Safety First

Wooded Vale

In this small level clearing, a large brook plunges over a fall of green-hued stone to the immediate north, and foams down into a small dell at your feet, before continuing its hurried way south. About the pool are fir-trees, short and bent, keeping the company of harts-tounge and shrubs of whortle-berry which cloth the area. One fir tree, larger than the others, stands in their midst as a shepherd might stand amidst their flock. To the west, the high promontories of the Misty Mountains range, their peaks shrouded in snow, block any travel in that direction. To the east, the foothills of the mountains blend into a wide hazy plain.

Contents:

Elnara

Lothuial

Haldir

Galadhrim Camp Object

Obvious exits:

Southeast, South, North, and East

---------------------------------------------------------------- +ELF TIME ----

================== Eldarin Calendar ===================

IC time is:    Early Night < About  9:14 PM >

IC day is:     Orbelain

IC date is:    23 Rhiw

Moon phase:    Last Quarter

Earendil:      Gil-Estel is not visible.

IC year is:    Loa 23 o Yen 22, Nelandran o Endor

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RL time:        Sat Sep 19 22:05:00 2009

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Calendar help: +ELF TIME HELP    Quenya version: +ELF TIME QUENYA

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[Haldir(#25231)] 

A layer of clouds blots out the moon, threatening wind and a cold night. Snow already lays heavy upon the ground, silent pale fingers reaching out to stay the lips of the nearby brook. The evergreens show dark against the ground all creatures sleep or are otherwise quiet.

A line of elves, grey-clothed and solemn, crosses the wintry vale this evening.

They say little, though safety is still with them so close to Lorien. But the marchwarden Haldir sets a swift pace, and only now does he pause, looking behind his shoulder at those who follow.

A whisper upon the bitter air, a passing shadow, the company moves onward, light footfalls unhindered by the fresh blanket of snow. Near the rear of the trailing group of guardsmen, Veredhiel treads, and the squire's gray eyes gaze around the passing terrain with a reserved air of curiousity.

[Lothuial(#31744)] Lothuial moves directly behind Haldir, all lineaments and personality concealed beneath an impersonal cloak of grey. At her back a bow, the fact that it is still unstrung testifying to their nearness to Lorien's shelter. She keeps pace with Haldir, her own feet nestling into the same lines taken by his own - it could be one Elf moving through the snow, or a score for all the trail they shall leave. When the Marchwarden makes his pause, Lothuial slows behind him, momentarily increasing the distance between them. The sudden wariness that overtook her eases as he only looks to those that follow, and Lothuial waits with endless patience.

[Elnara(#30361)]

Elnara looks up as Haldir pauses, glancing back as well. She turns her eyes back to Haldir, raising an eyebrow in question. She shifts her pack on her shoulder, looking around at the mountains to the west. The sentinel sighs softly, barely a breath of wind on the chill air, turning to look up at the stars from under her cloak.

[Haldir(#25231)] 

The crossroad is here, where Lorien finally gives to wild, and time. Haldir turns again, gazing deep at the firs and snow-clad trees, and steps forward again.

"We shall rest now," he calls, words flowing down the line in smooth Sindarin, "for the night is young, and we ought not to venture further in the dark."

At the marchwarden's words, Veredhiel shrugs her shoulders slightly, shifting her own bag of equipment onto her other side. She looks out from underneath her raised grey cowl at the designated rest area, and breathes a soft sigh of relief, for as of yet the company's journey has gone unthreatened with the haven of the Wood so nigh. The smooth longbow still rests unstrung across the elleth's chest.

[Lothuial(#31744)] Lothuial abandons her place in line, shrugging out of her pack and setting it upon the snow. Kneeling, she begins to rustle about in it, searching for something. A little box is soon brought out, at which she tilts her head, opening it with a curious expression. What she sees causes her to laugh, a rich peal ringing against the snow.

"Would anyone care for a strawberry?" she asks, proferring the box and its strawberries to the rest of the patrol. Her mirth has settled into a bright smile.

[Elnara(#30361)] Elnara nods and lowers her pack, rolling her shoulder a little as she does. She smiles as she hears Lothuial laugh, nodding and walking to her. She holds out her hand for the fruit, smiling somewhat tiredly. "It was good thinking to bring fruit along. We will soon become tired of our provisions, and wish for something with flavor."

[Haldir(#25231)] 

A pink-cheeked squire (he blushes from the cold, to be certain) steps lightly to the proffered strawberries, and indeed, the rest of the line is gladdened by the laughter, and perhaps also the fruit. Haldir stoops to set up a tent, his back turned to the merriment.

There is a bright smile as the red fruits are offered, and the squire moves forward as the camp relaxes, her own pack getting put down for now on the grass beside her as she reaches small fingers for a strawberry. "Fortunate thinking, indeed," she agrees happily as a bite is taken. "Lembas are best for sustaining travelers, but one can never have too much real fruit. Thank you, mellon."

Veredhiel steps off now, heading to help set up camp for the night.

[Lothuial(#31744)]

Lothuial regards the line with something like worry, her eyes darting from head to head in a count, the whole process repeated on her strawberries. She pulls a face, like mock pain, and holds out a single berry to the cherry-cheeked scout. Another is given to Veredhiel, alone with another laugh, "Indeed! There is nothing like fruit, and no fruit like a strawberry..."

Even as she speaks she doles out more of the precious fruit. Unnoticed by her, Elnara receives a stem that holds two, not one, of the berries.

[Elnara(#30361)] Elnara almost gives back one of the berries, but pauses. She glances toward Haldir for a moment, then turns and walks to where the marchwarden is setting up the tent. She pulls apart the berries, offering one to him. "Here. I would not want you to miss the little bit of home Lothuial has brought."

[Haldir(#25231)] 

Haldir straightens, calm demeanor somewhat offset by the tent-pole held under his arm. His expression is rather bemused, and he reaches out a hesitant, leather-gloved hand to accept the berry. "Thank you," he says to Elnara, and nods in appreciation to Lothuial -- but there is a crowd of grey-cloaked ellyn about her, and she may not see it ...

[Lothuial(#31744)]

Lothuial does not see it. She has just set the third-to-last strawberry into the delicate hand of yet another female Squire.

Said female Squire begins to meander away from the group gathered around Veredhiel, casting frequent, anxious glances to someone further down the ranks.

She appears quite distracted, her eyes wide and staring at the complete lack of -- Lorien -- around her. It is while thus gawking that the elleth, with her drawn hood, sets herself on a backward collision course with the Marchwarden.

[Elnara(#30361)] Elnara smiles, nibbling at the tip of her strawberry, not wanting to eat too quickly. "Would you like some help? I am not sure how much help I can be with a tent, but I will gladly try." She takes another small bite of the fruit, quickly catching some juice that comes from it on her tongue. She glances down at the fruit to watch the juice pool in the slight indent made by her teeth, not noticing the Squire coming toward Haldir.

Veredhiel works quietly as her fingers focus on the tent she is putting up, and she pushes a stray strand of raven hair back into her hood as it falls loose.

Another elf comes forward to aid the squire, and their combined efforts soon set the tent upright. That task now complete, Veredhiel turns toward Haldir in time to spot the other squire heading straight for him, and her lips part for the moment as if to give warning a hesitation, for she is not that close and is wary of causing a loud noise in case unfriendly ears are listening...

[Haldir(#25231)] 

The fruit disappears whole: Haldir raises his glove, and then it is gone. He dips his head again in thanks, and proceeds to fit the tent-pole into the grey canvas. "If you wish, there is the other end," points the marchwarden. "It will be much simpler with two..."

A sound startles him, be it the nearing of wavering footsteps or another he turns sharply upon his heel, a movement dislodging hood from hair. The elleth's back he misses, though he stretches out a swift arm to stay her fall...

[Elnara(#30361)] Elnara finishes her strawberry, chewing slowly as she bends to take the other end of the pole. She looks up sharply as she hears the marchwarden turn quickly. She purses her lips a little as she watches for a moment before returning to the task of tugging up the pole, using her right arm to balance it out a little as she tries to lift it.

[Lothuial(#31744)]

The Squire does not notice either Haldir or the tent until it is too late. One foot twines in the slender rope of the tent, a surprise which causes her to give a cry. Down she tumbles, too shocked to do much else. Elven grace has failed her utterly in the face of such eye-opening things -- no trees, heaps of snow, mountains, cold...

One hand twines round Haldir's arm in an attempt to save herself a tumble in the snow, but even as she does so she twists her head in a desperate bid to keep her hood from falling. To no avail. With a flutter of dark hair, Nalas' blinking pale face stares up at Haldir in horror.

Veredhiel watches the sentinel and marchwarden as the two lift the pole, and she paces forward to Elnara's side, placing a soft hand upon the other elleth's shoulder. "Here, let me aid you with that, mellon." She gives a silent nod toward Elnara's injuried arm. "The more hands, the b--"

The tumbling squire catches Veredhiel completely off guard, and she reaches out a hand to help the poor elleth back to her feet. She appears for the moment at a loss for words at the unexpected display of clumsiness, and a glance is exchanged with a fellow guard.

"I thought stealth was the key in this trip?" the ellon says, a light tone in his voice though he seems slightly concerned at this.

[Haldir(#25231)] 

Haldir's arm is suddenly weighted by an elleth -- a squire she is not -- who, though light, is nevertheless a surprise. He nearly drops the supporting arm, but the approach of Veredhiel causes him to return to attention, and a wintry frost settles over his mien.

"Good day, Nalas," he murmurs. "It is a poor day for excursions."

[Elnara(#30361)] Elnara smiles to Veredhiel, still holding the pole upright. She turns her head toward the other guard, shrugging her shoulders as well as she can with the pole in her hand. "We all make mistakes... We are not perfect, after all. I just hope this does not become a regular occurrence." She purses her lips slightly, emerald eyes moving to Nalas for a moment. "Are you alright?" she asks calmly, though she trails off as Haldir's demeanor becomes somewhat chilly.

[Lothuial(#31744)]

Nalas gasps and clings to Haldir's tunic as he lets her drop closer to the ground. Her breath comes in gasps, and she is just able to mutter a "so it would seem" in reply. The maid is quick to pull herself up, straightening her tunic with shaking hands. She stays rooted in spot, alternately staring at the ground and Haldir's icy countenance.

Nalas spares a hand to free a dark tress, letting it fall before her face to hide her trembling lips. Rather than look at the Marchwarden or any of those about him, she now keeps her gaze studiously lowered, head turned from them. Her fingers worry the hem of her cloak.

A gentle smile is given Nalas as Veredhiel reassures her, "No harm done, provided you yourself are not hurt." The marchwarden's stern gaze is meet, yet the squire says nothing for the sake of the elleth. Instead she turns again to help with the task of the tent, her grey cloak fluttering in the chill breeze.

[Elnara(#30361)] Elnara looks away from Nalas and Haldir, turning her attention back to the tent. Her curiosity keeps drawing her eyes back to the marchwarden every now and again. She raises an eyebrow to Nalas' covering her face with her hair, making her shake her head slightly. "When we have finished with this tent, would you mind helping me with mine?" she asks quietly, turning her emerald gaze back to Veredhiel.

[Haldir(#25231)] 

A moment more, and a deep chagrin settles over Haldir's expression. He stoops, reaching a hand out to the maid Nalas. "I did not mean to startle you," he says, a quick nod of acknowledgement given to Elnara and Veredhiel. "But this is no place for the unarmed."

"Norweg," he calls, and a cloaked shape slips from the line of strawberry-munching, tent-setting warriors. "Please escort her to the Fences and then return."

The squire nods toward Elnara, "Yea, gladly," Veredhiel says. There is a pause as she glances back to see the scene unfolding behind the two, her arms continuing to help with the wooden pole. Her own gray-eyed face returns to the elleth beside her, and she says to Elnara, "I hope no others who are unprepared have taken this road with us."

[Elnara(#30361)] "Indeed. We will have enough to worry about, without always checking over our shoulders to make sure that others are unharmed." Elnara pushes the tent support down into the ground, stepping back and towards her own tent. She picks up the pole, pushing the tent fabric against the top and begins the process of putting it up.

[Lothuial(#31744)]

"There is no need," a voice answers from amid the now spreading line of Lorien's guards. A grey cowl is lowered, revealing the golden head of Rumil. He advances from the line, drawing abreast of his brother with an expression of deep chagrin set upon his countenance. "You did not think she would venture from Lorien alone?" Nalas falls away from Haldir, her horror-wide eyes trained upon his feet she does not stir as Rumil takes her elbow.

The maid's grey eyes at last wander away from the snow and the Marchwarden's boots, settling upon the belts of the ellith. Her mouth is twisted in abject terror, and she shakes her night-crowned head, releasing a bitter tear, "I am sorry," she murmurs, "I did not mean to cause trouble. I only wished to see what was beyond Lorien...a jest. I..." Her words are lost in a gasp. She steps nearer to Rumil at Elnara's words, as though she feels each as a painful barb.

[Haldir(#25231)] 

Norweg returns to his strawberry, and a hushed murmur of disapproval (perhaps more for the coldness of their leader than the misdemeanor of the elleth) spreads among the now nearly-completed camp.

"I did not expect such." The marchwarden's eyebrows raise at the appearance of his brother, but he turns to the tents now. "There are other occasions to which you are welcome in the traveling party," Haldir replies, his voice warming slightly -- a thawed mountain stream at most. "Remember this: a patrol involves the risk of one's life -- and not only of your own, but that of others. Do be careful, Nalas."

He strides through the snow, leaving nary a print behind, but plenty of rumor and thought.

[Lothuial(#31744)]

Nalas could not look more unhappy had Haldir struck her. A pitiful moan escapes her lips, her fingers clutching convulsively at Rumil's tunic. She bows forward, a leaf swaying in an icy wind. Rumil holds her fast a moment, watching his brother depart with a grim frown. But now he pulls Nalas by the shoulder, forcing her to turn, that they might make their way back to Lorien. He says nothing, and for long nor does she.

A rumour of her words may come back to those nearer the scene, that in departing she wept and said to Rumil, "You told me he would not mind! I did not mean to put any in danger. Ai! Let us home. These lands are ice and sorrow."