Long Lost Leaves

[Earniel]

"Possibly..." came the sleepy response from under the hat.

[Ingwe]

Morning breaks toward the Easterness of the world. The wide flat of the immediate East allows Anor to show itself as a crescent upon the horizon. It felt to Ingwionis as if he were above the Earth.

"No sleep?" A'mael turned to her husband, noticing the he most likely hadn't gotten any sleep. Ingwionis coughs a couple of times. "No, no, I had sleep. Of course that would depend on your definition of sleep." A'mael laughed as she knew her husband to be terrible at lying.

Suddenly, creatures in and around, perhaps above and below, the bushes surrounding the company began to make noise.

"I've been through here before", said A'mael.

"Well as long as it's not a demon of fire. Since those are gone, we don't have to worry about them, or Sauron."

"Well there are at least two remaining somewhere, but not this close to the surface. I think we're not likely to see any of those on our journey." A'mael corrected her husband on the subject of Balrogs.

The creatures within the bushes went quiet momentarily, but something else was stirring some noise through the leaves on the ground...

[Earniel]

Radagast shook the leaves from his blanket, and rolling it up, put it back among the luggage on the back of his horse.

"Good morning all, had a good night sleep? We've got another day of travel ahead."

After breakfast the team saddled up again and departed again into the shadowy wood. The rustling of the leaves accompanied them. So they went on for another two days, but then the travellers found their routine a little upset...

Ten days had passed since they had left Rhosgobel and they were well on schedule. The shadows of the forest had deepened as they neared Dol Guldur, but not a living creature had bothered them. It was new moon, and the sky as well as the forest grew dark. And as the night deepened everybody drifted into sleep.

This was most unfortunate.

For if anyone had been awake, he or she might have heard the rustling leaves change tune and now their whispering became comprehensible.

"All asleep. Shall we eat this night? All this waiting has made me hungry," One complained softly.
"Oh yes, we eat tonight." said the second with a scary chuckle. "Eat well too, some of them look juicy."
"No pinching!" Warned a third. "Not until they're bit and bound."

The first voice giggled. And at the same time a shape moved through the branches above the sleeping group. Even with eight legs, the creature moved remarkably stealthy. It spun a chord and descended from the tree.

One unlucky adventurer, the hermit Ferrin, received a quick bite in the neck and was then spun in and hoisted into a tree within minutes. The spiders carried him to a clearing nearby and hung him from a tree, the first one in the spider's larder. Or was it? There was already a small bundle hanging here... In any case, Bowen and Seratili soon kept Ferrin company.

[feawen]

Nami's rest was uneasy. The noise of the bushes that had followed them for some days unnerved her, but she had remained silent on this matter.

Turning in her sleep she openned her eyes in time to see the legs of one of her fellows dissappear into a near by tree. She stared at the tree for a second puzzled. Then her eyes widened as she quickly jumped up cursing her self for being so foolish.

Oh cause she had know that sound, she had grown up hunting their kind.

An arrow was knocked to her bow before she was at her full high,

"Awake awake all! Attack!" The trees were too dense for even her eyes to see though, Nami feard to fire an arrow into the tree she had seem the legs dissappear into incase she hit one of her fellows. In stead she turned her attension to the near by brushes and tree's, the next thing to move in them she was going to shot.

[Acalewia]

Aelfwine was startled awake by Nami's cry. Blinking a few times, she saw Nami standing with her bow drawn at the trees and bushes. She immeditly grabbed her own bow and nocked an arrow.
"Nami? What is it?" Then she noticed a few of their compainions were missing.
"Awake! We have guests!" Aelfwine joined Nami.

[orithil]

Hedrim rolled right to his feet and had his sword out of his sheath all in a matter of seconds. "form a circle in the middle of the camp, watch each others back" he warned slowly backing into the middle.

[Curufin]

Crouched high in a nearby tree, Abasi had for some time been keeping watch on this group who had invaded his forest. They did not seem to be doing any harm - something he was glad to see - but he did not welcome their presence. The time was long past that he welcomed strangers with an open heart, and the appearance of these had grated on his heart and put him in a rather bad temper.

Average height, dressed in green and brown with his chestnut hair tied severely back into a queue, Abasi was nearly camoflaged against the trunk of the tree. He had watched the group sleep for several days now, although he did not quite understand why they interested him so. Perhaps he just wanted to insure that they appeared and exited without hurting anything.

Ah, yes, that must be it.

Shifting his weight a bit so that his feet did not fall asleep under him, he suddenly noticed another movement in the woods, not so very far away, and he furrowed his brow.

They have disturbed her! he thought, with annoyance. He spent his time trying not to disturb her. He scowled, his eyes focusing on the evil black form as it crept in the direction of the Visitors. He did not wish to reveal himself to them, but he would watch, and if necessary, he supposed, he could give aid.

But not yet.

[feawen]

"Spiders! I count 3 missing!" Nami said in way of explaination as she scanned her eyes around the brushes and nearby areas. Nami begain to back towards the others, Hedrim's plan was a a good one. "All the years ive lived in this wood and i get ambushed by spiders!"

Namis foot shot out and gave Radagast as little too rough kick. She would appolise for it later, if they survied this night.
"You might want to wake up for this!"

Nami's eyes caught a movement in the bushes, an arrow shiftly left her bow and a new one was knocked to it before the cry of a spider in pain reached their ears.

[Earniel]

"Huh, what?" said Radagast who was a heavy sleeper and not used much to rough awakenings. "Guests, you say? Should I make tea?" he managed to mutter sleepily before the wizard was awake enough to know that tea parties were not the right answer to spider ambushes.

He kicked off his blanket and grabbed his staff. "Light!" he shouted and pointed at the dying campfire. A flame sprang up, illuminating the scene and casting dark shadows against the trees. Hastily, the wizard kicked the dried pine cones that were used as kindling and the branches that lay ready to cook breakfast, unto the fire pit.

In his mind, Radagast thanked Haldis' for her habit of always putting everything that they'd need in the morning ready for use before she went to bed. If she hadn't done so, he would have had far more trouble getting some light that quickly.

As the adventurers could now see a little of their surroundings, they also saw many pairs of spider-eyes light up eerily in the trees surrounding them. The spiders hissed angrily to find their ambush thwarted, but it didn't deter them.

[orithil]

A spider came down on a web behind Hedrim. "Watch out!" shouted Nami
Hedrim spun around and cut two legs off the spider then brought his sword up and decaptitated the creature. "Thanks" Hedrim said a little shocked "No problem" replied Nami.

[Curufin]

Abasi's hand clutched his bow as his scowl deepened. The battle was intensifying and he could not, in good conscience, let them fight and die before his eyes.

Dratted annoying thing, conscience.

Straightening a little in his perch, he aimed for the backside of the spider and let an arrow fly, hitting it a little off center. It cried out and looked behind it, but thankfully did not see him. Killing it would cause more problems (in the form of other spiders), so it had not been inaccuracy or mercy that had caused him to miss, but a simple case of self-preservation.

At least, perhaps, he had distracted it long enough that it would give them a chance to gain the upper hand. Without noticing him, he hoped.

But his hopes were dashed and he groaned inwardly as the spider cried out in rage and grabbed his rather distinctive arrow from its hide and threw it on the ground before the others.

Weakly, he hoped they would simply think that it was one of theirs, even though it looked completely different.

[feawen]

Hearing the cry of one of the spiders Nami turned her head slightly. She saw it pull out on arrow out and throw it to the ground, while looking behind it. Nami frown, where had that arrow come from. She let her own arrow fly from its bow, hitting the creature in the centre of its eyes, causing it to fall over on its back, curling its legs up and twitching a bit.
Nami selected her next target and let one of her arrows fly, it reached it mark and had the desired effect of killing the evil beast.
Of couse all this just caused the spiders to get even more angery. Threads of spiders silk began to fly at the small group of defenders. Nami jumped out of the way of one thread only to be caught by another. She was an elf yes, and elfs where quick, but with that many threads flying around odds where one of them would hit. The thread hit her leg causing her to loss her footing. The spiders seeing that they had bought one of the defenders down started to direct they threads toward Nami. Dropping her bow, Nami managed to grab at her sword and had started to hack away at the sticky threads with one hand as she tried to hold onto a tree root with her free hand in an attempt to stop the spiders reeling her in for their next course on the meal.

"Elf meat, sweet!" came the evil laugh from one of the spiders.

"There no away on Middle earth im going to be make into a desert". Panted Nami as she started to hack harder at the spider threads.

[Curufin]

Seeing the elf-maiden caught by the spider, Abasi exhaled deeply, and in great annoyance.

Jumping down from his perch, he came up behind the spider that held her, and catching it by suprise, buried an arrow deep within its head. It stopped, staggered for a bit, then fell over on its side.

He took several steps forward, offering a hand to help Nami to her feet, his eyes unfriendly.

'You should not be here,' he said in Sindarin, but with a strong, and exotic accent. 'None of you should be here.'

[feawen]

Nami expected the elf mans hand and them frowned at his odd comment and unfriendly eyes.
"I live here, as do many elfs" Nami replyed in Sindarin, "But now is not the time to argue about ownership." Back on her feet, Nami kicked off the last of the sticky treads and picked her bow back up, swiftly sending at arrow into the nearest spiders chest. Turning quickly to face the new man she called, "You might not like us here, but i can bet you hate these spiders more, we have friends captured and we need help!" Nami turned back to the battle, sending at arrow over Aelfwine's head and into the abdomen a spider running at her fellow traveler.

[Curufin]

'I do dislike these spiders,' he said sharply, 'and that is the very reason I am careful not to provoke them! I see you have not learned this lesson. After this massacre, there will be far greater trouble with them than there was before. It is sometimes best simply to let them be!'

By the end, his voice was a growl as he notched another arrow and hit one of the spiders right between the eyes. His face was set in an unpleasant scowl which obscured his naturally attractive features, and his body language was less-than-pleased.

[feawen]

Nami was not in a good mood, and this man was just making her more angry!

"Lesson? Oh im sorry if i didn't lie down and let the dear little spiders eat me!" Nami retorted as she swung out with her sword at a near by spider, having changed her bow for her sword.

"Its fine to be massacred by spiders but Illuvator be damed if we hurt the poor man eating, children of evil spiders!"

[Curufin]

'You just don't get it, do you?' he growled, his features dark and somewhat forbidding as he notched another arrow and let it fly with deadly accuracy. 'If you don't go tromping through the woods as loud as a group of orcs, you won't disturb them, and they won't try to eat you!'

He swore in frustration in an unknown language, before firing another arrow.

'Let the spiders lie quietly, and everyone is happy. Disturb them, and you have to deal like this!'

He notched and fired another arrow, his eyes burning with annoyance.

[feawen]

That was it! Noone comparied Nami to an orc.

"Orcs! No you dont get it!" Nami yelled as she swung her sword round again, hitting its spider target but narrowly missing Abasi.

"You say you want to live in peace, then why you come and bother us with your preaching! I dont remember ever starting this fight but im sure as not going to let my friends die for your peace! It seems to me you've had your head in the sand so long you've forgotten which side the elfs fight on!"

Nami sent her sword out to the side cutting a leg off an income spider.

[Curufin]

'You should learn to hold your tongue before you say something you regret!' he hissed, letting another arrow hit its mark. 'Would you have preferred to have me stay in the woods, and let the spider make you its dinner? It certainly would have been easier for me to walk away and leave you. Instead I risk my life to save your hide, and what do I get in return? A proper nagging!'

He let out a gutteral yowl and drew a knife from his boot, throwing it and hitting yet another spider.

'What is it about women, anyway?'

[feawen]

"Oh now its because im a woman!" Nami was fighting a strong desire to kill Abasi! "Anything would have been better than listening to you peach on and on you self rightous bas.."

"NAMI!" Yelled Radagast, "We have more important things my dear!"

Nami shot Abasi a evil look, "Make yourself useful and help me get the others out of the tree's".