Long Lost Leaves - part II

[Aikanáro]

'A time before weapons?' Tabrîl questioned as she caught the t'rai. 'That is not kept within the knowledge of the m'haid. Of my m'haid,' she corrected herself on the return throw, which was faster than her last had been. Clearly Abasi was m'had, and clearly he knew. He had been there, at a time when the old traditions had not yet been so old. A time before they had existed, perhaps, and that was a contemplation better suited to the seth'in, and one which unnerved her.

[Curufin]

'Yes, a time before weapons, when things were far different than they are now. I have forgotten much of it that does not concern the m'haid, but I do - and was allowed to - remember the time of peace before weapons.'

He caught the t'rai and cast them back to her, slightly harder and faster.

'Things were very different...' he said softly. 'So different as to seem almost another life.'

[Aikanáro]

Tabrîl seized the t'rai easily from mid-air, and threw them back to Abasi. She let the Game continue, the pace build, while she gave her reply some consideration. As much consideration as one could give with concentration elsewhere, that was.

The t'rai flew at what was to her approaching normal speed before she spoke again. 'I do not suppose even my m'haidati remembers that. Were you all then as children, at Kuiviénen long ago? There could not otherwise have been peace, I am sure.'

[Coffeehouse]

Finishing his bow & arrow practice, Quickleaf walked into the camp and sat down beneath a tree, in the shade. He pulled out his sword, and started grinding its edges with a smooth stone he'd found at the bottom of the lake, and sang an old elven tune.

[Curufin]

'Perhaps not as children,' he said slowly and pensively, 'but things were different than they are now. There was an innocence to life - a wonder in the world. But things were frightening as well, as everything was unknown, and there were no rules to guide us in what was right and what was wrong. In some ways, things are more comfortable now, settled, as they are.'

He caught the t'rai, continuing to increase the pace. There was no need to throw to Tabrîl as though she were ka'maren and just learning to play. The Game was played quickly, for to test your skill was to deserve to live.

'In that time, the m'haid knew as much as the seth'en. I am glad that those days are passed, and we now know only what it is appropriate for us to know.'

[Aikanáro]

'I cannot imagine such a time,' Tabrîl said, and her catch that time was a little awkward, but she corrected quickly and did not break the rhythm. 'I think perhaps I should not.' Abasi spoke of matters that Tabrîl was almost certain she would be told to forget, had she learnt of them at home. 'It is right that the seth'in know more than the m'haid, it cannot be otherwise.'

She matched Abasi's pace as he increased the speed of the Game, but after a time she began to hold back a fraction, recollecting his injured shoulder. She did not know him well enough to judge his limits with any degree of accuracy, and it was not her intention to cause him harm.

'I find these times difficult,' she told him then, intending to change the subject to something more comfortable. 'The world outside the lands of the Kindi is not as I remember it. When last my people had need to journey alongside uwindi, we had a separate camp of our own. They had not proximity enough to us to be able to offend.' She spoke with a hint of regret, as if wishing this were still the case.

[Curufin]

'Indeed, I remember also when it was so. But change has come to the land, and not all of it for the better. Things cannot always remain as they were.'

He caught the t'rai easily and returned them.

'You do not need to hold back for me. My injury is not severe.'

[Aikanáro]

Tabrîl smiled at him then. 'What makes you think that I do?' she asked lightly, before sending the t'rai his way in a particularly rapid and dangerous throw. If he thought he was capable, she wasn't about to contradict him. Any mistake Abasi made would be entirely his own fault, and if he asked Tabrîl to play as she would were he not injured, she would do so.

'Uwindi ways may change,' she commented, 'but not ours, not in the things that truly matter. At least, my in'kasha would not allow it. I cannot, of course, speak for your tribe.'

[Willow Oran]

Leaving Radagast to read, Haldis sat midway between Abasi and Tabrîl, staying at a polite (and safe) distance.

Their change in behavior towards each other was very subtle. If not for the binding Haldis might have gone oblivious to it for many days, but she and Tabrîl were currently bound and so the change registered.

And so Haldis sat, cross-legged, hands on knees, watching the hypnotic back and forth of the daggers. She had meant to speak to Tabrîl, to convince her to come underground in the morning, but that could wait. The widow would not interrupt new love.

Haldis smiled to think that; it was strange that she should have that experience over them. Her smile faded and unconciously her hand crept up to touch the crude carved bear. It had been too short a time with hers.

Dropping her hand she watched the daggers and in the space between their flights remembered.

[Aikanáro]

After a time Tabrîl became aware of Haldis watching them play. It did not disrupt the Game. Tabrîl knew better than to let anything startle her while the t'rai were in the air. It did, however, give her a slight feeling of unease. The Game of the People was not an amusement for uwindi to gawk at, even if she knew Haldis meant no harm by it.

It was not long after she had noticed their spectator, then, that she caught the t'rai for the last time, and held them still.

'We should end here for now,' she said to Abasi quietly, and again she smiled at him, and slotted the knives neatly back through her belt. 'I look forward to the time when we can play again.' They were well-matched in this, at least, and that was a good sign.

[Earniel]

Since the night had been short, Radagast had waited a while until everyone had rested and eaten, before gathering them all again in the camp.

"I know not many of you have slept very well this night but I'd like to continue today with exploring Dol Guldur's underground. Especially now, since we're a little bit closer.

Quickleaf and Hedrim came back yesterday with a document which can shorten our stay here considerably. On its own, it's a fairly useless document: orders to servants of the archive to file certain documents at a specific place. It's written in an unapetising mixture of black speech and some of the Northern languages, which is probably why some of it looked familiar to Hedrim.

But while the document's own purpose is useless to us, it does contain some directions in the archives. I've been able to piece some of it together and I am now fairly certain we're not only on the right track but that the information we seek is indeed here, in the private study or personal archive of the vanquished lords of Dol Guldur.

Today we will concentrate our efforts on these tunnels here," the wizard said pointing on his amended map of Dol Guldur's underground archive. "Be sure to take enough torches with you, and don't wait until they're extinct to come back. As for those who wish to stay above ground today... The weather is warm and friendly today, but the birds of the forest speak of a storm coming this evening. I'd like you to move the camp for tonight closer to the ruins of Dol Guldur. I know the place is not appealing to camp on, but the terrain is more open, and we're less likely to be crushed by falling trees. The ruined walls and pillars may provide us with more cover against the storm."

[The Sasquatch of Fangorn]

"YES!!!" shouted Borin, hopping to his feet. "Let's go!"

[feawen]

Nami had not been happy as she listened to Radagast. She had secretly thought that she would get away with not going underground with Ellysa. But now the mention of a group venture down there had killed them left hopes.
She could still say no but then she would have hurt Ellysa and that was something Nami was not ready to do to her young friend.

Nami caught the movement of Quickleaf out of the corner of her eye as he stood up and left the group. Would he be coming with them? She would feel better with him there. Wait no she wouldn't she was still mad at his foolishness. She couldn't stay mad at him forever. Forever was a long time for an elf!

Nami turned back to the group. Well at least Borin was excited about it. Who better to have down there with you then a dwarf!
Well no point thinking about it, thinking does not get done! Nami looked over Ellysa, catching her eye before she looked to Radagast.

"Ellysa and...i wish to go down soon too Master Radagast." There is was done, but she still didn't feel any better about it.

[Coffeehouse]

Quickleaf returned from the stream with a full water flask and ready to go. He would bring his bow & arrow and dagger, but his watered-steel broadsword would stay behind.

Seeing Nami talking to the wizard, Quickleaf walked up to them.
"Master Radaghast, I will go along down into the underground. I have a fairly good memory of the pathways that lead to the library. That is.." And he looked at Nami "if I'm welcome to join the rest of you."
Quickleaf's eyes fell upon Nami and he whispered "Forgive my foolishness, I wasn't acting by mind but my heart. You don't have to look or talk to me, but I can be of help down in the dark undergrounds beneath Dol Guldur. I have already seen it."

[Earniel]

Radagast nodded to Nami's volunteering. He could see she did not like the prospect of entering the dark underground, but dealing with one's fears is something everyone should decide for themselves on their own pace. He would not stop her, but he considered that perhaps someone else should accompany the two young women, just in case.

Quickleaf's volunteering troubled him more.

"Are you sure you are able to, Quickleaf?" the wizard asked. "I know that the wound you have received yesterday has been well tended to, but it was no mere scratch and it will hinder you for a long while yet."

[The Sasquatch of Fangorn]

"I'll look after him, Master Radagast" said Borin hefting his pack onto his back.

[Curufin]

Abasi frowned when Radagast spoke, hoping that the seth'enati would not speak at great detail about the contents of the document they had found. Such things were most certainly not for the m'haid to know, and he would much rather Radagast simply tell him what to do than to tell him why he must do it.

'Why' was not a question that concerned a m'had.

Closing his ears while the unwelcome information came, he came back to himself when Radagast spoke of going underground.

'I shall stay above ground,' Abasi said firmly. It was obvious that this was a place of mysteries, perhaps even of those holy things that a m'had should not even know about, let alone touch. His talents would be better served protecting those that went below, rather than going below himself.

[Mari]

With a feeling of apprehension and pending doom Ellysa got her bo, some food and water, the torches and a few of her things. She was ready to go down, on the one hand determined to prove she wasn't a traitor, but on the other almost certain that she would die and was now leading the others to their death.

She went to Nami to tell her she had changed her mind, but looking at the face of the elven girl she suddenly forgot her own fears and remembered Nami's.
She is going down for my sake. Even though she's afraid and knows she will die if my vision is right... I must go down too. I will prove I'm not a traitor!

Determined she gripped her bo a bit tighter and touched Nami's hand.
"Thank you. With you there, I'm sure it'll be fine." She tried to smile a reassuring smile.

[Midge]

Aerin yawned as she made her way through yet another corridor. The sun was rising and more light was slowly coming through the holes in the roof. Although she hadn't slept for almost two and a half days, Aerin was not ready to simply lie down and fall asleep in the middle of Dol Guldur. The last time she'd slept, it had been in a pit which had no ceiling and was brightly sunlit at noon, and she'd only slept for a few hours. She didn't know when she would find another pit like that one, which felt safe enough to let herself be vulnerable.

With that thought, she realized that she hadn't been doing anything to tell her where she'd already been looking for the way out, but immediately after that, she thought, "It's not as though I'd be able to find my sign to myself anyway." She went back to her slow wandering after yawning one more time.

[Willow Oran]

As the sun rose Haldis had packed a small bag to take into the tunnels with her and now as the company split once more into those who would explore and those who would watch the camp Haldis came to stand beside Tabrîl, looking expectantly up at the elf, "I must enter the tunnels today," she said, "It will be best if you come with me."