Kail was sure that if she was capable of feeling the cold, her teeth would be chattering, her limbs shaking and her very bones frozen to the core much like the occupants of Rohan. She saw many a child, mother, father and senior shaking, clutching blankets and loose rags of clothing to their forms in a desperate attempt to stem off the cold. Even her riding mate, Aragorn, was shaking slightly, but his features wouldn't allow him to give the fact away as they remained passive and calculative. The only reason Kail knew that her dear Ranger friend was fighting the cold was the fact that she was forced to be pressed against him on Hasufel and could feel his shivering. After she noticed, she pressed herself to him completely in hopes of feeding some of her own heat into him. Apparently this worked because Aragorn had turned his head slightly and gave her a thankful smile which she had responded to with a gentle squeeze of her arms around him in a hug.
Next to them on Arod, Gimli continuously grumbled under his breath, determined to let his discomfort be known, but not too much to hurt his pride. In front of him sat the Elf of her dreams with a faint smirk at the Dwarf's displeasure. He turned to her every once in a while with a wink and she silently giggled into Aragorn's back.
She wasn't aware how long the trip to Helm's Deep would be, but at the moment it felt like days even though night hadn't fallen yet and she was bored. Like, really bored. Her ass was numb, her back was stiff and her mind was reeling. She needed to do something to release all her pent up energy. She considered playing tag with some of the children that ran around attempting to stay warm as their mothers chatted quietly, but thought better of it. Sure, she might be trusted by these villagers for now, but who's to say they'd like the thought of her playing with their offspring? Even back on Earth, a full grown woman randomly joining in a game of tag with some 7 year-olds was odd and she'd rather not make an enemy of herself with these people.
She could chat aimlessly with the old man she had given the blanket to earlier, but she had done that earlier when she had taken a break from riding and decided to walk and had discovered that the old man was senile. He could hardly remember that she had given him the blanket and was mostly silent when she asked him questions, so she thought it best to leave him be. Aragorn wasn't much of a chatterbox either, almost as silent as the grave and Legolas was just far up ahead enough that that raising her voice to talk to them would disturb the others around them. Although she knew Elves had excellent hearing that that she could probably whisper and her Immortal counterpart would be able to hear her, but it was a human reaction to speak louder when at a greater distance. Besides, her poor riding partner would most likely be confused by the seemingly one-sided conversation he would be privy to.
So Kail had to endure boredom as they continued their journey, but by noon the sun decided to peek out from behind its thick clouds every so often to allow the traveling villagers some small amount of warmth. Gimli and Legolas had since removed themselves from Arod, allowing the animal to roam peacefully along without moving off from the procession; no doubt something of Legolas' doing and his Elvish mutterings. Kail too, decided again to walk as she was getting too restless and because King Théoden had moved back in line slightly in order to talk with Aragorn. Don't get her wrong, she respected the King and didn't think anything bad about him, but the polite mindless chatter between the two was even more boring than just sitting there and gazing off into the distance. So, as she walked not too far of a distance from her own little group, Kail heard Gimli prattle on to Éowyn about Dwarves as he sat perched upon her chestnut steed. She led the animal by the reins and laughed occasionally at something Gimli said who seemed to immensely enjoy blabbering about something.
Fresh meat, Kail thought with a small grin. Gimli had already rattled her pointed ears off with his stories and now Éowyn was his knew victim.
Letting out a soft sigh, the Elf skipped merrily over to Legolas who walked slightly off to the side of the procession and attempted to sneak up on him, reminding her of a very light hearted moment in Lothlórien when he had been practicing archery. Just as her feet left the ground to pounce on the Prince's back, he suddenly turned with a devious grin and caught her as she descended, causing her to let out a small squeal of surprise and land in his arms with a laugh.
"Damn your Elvin hearing," she cursed with a pout causing the blonde to give a hearty laugh.
"Do not forget that I am not the only Elf here, meleth nin," he countered with a wink.
"Yeah, well, you've had more time to get used to it."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, you know, you grew up as an Elf. I spent all my years as a human with terrible hearing amongst other just as deaf humans where I could sneak up and surprise pounce on any of them with no problem," she said, not noticing that their arms were still around each other, his hands on her waist and hers gripping his shoulders. She then glared at him playfully. "You are ruining the joy I get from scaring the crap out of you."
Again, her Prince laughed. "I am not easy to frighten, Kail. And I would certainly not be emotionally scarred by a beautiful young maiden pouncing upon my back," he chuckled with a wink that caused a blush to grace Kail's pale cheeks. "Especially one beauty such as yourself."
Kail rolled her eyes. "Flirting jackass," she grumbled as she smacked his arm lightly. The Elf merely grinned wider and lifted a hand from her waist to brush a stray strand of hair from her face. It was this action that suddenly made Kail realize that they had been standing in one spot for at least 5 minutes holding each other and getting curious glances from villagers as they passed by. Her blush which had begun to fade darkened again and she averted her eyes. Clearing her throat softly, she pulled away, the skin feeling cold where his hands used to be and grinned at him, trying to hide her sudden embarrassment.
"Come on, let's catch up with the others," she said as she turned away and began walking at a quick pace to reach their friends. But her journey was slowed when she felt a hand slip into hers; a strong hand; a gentle hand. Looking down at the hand even though she only had one guess as to who it could belong to, she followed the green clad arm up to a shoulder which was graced softly by wispy golden hair and finally to the face of the Elf she had just been seen in a very compromising position with.
He still smiled at her, as he always did, but the mischievous glint was gone, replaced by a gentle upturn of his perfect lips. "There is no rush. Let us just enjoy a leisurely walk for once. We've done nothing but rush since we left Lórien and I think it is time we allow ourselves to slow down a bit," he said and came to stand next to her as he entwined his fingers through hers and his thumb brushed softly against the back of her hand. He then brought the hand to his lips and placed the lightest feathery kiss upon her seemingly delicate skin.
Instantly when the contact was made, Kail felt a delicious shiver run down her spine and craved for his lips again, but this time on her own lips that suddenly seemed to tingle with desperate need for him. As soon as the feeling overcame her she pursed her lips and bit the inside of her cheek in order to stem the sensation, even as she nodded to his suggestion. He smiled again and lowered their hands to swing between them as they continued to walk in silence for hours, ignoring the glances of villagers, giggles of curious children, and the piercing blue gaze of one Margaret Greenway.
~.~
Before the sun descended behind the mountains the King called for the procession to stop for the night and rest. As the villagers set up their little camps and put the old and young down for their naps, Kail and her friends made their own little circle not too far from the King's tent. As Gimli roamed around the camp he decided he wanted to find something other that lembas to eat and left Legolas, Aragorn and Kail to set up their bedrolls and feed the horses.
When that was done, Kail threw herself on her bedroll beside Legolas' and curled into a ball with a soft smile. Aragorn and Legolas chuckled at this and shook their heads to which Kail stuck her tongue out at them childishly.
"Does this mean you're going to retire for the night, Kail?" inquired Aragorn as he pulled out his sword to sharpen it and raised a brow at her.
"I would love to," Kail sighed as she slowly sat up again and started rolling up her pant leg. "But I have to check on this damn wound again." Getting the fabric over the effected area, she began to unravel the bandage.
"Here, allow me to help," offered Legolas softly as he moved to kneel beside her and took over the unraveling. Kail let her hands drop to her front as she lay on her side to make it easier for Legolas to get to her wound. As the last layer was removed she winced slightly as the cloth was peeled from the scab and looked down to get a glimpse of the area, but her position made it difficult.
"So, how does it look?" she asked and watched Legolas' face as he gave no indication as to whether it was good or bad. Mostly she was aware of his gentle grip on her thigh.
"It is healing quite well. I say you can probably keep the bandage off from now on," he replied as he tugged her pant leg back down and gave her a smile that always made her heart skip a beat.
"Fantastic," she sighed and grinned. Now she wouldn't feel like she was slowly losing circulation in her leg anymore. Sitting up once more as Legolas settled down beside her on his bedroll, she looked at Aragorn who quickly looked away upon seeing her eyes turn to him with a smirk. Kail narrowed her eyes in slight confusion at this, but had no time to comment as Éowyn suddenly came up to them, well Aragorn, with a pot of stew and a spoon in one hand and a bowl in the other.
"I made some stew," she said softly, looking a little embarrassed as Aragorn looked up at her from his sword. "It isn't much, but it's hot." She then dunked the bowl she held in her hand into the pot and offered it to the Ranger with the spoon. From where they sat, Kail and Legolas watched as Aragorn put down his sword and took the bowl and spoon into his hands with a 'thank you'.
Even from their distance, the Elves could see the disaster that was the stew. The broth looked tasteless, mushed beans look like they had been beaten to a pulp and the chunks of meat looked anything but appealing. It was raw, still pink and rubbery. Kail grimaced at the sight as Aragorn spooned a rather large hunk of meat and brought it to his lips. As soon as the spoon was in his mouth, he paused and slowly looked up at Éowyn who watched him hopefully.
Not wanting to not look like the gentleman he was, Aragorn took the meat in and chewed it slowly, Eowyn's expectant gaze on him intently. Finally he swallowed as Kail gagged slightly at the sight and looked up at Éowyn almost looking like he had gotten punched in the stomach.
"It's good," he said, his voice slightly strained, but the Shield Maiden didn't notice as he face broke into a smile.
"Really?" she said happily and Aragorn nodded before she turned away. As soon as her back was turned, Aragorn brought the bowl away from him and began to pour its contents on the ground when Éowyn suddenly spoke again and turned around causing the Ranger to quickly lift the bowl back up and the hot broth to spill all over his hands. "My uncle told me a strange thing."
As Aragorn winced in pain at the heat of the broth, he closed his eyes for a moment before looking at Éowyn who walked back up to him. "He said that you rode to war with Thengel, my grandfather," she said. "But he must be mistaken."
Aragorn nodded. "King Théoden has a good memory. He was only a small child at the time."
Behind him, Kail's eyes bugged out as she watched this scene, almost as surprised as Éowyn as she knelt in front of Aragorn in fascination. "Then you must be at least 60," she said in awe and Aragorn shook his head with an embarrassed smile. "Seventy?" Again, the Ranger shook his head. "You cannot be 80!"
Aragorn smiled again and looked back at Éowyn. "Eighty-seven," he confessed softly, but Kail could still hear him perfectly and she was dumb struck as she looked at Legolas.
"Seriously?" she whispered to him in astonishment and the Prince only chuckled and put his arm around her shoulders. "Damn he looks pretty damn good for almost being 90."
"You are one of the Dúnedain," Éowyn said breathily as she stood again, watching Aragorn with awe and he nodded slightly. "A descendant of Númenor, blessed with long life." The Ranger continued to nod and look away as if not wanting to hear the description Éowyn was rattling off. "It was said that your race had passed into legend."
"There are few of us left," he replied quietly. "The Northern Kingdom was destroyed long ago."
"I'm sorry," the woman apologized quickly, finally noticing how uncomfortable Aragorn was. "Please, eat." She then stood there, watching Aragorn in fascination as he gave a small nod and sipped at the broth from the bowl with a slight grimace. After a few moments of watching him she finally turned her gaze to the Elves behind the Ranger. "Oh! I am so sorry I never offered before. Please, have some stew."
Both Kail and Legolas were startled as Éowyn stepped around Aragorn and offered the pot to them with a smile. As her back turned to him again, Aragorn quickly dumped the contents of his bowl then took a stance of just finishing his meal as he covered the evidence with his foot.
"Oh, no we couldn't," Kail said in what she hoped sounded like a gracious tone as she leaned away from the steaming pot.
"Why ever not? I have yet to see you two eat. Please take some," she offered again, holding the pot out to them.
"You do not understand, milady, we truly can't," said Legolas as he smiled at the woman with kindness Kail couldn't seem to muster. "We do not eat meat. Elves are vegetarians."
"Oh," said Éowyn softly as she pulled the pot away from them, her face falling. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push. I will leave you then." She then turned and walked away from them, offering her monstrosity to other villagers.
When the woman was far enough away, Aragorn set down the bowl and continued sharpening his sword as Kail let out a sigh of relief and laughed softly. "Good cover up," she complimented the Elf next to her.
"Cover up?" he asked.
"Disguise, save, lie, or whatever. The point is we didn't have to eat the stew," she said and grinned at the Ranger who threw her a small glare.
"It was no lie, Kail. Elves are vegetarians," replied Legolas with a chuckle.
"What? Since when?" she exclaimed as she suddenly pulled away from him and gave him an astonished look.
"Since forever. You are one two."
"What? No, no, no. I happen to love steak beyond any other meat product. There is no way I can be a vegetarian," she said was a shake of her head and Legolas smirked at her.
"Kail, have you eaten one piece of meat since you arrived here?" he countered.
"Of course I have," she responded haughtily while crossing her arms over her chest.
"When?"
"Well, there was… um…" She paused, now thinking about everything in the passed few months since her arrival in Middle Earth, but couldn't think of one time where she had eaten the sausages, eggs or bacon that Sam had offered to her for dinners or even at Meduseld where there was plenty of chicken or beef to eat and she had easily chosen the vegetables and fruits instead without thinking. With a reluctant sigh she leaned back into Legolas' hold. "Dear, god, I'm a bloody vegetarian…"
Legolas chuckled again and put his arm around her shoulders again, tucking her head underneath his chin. "It is not all that bad, meleth nin. You do not have to harm animals and the only flesh your sword will pierce is an Orc's," he said.
"Yeah, I guess that's true. I never liked it when my dad went hunting, anyway," she replied with a shrug.
"And think of it this way, there's more meat for Gimli and you won't have to listen to him complain about eating 'damn Elvish cookery' anymore," offered Aragorn with a grin and Kail smiled.
"Awesome."
