Elrond finished telling Leliana what to do and she nodded and left the chambers. She stayed in Rivendell for one more day and on the last day they re-supplied her and she was on her way. Elrond had told her that the man she sought after was a bandit whose base was outside of Bree, and regularly stole from merchants and other travellers on the roads.
They gave her a map of Eriador, since she had previously only lived in Mirkwood and had no sense of where she was, only what direction she faced. Looking at her map she tried to find the easiest route to Bree from Rivendell. Mapping out a path she stuffed the map into her pack and started on her walk.
Following the Ford of Bruinen south she reached a bridge across which she crossed with ease, and continued west to the River Mitheithel. It was the evening and she was only about halfway to her destination and she decided to set up camp. Searching her pack for food all she found was Lembas bread, which was enough for a small meal. She decided that tomorrow she was going to try to catch and skin any wildlife she could for flavourful meals in the near future.
In the early morning she awoke to the sound of rummaging. She stayed frozen in place, not wanting to move to see what was happening for fear of being attacked with no chance of defending herself.
"What's this 'ere?" Leliana heard a burly voice say. "Elf bread, blugh! Reminds me o' gobl'n turds"
"SHHHHHH! You're going to wake her Krevin"
"I don't bluddy well care fer your stealth an' stabby style. Why not jus' hit the lass over the head dead?"
"That's not what we were hired to do now is it? NO that's right now shut your blubbering mouth you arse."
Slowly and carefully Leliana felt at her hip for her dagger and found nothing.
"OI! Did lassie just move or am I bonkers?" snarled the burly voice.
"Go check on her you arse head."
Leliana heard footsteps coming towards her, and thought to herself of what to do and coming up with an idea she waited to strike. The footsteps stopped and a shadow loomed over her. As quickly as she could, Leliana swept around and grabbed the large, muscular leg and smashed her free elbow against his knee in an attempt to break it.
Instead of breaking, the leg buckled which gave Leliana time to swiftly move away and arm herself with a large stick from the fire, swinging it in an attempt to intimidate the bandits. The bigger bandit, referred to earlier as Krevin, took out a large sword and swung back at the girl. The smaller bandit took out a shorter sword and followed in suit.
Stepping quickly and lightly Leliana leapt around the fire swinging the burning stick trying in vain to fend off the bandits in their onslaught. Reaching where she placed her dagger she swiftly picked it up and flung it towards Krevin. The dagger stuck into his thigh bringing the big man down.
Turning to the smaller man, Leliana swung the stick at him yelling "GET BACK YOU BASTARD."
Krevin stood back up pulling the dagger out of his leg, saying "That's not goin' to take me down luv" and with a grim smile on his face.
Swiftly she hit the leg of the smaller man with the flames of the stick setting the man to fire. Almost like a hobbit running for a meal, the flames licked at the man's leg spreading quickly.
The man began screaming "KREVIN! KREVIN! I'M ON BLOODY FIRE! GET IT OFF, GET IF OFF GET IT OFF!"
Krevin looked at the smaller man and replied "WHAT THE BLUDDY HELL ARE YE DOIN' HECTOR! GET THE BLUDDY HELL DOWN YOU FARCK!"
Hector threw himself to the ground and began rolling and screaming as Krevin started trying to smack the flames out. In the chaos, Leliana managed to reach her bow and quiver equipping them; she turned to the two buffoons and shouted.
"BOTH OF YOU DON'T MOVE A MUSCLE!" as both men stopped and the flames died out finally.
"Calm down missy, we ain't goin' ta hurt yeh. We was just doing our job is all." Said Krevin slowly raising his hands in peace.
"What do you want with me!" she demanded the answer from the two bandits.
"We were informed by a spotter in the area that there was an elf passing through. So curiosity called and we investigated, and now we are here." Replied Hector.
Leliana looked at the two men with a questioning look in her eyes. 'If I want to find Heirtor, maybe I can use these two men to get to him. Maybe I can persuade them into helping me.' The men watched her as the bow string tension released slowly and the arrow lowered.
"What are yeh doin' missy? Are yeh lettin' us go?" asked Krevin with a hopeful look in his eyes.
Leliana looked into his eyes and a smile rose onto her face. "No, I have a better idea for the likes of you two." Leliana proposed her idea to the bandits mentioning that if they were to go back with no success and a story of how a sixteen-year-old elven girl robbed THEM, they would be left at the curb.
The men pondered it and agreed to the elven girl's wishes. Throughout the talk Leliana kept on her guard for any sudden movements which would be punished by an arrow to the leg. She decided to let her guard down only slightly due to the fact that these are bandits and they are not the most honourable people.
She continued "Now where is Heirtor's Camp?". After the bandits put a little marker on her map of Eriador, she tied them down and gagged them, saying that if they resisted that she would kill them instantly. After tying them down she packed up camp and left, covering as much ground as possible.
Four hours later she decided to take a rest, when she heard noises behind her. The snapping of twigs and the rustling of leaves. Grabbing her bow and notching an arrow she listened carefully to the environment around her, waiting for any sound to let her know what was out there. Another snap made her swiftly look in the direction of the sound when suddenly –WHACK- and the last thing she remembered was hearing a big burly laugh and feeling a warm thick substance trickle down her forehead.
When Leliana awoke she was in a cage which was surrounded by wooded walls, in the distance was a tent and what appeared to be brigands in a clearing east of the tent. There were others, each in their own cages as well, some had two in them. Leliana examined her own cage and saw a sleeping mass at the very back. Suspecting that it was a prisoner she made no attempt of waking the man.
Looking back out she saw the two brigands that she had fought off at her camp getting a modest reward from what looked to be the leader, Heirtor. Hearing movement from behind her she looked to see what her cellmate was doing. As he raised himself, he looked at her with a look of shock and disbelief that he was seeing an elf before him.
The two looked at each other for a long time in silence. Examining each other, wondering who was going to say the first words. "uhh . . . Hullo." Said the man who had most likely been imprisoned here for more than four months judging by his excessive facial hair growth.
Leliana looked at the man and replied "umm. . . hi" she said in a very soft voice. The man examined her for another moment before getting up and offering a formal handshake greeting. Leliana looked at his hand, why was he doing this? In Mirkwood you would greet one another with a bow, perhaps she thought that would suffice.
The man watched the elf bow and decided to slowly bow back. They continued to stare in silence, for what felt like eternity they stared into each other's eyes wondering about one another. Suddenly a noise came from behind.
It was just a brigand walking by hitting his sword off one of the bars of the other cages. The two prisoners looked back at each other. " What is your name miss?" the man finally said after the long silence. Leliana looked him in the eye and replied " My name is Leliana. Who are you?" she asked him back.
"My name is Hector, I was born in a town called Staddle just outside of Bree. My father was a farmer and I was taken from him when I was eleven. I have been here for the last nine years of my life."
She stared at him with pity, she knew that if she were to ever escape she would try to help this man and as many of the others that she possibly could, without getting herself killed.
She looked around to see if she could find where they were keeping her things. She saw a large tent to the north with what looked like bags of personal belongings and random things lying about. Whether these items and bags were stolen or not was left to be undiscovered.
Over the next few days Leliana often thought of different plans to get out, thinking them through every possible scenario that could come up. The prisoners got fed twice a day and checked on fairly often to keep in line. Hector often told the brigands off which would result in a harsh backhand sending the young man stumbling back.
After the last smacking there was a trickle of blood flowing quickly down the side of Hector's head. Leliana had lay him down and took a bit of a closer look at it. "Why do you keep taunting them, do you have a death wish?" she asked wiping the blood away, applying pressure with a cloth.
"I'm waiting for you to make you great escape. I know you've been pondering a way out of here since last week. Can't you elves take a hint?" he said the last part jokingly, wincing as she wiped the wound with her sleeve again.
"It was no intention of mine for you to get hurt for me to escape." Leliana said in a grim tone. Putting on more pressure she continued "I have a better idea of escape for us". With that she told him of her plan to take some of the brigands by surprise and take their armour, blending in and once they leave get to safety.
After they had perfected their plan, it was time to take action. They had planned to attack the guards that open their cell to give them food at their feeding times, as they were the most vulnerable then.
It was six in the morning and the guards were on their way to Leliana and Hector's cell and the two prisoners readied themselves to strike. As the guards approached the cell they were alarmed to see that it was, to their eyes empty. They rushed to open the cell and once in instantly were bombarded by a brutal onslaught from the prisoners.
Once the guards were unconscious the prisoners adorned their armour and locked them in the cell. As the were walking they opened the other cells and all of the prisoners ran for the equipment tent. Arming themselves they quickly overthrew the clueless brigand camp.
In a rush the prisoners made a dash for the camp entrance and left, running for safety but then arrows started chasing after them. The volley of arrows slaughtered all in their path except the few prisoners who had made it into the forest beyond. There they sought refuge and to regroup and head for Bree.
The fourteen of thirty prisoners that made it gathered in a small clearing, searching through whatever they had taken from the supply tent. They had talked amongst themselves whilst looking through their packs. Leliana found that most of the prisoners had been merchants or farmers from Combe or Staddle. Most of the bags had nothing of interest but in the pack Leliana had grabbed was a long black cloak with a red streak down the middle.
She held it up and looked at Hector, ''Well, I think this would fit quite nicely on me wouldn't it?" she asked with a grin.
He looked back at her and the cloak and said "Sure but what do you plan to do in a hooded cloak? Steal a sweetroll?"
She gave him a dirty look and stayed silent for a moment. She thought for a moment and looked back at him and said "I will use this cloak to mask my identity from the bandits I seek to destroy, I will become a watcher of roads, a defender of these people. They have lived too long in fear, I will protect them."
"Nice speech but a hood isn't going to make you anonymous and if they catch you no one will help you, I won't be there like last time." he said and putting a hand on Leliana's shoulder he said "Now I have a proposition for you".
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