At six o'clock the next morning; Savina was awoken by her mother shaking her softly, "Savina, you need to get up, Aragorn wants to get an early start." She dumped something on the end of Savina's bed and left, shutting the door behind her.

            Savina stretched and sat up, feeling surprisingly refreshed. Raliayatau and five or six daggers were at the end of her bed, along with the Map of Mordor, neatly rolled up and tied with it's black ribbon. Chills ran down her back, today was the day; her life was about to change. She got out of bed and got dressed, her hands shaking with excitement. She had just attached Raliayatau to her belt and slid a dagger down the side of her boot when she heard knocking at the door, "come in," she called.

            The door opened to reveal Aragorn, dressed in his own clothes, which were quite a bit cleaner. He glanced down at the sword hanging from her belt, "I see you're nearly ready."

            She nodded, feeling butterflies in her stomach.

            Aragorn nodded, seeming distracted, "you're going to want to eat first-" then he interrupted himself, "are you sure you want to go? I won't hold it against you if you don't."

            "I'm going."

            He studied her for a moment, and then nodded slowly, "we will leave in less than an hour." He turned and walked to the door, glanced back at her, then left, closing it behind him.

            Savina put the map in a pocket of the inside of her vest, attached a dagger to her belt and another to the inside of her vest, and put the rest of them in her bag. She slung the bag over her shoulder and made her way to the door, she paused to look at her room, and was about to close the door when a thought struck her, this might be the last time she ever saw her room. She pushed the thought out of her mind and closed the door.

            When she got downstairs, she found Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli sitting around the kitchen table eating eggs, bread and fruit.

            Relinot was stuffing bread, dried meat, and fruit into a cotton bag. She looked up at Savina and stopped what she was doing, "well, don't you look…" she trailed off and turned away, stifling a sob.

            "Malia…" Savina went to her and went to hug her, but Relinot pushed the bag of food into her arms.

            "This will fit in your bag," Relinot wiped tears away and looked down at Raliayatau, "you're father's sword, he'd be proud, I think."

            Savina bit her lip; she hated goodbyes, especially when there was no guarantee that they would ever meet again.

            "I'm proud, too," Relinot pulled her into a tight hug, then pushed a plate heaped with eggs, bread and orange slices into her hand, "eat up."

            Taking the plate, Savina took a seat at the table across from Legolas, who was looking somewhat mournfully at Relinot.

            Legolas spoke to Relinot in Mirkwood Elvish, "shabesbi sonilari sari trelinon farompitar."

            Relinot nodded appreciatively, too choked by tears to speak.

            Gimli, the only one who didn't speak elvish, leaned toward Aragorn, "what did he say?"

            Aragorn leaned toward him, "he said that it is not the last time she will see her daughter."

            Legolas spoke again, in common tongue, "your daughter will come home."

            Savina stabbed at a bit of egg with her fork, they were going to Mordor, for Christ's sake, it was a hundred times more likely that they would be ripped apart by Orcs before they ever got over the first mountain. Her hand went to the handle of her sword; she could deal with Orcs, considering they weren't very smart.

            Gimli grunted and looked pointedly out the window, where the sun was just fully visible over the horizon.

            Aragorn seemed to share his sentiment, he cleared his throat and stood up, "we should be going."

            Savina looked down at her plate, she'd eaten quite a lot without realizing it. She pushed the plate away and stood up.

            Relinot looked at her, plainly thinking this was the last time she would ever see her daughter, "I am so proud of you," she choked, her voice thick with tears, "I'll be waiting for you to return." She pulled Savina into a firm embrace and stroked her hair, "I love you."

            Savina stood like a stone, wondering why she felt so numb, so empty. "I love you, too," she said in a hollow sort of tone. Then she picked up her bag, put her arms in the straps, and looked up at Aragorn, "I am ready."

            Aragorn bowed his head to Relinot, then silently made his way to the door and opened it, Gimli and Legolas at his heels.

            Squaring her shoulders, Savina followed them out into the bustling city street of Dubbin, closing the door firmly behind her.

            Her journey had begun.