This area is secluded and not well known, we should be safe here. We can sleep, fill out water packs, and bathe," said Voronwë.
"Thank Christ," I said, "I could use a bath."
"You may go first, I will watch the perimeter," said Voronwë. Tuor nodded and set his packs down to rest.
I walked to the stream and moved down a ways so they couldn't directly see me. I figured the water would be cold, but I didn't care. I got out my towel, soap, shampoo, and conditioner. I laid out some fresh clothes. A new bra, underwear, leggings, shirt, and sweater. I only had three changes of clothes, but at least my clothes were warm.
I stripped off the old clothes and piled them in a heap. I waded into the water and it was freezing. I made quick work of washing my body and hair. I was only in for a few minutes, but I hoped I wouldn't catch a cold. I'm pretty sure there isn't any NyQuil in middle earth and I'm not sure either of them has any medicine.
I toweled off and dressed quickly. I dipped my clothes in the water and rinsed them with some body wash. Hopefully, once they dry, they won't stink too bad.
I walk back to the boys and they are talking in elvish again. I should probably learn that if I am going to be here indefinitely. I walk over to my other bags. I rolled out my sleeping bag and blanket. I towel up my hair to dry and lay out my clothes to dry on my tent bag.
Tuor leaves to go bathe and Voronwë gives me a piece of bread. I dig out my meager food and I give him one at my remaining granola bars. I also have a sandwich bag of nuts which I split into thirds and give him some. I put some by Tuor's bag on a leaf with the bread as well as a granola bar. I only have two more left, so I will share them in the next few days. Hopefully, with the small amount of extra food, we won't go hungry for the first couple of days.
I see Tuor is coming back and Voronwë leaves to go bathe. None of us spend long in the freezing water. I start to crawl into my sleeping bag, desperate for some sleep.
Tuor speaks "Voronwë will keep watch for most of the night, but he will wake me for a time for him to get some rest. He needs less sleep than us. We did not know if you could keep watch. The elves have sharp eyes and ears and can see in the dark better than humans. I am accustomed to keeping watch with my years as an outlaw. If you cannot keep watch it is no burden, but we thought to ask and let you know what we discussed."
"Thanks, it makes me feel better as I can't speak elvish. I can't see in the dark, but if you or Voronwë ever get tired, feel free to wake me. I can stay up and watch the area and wake you if I see or hear anything. I am accustomed to smaller amounts of sleep. It might take me a few days to get us to this routine, but I'll be glad to help when I can."
"Thank you, lady Keira. Your generosity is appreciated and I thank you for the nuts and bar. If I get tired, I will wake you. Rest now, as we will leave at first light again."
I nod and start to crawl deeper into my sleeping bag and roll around until I find a comfortable spot. I wrap the towel tighter around my head as I want to dry my hair and make sure I don't wake up with a head cold. I lay my blank over me and rest my head against my day pack. I see Voronwë coming back into camp just as I start to fall asleep.
The next morning Tuor shakes me awake. I blink my eyes open and can see the sun starting to peak in between the trees.
"We must leave very soon. We have a lot of ground to cover today."
I nod and yawn. I was so exhausted from all day of walking that I have been sleeping like a baby each night. Usually, it takes me forever to fall asleep. I start to unwrap my towel and my dry hair is a mess. I reach for my pack and grab my brush and hairband. I quickly threw it up into a ponytail with a few stray bangs hanging on the sides. I roll up my sleeping bag and blanket and pack them into my bag.
Voronwë and Tuor are speaking again in elvish. I walk over with my packs all ready and myself ready to go. Voronwë speaks first and says "We must ration the bread, so we can't have any pieces for the morning. I filled our water packs, but I couldn't figure out how to open yours. We must be cautious today as we walk through the woods. I will have to watch and listen closely as many spies and evil creatures use these woods. It will take two full days to reach the other side. There is a lake there where we will rest and fill our water again. We will have to be quiet for most of the day though."
I nodded, unscrew my water bottle, and head to the stream to fill it. I hope there are no bacteria in the water, but we did bathe here last night. I turn towards the other direction and head farther up the stream to fill my water. I suppose I will just have to chance it, as I have to drink the water.
I walk back to the boys and see that they each have one of my bags again. I thank them for carrying them and sling my pack over my shoulders. We start to trek through the woods. Voronwë leading, myself in the middle, and Tuor in the rear.
The day passes on. The forest is alive with animals and birds, and no other sounds can be heard. We walk in silence and I spend most of the morning looking around at the trees and nature to pass the time. It is not a bad hike, the ground is mostly flat and we hardly have to step over fallen trees.
We take a break about midday and eat food quickly. I share one of my granola bars, by breaking it into thirds. It gives us all a little taste rather than the elvish bread. We keep moving quickly in the afternoon, with our bellies now full of some food.
We stopped for the night in a small clearing. Voronwë doesn't want to chance any creatures coming in the night, so he will stay up the whole night and keep watch. I eat my dinner and quickly fall asleep in my sleeping bag.
Voronwë shakes me awake in the morning. Tuor is just waking up as I am. We have no breakfast so we pack up immediately and leave.
We keep the same pace as the day before and walk through the forest. A few hours after we started Voronwë spotted a blackberry bush. We cleaned off the bush and each of us got our stomachs filled with berries. We didn't get lucky again the rest of the day.
It takes us the entire day to reach the other edge of the forest. The sun is low when I finally see a break in the trees. Voronwë visibly exhales, as he was tense most of the day. We reach the end and I see a small slope going down to a large lake. The mountain range is on the far side of the lake with more empty plains on the other.
Before we leave the forest Voronwë, Tuor and I stock up on leaves. I am shocked that some of the trees here produce such soft leaves, but I will take it. Voronwë tells us it will be some time before we see another forest again.
"We will camp by the edge of the lake. I will be able to see if anyone comes. We will start early tomorrow across the plains. Come, this way," said Voronwë.
"I came to this place on my travels. It is called the pools of Ivrin. It is a beauty to behold and I am glad that our path crosses it again."
He leads us down the sloped hill. Little trees are scattered here and there, but the closer we get to the lake the worse it looks. Soon the trees turn to black ash and the grass does as well. We approached the lake and Voronwë cried out in sadness.
"What has happened here? Has the enemy reached this far to defile such a place? My heart is grieved by this news. What once held a place in my heart has now turned to sorrow."
What I'm sure was once a beautiful place was now destroyed. The trees that weren't burned were broken and scorched. The ground around the lake was blackened and covered in ash. Where a large stream once poured over the ledge had dried up into a small creek along with most of the lake.
Voronwë looks across the area with a sad face. He says something in elvish that I didn't understand. He starts to turn away when he cries out again "look a man is there. In my grief, I did not see him until now."
Tuor and I turn to look where he is staring and we see a tall man dressed in dark clothes. He is carrying a large black blade. He is cursing out in anger and doesn't spare us even a glance as he runs off into the distance.
Tuor speaks "I wonder who he was, I do not know of any man with a black blade. However, I am glad he passed us by as he seemed to be filled with anger."
Voronwë nods and says "come, we will camp closer to the cliffside and what is left of the lake."
He leads us across the jagged rocks towards the small cliffside. He finds a small flat area hidden by broken trees and rocks. We have access to the small stream, but the water looks dreadful.
"I will be glad to get to Gondolin. I don't know what really lies out there, but whatever destroyed this place must have been large," I say.
"I hope we don't meet any of the servants of the enemy. I hope our luck holds. We are not prepared to battle an army of orcs or goblins. Let us pray to the gods that we don't meet anything worse out here," says Tuor. Voronwë nods in agreement.
Like the night before, I eat my bread and pull out my sleeping bag. I crawl into it and rest my head against my bag. Unlike the previous nights, my feet are starting to hurt. Even with my good hiking boots, four days of non-stop walking will make anyone's feet hurt. I hope that tomorrow they won't hurt as badly. Tuor lays down as well and he is asleep before I am. His soft snores echo around the cliffsides.
Voronwë comes and sits by me. He doesn't say anything but starts to sing softly. I slowly feel myself drifting off into sleep.
The next morning, Voronwë woke me up early. He gently shakes me and says in a soft voice said "Lady Keira, we must move soon. I see something in the distance moving fast. I want to be away from this place before their spies see us."
His words jolt me awake. Tuor is stretching and moving the dirt with his feet. As I pack my bag, Voronwë does the same to where I was laying; covering our tracks in case anyone comes this way. I took my phone out of my bag for the first time in days. The battery is showing 35%, but I turn it off. I don't need that going off or making any kind of noise that will attract attention.
Shortly after we are all ready to move. The campsite looks like no one was even here, except for our footprints in the mud. There is nothing we can do about those, so we start to head towards the other side of the lake. We reach the other side quickly and our pace increases. We are walking between the mountain and the open plain now.
"I want us to get a day or two further before we cross the plain. There is a large forest on the other side of the plain. We need to cross the plain with the forest behind us. Evil creatures lurk in the forest and use it to ambush travelers across the plains. I hope the group that is behind us will travel into the plain and turn into the forest. Or else we will have to hurry and cross in front of them and hope they don't see us," explained Voronwë.
"Let us hurry then, and put some distance between us and them. I do not like having an enemy so close behind us," stated Tuor.
We walked and jogged most of the morning. My feet were killing me, but I didn't want to stop or risk the group behind us catching up. Tuor and Voronwë seemed to understand as we alternated between jogging and walking. By midday, I was the most tired I have been so far on this journey. Voronwë said it was working, as the group either fell behind us or turned off into the plain.
We kept a similar pace in the afternoon, just to be sure. We all agreed that we should keep going to give ourselves enough distance in case they were still behind us. We needed to stop for the night and if the group came, we would have to leave quickly.
We didn't stop until the sun was completely set. Voronwë spotted a large boulder and smaller rock formation where we could camp for the night. It was dark by the time we reached it and all of us were exhausted, even Voronwë. We ate our bread and I crawled into my sleeping bag. Voronwë sat on top of the tallest boulder to keep watch for the night. I was asleep in minutes.
The rising sun woke me in the morning. The plains were wide open, so once the sun came over the ridge, I got a face full of sunlight. Tuor was sitting on the boulder now and Voronwë was sleeping against it. His eyes were open but glazed over. I forgot that elves sleep with their eyes open.
I quietly packed my sleeping bag and blanket so I didn't wake Voronwë, as he deserved to sleep. Tuor beckoned me with his hand. I climbed up the rock and once I reached him he whispered "Voronwë spotted that group early this morning. They turned off a while back and headed across the plains. He watched them until they passed beyond his sight. We will keep going north for another day before we cross. Voronwë woke me up early this morning. We will let him sleep for a little while longer."
I nodded, "he deserves his sleep for keeping watch every night. I'm thankful for his elf eyes and ears and glad that he is guiding us. My feet are killing me today so I hope we can walk for part of it."
Tuor nodded and we both sat in silence. I watched the sunrise over the plains and took in the sights around me. About an hour later, Tuor stretches and tells me to wake Voronwë. I crawl down off of the rock and walk over to him. I gently shake his shoulder until he wakes.
He yawns and says "It seems we have come full circle of you waking me up now."
"I'm glad you got the sleep you needed, but Tuor says we need to leave." He gets up and stretches and yawns again. He looks well-rested and ready for the day. Oh, to be an elf. I smile at him and we walk over to Tuor. They both grab my bags and we head out for another day of walking.
After a day of silence, we start talking immediately as we walk. "Tuor told me about the group turning off. I hope we will get ahead of them, but how long does it take to cross the plains?" I ask.
"If we can cross where I want us to cross it should only take three days. We made up an extra day of our journey by jogging. We should reach the crossing point before midday. We will have to decide if we are going to cross or rest and sleep there," explains Voronwë.
"I would like to cross today, but with that group behind us, we should rest and wait a day. If we don't see any signs of them at least we will be well rested in case we run into trouble across the plains. I would hate to have to outrun orcs or goblins while tired," Tuor states.
"I agree, I would rather we be well rested in case we need to run. Is there a stream by the crossing? I wouldn't mind bathing again, but if not I guess I could live with it for a few more days," I ask.
"Yes, there are three streams that merge into one near the crossing. That is our landmark for the crossing. I too, would also enjoy a bath," laughs Voronwë.
We enjoy a slower leisurely pace today. The three of us make small talk and light-hearted conversation. Voronwë tells us about some of the histories of elves. Tuor and I get an overview of the events since his kin left Valinor. He admits that he doesn't know all the details, but we get a general idea. He talks to us about Gondolin and some of his favorite places in the city.
"I hope Turgon accepts you both into the city. I would love to show you around and introduce you to each of the different lords. We have many elves from different areas, but no humans anymore. I think most would welcome you into the city."
We don't stop for lunch as we are almost at the crossing point. Three streams spread out across the plains all come together to form one. The streams are wide but don't look very deep. We walk along the streams until we come closer to the mountain. We have to cross all three and it is easier to cross at the shallowest points.
Tuor leads us as we wade across the stream. The water is cold but not as cold as the one we bathed in. The water comes up to my mid-thigh, but to only their knees.
We make our way across all three and set up camp on the last stream's edge. The area is wide open so bathing is going to be an issue. I can probably go up the stream a little more, but nothing is blocking the view.
We set our packs down and I take off my wet boots to dry out. I open my pack and find my sandals. It's too cold to wear them by themselves, but I'll rock the socks and sandals for a bit.
"I'd like to bathe, but it seems pretty open. I can go further up a little, but I don't want to make you uncomfortable. If you need to watch the surrounding area," I ask.
"We won't look unless we need to, we will face the other direction to give you privacy if you will give us the same. The water is quite cold, so I don't think any of us will be too long," says Voronwë. Tuor agrees.
I grab my things and head up the stream. They both have their backs to me and I grab my remaining set of clean clothes. A new bra, underwear, socks, shirt, sweater, and leggings. My other clothes have dried, but they smell a little. I'll try to wash these better. I strip quickly and wade into the water.
Like before the water is freezing cold, so I quickly wash my body and hair. I climb out and towel off, and dress quickly. I wash my clothes with a bit more soap this time and wring them out better to dry. I comb out my hair but leave it to air dry. It's the early afternoon, so it should be dry by the time it gets dark.
I walk back to the boys and they are speaking again in elvish. I deposit my bag and lay out my clothes next to my boots to dry. Tuor leaves to bathe and I sit next to Voronwë with my back to the water.
"I was going to ask you to teach me some elvish, but for the time being, I would prefer to get to know you and Tuor. I'd also rather learn more about this world instead of the language, but maybe once we get to Gondolin I can learn."
"I would be honored to teach you my language, but I agree with you for now. We have many scholars in the city who are better teachers than I. I would certainly help you when the time comes," he says pleasantly.
We chat a little more before Tuor comes back and Voronwë goes to bathe. Tuor looks a little better now, and not so dirty. His tunic is still wet though and I wonder if this is the only one he has.
He sees me looking and says "I washed it, as best as I could. I don't want to arrive at Gondolin and they turn me away for the smell," he jokes.
"Not sure what they can really expect when we will have been traveling for many days. We can't all be elves and look perfect all the time," I joke.
He chuckles "I always wondered how elves always looked so clean and presentable. Not a hair out of place or disheveled."
"You humans can look like us as well, you just have to spend all of your short years perfecting your looks. We can spend years practicing and maintaining our posture and hair," Voronwë says as he walks towards us.
"It's totally not fair, when I first met you, I thought you looked too gorgeous and beautiful to be real. That's why I thought I was in a dream. Then I found out this was real, I was jealous that your hair is prettier than mine," I joked.
Tuor roared with laughter at this, and I started laughing as well. Voronwë smiled a beautiful smile and said "so you think I'm gorgeous and beautiful hmm."
It was my turn to blush now, but I just said "yes, but are there any ugly elves?"
Tuor shook his head with a smirk, while Voronwë pondered my question. He must have been racking his brain to find an elf that he met that was ugly. Finally, he said "well there is the lord Salgant who looks, unlike any other elf, for he is squat and round of face. I wouldn't call him ugly though. So no, no ugly elves that I have met. I have met elves that were ugly in the soul so there are some dark elves."
I nod, thinking about a few of the tales I remember. We continue talking and joking throughout the afternoon. It was a pleasant day and we enjoyed relaxing and lounging in the sun. We had our bread for dinner and I split the last granola bar. "For luck," I say.
Soon it is time for bed and I bring out my sleeping bag and blankets. It's hard for me to fall asleep again so Voronwë sings a soft melody again and I fall asleep quickly.