Long Lost Leaves - part II

[feawen]

Nami felt a little strange as Ellysa started stammering at her.
"Ok ok! Thank me when we get out of there alive!"

Nami realised what she had said and quickly added, "Which we will!"

Nami looked at the happy smile on Ellysa face, this young girl seemed to be looking up to Nami. For once Nami had more than just herself to look after. Pushing all the thoughts of crushing death to the back of her mind she smiled at Ellysa, "Come on lets get back to the others."

[Coffeehouse]

Releasing the last of his arrows, Quickleaf went over to the dead trunk. Seven arrows stood neatly centred in the lower part of the tree, two had hit the base of the tree, and three other arrows stood scattered around the tree. "Slightly better" Quickleaf smiled to himself and retrieved his arrows.
Going back to the place he shot from, Quickleaf closed his eyes, pulled out an arrow and sent it flying off towards the tree.

[Amael]

Since Ingwionis had confronted the spirit not far within Dol Guldur, he had gotten to sleep easier, and so A'mael had not been required to go after him again.

"An Elf to risk his life for something that isn't really that crucial. Especially one so old as you. This time we'll go there together. Dol Guldur is definitely a lot bigger inside than it appears on the outside. Trying to go in there alone to encounter every spirit and every corridor isn't too wise." A'mael expressed doubt in her eyes when talking to her husband. "What is it, A'mael?" Ingwionis recognized the look on A'mael's face, the look of doubt. "I doubt that there could be anything dangerous in there, except for your own fears. The spirits there are sleepless but timid now. They must appear to you only when you think of them enough, or when you fear them the most." Her husband shook his head at the statement. "I didn't even hit that thing with my sword. It just fell apart in front of me and presented this small piece of the map to me, as if to give it away freely."

A'mael pondered the possibility of finding the other pieces of the map in the same way, but it was very unlikely all of the pieces of the map would be held in the same way. That spirit her husband encountered was probably the only one left. Were the other pieces stuck in bricks or blocks in the walls or the floor? Were ssome of them carved into the walls? Or was the answer much more easy to find?

A'mael relaxed, once again laying down to watch the sky. Cloudless day again. Very peculiar, she thought.

[Acalewia]

Aelfwine smiled, knowing which misbehaving elf Nami spoke of. As the elf left, Aelfwine unsheathed her belt knife. If she were to go into the caves, it could possible be her only defense. She feared arrows in the dark could kill one of her friends on accident. As she had told Nami, Borin and Hedrim after the spider attack, she wasn't skilled with the sword. Th knife was the only close combat weapon she knew. She would still bring her bow, she decided. Examing the knife, Aelfwine saw it could stand for a little sharpening. She sat cross-legged and began to sharpen her knife.

[Aikanáro]

Tabrîl nodded, and took her t'rai from her belt, Abasi's along with her own. She smiled to herself at the sight of it, a small reminder of what they now shared.

'I shall begin it, then' she offered, and settled herself cross-legged opposite Abasi, calling to mind the intense and yet entirely familiar focus she would need for this. When she thought him ready, she made the first throw, a gentle one, high and curved. It was always best to begin slowly, the building of speed was itself part of the rhythm.

'This is one thing, at least, that uwindi cannot bring to ruin,' she commented. 'If I must remain far from home, I am very glad that there is one here still who would play it with me.'

She was glad of Abasi's presence for reasons beyond simply that, of course, but it was what came to mind, and so she said it. In her hall it had been typical for those contemplating partnership to partner each other in the Game also, it led to greater ease of conversation, when the majority of one's attention had to be given to the t'rai. It was a chance to speak alone, and more freely than otherwise.

[Curufin]

'It is the Game and Rythym of our People,' Abasi said, returning the t'rai easily after catching them perfectly in his grasp. 'In the game one can feel totally windi at the same time you learn what it truly is to be windi.'

'We played at Kuiviénen, as well - ka'maren style, then, as we did not yet have or need weapons. Even then, the rythym was true.'

[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."

[Midge]

With one more look over her shoulder, Aerin plunged ahead into the semi-darkness. Those small shafts in the ceiling may let in a tiny bit of light, but they also illuminated every speck of dust in the air which made it just as hard to see what was coming.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a wall appeared in front of Aerin.

"Oh, no! Not again! A map of this place would have been helpful; from now on, I'm suggesting they put it on the required supplies lists..." she muttered. She looked to her left and to her right - both directions contained more passages. "At least it's not a dead end," she sighed.

She closed her eyes and let her thought wander first down the left passage, then down the right. Then her eyelids fluttered open and she resolutely turned to her left and quietly began traversing the small corridor which had only the slightest uphill slope to it.

All of a sudden, she heard a loud clang, as if someone had knocked over one of the many suits of armor she'd seen standing around, almost watching her. She heard some far-off, echoing voices, but could not tell if they belonged to friend or foe.

Frightened at a notion, she quietly panicked. "Could the Orcs be returning here? Did the Dark Lord bequeath this place to the evil Easterlings or the cruel Southerlings who have now come to claim it? Will I ever get out?"

Such thoughts filled her distressed mind, but with nothing else to do, she simply continued down the dark hallway followed by the quiet echo of whispers from whom she did not know.

[Coffeehouse]

Quickleaf's eyes were a bit red and weary from the short sleep. He pulled his cloak over his head and watched the wizard speak in the grey light of the morning mist.

Hearing Radaghast's plan for the day Quickleaf decided to go underground and search for the hidden documents. The first journey down there hadn't been a particularly pleasant stay but the more eyes down there the shorter time they'd have to spend there.

Looking around he wondered who would come along on the journey. Maybe Haldis, and Ellysa, and maybe the wizard would join them. Quickleaf looked over at Nami. He had wanted to talk to her, but she had ignored him so far and his heart saddened. Was she still that angry with him? His eyes rested on her, this young elven maid. But resisting the urge to walk over to her, he packed together all his stuff and let them lie with the company while he went off to fill his waterflask.

[The Sasquatch of Fangorn]

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