the camp. Some are off at the closest tavern, enjoying a good drink and meal. Alas, Keldean is stuck keeping an eye on things with a couple others. He continues watching the two hobbits with mild interest on his face and when they get close enough he offers a quiet greeting, "Hello.."
[Chalcedony(#30911)] Chalcedony Took, the mother hobbit, smiles and nods her head politely to the Big Person. "Good evening," she says. "Forgive my lack of manners. My daughter is curious." Without waiting any longer, the lass, who is almost too large to be riding on her mother's hip, pipes up. "Are you a Big Person? And do you come from Bree? My mama tells me stories about visiting Bree." Mrs. Took is aghast. "Amarinda!"
Keldean grins and slowly stands from his lounging position. He's around five feet tall, lean and almost gangly looking, with a dark summer tan from hours outside in the sunlight. "Yes, I'm from Bree. My name is Keldean." He offers, and while his tone is friendly, he doesn't seem overly interested in the hobbits so much as welcoming of a distraction from his boredom. "We're here, trading for pipe weed and other things."
[Chalcedony(#30911)] Amarinda looks amazed at the height of the young man. She stares at him with her mouth in a small "O." Mrs. Took seems to relax a little bit and nods. "Welcome, then." She places her daughter on the ground again and holds firmly to her hand. "I trust the trip has been fruitful so far?"
"I think so.. Nob was pretty happy last night with things. I just help with the wagons and ponies." Keldean explains with a small shrug. The teen works with hobbits and seems completely at ease being around the small folk. While lean, he looks strong, and that's likely why he's in Nob's employ. "I think we're leaving in the morning."
Chalcedony nods again, her smile pulling to one side and looking a bit more genuine. "Well, then we've stumbled into your company just in time." She brushes a stray curl out of her left eye. "How was the journey? It's been years since I visited Bree, unfortunately." Amarinda seems to sense that this has devolved into boring adult conversations. She begins to fidget a bit at her mother's side. At the smallest pause afforded, she butts in on the conversation. "And how do you get so big? Did you eat all your greens? I eat all my greens, but I'm not so big as you!"
"Good. The rain didn't come until after we arrived, so we were lucky. We haven't had any trouble through the forest." The child draws Keldean's attention and he grins, soaking up the awed attention of the young hobbit. Usually he's only stared upon when he's in trouble. "All men are tall.. I'm still growing. I'm probably going to get a lot taller soon. I just eat whatever I can get.."
[Chalcedony(#30911)] Amarinda is even more impressed. "You mean you eat candy and cake and still get tall? I'm going to do that!" Her mother raises one eyebrow. "Oh no you're not, missy." Amarinda pouts a little bit for a moment. "Is it because you're from so far away? Is everybody tall in Bree?" Chalcedony smiles, giving up on more refined topics. "Maybe I should just send you off with the Big Folk and have them teach you to be tall and stop asking questions," she teases her daughter.
Keldean laughs, thoroughly enjoying Amarinda's interest. "Well, sometimes I do. But, usually I have meat and potatoes." He admits, and obviously has little experience with enforcing healthier ideals to children. "Not everyone is tall. There are hobbits in Bree.. but we get lots of travelers. Men from all over, and elves. Last winter there were dwarves, too!"
[Chalcedony(#30911)] Oh, he's got her now. Amarinda fairly bounces up and down as she speaks. "Dwarves, too? And Elves? My friends say elves are a tale, but I said they were wrong. They'll have to believe me now!" She looks up at her mother with pleading eyes. "Mama, can I go back to Bree with Mr. Keldean? I promise I'll stay out of trouble the whole time!" Her mother raises an eyebrow, but has little time to respond before the lass is off jabbering again. "My name is Amarinda Took, Mr. Keldean." She wriggles out of her mother's grasp and drops a fairly decent curtsey for a young hobbit. "I don't take up much space." Good ears might catch Chalcedony grumbling under her breath, "Though you eat enough to fill this whole camp and more in a night."
Keldean squats down now, perfectly willing to indulge her curiosity. "Oh, elves are real. I'm friends with one. His name is Giliath. He's hundreds of years old and has magic. He can show you things, like a dream, only you're not asleep." He furrows his brow when she asks about traveling to Bree. "I'm not sure if you could come or not, I'm not really in charge of that. You would have to ask Nob."
[Chalcedony(#30911)] Mama takes charge now. "Sorry, Ammy, not right now. Maybe when your little brother's older." Amarinda seems disappointed, but forges ahead anyway. "All right. But the elves, Mama! They really have magic!" She turns back to the human. "Do they really look young even though they're really old? And do stars appear where they walk? My friend Tomfast says they can walk on top of snow, too, and that they sing and the birds come to their hands, but his sister says that elves are just Big People with hobbit-ears."
"Umm.. " Usually Keldean is the one bombarding a person with questions and it's strange for him to be on the recieving end. "Well, Giliath looks really young for being so old. No stars, but he moves really quietly and so does his wife. I've never seen any elves in the snow, so I'm not sure about that.. His wife, Caelwen, has some pottery that is magic. When you touch it you feel really calm and peaceful."
[Giliath(#9838)] There may not be any snow, but Giliath is as quiet as ever he is unless deliberately trying to make noise. Quiet as a hobbit in full stealth mode - or quieter. The elf has lingered behind the others for some reason or other, and now he moves swiftly ahead, focused on just one goal. The hobbits he passes in the streets are barely more than mobile bushes for all he notices them. And he does not sparkle nor shine, and there are no stars left in his wake. Still there is something that charges the air as he nears some sense of otherness, of expectation.
Chalcedony notices the tall stranger before her daughter does. As Amarinda continues to pepper Keldean with her questions, her mother raises one eyebrow and gazes at him curiously. The hobbit-lass hardly notices her mother's small actions. "How does she have magic pots? Is is magic clay? Or does she have to make it magic after she buys it? Or does she have to make it herself somehow?"
"I'm .. not sure. I think she said she makes them herself, and maybe they're magic when she makes them?" Keldean shrugs. The details are sketchy in his memory. "It was hard to talk to her, she doesn't speak our language." The teen is too distracted with trying to impress the child to be aware of his surroundings.
[Giliath(#9838)] The elf is barely there, somehow. A wind, a flicker of running fire - yet his body moves in this world, one can see it, touch it. The muted grey of his cloak melts from cloud to stone to puddled rain as it ripples with the breeze of his going. And now he is almost upon the small group, but will he recognize or acknowledge them any more than any of the others he has passed in his journey?
[Chalcedony(#30911)] "They have their own language, too?" Amarinda is truly bouncing up and down now, thoroughly excited. "I'll bet she's beautiful! I'll bet she's even more beautifuller than Mama, and I'll bet the words she says are pretty, too!" Chalcedony keeps her eyes fixed on the stranger. As he nears the group, she inclines her head and curtseys. The curtsey is undeniable clumsy, but she seems to be trying her hardest to be graceful. Next to her, her daughter has begun to spin in circles. "She makes her own pots, and I'll bet they're beautiful, too!"
Keldean is grinning again, nodding. "Caelwen is very beautiful. She's tall and slender, and wears long white dresses. Giliath makes wine.. or at least, he used to. When they speak, it's very musical. I know a few words in Sindarin."
[Giliath(#9838)] One of the short ones begins a strange kind of bobbing, but Giliath would ignore both it and her save that he hears his name... and his wife's. For an instant, only a flash of time, there is an ageless sorrow on his pale marble-carven face (what can be seen of it beneath the hood) then he turns his head, slowing his steps. Distant, uncaring, his eyes tally up the group - 2 hobbits, one having a sort of fit, perhaps 1 human.
[Chalcedony(#30911)] Amarinda closes her eyes, spinning even faster now. "She sounds like music, she sounds like music," she sings to some made-up tune. "It's really, really real magic! Wait 'til I tell the others!" Not watching where she's going, the small Took-lass spins out into the path of the stranger. Her mother realizes this in a moment. Eyes widening with horror, Chalcedony calls, "Amarinda, look where you're going!" and reaches out to pull her daughter back. Unfortunately, Chalcedony Took is as clumsy a hobbit that ever lived, and a stumble later, she finds herself - PLOP! - on her belly in the mud. "Oh, that was graceful," she snarls at herself.
Keldean finally notices the approach of another as he's looking up to Amarinda's mother to see what's alarmed her and offer aid, but the assistance is forgotten completely. His brown eyes widen in shock and he stands up to his full height, which is towering over the hobbits but still much shorter than the approaching figure. "Giliath?!" The teen seems completely stunned, because he certainly didn't expect to see the elf appear out of nowhere, as if summoned by mention alone. He actually looks around quickly, expecting more elves to jump out of the bushes.
[Giliath(#9838)] Giliath does a swift half-step around the hobbit child, effortlessly making it look as if part of his pathway as his eyes finally fix on Keldean and he returns from some other distant place of movement. After a moment, he inclines his head in greeting, as courteous (and remote) to Keldean as to the hobbit fallen in the mud. Indeed, he shows no sign at all that lying in the mud is strange or unexpected.
Chalcedony pushes herself halfway out of the mud and gestures for her daughter. "Amarinda, come here." Amarinda immediately stops spinning and returns to her mother, who looks at her sternly. "You need to be more careful, dear. Apologize, please, and watch where you're going next time." Amarinda looks honestly embarrassed as she turns to the stranger. "I'm sorry, sir. I wasn't being careful." Behind her, Chalcedony extracts herself from the mud and wipes her hands off on her skirt. She nods in approval at her daughter's apology and gives the lass an encouraging smile.
Keldean looks around again, frowning. The distant manner that Giliath shows him is nothing new, but the lack of a second elf is. "Where's Caelwen?" He asks first, then launches into several more questions, "Are you on your way back to Bree? Do you want to travel with us? We're leaving in the morning to go back." It seems the hobbits are forgotten for the moment as the teen focuses his attention on the elf. "Oh, and I met Galharth.. he said that he knows you."
[Giliath(#9838)] Giliath freezes momentarily. Very probably no one other than another elf would notice the minute change in his demeanor. "She is ahead," he says repressively. "We go to Imlad." He ignores Keldean's offer to travel together, saying only, "I have met..." There is a pause in his words, as if a thought come out of nowhere stops him mid-sentence. "...Galharth." The small hobbit apologizes, and he looks down at her with some bemusement. "You have not inconvenienced me," he tells her at last, and gives her a flicker of a smile.
[Chalcedony(#30911)] Amarinda stares up at the elf, finally adding it all up. "You're an elf!" she breathes. Her eyes are wide and round, and her face shines. "I always wanted to meet an elf! I'm really glad I didn't run into you!" She goes up on her tiptoes, as if the addition of two inches would make up for four feet of difference. "Where's Imlad? Is that your home? Is your wife there with her magic pots?" Chalcedony looks thoroughly uncomfortable with her daughter's incessant questions. "Come here, you over-curious hobbitling," she says quietly. "Let Mr. Giliath be." Amarinda shakes her head. "But I wanna know!" she insists.
Keldean swallows, suddenly looking nervous. "You met him recently?" The teen asks in a wary tone as he realizes that Galharth very well could have told Giliath about his recent transgressions if they met. "Do you think.. maybe I could go with you? To Imlad?" He glances over at the hobbits, then back to the elf, an all too familiar pleading expression in his brown eyes.
[Giliath(#9838)] Pain manifests itself different in different people. Giliath, having for one instant only allowed his emotions to show, does so no longer. And if his answers are brief and almost curt, who among these who do not know him, would realize it? "It is where I live, yes. My wife is ahead of me on the road." But Chalcedony also receives a ghost of a smile. "The young are always thus," the elf says. His eyes return to Keldean and rest there, broodingly. "You would not like it," he says flatly.
Chalcedony smiles and curtseys briefly, then places her hand on Amarinda's shoulder and draws her back to her side. The lass begins to protest, but Chalcedony shakes her head and presses a finger to her lips. She leans over and whispers something to the child, then straightens. Amarinda stands next to her mother and stays quiet, looking up at the elf still and toying with the small bracelet on her left wrist.
Keldean draws his brows together at the simple answer, and glances over at the hobbits again, then decides to plead his case. "You don't know that, and you said you have a son. I could meet him. I could teach Caelwen our tongue and learn more Sindarin." He hesitates, then adds in a quieter voice, "Nobody likes me in Bree. They don't care about the truth and treat me like I did something horrible. Cordelia is gone.. she.. she left. She's not coming back." When he mentions Cordelia, his pain is far less masked and there's true heartbreak on the youth's face.
[Giliath(#9838)] Giliath's expression doesn't change - still and remote, he regards the boy. "And," he asks at last, "You do not feel that what you did was horrible?" It is a simple question, unweighted by expectation or condemnation. "And that you have told nothing save the truth?" At the lad's final words, there is a brief softening - perhaps, perhaps not - but at the least, there is compassion for pain.
Chalcedony seems as if she is trying not to listen - after all, the conversation does not involve her. She plays with her wedding ring in silence. Her daughter, however, is nowhere near that reserved. Amarinda seems disgusted that there are people who don't like her new acquaintence. "That's not right, Mr. Keldean!" she says hotly. "I like you!" As if to prove it, she steps over to his side and gives him a hug, though her reach is only about to his knees. Chalcedony looks vaguely horrified. "Oh, mercy, Amarinda Took, that's far too forward of you! Come back here."
Keldean grows quiet, looking away for a long time as he weighs Giliath's questions. "They threw me in jail, and I've had to work for Nob without pay ever s-.." He cuts off when the young hobbit throws her arms around his legs, startled. He puts one hand out to the railing on the bridge, catching his balance. He smiles in spite of himself, touched by the unexpected friendliness. "It's okay." He says to Chalcedony, making no move to draw away from the girl.
The teen glances back at Giliath and the smile fades. "I didn't tell them all the details. Some of it was secret. The mayor said if make a single mistake he's going to throw me out of Bree.. They don't want me there anymore and I can't go back home. It's too dangerous for me to travel alone.." At least he's learned a healthy respect for the hazards of the road.
[Molly(#1394)] Coming up toward the bridge now is a youngish human woman of about 25, her hair tied back in kerchief of white embroidered by with blue and yellow flowers. She's got a small bouquet of late-blooming flowers in one hand, and she's whistling to herself, her other hand holding the finely made fabric of her skirts out of the road dirt. Molly, the cloth merchant's daughter, seems to be in a fine mood.
[Giliath(#9838)] Giliath's grave eyes drop to the smallest of these small people, then lift to regard Keldean levelly. "What then would you think is appropriate... repayment?" he asks the boy. Neither by movement or word or glance does he show any knowledge of Molly's approach.
[Chalcedony(#30911)] If Keldean thinks being hugged about the knees by her daughter is all right, then Chalcedony is fine with it, but that doesn't mean she's still trying not to listen. Her eyes narrow ever so slightly as she pays close attention to the conversation. She notices the approach of the whistling lady and she nods politely, but that's the extent of the interaction as far as the hobbit is concerned. Meanwhile, Amarinda continues to hold fast to Keldean's knees, still gazing up at Giliath.
"I worked my time for Nob, like the mayor said. It's been over a month. The last time we talked about it, Nob still wasn't sure if he would hire me back or not. Seeker isn't back.. and his wife is gone." Keldean shrugs, "I don't know what else I can do. Nobody believes what I tell them. I tried to explain everything but they won't listen. They all hate Cordelia and don't like me, and I don't have any friends now that's she's gone.." He shoves his hands into his pockets, balancing better now that Amarinda isn't moving. "Please? Couldn't I go with you? They tell me that I need to act like an adult but treat me like a child even though I try.."
[Molly(#1394)] The elf may not notice Molly, but the young woman certainly takes note of him--a few of the flowers drop slowly from her grasp, as does her mouth. Then she gathers her wits and her skirts, and hurries up to the bridge to listen. Of course she's heard the local gossip about Keldean, the Cordelia girl, Seeker and jail, but the rumors are twisted and now here is Keldean, apparently confessing it all to an elf! Her eyes are bright, her smile not fading, and she comes to stand a little ways behind the group, smiling a greeting to the hobbit woman.
[Giliath(#9838)] "A month with no pay," Giliath repeats levelly. His eyes lift as he turns his head to see Molly, and then returns his gaze to Keldean. In his gaze is a man who can barely speak because of a ruined throat, who has spent months in torment and pain. Abruptly the impatience, the driving urgency that has been held under tight control for this short time, returns, and the elf turns in a swirl of cloth. "Fair even," he says generally, and is gone his tall lithe figure flowing through the drawing dusk until he seems to dissolve into it.
[Chalcedony(#30911)] "Wait!" cries a small voice. Amarinda lets go of Keldean's knees and runs after the elf, losing him almost instantly. She comes back, a dejected look on her face. "I wanted to give him my bracelet so maybe he could give it to his wife. It's pretty, and I bet she is, so she should have it." Chalcedony smiles, then clamps down on it immediately and affects a solemn expression. "I'm sure he would have appreciated it, dear," she says comfortingly, giving her daughter a hug.
Keldean's expression crumbles under the weighted gaze from the elf, guilt and pain returning to his face. "I don't know what else to.." But Giliath is moving away and the teen is left with nothing but a heavy feeling of rejection, his words trailing off. "Everyone says to make ammends but no one will tell me how!" He calls after the elf, frustration and anger spiking to overpower his trampled feelings.
[Molly(#1394)] Oh....Molly sighs quietly as the elf disappears--her eyes widening at the mode of his departure, though. She tilts her head at Keldean's angry words, her expression indicating she doesn't understand one bit of this whole business, except that anytime folk come into her father's shop it has been the topic of conversation. The weather, the crops, Keldean and _that_ girl. "Elves are funny," she says quietly to the teen. "They ahve their own business to attend to." She shrugs and starts to head off toward teh wagons, skirts in hand again.
Chalcedony looks thoughtful for a moment. She watches the lady disappear, then looks back at the Big Person in front of her. "You have my sympathy," she says softly. "I don't know what it is that happened, but I know that rebuilding what's been destroyed is a long process that no one enjoys." Amarinda nods. "I bet you'll figure it out," she says firmly. "Grandpa always says that the good ones who work hard are rewarded in the end. And I still like you."
Keldean gets no response, of course, and Molly's woods aren't terribly comforting since the funny elf just ditched him. He turns his hurt gaze back to Chalcedony, chewing on his lip. "Nobody understands." He murmurs, sinking to sit down on the bridge, uncaring of the mud and dirt. His brown eyes wander to Amarinda and he forces a smile for the girl. "How old are you?"
[Chalcedony(#30911)] "I'm eleven, and I'll be twelve in the spring!" responds Amarinda enthusiastically while her mother watches, smiling. "I'm small for my age, though, so most people think I'm only nine or ten. What about you?" She studies him for a moment. "I'll bet you're at least thirty. You look like you're about to come of age." Chalcedony covers her hand with her mouth, successfully hiding a laugh. Amarinda waits, hands on hips, for an answer.
Keldean blinks in surprise. "You're eleven?" The girl distracts him from his sudden depression as the teen looks confused. She does look a lot younger, but hobbits are different. "I'm almost fifteen.." He answers after a strange look for her guess. "But you think I look older??" There's hope in that question.
Chalcedony's daughter looks taken aback. "Fifteen?!" she says incredulously. "You can't be fifteen! You're almost grown up!" Chalcedony smiles broadly at her daughter and taps her on the shoulder. "Ammy, dear, the Big People age differently than we do. Mr. Keldean is in the middle of his people's kind of tweens." Amarinda replies with an, "Ohhhhh," of understanding, then looks over Keldean once more. "I still think he looks like a grown-up."
Keldean slumps again when Chalcedony shatters his self-esteem, pointing out that he's not an adult. "I almost am.." He answers quietly, in a self-conscious tone. "I'll grow taller." The youth is firmly convinced that his height directly relates to how seriously people take him.
Chalcedony does some quick arithmetic in her head, then smiles. "Height is hardly equivalent to the amount of respect you're afforded," she chides gently, finding herself unconciously landing in mother-mode. "Although, to be fair, it can sometimes help with your desired profession." Chalcedony looks the human over. "If I may be so rude, what sort of profession would you like to see yourself in, Mr. Keldean?"
Keldean senses the sudden shift in attitude from the hobbit, but doesn't seem to care at this point. One of his heroes just denied him and he's too demoralized now to defend his maturity. "I don't know." He answers with a miserable sigh. "I wanted to travel and learn the sword, but I don't have any money for that. Then I thought maybe I could learn to hunt.. " He frowns, some of that earlier guilt returning to his face, "That didn't work out."
[Chalcedony(#30911)] "Mmm. Precious little opportunity for swordplay here in the Shire." Chalcedony shakes her head. "That's too bad, though you certainly seem to be of the sort who would be a worthwhile apprentice." Amarinda, silent for too long, pipes up here. "Maybe you can teach yourself! Heroes always teach themselves if they can't find a master." Chalcedony raises one eyebrow. "Your grandfather has been telling you adventure stories again, hasn't he?" she asks, a small smile appearing.
Keldean turns a careful gaze back to Chalcedony, trying to see if the mother is sincere or not in her words, "What do you mean?" He shakes his head at Amarinda, "No.. I don't have a sword, and it takes years of training." Obviously the teen has looked into the profession. "And you need money to pay someone to teach you."
Chalcedony looks at the young man steadily. "It's true that you need money and years, not to mention equipment. However, from what little I've seen of you, you appear to be able to work without immediate reward for quite some time and it seems that you put your heart into what you do. I'd recommend not yelling at a master, should you find one, about frustrations you encounter," and she smiles, "but when I say I think you'd make a good apprentice I mean it." Meanwhile, Amarinda has stepped off to the side of the road and is grubbing about at the foot of a small bunch of trees.
"Oh.. Well.." Keldean looks embarrassed now, aware that he's spun a rather jaded view on it all and completely failed to mention a more recent bit of trouble to Giliath. "I didn't really have a choice. They were going to throw me back in jail.." He murmurs, flushing.
[Chalcedony(#30911)] "I gathered that," replies Chalcedony serenely, "but you did have a choice - you could have gone back to jail, you could have worked for a while then run away, all sorts of things could have happened, but you accepted the work without pay." She tilts her head to one side. "I don't know the particulars, Master Keldean, nor do I wish to be enlightened at the moment. It's getting dark and my husband will wonder where I've gone off to. Be that as it may, you seem to me to be a good sort, or, at least, a bad sort that's trying to change that." At that moment, her daughter returns. Amarinda is holding a thick, solid stick that's longer than she is tall and quite straight. "Here you are!" she says triumphantly. "I found you a pretend sword you can practice with until you get a real one!" Chalcedony looks down at her daughter and smiles as the lass holds up the stick for the Big Person's inspection.
Keldean brightens some at the assessment of the hobbit, taking the comfort she's offering his battered ego. "I guess." He says in a thoughtful voice. She doesn't want to know the details and the teen doesn't clarify the particulars of how little a choice he had in the matter. Amarinda comes back with the stick and he laughs, reaching for the pretend weapon. "Thanks." He doesn't seem entirely convinced, but rests the stick across his legs. Boredom is sure to win out over self-pity once the hobbits have moved on. "Have a good evening.." He adds, the politness occurring to him after a moment.
Chalcedony smiles. "You as well, Mr. Keldean," she says. "I hope that we meet again, and your circumstances have improved greatly." Amarinda nods. "Make sure you practice hard. You can't learn anything without lots of practice," she advises sagely. The lass hesitates, then pulls the bracelet off of her wrist and holds it out to Keldean. "Here," she says. "If you see your elf friend again, can you give him this? I want his wife to have it." Chalcedony smiles at her daughter, then smothers a final laugh as Amarinda pulls the ribbon from her hair. "And this is for you," the little hobbit says, unaware of her mother's amusement. "Heroes have to have a ribbon or a hanky from a lady with them always, so you can have my hair ribbon and that'll make you an official hero." Amarinda is utterly serious - no trace of a smile or a joke can be found in her words or face as she stands, holding the ribbon out in one hand and the bracelet in the other.
Keldean slowly climbs to his feet, dirt sticking to pants that are already filthy from the road. When Amarinda offers up the bracelet he nods, reaching to take it. "I don't think I'll see him.. but if I do I will." The ribbon surprises him, as so many times the girl has already given the teen unexpected pause. "A ribbon?.. " He smiles, the appreciation more genuine now as he takes the gift in his dirty hand. "Thanks. Maybe if I come on the trip again next year we run into each other." If the teen even remembers, given the turbulent age he's at.
Chalcedony smiles at her daughter and nods her approval. Taking the lass' hand, she turns to leave, waving and calling a farewell over her shoulder. Amarinda copies her mother, and in a few moments, the two of them are gone, disappeared into the darkness towards the lights of Stock.
While few hobbits are out an about this evening, there does appear to be an exception or two. Coming up from Stock is a ladyhobbit, strolling casually along, a curly-haired lass dangling from one hand. They both appear to be in good spirits and are chatting away as they go.
"Mama, did you travel this road lots when you were my age?"
"Gracious, Ammy, not your age. Before I met you papa, though, I did travel it some."
"Did you have lots of scary 'ventures?"
The ladyhobbit smiles. "Only one or two."
Keldean is sitting on the bridge, one long leg (at least compared to hobbits) dangling down towards the water and the other other pulled close. He has his arms wrapped around his knee, hugging it to his chest as he stares down at the flowing water below. The sound of voices pulls the attention of the teen, and the human looks up at the two curiously.
[Chalcedony(#30911)] The two hobbits reach the crossroads, both still chatting away. The little one looks around curiously, then squeaks. "Mama! Look, a lot of wagons! And really big people, too! Are they the Big People you tell me about? Like from Breen?"
The mother hobbit frowns quickly. "It's 'Bree,' dear. Come here." Without further ado, she scoops up the child and deposits her on her hip. "I'm not sure." She looks down at her daughter. "Listen, Amarinda - be very polite and on your best behavior. And if Mama tells you to do something, then no matter what it is, you do exactly what I say and don't argue. Understand?" The lass nods, eyes wide.
Behind the young man are the wagons, but things are fairly quiet in the camp. Some are off at the closest tavern, enjoying a good drink and meal. Alas, Keldean is stuck keeping an eye on things with a couple others. He continues watching the two hobbits with mild interest on his face and when they get close enough he offers a quiet greeting, "Hello.."
[Chalcedony(#30911)] Chalcedony Took, the mother hobbit, smiles and nods her head politely to the Big Person. "Good evening," she says. "Forgive my lack of manners. My daughter is curious." Without waiting any longer, the lass, who is almost too large to be riding on her mother's hip, pipes up. "Are you a Big Person? And do you come from Bree? My mama tells me stories about visiting Bree." Mrs. Took is aghast. "Amarinda!"
Keldean grins and slowly stands from his lounging position. He's around five feet tall, lean and almost gangly looking, with a dark summer tan from hours outside in the sunlight. "Yes, I'm from Bree. My name is Keldean." He offers, and while his tone is friendly, he doesn't seem overly interested in the hobbits so much as welcoming of a distraction from his boredom. "We're here, trading for pipe weed and other things."
[Chalcedony(#30911)] Amarinda looks amazed at the height of the young man. She stares at him with her mouth in a small "O." Mrs. Took seems to relax a little bit and nods. "Welcome, then." She places her daughter on the ground again and holds firmly to her hand. "I trust the trip has been fruitful so far?"
"I think so.. Nob was pretty happy last night with things. I just help with the wagons and ponies." Keldean explains with a small shrug. The teen works with hobbits and seems completely at ease being around the small folk. While lean, he looks strong, and that's likely why he's in Nob's employ. "I think we're leaving in the morning."
Chalcedony nods again, her smile pulling to one side and looking a bit more genuine. "Well, then we've stumbled into your company just in time." She brushes a stray curl out of her left eye. "How was the journey? It's been years since I visited Bree, unfortunately." Amarinda seems to sense that this has devolved into boring adult conversations. She begins to fidget a bit at her mother's side. At the smallest pause afforded, she butts in on the conversation. "And how do you get so big? Did you eat all your greens? I eat all my greens, but I'm not so big as you!"
"Good. The rain didn't come until after we arrived, so we were lucky. We haven't had any trouble through the forest." The child draws Keldean's attention and he grins, soaking up the awed attention of the young hobbit. Usually he's only stared upon when he's in trouble. "All men are tall.. I'm still growing. I'm probably going to get a lot taller soon. I just eat whatever I can get.."
[Chalcedony(#30911)] Amarinda is even more impressed. "You mean you eat candy and cake and still get tall? I'm going to do that!" Her mother raises one eyebrow. "Oh no you're not, missy." Amarinda pouts a little bit for a moment. "Is it because you're from so far away? Is everybody tall in Bree?" Chalcedony smiles, giving up on more refined topics. "Maybe I should just send you off with the Big Folk and have them teach you to be tall and stop asking questions," she teases her daughter.
Keldean laughs, thoroughly enjoying Amarinda's interest. "Well, sometimes I do. But, usually I have meat and potatoes." He admits, and obviously has little experience with enforcing healthier ideals to children. "Not everyone is tall. There are hobbits in Bree.. but we get lots of travelers. Men from all over, and elves. Last winter there were dwarves, too!"
[Chalcedony(#30911)] Oh, he's got her now. Amarinda fairly bounces up and down as she speaks. "Dwarves, too? And Elves? My friends say elves are a tale, but I said they were wrong. They'll have to believe me now!" She looks up at her mother with pleading eyes. "Mama, can I go back to Bree with Mr. Keldean? I promise I'll stay out of trouble the whole time!" Her mother raises an eyebrow, but has little time to respond before the lass is off jabbering again. "My name is Amarinda Took, Mr. Keldean." She wriggles out of her mother's grasp and drops a fairly decent curtsey for a young hobbit. "I don't take up much space." Good ears might catch Chalcedony grumbling under her breath, "Though you eat enough to fill this whole camp and more in a night."
Keldean squats down now, perfectly willing to indulge her curiosity. "Oh, elves are real. I'm friends with one. His name is Giliath. He's hundreds of years old and has magic. He can show you things, like a dream, only you're not asleep." He furrows his brow when she asks about traveling to Bree. "I'm not sure if you could come or not, I'm not really in charge of that. You would have to ask Nob."
[Chalcedony(#30911)] Mama takes charge now. "Sorry, Ammy, not right now. Maybe when your little brother's older." Amarinda seems disappointed, but forges ahead anyway. "All right. But the elves, Mama! They really have magic!" She turns back to the human. "Do they really look young even though they're really old? And do stars appear where they walk? My friend Tomfast says they can walk on top of snow, too, and that they sing and the birds come to their hands, but his sister says that elves are just Big People with hobbit-ears."
"Umm.. " Usually Keldean is the one bombarding a person with questions and it's strange for him to be on the recieving end. "Well, Giliath looks really young for being so old. No stars, but he moves really quietly and so does his wife. I've never seen any elves in the snow, so I'm not sure about that.. His wife, Caelwen, has some pottery that is magic. When you touch it you feel really calm and peaceful."
[Giliath(#9838)] There may not be any snow, but Giliath is as quiet as ever he is unless deliberately trying to make noise. Quiet as a hobbit in full stealth mode - or quieter. The elf has lingered behind the others for some reason or other, and now he moves swiftly ahead, focused on just one goal. The hobbits he passes in the streets are barely more than mobile bushes for all he notices them. And he does not sparkle nor shine, and there are no stars left in his wake. Still there is something that charges the air as he nears some sense of otherness, of expectation.
Chalcedony notices the tall stranger before her daughter does. As Amarinda continues to pepper Keldean with her questions, her mother raises one eyebrow and gazes at him curiously. The hobbit-lass hardly notices her mother's small actions. "How does she have magic pots? Is is magic clay? Or does she have to make it magic after she buys it? Or does she have to make it herself somehow?"
"I'm .. not sure. I think she said she makes them herself, and maybe they're magic when she makes them?" Keldean shrugs. The details are sketchy in his memory. "It was hard to talk to her, she doesn't speak our language." The teen is too distracted with trying to impress the child to be aware of his surroundings.
[Giliath(#9838)] The elf is barely there, somehow. A wind, a flicker of running fire - yet his body moves in this world, one can see it, touch it. The muted grey of his cloak melts from cloud to stone to puddled rain as it ripples with the breeze of his going. And now he is almost upon the small group, but will he recognize or acknowledge them any more than any of the others he has passed in his journey?
[Chalcedony(#30911)] "They have their own language, too?" Amarinda is truly bouncing up and down now, thoroughly excited. "I'll bet she's beautiful! I'll bet she's even more beautifuller than Mama, and I'll bet the words she says are pretty, too!" Chalcedony keeps her eyes fixed on the stranger. As he nears the group, she inclines her head and curtseys. The curtsey is undeniable clumsy, but she seems to be trying her hardest to be graceful. Next to her, her daughter has begun to spin in circles. "She makes her own pots, and I'll bet they're beautiful, too!"
Keldean is grinning again, nodding. "Caelwen is very beautiful. She's tall and slender, and wears long white dresses. Giliath makes wine.. or at least, he used to. When they speak, it's very musical. I know a few words in Sindarin."
[Giliath(#9838)] One of the short ones begins a strange kind of bobbing, but Giliath would ignore both it and her save that he hears his name... and his wife's. For an instant, only a flash of time, there is an ageless sorrow on his pale marble-carven face (what can be seen of it beneath the hood) then he turns his head, slowing his steps. Distant, uncaring, his eyes tally up the group - 2 hobbits, one having a sort of fit, perhaps 1 human.
[Chalcedony(#30911)] Amarinda closes her eyes, spinning even faster now. "She sounds like music, she sounds like music," she sings to some made-up tune. "It's really, really real magic! Wait 'til I tell the others!" Not watching where she's going, the small Took-lass spins out into the path of the stranger. Her mother realizes this in a moment. Eyes widening with horror, Chalcedony calls, "Amarinda, look where you're going!" and reaches out to pull her daughter back. Unfortunately, Chalcedony Took is as clumsy a hobbit that ever lived, and a stumble later, she finds herself - PLOP! - on her belly in the mud. "Oh, that was graceful," she snarls at herself.
Keldean finally notices the approach of another as he's looking up to Amarinda's mother to see what's alarmed her and offer aid, but the assistance is forgotten completely. His brown eyes widen in shock and he stands up to his full height, which is towering over the hobbits but still much shorter than the approaching figure. "Giliath?!" The teen seems completely stunned, because he certainly didn't expect to see the elf appear out of nowhere, as if summoned by mention alone. He actually looks around quickly, expecting more elves to jump out of the bushes.
[Giliath(#9838)] Giliath does a swift half-step around the hobbit child, effortlessly making it look as if part of his pathway as his eyes finally fix on Keldean and he returns from some other distant place of movement. After a moment, he inclines his head in greeting, as courteous (and remote) to Keldean as to the hobbit fallen in the mud. Indeed, he shows no sign at all that lying in the mud is strange or unexpected.
Chalcedony pushes herself halfway out of the mud and gestures for her daughter. "Amarinda, come here." Amarinda immediately stops spinning and returns to her mother, who looks at her sternly. "You need to be more careful, dear. Apologize, please, and watch where you're going next time." Amarinda looks honestly embarrassed as she turns to the stranger. "I'm sorry, sir. I wasn't being careful." Behind her, Chalcedony extracts herself from the mud and wipes her hands off on her skirt. She nods in approval at her daughter's apology and gives the lass an encouraging smile.
Keldean looks around again, frowning. The distant manner that Giliath shows him is nothing new, but the lack of a second elf is. "Where's Caelwen?" He asks first, then launches into several more questions, "Are you on your way back to Bree? Do you want to travel with us? We're leaving in the morning to go back." It seems the hobbits are forgotten for the moment as the teen focuses his attention on the elf. "Oh, and I met Galharth.. he said that he knows you."
[Giliath(#9838)] Giliath freezes momentarily. Very probably no one other than another elf would notice the minute change in his demeanor. "She is ahead," he says repressively. "We go to Imlad." He ignores Keldean's offer to travel together, saying only, "I have met..." There is a pause in his words, as if a thought come out of nowhere stops him mid-sentence. "...Galharth." The small hobbit apologizes, and he looks down at her with some bemusement. "You have not inconvenienced me," he tells her at last, and gives her a flicker of a smile.
[Chalcedony(#30911)] Amarinda stares up at the elf, finally adding it all up. "You're an elf!" she breathes. Her eyes are wide and round, and her face shines. "I always wanted to meet an elf! I'm really glad I didn't run into you!" She goes up on her tiptoes, as if the addition of two inches would make up for four feet of difference. "Where's Imlad? Is that your home? Is your wife there with her magic pots?" Chalcedony looks thoroughly uncomfortable with her daughter's incessant questions. "Come here, you over-curious hobbitling," she says quietly. "Let Mr. Giliath be." Amarinda shakes her head. "But I wanna know!" she insists.
Keldean swallows, suddenly looking nervous. "You met him recently?" The teen asks in a wary tone as he realizes that Galharth very well could have told Giliath about his recent transgressions if they met. "Do you think.. maybe I could go with you? To Imlad?" He glances over at the hobbits, then back to the elf, an all too familiar pleading expression in his brown eyes.
[Giliath(#9838)] Pain manifests itself different in different people. Giliath, having for one instant only allowed his emotions to show, does so no longer. And if his answers are brief and almost curt, who among these who do not know him, would realize it? "It is where I live, yes. My wife is ahead of me on the road." But Chalcedony also receives a ghost of a smile. "The young are always thus," the elf says. His eyes return to Keldean and rest there, broodingly. "You would not like it," he says flatly.
Chalcedony smiles and curtseys briefly, then places her hand on Amarinda's shoulder and draws her back to her side. The lass begins to protest, but Chalcedony shakes her head and presses a finger to her lips. She leans over and whispers something to the child, then straightens. Amarinda stands next to her mother and stays quiet, looking up at the elf still and toying with the small bracelet on her left wrist.
Keldean draws his brows together at the simple answer, and glances over at the hobbits again, then decides to plead his case. "You don't know that, and you said you have a son. I could meet him. I could teach Caelwen our tongue and learn more Sindarin." He hesitates, then adds in a quieter voice, "Nobody likes me in Bree. They don't care about the truth and treat me like I did something horrible. Cordelia is gone.. she.. she left. She's not coming back." When he mentions Cordelia, his pain is far less masked and there's true heartbreak on the youth's face.
[Giliath(#9838)] Giliath's expression doesn't change - still and remote, he regards the boy. "And," he asks at last, "You do not feel that what you did was horrible?" It is a simple question, unweighted by expectation or condemnation. "And that you have told nothing save the truth?" At the lad's final words, there is a brief softening - perhaps, perhaps not - but at the least, there is compassion for pain.
Chalcedony seems as if she is trying not to listen - after all, the conversation does not involve her. She plays with her wedding ring in silence. Her daughter, however, is nowhere near that reserved. Amarinda seems disgusted that there are people who don't like her new acquaintence. "That's not right, Mr. Keldean!" she says hotly. "I like you!" As if to prove it, she steps over to his side and gives him a hug, though her reach is only about to his knees. Chalcedony looks vaguely horrified. "Oh, mercy, Amarinda Took, that's far too forward of you! Come back here."
Keldean grows quiet, looking away for a long time as he weighs Giliath's questions. "They threw me in jail, and I've had to work for Nob without pay ever s-.." He cuts off when the young hobbit throws her arms around his legs, startled. He puts one hand out to the railing on the bridge, catching his balance. He smiles in spite of himself, touched by the unexpected friendliness. "It's okay." He says to Chalcedony, making no move to draw away from the girl.
The teen glances back at Giliath and the smile fades. "I didn't tell them all the details. Some of it was secret. The mayor said if make a single mistake he's going to throw me out of Bree.. They don't want me there anymore and I can't go back home. It's too dangerous for me to travel alone.." At least he's learned a healthy respect for the hazards of the road.
[Molly(#1394)] Coming up toward the bridge now is a youngish human woman of about 25, her hair tied back in kerchief of white embroidered by with blue and yellow flowers. She's got a small bouquet of late-blooming flowers in one hand, and she's whistling to herself, her other hand holding the finely made fabric of her skirts out of the road dirt. Molly, the cloth merchant's daughter, seems to be in a fine mood.
[Giliath(#9838)] Giliath's grave eyes drop to the smallest of these small people, then lift to regard Keldean levelly. "What then would you think is appropriate... repayment?" he asks the boy. Neither by movement or word or glance does he show any knowledge of Molly's approach.
[Chalcedony(#30911)] If Keldean thinks being hugged about the knees by her daughter is all right, then Chalcedony is fine with it, but that doesn't mean she's still trying not to listen. Her eyes narrow ever so slightly as she pays close attention to the conversation. She notices the approach of the whistling lady and she nods politely, but that's the extent of the interaction as far as the hobbit is concerned. Meanwhile, Amarinda continues to hold fast to Keldean's knees, still gazing up at Giliath.
"I worked my time for Nob, like the mayor said. It's been over a month. The last time we talked about it, Nob still wasn't sure if he would hire me back or not. Seeker isn't back.. and his wife is gone." Keldean shrugs, "I don't know what else I can do. Nobody believes what I tell them. I tried to explain everything but they won't listen. They all hate Cordelia and don't like me, and I don't have any friends now that's she's gone.." He shoves his hands into his pockets, balancing better now that Amarinda isn't moving. "Please? Couldn't I go with you? They tell me that I need to act like an adult but treat me like a child even though I try.."
[Molly(#1394)] The elf may not notice Molly, but the young woman certainly takes note of him--a few of the flowers drop slowly from her grasp, as does her mouth. Then she gathers her wits and her skirts, and hurries up to the bridge to listen. Of course she's heard the local gossip about Keldean, the Cordelia girl, Seeker and jail, but the rumors are twisted and now here is Keldean, apparently confessing it all to an elf! Her eyes are bright, her smile not fading, and she comes to stand a little ways behind the group, smiling a greeting to the hobbit woman.
[Giliath(#9838)] "A month with no pay," Giliath repeats levelly. His eyes lift as he turns his head to see Molly, and then returns his gaze to Keldean. In his gaze is a man who can barely speak because of a ruined throat, who has spent months in torment and pain. Abruptly the impatience, the driving urgency that has been held under tight control for this short time, returns, and the elf turns in a swirl of cloth. "Fair even," he says generally, and is gone his tall lithe figure flowing through the drawing dusk until he seems to dissolve into it.
[Chalcedony(#30911)] "Wait!" cries a small voice. Amarinda lets go of Keldean's knees and runs after the elf, losing him almost instantly. She comes back, a dejected look on her face. "I wanted to give him my bracelet so maybe he could give it to his wife. It's pretty, and I bet she is, so she should have it." Chalcedony smiles, then clamps down on it immediately and affects a solemn expression. "I'm sure he would have appreciated it, dear," she says comfortingly, giving her daughter a hug.
Keldean's expression crumbles under the weighted gaze from the elf, guilt and pain returning to his face. "I don't know what else to.." But Giliath is moving away and the teen is left with nothing but a heavy feeling of rejection, his words trailing off. "Everyone says to make ammends but no one will tell me how!" He calls after the elf, frustration and anger spiking to overpower his trampled feelings.
[Molly(#1394)] Oh....Molly sighs quietly as the elf disappears--her eyes widening at the mode of his departure, though. She tilts her head at Keldean's angry words, her expression indicating she doesn't understand one bit of this whole business, except that anytime folk come into her father's shop it has been the topic of conversation. The weather, the crops, Keldean and _that_ girl. "Elves are funny," she says quietly to the teen. "They ahve their own business to attend to." She shrugs and starts to head off toward teh wagons, skirts in hand again.
Chalcedony looks thoughtful for a moment. She watches the lady disappear, then looks back at the Big Person in front of her. "You have my sympathy," she says softly. "I don't know what it is that happened, but I know that rebuilding what's been destroyed is a long process that no one enjoys." Amarinda nods. "I bet you'll figure it out," she says firmly. "Grandpa always says that the good ones who work hard are rewarded in the end. And I still like you."
Keldean gets no response, of course, and Molly's woods aren't terribly comforting since the funny elf just ditched him. He turns his hurt gaze back to Chalcedony, chewing on his lip. "Nobody understands." He murmurs, sinking to sit down on the bridge, uncaring of the mud and dirt. His brown eyes wander to Amarinda and he forces a smile for the girl. "How old are you?"
[Chalcedony(#30911)] "I'm eleven, and I'll be twelve in the spring!" responds Amarinda enthusiastically while her mother watches, smiling. "I'm small for my age, though, so most people think I'm only nine or ten. What about you?" She studies him for a moment. "I'll bet you're at least thirty. You look like you're about to come of age." Chalcedony covers her hand with her mouth, successfully hiding a laugh. Amarinda waits, hands on hips, for an answer.
Keldean blinks in surprise. "You're eleven?" The girl distracts him from his sudden depression as the teen looks confused. She does look a lot younger, but hobbits are different. "I'm almost fifteen.." He answers after a strange look for her guess. "But you think I look older??" There's hope in that question.
Chalcedony's daughter looks taken aback. "Fifteen?!" she says incredulously. "You can't be fifteen! You're almost grown up!" Chalcedony smiles broadly at her daughter and taps her on the shoulder. "Ammy, dear, the Big People age differently than we do. Mr. Keldean is in the middle of his people's kind of tweens." Amarinda replies with an, "Ohhhhh," of understanding, then looks over Keldean once more. "I still think he looks like a grown-up."
Keldean slumps again when Chalcedony shatters his self-esteem, pointing out that he's not an adult. "I almost am.." He answers quietly, in a self-conscious tone. "I'll grow taller." The youth is firmly convinced that his height directly relates to how seriously people take him.
Chalcedony does some quick arithmetic in her head, then smiles. "Height is hardly equivalent to the amount of respect you're afforded," she chides gently, finding herself unconciously landing in mother-mode. "Although, to be fair, it can sometimes help with your desired profession." Chalcedony looks the human over. "If I may be so rude, what sort of profession would you like to see yourself in, Mr. Keldean?"
Keldean senses the sudden shift in attitude from the hobbit, but doesn't seem to care at this point. One of his heroes just denied him and he's too demoralized now to defend his maturity. "I don't know." He answers with a miserable sigh. "I wanted to travel and learn the sword, but I don't have any money for that. Then I thought maybe I could learn to hunt.. " He frowns, some of that earlier guilt returning to his face, "That didn't work out."
[Chalcedony(#30911)] "Mmm. Precious little opportunity for swordplay here in the Shire." Chalcedony shakes her head. "That's too bad, though you certainly seem to be of the sort who would be a worthwhile apprentice." Amarinda, silent for too long, pipes up here. "Maybe you can teach yourself! Heroes always teach themselves if they can't find a master." Chalcedony raises one eyebrow. "Your grandfather has been telling you adventure stories again, hasn't he?" she asks, a small smile appearing.
Keldean turns a careful gaze back to Chalcedony, trying to see if the mother is sincere or not in her words, "What do you mean?" He shakes his head at Amarinda, "No.. I don't have a sword, and it takes years of training." Obviously the teen has looked into the profession. "And you need money to pay someone to teach you."
Chalcedony looks at the young man steadily. "It's true that you need money and years, not to mention equipment. However, from what little I've seen of you, you appear to be able to work without immediate reward for quite some time and it seems that you put your heart into what you do. I'd recommend not yelling at a master, should you find one, about frustrations you encounter," and she smiles, "but when I say I think you'd make a good apprentice I mean it." Meanwhile, Amarinda has stepped off to the side of the road and is grubbing about at the foot of a small bunch of trees.
"Oh.. Well.." Keldean looks embarrassed now, aware that he's spun a rather jaded view on it all and completely failed to mention a more recent bit of trouble to Giliath. "I didn't really have a choice. They were going to throw me back in jail.." He murmurs, flushing.
[Chalcedony(#30911)] "I gathered that," replies Chalcedony serenely, "but you did have a choice - you could have gone back to jail, you could have worked for a while then run away, all sorts of things could have happened, but you accepted the work without pay." She tilts her head to one side. "I don't know the particulars, Master Keldean, nor do I wish to be enlightened at the moment. It's getting dark and my husband will wonder where I've gone off to. Be that as it may, you seem to me to be a good sort, or, at least, a bad sort that's trying to change that." At that moment, her daughter returns. Amarinda is holding a thick, solid stick that's longer than she is tall and quite straight. "Here you are!" she says triumphantly. "I found you a pretend sword you can practice with until you get a real one!" Chalcedony looks down at her daughter and smiles as the lass holds up the stick for the Big Person's inspection.
Keldean brightens some at the assessment of the hobbit, taking the comfort she's offering his battered ego. "I guess." He says in a thoughtful voice. She doesn't want to know the details and the teen doesn't clarify the particulars of how little a choice he had in the matter. Amarinda comes back with the stick and he laughs, reaching for the pretend weapon. "Thanks." He doesn't seem entirely convinced, but rests the stick across his legs. Boredom is sure to win out over self-pity once the hobbits have moved on. "Have a good evening.." He adds, the politness occurring to him after a moment.
Chalcedony smiles. "You as well, Mr. Keldean," she says. "I hope that we meet again, and your circumstances have improved greatly." Amarinda nods. "Make sure you practice hard. You can't learn anything without lots of practice," she advises sagely. The lass hesitates, then pulls the bracelet off of her wrist and holds it out to Keldean. "Here," she says. "If you see your elf friend again, can you give him this? I want his wife to have it." Chalcedony smiles at her daughter, then smothers a final laugh as Amarinda pulls the ribbon from her hair. "And this is for you," the little hobbit says, unaware of her mother's amusement. "Heroes have to have a ribbon or a hanky from a lady with them always, so you can have my hair ribbon and that'll make you an official hero." Amarinda is utterly serious - no trace of a smile or a joke can be found in her words or face as she stands, holding the ribbon out in one hand and the bracelet in the other.
Keldean slowly climbs to his feet, dirt sticking to pants that are already filthy from the road. When Amarinda offers up the bracelet he nods, reaching to take it. "I don't think I'll see him.. but if I do I will." The ribbon surprises him, as so many times the girl has already given the teen unexpected pause. "A ribbon?.. " He smiles, the appreciation more genuine now as he takes the gift in his dirty hand. "Thanks. Maybe if I come on the trip again next year we run into each other." If the teen even remembers, given the turbulent age he's at.
Chalcedony smiles at her daughter and nods her approval. Taking the lass' hand, she turns to leave, waving and calling a farewell over her shoulder. Amarinda copies her mother, and in a few moments, the two of them are gone, disappeared into the darkness towards the lights of Stock.
Players: Keldean, Chalcedony, Giliath, Molly
