As always, here is the language key for this chapter.
"Scarlet's normal English speak."
"Westron"
"Elvish" SURPRISE!
Chapter 9: Finding Fae
Despite not having travelled together for several months now, Scarlet and Theoraan were quick to settle back into their old routine. The only notable change was that unlike before when their travels was completely silent, their journeys now were peppered with light simple conversations.
From time to time, Scarlet would ask questions in horrible common tongue that Theoraan would answer while correcting her to help her improve. One example of their conversations was this one about age.
"How old are you?"
" About 70."
"So elder?"
"So old, Scarlet." Theoraan had become quite proficient in interpreting her speech and correcting it.
"Fine, so old? You no look that old."
"I am not old." Theoraan was indignant.
"I am a Dunadan, we age differently from other men. And the correct phrase is 'You do not look that old'."
"You are a what?"
And so launched Scarlet's impromptu education on the history of the Dunedain and their ways. Of course, as always, Scarlet's education was limited by her language skills but she still did managed to learn and absorb some of the information conveyed. Such was their pattern of travel and everything was mostly uneventful until a few weeks had passed.
Scarlet was alone at camp. Theoraan had left to 'answer nature's call'. As winter had only just ended, shrubbery bursting with green foliage was in short supply and so he had walked quite a way away. Scarlet took this quiet moment to rest. She leaned into the roots of a large tree and shut her eyes, calmly breathing in the crisp fresh air of the forest.
Then, her eyes snapped open. A blade drawn and thrown even before the action registered in her conscious mind.
"Ah!" "Un."
Two cries echoed through the forest.
Scarlet had an arrow embedded in her right arm. Across the clear stood a man, a slash across his thigh, blood running down his leg. She had somehow reacted on instinct to the threat and thrown her blade. Scarlet evaluated the new threat.
Tall, fair, beautiful. 'Okay brain. Not the point.'
Dangerous.
She had not heard his approach, even though the forest floor was littered with dried twigs. Yet some part of her had sensed him, hence the drawing of her blade. Unfortunately her quick action caused the man to react and release his arrow.
Before the two could continue their staring showdown, noisy clanking of armour and the shuffling of feet drew their attention to the right. Their combined cries of pain from earlier had caught the attention of other unknown parties who were now moving towards the clearing.
Scarlet evaluated the situation. She was now potentially facing two or more opponents. Warily watching the man with the bow, Scarlet positioned herself to watch both the man and the encroaching company. She had decided to forgo her staff, with the arrow in her arm, it was less effective than her blades. Meanwhile, the man was far more focused on the oncoming parties and his stance was far tenser than before.
The moment the male's eyes turned away from her, Scarlet took off running.
'Don't know what's coming but the two can take care of each other.' she thought.
Scarlet was trained to be a Career; not a hero. The selfish ideology of 'Survival first' had been drilled into Scarlet since young. Heroism had no place in the Hunger Games. It was every man for himself and alliances between the Careers only lasted long enough to thin the livestock. She had been taught to stay out of fights until the victor was tired and weakened and became an easier kill.
Back in the clearing, she could have stayed and helped the male but what for? The man was nothing to her. She couldn't care less if he died. He attacked her, he should die. They will kill each other and that's good. Running away was the right thing to do.
She stopped.
'No. Scarlet. No. You are not doing this. You are not-Ah fudge.'
She had already turned back and began picking up speed.
'Father would kill me for this. I'm only running back in case Theoraan comes back to camp and gets caught up in the mess needing help. Or gets worried wondering what happened to me'
'Oh, really?' Mental Scarlet was sceptical.
'Shut up you.'
Nearing the clearing, Scarlet slowed down and ducked behind a tree to observe the situation. The man was battling with seven creatures; three others lay dead upon the ground. The creatures looked similar to the mutants she had seen on her first night in this land.
With so many creatures left standing and an injured arm, Scarlet refrained from entering the fray. She could confidently handle fighting three opponents at most. But that was when she had full command of all her limbs. Rarely had she fought against more simultaneously. Besides, the male seemed to be doing fairly well on his own.
Keeping within the shadows, Scarlet drew a blade with her uninjured arm, took aim, and threw. The blade caught a creature in the back of the neck and brought it down. This caught the attention of both the man and the creatures. The creatures tried to search for the origin of the blade. The man wasted no time and took advantage of the distraction to slay another creature, thereby attracting the creatures' attention once more.
Not missing a beat, Scarlet threw another blade but missed as the creature had shifted to dodge a swipe of the man's blade. Quickly, she threw another blade to correct her mistake and down it went. Enraged by the hidden threat, the creature battling the man growled loudly. The creatures not occupied with the man suddenly all turned towards her general direction.
'Uh oh.' Judging by their actions the main creature must have told his subordinates to hunt down the hidden threat. Aka. Her.
Knowing that her position behind the tree did not offer much protection, Scarlet quickly assessed her options. Three creatures and only two blades left. She cursed her useless right arm which still had an arrow sticking out at an awkward angle. After going through the probably scenarios, Scarlet made a decision.
She drew and threw both blades before bursting out from her hiding spot and running off. The creatures' reaction to her kill gave her the head start needed to put more distance between them; but having spotted her, the chase was on.
Meanwhile the male cursed louder mentally when he saw the girl being followed. He had to save her. This thought made him fight with renewed vigour enough to overcome the chief orc of the pack.
'Oh heaven help me.' thought Scarlet as she weaved through the trees.
Since she was old enough to run without assistance, Scarlet had been made to run. Her father believed that nothing was more important that stamina. In his words, "If you can outrun and outlast the guy chasing you, you can come back and kill him later when he is tired. If you cannot win the fight with surety, run. If you stay and fight and you lose, you will die. You must be able to run faster harder and longer than any other in any terrain. You are a girl. You will never be as strong as a man but even men get tired."
'Oh I am so out of shape. Dad would kill me if he saw me like this.' The time spent at the inn had taken its toll as evidenced by the slight cushion growing on her previously flat tummy.
Narrowly dodging a low branch, Scarlet swerved, and reached for her blades.
'Oh you have got to be kidding me!'
Scarlet had run out of blades. All six of them had been put to good use earlier.
'I should not have done that. I should NOT have done that. Damn. Damn. Damn.'
She cursed and swore as she tried to pick up the pace and increase the distance between her and her last pursuer. Scarlet was still cursing as she felt her chest tighten further and her pants become heavier. With nothing to lose, Scarlet made a decision. She cut left before making a quick turn to cut past the creature, running back the same way she came. She had run out of weapons. The way she saw it, her only solution was to run back and pull a blade from one of the dead bodies. If only she had longer legs!
"Scarlet!"
The cavalry had arrived.
Scarlet looked to her left as an arrow flew past the corner of her eye and a cry of pain followed. The creature chasing her had been put down by one of the several men on horseback that approached. Slowing to a stop, Scarlet placed a hand upon a tree and hunched over panting for a bit before looking up. The small group of horsemen included Theoraan who was sharing horses with male she had injured earlier.
Still breathing hard, Scarlet turned to lean against the tree and face the men. Theoraan was quick to dismount and run to her. Even as he assessed her injuries, he ran a running lecture, scolding her for not calling for his help and for running so far off. They had wasted more time looking for her when they could have killed the orcs in an instant. Scarlet mostly ignored him and concentrated on breathing but inside, she smiled. It was nice to have someone care for her.
The horsemen helped the man Scarlet injured off a horse and took out bandages to wrap his leg. They had neglected his injury earlier in their haste to find 'the red haired girl' but now that the orcs were dealt with, they could tend to his wounds.
Another man approached Scarlet and Theoraan with a roll of bandages. Scarlet watched as he and Theoraan looked at Scarlet once over and discussed with each other in a language Scarlet did not understand, all the while pointing to her shoulder. Her eyes widened and she watched them with trepidation. Figuring out what was going on, Scarlet cringed and gripped onto Theoraan's forearm. She wasn't usually so prissy about pain but damn did removing stuck weapons hurt. Squeezing Theoraan's hand real tight, she forced herself to take deep breaths and mentally braced herself.
"EEEEEEEE!"
Scarlet squealed and hunched over in pain, tears inadvertently collecting at her waterline. Theoraan silently endured her digging nails and was proud of her strength. He remained beside her for support as the other man rubbed some plant paste and bandaged her arm to stem the blood flow and prevent movement. Only when the worse was over and Scarlet had calmed down did Theoraan rise to discuss the situation with another one of the men.
Scarlet turned her attention to her personal helper who was still fussing over her looking for other injuries. The man had nice features, smooth skin and prominent cheekbones. He had long dark hair and little braids that begun just behind his pointed ears.
'Wait. Hold that thought. Pointed ears?'
Scarlet could not believe her eyes.
'This man? This male? What was he? A pixie? A fairy? No. Too tall. A Fae. Wow. No wonder he's so pretty.'
Scarlet pouted at that thought and brought her attention back to the real world only to realise that her helper was done looking over her and was now looking right at her. Eyes widening at the close proximity, Scarlet quickly adverted her eyes and looked away, embarrassed. It was a good thing she was so tan; a blush right now would have been unbearable.
Her shy reactions only drew soft chuckles from the men.
"Elladan, shall I ask you of your intentions to my ward?" Theoraan spoke with a serious tone to the elf tending to Scarlet even as he fought the grin on his face.
"Ah, brother, sweeping the fair maiden off her feet already?." The male who had been tending to the male Scarlet injured had come to stand with Theoraan and laugh.
"Come now Elrohir. Surely you cannot envy me. Are you not the striking one for whom elven maidens back home swoon as you walk pass?" Elladan was quick to reply.
"Ah yes. You are right. It must be my dashing good looks."
Elladan only laughed. "You do remember that we are twins."
Theoraan just laughed at their antics and shook his head. Leaving the twins to joke amongst themselves, Theoraan walked up to Scarlet and checked her over once more.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
Scarlet felt warmed at his concern and nodded, giving Theoraan a reassuring smile.
"It is pain but I am well. Is he?" Scarlet inquired about the man whom she'd injured then ditched then helped.
Theoraan looked in the direction of her nod. "Figwit? He will recover. I am glad you are safe."
Now that everyone was tended to, the group decided it was time to head back to Rivendell and make reports as to the encounter with the most recent orc patrol. The males debated among themselves as they tried to figure out the best arrangement for the horses. With Theoraan and Scarlet now joining their group, they were two horses short and would have to share horses if only for a short time. Figwit and Scarlet were both injured and could not ride alone. They discussed it a little before deciding that Theoraan would ride with Scarlet and Figwit would ride with another one of the elves.
Scarlet watched curiously as one by one the men – no – elves began to mount their steeds. She stayed silent as she let Theoraan hoist her onto one of the horses. Realising that he meant for her to ride, Scarlet opened her mouth to protest for she had zero experience in horse riding. Riding the chariot into the Dome for the Hunger Games did not count. Thankfully her fears were allayed when Theoraan swung up behind her into the saddle. Gently settling her into his arms, Theoraan carefully avoided her injured arm and brought his hand to wrap around her waist to secure her. Squeezing his thighs to get the horse to move, the patrol of elves and two humans set off for Rivendell.
On the horse, as Scarlet slowly got used to the rhythmic motion of the ride, her eyes began to flutter close. Now that everything was over and the adrenaline had worn off, the blood loss was getting to her.
Feeling safe in Theoraan's arms, Scarlet let herself drift into the darkness.
Yay! Elves! More specifically, the twins and Figwit. Yes I know. Figwit. What was I thinking? For those of you have no idea what I'm talking about, Figwit stands for Frodo Is Great, Who Is That?!. Figwit is essentially a fan created character that rose to prominence when females noticed his gorgeousness in the background of the Council of Elrond scene from Peter Jackson's the Fellowship of the Ring.
Now I know there are purists who do not like the fact that a Figwit fan base even exists because Tolkien did not create him but I personally think it's funny and cute. I had planned to put Figwit in right from the start and was itching to reach this scene. Finally! It didn't quite go as originally planned and I think I'm terrible at writing action scenes but ah well.
Anyway, we have moved from Bree to Rivendell. What awaits our main character there?
