# The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend... for now



## Seregon (May 10, 2007)

Orion groaned. _"What’s happening?… my head… … hurts…"_

_"Sure, why not?" He smiled, and his face lit up. It was almost beautiful. But Evia knew better than to think that of him. She knew what he was destined for, and knowing that changes how you see a person. She never quite liked his status. Never quite liked his future, or his ways. But she had to accept it, so she did._

Light hit his eyes, and his head throbbed. He tried to move his arm, and felt a rope against it. The sound of wheels, moving over untrodden ground, horses, and men moving, groaning, coughing. He opened his eyes, and saw it. Wood, bars, straw, men. He smelled fear, blood. And the wagon stopped. He rolled slightly, shifting his weight. The doors opened, and he felt hands grab him, pull him out of it, stand him up. He looked the men over. Black hair, black eyes, that smile. He didn’t even have to tell them that he knew them.

"Well, well, Orion. We meet again." The man swallowed, his black cloak shifting slightly. "That scar you gave me burns me every night. We’re bringing you back, but before we do, I’m going to show you what it feels like to have that searing pain in the back of your head every time you close your eyes." He reached into his cloak, smiling. "And I’ll bet you won’t even fight back." Orion twitched slightly, his lips curling upward into a smile.

Suddenly, there was a sense of uncertainty in the air, and the Easterling hesitated. Orion curled his wrists, grabbed the chain, and pulled them easily apart, and broke the necks of two guards. There were shouts, but he barely heard them as he grabbed his medallion. The sun glinted off of the golden sun design.

"Lets give you a matching one on your chest." He snarled, smiling widely, his eyes alight with pure and utter joy, and blood spatter across his face.

*****

His eyes snapped open. It was dark, but he could see very well. It was a river of blood and gore, body parts and various organs spread everywhere. He felt the breath catch in his throat, but only for a moment. Standing, he walked over to the cart, and found the personal possessions of the captives. He took his own stuff, and some that wasn’t, before running into the forest.

***** ***** ***** *****

Rhea felt a hand cover her mouth, and she struggled, but felt a mallet against her head, and fell limp. When she awoke, she was in a covered wagon, crowded in with about forty other people. Suddenly, the doors opened, and one of them was drawn out. She looked around. The guards went with the elf they pulled out, leaving only two for the wagon. She reached back and grabbed her stuff, before sawing through her binds, cutting the guards’ throats, and sneaking into the woods.

*****

She heard noises below her, and looked down from her perch in the dense forest, to see a brown-haired, dark-eyed elf trying to get through the forest. He was covered in blood, so thick that his black robes were red. He spied her, and drew his swords, and she jumped down, drawing her own sword, lunging at him. He countered, very nicely, gave a snort of derision, and the very ends of his lips curled upward ever so slightly. She felt the rage welling up in her, blinding her. She tried to fight it, but everything suddenly seemed brighter, and her senses heightened. Everything was brighter, sharper, deeper; she could smell the blood all over him - and gold, steel, food, flesh; she could hear people walking miles away. She jumped toward him, moving faster than he could. Her vision blurred for an instant, focusing only on him as he barely blocked, and she landed deftly behind him, turning, only to see his face suddenly go white. Her sword pommel was glowing, and his eyes were fixed on the pattern... a golden sun.

"Where did you get that sword?" She laughed, and lunged toward him. This time, he wasn’t fast enough, and the pommel of her sword connected with the back of his head. He screamed like he was being ripped apart, tried to breathe like a fish out of water, and fell to the ground. All of a sudden, she felt her wrist burn, she was brought out of her state, and she threw the sword down, grabbed her wrist, tears streaming down her face. Then… darkness…


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## Majimaune (May 10, 2007)

Straag came to in a cart full of people. His head hurt...a lot. He had bound hands and feet. He lifted up his hands and touched the back of his skull and decided not to do it again because it sent pain all over his body. Straag felt around in his boot with his foot. _Yes it was still there_, the small dagger that he kept in case of emergency. This was an emergency. Quickly Straag got his hands down his boot and grabbed the knife. With it he cut the bonds around his feet and then worked at the wrists. It was quite hard to do so but in the end they came off. Slowly he massaged his feet to get the blood flow back again. He then slid slowly to the back of the cart and saw a pile of weapons. Slowly he looked through them, making as little noise as possible, until he found his sword. Then he jumped from the back of the cart and blended in with the shadows before the guards could see him. Straag decided that he would wait a while before continuing on. He heard a bit of a commotion up ahead and didn't run to it because of his current condition. When he did walked down the roadside concealed in the bushes he found two bodies, unconscious. Both looked like elves. _Maybe I should stay and look over them until they awake._ So with that thought Straag sat down semi-concealed in in the bushes nearby.


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## AraCelebEarwen (May 10, 2007)

Curled up as tight as she could get in the corner where they’d tossed her, Clover’s puffy eyes had been kept tightly shut. Uneven breaths still shook her long after the tears had stopped. Her tummy ached and her arms hurt from struggling against the ropes. Bruises and cuts stung with every bump and sway as the wagon moved on endlessly. Exhausted and weak from lack of rest and food and frightened by the dark men and sickening smells, she had begun to dread it was going to be like this forever. 

A sudden jarring blow snapped her back to a confused wakefulness. Someone was shouting somewhere. Dark shadows in strange moonlight were all she could see through the bars of the crowded wagon. Something seemed different as her eyes adjusted to the shadows. The door was open? She tried to lift her head up to see better and got a little way before sinking back down. There were still bundles crowding the floor, but something had changed... they’d stopped moving! She struggled once again and managed to roll nearer to the door. Whimpering from the effort, she was within a few feet of escape from the stuffy cell when she found her way blocked by something tied up even tighter then she was. She wanted to kick at it, push it out of the way, do something to move it; but one try and she found it was like kicking a wall. She was so close! She just wanted to get out! Her eyes stung from stirred up dust and tears that wouldn’t come. Arms pinned to her sides, she could hardly even move her hands, let alone wipe the grit from her face. 

A furry of sharp kicks attacked the obstacle. On the edge of screaming, Clover gave all she had left in a last explosion of fight. She didn’t know what she would do once she was out the door, only thinking one step at a time, but she knew she had to get out. An angered sob broke through the darkness as she gave one last, useless jab and collapsed in a drained heap.


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## elfgirl (May 10, 2007)

Alana stirred, opened her eyes. She heard shouting, moving, chaos, a light glinting off metal. She felt people squirm. She looked down – her wrists and ankles were bound, tightly. But she noticed something – a nail above her head. She reached up, and let the nail catch the rope. She pulled hard, and heard popping from her wrists. There was a searing pain, but she kept pulling as the rope moved up her hands… and off. She sighed, reached down, loosened the ties as best she could, and managed to free her ankles. She glanced around, found her belongings, grabbed them, and ran around the wagon and into the woods.

_What now? Where am I? Why was I there?_ She groaned, rubbed the back of her head. She couldn’t remember anything. She was in an inn, playing with some friends, and then… black… green… Another groan. It was always disturbing to her when she couldn’t remember what had happened to her. But there was nothing she could do about it, she knew. Nothing but run… run from captors she didn’t know… unable to get a good strategy, unable to find an old hiding spot. This was the ultimate tactical challenge. She looked around. _Of course! Azureberries!_ She grabbed a handful. The old books that she’d read said that they were good for memory, but she wasn’t quite sure if she should believe them. After all, the old books said a lot of things.

She walked as far as she could, and when she saw night coming on, she decided that maybe it was time to stop, and make camp. _Just over that ridge would be nice._ Yet as she was cresting it, she felt something slip under her feet, and she fell into a pit.

“Hello.” She started, turned. “I’m Luinwe. Looks like you got caught in the same trap I did.” Alana looked back up, as the stars were starting to come out. “I tried putting my daggers in there and climbing up, but the soil’s too thin to support my weight. Any ideas?” Alana thought for a moment, bit her lip, looked around.

“Yeah… I do.” And she grabbed a vine, and an arrow out of her quiver, and set to work. It only took a few moments, with a little bit of ingenuity, and she showed it to Luinwe with a smile. “This might do it.” Luinwe just shook her head.

“You’re quite good at this.” Alana smiled.

“Well, I’ve had to escape quite a bit before.” And she shot the arrow out of her bow, then pulled on the rope, and the arrow swung back, and around the branch, three barbs sticking in the wood of the branch. She tugged, and the line went taught, but the barb didn’t slip. “I’ll go up first. It’s not sturdy enough for two.” Luinwe nodded, and Alana began to climb. When she reached the top, she watched Luinwe ascend, grabbing her hand and helping her up when she was near enough.

“That really was ingenious.” Alana thanked her politely.

“Do you know where we are?” Luinwe shook her head, and Alana sighed. “We should make camp. Get the high ground. …But not this one.” She thought for a moment. “Maybe a tree? I could rig us up a couple of hammocks.”

“That would be nice.”

And as Alana worked, Luinwe sat and thought, finally asking, “So how did you come to be so good at making something useful out of thin air?” She noticed the hammocks were almost done, rigged up using two cloaks, some vine, and four branches, with space for all their items.

“I was an orphan. It was kind of necessary.” She checked the hammocks for strength. “Alright, they’re good. Let’s get some sleep. I’ll watch first, you can take the second shift. In the morning, I’ll mask the signs that they were rigged up.” Luinwe thanked her, climbed into her hammock, and went to sleep.

_Luinwe stirred, opened her eyes suddenly. The back of her head throbbed, her heart pounded, her mind raced. There were people moving, and… not moving. She looked around, and saw the wagon, the dead guards, the missing people. She knew… this was her chance. She looked wildly around for something to cut her ties with, yet found nothing. Despairing, she tugged on the knots… and they came free. She couldn’t believe it, until she noticed… The person next to her had escaped, the rope had been cut. A few short tugs at her ankle bindings, and they, too, came free. She grabbed her possessions and ran as fast as she could. She ran across the plains, into the forest, and kept running, jumping over branches, dodging twigs, sure in her footing. Suddenly, something moved under her foot, and all she knew was falling. She landed with a thud and a groan, her heart seeming to leap into her throat with fear an-_

“Hey,” Alana whispered, “it’s your turn to guard.”


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## Daranavo (May 10, 2007)

The first glimmering of sunlight trickled through the dense canopy of trees that covered him. The breeze had been slight but it was enough for him to smell the different fragrances of the forest. There was really nothing like it except for the short time he spent in Rivendell where all things of nature were at its best. In the back of his mind there was something else but his head had not even cleared yet and he sat up and looked around as he rubbed his chin. It had grown course over the last few days to his lack of willingness to shave it down. Gaiden bobbed his head up and down in acknowledgement and anticipation to a meal that had not yet been prepared. Daranavo shrugged off the pushy beast as it would still be a few minutes before he was ready to feed him. “Your always hungry aren’t ya?” He quipped to his brown, four-legged companion. Gaiden snorted and bobbed his head a few more times, almost as if he was agitated. Unfortunately for Daranavo, he misread the signs and continued to stammer to his feet slowly. 

With a long and wide yawn he outstretched his arms and attempted to work the cricks out of his back. Oh how he missed the simple comfort of a nice, soft bed…oh yes, and a down filled pillow. Now that was really something! The memory of The Green Hill, or even the Fat Balrog…now that was an Inn to be sure he thought. As he walked toward the fallen log in which he had straddled his saddle bag across, Gaiden fussed once again. “All right all right…I’m getting it.” Daranavo snapped. Just as he was about to unbuckle the bag, he turned and faced Gaiden who’s ears had changed direction toward the clump of trees to the southeast. Daranavo straightened mildly alarmed and moved toward the big, brown Gelding. Daranavo held a cross expression upon his face and asked; “what’s a matter boy…you smell sompthin?” 

No sooner did he say that when Easterlings poured from the tree-line straight at Daranavo.The quick movement caught him completely by surprise and before he could react he was tackled to the moss covered ground. One tried to bash him in the face with a club but he was able to just barely evade the blow with a jar to his left. With one free hand he struck another and managed to get his face uncovered. “Et Tallius Mar Kal,” he shouted. Two more Easterlings grabbed hold of Gaiden however, Daranavo’s words set the horse into motion. With all of its strength the brown horse bucked and jutted its head from side to side. The Easterlings feared its hooves as he kicked and turned abruptly. As they let go and moved back Gaiden broke into a run and quickly he disappeared into the trees. Before Daranavo could utter another word he was hit hard in the back of the head. For a moment he saw the light in the trees…then...darkness.


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## YayGollum (May 10, 2007)

Khungil sat at the front of a wagon and scanned the trail ahead. Besides noting how fruitful and easy life seemed to be in the Vale of Anduin, he had little appreciation for the place. He longed for a return to the simple life of a farmer, much like the simple lives of many humans he had captured on his way through the vale, a similarity that would never have occurred to him. 

The isolated homes were easy pickings for his well-disciplined soldiers. He was nodding to himself with satisfaction when a rider trotted up beside him to report what appeared to be an already very unfortunate traveller and his cow attempting to evade the party by hiding in a copse of trees. Of course, he gave the order to gather another for the sacrifice. "More glory for the priests," he grunted to himself once the scout had gone. 

He kept one eye on the riders sent off to subdue the traveller and another on the trail, but both narrowed and sped to the trees when he heard an unearthly howl that he proudly noted to merely have the effect of cheering his men. It was several minutes before anyone came back into view. When they did, he uncomfortably blinked his eyes in surprise when he saw that they had not only captured a small being that he mistook to be a poor old man in rags but also his cow, for some reason. He glared as the scout returned, which prompted the winded man to give a bob of the head before reporting that they had captured a disguised Orc and his Warg. Khungil cleared his face to reassure the man that all was well, then directed them to chain the two in a wagon towards the end of the caravan, where they wouldn't panic their other captives.

______________________________________________________________

Some unspecified amount of time later and a few longitudes to the right, the same wagon shook slightly. "Huh?" uttered the Warg groggily. "Ugh. My head is throbbing! What did you do, Bugburz? Eh? Oh, where are we? Easterlings? Why'd you let us get caught?" After shaking his head a few times and flopping back down from the effort, he focused his eyes and found that he had chains to test. His Orcish companion grumbled in what must have been drugged sleep, to keep him from snapping quickly awake, so the Warg, who couldn't reach over to nudge him and probably wouldn't have wanted to, anyways, spat at him. 

"Ar! What? Ugh! Ow! Hey! Humans! They gang up on me, knock me out, then stick me in a crate with some spitting animal? Garn! Why'd you let them catch me, Raoul?"

"Ha! You know that my mouth is much cleaner than yours, Bugburz! You should be thanking me for the wash! But, yes, ever so sorry about the capture. I'm sure that you just haven't gotten around to instructing me on your desperately won tactics on fending off several unexpected, mounted, and obviously well-trained humans."

"Nar! We've done it before, haven't we? So no excuse! Now, let me see..." Bugburz shakily stood, wiped his face, then tested his chains. "It's no good. Just gnaw through the wood or something! Ar! Air tastes different. Where are we?"

"I wouldn't know. Nowhere safe. As for gnawing, I would, Orc, if I could. How's about I just..." Raoul made an experimental leap, as well as he could in the chains. The wagon shook. "Oh, well, they should have given us some sturdier accomodations!" With a terrifying grin, he flexed his claws a bit and broke through the wood. Once he was free except for the chains and bits of wood still attached, he made for the exit. Confusion, hopelessness, fear, then anger played quickly across Bugburz's face, but Raoul had turned halfway through the last part with a laugh. "You are so easy, Bugburz! Why would I leave my loyal Orc?"

After several snarls and bickering over what to do next, which were kept low mostly because they didn't know how close human ears were, and partly because neither really felt anger at the other, the escapees hopped out of the wagon. It was dark, and the sky showed a few stars that Bugburz was unfamiliar with, but he snickered to himself when he saw a bonfire and heard singing. "Ha! Stupid humans! Celebrate my capture? I hope your punishment is half as bad as mine would be! Raoul, get out of here. I'll go look for our stuff. I'll find you."

The Warg sniffed at being ordered, but it was only a reaction, and he slunk off into the trees to watch. Bugburz, sniffing around non-stop, loped past a few wagons, directly to the one with his shield and weapons. There were several other armaments inside, and he thought very briefly about grabbing a knife or two but was too worried about picking and choosing and consoled himself with the idea that by only taking his own stuff, he'd be showing them who not to mess with again!

He couldn't help swiping a few bottles that were packed there, though, and nervously sniffed his way back to Raoul. Once out of sight, he uncorked a bottle but quickly fixed it back in with a look of disappointment. "Just sleeping droughts, I guess. Could be useful, but I was looking for spirits. Let's get out of here, Warg!"


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## yhwh1st (May 11, 2007)

Figwitt took a brief glance over the ledge on his right. Stomach churning, he quickly turned away and tightened his grip on the pony’s lead. Glancing back at his companion, he saw that Fredegar was even more frightened by the height than he was himself. “Only one more league, cousin! Merry told me there is a landing just before the decent to the lowlands.” “Heights are meant to be looked at, not climbed.” Fredegar called back, then muttered something about ‘unnatural’ and ‘foolhardy’. 

The wind was blowing hard against their backs as they continued the journey. It roared and filled their ears, making it near impossible to talk. As they neared the landing, more than an hour later, the wind picked up and seemed to push them forward. Figwitt reached the landing first. Turning the corner, he tugged lightly on his pony’s lead, and stepped out of the wind right into the waiting arms of a scouting party. Figwitt let out a yell to warn his cousin, who stared for a brief moment at the approaching warriors. He swiftly turned to flee; jerking his pony’s lead in the process it reared up and knocked Fredegar off balance, sending him tumbling over the mountain’s edge. Lurching forward, Figwitt broke free of his captor’s grasp, knocking him off balance, and started to run back down the mountain pass. The guard threw himself forward and grabbed the Hobbit by the ankle. Figwitt felt himself falling forward, the ground slowly rising up to meet him. His vision went white as he struck the ground, nose first, but before he could move again, strong hands grasped him and hauled him to his feet. “Try that again,” one said in a thick accent, “and you will wish you were never been born.”

The ponies were tethered off in a corner of the landing, munching some weeds that grew between the rocks. Figwitt sat facing the fire, hands bound behind his back. “What are you going to do to me?” he finally had the boldness to ask, but was ignored. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were four days moving east before they joined with the rest of their group. Figwitt was tossed into a cart with a few other captives, he looked at the creatures surrounding him. _Two men and some other creature._ He knew not what name to put to it. The man next to him threw a dangerous look Figwitt’s way, for staring too long, so he turned his attention to his bonds. His hands and feet were both tied together, his hands behind his back he pulled under himself and out in front. _There, that’s better! Now let me take a look at these knots._ He thought as he casually looked at the rope. _Why how foolish! They’ve done little more than wrap the cord around my wrists! These humans must think I’m too small to run away._ 

The day passed too slowly. Nearing sunset, the others in the wagon fell asleep. Figwitt started working on his ropes with his teeth, occasionally checking his progress in the dim light. _Good, good! But now what? Those guards are still too close. I cannot chance being seen. _He then had an idea. Shifting his position ever so slightly, he started working at the ropes binding the man next to him. The man woke, but seemed to realize what was being done to him and sat still. ”Done.” He whispered, and discretely pulled the rope away.

A sudden ear piercing noise split his ears. The cart jolted and overturned, spilling it’s contents on the ground. The Hobbit was light on his feet and quickly jumped up, but had barely taken two steps before he found himself once again restrained by something larger than himself. A large hand covered his mouth and he was carried deep into a nearby forest.


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## Daranavo (May 11, 2007)

How long had it been? How many days he could not be sure. It was getting dark and he lifted his head once more and looked around. The horses moved slowly now and he could feel their gait through the floor boards of the cage. He smelled the air and it nearly made him choke. Orcs were near he could tell but he could not see. _Great, easterlings and now orcs as well. _What a fix he was in now. He tilted his head up and tried to see the ridgeline that loomed up to their right. He did not recognize it at all but he knew they were being taken east by the lay of the sun as it set. Another pang of hunger hit him and he knew his lips were very chapped and dry. He felt very weak and exhausted and he lowered his head back down and fell fast asleep.

Was it a dream that woke him? No…something…someone is touching him. He tried not to flinch as small, nimble fingers expertly worked on the ropes that bound his hands behind his back. A child perhaps? How terrible it must be for them. He had not considered such a thing until now and quickly a thought came to him. _“Done.” _He heard in his ear in barely a whisper. Without hesitation he slowly brought a hand toward his face. Oh how he ached as he moved. He gulped air into his lungs and winced at the awful smell that lingered around him. He filled his lungs again and then again. The blood began to pump through his body and on the last he brought his fingers to his mouth. With a long, strong expunge of air he blew out onto his fingers that were crooked just enough to change the pitch of the air into an ear piercing wail. The horses that pulled the wagon neighed and almost immediately went into a terror-filled frenzy. Again he blew and the sound was very loud. The horses bucked and galloped forward uncontrolled. A large bump on the road was all it took and the wagon tipped to its right. The cage crashed down onto the road and the metal hinges bent and broke to the strain. He landed ready to run and he tried to ignore the agony of the stiffness in his limbs. 

The sun had drooped just behind the horizon and the shadows made by the nearby trees were many. He focused his vision and began to make a run for the tree-line. As he did he saw a child running across his chosen path. Without hesitation he enveloped them in his arms and placed his hand over their mouth to ensure their silence. He ran for several minutes before he found a decline of earth shrouded in ferns and other small shrubs. He hopped up its fringe and came back down to its center before he landed himself on his side. 

Though he wanted to push the thoughts from his mind, he began to worry about Gaiden. He was the only real friend he could count on and now who knew how far apart they were. He wished for his safety and hoped he found solace…somewhere. There was the loss of his blade as well that saddened him greatly. It had meant so much to him. Silently he cursed himself to linger on what was lost instead of what he would do now.


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## YayGollum (May 11, 2007)

Bugburz had no idea where he was. Normally a very paranoid and cautious Orc anyway, he kept cursing himself and Raoul for getting caught. "It was bound to happen! How long have we been on our own, now? I should've stayed in Mordor! The Easterlings there knew who was boss! Garn! Raoul? Keep up!"

The Warg had been watching his feet in an attempt to preserve stealth as the Orc rushed away from the caravan as fast as he could, but he kept looking back and was confused and interested at what he thought he saw. "Wait, you foolish Orc! I think I see some fellow escapees."

Bugburz chanced a glance backwards, but only for the sake of appearances. "What? Nar! We're spotted! It's your fault, giant hairball! Just run!"

Raoul growled warningly when Bugburz got close enough to push him onwards and almost did. "Your useless eyes! All you smell is humans. But some of them were captives, too. They could be useful, eh?"

"Ha! They're just not in uniform, then! You heard them partying up there! I'm going!"

The Warg sat. "Fine with me. I hate the stench of Orc, anyway. Humans couldn't be worse."

Bugburz bounced from foot to foot with agitation. "Garn, Warg! Let's go! Don't let them trick you! I know! Humans may not look it, but they're clever. Maybe not like Orcs or Wargs, but - "

Raoul interrupted before the Orc could make the same point several more times. "Just look at them, Bugburz. Don't they look lost and scared, just like us? I say we introduce ourselves."

The Orc quickly adapted to what, on actual observance, did look like the movements of fellow escapees. "Ugh! Fine! But how do you think they'll react? Orcs have worked with Easterlings before, and these humans will be enemies of Easterlings. Too bad they tossed our disguises. Okay, you just keep going. Find someplace to hide out. I'll hide in this tree and drop down and catch one. If he knows where we are, we kill him quick, have a snack, and get out."

Raoul rolled his eyes, sighed with exasperation, but nodded. Certain that the Orc would be too indecisive to come after him for a few minutes if he noticed him doubling back, he slunk back towards the caravan, on the lookout for scared humans, ready to pounce and quickly attempt to calm someone.


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## Amberpants (May 11, 2007)

"Wake up wretch" broke through my dream as I was drenched with cold water. I reluctantly opened my eyes to see an extremely strong and completely hideous man advancing towards me. He smelled of rotted flesh and hadn't showered and what seemed like years. I can't really talk that much because my situation was the same. He was dressed in the cheap leather uniform of a guard of Lord Kerian. I scuttled to the corner of my cell to escape his awful presence, but without use 'fore I was pulled from my fetal position by an almost arm-dislocating jerking motion. "Master wants you" stuttered out of that stupid minion's mouth.

_ "Oh what did I do this time? Breathe wrong? He is so demanding. I don't see him treating his other slaves this way.”_

“Pay attention and stop talking to yourself! Kerian likes his girls sane.” he said with a maniacal grin.
“I’ll show you sane.”
“What was that wretch?”
“Oh nothing…nothing” I snapped as I came to my senses just in time to notice that Oh Mighty Master One put newcomers on guard duty near the door.

_ “Here’s my chance; I can soo take them!”_

“Hey Idiot! Look, a bear!” Surprisingly it worked considering he looked in the direction I pointed. “You’re so stupid” I sneered as I pulled his sword out of its holder and swiftly stabbed him in the heart, killing him practically easily; he couldn’t even scream.

_ “Wow, I’m good…better than I thought I was” _

“What th-“
I turned to the new voice, a stunned guard standing between me and my freedom. “Well you’ll have to go, I see.” I advanced and wasn’t so merciful with his death…I sort of had a grudge with him to say the least.

“Ha… Freedom” slipped out of my mouth as I victoriously walked out of the door.
_
“Too bad the Master had to put newcomers on guard duty…really too bad, now he’s down a slave.”_

“Look, she’s getting away! Bring her to me…ALIVE!” from the Master himself.

_ “Ugh, I’ve always hated running.” 
_
I sprinted into the nearby forest. Swiftly avoiding trees, I quickly advanced deep into the overgrown woods. Next thing I knew I was sprawled face first on the earthy forest soil.
“What?! Stupid Roots!”

Branches cracked in the distance hinting Kerian was on my tail.

_“I’ll hide in the bush until nightfall.”_


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## Seregon (May 12, 2007)

There was a blaze of white light, something immensely, blindingly bright.

And then there was darkness.

_They were not so much a rabble of Easterlings as an army. A vast sea of faces and armor, weapons everywhere. The sun should've been out. It was on close to noon right now. Yet it was as if it refused to shine on one so dark. They would've been shadows, if there was any light, yet there was just darkness. Immense, utter, beautiful darkness. __*No! No! I won't! I won't!*_

He inhaled suddenly, and it too that fresh breath of air to realize that he hadn't been breathing. He lay still for a moment, just breathing, his face buried in the forest floor. Raising his head, he looked around, and saw the elf, unconscious, just a few feet from him. He looked at her for a moment, noticing the only slightly pointed ears, the deep brown hair... and then, his eyes fell on her wrist, secured in her other hand... and glowing. He gently pulled her hand off, and saw the tattooed sun on her wrist, lit up and firey. Something told him to leave, and only then did he realize - he couldn't run. Not from this. He couldn't run to anywhere, because he didn't know where he was. _Terrific. I'm stuck in this godforsaken land full of these treacherous bastards, and no way out._ No way out. The thought stung worse than anything else. Suddenly, the elf drew breath, and started, jumped back, glaring at him, ready to fight, yet hesitant.

"Who are you? What do you want?" She shouted at him, and he just stood, retrieved his weapons, which had fallen to the forest floor. A cold, pointed edge touched his throat, and he couldn't help but give a short laugh.

"I'm not going to fight you. Put it away." She looked hesitantly at him for a few seconds, and then put her sword away.

"Who are you?" She shouted again, though they were much closer.

"I'm not deaf. I'm Orion. Now does that help you? You've never even heard of me, so what difference does a name make? You're not a whore or an innkeeper, why do you care?" His voice was cold, acidic, full of malice and rage. It cut her to her very core. And it was worse because she realized that he had a point. Why did she care?

"I'm Rhea." She offered, yet he was already walking away, out of the clearing, with a bunch of bushes beside him. "You know, we could-" But he took a step to the side suddenly, reached in, and pulled out a quirming human holding him by the back of its shirt, looking at him as if inspecting a piece of jewelry, before tossing him to the ground, as if deciding a fake. Then, he just turned, and started walking again. "Hey, wait! Do you even know where we are?" She ran to catch up with him.

"No." It was quick, quiet, and angry.

"Well then where are you going if you don't know where we are." He practically growled, turned on her.

"I don't know where we are, but I know we're in Easterling territory, and I know those bastards would just love to get their hands on me, and if I just keep going west, eventually, I'll be out of Easterling territory, and out of their grasp, so unless you have a better plan or some wonderful, ingenious way of overpowering tens of thousands of evil, backstabbing, traitorous bastards hidden in that tiny little brain of yours, I think I'm going to just keep walking." She stood, stunned for a moment. He made sense. Yet he turned, and started walking again.

"Well..." she paused, "well then... I'm coming with you!" He turned on her another time, opened his mouth, ready for another rant. "No! No, you will not just scream at me! They overpowered you before, knocked you out, dragged you all the way out here. What's to stop them from doing it again? If they want you so badly, they're bound to be out there looking for you. If we team up we won't be as vulnerable. So... so before you start screaming at me, just shut up and listen!" She felt so childish saying it, and she probably did sound much like a child, yet he didn't laugh, or smile. He stared at her for a moment, and nodded.

"Suit yourself. Although really, for you, it's better to be alone. They'll be so busy hunting me down, you can just run out of here all by yourself." Rhea shifted, uncomfortable. He was right. Why was she doing this? She'd have better chances alone. She searched her heart, and suddenly, she realized. She knew exactly why. She was curious. Who was this elf? Why did she have the same pattern tattooed on her wrist and put on her sword hilt as he had on his medallion? Why did the Easterlings want him so badly? Why wouldn't he fight her when he woke, when he wanted to rip her apart so much before? Where had she heard that name before? Why did her tattoo hurt when she burned him? Why was his hair so short, if he was elvish? She couldn't leave all of her questions. She had to know. Because whatever influenced him, influenced her. They were connected somehow. And suddenly, she realized, he'd been staring at her, waiting for a reply, for well over two minutes. She raked her mind, quickly... a response...

"With the way you fight, if I do run into anything... I think I'll really be safer with you." It was quiet, meek, and she felt so... small. So subservient and childish in his presence. _Who - and what the h*** are you?_ Yet she knew, even if she asked, he wouldn't tell her. Yet suddenly, they heard a noise from the man he had upset just a few minutes ago.


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## Rosalee LuAnn (May 12, 2007)

*In which Rosie tells stories and tries to make a new friend*

There was a red light pulsing in the darkness behind her eyelids. Rosie tried to focus her attention on that, instead of the biting pain in her ankle, or the dull ache that was her shoulder. The fact that she was being shaken and bumped around against something hard wasn’t helping at all, nor was the fact that she seemed to be bound tightly with ropes. She wondered idly if her ankle would hurt less if she were to untie it, but quickly turned her focus back to the redness behind her eyelids—thinking of her ankle made the pain reach out and claw at her consciousness far worse than before.

_Once upon a time,_ she thought, _there was a beautiful girl named Rosie. She was strong, and good, and—_

She was sidetracked from her story when the wagon or cart (or whatever it was) she was in stopped. She sighed, then tried to sleep, having tried when she was being bumped around and failed. Redness pulsed behind her eyelids.

She had almost escaped into the world of red pulsing dreams when she was hit, hard, in her ribs. Instinctively, she curled up into as small a ball as she could, trying not to moan as her back was hit over, and over, and over. _Once upon a time,_ she tried to distract herself, _Once upon a time, Rosie was captured by strange men. She had tried to run, but she had not enough eyes to watch both her pursuers and her path. She fell, and was injued, and could not run further. She was taken, but she decided to wait for the right time to escape, and then, the right time for revenge…_

She realized that the blows to her back had stopped. She shifted around a bit, trying to determine how badly she had been hurt. She would have a few bruises, she determined, but her greatest concern would be her ankle. If only she had her pack, she thought, she could tie it up—

She heard a shrill, whimpering sort of noise. She had ignored all other noises as unimportant distractions, but this noise was _close_. Rosie slowly opened her eyes and, having found that she could do that much, she tried to roll over and up into a sitting position. 

Mistake. All the moans and sobs she had been holding back before broke out in one hoarse cry that she chocked on and stopped as quickly as she could. The whimpering had stopped. More slowly this time, and more prepared for what her injuries would do, she sat up and faced the source of the noise. Her sight was blurry and a red haze danced around the edges of her vision, but she could see a small figure before her, a child. A little girl who was staring at Rosie with a shocked kind of fear.

“Was it you that was trying to make a giant bruise out of my back?” said Rosie hoarsely, both angry and strangely curious. Speaking reminded her of how very thirsty she was. How long since she had eaten? She wasn’t even sure how long it had been since she had been tossed into that wagon. She might have understood if her captors had beaten her, but a little girl? What motive could this little girl possibly have? 

“I… I just wanted to get out!” with a very small trace of her previous weeping in her voice. Rosie forgot her anger with the little girl completely; was it really possible to escape? Nobody seemed to have heard them talking, or was it just that nobody cared? 

“What’s your name?” she asked, trying for a kind tone, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d talked to a child any better than she could remember how long since she had been captured. How was one supposed to talk to children? She knew that they were generally treated differently, more gently than adults, but she only vaguely remembered how one would go about it. 

“Clover.” Said the girl. She still looked a bit scared. Apparently Rosie hadn’t gotten the tone quite right.

“Clover. That’s a nice name.” She said, trying to say something familiar and comforting, for both herself and the wide-eyed child. “My name’s Rosaline. You can call me Rose, or Rosie, or whatever you want, really. Well, almost.” There was a pause, and Rosie shifted around a bit, though the ropes made it difficult. “Are you tied up too?” Rosie asked the girl. She held up her bound hands. The girl’s legs seemed to be free—that was why she had been able to move around the wagon, and, of course, kick Rosie over and over when she had found something blocking her way. Apparently a child wasn’t seen as much of a threat.

“I’m tied up so I can’t reach, but I’ve sewn a dagger into the sole of my left boot. You’ll have to pull out some stitches to get to it, but it we can use it to get rid of these ropes. No, no, that’s my right boot. Right there at the side… yes, right there!” The stitches came out easily, as Rosie had expected, and the little fingers reached into the crack between the layers of leather that opened. With a cry, the girl snatched her hand away from the boot, more tears emerging from her puffy red eyes. 

“It cut me!” she said accusingly. 

“You’re going to have worse problems than cut fingers if you don’t get that dagger out!” Rosie said in a savage whisper, forgetting to be gentle. The girl seemed to understand what Rosie meant, but reluctant to try again. 

“Wait, let me try something.” Rosie shifted onto her side and, ignoring her throbbing ankle, shook her feet slightly, trying to loosen the dagger. At a particularly energetic thrust, however, her ankle gave an extremely threatening throb, and she stopped. 

“See if its poking out.” Rosie told Clover through clenched teeth. The girl bent over the boot again and very carefully pulled out the handle-less blade Rosie had stowed there. 

“I trust you know what to do with that.” Said Rosie flatly, forgetting to try to be nice. The girl began to saw at the rope that bound Rosie’s ankles, awkwardly because of her bound hands. Rosie was impatient, but prevented herself from saying anything that might scare or anger the girl and make her stop. She finished more quickly than Rosie thought she would. Rosie’s ankle seemed to hurt worse once freed, but the fact that they were _free_ more than made up for it. 

“Quick, do my hands and then I can do yours.” Rosie held her arms out; the rope gave more easily than the one around her feet. Rosie wanted to take a moment to rub life into her hands and feet, but Clover held out her hands impatiently. “Now do mine!” she insisted. Rosie took the blade with a sigh and held it awkwardly, and sawed through the rope on Clover’s hands. 

Clover made as if to dash out the wagon into who-knew-what. Rosie grabbed at the girl’s tatty dress. 

“Don’t you dare! What are you thinking? You don’t know what’s out there. Wait just a minute.” The pain in her ankle had increased right after the rope came of, then died down. She pulled herself up on the side of the wagon, then stood when she found that she could. 

“First we make sure nobody’s out there, _then_ we get out.” Rosie said.

“Yes, yes, I know.” The girl said impatiently. “I can do it myself.”

“Oh you can, can you?” Rosie said. She would have been amused if her mind wasn’t occupied with other things. As it was, she was rather impatient and annoyed. She shook her head at the girl before watchfully lowering herself out of the wagon, carefully favoring her right leg and shoulder. 

“Alright, you come down now. It would be good if I could find my daggers and bag. Then we need to get away and hide as quickly as possible.” Clover got out of the wagon, ignoring the hand Rosie held out to help her, as if she were trying to prove that she could indeed take care of herself. 

“I’m going to need as much help as you can give me, and I think that, while I can see you’re very capable, you’ll need my help. Can we agree to help each other now?” Rosie grabbed the girls shoulder and turned her so they were looking straight at each other.


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## YayGollum (May 12, 2007)

Exactly then, a sharp eye might have noticed a couple of nearby bushes rustle, but the very next thing to happen was Orion getting thrown to the ground by a frighteningly large and apparently ferocious wolf-looking thing. One paw pressed threateningly down on his chest, but enough care was taken that the claws didn't even puncture clothing. The other paw roamed free, waving close to Rhea, then Straag, when he noticed him. In a deep and, of course, growling voice that was kept low and commanding ---> 

"Don't move! Keep low! Do you want them to see you? Now, my companion is hidden nearby, and he wants to kill you, I'm afraid. The death he would give you is leagues more merciful than that which we would find at the hands of our captors, I'm sure we can all agree, but why not think up an idea that would help us all out a bit more than that, eh? He knows what he's doing with a bow, so let's just relax and head for those trees. I say that we can help each other. When those men come looking for us, we won't be able to hold them all off. My companion is afraid of you. Help me to persuade him not to kill you before we can all escape, at least." 

Waiting for an answer before he let Orion up, he stared at each of them with his eerily intelligent eyes but laughed harshly at himself. "I must admit that I am happy to see that there are some disagreements between humans, though. We think that you're all out to get us. And that may still be, but I mean to find my way home before I tackle diplomacy."


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## Seregon (May 12, 2007)

Orion suddenly felt something heavy knock him to the gruond, and next thing he knew he was face to face with a warg. It went on about diplomacy and not killing, and Orion smiled.

"You know, typically, when you're greeting someone, you walk up to them instead of tackling them." The warg looked confused, but let him up, and Orion reached down and stroked the fur-like coat of the beast. Confusion changed to annoyance, but Orion didn't even notice. He looked up at Rhea, who was watching with fear and disgust, wondering if Orion was actually going to let this warg and the mystery person in the bushes journey with them. "If you want, you can come West with us."

"What?!" Rhea screeched. "No persuasion, no 'aren't you sure you'd be better off', just 'come along then'?! What kind of an elf trusts a bloody warg over his own kind?!" Orion had stopped stroking the beast, at the least.

"Well... If you think you'd be better off, you can just go off on your own." And suddenly she realized... it only made her want to stay even more.


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## YayGollum (May 12, 2007)

Raoul only let the elf up because he was sure that he couldn't be harmed too badly, since they didn't even carry any weapons yet, but his words were reassuringly calm, to him. He instantly tensed, growled, and shuddered away when he was touched, though. He closed his eyes and slashed at the ground while making the effort to not bite at the guy. Figuring that the other two needed to be calmed before they could put more distance between themselves and their captors, he focused on the girl. His eyes hardened, and he spoke much more coldly. 

"I asked you to come out of sympathy. If you refuse to believe that, I can only wish you well and advise that you choose a path besides mine. I can calm my companion, but only for so long. Keeping all of you together will prevent many wild speculations of dangers for him to fear. None of which will be too wild, when it comes to the men who caught us, who I insist we distance ourselves from." He oriented himself towards the trees, hoping that Bugburz hadn't already fled. He blinked with annoyance when a few raindrops fell in his eyes, then checked the skies to find a storm approaching. "I hear that the smell of a wet Warg is the surest way to ward off pursuers. Let us take this rain as a blessing, as we search for cover, then." He then flicked his paw out, indicating the direction that he wished to herd them in, hoping that they would recognize the human-like gesture, and that it was meant to reassure them.


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## Majimaune (May 12, 2007)

OOC: Sere: By disturbed I take it I was lets say knocked unconscious?
Rose: Please make the text in your next post slightly larger. I found it hard to read.

IC: Straag came back to consciousness. A bad thing he thought at first when a saw a warg on the chest of an elf. _Not good_. Then the elf greeted the warg as a friend. _Very strange. The next thing the elf will be an orc_. Straag slowly started to crawl away, finding he was temporarily unnoticed he went behind the nearest bush to watch what happened. When the little group started to move Straag followed them, like a shadow.


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## Seregon (May 12, 2007)

_"So," he said lightly as he made his way through the forest, "what exactly are you looking for?" Evia glanced at him, then turned back, and chose not to speak. Silence reigned for half an hour, before he spoke again. "How will you know when you find what you’re looking for if you don’t know what it is?" She sighed, paused, her yellowish eyes flitting across the floor. She turned to him, very quietly, and spoke._

_"I’m looking for a cave. With a pool of water which glows yellow, and has no source. It is not deep; not far below the earth, if it is at all, and there should be grass with blue flowers just before we get to it." They met each other’s gaze, both trying to discern the thoughts of the other. "Is that detailed enough for you?"_

_Leaves cracked and sent the aroma of the forest everywhere, their feet disturbing ground which had not been trod in generations._

_"You know," Orion said thoughtfully, "if we’re looking for a cave, we’re going the wrong way." Evia’s brow knotted together. "The caves are west of Mirkwood. We’re going East. Past this forest, there’s just plains." A pause. "Well, unless you count the East." And he laughed, and to his surprise, Evia smiled back at him._

Orion went in the direction the warg indicated, keeping an eye on Rhea, who sulked, keeping her distance. Not far ahead, they found a cliff, going only twenty or thirty feet up, with a small, yet dry, cavernous hollow at the bottom. Orion inspected it for a minute, before deciding it was safe, and setting down his pack.

"We can camp here, I suppose." Rhea sat down near the back of the cave, glaring at the warg and glacing at Orion every once and a while. He reached in his pack and offered some dried meat to Raoul. "I know it's not as good cooked as raw, but it'll do." He chuckled. "Bet I smell pretty good, bloody as I am." The rain had taken some of it out of his clothes and off of his body, yet it was still there, and he knew the warg could smell it. He started biting into a piece of meat he had selected for himself, noticing out of the corner of his eye Rhea's enraged glare. He reached in his pack, pulled out another, and tossed it on the ground near her feet. "If you want it." Defiantly, she picked it up and threw it from the cave. Orion merely shrugged, and finished his own light meal.


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## elfgirl (May 12, 2007)

Luinwe felt something cool and wet drop onto her face. It took her a moment to realize what it was - rain. Soon, the drops were coming quicker, and quicker. She shook Alana awake, and they fumbled to take down the hammocks. Luinwe started to go about hiding the signs, but Alana stopped her, shouting through the oncoming thunder and downpour.

"The rain willk hide it, now come on!" They ran blindly through the forest, before realizing that they had no idea where they were going. Yet just as they were stopping to debate whether their rash idea to leave camp so quickly was truly wise, they saw a faint light in the distance - another camp. And it was dry. Before they knew it, they were ducking into the little cavern. Yet just as soon as they saw the creatures inside, they backed up to the wall. An orc, a warg, an elf, and... was it really... ? No, she assured herself, it couldn't be. Alana looked toward the elf. "What's going on here? Who are you all?"

"I'm Rhea - that's Orion, that's..." Her lip lifted in a half-snarl, "Raoul and... Orc." Alana stood, shocked. "So you're really Orion?" He looked up at her, and glared. She walked silently over to him, suddenly having no qualms about the orc or the warg, having seemingly forgotten them for now, and lifted her hand to reach out for his face. He flinched away and edged closer to the warg, and her eyes were full of sympathy and sadness. "What happened to you, anyway? When you disappeared?"

"Well," he said, his voice hushed, "I went somewhere for a while. And then I came back." She decided not to push the subject - he hadn't ever talked about it before, and she suddenly felt foolish to think he would confide in her.

"You know, I always knew you weren't an elf." His eyes shot to her, angry, searching. She just smiled. "Elves don't have facial hair." And his gaze went away, and suddenly it was apparent that he did, indeed, have just the first signs of needing a shave. "So what," she said kindly, "they took you as a really big prize, or something?" He gave a derisive laugh.

"Yeah, guess so." And she knew by his tone - the conversation had been over a while ago. So she let silence reign, as Luinwe, seeing the sudden trust that Alana had, cautiously went over to sit next to Rhea, watching everything else from a distance.


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## Amberpants (May 13, 2007)

It took Laia more than an hour to notice a small puddle had formed around her ankles.
“Could this day get any worse?”
The mere sprinkle turned into a downpour of cold liquid that drenched her thin outfit.
“I spoke too soon” she grumbled as she avoided deep muddy puddles on her way out of her bushy hideout._Ok… Now where do I go?...Ugh…I’ll just go in one direction and soon I’ll be out of this **** hole._​She started off in a random direction looking for shelter. The bright green scenery developed into a morbid, dark undergrowth of slime and mold as she advanced yet further into the forest._ “Oh, isn’t the scenery lovely…”_​“I don’t think I can take any more of this sinister stuff.” She grumbled to herself after slipping on yet another moldy rock._“Gosh, things just plan on hurting me don’t they? I almost twisted my ankle!!!”_​Laia finally decided to switch her walking pattern to go east. She only knew she was going in this direction because Kieran’s plot was on the south side of the forest, yet she had never ventured this deep into the overgrowth. Technically, she never even ventured out of the house.
She noticed a speck of light just ahead of her view, a way out. She quickly stumbled to the light just to get away from the morbid aspect of the landscape.
She burst into the sight of clearing, a cliff, and what do you know, a cave. She finally found shelter for her to lay low for a couple of days; just to make sure her master wasn’t following.
It didn't take her too long to figure that the cave was occupied, but being a pretty determined person she decided to follow through with her plan for shelter._"I don't care who's in here...I'd rather be here than serving that idiot and his goons."_​


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## Majimaune (May 13, 2007)

OOC: Amber you got in just before me, writing at the same time, not always a good thing. I just dont want to change my post too much. Ah well...

IC:Straag followed the little company to the cave. None of them turned around and saw him, or even turned around for that matter. As they went into the cave Straag stayed behind them and hidden. Even though he had found the two elves unconscious he wasn't sure if they were friends. Especially if they were with an orc and warg. Soon the rain started to get heavier and two others came. They ran into the cave with little thought. Straag listened to the conversation from the outside.

Eventually Straag got cold from the rain and the fire looked so tempting. In he went. There sat the group, all around the fire. The one called Orion looked up as he entered.

"So your the one that found us in the bushes?" It was a good guess but said more like a statement then a question.

"Yes." Straag then sat down near the fire so that he would dry off but as far away from the orc and warg as possible. He was then introduced to everyone there.


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## YayGollum (May 13, 2007)

Bugburz wondered what made him feel secure enough to come out of hiding in the first place. He knew that so many, even unarmed, could at least injure him and probably kill his Warg. His confusion at what must have possessed him to leave the safety of the trees was only temporarily distracted by his confusion at why he would have introduced himself to any of these pathetic-looking beings, at least without a challenge attached. Which is what he intended when he got as close as he could to Rhea. "Not Orc, girl! Bugburz! Garn! You should be grateful that I haven't killed you yet!"

He tossed her a glare meant to pin her to the wall before turning to Raoul with a look that asked, "We aren't killing any of them yet, right? Please say that you were just joking about that." Raoul, though, shook his head with mock sadness and attempted a polite throat-clearing noise. "Ahem. Yes, this is my Orc, Bugburz. Forgive his sensitivity. I have been far too forgiving a master." Bugburz forgot about Rhea and growled demands for respect at the Warg, who only laughed and scampered away, as if he were still a pup.

Nearer the mouth of the cave and seeing that a few of their fellow captives seemed to be getting friendlier, Raoul jerked his head to whisper to Bugburz. "You stay here. Keep watch. Try not to talk too much. My turn to lead, since you got us caught in the first place."

"Nar! When did I? That was your fault! I told you that cows don't walk like that!"

"And only human infants look and smell as bad as you, so it's noone's fault, then. But that one elf seems to be their leader. I'll talk to him. You don't know how to."

"I know how to! You think I can't? All you do is show him who's boss, and they'll grovel at my feet! Garn! You don't remember the old days, back when people feared Orcs! I do. Now, they send out hunting parties. Their children train on us! They think we're weak! Ar! If they knew us back then, we'd have more than dried meat! You wait! I can - "

"Yes, yes. The good old days. I have heard. Write your memoirs, and give me some peace, Ancient One. I'm sure you won't forget to keep watch, in the mean time." As Raoul headed back for the others, Bugburz thought about continuing the argument but did see the sense in keeping watch for pursuers and merely grumbled to himself.

Back towards the fire, Raoul glanced at everyone, attempting to size up their usefulness. "Ah, I see that we are all getting along quite nicely. Good. Now, to survival: Who here knows where we are, and do any of you have any experience that would be useful in our journey? And, please, there is no need to lie. A use can be found for you that doesn't include death and digestion." He then sat, crossed his front legs, and attempted to look patient for them.


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## Amberpants (May 13, 2007)

Laia stood in the shadows watching the group of objects moving and some-what socializing. She had never seen this many people gathered in one place, let alone seen how ugly some people get; they even looked almost nonhuman-ish.
"Ah, I see that we are all getting along quite nicely. Good. Now, to survival: Who here knows where we are, and do any of you have any experience in the realms of stealth and survival?"_"Do I say something? What do I do?"_​"Um, I think I might know where we are"
Everyone turned to face her._" Oh great now I'm in the spot light! Great see what you get yourself into?!"_​She put her sub-conscious mind aside. "Well I came from the south side of the forest but turned to go east after a while, if that's any help, and I think I'm pretty good at survival, well atleast decent, I guess._ Oh no! Now they think I'm gloating...I never do anything right..._​Embarrassed, she picked the darkest and farthest side of the shelter, because it was hers',too; she didn't see their names on it!!!


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## YayGollum (May 13, 2007)

Raoul raised his shaggy head to watch her retreat, then checked himself to see if he looked too threatening for a little girl. Thinking to himself while exaggeratingly stretching his claws and poking with his tongue at a bit of meat stuck between his terrifyingly sharp and large teeth ---> "Nope. I've probably just awe-struck the poor thing. My magnificence is unparallelled." He then rolled his eyes at himself and spoke directly to her. "Decent at survival and might know where we are? I expect a bit more confidence from a child who's to lead so many to safety. Come here. What forest are you from? If you live just down the trail, you might be better off as breakfast, for us."

To the others, with a humble bob of his head ---> "I am too stuffed to eat, of course. Merely a habit of speech taught by an Orc, to attach some reference to unpleasantness to every request."


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## Amberpants (May 13, 2007)

_"He wants me to come near him? What does he think I am, stupid?"
_"I'll stay where I am but I came from the south side of this forest, like I said. I really never ventured out this far, though, so I only know what direction we're in. And yes I think I survive quite decent; I can fight, and find food. I think you can classify that as decent."


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## Seregon (May 13, 2007)

"I know we're in Easterling lands." Orion said coldly. "And that's all I need to know. Head west, you'll hit kinder lands eventually, and I don't know about the rest of you, but that's what I'm doing. You just head towards the setting sun, and you'll get somewhere you know." He glanced around at everyone else, before looking into the fire, pondering. He knew that they'd pursue him to the last corners of the earth, to the edges of existence; to Mandos' halls and back if they had to. He knew he was going home, yet he still had to plan how to evade them there. For some reason, he even thought that dying would not thwart them.

"If they want you so badly - for whatever reason, why would they stop when you're back where you came from?" He looked over at Rhea, glaring.

"They won't. But that isn't your problem, because we'll be parting ways there. I have my ways to get away from them, and my own plan to stay away." That was all that was need to say, and he tried his best to make that more than obvious.

_"What is this place?" It wasn’t on any of his maps, or in any tales he heard. There before him lay a clearing, at least half a mile wide, with a large tree in the center. Everything about the clearing seemed to glow. The grass was deep green, the leaves seemed to smile and wink at him. The bark welcomed him. And then, he was drawn to a splash of color in the landscape… a large space of blue flowers._

_He was drawn toward the tree, and before he knew it, he was standing inches away, reaching out to it. His fingers brushed the bark, and he felt a warmth brush him, sliding down his head to end in the middle of his back. His breath caught in his throat. Suddenly, he knew it: he was meant for this. He pushed his palm against the bark, pressed, and felt it give way as he pushed forward, into the darkness._


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## YayGollum (May 13, 2007)

Raoul could only chuckle to himself at the oversimplification they were making of their predicament. He stood and made to head back towards the Orc. "I see. You know as much as we do. 'Head west," you say. Ah, the wisdom of the elves! The girl's ignorance is forgiveable, though. I shouldn't have asked if anyone knew where we are. I should have asked if anyone knows these lands well enough to lead us back to something more familiar. My Orc and I can travel west, of course. A cover of men, or men-like things, at least, would be useful to us. What fortresses stand in our way? How long is this trail of wagons that captured us all? Which forests contain creatures less reasonable than myself? For our part, no land has ever welcomed us. We might just stop at the closest, darkest, most uncharted scab of cover we can find, but I'd wish to die in the mountains of my birth, if possible. We will defend you and hunt for you to buy our passage. My companion can even spin a good tale or two, if you can tame your stomach." Mostly to the girl ---> "And don't worry. If your home isn't far, you can lead us there, and we will be on our way."


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## Amberpants (May 13, 2007)

"I'm surely not going back to where I came from. Better yet I should start moving away from there. See, if we must go there, I will tell you my past, yet I think _*some*_ of the people in this cave will not have the attenion span bigger than a rat's to hear it." she said spating out the some to the testy one that said to go west. 
"Well to say the least, I was a captive, or slave if that term fits better, and I escaped, enough said, and I don't plan on discussing it further, either."


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## Seregon (May 13, 2007)

Orion snorted. "Yes, wonderful plan! Her master is an Easterling! Drive us right back to them, right? Just march right through the gates and into their sacrificial little ceremony, why don't you?!" Rhea watched, not wanting to intervene. She agreed with the warg, but she knew - if she spoke out, she endangered her chances of learning about him. Orion looked to his right quickly, as Alana shifted. Yet she put her hands up defensively.

"I just lost circulation in my leg is all." Orion rolled his eyes, and sent another glare back at the warg. Suddenly, he wasn't sure who he could trust. "Hey... if it means anything, I'll go West with you." He looked Alana over, and saw no lies.

"Me too." Rhea spoke cautiously.

"Me too." Luinwe was still unsure, yet she'd rather stay with elves than orcs.

_"That was good." He turned, surprised, to see Evia lighting a torch. "Not many can get here. You’re a vary special person to be able to just open it." Orion’s head swam; he could barely hear her words. She just closed the wooden door back, sealing them both into the hollowed tree, and smiled understandingly. "Follow me."_


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## YayGollum (May 13, 2007)

Raoul lowered his eyes at the girl to attempt to show his apology for suggesting that she hop back into slavery, then turned back to Orion calmly. "Ah, so you do have some wisdom to share! We were all captured to be sacrificed. And I was unaware until this moment that the girl was speaking of a house of slavery. Her knowledge will be valuable, then, in avoiding at least one obstacle. Now, shall we go? Sleeping in wagons all day has given us plenty of rest?"


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## Seregon (May 13, 2007)

"Yes, we really should be on our way. I don't want them catching up to me."

"Well maybe if you stopped talking about how they might catch you you'd be harder to find." Rhea snapped. Orion glared at her, and then just picked up his pack and started to walk out of the cave. "Or maybe you can wait till the rain stops; they're probably delayed because of it anyway." Orion paused, set his pack down and sat down, yet tried to make it perfectly clear that it was only temporary. Alana moved so that she was next to him, smiled at him.

"So, what, you think I'm some wonderful little legend? Ha! It's been a while since you people fawned over me." Alana just blushed and chuckled, shook her head. And for a while, at least, they left it at that.

_And there it was. The pool, glowing, golden light pouring from it._

_"What now?" He wasn’t sure why he whispered, but he did._

_"Whatever you do next. I brought you this far. You must guide us now."_


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## AraCelebEarwen (May 14, 2007)

Her little head tipped to one side, tiny brows knitted as Clover looked up at the woman. She had seen the way her face had gotten all messed up when she had tried to move her foot, and that she had a strange, off center stance. She didn't know what had happened to her, but she thought it had something to do with how they'd caught her. The memory of dark hands grabbing hold of her came to mind; nasty teeth grinning from ugly faces; something from a smelly bottle being forced into her mouth... She remembered fighting. Kicking, screaming and that she'd bitten - something. She knew she could have gotten away though.

"I don't need any help." Clover said in a cracked confidence, trying to sound sure and unafraid of the strangeness of the things around them. Between the dark night and her ill-teated eyes, she missed the dark shape in the path as she turned and started to walk away. A surprised gasp, quickly followed by a thud and hurt whimpers sounded. 

Bruised again and covered in a new layer of dirt, Clover pushed herself back up and into a sitting position. Arms held tightly around an aching tummy, the thin little figure rocked back and forth slightly; too dehydrated to cry and too tired to even think of running.


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## Rosalee LuAnn (May 14, 2007)

Rosie grabbed Clovers arm just below the shoulder and hauled her back to her feet. Clover pulled her arm away from Rosie as soon as she had found her feet again. 

“You don’t need any help, eh? Do you really want to run off alone into who-knows where with nobody to help you? Don’t answer that.” Rosie gazed ponderingly at the girl. “You are a puzzle, aren’t you?”

“I’m not a puzzle, I’m Clover.” Said the girl with a glower. 

Rosie sighed. “Look, I can fight, and, if we can find them, I have supplies and experience. You’re small, strong, and uninjured. We can help each other.”

“Not small either.” Clover said with a pout.

Just then, however, they both froze. Rosie leaned up against the back of the wagon, Clover dropped under it completely. Rosie would have liked to have joined her, but she didn’t trust her leg to pick her back up if she sat down again. 

An Easterling passed them, but he didn’t seem to be watching the wagons, but watching for something coming. His brows were dropped down low over his dark eyes, as if he were worried about something outside of the camp coming in. He didn’t seem to suspect that something would be trying to get out. 

His footsteps faded away. Rosie’s breath seemed much louder than it had before. Clover crawled out from under the wagon. 

“Look.” Rosie hissed at the girl. “I don’t have time for this and you don’t have time for this. Lets just get out of here.”

(My mom is kicking me off of the computer. If you think this post is way too short and I need to edit/delete it, tell me.)


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## elfgirl (May 16, 2007)

"So, what, you think I'm some wonderful little legend? Ha! It's been a while since you people fawned over me." Alana blushed and smiled, shook her head, and silence reigned for a while.

"Alana." It was Luinwe, and she motioned for the elf to come sit beside her. Alana hesitated, looked down at Orion, who refused to meet her gaze, before striding over to sit next to Luinwe. "Who is he? How do you know him?" Alana smiled kindly, noticing that Luinwe wasn't the only curious one.

"He used to be a warrior in Mirkwood." She said in a hushed voice. "He was the best that we had - he did everything. He was so gallant, and sweet, and kind. All the maidens wanted him, but he never wed any of them. So, anyway, one day, he goes missing, and everyone thinks he's on a quest, right? But no one else is missing, and there's no news of anything worth questing for. So he just disappeared. And then he comes back, about a hundred years later, and he's totally changed. He doesn't talk as much as he used to, and he won't fight, or go on quests, and-"

"Wait. He wouldn't fight?" Rhea watched her carefully.

"No; wouldn't lift a finger. He just sulked around in bars. And even weirder... he got that medallion. He'd never had it before. Just showed back up with it, and wouldn't part with it for the world. So he stays around about six hundred years, and doesn't do anything. He's offered quests and fights, and challenged, but he never does anything. And then, one day, he just packs up and leaves. No word as to why, or where he was going. Just left. That was nearly two hundred years ago, and next thing, here he is, in this cave. No one knows what happened between now and then. Well, except him, of course." And Rhea's brows knotted together, but Alana didn't quite know why.

“Then why is he covered in blood?” Luinwe whispered it, as if she was afraid of him.

“He must’ve decided it was important enough to fight against the Easterlings… he seems to hate them enough.” It made sense, yet there was something unnerving about it. Why would he hate them enough to start fighting after such a long time? They were hunting him, of course, but there had to be something more behind it…


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## Seregon (May 16, 2007)

Rhea leaned against the cave wall thoughtfully, watching Orion. _He only got it after a quest of some sort… wouldn’t fight… hangs around with orcs… Well, at least now I know where I’ve heard that name before._ There was something about all of this that just didn’t fit together. There were too many missing pieces. She had to fill them in. She had to know. Whatever that medallion was about, she was involved. Her sword had merely been a family heirloom… _wouldn’t fight…_ There was something that struck her about that. _He wouldn’t fight… unless he was fighting against the Easterlings…_ Ideas ran through her head, and were in turn shot down just as quickly. _Maybe he wouldn’t fight… because he’s like me. Maybe he has the same fits. Maybe that’s why he’s covered in blood. But why Easterlings? Why would he only lose his temper with them? Why not the orc?_ Suddenly, it hit her.

“You said they were leading us to a sacrifice.” Orion glanced back at her, but didn’t much seem to care. “How did you know that?” There was a long, quiet, pause.

“I heard the guards talking amongst themselves.”

“When?”

“When they took me out of the wagon and threatened me.” He turned to face them. “Anything else?” Rhea met his gaze.

“Why would they threaten you if they were already going to kill you?” Orion paused, his face going blank for a second, before he laughed darkly.

“They hate me.”

“Why?”

“What business is it of yours? Just what right do you have to know?” And Rhea fell silent, curled up a little defensively. “That’s right. None.”

_His eyes snapped open, and he looked down. His tattoo felt so… warm… squirmy… Almost as if it was moving in him, commanding him, drawing him. He touched it with two fingers, lightly, and suddenly, he knew. So he strode over to the pool, and reached into it. He felt something hot and metal, yet not burning, so he wrapped his fingers around it, and drew out... a golden medallion in the shape of a sun._

_"What does this mean?" He stared at it, drawn to it._

_"It’s your destiny. It shows you for what you are; helps you; heals you." He couldn’t help it. Orion smiled. And Evia felt her heart sink. For all his years, he was quite young._


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## AraCelebEarwen (May 16, 2007)

Slowly, almost as though she was being forced to do it, Clover nodded. She no more wanted to stay here then the woman; and she knew that somehow Rosie was right, even though she wasn't about to admit it. 

Carefully moving away towards the darkened edge of the trees, the two figures slipped in among their deep shadows before they could be spotted. Clover's feet were nearly soundless as she kept to the side and an arms reach away from the woman. So quiet in fact, that Rosie was about to turn and look for the girl when the silence was broken by a hungry growl. 

After a long breath of silence, a little voice could just be heard. "Got anything to eat?" Half hopeful, Clover's large eyes glanced sidelong at the woman. 

It had started raining a little while ago, and the thought of finding shelter was one of the formost things on her mind. "No, I don't." Rosie started "But..." A flickering light off to their left and further up and in had just caught her attention. Once Clover finally saw what she was looking at, an idea and then a plan formed with a youthful haste. _ I can sneak better then her... _ "I'll go look!" Clover nearly chirped; her tone as ordering as she could make it sound. 

"Oh no you don't." Catching her by one scrawny shoulder, Rosie turned her eyes down to look at the girl. "You don't even know what's up there. What do you plan on doing if it's a trap?" Clovers eyes widened at this, then narrowed in thought. "What if it's not?" She looked back at Rosie. "What if... what if..." The girl tripped over her own thoughts. Suddenly remembering hearing some of the stories travelers brought with them, her eyes lit up. "What if it's elves?!"


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## Majimaune (May 17, 2007)

Straag was listening to the conversation around him while taking part in none. That way he could learn about his current companions without them learning much about him.

As he listened to the words that went between Rhea and Orion he thought of something. There would be more people going to the Easterlings sacrifice instead of them and there was nothing that he could do about it. Straag thought about leaving the cave and going to get himself captured again so as to help set others free but that thought very quickly left his mind as he had had no food or water from the Easterlings for three days and nights. Now the thought of food filled him and he remembered how hungry he was.

"Did anyone manage to get _any_ food when they left the carts? I didn't and I was hoping if someone did they might be able to give me a little bit?"


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## Ichigo (May 17, 2007)

Graeme had awoke in a seperate wagon, but this wagon was special this wagon was of those the easterlings had captured and thought dead. The smell of rotting flesh surronded him even sickened him as he managed to lift his head. The wagon had stopped for some strange reason, and being curious by nature he moved to find the source of the problem.He stepped out grabbing his staff and his herbal statchel. As he got out of the wagon he noticed dead easterlings everywhere and noticed a large forest off in the distance. He had looked at his surrondings and was successfully lost when he heard a yell behind him.

He turned around to see a half dead easterling swinging at him and spewing loads of blood from his right arm as he swung his weapon. He moved to the left and the weapon cut his arm, but it wasn't deep enough to be a serious injury. Then it hit him.

He had lost the only family he had ever known to easterlings, he hated and loathed the very beings. His eyes began to glow in an odd fashion. The last thing he remembered when he woke up was the blood of that easterling flying everywhere. He then made way to find a cave in seek of shelter from the pounding rain.


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## Seregon (May 17, 2007)

"Did anyone manage to get _any_ food when they left the carts? I didn't and I was hoping if someone did they might be able to give me a little bit?" Orion's head turned slightly towards Straag, and without a word he reached in his pack and tossed some dried meat at the man, not even watching to see if he caught it.

_"What do you need?" Her eyes were wide open, staring at him. He didn’t say a word, merely came over to her, laid his head against her chest, and closed his eyes. She thought of objecting, but she saw something in him then that she had not seen in a long time: innocence… and goodness. And suddenly, she realized what she was doing, and nothing could stop the tears from welling in her eyes. His head lifted, his eyes examined her, and his lips found hers. For the first time, Evia lost her tactics: she didn’t think of the repercussions. She followed her first instinct, and pulled him closer._

"You know more about this." Alana stared at Rhea, her gaze piercing, demanding, questioning. Her blonde hair shone in the firelight, and her blue eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"No, unfortunately," Rhea said quietly, "I don't." _At least... I don't know anything more about him that I'm willing to tell you..._ And she gave Alana a glare in return for her gaze, making the elf's eyes widen and turn away...


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## Miss Insanity (May 18, 2007)

**Not Far From The Cave**

Vaara was in the midst of a disturbing dream. Memories of her father, memories of the battles. The shrieks of women and children being slaughtered like animals. The screams... The screams were real, they were near, terrifying! ... She awoke in cage, bruised and covered in filth. The sounds of rain thrumming in her ears. Horrible cries and wicked laughter. She couldn't see anything. Was it too dark? No. Her eyes were covered with some disgusting cloth. It reeked of blood and excrement. She heard the laughter again and the rain pounded harder. The screaming started again. She new that voice.

"Tanya!" she cried. "Tanya, where are you? I cannot see you!"

"Vaara?! Vaara, is that you?"

"Yes, it's me."

"Oh thank god," sobbed her companion. "I thought they'd taken you already, I... I thought you were dead."

"I feel dead. Perhaps this is hell. Can you see?"

"No. My eyes are covered and my hands are bound."

Vaara found that her hands, aswell, were tied roughly behind her back. She couldn't feel her fingers anymore.

"Do you know what's happening, Tanya?"

"The Easterlings came. They slaughtered the men and took us women. We tried to fight them, but there were too many."

Easterlings. The word rang in Vaara's ears. The Easterlings were known as ruthless butchers. Few they captured ever returned in one piece. There was another scream, Tanya again, and something warm and wet splattered across Vaara's arm and face.

"Tanya? Tanya?!"

"Your friend is dead girly," The Easterling's awful voice came from nearby. She could feel his hot breath against her ear and smell his reek. She tried to think. What could she do? How could she escape?

"She's dead, and you're next. Come on you rats! Get that corpse off the wagon! Can't have any more of the prisoners escaping, can we? You wouldn't try to escape would you, girly?"

She felt a sharp portion of the bar behind her. She rubbed the rope around her wrists quickly up and down on the edge.

"Don't... call me that!" She spat at him. She must have hit her target, as the man seemed enraged as he spoke.

"You filthy *****! We'll just forget the ceremony and kill you."

"Give it your best shot," and with that, she kicked the Easterling full on in the chest. Her hands came free and she ripped off her blindfold. All around her was fire and metal. Tanya's lifeless body lay in the straw beside her, decapitated and bleeding. She was on a raised wagon surrounded by a crowd of tattooed monsters. Torches lit the night and cast ugly shadows across their faces. The trees around the road were burned and tumbling. She looked down, the Easterling had fallen off the wagon onto a guard's pike. It had pierced his armor and now stuck through his stomach. He stared angrily towards her, twitching and spitting out blood.

"KILL HER!" he shouted. "Kill her!"

Vaara reached for her sword, Agarwaen. It was gone from her side, but she still had her dagger. She grabbed Viresse from her thigh-sheath and swung her arm, cutting the throat of an oncoming foe. Several more men leapt to the wagon and swung their axes high. She rolled backwards and off the end of the wagon, landing feet-first in the mud. The men leapt off after her and the one on the right swung his axe down. He missed, and his axe thunked into the ground. Vaara grabbed the arms of the second axeman and kicked him in the stomach. He went down and she returned the axe to it's owner's skull. The rain soaked her hair and she suddenly felt very cold. More Easterlings grabbed their weapons and headed for her. Without thinking, Vaara turned and ran into the trees.

_Follow the road for now_. she thought. _I can't get lost. I can outrun them in the trees.

_As the shouts of the Easterlings faded behind her, she slowed. Her arms and legs ached, and her lungs burned. She headed back in the direction of the road and looked through the trees. She could see no Easterlings in the vicinity. Good. She stepped out and found herself in the middle of a second caravan. This one seemed deserted. Many bodies, Easterling and other, lay scattered in and around the wagons. There were footprints leading off into the forest, and they didn't seem to be Easterling in origin. She noticed something shining. She headed for it and found a wagon full of seized weapons. She searched until she found what she was looking for.

"Agarwaen," she said, slipping the blade back into it's sheath. "You are a sight for sore eyes, old friend."

With nothing else left to do, she followed the footprints towards the forest...


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## Ichigo (May 18, 2007)

Graeme treked through the forest looking for shelter, but still hadn't seem to find anything. He was soaked from head to toe, and even his staff felt as if it had gained weight. He started playing back through memories of his childhood only to find himself lost.

He had grown up in a family of what would be nobles in the elven society. He was tought the ways of magic and how to fight, but fighting wasn't one of his passions as magc was. Often as a younger elf he had taken to enchanting items such as rings or amulets they would wear. This often got him in trouble.

Graeme stopped and came out of his memories at the smell of burning wood. He began to walk towards the smell untill he had come to find a small cave. He looked in, slowly walking in so he could see if the cave was safe, took one step, and collapsed.


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## YayGollum (May 18, 2007)

The bipeds were speaking at each other, every now and then. Nothing of interest to Raoul. He had been sitting for a while, attempting to say only as much as he had to, so that he didn't accidentally convince someone to fear him. Because he knew that Bugburz would most likely think of fear as the only way to keep themselves safe, he also busied himself with coming up with arguments for him. He wasn't especially concerned about Bugburz's safety, since the Orc had left the cave again to find a better place to keep watch. Bugburz was obsessed with self-preservation and had been evading things worse than humans longer than Raoul had been alive. 

Just before he got to the thought that Bugburz would have easily been able to evade these Easterlings, if he hadn't been travelling with a Warg, he noticed Graeme's arrival. After glancing at the others to see if one of them would approach first, he trotted up and sniffed at the guy. "Seems safe." He then scraped some dirt directly at the guy's face, attempting to wake him up without touching him.


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## Ichigo (May 18, 2007)

Graeme feeling the dirty hit his face, trys to move but is weak from exaustion. he looks up to see the orc, and collapses as his sight becomes unfocused and he falls back into a deep sleep.


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## yhwh1st (May 18, 2007)

Figwitt struggled against the arms that restrained him, but soon realized it was of little use. When the man finally stopped, Figwitt began to struggle anew. _"Be still now! Quiet!" the man whispered harshly._ He stood listening for several minutes, both barely breathing as the distant shouts seemed to fade with the daylight. Then, almost as suddenly as he was grabbed, Figwitt was released as the man dropped himself onto a nearby log.

Silence reined for a while longer, broken suddenly by the loud rumble of the hobbits stomach. Both chuckled quietly. _"Well, young one. I guess it goes without saying that you are about as hungry as I am." the human said. What do you say we try to find something to eat, hm?"_ "Young one?" Figwitt said in his high tenor. He started to say something more but stopped short as understanding lit his features. "Do you mean to say, _sir_" he said in a tone of polite distain, "that you believe me to be a child? I must beg you to allow me to enlighten you of your mistake. I am not a child, but a _Hobbit_. My name is Figwitt brandybuck and I am thirty-six years old." He paused, giving the man a chance to speak, but when no answer was forthcoming said; "I think we ought to find some place to hide for the night. Do you think we could burrow under the bank of that river before it gets dark? I should much rather sleep under something than out in the open, where it'd be easier for them to find us."


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## Rosalee LuAnn (May 19, 2007)

*In which Rosie wonders what she's gotten herself into*

Rosie was trying very hard to be patient. Unfortunately, her patience was much thinner than her much-worn clothing, and just as likely to rip with any added pressure. 

“Clover, we’re going to go _together_, and get as close to the cave as we can and try to see inside. Then, if it seems like it might be safe, then I’ll let you try to get closer.”

“Bu—“

“That is what we are doing Clover, I don’t care to hear any other ideas, even though I’m SURE you could do fine without me.” Rosie’s words were short and clipped. 

“But you can’t walk very good!” said Clover. “If you’ll just let me…”

“I _will_ let you once we see who is in the cave. Who’s to say it isn’t the Easterlings we just got away from? There obviously weren’t many at the wagons for some reason, they could be anywhere.” She took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself, wondering what she had gotten into when she asked this girl to help her. “Alright, lets go. Stay low and stay with me.”

Despite Rosie’s bad leg, it didn’t take them long to get into a position where they could see who was in the cave. Rosie squinted. There were several figures… Rosie wiped a hand across her eyes, trying to see clearer. Most of the figures seemed to be Elves or Humans, but…

“Oh look, they have food! I’m so hungry!” said Clover, then clamored up toward the cave. Rosie groaned. _Why, _why,_ of all people, did one stubborn, independent, brainless child have to run into me in that wagon?_ She asked the dark sky. There was no answer.


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## Amberpants (May 19, 2007)

"Well that was quite unexpected." Laia voiced sarcastically, hidden in her corner, after she was awakened from her peaceful yet uncomfortable sleep by a thump that echoed around the cave. 

She grumbled as she stretched out her sore muscles that were used to her huddled sleeping position, and slowly made her way to the fire.

"So, are we just going to leave him there?" Laia asked nodding to the fainted one in the entrance of the cave. Noticing that no one volunteered to do anything for the man she decided to take it upon herself to do it for them. 

She walked up beside him and kicked him in the ribs, making it hurt, but not breaking anything. His limp body was the only thing that responded as it rocked to one side and fell back in place.
_Wow this guy is out of it. I could kick him again, but that’s just cruel. _
"Fine, I'll just get some water. You need a bath anyway. Does anyone have any water?" She looked around

"Here." One of the elves in the corner - the one with the dark hair - handed her a flask full of water. "Just don't use it all."

She poured some on the still unconscious guy, but without use. Her shoulders slumped in defeat. “Ok, I give up.”

She walked back over to the elf, returned the water, and sat by the fire.


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## Majimaune (May 19, 2007)

Straag saw the girl try to wake the unconscious man but to no avail. As she sat back down he went over to the man. He whispered in the mans ear something that no one else could hear. The man suddenly jumped up with his eyes bright then collapsed again into unconsciousness.

"That usually works on people, telling 'em that. Wakes 'em up but not this guy." With that Straag sat back down.


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## Amberpants (May 19, 2007)

Laia watched someone else attempt to wake up the horrible excuse of a man after her attempts failed. She examined as that someone whispered to the man making him jump yet still go back into his useless position in the middle of the cave. She couldn’t help but let out a snicker on the fact that this meager insufficient man didn’t wake up despite all of her and that other guy’s efforts, and not to mention the dude looked like a fish out of water from his reaction.

She turned to the man that tried to make the wimp come to his senses as he sat back down in his original seat by the fire. 

"I noticed that you whispered into his ear, meaning that you intended on no one else eaves dropping on your little endeavor, but if you would be so kind and please explain your ingenious plan that seemingly always works, but failed to do so on our miserable friend here, and since I have no clue who you are, or anyone else is for that matter, let's have a little 'get to know ya' party. I'll start off, my name's Laia. Anyone else want to contribute?"


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## Seregon (May 20, 2007)

"Anyone else want to contribute?" Orion sighed, stood up.

"If it's so important that you wake him up, here." The last word had a certain heaviness to it, a deep foreboding. And his ominous tone rang true as he knelt, pulled the medallion from his neck and pressed it into the man's forearm. The human screamed with all of the capacity of his lungs, his eyes wide and full of tears. Orion pulled it back when he saw the man was awake and let him roll onto his stomach, tears streaming down his face. "There. Now why was that so important?" And he stood again, walked back to his chosen seat, and glared at the girl. "I'm Orion, by the way." He said it quietly, deeply, twirling the medallion over his fingers with a sadistic grin plastered all over his face. "And it's *very* nice to meet you." It was dripping with sarcasm, not one bit intended to be nice. Everyone else in the cave was silent, but Orion didn't care, as he followed the golden medallion twirling through his fingers.

Rhea was disturbed; confused. She only used her sword when she had to; when she absolutely needed to escape or conquer. He used it whenever he felt like it, used it as a game; a piece of fun to watch and laugh at. She felt sick; truly, physically sick. _He's just caused a man a lifetime of pain... and he's smiling. He's just... He just... Oh, valar... what is he?_ And she couldn't watch the man anymore; she looked away, tears in her own eyes and butterflies in her stomach. She barely even heard him speak, she was so consumed by her fear and disbelief. She just brought her knees up to her chest, and buried her face in her arms. _What in Mandos' halls does this... this... *dog* have to do with me?_ And then, she heard the man let out a sob, and all she could think was, _Valar, I hope he *doesn't* have anything to do with me._


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## AraCelebEarwen (May 20, 2007)

Hard, slick rocks made for a tricky climb up to the opening of the cave. Having left the woman a few yards behind her without glancing back, Clover slipped from behind one larger stone to the next; carefully edging her way close enough to hear the voices of the men and women sheltering inside. 

Stopped in her tracks by a bone-chilling sound, Clover's mouth fell open, her large eyes growing even wider as the scream finally died away. Her heart pounded wildly in her throat, her plan shattered and thoughts spinning in an ever darkening spiral. 

Curled easily out of view of those in the cave, Clover's figure trembled in the growing chill. Unaware of the quiet footsteps coming nearer, a cry rose in her throat when a hand grasped her shoulder. Quick to cover the girl's mouth, the figure pulled her back against a heaving chest. 

"Shhh" Rosie hissed under her breath. "I told you to stay with me!" Loosening her grasp, Rosie had to be careful that the tension she felt in the girl's body didn't turn into fight or set her to running. But to her grateful surprise, Clover went nearly limp when she recognized the woman's voice.


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## Majimaune (May 21, 2007)

"I am Straag. It is good to meet you Laia. The words I whispered to the man were my own that I will not tell you at the current time because the may distress you. It is the shock of the words that wakes people." Straag watched the man roll around on the floor in pain after what Orion had done to him. Straag felt repulsed that someone could inflict pain and smile while doing so.

Straag looked around the cave and saw that the the other elf that came with him looking puzzled.


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## Ichigo (May 21, 2007)

Glaring at Orion but slightly scared to make a move. He looked around and then introduced himself. He spoke softly but annunciated each word, "I am Graeme it seems as if the rains has brought together quite a selection of beings... maybe the work of something higher". He sat down and stared at Orion flinching ever time he looked at Graeme.


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## Miss Insanity (May 23, 2007)

***OOC: Okay. It's clear at this point that me and Yay are holding you guys up. I've been waiting to hear back for him, but he's been too busy to respond to my messages. So, I will go ahead and post our little scene. Since I'm posting for both of us, you'll all have to deal with the point of view changes. To make this easier, I've made Yay's lines in a green font...***


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Vaara reached the treeline quickly and ducked in between the trunks. She still couldn't comprehend what had happened. Her friend had been murdered right beside her, and Vaara? She had been helpless. This greatly troubled her. She had never felt that way before. Like a caged animal ready for the slaughter, hearing the sounds of your dying comrades. She stopped in a small clearing where the light wasn't so bad. In the middle were several massive stones, covered in moss and lichen. One of these was small enough for her to climb onto and sit. She was covered in blood, and her clothes were ripped in many places. She looked towards the sky and let the rain hit her face, washing off some of the blood and muck. She sat there for an hour, slipping between sleep and crying. Finally she got ahold of her emotions and stood on the rock, trying to look for shelter. She turned at the sound of movement behind her and saw two girls... no. One woman and a girl, slinking around... something? She was sure they were not Easterlings. They bore no armor or tattooes. Perhaps she could talk to them? She jumped from the rock and started walking towards them...

 Bugburz slowly shifted himself around to obtain a better position in his tree. The rain was interfering with his most reliable sense, smell, but he thought that he heard something nearby. Carefully peeking around, he saw two small females approaching the cave. He gritted his teeth and tightened his hold on the branches with frustration but kept his curses silent. He was certain that they wouldn't be any trouble, but he didn't want anyone to have gotten past him. With a quick, "Ar!" he realized that the noise he had heard couldn't have been them. The Easterling woman looked up just as he dropped out of the tree and kicked her to the ground.

Not expecting much of a fight, he smiled at her groan and quickly drew his sword. She was quick, and was almost back on her feet when Bugburz landed another kick. This time, she was prepared and held her ground, grabbing his foot and using it to pull herself back up. The way she carried herself froze him with surprise. "Little girl's got some teeth, eh? I haven't had the chance to kill anyone else today. Let's see you try to wield that scrap metal!" He sniffed with amusement, but kept his shield ready as he allowed her to draw her sword... 

"Don't call me girl!" said the woman as she drew her blade. It caught the light from between the clouds for a moment and shone in Bugburz's eyes. _Orcs didn't like sunlight, did they?_ Suddenly the orc turned towards the woman and the girl that she had seen earlier and said "Don't go in there yet! I'll be there for you soon!" Were they in league with this orc? She didn't have much time to think, because the orc charged at Vaara with his blade drawn. She blocked his charge, and kicked his behind, letting him stumble a little. "That's for kicking me earlier!" She raised her sword, awaiting the next move from the orc. He charged again, and this time planted a good blow from the side of his sword against her head. She swung her blade towards him, but he dodged it. Clearly this orc had skill. She had already fought one battle today. Could she keep this one up?

 Bugburz charged at the woman but quickly lost his eagerness for battle and paid more attention to his shield than his wild attacks as they clashed. "Garn! Since when do Easterling females do the fighting?" After retreating a bit and narrowing his eyes at her, He noticed the blood that covered her body. "Who else have you killed? They wouldn't let me kill anybody! You didn't escape, too, did you?" He snarled as the unsavory thought came to his brain that she might be a decent enough fighter to forestall killing her, but he stubbornly advanced into a range to allow his shorter sword better chances, half hoping that Raoul would show up to stop the fight, half imagining slicing her open to get at some tasty morsels, which started him licking his lips. A lucky swipe from the woman's sword drew a line of blood from his chin and he quickly drew back his tongue. Memories of defeating beings much bigger than her flashed through his mind, and he tossed a look of betrayal at the lady, as if she had stolen much of the glory he felt that he deserved.

"Nar! No human maggot's gonna kill Bugburz!" the orc said, glaring angrily across the clearing at her. He was stronger and she knew that he had more endurance, but she was fighting for her life and had been running on adrenaline for hours. He thought she'd go easy. A bit of fun for him on a rainy day. She could see a hint of regret on his face. Maybe he wished he hadn't dropped out of the tree so fast. He could've easily snuck up behind her and cut her throat. In her current state, she probably wouldn't have noticed him. Again the fray resumed. Vaara jumped over a low swipe from the orc's sword and landed on her sitting rock. He recovered quickly, slicing downward and clashing his blade against the rock. He missed - barely - and she aimed a kick at his head. She slipped on the wet moss and instead delivered a clumsy kick to his shoulder.

 Bugburz saw that the two females by the mouth of the cave were watching and made sure to flash them a fangy grin before springing what he was sure was a good trap at Vaara... "Stop it! You escaped, too, and gave me a good fight. I've got a bunch of other human maggots in a cave nearby. We'll all get out of here, and then I'll kill you, okay?" He gave an honestly appreciative grin but saw that it hurt his face to do so when she persisted. "Not taking any of my lies, are you? What am I doing out here? Working for the Easterlings? Got a band of Orcs waiting nearby? Nar! They caught me, too! Just back into that cave, you'll see!" He found that he was breathing heavily, and his sword was starting to get heavy. _Shouldn't have talked to her so much. She couldn't have tired me out so quickly _he thought to himself. After backing off a bit, nodding towards the cave, and waiting the beats that he figured she would take to finally give in and turn around, he faked a stumble, dropped his sword, scooped up a rock, and flung it at her sword arm.

"Ha!" Not even waiting for a result, he launched his shield at the weakened arm as he launched himself at her legs. He had merely planned on grabbing her head and smashing it into the ground until she lost consciousness, but it looked like she was attempting to draw a second weapon as he scrambled over her. He watched her hands and smacked them away when they grabbed at a dagger. She landed a punch, though, that threw him off. Believing herself to be victorious, she staggered to her feet, but the Orc lunged for the dagger before she was up. It clattered away, since he couldn't get a good grip, and she twisted out of his grasp.

The Orc's eyes darted around. Looking for a better weapon no doubt. That had been a nasty trick. Vaara grabbed her dagger again and grinned at the Orc. He was empty-handed. _I can take him!_ she thought. Vaara collected her wits and rushed towards the Orc, blade drawn and ready. Just in time, he reached over his shoulder and grabbed an arrow from his quiver. Her blade touched his neck as his arrow pricked hers. He gave out a little squeal before regaining his composure. He locked his eyes with hers and said "Orcish arrows are always poisoned, girl."

She stared for a minute, then started to laugh. Not an unkind, cruel, or fake laugh. A genuine chuckle exited her lips at the expense of their situation. "This is ridiculous, you know it, surely." She looked for any sign of compassion in the Orc's eyes. She could see him struggling. He was thinking, _Is she lying? How can I trust her?_ She imagined he must be as tired as she was, and probably wanted to quit. She quickly backed away and dropper her dagger in the dirt...

"Your move," she said.


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## Rosalee LuAnn (May 24, 2007)

“We’re getting out of here. Now.” Said Rosie. She and Clover had stood frozen, watching the fight. Rosie didn’t know what to do—whether to try to stop the fight, to say something… but her cautious and mistrustful nature advised her against any involvement. Getting away—preferably a good distance—was the best option. She grabbed Clover’s hand in a way that might have seemed friendly if both hadn’t been too startled at the scene they had just witnessed to notice much of anything else. Rosie tugged at Clovers hand, but the girl was soon following without encouragement. 

They made their way as silently as possible, the short legged child and the injured woman easily keeping pace with each other. Rosie glanced back several times, hoping that the fighters hadn’t noticed the direction they went. She comforted herself with the thought that a small woman and smaller child shouldn’t—couldn’t—be worth chasing after. 

The terrain they were creeping across was rough, with many rocks and boulders, and before long both had scraped hands, scuffed knees, and various chafes and cuts that stung and bled. “If only we had grabbed my pack, I would be able to fix us up quite nicely,” Rosie muttered, “and we would have something to eat. I suppose we shall have to make due…” she glanced up at the sky, hoping for a sign that the rain that was still drizzling down would soon stop and let the sun through. She sighed. “Well, at least we’ll have plenty to drink.” She said to nobody in particular.


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## Majimaune (May 24, 2007)

"I am Graeme it seems as if the rains has brought together quite a selection of beings... maybe the work of something higher."

"What it is we have no way of knowing until it comes to pass. It might be nothing though, just a chance meeting that might turn out to be a horrible thing and should never have happened."


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## AraCelebEarwen (May 24, 2007)

Cold, tired and hungry, Clover stumbled at almost every step. Mud stained her ragged dress and clung heavily to her bare feet and legs. Her stomach churned, her feet slipped out from under her and she felt the ground coming closer. Bracing her arms out to catch herself, Clover fell hard but stayed quiet despite how much it must have hurt. Ignoring Rosie’s offered hand, the girl worked stubbornly back to her feet. 

They continued on under the cloudy night sky, silent but for the splashing rain and Roise’s occasional muttering. 

A huge yawn stretched Clover’s face, a low whimper following as she rubbed one fist to her face. “Don’t you know where we are?” Her little voice begain to plead, but the woman also noticed a scolding tone. “It’s cold…” Trying to look around for something, Clover couldn’t see any kind of buildings or anything she would have thought would be a shelter. Rosie also had been looking, but she had a much better knowledge of what would do.

“Over here. Come on.” Catching the half asleep girl by one arm, Rosie pulled her in the direction of a small cave opening. Confused but too tired to argue, they had no sooner found the cave safe and dry then Clover had sink into a heap off to one side and fallen almost instantly to sleep.


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## YayGollum (May 26, 2007)

Bugburz blinked at her in surprise, involuntarily growled with disappointment, looked at her dagger hungrily, then shrugged, put his arrow back, and gestured towards the dagger. "Garn! Take it. I wasn't lying about the cave. Some others escaped, too. With luck, we'll all get out of this, and we can kill each other later. I'd like that." He grinned but watched her carefully as he gathered his sword and shield. Feeling a bit safer, he checked past her to see where those other two females had gone, decided that he didn't care about them anymore, and started climbing back into his tree. As an afterthought, and mostly to himself ---> "Where'd she learn to fight like that?"


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## Miss Insanity (May 30, 2007)

Vaara watched the orc climb back into the tree. A chill ran down her spine as she realized how close she had come, one again, to death. She sheathed her dagger and sword after wiping them off on the rock moss. The only blood on it came from the orc's chin cut, which had healed itself already. A new respect started to blossom in her for orcs as she marched in the direction of the cave. Half-way there, she turned back and shouted to the orc, "Good luck! I hope you catch something!" He was silent.

As she approached the entrance to the cave, she heard talking inside and the growl of a warg. Again, she made sure her dagger was there. Perhaps there was indeed an orc party, waiting to trap her. She peeked carefully around the corner and saw instead a man lying at her feet, the others in the cave staring at him - some with pity, others with smug happiness. The warg sat closer to the other side of the cave and so she felt brave enough to step into view. Very carefully, she lifted her foot over the collapsed man and down on the other side. She pulled herself into the entrance of the cave and was instantly met with the words, "who are you?!"


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## Seregon (May 30, 2007)

"Who are you?" It seemed like acid; cold, stinging, infuriating. Orion's first instinct was to kill her. She was tired and beaten, and he saw little purpose in her as she was. Yet he saw little purpose in any of the others there, and he really didn't need any of them attacking him. Plus, when he stood and turned on her, Alana stood with him, a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to glare directly at her, but she stayed as she was, so he jerked his shoulder forward and out of her grasp, his attention turning back to the woman who'd just entered. "Answer! Who are you and what is your purpose here?" Yet her eyes flitted to the others in the cave. Orion couldn't care less what they thought about him. They could be plotting his death; fine - they wouldn't be the only ones. So he faced her, and her only, fury in his eyes and his body tensed, ready to draw his weapons if need be.

Rhea watched all of this happen, shock turning to disbelief, then to fury. She could be another survivor, and here he was treating her like a common criminal! Or worse. And she felt her wrist pulse with anger, and she saw him flinch. _Why did he do that?... He..._ Yet her thoughts were interrupted, as he yelled at the woman again. "Leave her alone, Orion."

"No!" He wouldn't even turn to look at her. "What if she's one of *them*? Come to drag us back and lock us up?" He felt heat pulse through his veins, pure rage filling his mind.

"Orion." This was softer, and he turned to see Alana. "Please. Look at her. She's not an easterling. Leave her be." Her hand found his shoulder again, and for some reason he felt much calmer. This time he made no move to make her stop, or lower her hand, yet he refused to back down. Alana smiled tiredly at the woman, squeezed Orion's shoulder. Orion simply stood there, seething.

_Evia felt the clouds of sleep slowly parting, and started to stretch when she felt something that wasn’t right. Bare skin, against hers. Her eyes snapped open, and she looked down at Orion, still peacefully asleep… and completely naked.

"Oh, gods… what have I done?"

*****

"So," Orion said softly as he made his way through the forest, trying to keep up, "what is my destiny?" Yet Evia kept silent. "You have to know. Otherwise, where are you taking me?" Evia stopped suddenly, her hand on a tree, and Orion managed to get within just a foot of her. Their eyes met, and Evia looked upon him sympathetically._


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## Majimaune (May 31, 2007)

Straag stayed where he was when Orion took hold of the woman. He reached for his sword in case of danger. There appeared not to be any but he thought he would not be caught unaware like last time, taken in his sleep. Even when Alana said that the woman was no Easterling he still kept on his guard, she might be working them for all he knew.

In a calm and controlled voice Straag said "Answer him, your life could depend on it."


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## elfgirl (May 31, 2007)

"Who are you?" His tone was full of rage, and Alana felt her heart start to race. She had to calm him down. She set her hand gently on his shoulder, smiled at him, and all he did was glare at her. She wanted so badly to say something, but the words stuck in her throat, and she couldn't get them out. He yanked his shoulder out of her grasp, and turned away from her. She noticed him flinch ever so slightly, and felt something pull at a corner of her mind. Yet it wasn't Orion, so she couldn't care less. "Answer! Who are you and what is your purpose here?" He barked orders at her again, and Alana felt helpless to change the situation.

"Leave her alone, Orion." This was from Rhea. Finally, something in Alana's mind caught on to what was going on. She had to make everyone a lot calmer, a lot faster than she thought she did.

"No!" Orion's voice cut through her thoughts. "What if she's one of them? Come to drag us back and lock us up?" Alana felt her arm twitch slightly. _Just stay calm..._ Her heart raced, yet she tried to disguise all of this as best she could. Suddenly, she came to the horrible realization - she really did fear him. She feared him more than the Easterlings, more than death itself. Yet she couldn't leave him.

"Orion." She couldn't believe she'd spoken. It was soft; kind; gentle, and he turned to look at her. As the words came out of her mouth she could hardly believe they were hers. Yet they were calm, and they helped, so she was thankful. "Please. Look at her. She's not an easterling. Leave her be." She touched his shoulder again, thinking only of calm, and trying her utmost to have him think the same. He relaxed slightly, and she squeezed his shoulder, relief and joy filling her. She smiled at the woman, suddenly feeling very, very tired. He wouldn't back down, but she'd helped. He wasn't enraged anymore, and that helped.

Luinwe watched all of this, fear clutching at her stomach. Not so much of the woman - if she was an easterling, she was beaten and tired and weighed down by the day. She could easily be beaten by all of them. Yet fear of Orion, and even of the woman sitting next to her... Rhea, was it? Yes, fear of _them_ made her pause, the breath catching in her throat.


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## Miss Insanity (May 31, 2007)

"My name is Vaaralinen and I am an escaped captive of the Easterlings, as I gather you are also by the noises your watchman made. He... met me as I was fleeing the Easterling caravan. He directed me over to this cave, where I hoped to warm my fingers and sooth my wounds. If I ask to much, I shall leave..." She looked hopefully at the women who had tried to calm the man who seemed to be in charge. If anyone's liable to help me, it'll be them she thought. "I lay my weapons down, as a sign of armistice. Please, trust me."


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## Majimaune (Jun 1, 2007)

Straag stood up. "I trust you Vaaralinen, can I call you something maybe a bit shorter? Come sit by the fire...If he," at that Straag inclined his head towards Orion, "will let you free."


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## Seregon (Jun 1, 2007)

Orion wasn't willing to trust her, yet that could just as easily be said for almost everyone else in the cave. So he stood aside and let her get close to the fire, watching her carefully, and turning to put his back to the cave wall. Alana kept her hand on his shoulder, and for some reason as time went on he felt calmer and calmer.

Rhea smiled at the woman who'd entered. "Welcome, Vaaralinen. If you want, I'm sure we could persuade Orion to give you some food." She smiled sweetly. "We were captives, also. We plan to head West, later." Orion gave an angry laugh, and Rhea glanced at him, gave a tired smile. "It was his idea."

_"I’m taking you to my people." It was quiet, soft, with a tone that Orion had never heard her use before. Orion looked her over, those deep brown eyes searching hers in a way that filled her with warmth… and sorrow.

"Who are your people?" And suddenly, he realized: her golden eyes, her deep brown hair… and her unpointed ears. She was a mortal… and worse…

"I am an easterling…"_

Laia watched all of this happening, surprised and a little afraid at first. Yet as soon as they began exchanging pleasantries, she smiled, and joined in. "I'm Laia." She said to the woman, inclining her head slightly, not even realizing she was doing it. There were some things learned by rote from being a servant. She shifted rather impatiently. _Are we ever going to leave?_ She wanted so desperately to be as far away from her master as possible.


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## Rosalee LuAnn (Jun 2, 2007)

*Sorry it's taken me so long to post, people... I'll fine-tune this later. I hope.*

Rosie gazed at the sleeping girl. Sleeping, Clover looked calm and peaceful—very unlike the complaining, active girl that Rosie felt she had been chasing… how long? Rosie realized that they had been prisoners a short time ago, a few hours at most—it somehow seemed much longer than that. At that thought, Rosie’s ankle gave a particularly vicious throb, as if to remind her that all the time she had been running from the Easterlings, and then from that fight and the cave of strange figures, she has been abusing her leg abominably. 

Now that she was off her feet and felt relatively safe, the pain of her injured shoulder and ankle took advantage of the space in her mind that had been occupied earlier with running. Rosie was suddenly aware that she was extremely nauseous and lightheaded… and hungry. She had no food, no supplies, no weapons… only an impulsive, overactive, useless child. She instantly discarded the idea of leaving Clover on her own, that was simply not an option. But Rosie did not look forward to having to drag little Clover around when there might be angry Easterlings about, hunting for escaped prisoners…

Rosie’s fatigue finally hushed the string of thoughts running through her brain, and she dropped into a shallow sleep, full of red dreams where she was chased by some unknown horror, and every step she took sent a jolt of pain through her body.


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## AraCelebEarwen (Jun 4, 2007)

_Harsh, clawed hands dug into her struggling arms, another kept a crushing grasp around her face. A strange scented container was forced into her mouth, filling it with a sickeningly sticky syrup. She tried to spit it out, but was reworded with a staggering jerk and a blow to the side of her head. Her eyes swam, her head held up only by the same firm hand. Again her mouth was forced open, the same bottle once again shoved past her dry lips. _

Clover's body lie curled tightly on the hard cave floor. Trembling, she woke suddenly, gasping for air as though the syrup was still running down her throat. Completely confused in the dark surroundings, she kicked backwards across the graveled floor tell her back was pressed against a rough stone wall. Memories came back in a wash then; Clover's wide eyes darting here and there in the darkness, her heart pounding in her ears. 

Knees hugged to her chest, the girl's head slowly began to sway and sink forward to her knees; sleep pulling her back into an even darker place then the silent cave. 

Dawn came slowly, slipping into the mouth of the cave but unable to go so far in as to fully touch the huddled figure. Dark patches showed plainly on her face; the groggy expression and deep bruise on her left temple giving evidence to the treatment she had been given. Half awake, Clover had stayed sitting up; heavy-lidded eyes gazing across at the woman. Rosie had been tossing and moaning in her sleep, making Clover feel increasingly unsure and at a loss. There wasn't anything to eat here and hardly even anything to drink but for what had gathered in the hallow of a stone just outside the entrance. Clover's eyes moved from the woman to the mouth of the cave and back. Would she notice if she slipped out?...

About a half hour later, the girl had somehow found the way and was moving back towards the wagons. It had to be there somewhere. If she could just get the pack... Quiet feet kept moving over the dampened ground. Another quarter of an hour later and she had to catch herself from just walking from the shelter of the trees. She couldn't see anyone around, several wagons -one tipped on its side- were still where they must have been the night before. Carefully, Clover worked her way 'round to the last wagon in the line. A shudder ran over her skin as she reached up to climb in. Piles of bags, weapons, bundles and... she pulled her gaze away from a stash of dark bottles tucked in a pile of bloody looking cloth. Snatching up the first bag that seemed anywhere near right for what she thought the woman might have had -as well as another that looked to have some sort of flat bread in it- the girl slipped quickly back into the woods and towards the cave... more or less. 

As soon as she felt she was far enough away, Clover ducked down beside a brushy patch and started to dig through the second bag. Two bottles of something that smelled sharp to her little nose; several bundles of a strange, bread-like stuff wrapped up in leaves; some kind of powders in little boxes and bags and a little trinket that made her mouth fall open in wondering surprise. It was little more then a well kept coin, but it glittered in the palm of her dirty little hand like nothing she had ever seen before. Time slipped past; one loaf of bread was gone and another had one half-hearted nibble taken out of it before the child felt much fuller then she had been in a very long time. Warmed by the sunlight and drowsy from a filled tummy, she slipped just under the edge of the brush and had quickly fallen asleep.


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## Rosalee LuAnn (Jun 5, 2007)

*In which Rosie is miserable.*

Rosie woke feeling as if her pulsing heart had moved up to her head and was pressing against the back of her eyelids, forehead, and neck. She groaned. The floor of the cave was rocky and uneven, and certainly not the most comfortable place she had ever slept. There were a couple of sore spots on her back where particularly pointy rocks had bored into her...

Rosie's train of thought stopped abruptly when she noticed that the cave was empty except for her. Sores forgotten, she gazed about frantically, thinking maybe Clover had merely slipped out of sight for a moment... she would be back, she had to...

Rosie crawled out of the cave. The sun was a fair way up into the sky--perhaps an hour or so since sun up. How long had Clover been gone? Dare she call out--who, or what, might be out there? The terrain was rocky, and there was no way for Rosie, a merely mediocre tracker, to even try to follow any trail Clover might have left. 

Rosie sat still for some time, going through all her options... but in the end, the only thing she could think of to do was to go and look for the foolish child. And she would need to start soon--each minute could be taking Clover further and further from the cave. 

Resigned, Rosie, examined her ankle. It did not look like it had improved during the night--indeed, it looked much worse. Swollen, with a mottled pink, purple, green, yellow, brown, and blue bruise, and a large cut that looked infected. Rosie looked away. She could limp, hop, crawl... she could, and would. This wasn't the worst position she had ever found herself in, and she was determined that it would not beat her.

Resigned, trying very hard not to feel miserable, Rosie started to slowly make her way away from the cave, with only a vague idea of where she was going, most of her mind consumed with trying not to jostle her now throbbing ankle and sore shoulder and aching body more than was absoultely necessary. _Once upon a time,_ she tried to distract herself_, the corageous Rosie embarked on a great quest..._


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## Miss Insanity (Jun 5, 2007)

Vaara felt uncomfortable. It was as if she could feel the eyes of the others moving over her body, judging her and making decisions already. She smiled at the women who she had spoken to already as she shuffled towards the fire and stood. The menacing-looking man who had met her as she first entered still kept a watchful eye on her. She noticed a warg, examining her with one 'eyebrow' slightly raised. Another man rose and broke the awkward silence. "I trust you, Vaaralinen..." his voice faded in her mind as she saw a vein appear on the menacing man's forehead. Time slowed and drifted as sweat began to form on his brow. What was he thinking about? "... If he will let you free." Vaara returned to the present. "Thank you...?" she struggled to remember his name, then realized she had never gotten it. "I'm sorry..." she stammered, "but I don't know your names."


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## Majimaune (Jun 6, 2007)

"Didn't I say it...No? Well I am Straag. Please, sit."

_It went on and on... this torture, never ending.

"RELEASE ME!" He blacked out.
_


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## Seregon (Jun 6, 2007)

Rhea smiled kindly at Vaara. "My apologies. I am Rhea." And she inclined her head slightly as a greeting.

"Names are useless." Orion spoke quietly, and all eyes turned to him. "They mean nothing." He elaborated.

"He's Orion, and I'm Alana." Alana's words were kinder, and softer, and she was still very close to Orion. Orion seethed. Hadn't he made it obvious that he didn't want to give his name? People seemed replete with things to call him. Why couldn't she use one of those words?

"I've had enough of this." He stood, grabbing his pack. "This standing around and talking. It's all useless. How much closer to Middle Earth are we, for all of this? For all of this time, that they could be catching up to us, how far have *we* gotten? A few hundred yards of forest! A cave! I don't care what the rest of you do, but I'm heading west. *I* don't want to be recaptured, and dragged back to their sacrifice." And he walked from the cave, noticing the rain had let up and was now was but a drizzle. He didn't even have to look around. He knew which way was west immediately, and he headed straight for it, only moving to the side to sidestep trees and bushes. And sure enough, he heard footsteps behind him.

Rhea was stunned. Alana had followed him first, and Rhea saw others starting to follow, too. _Why?_ And suddenly she realized - he made sense. He might be evil, he might be totally and completely immoral and violent, yet he made a very good point. They'd been resting for hours, with the Easterling camp not that far away. And Eru help her, she followed him out of the cave, after Alana, keeping her distance so that the others would have someone to watch, yet making sure to keep her eyes on the elf.

Laia watched Alana and Rhea follow him out of the cave, bit her lip. _If I follow him, it might just be me, and him and the female elves... But if I don't... it might just be me, and "master"..._ She felt her lip curl with disgust, and she hesitated only a second longer before deciding that Orion was, ultimately, the lesser of two evils. And she followed the other female elf - Luinwe, was it? - out of the cave.

_"… and so are you." And Orion’s eyes got wide, he backed away from the tree, tripped over a root, and fell flat on the forest floor. Evia shook her head, and stepped towards him. "Didn’t you see?" And he backed away, struggling to get to his feet. "You always had to shave… Your dark hair and eyes, your clumsiness…"_

_"No… No…"_

_"…Your less-than-elven stealth…"_

_"Don’t!" His face was twisted with sorrow, tears were filling his eyes, and suddenly, she came over to him and put her arms around him. And he wept. He wept for his blood; for his life; for the fact that in actuality, he was exactly what he hated. He wept for all this, and because he knew, somewhere deep down, he’d known this all along._


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## YayGollum (Jun 6, 2007)

Raoul shook his head and laughed at himself for keeping such company. As everyone filed out, he gratefully rushed off to inform his Orc that they were leaving. He looked forward to surprising the humans by returning. He hadn't gotten far when he heard an Orcish curse and saw Bugburz climb carefully out of a tree. "Ar! Could you stumble through this forest any louder? Yes, you are my loyal mutt, but - " He stopped and held his hands up placatingly when the Warg began a warning growl. "Alright, alright! Our willing meals are leaving, then?" "Try to keep your stomach under control. They'll just have to get used to your manners. See anyone looking for us yet? I don't think our unlikely travel companions will mind if we snack on a few Easterlings." "Nar. Nobody. They're in a hurry for something. We'll just have to watch for others coming this way." The two gave themselves plenty of room as they caught up with the group. Bugburz only yelled at the Warg a few times for leaving a trail on the way. He hung back once they found the group, but made sure to play with his weapons and grin evilly at them a lot. Raoul chuckled a bit at that but attempted to look non-threatening as he trotted beside them. They certainly smelled a lot better than the Orc.


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## elfgirl (Jun 7, 2007)

Rhea seemed kind enough to the woman, yet Orion significantly less so. He didn't snap at her, or act as she thought he might of, yet he just looked thoughtful and dark and spoke quietly, almost softly, almost as if there was a note of kindness that he thought was there. She felt she should quickly intervene; for some reason, he was the one they were following. He couldn't be making too many snappy, mean comments.

"He's Orion, and I'm Alana." Her words were sweet abd soft, and she tried to stay very close to him.

"I've had enough of this." He snapped at the others. "This standing around and talking. It's all useless. How much closer to Middle Earth are we, for all of this? For all of this time, that they could be catching up to us, how far have we gotten? A few hundred yards of forest! A cave! I don't care what the rest of you do, but I'm heading west. I don't want to be recaptured, and dragged back to their sacrifice." And he stepped out of the cave, quickly, determined. She followed without so much as a second thought.

Luinwe watched all of this very closely, shocked and more than a little afraid. Alana followed quickly, then Rhea, and Luinwe bit her lip, cautiously following them out, noticing others following her. She spied Laia and tried to smile reassuringly, though it was halfhearted at best.


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## AraCelebEarwen (Jun 7, 2007)

Slowly crawling out from beneath the bushes, Clover looked around carefully. The sun was a little brighter in the tree-tops now. Stretching out stiff limbs and taking a yawned breath of the cool, damp air, she hefted both bags over her shoulder and to her back. Weighed down by the bundles, the girl's footsteps were slower and somewhat unsteady over the rocky ground; making the journey back take even more time. 

A little more then two hours after she had left, Clover could again see the opening of the little cave. Somewhat pleased with herself, she shifted the packs and quickened her steps the last few yards. She knew the woman had wanted her things back, and she hoped very much that she had brought the right things._'Maybe something here could help Rosie take care of her ankle'_ she thought as she remembered the way she had been limping.

Starting to feel worn out by her burden, Clover stepped quietly into the cave, set the bags down and looked up with as much of a hopeful smile as she could muster. When no other sound met her, and her eyes adjusted enough to see clearly that no one was there, it felt all over again like she'd been left and forgotten. 

"Rosie?" Clover's little voice called from the mouth of the cave. "Hello!?" But before she could call again or be any louder, her voice went back to its learned quiet. Wrapping thin arms around herself, she sank into a cross-legged sitting position just inside the cover of the empty cave. "See?" she whispered to the rocks in general; "Grownups don't care about anyone else." Upset at what she took to be for granted, Clover sat there only a little longer before coming up with the idea that she had in fact been left for good and that she may as well do something about it. There was no way she could tell which direction would take her to any sort of town, so she decided to stay where she was; for a while at least. 

By the time the sun was nearly half way up in the still cloudy sky, the child had not only unpacked both bags, but had set things up along the walls of the little room and was looking for something to make a softer bed with.


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## Miss Insanity (Jun 7, 2007)

Vaara was confused and bewildered. She didn't know what to do. She had only just arrived, and now the group was moving out. Should she stay with the group, or move on without them? _They are moving in my direction_, she thought to herself. She made her decision, and stood. Double checking that her blades were where they belonged, she followed after the others. The warg seemed friendly enough, but she kept an eye on her Orcish acquaintance who was following closely behind, snarling and putting on a bit of a show. She wondered about Orion. What was about him that stirred something in her. Although she felt no direct connection, it was as though she could understand his feelings. _Women's intuition_ she figured, and marched on.


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## Rosalee LuAnn (Jun 7, 2007)

*In which Rosie is surprised*

Ahead there was a clump of bushes with a shady-looking gap big enough to crouch in. Rosie told herself she had only to reach those bushes, and then she could rest. She fell once, and didn’t particularly want to get back up again, but more than anything the feeling of being exposed encouraged her the last several yards to the shade of the bushes.

She did not feel safe in this place, and being only half-functional, weaponless and alone certainly did not make her feel any better about her situation. Most of the time she was supposed to be looking for Clover she was looking for the people that she imagined were following her, and she started at any noise. 

It was cooler out of the direct sunlight, and Rosie leaned back against a rock and closed her eyes. Her foot was still out in the open—her leg felt better when it was straight—and as much as she wanted to stay hidden, she wanted to ease her ankle more. She found a comfortable position and tried not to think about the aches and pains that had multiplied each time she fell because of her bad ankle and shoulder.

Rosie woke up not long later, to some unknown noise. She sat as still as possible for several seconds, inadvertently holding her breath… but the noise did not repeat itself. “I can’t do this anymore.” Rosie said to herself. “I don’t know what’s happened to me lately, but…” she shook her head. “I need to get back… Clover is gone. I’ll just have to take care of myself… I’m used to doing that, anyway.” 

She eased her way out of the bushes and onto her feet. Her rest seemed to have done her ankle some good, at least, because it didn’t hurt as badly. Checking the placement of the sun, which had risen a good way up into the sky, she started on her way back to the cave. 

The trip back seemed shorter than the trip out—perhaps because she knew where the thing that she was looking for was. It felt nice to see boulders and bushes she remembered resting on or looking under, to know that she was not completely vulnerable. 

Soon she was back at the cave. Tired and grateful, she sank down with a sigh and crawled in. It took a couple seconds for her eyes to adjust to the dimmer light of the cave, and when they did she scrambled frantically backwards. Someone had been in the cave, someone had put various things around as if they meant to stay—but it WAS the same cave… where could she go? Had someone been following her?

There was a thump, a squeal, a rustling noise, and a shrill “Ouch!” Rosie whirled around so fast that she wrenched her shoulder and it started throbbing again in earnest. Rosie forgot about her shoulder for a moment, however, because there was Clover, rubbing her knee with green-stained hands, a pile of branches and grass scattered at her feet. Rosie was so surprised, and so grateful, and so tired, that all she could do was sit and stare as a couple of rare tears trickled down her dusty cheeks.


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## AraCelebEarwen (Jun 9, 2007)

Unable to watch her feet around the bundle of long grasses and soft-leaved branches she had been gathering, Clover didn't see the dip in the ground. As she put her foot down, it caught and tossed her forward. Letting out an involuntary squeal as she fell, her hands shot out, sending the greenery flying. Even with as much as she had gathered, it proved to be too little to pad her right knee from the stony ground. "Ouch!" Sitting up as quick as she could, she took hold of the scraped knee and began to rub at it as though that alone would make it better. 

Something in the back of her mind clicked, bringing her eyes up in a snap. Something was here that hadn't been. No sooner had she looked up then she saw the woman looking back at her. Clover froze. What was she doing here? Hadn't she left her on her own? What had... Was she crying?... Clover's face was a picture of hurt surprise. 

"I thought... Didn't you..." Clover stuttered, her large, confused looking eyes flickering from Rosie to the cave, out to the forest and then down to the bloodied patch of skin on her knee. "I got your pack for you. At least, I think it's yours... there were so many!... I didn't know which one it should'a been!..." Rosie could see that the girl was getting herself worked up as she tripped over an uncharacteristic burst of words. "I thought you wanted it so I went to find it but when I got back you were gone an' I thought... I thought..." Tears pricked at the girl's eyes. Her face went down again to the spilled bundle, her eyes locking on a single blade of grass while she struggled to figure things out.


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## Seregon (Jun 10, 2007)

"Orion..." He glanced at her, anger written on his features. "It's been four days. We need to stop, and rest, and eat." He turned his eyes back to the path in front of him.

"If they find it difficult, they don't have to follow me." Alana grabbed his arm, deciding that this was a time to assert herself.

"We're stopping. And so are you." They turned, glaring at each other.

The campfire crackled, providing light that was no longer being supplied by the fading sun. It was small, as Orion had been quick to point out that a large fire would be a beacon for those looking for them. They didn't have many of the normal camping supplies, yet they made do, a hodge-podge type of camp thrown together quickly. A guard had been assigned, and at the moment, the warg was the only one who had to be awake. Suddenly, they heard a very slight noise, and Orion emerged from the darkness, a large buck draped across his shoulders. Alana was with him, beaming, as he set the deer down, and glanced around him. Rhea was scowling, looking the two over thoroughly. They both had bloodstains, though Orion many more, as the rain had not fully washed the blood off of his clothes. There was no sign of weariness in either of them, their elven blood giving them wonderful stamina.

"We need someone to clean it, and leave some raw bits for our friends over there." He looked around for a volunteer, and noticed Rhea's looks. "What?" He was really quite sick of people asking him things.

"You expect us to think you two went off to _hunt_?" She chuckled. Orion's brow knotted, and he thought for a moment, before looking disgusted.

"Don't make me sick. Now is someone going to clean this or not? I don't have to eat it; I can live. We could just... give it to the warg." He gestured toward the animal, smiling, not even noticing Alana's very, very put off look.

_"So what now?" He suddenly seemed so somber to her, so tainted. And he looked her in the eyes, and he knew. He swallowed, and turned back, clutching his knees and resting his chin upon them, looking at the moon._

_"Orion…" She laid her hand on his shoulder. "It doesn’t change anything. It was always there… all I did was say it." Yet she knew it was a lie. Before she said it, it was a question; a suspicion. It was there, yet unconfirmed, like a shadow. It wasn’t a truth that had to be realized or viewed; it could just be safely tucked away, hidden in some corner never to be confronted or worried about. It wasn’t really, true; it was still in that gray area between truth and fiction. Yet then she said it, and she made it true. He couldn’t hide from it anymore; couldn’t tuck it into some corner of his mind. It was right there, in the middle of everything, and it made everything different. It made him different, it made her different. There lives weren’t tainted with this shadow until she’d decided to drag it into the open. They didn’t have to notice how it affected them, because before, as far as they were concerned, it didn’t._


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## yhwh1st (Jun 13, 2007)

Glancing around, Figwitt wondered where the human had gone, for he seemed to have vanished into thin air. Quickly turning in a circle he took in his surroundings. _Where could he have gone?_ Figwitt pondered this for a moment, then moved toward the sound of running water. Kneeling by the stream, he took a long drought then leaned back on his haunches, contemplating his options. He was interrrupted by a familliar smell. 'Mushrooms!' He followed his nose in the semi dark and found a rather large patch of the squat vegetable. He grabbed the nearest one and stuffed it into his mouth. He may have only been a day or two without food, but the prospect of more stopped him from gourging himself. He must find a way to carry the rest with him.


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## Majimaune (Jun 14, 2007)

No one else seemed to be coming forward to fix up the buck for cooking.

"Okay I'll do it." Straag got up reluctantly and went over to the buck. He drew out a small hunting knife from his belt and started to cut off the skin, trying to get it in a nice large piece. Once he had done that He cut off any parts of meat worth eating and laid them on the skin that was spread out on the ground. Straag also took out the stomachs* and the liver so that they could be cooked and eaten too.

Straag started a small cooking fire. While the flames died down to leave hot coals he went in search of large green leaves and some herbs. When he got back he placed the cuts of meat on the leaves, sprinkled the herbs on and then rapped the leaves so that they would fully cover the meat and that none would get burnt. The meat was then placed on the coals to cook.


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## yhwh1st (Jun 15, 2007)

A quarter moon was high in the night sky, but he was on his way to rest. It would be dawn in a few hours and the clouds were rolling in swift and fierce. The morning promised to arrive cold and wet. 

A lone hobbit sat crouched in the brush outside a clearing. The light of a waning moon dimly illuminated abandoned carts and two dead asses that had been crushed by an overturned cart laden with a large cache of weapons. Several rats seemed to be feasting on the carcasses. No other movement was to be seen in the clearing. Figwitt crept out from his hiding place and quickly, yet quietly, made his way to the overturned cart and began to rummage through its scattered contents. He picked up a bow and some arrows. _Slightly large, but they could be carved down if I found a – Aha…_ he thought as he picked up a small knife in a shabby leather scabbard. Fearing to linger too long, he took another quick look around himself and grabbed two nearby water skins, one empty and one almost full, and a small sack that he thought might be useful. Taking a careful look around before leaving the shelter of the cart, he made a mad dash for the nearby line of trees.

Once again at the stream, Figwitt stopped to catch his breath then examined his find. Seven arrows in all. _Lucky number. Feathers are in bad shape, but that can be mended,_ he thought. _What’s this? Bread in the bag! Slightly stale, but still edible._ Adrenalin too high for sleep at the moment the hobbit wandered over to the patch of mushrooms and stuffed the bag full, still hardly believing his good luck at finding them. Next, to the water, he filled the water skin, then, turning his face in the direction he believed to be west, he plunged deeper into the wood.


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## Seregon (Jun 17, 2007)

_Orion felt disoriented. Everything blurred, he lost his perspective… Then, suddenly, everything cleared._

_"Master…" The guard bowed. "It is about to begin." And there they were, masses and masses of people, standing side by side, about to be sacrificed. He was seated, looking down on it, all, with two guards beside him. "This will give us the advantage… we will sacrifice them all, and better yet… we have something very special for you. At the end, you’ll see…" The clouds came farther together, blocking out the sun entirely. No; no… the sun wouldn’t shine. That was a line from a poem somewhere, he thought… the sun wouldn’t shine… And it began, en masse. Person after person’s throat was cut, their bodies piled together, their blood running like rivers across the ground. Then, there was only death and carnage below them. Finally, the guards brought out two elves, made them kneel at his feet. One was blurry, shifting, and the other had brown hair and brown eyes, and at her waist was a sword with a golden sun on the pommel; around her throat, a medallion in the shape of a sun. And the guard brought his knife to her throat, slit deep into it, and led the blood run over the medallion, making it glow and pulse. He pulled it off of her throat, and pressed it into his master’s hand._

"Orion..." A quiet voice woke him easily. He looked coldly into Alana's eyes. _What now?_ "It's Graeme." Orion's brow knotted, and he sat up, looked over to the elf, who was shaking violently. "He's run a fever, and convulsing. Sometimes it's worse than this." He contemplated this for a moment.

"Someone must carry him; we can-"

"No. His fever has gotten worse. If we move him, he may die. Besides, how can we carry him with him shaking like this? If that wasn't bad enough, he's mumbling. He needs to be kept here, and treated." Orion barred his teeth.

"By who?"

"I could do it." He looked over, and there was Rhea. "I've had some experience with healing. I know some herbs which can bring his fever down, and maybe some to keep him still. Just give me some time."

"Time for them to find me? To catch up with us?" Rhea thought about this for a moment.

"We are in a bit of a valley. We can have someone patrol the surrounding area and warn us if something is coming. And it won't be too long. Just... a couple of days." She paused here, knowing he was just going to keep moving... and many with him. "Besides, it's your fault that he's sick. If you hadn't burned him he wouldn't be going through this. You let something infect him. Do you really want his death to be on your conscience?" She tried being as sympathetic as she could. He thought for a moment, and shrugged.

"I could live." Alana put a hand on his shoulder, and he glared at her.

"Please. Just two days. We'll patrol; we'll keep watch." His jaw clenched.

"Fine. Two days." Alana smiled, squeezed his shoulder, as Rhea went over to attend to Graeme.

"Thank you." Orion just grunted, and laid back down to sleep, trying to block out that deep sense of foreboding, like a cornered deer must have before its throat is cut.

_"So is this an easterling symbol?" He held up the medallion, and she shifted. Her skin felt warm against his; the only semblance of peace and comfort he had left. Her eyes met his, and they held each others’ gaze for a moment. She kissed his chest and buried her face in his neck, and he wrapped his arms around her._

_"Do you really want to know?" Her voice was hushed, full of fear and pain. And when their eyes met again, his eyes were filled with tears and he just shook his head quietly. She smiled sadly, wiping the tears off of his face. "I wish I hadn’t told you." He studied her for a moment, his eyes searching her face. "I never wanted to hurt you." He knew what she was going to say, and so did she, yet even when he shook his head and she knew she shouldn’t say it, she did. "I… I love you."_


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## elfgirl (Jun 18, 2007)

"Orion... It's been four days. We need to stop, and rest, and eat." He looked away from her, and she could tell he wasn't very happy at being talked to. _But when is he happy?_

"If they find it difficult, they don't have to follow me." She knew then; he needed some prodding. So she grabbed his arm, and looked him straight in the eyes, determination lining her face.

"We're stopping. And so are you."

*****

"We need someone to clean it, and leave some raw bits for our friends over there." There were no volunteers, and in the ensuing silence Orion noticed Rhea staring at them, and snapped at her."What?"

"You expect us to think you two went off to hunt?" She laughed, and for a moment Orion looked almost confused, before snapping again.

"Don't make me sick. Now is someone going to clean this or not? I don't have to eat it; I can live. We could just... give it to the warg." He smiled, waving towards the animal, as Alana tried not to hit him, clenching her fist yet keeping it by her side. _I suppose I'm not good enough, am I?_ She felt like snapping at him. _Not your kind? What, you don't like elven looks?_

"Okay I'll do it." Straag interrupted her thoughts, volunteering for the job before skinning and cooking it. Alana sat near to the fire for a short amount of time, yet when Orion fell asleep, she slipped off into the shadows, traveling a little ways from the camp, keeping an eye on Orion's sleeping form and thinking about the day's events.

_"You really think there are deer here?" Orion's voice was low and almost threatening. Alana smiled kindly.

"Easterlings must eat, too, mustn't they?" There was a long, weighty pause from Orion, before he muttered 'yes'. "What, they didn't give you any deer meat last time you were here?" He stopped dead in his tracks, all of the color draining from his face. She looked back at him as nonchalantly as was possible. "I heard you talking to the guards, and what you said in the cave confirmed it. This isn't the first time they've dragged you out here. That's why you're so afraid they'll find you. Because you know: if they capture you again, you won't escape. They'll be sure of it." He swallowed, yet did not speak. "Why do they want you back so badly? What is it?" He looked her in the eyes for a few tense seconds, before speaking.

"This wasn't the purpose of us coming here. We need food. Let's find some. I honestly don't care if it's rabbit meat." And he walked past her, let her stand there for a moment before following him.

"You can tell me. It's not like I'm going to tell everyone." He was staring at her, trying to assess her. "We all have our secrets." This was whispered, as she gently touched two fingers to his lower stomach, right above his tattoo. It felt warm, and for a moment, she thought she might have gained some trust. Yet then he grabbed her wrist, twisted it above her head, and shoved her back, his other hand at her throat.

"I don't know what bloody secrets you have but you sure better make sure they don't come out. Just like the rest of us. And if they're threatening to anyone, especially me, and I find out, I won't hesitate in killing you." In that moment, for just a moment, she believed him. Then, her entire body relaxed.

"If you don't want to tell me, you could have just told me that." Yet they both knew it was a formality; a lie. Somehow, though, it made them both feel better. Alana decided that, for the time at least, she could live with a formal, kind lie._

"Alana." She looked up at the sound of her name being called, straight into Rhea's eyes. "It's Graeme." Alana stood, following the slender elf to the convulsing, feverish man. "I can help him, but I need time. Two days, at least. We can't move him, or he could die. He's fever's been getting steadily worse, and his shaking hasn't improved." Alana listened, watched the convulsions die down for a little while, only to resurface quickly, more violently.

"Why are you telling me this?" Rhea shifted, swallowed.

"You're the only one who seems to have any influence over Orion. I don't know why, but you do. We need him to stop, otherwise people will follow him, leaving Graeme. And don't lie to me... you'd leave, too. You need to convince him to stay." Alana pondered this for a moment. _I could convince him. Yet they could catch up with us. ...dangerous for us all... yet more dangerous to leave Graeme... And Orion... they were right. He's much more charming than I ever thought. I've never left my younger years..._ "Alana." She was brought back from her thoughts by Rhea's call. "Will you do this... for me- and him." The last part was added quickly, making Alana quite uneasy for a moment. Yet she pushed the thought from her mind. _I wasn't warned. She's not a threat._

"I will."

*****

"Orion... It's Graeme. He's run a fever, and convulsing. Sometimes it's worse than this." Orion thought for a moment.

"Someone must carry him; we can-"

"No. His fever has gotten worse. If we move him, he may die. Besides, how can we carry him with him shaking like this? If that wasn't bad enough, he's mumbling. He needs to be kept here, and treated."

"By who?"

"I could do it." Rhea was quick to speak. "I've had some experience with healing. I know some herbs which can bring his fever down, and maybe some to keep him still. Just give me some time."

"Time for them to find me? To catch up with us?" Rhea thought for a moment.

"We are in a bit of a valley. We can have someone patrol the surrounding area and warn us if something is coming. And it won't be too long. Just... a couple of days. Besides, it's your fault that he's sick. If you hadn't burned him he wouldn't be going through this. You let something infect him. Do you really want his death to be on your conscience?" He looked into the air, shrugged.

"I could live." Alana knew that she had to intervene. This conversation was going nowhere. She set her hand gently on her shoulder, met his gaze warmly.

"Please. Just two days. We'll patrol; we'll keep watch." He inspected her carefully.

"Fine. Two days." Alana smiled, giving his shoulder a squeeze, almost wishing for just an instant she could hug him, as Rhea went over to attend to Graeme.

"Thank you." She whispered it, yet Orion just grunted and laid back down to sleep. She watched him through the night, staring at his form... and thinking.

_I'm not sure I can do this anymore._


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## Seregon (Jun 20, 2007)

She had been scared; she wasn't sure why she was so afraid - she had seen battles before. Yet this was something else. One against many, and so vicious. She had run into the forest, and then, she suddenly realized, she was alone. Very, bitterly, alone. And even worse... she had no idea where she was.

*****

"We need to stay together. What if they come after us? We stand a better chance of surviving together." The stranger made sense, so she trusted him. He was fair, and yet not... fair in skin, with dark hair and eyes, as opposed to herself, who was just dark... Tan skin, dark eyes, dark hair... Yet he was strong, and she could use that. As they picked their way through the forest, they hunted, killing and eating what little they found. The easterlings had taken much of the game in their journey.

"You know, I still haven't gotten your name." It had been a couple of days, and she suddenly realized he was right. "I'm Tark." She thought she saw him relax a bit, and though something seemed very wrong, she pushed her instincts away, and smiled.

"I'm Theo."


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## yhwh1st (Jun 22, 2007)

Rain had come down hard the night before and a slight drizzle continued until late morning. The day bode fair for travel as a southerly wind blew the clouds off. The man made good time, moving fast to put as much distance between himself and the Easterlings before nightfall. Fearful of what lay ahead, yet even more afraid of what lay behind, he pressed forward hoping to find something to help guide him to his journey’s end.

 * * *
The fire crackled merrily in the small clearing. Figwitt sat eating the conie caught earlier that day. He’d been hard pressed to find dry wood and good flint stones, but was quite pleased with his success. A distant noise caught his quick ear and the hobbit was up in a flash stamping out the flames. In the sudden dark it took a moment for his eyes to adjust. 
The quarter moon was almost gone and the stars lent very little light to his surroundings. Figwitt ducked into the brush to await whatever was heading his way. 

A full quarter hour passed before the hobbit saw the silhouette of a man step into the clearing. He made his way over to the glowing coals, looked frantically around, and made a mad dash straight at the hobbit, tripping over him and falling flat on his face. Moving quickly, Figwitt drew his knife and jumped on the man, placing the cold steel between his shoulder blades. “What do you want and where are you going”, the hobbit asked in a harsh whisper. The man spit dirt out of his mouth before answering. “I am escaped from a band of Easterlings and trying to find my way home. Which I imagine is what you are doing.”
“How do I know I can trust you?”
“You don’t.” he replied with a tone of resignation in his voice. “You can either run me through or let me go my way.” The hobbit hesitated for a minute then let the man up. “If you’re an escapee as well, I suppose the least I can do is offer you a seat by the fire and a little food.” Figwitt soon got the fire blazing again and leaned back against a tree. After talking for some time, they decided to get an early start the next day and continue west.

 * * *
They traveled for several days and only stopped when it got too dark, but continued on at first light. Figwitt discovered the man’s name was Aleth. In contrast with the dark coloring of Easterlings, Aleth was fair with yellow hair and blue eyes he stood at about 5’4” and had a slight build. He also had a deep voice, unusual in a man as small as he was.

About the fifth day into their travels, they spied a fire some distance ahead, though hardly noticeable against the light of the setting sun. There was some debate as to whether or not they should approach the camp site, but they were interrupted by the approach of someone. Quick as a flash, Figwitt dashed into some under brush without being seen. The person approached but the hobbit couldn’t tell whether it was a man or woman. _It’s most certainly a human though._


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## Rosalee LuAnn (Jun 28, 2007)

*In which Rosie is at the end of her rope*

“In the name of all that is blessed and good, can you hold still for just _one minute_?” Exclaimed Rosie as Clover yanked away her cut arm before Rosie could secure the bandage she had wrapped around it. “I’ll have to start over completely now. Hold still.” 

“But it _hurts_!” said Clover, not quite crying, though her eyes were shining with tears she refused to shed. “You’re pulling too hard!”

“It’ll be hurting a lot longer if you don’t let me fix it up for you. Now, _hold still_.” Again Rosie wrapped a strip of cloth snugly around the cut, then carefully tied it in place. Clover stayed still, but one tear dropped down her nose. She hurried to wipe it away and Rosie pretended she hadn’t seen anything. 

“Now, if you’d only stop running and jumping around on the rocks, you wouldn’t be falling and hurting yourself and you wouldn’t need fixing up,” said Rosie irritably. 

“Well, there’s nothing else to do,” said Clover, in a similarly annoyed tone. 

“Remember what I told you about whining?” snapped Rosie. She was feeling very put upon after the last three days. She and Clover had agreed that they could help each other, but Rosie was almost constantly reminded of how little she knew about children. This last day her temper had been extremely short, especially when, on top of a throbbing ankle and wet wood and meager supplies, Clover had run off who knows where and had come back with a cut dripping blood all the way down her arm. 

Rosie sighed, staring blankly at the cave wall. _What can I do?_ She thought. _I don’t know where we are and can’t find out. My ankle needs at least a few more days to heal. Our food is running out and I don’t know where to get more. I’m not good for much, and Clover isn’t good for much more._ In an effort to pull her mind away from these thoughts, she began to slowly unwrap her ankle once more to check how it was healing. Turned away and bending over her injury, Rosie refused to let Clover see the tears of pain and frustration running down her face.


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## Seregon (Jul 3, 2007)

"Who are you? What are you doing here? Answer." Theo narrowed her eyes at the two, swords drawn and anger written across her features. Tark stayed where he was, hidden in the trees, watching carefully for anything that Theo might miss. _Then again, she missed my name, didn't she? Doesn't travel much, I suppose._ He smiled, staring down at them. _A new start, though, at the least._

"We... we were captured. We escaped." She kept looking at them for a moment, and she saw no lie in the hobbit's little features. "Then you may come with us. We stand a better chance travelling together. There are probably Easterlings roaming all over these lands." She relaxed her stance, put her weapons back. "Now come... I haven't even gotten your names." She smiled at them, signalling Tark to come. Yet for some reason, he stayed were he was, so she didn't push him, focusing instead on the two before her...


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## Majimaune (Jul 3, 2007)

Straag was getting restless. It was the end of their first day in the valley, waiting to see if Graeme would come out of the fever. Straag had been on patrol at the start all he did was walk around and listen for enemies. He had been replace only an hour before so that he could have a rest but Straag didn't need it. His body was used to long forced marches or running for a long time. He could patrol for the next couple of days without rest. But he had been made to go and rest.

"I don't need this," muttered Straag to himself. He stood up and announced to the group "I shall go and find some more food. We seem to be almost to the bottom of out supplies. I will find whatever else I can as well. Just don't shoot me on return thinking I am an Easterling." With that Straag left the camp.

Straag went up the valley and out of it so that he could see the land around and scan for movement of any prey he might get. There it was, a relatively large animal. Straag couldn't tell what it was because it was half hidden behind some trees. Slow and silent as possible Straag crept up to the unsuspecting creature which he now saw was a doe. It was eating some grass that was growing at the bass of some bushes. Straag pulled out the hunting knife from his belt and leaped out of his cover and right next to the doe in a position to slit its throat. The doe heard the noise and moved quickly in fear. Straag only got to wound it with his knife.

Straag looked after the fleeing doe and sighed. "Ahh well now I have a trail to follow."

Straag set off after the doe. It was going at a good speed and had a head start. Straag followed the trail of dripping blood knowing that the doe would weary before he would.

Eventually after about an hour chase the doe stopped at a small river for a drink. With the fear of the man gone, she went in search of some grass. There was some just a bit further down the river.

Straag had caught up. He saw the doe, calmly eating at the edge of the river. His plan was to come up from the forest as far as he could and then crawl on his front until he was just behind the animal. Then he would grab the hind legs and brake them so that the doe could not run. And that was what he did. After braking the legs the doe let out noises of pain and Straag could not bear them. He quickly cut the throat with his knife. Blood gushed out onto the grass as the heart beat for the last time.

Straag was about to pick the dead animal up and put it over his shoulders to carry back to the others when he heard the sound of the bushes rustling. Out stepped an orc of large size with a scimitar in hand.

"Hey that was my food. Go give it to me or you die and I eat you instead."

"No." With that Straag pulled out his sword to meet the orc's. _Clang_. The sound reverberated around the trees. Straag had to fight for his life, mainly defending and waiting for a weakness in the orc's attack. Finally there was an opportunity that Straag instantly took advantage of. While attacking, the orc had left his side open, just. It was enough though. Straag plunged his sword into the side of the orc and went up towards the heart. In a final swing the orc brought his scimitar down on Straag's left shoulder. A cry of pain escaped Straag's lips. The orc fell to the ground dead. Straag went over to the corpse and started going through what the orc had. Very little, only some sort of poison and a small wooden box and the scimitar. Straag put the scimitar in his belt with his uninjured arm and the small box into one of his pockets. The doe he picked up with some difficulty and placed of both shoulders, trying to ignore the pain. Slow Straag made his way back to the camp where the others were.

It took him almost two hours to get to the camp and by this time it was dark. His shoulder throbbed but had stopped bleeding. There was blood on his leather shirt and it was torn where the scimitar had cut it. Straag threw down the dead doe next to the fire and collapsed to the ground saying "Someone else will have to clean this for eating tonight." And then he blacked out.


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## Amberpants (Jul 4, 2007)

Laia looked up from her pile of sticks and rocks as Straag noisly entered camp and stared at the dead deer sprawled across his back.

"Someone else will have to clean this for eating tonight." he slurred and then fell. She twinged at the thought of how bad the fall had to have hurt as his body hit the grassy yet hard surface of the prairie. 

"Looks like we've got another sick one." Laia said, plopping down next to her injured and unconscious acquaintance. "I'll need some water to clean up this wound he has." she muttered quietly, moving the torn leather to get a better view of the gash on his shoulder.

"Here" someone from off in the shadows said as they threw a flask of water at her.

Laia poured some on his shoulder and wiped away as much dirt and blood she could. As she wrapped his shoulder with some fabric from her tattered outfit, her eyes fell upon a sword or knife of some sort on Straag's waist, something he didn't have before he went to hunt. She picked up the foreign object from his belt, careful of it's blade. It didn't look like any other weapon she'd seen. 

"Hey, what's this?" she asked, holding the blade above her head in full view of the many eyes at the camp.


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## Seregon (Jul 5, 2007)

Orion had been happily strategizing, looking at a map of Middle Earth and deciding how best to hide from or destroy his Easterling enemies. He didn't even look up or move when Straag came in to camp and collapsed. _Ms. I-Can-Heal-Anything can handle this well enough._

"Hey, what's this?" He glanced up for a moment, and then did a double-take. He stood, strode over quickly, grabbing the blade from her roughly. "Ow. Hey-"

"This is an orc blade. A poisoned orc blade." _One of *the* orc blades._ Thoughts ran through his head faster than he could grab them. _Whose side are they on? This could be bad. Very , very, very bad._ The girl was quiet, and Orion suddenly realized he'd interrupted her, and probably hurt her. "I'll take care of them." He said, trying to be reassuring. He looked all around the camp, finally finding Alana, watching him carefully. "Alana! With me." And he motioned toward the forest, walking quickly into the forest. She followed as best as she could, not even having any time to ask him anything.

Rhea heard some commotion, and decided she would have to leave Graeme's side for a moment. She left with Luinwe watching over him, and when she got to where Laia was, she saw Orion marching off into the forest, scimitar in hand, with Alana running after him. _We surely won't be well defended if everyone keeps going galavanging off into the forest._ "What's going on?"

*****

“You know more about this than you’re willing to tell me.” It wasn’t a question, and Evia knew she shouldn’t treat it as one. It was just stating a fact – he knew it and she knew it and now it was time that it was there, between them. “Why don’t you just tell me everything, and get it over with?” And she looked up from where she was dressing, into his eyes… those deep, beautiful eyes. He seemed less innocent than before, yet prone; bare. Her eyes followed the lines of the muscles on his chest and stomach, before reaching his leggings, falling suddenly to the ground. She felt ashamed at her lack of self-control, and finished dressing, stood up.

“Do you really want to know? Everything?” He thought for a moment, never moving his eyes from where they had locked with hers. She moved to him, put her arms around him, let his head fall to her shoulder. “I don’t want to hurt you… But I’ll tell you if you want.” He left one more moment for contemplation, but he really shouldn’t have. He knew what he was going to say, whatever the consequences.

“Yes.”


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## Majimaune (Jul 5, 2007)

Straag was half in this world and half in another. He could hear almost everything going on around him but that was all. The pain was like fire, running through his veins. He tried to say something but was unable to. He was moving closer and closer to a black void. He didn't want to enter it. He fought and fought against moving towards it but could do nothing...


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## YayGollum (Jul 6, 2007)

Raoul, who had mostly been keeping watch over his Orc (and the rest of the camp, but only with half a mind), had overheard a word or two of the situation. After waking up to inhaled dirt that had been kicked at him, the Orc spluttered, "Ar! Warg! What? I don't see any Easterlings! We aren't about to die, so why am I awake?" 

The Warg sniffed and nodded towards the poisoned human. "Looks like one of them could die. Something about being poisoned by an Orc." 

Bugburz shot to his feet and scrambled around for his weapons. "Huh? Orcs out here? Since when? More Easterling prisoners? How many? Garn! Let's get away!" 

Raoul coughed politely, then growled with annoyance. "Calm yourself, Orc. We aren't being attacked by your brothers, either. I woke you so that you could help them." 

The Orc screwed his face up with confusion for a couple of beats, then shrugged it off and sat back down. "You don't have anything for me to do, don't wake me up. I'm no healer. Get our snacks ready to go, though. I don't want to take the chance of more of them discovering us. And they're not my brothers!" 

The Warg slunk around to get behind the Orc, mostly to intimidate him into standing back up again. "Maybe not, but you'd know the most about them. You're always telling me stories about the heyday of the Orcs. You make your own poisons, right? Uh, you wouldn't want a good meal like that guy to go to waste?" 

Bugburz thought about that, which finally got him moving. "Garn! Okay! I'll check it out!" Mayhaps shoving a couple out of his way, he approached Straag. "Let me see it. What? That cut's not so bad! What worthless Orc did that? Huh! Wasn't my kind of poison, or he'd already be dead! What am I supposed to do? What happened to the Orc? I could get some information out of him!"


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## elfgirl (Jul 6, 2007)

Alana vaguely heard Orion speaking.

"This is an orc blade. A poisoned orc blade." She looked over to him as a long moment of silence went by. "I'll take care of them." He looked around for a moment, before shouting at her. "Alana! With me." He motioned toward the forest, and she followed him without a thought. They picked their way carefully through the forest, trying to cover their tracks, yet Alana noticed Orion being much, much less careful than he usually was.

"Orion, what's going on?" Yet he kept quiet. "What are we looking for anyway?"

"Orcs." And he refused to say anything else.

*****

He had the orc pinned, but refused to kill it. It was spluttering black speech at them, and Orion was just... listening. Alana felt incredibly confused, and then, he started speaking back to it. Suddenly, she understood. She wasn't sure whether to run or stay. They talked back and forth for a moment, and then, finally, he got up, looking down at the orc for another moment, and spitting out a final phrase, before turning and walking away. The orc looked at Alana hungrily for a moment, before running after Orion.

"Wait!" She finally caught up, and he turned to face her.

"I needed someone to help me if they had turned."

"You spoke to him. In black speech."

"Well that is typically what orcs speak."

"How?... Why... What..."

"I... was around orcs for a while." He seemed uncomfortable saying it, and quickly added, "out of necessity."

"Necessity?"

"I needed to make sure they were still on my side."

"Side?! Side? You-" He clapped his hand over her mouth, and she gave a short scream, before falling silent. He removed his hand for a moment. "You have orcs for allies?"

"Orcs are allies, too. We share a common enemy; we help each other. They're not so... homicidal if you just feed them every once and awhile." Shock was written all across her face. "Besides... I need all the allies I can get." And suddenly, it hit her.

"But... this isn't you." _This is who they say you are. You need to be clearer on this. *This isn't you.* It's not... it's not._ "You're... you're not bad." She felt suddenly very, very stupid. "You're good." She was so desperate to cling to this one shred of reality, which just a year ago she bold-facedly denied. She needed it to be real. She never thought of it before, but he was. He couldn't be evil. He couldn't fit their description. It wasn't up to them. He was good. "...You're a good person. ...You're good." He kept her gaze, completely at a loss for why she was so close to tears.

"Sometimes..." He paused. "Sometimes... things aren't as clear as good and evil." _No kidding._


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## AraCelebEarwen (Jul 11, 2007)

Neither of them tried to talk to the other the rest of the day; Clover's face -colored with darkened patches- made her look even more tired and hurt then she thought she should feel. Rosie hadn't tried to check the cut since tying the rag around her arm; in part because she knew it would take time to heal the bruised slice the girl had earned for running around like she had been, but mostly because Clover didn't come close enough again for Rosie to get a look at it. 

They each picked at some of the bread Clover had salvaged, washing it down with careful sips from just one of the different bottles that had also been brought back. Rosie had been surprisingly quick to snatch one of the worst smelling bottles away into her own pack when she'd found where the girl had set them along the inside of the cave. Something about an 'evil muck' and 'bad dreams' was all Clover had picked out of the woman's mutterings before they had faded with a sigh. Now, they were down to one of the last loaves of bread and nearing the bottom of what the woman had said must have been a wine of sorts. Clover made a face at the smell of it, even nearly spat it out when given a sip. But there was little else besides odd tasting rain water still gathered by some of the rocks. 

Clover nibbled less then half-heartedly at her scrap of bread; watching out over the rocky ground to the trees just beyond. It was growing darker quickly and a chill came in on the breeze. Gray eyes turned haltingly back over a thin shoulder. The cave entrance looked just as cold and dark as it ever had; a flickering outline coming and going as Rosie tried to light a pile of dry grasses and twigs. An empty sigh pulled Clover's shoulders down a little further and her thoughts wandered back to the sparkling little coin in her palm.


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## Majimaune (Jul 13, 2007)

Straag could hear a voice in his ears, a long way off at first. It was a beautiful voice, one like that which he had never heard. It was calling him back to the world of the living. He had no idea where is was coming from. Slowly he followed the voice, finding hidden power in himself. His veins still burnt like hell fire.

Straag woke with a gasp of air filling his lungs.

"He is awake." Straag heard many voices around him. "Don't let him fall back asleep." Straag let out a cry of pain from the poison being pumped around his body. He started to drift back into unconsciousness when he felt cold water being poured over his face which brought him back to his pain.


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## Amberpants (Jul 17, 2007)

Laia sat crossed-legged in front of Straag, gently whispering words of comfort, something her mom used to do, before the ambush. Painful memories of screaming, fire, blood, came back in waves of fury and anger. 

Suddenly, Straag took a sharp intake of breath, making Laia jump back in surprise and brought her out of her movie of her past.

"He is awake. Don't let him fall back to sleep",someone out of eye sight said.

Panic rushed through her as she frantically thought of something to do. She grabbed the near by flask of water and threw it on him. It seemed that her futile attempt to keep Straag awake was pathetic and she slumped back to her thoughts of more successful ways of attempting the impossible. A movement caught her eye and like a snake striking it's poor, defenseless pray, Straag grabbed her hand, making the skin turn white with restricted blood flow. Laia looked around, terror flashing in her eyes and adrenaline streaming through her veins. "Okay Straag, you're killing my hand here." she said out of fear for her fragile hand. 

As if he heard her plea, Straag relaxed his grip and fell back into unconsciousness.


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## yhwh1st (Jul 17, 2007)

She quickly made her way through the thick brush, glancing over her shoulder every few minutes. Her foot throbbed inside her boot. The injury hindered her, but she was still able to make good time zig-zagging through the dense forest. _No time to lose. No time to lose. They are coming._ Stepping over a log she felt an unmistakable squish inside her boot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally a rest, but not for long. She tore a generous strip off the hem of her long shirt and tightly bound the bloody foot. Savoring the last of the stolen rations she rested for a brief moment. ‘If I can make it just a little further, I might be able to rest and regain some strength’, she said to herself as she jammed her right foot back into the traitorous boot and again rose to her feet.

After a few miles the woman came across a shallow stream and quickly stepped into the water. _This’ll throw them off the scent._ She moved downstream for some time before stepping out of the shallows when she dimly heard rapids ahead. Knowing the blue twilight wouldn’t last long the woman made her way between the widely spaces trees and searched for a place to sleep. Deciding that the other bank looked as though it provided better concealment, she again crossed the narrow river.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It didn’t take her long to procure a good place in a tall oak. Swinging herself up on a low branch, she misjudged the distance and hit her bad foot against the branch. Seeing white she nearly yelled out in pain. Dropping to the ground she landed hard on her foot, and this time did yell out. The woman held her breath as the pain slowly subsided, then pulled herself up and leaned against the tree. Face pale, her body soaked in sweat, she noticed she was shaking and forced herself to stop. Bracing herself the woman reached up and grabbed hold of the branch once more and carefully hoisted herself up. “That’s what happens when you get cocky”, she breathlessly told herself as she settled in for the night on a high branch.

She didn’t even remember falling asleep. There was a purple haze in the east and the stars were nearly all gone. The woman sat and watched the sky change colors. From purple to pink to orange. A last single star was barely visible in the west as her mind once again began to function. The woman waited until the sun came over the horizon before she carefully made her way down the tree in search of something to eat. Across the river once more, and after some searching, she found an extensive patch of blackberry vines. It was still too early in the year for there to be many ripe berries, but she found enough to make a meal, though most were still sour.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She sat for some time resting as the day grew warmer. Her first order of business was to stop the bleeding on her foot. She had slipped on some moss as she’d crossed the river and had reopened the wound. She started to pull her boot off when she heard a slight noise in the direction of the river. Immediately on her feet, the woman swiftly drew her sword. Not one to hide, she moved and stood with her back to a thick tree to prevent anyone from sneaking up on her. And then, she waited.


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## Majimaune (Jul 17, 2007)

"Okay Straag, you're killing my hand here," said a female voice somewhere about him. He released slowly and fell back into the sleep that was not sleep...
~~~~~~~~~~
He woke again, covered in sweat. His body didn't burn with hell's fire anymore, it just hurt all over, like he had run for days on end without stopping. He tried to sit up but found hands holding him down. Very gentle and small hands he thought. He could probably brake the grip be decided to lie back down.

"There was an orc," he mumbled slowly. "Ambushed me. Tried to get the doe. Killed it. In my pocket...orc poison."


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## yhwh1st (Jul 18, 2007)

Figwitt eyed the man with apprehention. He seemed content to simply stand and stare at them, which was a little unnerving to the hobbit. "My name is Figwitt," he said, giving a slight bow, "and my companion is Aleth. Why do you travel in this wood? Are you escaped as well?"


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## Amberpants (Aug 4, 2007)

"Okay, I'm hungry" Laia said after nursing Straag back to health for what felt like hours."I'm gonna go hunt something"

Just as Laia was about to stand up Straag stopped her. 

"You're not coming without me. You see what they did to me, what do you think they'd do to a meager woman as yourself?"

"I can take care of myself!" She shot back as she pushed away Stragg's hand and stood up in one fluid motion."And I'm not afraid to kill either." giving Straag the evilest look she could muster, intending on intimidation.

Without taking her look into consideration, but returning a smug smirk, Straag clumsily stood up, after he'd been laying down for hours, maybe even days, he really didn't know what was going on anymore, and followed her out of camp.

They walked towards the forested area from which they'd come out of figuring there'd be sufficient food waiting to be captured in the underbrush.

The farther they ventured into the forest the darker it became under the canopy of dense leaves. Straag was listening for any danger, making sure another incident didn't happen. He heard what seemed like mumbling and the rustling of leaves that became distinct and clearer the farther they went into the trees.

"Wait a minute." he said thrusting out his arm to hit Laia and stopped her from moving forward. Placing his index figure to his lips, signaling a sense of quietness, they advanced.

They came into a clearing where what looked like someone had gathered a makeshift tent and little smoldering fire in the mist of the trees.

"People" Laia breathed a little too loudly as Straag shot her a death glare and a shadowed figure moved away from it's hiding post, alarmed
...and ready to fight. __________________


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## yhwh1st (Aug 6, 2007)

The woman’s attention was drawn from the noise of the advancing figures to a new sound. She quickly looked up as voices surrounded her, muttering quietly, incoherently. It wasn’t the first time, and likely wouldn’t be the last. _What does it mean?_ It sounded urgent this time. 

She suddenly saw two figures standing a short distance off into the trees. _It’s not them,_ she thought as a wave of relief washed over her. _I’ll find out what they want before I attack._ 

The voices in and around her were making her light headed and dizzy, but they stopped as suddenly as they had begun. Her mind cleared and she decided to be blunt. 

“What do you want?”


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## Amberpants (Aug 6, 2007)

Straag silently drew his sword from his belt. It still had orc blood on it, he forgot to clean it...well didn't forget, couldn't. It might help though not to have a glint of light off the blade. He drew his battered cloak around him and disappeared into the shadows of bushes.

Laia looked around helplessly, "Where are you going now?" she desperately pleaded, not wanting to be alone in the underbrush of some creepy forest defenseless, scared out of her mind at her situation. 

Straag decided to ignore the comment and continued to creep up on the little makeshift camp...

"What do you want?" the figure said, demanding and in a pretty rude tone to say the least.

So the stranger was a female, thought Laia, pulling hidden courage from the pit of her stomach.

"We were just out hunting", She replied, her voice shaking despite her grown courage.

"We? What exactly were *we* hunting, now?" the figure asked menacingly, leisurely advancing, like stalking prey, knocking down Laia's wall of courage and intimidating her beyond belief. 

"Uh...food?" she said cowardly, slowly backing up into a tree. She was blocked in. _"I'm going to die, and he abandoned me to run!...I'm going to die alone. Defenseless as a deer...to be slaughtered as one. _Her last thought was accompanied by the sweet dangerous music of a sword being taken out of it's ragged holder. 

Laia and the figure both turned as Straag reappeared, running full force at the stranger, and Laia let out a breath of relief. But her relief was short lived as the figure side stepped Straag's attack and sent him, still running, into a tree before he could stop himself.

The figure slowly turned to the defenseless Laia, her last standing opponent.


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## yhwh1st (Aug 10, 2007)

The woman saw one of the two figures slip off to the side. Why did they think she wouldn’t see? The other person, a woman, responded in a shaky voice. 

_So, she’s afraid of me. I can use this_, she thought, as she moved towards the other woman. _I’ll threaten her and, if I’m reading her right, she’ll run first chance she gets._

“We? What exactly were *we* hunting, now?” She barely heard the response, her attention was focused on her surroundings. Was that noise the other one coming from behind? She neatly stepped to the side and watched in surprise as a man barreled right by her and into a nearby tree. 

Lily turned her attention back to the woman before her, now backed up against a tree. “Draw your weapon and fight. I do not slaughter my opponents.” Lily saw a flicker of motion through her peripheral vision, and the other woman’s eyes turned in the same direction. 

The next moment she was on her back. The man did not have a very good grip and she slipped out, reaching for the sword that had flown from her grasp. But the man was quicker than she anticipated and she abruptly found herself flat on her face, knee pressed hard against her spine and right arm was held painfully high behind her back.

The pain in her elbow and shoulder was so intense that her vision started to blur, and she had trouble concentrating on the question growled above her head. “Now it’s your turn to answer some questions. Who are you and why are you here?” She didn’t answer and feeling her arm being pulled higher, she let out a slight gasp in pain. “You intrude on me in this clearing and attack me for no apparent reason,” she grunted, “then you demand answers to questions of which you have no right to ask.” The man brought the arm down a bit but didn’t loosen his grip. She complied. “I am a woman of Rohan. My business is my own. I shall only say this: that I do not pursue, but am pursued.” There was no immediate response. The man seemed to be thinking.


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## Seregon (Aug 11, 2007)

He couldn't understand why all of this upset her so much. Most of the people in the camp thought the opposite; they would have easily - and probably at least slightly correctly - argued that he was not on the side of good. Yet tears were filling her eyes.

"Sometimes... Sometimes... things aren't as clear as good and evil." _Oh, Eru. I thought I showed her I am not what I used to be. I am not an elven hero like those of old; I'm a pathetic half-easterling._ Then suddenly he realized; he had shown her. The others only thought he was not good because they did not know the full story. Yet Alana... And suddenly, it dawned on him. He opened his mouth to ask her, yet the words caught - and for a good reason. He cursed himself. He should've been suspicious when she warmed up to him so quickly. Yet now... now, he had the upper hand. Better to not let on; better to stand back and watch. He had to find out who's side she was on, truthfully. Yet could she really be trusted? What if she not only deceived him, but everyone else? What if there was a side to this he had not seen before? She lied to him, why not everyone else also? Suddenly, he realized - he should say something. Or do something. He reached out awkwardly and pulled her to him, trying his best to be comforting. She didn't protest; just buried her face in his shoulder.

"So..." He glanced down at her, or tried to. "Your common enemy... with the- the- orcs..." There was a long pause. "Is it the easterlings?" Her voice was slightly muffled, yet they both knew he understood it. There was no point dancing around the question.

"Yes; the easterlings don't like them any more than you or I," _Well... maybe not you..._ "It's pointless to be fighting two enemies when you could be fighting one." _Curses; why did I say that?! Now maybe they will ally._ This was becoming more difficult. He had to think about what he said more than usual. "It was very difficult to get even a meager, temporary neutrality out of them, yet I don't regret it." _I don't? ...No; I suppose I don't..._ There was silence from Alana. After a couple more awkward moments, she pulled back and stood straight. It was only then, when Orion saw her red, blurred eyes, that he realized she had been crying. He still wasn't sure how much of this was an act; whose side she was on; what she wasn't telling him and exactly how much she knew, yet he wasn't entirely sure it mattered. _Either way... she knows too much._ He smiled softly.

"We ought to be getting back. ...Why don't you lead?" As they walked back through the forest and her eyes cleared up, he thought of his strategy, picked a spot. When he got to it, he reached out toward her back, one hand nearing his dagger. Suddenly, she turned around, and wrapped her arms around his chest, pressing their bodies close, and resting her head on his shoulder. He sneered, disgusted and shocked for a moment, before collecting himself, hugging her back, and wondering if this was coincidence. _What if she has no side? Perhaps she can read minds._ And with this thought, he realized; if it were true, her lies might be out of necessity rather than deception. And killing her would weigh on his conscience. With that, he also wondered; _could_ he have done it? Surely, sliding the dagger into her stomach and up through her heart would be extremely easy for someone of his size, yet she was... what? _Sweet... kind... she's... I... my friend..._ Once more his lip curled in disgust. How could he let himself be befriended by some elf? _Some elf like I was... only full-blooded; no corruption. Kind and pure..._ And he hated her, suddenly, at the same time as they were friends. He hated her for what she was; what he should have been. He hated her with all his heart.

*****

Rhea watched over both Graeme and Straag for a while, yet found herself focusing on Graeme. He was in a more dangerous position at the moment; perched precariously between life and death. Luinwe had become her best asset; the elf helped her in everything, and was very obedient and quick to accomplish things. Though not the most intelligent, and with very little creativity, she knew exactly what was wanted - and expected - from her.

Consequently, Rhea found her exceedingly useful, though slightly impersonal, and quickly they found common ground - dislike of Orion, and confusion as to why Alana had become his little lap-dog servant so quickly; making her instantly untrustworthy. There was no way that Orion was good; after a bit of conversation they still weren't even sure he was against the easterlings. Yet curiosity staid Rhea's hand; she had not yet told Luinwe that she had tattooed on her wrist the same emblem that was on Orion's medallion, nor that her sword hilt had the same burning power of his medallion. And she wouldn't; she really wanted more than anything to deny it; to make it untrue. They had nothing in common; they could not have something so distinct alike. Thankfully, Luinwe had not asked her about the symbols being the same, and they both knew she would not, simply because Rhea did not want her to, and Luinwe was always one to follow orders. _Soon she won't even question them._ Rhea smiled at that thought. _She'll be completely obedient... Perfect._

*****

_From evil comes good; a child born for unity; one for division. The heavens and the earth will fall; the balance frail; for these will bring an epic war. And with them, the result - unity, and peace.

-----

"Not everything is written in stone, Orion." He seemed dangerously depressed; sitting on the edge of a steep embankment.

"And how would you know?" He snapped at her, glaring. She knew that no matter what he said, she had hurt him.

"Because it was my family that made the prophecy." His eyes narrowed, and he looked her over carefully. "It was my family that made that medallion… We had one elven ancestor hundreds of years ago, and we’ve never managed to fully live the legacy down. And neither will your family." She paused, wishing she hadn’t mentioned families, and they didn’t speak for a long while._


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## Seregon (Aug 11, 2007)

"Yes; luckily, we managed to escape from that horrible caravan." Theo smiled kindly at the hobbit, a few strands of her dark hair falling in her eyes. She barely noticed, and didn’t bother reaching up to move it. "We should travel together; we stand a better chance if we’re in a group." She signaled Tark to come, yet for some reason, he stayed where he was, so she didn’t push him, and focused instead on the hobbit and his fair companion.

Tark watched carefully, keeping his eye on both Aleth and Theo. The hobbit was not a part of the plan, so he chose to ignore the smaller being unless there was something immediate happening that needed his attention. _That would be a rarity; the future’s the only thing that matters now._ He shifted on his branch, watching the unfolding scene carefully. Aleth seemed anxious to get moving, and it wasn’t surprising. A fair one in the land of the easterlings… A smile crossed his face. _Not as rare as it used to be._


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## Majimaune (Aug 12, 2007)

Straag waited to give his reply, making the woman question her safety with the two strangers that showed up, unexpectedly, even though he'd already made his decision when he had her pinned down.

"Get up," he said a little savagely while taking his weight off the woman and releasing her. "You would do well to come with us. We are a group also being pursued or at least we think we are. Safety in numbers I always say."

"What? Your going to let this person come along with us to our camp?" said Laia, questioning his logic. 

Who does she think she is? I know what I'm doing.

Straag replied to Laia in a low quiet voice so that the woman couldn't overhear and to control his annoyance. "Better with us where I can watch her then having to keep awake all night listening for the thief that comes for our supplies...or us."

"Point taken." she replied to him, then turned to the stranger. "You, woman, whats your name?"


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## elfgirl (Aug 19, 2007)

"Sometimes... Sometimes... things aren't as clear as good and evil." _No kidding._ He tried to look sympathetic - not easy for him, by far. Then an odd look passed over his face, one she was not expecting. She searched through her mind for a word, for some understanding... and found nothing. She felt panic edge through her mind. He opened his mouth, closed it again, and then looked at her, seemed to have a moment of confusion, and awkwardly pulled her closer. She wrapped her arms tightly around him, and felt tears in her eyes again.

"So... Your common enemy... with the- the- orcs... ...Is it the easterlings?" There was a little pause; a hesitation. _This isn't good. Just when he starts to open up, he goes back again._ She briefly wondered if that was the look, but something told her that no, it wasn't. _At this rate he'll never fully trust me._ 

"Yes; the easterlings don't like them any more than you or I. It's pointless to be fighting two enemies when you could be fighting one. It was very difficult to get even a meager, temporary neutrality out of them, yet I don't regret it." _Another bit of hesitation, just a moment delayed. It's getting worse._ After a few awkward moments, she pulled away, and they looked each other in the eyes. Once more, she felt fear start to ebb across her mind. _It's genuine softness, kindness... caring. He trusts me less by the minute._ He smiled softly. "We ought to be getting back. ...Why don't you lead?" There was something in his eyes that she'd seen before, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She thought and thought, as they made their way back, then, suddenly, it hit her. She stopped, suddenly, turned on her heel, and wrapped her arms around him. One arm had been reaching for her. _Just in time._ Her heart was in her throat again, as she kept her arms wrapped around him, her head buried in his shoulder, his body pulling away from her. _No. If you kill me, kill me like this. Put the dagger in my back._ He collected himself, and returned the embrace.

-----

"Is he alright?" Rhea looked up at her from where she sat next to Graeme.

"Time will tell." She moved her posture as little as possible. "I see you went off into the forest again with Orion." Alana paused. She knew what Rhea thought of the both of them, and didn't like it one bit. _We're far from lovers, Rhea... so very, very far._

"We had to hunt down an orc." Rhea gave her a look that seemed to scream "I'm humoring you" and a slight smile.

"I don't understand what you like so much about him. He's a traitor to the good name of his species." Alana couldn't help but smile. _You're the only other of his species, dear. And from the look in your eyes, he's exactly what he should be._

"He's sweet inside, he's just had a rough time in life." Rhea held back a laugh. "As have you, I presume. At least from the hilt of your sword." Her hand flew to her sword, wrapped around the hilt. Alana leaned down, to get their faces closer. "And you don't even know why it burns them, what it does, why it was created." Her face grew pale, and Alana knew it was all she had to say. With a quick, bitter smile, she turned and walked away.

*****

She sighed. _He should be here, soon. He'll want to know what I've been doing, how everything is coming along._ There was a metallic 'shling' as she sharpened her sword, making sure the edge was always razor sharp. _I'll need it, soon._ The thought disturbed her, yet it was a feeling she was getting used to. _They didn't tell me it would be like this. They didn't tell me I would like these people._ And as she looked across the campsite, she realized: she did like them. _Victims of crime and circumstance, victims of their own will to live. What ever did they do? Yet circumstance must turn us all. You're born, you turn, and you die. Isn't that what we always said? In the temples and steeples, in the kitchens and streets, as we watched the naysayers and steadfast people march to their death. They turned before they died; it was all we could hope. That their last bitter taste of life was tainted with the edge of what was to come._ Yet was it right? _Some here have lived centuries, and not yet turned. Is it such a crime to live that through your death?_ She bit her lip, her brows knotted. And for some reason, her mind turned to that face he'd given, in the forest. She still couldn't pin it, and now it disrupted her thoughts. What was that look? She couldn't put it aside; she had to know...


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## yhwh1st (Sep 12, 2007)

*Ok. more like the "or so' than an hour, but here it is.*

The hobbit sent a sidelong glance toward the man called Tark. He seemed to be weighing the people and situation, for what reason, he did not know. _Perhaps he is only being cautious._ 


They traveled for several days, stopping only once to hunt and to sleep at night. On the second night, Tark left the camp and returned later dragging the carcass of a small bear. “This should last us a few days”, he said as he began skinning the animal.

Aleth didn’t seem very pleased with the delay, but said nothing. He always had the last watch, so every morning he roused everyone and pushed them to move onward, “to get as far away from them as possible”, he said.



Toward the evening of the fifth day the hobbit heard distant noises ahead. “Do you hear that?” he asked. They all stopped to listen. “You must be hearing things,” Theo stated, after listening. The hobbit said nothing and they continued on. No one seemed to notice as he slowly drifted to the rear of the group. There was some noise and confusion as Figwitt’s group blundered into the clearing. He watched the progress of the others for some time, when he suddenly felt himself hauled up into the air by the back of his shirt and roughly thrown into the clearing. “Well, well, well. What do we have here?”


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## yhwh1st (Sep 13, 2007)

As soon as she was released, the woman quickly got to her feet and seized her sword, but did not raise it. She simply stood there holding it. 

“I am called Lily, by some” she said in response to the question, so rudely thrown her way. She then leveled the man and woman with a slight glare. After a couple of minutes of awkward silence, they got the hint and stated their names.

“I am Straag.”

“And I am Laia.”

Lily stood and scrutinized the two for several minutes. Laia seemed to grow nervous under her gaze, and shifted from one foot to the other. Finally, she said; “Alright, I will join your group for a short time. I do not know how long I will be with you.” She saw a strange flicker in Straag’s eye and took note. _ I will have to keep my wits around that one._


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## Majimaune (Sep 14, 2007)

“Alright, I will join your group for a short time. I do not know how long I will be with you.”

Good. That keeps her in sight and possible safety for now.

"Oi Laia, you lead, I'll take the back and cover our tracks. Don't forget we came to get food so see anything and kill it if its good eating." This way this woman, Lily she says her name is, is in between us so its easier to keep an eye on her. Straag was generally suspicious of people and in current circumstances he wasn't taking any chances.


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