Long Lost Leaves

[feawen]

A dull thud reached Nami's sharp ears in the still of the forest. Unnerved by the watchful feeling Nami following the sound, bow ready. A splash of gray colour in the green, brown forest caught her eye. Looking a little closer she recognised the unconscience form.

Nami sighed and pulled a disappointed face as she walked up to the unconscience Quickleaf. Noticing the herbs that lay near Nami guessed at his intension for coming out here. Knowing he never went anywhere with out his water flask, Nami took it and the herbs that lay nearby, found a flatish stone and begain making a paste out of the herbs and water with praticed hands. Nami was not much as a closer fighter, although skilled with a bow Nami had found that bow work was only really useful when the fight was a distance off. So she had learned a few healing things, how to bandage, small bits of herb lore.

Turning back to Quickleaf asleep by the tree, she knelt next to him, turning her attension on his wounds, sure she was mad but that did not mean she could leave him there. Wake him up, make him better, then shout at him!
Nami looked at the wound, it needed cleaning but at least it had stopped blooding, the body had started the healing process. Anything Nami did would just help it along. At first she reached for her own cloak for a rag to clean the wound with, then she thought better of it.
"Its his mess." she muttered as she ripped a strip off Quickleafs cloak and wet it. Cleaning the wound of dry blood and debis before applying the paste.

[Curufin]

Abasi looked at the two elves who approched him, and tensed. Did they think he was weak, to need such coddling? He frowned, but after a moment let go of his tension. They did not mean offense - at least he knew Tabrîl did not.

'It is quite deep,' he said noncommittally. 'It perhaps needs stitches and I am concerned about putting them in at this angle myself.'

[Aikanáro]

Tabrîl nodded. 'I will stitch it for you, then,' she replied evenly. She had taken care of such wounds many times before, when she had travelled abroad with her m'haid, and though she was not ka'marein she certainly knew better than the child Elyssa how to deal with Abasi's injury.

After gathering together what she needed, she carefully cleaned the wound and began to stitch it, very neatly and quickly. She did not speak as she did so, preferring to concentrate on her task in silence.

[Mari]

Ellysa looked as Tabril worked on stitching Abasi up. She guessed Abasi had said he was fine, because that would be typical or so she thought.

"I'm glad you two have each other. It must be hard to connect to others when you've been alone for a long time." Ellysa smiled at Abasi, hoping to show that she wasn't angry about the earlier fight.
"Can I ask you something though? Why did you fight Quickleaf?"

[Curufin]

Abasi furrowed his brow and looked at her questioningly.

'What else would you have had me do?'

[Mari]

Ellysa was taken slightly aback. She had expected Abasi to tell her how he was a warrior and couldn't let his pride get insulted or something similar. It was the reason she always heard but wasn't supposed to understand, being a woman.

"What a strange question."
Ellysa wrinkled her nose trying to think of an answer.

"I think I can't answer that without knowing why you decided you had no other alternative." She looked questioningly at Abasi, not really expecting to be answered.

[Aikanáro]

Tabrîl continued tending to Abasi's injured shoulder as he spoke with Ellysa. She could not understand more than a few words of the Westron they spoke. Fight, that word she knew, and several others, but not enough to make sense of the conversation. She let them continue uninterrupted, trusting that Abasi knew what Elyssa said and saw no harm in it.

[Curufin]

Abasi looked at her with matching confusion. He did not know how to answer her strange question.

'His words were unacceptable...' he said, unsure that was what had been understood.

Surely she had understood that?

[orithil]

After Hedrim finished sharpening his sword he threw the stone into the ground and picked up the sword. He held it in front of his face and flourished it a few times. He had however noticed Quickleafs fighting prowess during the battle and for that he was surprised, with Abasi's many years of training he suspected that the battle would have been over quickly, or course he knew radagast would not let the fight continue. A duel was a sacred thing not to be interfared with, at least between elves.

He looked over at his horse and got up and began polishing the armour, he then checked his lance which was lashed onto the right side of his horse (onto the armour of course, strangley Hedrim was very fond of animals and always took care of them)

He glanced at Abasi who was having stiches, funny thing he thought, he was the only one in the party who wore heavy armour, plate mail armour. With that he mounted his horse and galloped off into the woods to find Nami and Quickleaf.

[Mari]

"I see" she said, while not understanding it at all.
Ellysa had no idea what Quickleaf could have said that was so unacceptable. Especially because Nami had said the fight was over doing the dishes.

"I never took Quickleaf for someone who would provoke someone on purpose. I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding!" Ellysa nodded as she decided this. Yes, that had to be it.
"Well, the dishes have been done now, so you don't have to worry about doing those anymore!"

She sat down, shooting Abasi and Tabril a sunny smile before looking up at the sky where stars could still be seen. "Where I come from, there are many stories about the stars and their formations, though our stars are a bit different. What stories do your people tell about stars? Do they tell you stories of great battles fought long ago or stories of trying love as well?"

[feawen]

The wound cleaned and the paste applied, Nami needed to bind the wound or close it somehow. With her needle and thread back at camp and no strips of cloth long enought to bind the wound Nami was stuck on want to do with the unconscience elf. The kind thing to do would have been to let him sleep while she sat quitely by. But that would be the kind thing and Nami was not feeling kind. Instead she stood up infront of him, hands on her hips and gave his foot a swift kick. It wasn't a hard kick but she vaguely remember Abasi stooding on it. Oh well, serves him right!

"Wake up you useless lump of an elf." After kicking him she turned around, picking her things back up while muttering not too quitely.

"Fool idoit...got an other thing coming if he thinks im going to drag his sleeping lump but to camp...ruddy men!"

[orithil]

Hedrim cantered through the woods on his horse to see Nami kicking Quickleaf. He laughed "Have a problem do we?!?" he swung himself off his horse and knelt down next to Quickleaf, if you need him back at camp put him on the back of my horse.

[Curufin]

Abasi looked at Elyssa with a combination of confusion and amusement. Did she wish for him to tell her stories? He was not a storyteller!

'The stars shine,' he said. 'And there are many.'

Turning to Tabrîl as she finished the stitching, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly in something that could vaguely be considered a smile. He removed one of his three-pointed daggers from his belt, and after a moment's hesitation, offered it to Tabrîl, hilt outward.

[feawen]

Nami turned to Hedrim and smiled, laughing slightly. "Help would be great thanks! The damn fool went and got him self stabbed didn't he and now his gone and passed out, thinking i'm going to drag him back!"
Nami had walked up to the horse, stroking the horse's nose, "You don't want that lump on your back do you?!" Turning back to face Hedrim, her eyes quickly looking at the lump that was Quickleaf. "Put him on the horses back or that him be dragged back, its more than he deserves." Although her words and voice were angry, her face told a different story. "Lets get him back to camp. I need him to get better so i can knock some sense into him later!"

[Aikanáro]

Tabrîl stared at Abasi for a long moment, unsure of what to make of this. Did this offering mean the same to his tribe as it did to hers? Did he know the significance of it?

He had to, she reasoned. He would not offer if he did not, and Tabrîl could not say that the idea did not appeal to her. She hesitated just a fraction longer before she took the dagger from him and examined it. It was clearly very old, but very well-made. It was a good t'rai, and she smiled at him as she hooked it through her belt.

Then she took one of her own, and held it out to him the same way, her fingers curled lightly around the blade.

[Curufin]

Abasi reddened just slightly, and exhaled a bit in relief. It had been a bit of a gamble, but it appeared as if he had not acted in foolishness. He grasped the offered weapon, and ran his fingers over the solid tempered steel of Tabrîl's t'rai.

He looked at her as he hooked it tenderly in his belt.

[Coffeehouse]

Twig and leaf, branch and bush, Quickleaf felt the forest moving fast about him. The air hit his face and he woke up, his blue eyes getting glimpse of the rising sun, the stream of light flowing down between the trees.

[feawen]

Nami walked at the side of the horse carrying Quickleaf as Hedrim lead it towards the camp. Nami had made her mind up that as soon as Quickleaf was back at the camp she was going back on her patrol. Quickleaf could look after his self, she'd done her part by bring him back. Along the way she had picked up a small twig, no real reason she had got it, more something to keep her hands busy. Seeing the lump on the horse move she took the twig and poked it.

"Well at least your not dead!" Nami said bitterly. Nami continued to poke Quickleaf with the twig a few times, as if making sure that he was still alive and continued to walk by the horses' side in silence.

[Coffeehouse]

Quickleaf smiled weakly, watching the ground move beneath him. He was glad to be found, but ashamed to be in such a poor state. "Are you trying to poke me to death?" Quickleaf muttered. He'd have to get some needle and string at the camp, sow himself up, recover.

[feawen]

Nami glared coldly at Quickleafs' comment,

"Didn't tempt me." Nami give him one last warning poke before dropping the twig on the ground.
"Anyway you don't need me to kill you, you managed to do a pretty good job of that yourself."