CHAPTER 14 - Thy kinsmen wander far

The weak fire crackled in the dead of night, illuminating four presences. Kal looked to her clawed hands. Her nails were uneven and bloodied in places. She might need to shorten them somehow. If only she had her dagger... Kal looked resentfully to the elf who had so completely confiscated her weapon. His manner could be ghoulish at times, though he mostly shrouded himself in bothersome calm and sullen silence.

Kal then stared apprehensively towards the still sleeping human. "What have you done to it?" she asked, seeing as the child had not awakened yet since their odd and stunted encounter earlier in the day.

Water boiled in a small cast iron recipient hung by a wire handle over the fire.

The elf met her eyes. "I have done nothing but attempt to calm him," he snapped. "His fright may have been so strong that his body needs yet more time to recover."

Kal looked away. Of course humans would have such reactions to her. Not at first, perhaps, seeing as she did not strike one as kin to the creatures of Mordor. But once they saw her manner and companions, fear would always take hold.

She had beaten and willingly frightened humans before, owed to her responsibilities in keeping them in check while serving with the Uruk company. Somehow it gnawed at her now and Kal wished the memories away. She sought the gaze of the elf again. She found his narrowed eyes set on her. He remembered. He was there.

"What?" she bit, harsher than she may have intended.

Legolas only regarded her silently before he looked back into the fire.

Intrusive, infuriating tree lovers. The half-orc certainly hoped their lot did not boast any mind reading abilities. If the high alchemists of the Tower could do so, it was not a foreign possibility that a race such as this could also have such skills. Was it? Then she caught herself. Why would whatever he thought matter? They would soon - she hoped - part ways, leaving Kal on her own, and far from all those suspicious stares.

"I doubt he could survive on his own, here. With all the patrols and hunts happening regularly," Kal said instead, wanting to set her mind on more immediate and less distressing matters. Now that they stumbled into the creature they could not very well leave it to fend on its own. And what to do with it? They had taken the wolf, yes, but this was a different matter. Then again, why not leave it to fend for its own? They were under no oath.

"I think there is another, or at least a source of support and nourishment," she continued, filling the silence between them. Eron was resting at her side, his eyes half closed and glazed over, their swift movement alluding to whatever dreams beasts were wont to have.

"We are close to the border of South Ithilien," the elf finally deigned to speak. "The orc are not so thorough here as they are closer to the Black Land."

Kal raised an eyebrow. She took the boiling water off the fire and placed it aside. "Did you just... agree with me?" she asked, unsure what this sudden uplifting mood was owed to. She found the same mood increased when he frowned. Aye, she rather enjoyed this.

"I agree to the possibility."

Kal crossed her arms, and a corner of her mouth curled upward. She was about to prod him further when they both heard movement. Sluggish and slow, but it was something other than the rise and fall of a chest.

The half-orc leaned closer, but Legolas extended an arm to ward her. "Stay where you are," he said looking to the child.

That caused an irksome sort of strain in her chest. Confused but driven by her own inquisitiveness, she only watched. She watched the elf aid the human into a sitting position, saw brown eyes reflecting remnants of fear. Legolas was staring straight into the other's eyes, and the child soon appeared entranced.

"I will not harm you," he was saying, in a tone of voice Kal had never heard from him. It had the quality of a vision, but not the dark and harrowing ones of her own mind. This vision was tranquil and brought with it a mild restfulness. She shook her head to ward off the effect.

The boy merely gaped at the elf, but seemed at ease. His eyes went fearfully to Kal, who sat straighter. Legolas leaned closer to the child. "She will not harm you, either," he said now looking to Kal, a new light in his eyes.

Kal felt walled in by that gaze, and though unwilling and duly annoyed, could not look away. When he averted his stare Kal breathed a short sigh. "Indeed I will not. We are travelers here," she spoke. As she inspected his appearance Kal recalled the children, unsought for offspring from hidden or otherwise doomed liaisons during her time working the fields. Few survived infancy and fewer still lived beyond the first decade of their lives. But the Haradrim had children also, and those fared better than most. She assessed the human only briefly, not wanting to lengthen his distress with her eyes on him. The boy looked gaunt but had not the lost look of one starving.

"What is your name?" Legolas was asking.

The child opened his mouth, but no sounds came forth.

The elf produced a small slice of what Kal discerned was the same type of blood red root she had tasted before. The boy took it willingly.

Kal eyed her traveling companion questioningly.

"Do you... have a place to go to, nearby?" the elf continued as the child bit into the root.

The boy nodded.

The two travelers looked to one another again. Then, eyes on Kal, the elf spoke. "Do you know how to return?"

Another nod.

Kal knew where this was going. And she was in agreement, though no further looks or words were shared between them.

"We will take you there, on the morrow," the elf then spoke, and the child lifted his eyes in wonder.

Then Kal saw fingers move and take a broken twig and scrape against the ground. Both elf and half-orc hovered over what appeared to be letters.

Soon the etching was complete, and Legolas looked to the child. "Celeg? That is your name?"

Yet another nod of the head.

Kal began to suspect aught she had seen before. This human cub was deprived of speech.

"Well, Celeg, now rest anew, and on the morrow you will be returned to your dwelling," the elf was speaking to the boy as if he were a grown man.

Kal wondered, not a little resentfully, at how unusually inclined the child was towards the sprite, and so readily trusting. A mistake which may prove deadly someday.

That night the half-orc stood watch with sleep eluding her. It happened at times. The river was a moving mass of blackness and Kal mulled over many things while listening to the movements of the waters and the subdued, rhythmic sounds of life coming from the nearby boy and wolf. She knew the elf was somewhere, awake, standing watch, perhaps watching her with distrust. Insufferable it was, and a common occurrence. The half-orc had not the interest to sharpen her senses to see specifically where he was, but felt him close either way after a while. Possibly somewhere above, reclining upward through the fading crowns akin to a strange and evasive vestige. Kal willed her mind into a blank. She did not believe elves could read the thoughts of others, and chided herself for this childish reaction born of presupposition. But then her thoughts would lead to him more often than not lately, and to say that was unsettling would be a mild way of putting it.

When grey dawn came she was stood in the same spot, and as if drawn from a spell marveled at how fast the night had passed.

"The mortal is awake," Kal heard the elf, and saw him standing to her right from the corner of her eye.

"I know," she replied shortly. She had discerned his approach a while ago, but this time her mood had been akin to his own. Silence was peace.

And so they gathered themselves and took warily down the great river, escorting Celeg into the direction he was leading them. It was in their way, the elf had said, and so no great impediment to their goal. They turned from the river and walked for a few more hours, though not too many. A familiar twilight reigned in this part of the forest and both travelers stood alert to any fell intent come their way. Here not all foliage was withered and fouled as it was farther from the Black Land, and living green mingled with dying rust into strange hues.

The boy was hardy for one his size, Kal observed. And his clothes were ragged but somewhat fit him, and so Kal deduced someone must be, or must have been taking care of him. Better yet, seeing him roam these forests near the gates of the center of the empire had been quite the sight, more so as the hunting expeditions for stray hiding humans had never ceased. But then humans were known to be reckless.

Celeg brought them to a clearing, where before their eyes rose aught similar to a mound. Mostly covered by trees and moss and thus nearly invisible to the untrained eye, if one were to come closer they would notice the stooped but standing wooden structure of a hut of sorts. Kal followed with Eron, the elf some ways behind. She appraised the strange structure closer, while Celeg turned and pointed to somewhere.

"To the ground!" the elf's voice startled her. Kal had stepped after the boy and now looked about herself, feeling another presence only when a sharp sound reached her ears. Then her shoulder and chest flared with pain. Late Kal realized she had been struck, and fell to her knees as her body coiled in instinctive defense. Her vision became drowned by the bloodlust which took hold when she was pushed too far, but Kal still saw the elf aim and shoot one arrow, then heard him curse in his foreign language as he rushed towards the source. Had he missed?

Legolas swiftly darted into the trees and easily picked the shooter hidden amidst the boughs. He advanced and threw himself at his opponent, the speed of the attacker no match for his own. As they fell grappling to the ground and his fist was about to make contact with the man's face, he saw a white tuft of hair and met grey eyes. Ones the likes of which he had seen before. His mind burst aflame and his heart crumbled in memory, and the elf stared down at the aggressor in disbelief. He lowered his fist and removed his knee from the man's throat.

The old man gaping back at him slowly rose, eyes filling with recognition.

"L- ... Legolas?"

A/N:

Yep, everyone's getting together for New Year's!

Just kidding.

Though Sauron will be fashionably late as usual.

Have a great one!