Chapter 6 - Nature Instincts

Bree, 76 years earlier...

[Boy #1] "Look, here comes the freak son of the wench"
[Girl #1] "Oh, he is hideous!"
[Girl #2] "Eww, he is only eight years old and he has a beard!"
[mocking laughter]
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Yelled Kalvis at the top of his lungs, large blue eyes narrowed with anger. He indeed had a beard, but it was more like a dark shadow of one.
[Bigger boy #1] "Or else what, midget? Will you tell daddy? Oh, you don't have one. Mommy will have to do."
[Bigger boy #2] "She won't hear him, she is busy... 'working'?"

They made fun of his mother's line of work with rude gestures. Kalvis clenched his teeth, face turning red and knuckles turning white as he pressed his tiny hands in fists. He ran away, pushing those kids out of his way. He finally stopped at the Tailor's building away from peering distance, exhausted and defeated with his back to the brick wall and sliding down until he sat on the floor. He broke in tears, arms around his knees between pants and sobs. His depressive moment was interrupted by the cawing of a raven, who tilted its head sideways, looking at the boy with curiosity. Kalvis lifted his teary large blue eyes to see the black bird before him. A thin line smile drew on his rounded face, wiping his tears off with his husky little hands.

"You want to be my friend? Come here, birdie!" He said with his infantile voice. The raven fled to his shoulder, cawing in what seemed to be a dialect. Somehow, Kalvis seemed to understand it. The raven delivered epic tales to the boy and that was the beginning of an unusual friendship.

Anórien, present day...

Two days had passed since Fariwyn had her own room. It was a cloudy morning. Kalvis woke up groggy with the fur blanket close to him. It was his day off, which he usually took to buy some groceries in the market and exchange horse shoes for some cheap clothes at the nearby Tailor. Kalvis slipped into his last clean tunic, after washing his face to wake up fully. He wore his boots, stuffed all his dirty clothes into a potato sack and headed downstairs to exchange construction nails for laundry service with Mrs. Berun, who was a devoted fan of his sea blue eyes. Next door from his room, his ex guest was trying on a peasant gown, lacing it up as tight as she could and admiring how it flattered her athletic body from all those hours of swords practice and horse back riding lessons. She only had so long in which to look good, might as well enjoy it. Fariwyn went out to find her moody protector, who just happened to return home whistling a happy tune. His good mood was interrupted by his new neighbor.

"Greetings Kalvis" She said, waving her hand enthusiastically.

"I trust you rested well, m'lady." His eyes widened, enjoying what he saw as he entered his room to store the things he brought.

"Did you have breakfast already? Can I join you?" It was obvious that the girl had nothing better to do, so she followed him in uninvited, noticing that the room was oddly cleaner. The laundry pile wasn't there. "You did your laundry?"

"Nah. With my luck, I would end up ripping off my fabrics. These fat fingers of mine were designed for brute force. I send my things to Mrs. Berun. She does it for me as a special favor." He said, while storing the groceries that the gold of the Elf got him. "Today is my day off, and I plan to spend it out of town, unless you have a better idea."

"I had nothing in mind today Kalvis, but I too need to get some laundry done. Maybe Mrs. Berun would do mine as well for payment?" She asked.

"Maybe, but I am afraid you will have to take it yourself. My reputation will be ruined if I sent lady bloomers on my own, if you get my meaning." Fariwyn blushed and Kalvis went on, "I'll show you the way and then I'm out. You are welcome to join if you like" He said, biting on an apple and handing one to her.

"I'm going out! Yes!" She sounded excited. It promised to be the adventure of her life. She took a large bite of the apple and picked up her bag of dirty laundry.

"After you." He said, sheathing a couple of carving knives and his hammers, which were both tools of trade and his weapons of choice.

"What are those for?" She asked motioning to the knives.

"Let's say you never know what you will find out there, so it is best to be safe than sorry."

With that said, they made the necessary arrangements for Fariwyn's laundry, and headed out of town on horseback ride, racing each other until they reached a clearing by the Mering Stream, west from Anórien. It was a natural small forest. The waterfalls could be heard nearby.

"This is one of my many hiding places, isn't it beautiful?" He asked.
"It's breathtaking! Thank you for bringing me here!" She said.
"Enjoy yourself, but don't go astray" Kalvis began a camp fire to keep them warm.

With the corner of his eye, he watched her movements silently as far as his sight could dominate, finally giving it up to pay attention to the task at hand. Next was to lay flat on his back, both hands behind his head looking at the cloudy sky while chewing on a grass stem. After wandering around and mesmerized with the area, Fariwyn lied on the grass close to Kalvis. She was joyous, imagining what it would be like to enjoy a daily freedom like this. She was pulling petals from a wild daisy she picked nearby. Then she rolled on her stomach, looking at him.

"So how did you find this place?" She looked at the blacksmith curiously. He turned to answer his question when his eyes got fixed on her deep cleavage. Her current position pronounced it more, making him turn all shades of red and look away.

"Um… this place... I have known it for... for years now. Excuse me for a moment." Kalvis incorporated himself to leave her side. Once close to the current and away from peering distance, he sighed "what are you doing to me, lass…" He thought.

His blissful meditation was interrupted by the screams of Fariwyn, who ruffled her hair desperately as she ran towards the half dwarf, "HORNETS!" She crashed against him, both falling into the cold waters with a loud splash.

"There have never been hornets in this part of the woods. Stay in the water! I will shoo them away!" He said, getting out of the current and returning to the camp fire to get one of the lit logs and wave it in the air. The trick worked and the buzzing insects were no longer a threat. They fell disoriented one by one on the grass, where he squashed them with his boot.

"The hornets are all gone. Are you alright?" He returned to help Fariwyn out of the water.
"Yes, I'm fine!" Both of them were drenched from head to toe.

"I am afraid you will catch a cold if you keep that wet dress. Allow me to get you something to change into, while your clothes dry out" He said, extracting a cloak from his saddles and handing it to her.

"Thank you" she whispered, flushing a deep red and looking away.

Fariwyn hid behind some bushes to change into the cloak he gave her. Meanwhile, Kalvis wrapped a fur blanket around his waist to keep himself decent in front of the lady as he stripped. Before long, their clothes were drying by the fire. All that was left was to wait, for they could not return wearing close to nothing. Fariwyn sat next to him, seeking his warmth by leaning against his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his forearm.

"What do you want of me?" He exhaled under his breath, not realizing he said it out loud enough for her to hear.

"What do you mean?" She asked in the same whisper, unconsciously matching his.

Their eyes met silently, when their moment was interrupted by the irrational cries of a madman before them, who appeared from within the bushes suddenly. Fariwyn screamed hiding behind Kalvis, who grabbed one of his hammers menacingly, ready to strike if needed.

"No! Not my hornets! Stupid stupid stupid! They are all dead now!" The madman was dressed in furs. He knelt to pick the corpses of his pets from the grass. "The dwarf mallet isn't needed, there are no rocks about to mindlessly hammer at, nor is do I mean you harm…today"

"Who are you? State your business!" Yelled Kalvis. It was a rather uncomfortable situation, for they both were out of their element and close to naked.

The madman tilted his head at the hammer, but otherwise made no move. "I am Earendur, the green elf and I speak for the trees." His teeth were rotten and his ears were manually mutilated to look pointy like elf's. He had an empty jar with an open lid, in which he probably brought the hornets.

"I have come to this clearing for ages and not once have I seen your like, claiming property over these lands. My hiding place is not yours to invade." Stated Kalvis with hammer in hand and pushing Fariwyn behind him.

Fariwyn rolled her eyes with impatience, "What would a Tree-Keeper want with us? We bore no axe on these trees. We were here simply to admire nature. And here you barge in, uninvited to our fire while we were indecent. I would like you to explain yourself. Certainly the Ents are more than capable of taking care of their forests and would not way-lay an innocent set of travelers! Kalvis, I am leaving. Are you coming?" she announced throwing her platinum blonde hair over her shoulder.

"I am not about to lose my capacity to make heirs over the whims of a so-called elf that did not have his daily dose of pipeweed. I need my trousers; no way I am horseback riding without them!" Exclaimed Kalvis stubbornly.

Fariwyn blushed at the mention of making heirs. "I am heading back to the inn. I will see you there Kalvis." While the madman and the half dwarf were distracted with one another, Fariwyn made her escape.

"So you like nature, elf? Here is mine!" The half dwarf LITERALLY marked territory by urinating on the camp fire to extinguish it, "Go claim another place, defective child of Ilúvatar!" Kalvis risked grabbing his and Fariwyn's belongings while the madman looked at the extinguished flames dumbfounded. Kalvis stuffed them into the saddles of his horse to leave. He would not have the girl galloping close to naked and alone, so he hurried after her.