Third Chapter: Another scare
Looked like she was, were she had begun this morning again....
Em cursed in her mind. How was it that everybody was out to scare her out of her mind today? Legolas had promised her that she was safe, that this part of the wood was safe....but how would HE know that? Just by looking around? She doubted it.
Em tried to convince herself that it couldn't probably be one of the vile beasts from before, to stop herself from running screaming through the wood. *Legolas has killed them all.He would not have some of them walk around here, or he wouldn't have told me it was safe,...would he? Besides, even if there had been others, they would surely have retreated by now, after some of there kin was slayn.Yes. So it can't be them. See Em, no reason to worry....it's probably only a rabbit anyway. Yes that's it. A rabbit, searching for grass or something. No reason to worry!*
Again the cracking sound, leaves rusteled as if pushed aside impatiently.
Nope,...not a rabbit. It would have to be as large as a goat to make such noise.
*Perhaps it IS a goat!* She tried to explain to herself.
*A goat? In the woods? Very unlikely, Em!* A small part in her mind refused her frantic attempts to reassure herself.
*Okay, then it is not a goat. But perhaps a wild boar, or a wolf..or-*
*And that would be better than one of the orcs, as Legolas called them?* Came the dry response.
*If it has already eaten...Oh, come on Em what could it do to you?* She was getting a little angry by now. Why was erverybody after her today? Was it 'Scare-the-heck-out-of-Em-Summers-Day', or what? And since when did she have chats with a voice in her mind? And where the hell was Legolas? Shouldn't he be back by now? It felt strange, but she'd felt safe when he'd been with her. He had rescued her from the orcs and thinking of him lulled her in a sense of safety and reassurement. Something she could really need now.
Carefully she bent down to grab one of the bigger branches on the ground, trying not to make too much noise. She held it in front of her clearly visible, daring whatever approached her to attack. She would show them.
Again the rustling, much louder now. Than she heard a gruff voice, grumbling, growing louder steadily.
"....blasted elf.....should've known he would do that....most likely climbing trees....trees!....blasted pointy -ears..."
Suddenly the bushes in front of her moved and out stepped the cause of her latest distress. Were it not for the unusual and funny things that had happened to her since she'd opened her eyes this morning, she would have laughed. The man that stepped into the clearing was a dwarf, literally. Em had never seen such a short man. Granted she wasn't a giant herself, but this one barely reached her mid-chest. And she had been worried that something dangerous would approach, out to hurt her; it seemed really silly now, to have thought such stupid thoughts. She nearly chuckled at her own stupidity.
The dwarf did not look dangerous at all. He had long reddish brown hair and a long, partly braided beard in the same colour, covering half of his face. He was clad in shirt, tunic, pants, leather boots and a grey cloak. Nearly disappearing under his bushy eyebrows she saw a pair of small dark eyes. They were nothing like the red glowing orbs she'd seen at the orc, not hating and bloodlusting. Right now they showed annoyance more than anything. Probably at the one he was cursing at without even doing as much as draw breath between his sentences. *Perhaps he's been teased about his height...* She could imagine such a scene quite lively. A girl at the orphanage she'd spent the last 3 years in was teased by her friends continually. Though she didn't seem to mind that much, always laughing with her friends. (Shall I get you a ladder so you can pick some strawberries?) (Odango-chan: Do you think I-Chan would mind, that I wrote that? Is the tranlation correct? ^^;)
*The poor guy....wait a moment!* Her eyes continued to observe him. *Holy shit!* Was all she could think as her eyes fell on the wicked looking axe, that was at his side, loosely tied to his belt so he could pull it out in a heartbeat without problems. If he could but reach up he would be able to behead a horse with one blow of this blade. Like Legolas he also had two daggers in his belt, ready to be drawn and sliced through someone's throat. *Hopefully not yours, Em.* Great, the voice was still there.
*This gets really scary now...* The now 'dangerous' labeled dwarf still mumbled what sounded like curses under his breath, though he had changed into another language some time ago. She must have made a noise then, because he looked up; and saw her. He had the axe in his hands within moments, just like she imagined...or rather feared he would be able to. *Yep, DEFINITLY dangerous....Legolas where are you?* Her mind whined. Wasn't he supposed to appear out of nowhere to rescue her now? Naw,...he would have to be a prince, like in the old fairy tales her mother read to her when she had been younger, to act this clichee, but still...
"Who are you? What are you doin' here?" he asked her, eyeing her carefully. "Gimme your name, lass, or you might find yourself dead before you know it!" he threatened her when she didn't respond.
*Oh come on now,... that just can't be true! What the hell is this place, where you get death threats in any form every few steps you take...*
"Now what, girl, are you friend or foe?" The dwarf barked at her, stepping closer, while Em pressed her back against the bark of the tree again in a useless attempt to get away. And to make matters worse she still held the, now absolutly silly looking, branch in front of her....to protect herself from a dwarf...with an axe...a sharp axe, by the way...*Oh the irony...* the voice wispered in the back of her mind. *Shut up!* Em snapped back silently. The voice just laughed.
How could she explain all to him without him chopping her to pieces because she'd been to slow with her answers? She was mute for heaven's sake! *Oh man, that's not my day...* she sighed.
*Really now?* Came the reponse.
How could the short man manage to hold the heavy axe, which was nearly as tall as him, that easily in his hands, without dropping it, hacking of his feet?
When he took another few steps in her directon and demanded in his gruff voice "Speak human!", her thoughts stopped weaseling around frantically, in search of a solution and her mind shut down. Em burst into tears; the second time this morning. Her view became blurred immediatly as small sobs escaped her throat and tears streamed down her cheeks, chin and neck. Leaning back into the tree even further, she put her face into both hands, hiding the tears from his and him from her view. The branch lay forgotten on the ground.
A warm hand on her shoulder caused her heart to leap up and her to let out a startled, tear choked yelp, that sounded not quit right, like all her attempts to use her voice in whatever fashion. Had it not been for her sprained ankle, she would have jumped aside. She moved her shoulder to shake off the obtrusive hand and peeked between her fingers when it refused to get shook off. It was Legolas who looked down at her, concern written all over his face. Recognizing him, her brain decided that it had been on standby long enough and started working again.
Legolas!
In one fluid movement she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him between her and the dwarf. Em let out a sigh as if saying 'Finally safe'.
Legolas gave her shoulder a slight squeeze and murmured "I am here, Aier. (Little One) Nothing will happen to you.", then he turned his head to the dwarf and asked "What did you do to make her cry, Gimli?" His voice showed amusement, but also a slight accusation for the dwarfs intimidating behavior, the obvious cause of the fresh tears on her face.
"I just asked for her name and purpose here!" the dwarf defended himself, slightly miffed.
"The 'Name or Death' choice again?" Legolas asked.
"If she would have but answered my questions, I wouldn't have threaten her life!"
"She cannot speak, Gimli!"
"What do you mean, she cannot speak, everybody can spe-"
"She is mute Gimli, and you scared her to death when you said you would kill her if she does not answer you." Legolas interrupted his friend. "I found her this morning, being attacked by a group of orcs. I killed them, but scared her with my arrows. It took me a while for her to trust me as far as looking at her injury and letting her stay alone here to retrieve you and our luggage."
"And then I came and upset her again..." The dwarf looked guilty now. "Uhm,...my lady." He adressed her, " I apologise for my rude behaviour and hope you will forgive me, that I threatened you in such a manner..."
He looked at her as Legolas stepped aside, that she could look at him as well. Em took in his guilty expression and sent him a shaky smile. So he was a friend of Legolas, who had mistaken her for an enemy. So she was safe again. She sank to the ground, exhausted.
Legolas kneeled next to her and took her ankle in his hands again. He produced a small box and some strips of a white linen fabric. Carefully he applied some of the cream in the box to her ankle and started to wrap the linen around it. "This should help you against the pain." He explained. "Do you have any shoes?" Em shook her head.
"Well we will stay here until tomorrow, you should be able to walk without pain until then." Legolas smiled at her. "You should get some sleep. I am sure you are quite exhausted from the chase you led me on."
Em grinned and nodded gratefully. She was tired now that the excitement and fear had left her body.
Legolas spread his cloak he had taken from his pack on the ground, motioning for her to lay down on it. Thankful she smiled again, laid down and snuggled into the cloak. She yawned sleepily.
She could hear Gimli, the dwarf. "Sleep well lass....uhm..." Em sat up again remembering . She leaned on one hand, while she pointed with the other to where she'd written down her name. Both stepped to where she pointed and looked at the ground closely, curious at what she wanted to show them. Legolas was surprised when he made out the words on the ground. He looked up, meeting her eyes, questioning her.
Em nodded, smiling, laid back down and closed her eyes. Before she dozed of, she was sure she could hear Legolas' soft voice.
"Quel kaima, Lady Emerald." (Rest well.)
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Well, what do you think? I chnaged the rating with this chapter, because it got some swearwords, but im still unsure if the rating is right now. Please tell me, if you think otherwise.
The next chapter will start at a different place, with different characters and I willjump between the two actions from there. I know it sounds confusing now, but you will understand, when you see it.
Thanks for reading and reviewing so far! NightLight4
Looked like she was, were she had begun this morning again....
Em cursed in her mind. How was it that everybody was out to scare her out of her mind today? Legolas had promised her that she was safe, that this part of the wood was safe....but how would HE know that? Just by looking around? She doubted it.
Em tried to convince herself that it couldn't probably be one of the vile beasts from before, to stop herself from running screaming through the wood. *Legolas has killed them all.He would not have some of them walk around here, or he wouldn't have told me it was safe,...would he? Besides, even if there had been others, they would surely have retreated by now, after some of there kin was slayn.Yes. So it can't be them. See Em, no reason to worry....it's probably only a rabbit anyway. Yes that's it. A rabbit, searching for grass or something. No reason to worry!*
Again the cracking sound, leaves rusteled as if pushed aside impatiently.
Nope,...not a rabbit. It would have to be as large as a goat to make such noise.
*Perhaps it IS a goat!* She tried to explain to herself.
*A goat? In the woods? Very unlikely, Em!* A small part in her mind refused her frantic attempts to reassure herself.
*Okay, then it is not a goat. But perhaps a wild boar, or a wolf..or-*
*And that would be better than one of the orcs, as Legolas called them?* Came the dry response.
*If it has already eaten...Oh, come on Em what could it do to you?* She was getting a little angry by now. Why was erverybody after her today? Was it 'Scare-the-heck-out-of-Em-Summers-Day', or what? And since when did she have chats with a voice in her mind? And where the hell was Legolas? Shouldn't he be back by now? It felt strange, but she'd felt safe when he'd been with her. He had rescued her from the orcs and thinking of him lulled her in a sense of safety and reassurement. Something she could really need now.
Carefully she bent down to grab one of the bigger branches on the ground, trying not to make too much noise. She held it in front of her clearly visible, daring whatever approached her to attack. She would show them.
Again the rustling, much louder now. Than she heard a gruff voice, grumbling, growing louder steadily.
"....blasted elf.....should've known he would do that....most likely climbing trees....trees!....blasted pointy -ears..."
Suddenly the bushes in front of her moved and out stepped the cause of her latest distress. Were it not for the unusual and funny things that had happened to her since she'd opened her eyes this morning, she would have laughed. The man that stepped into the clearing was a dwarf, literally. Em had never seen such a short man. Granted she wasn't a giant herself, but this one barely reached her mid-chest. And she had been worried that something dangerous would approach, out to hurt her; it seemed really silly now, to have thought such stupid thoughts. She nearly chuckled at her own stupidity.
The dwarf did not look dangerous at all. He had long reddish brown hair and a long, partly braided beard in the same colour, covering half of his face. He was clad in shirt, tunic, pants, leather boots and a grey cloak. Nearly disappearing under his bushy eyebrows she saw a pair of small dark eyes. They were nothing like the red glowing orbs she'd seen at the orc, not hating and bloodlusting. Right now they showed annoyance more than anything. Probably at the one he was cursing at without even doing as much as draw breath between his sentences. *Perhaps he's been teased about his height...* She could imagine such a scene quite lively. A girl at the orphanage she'd spent the last 3 years in was teased by her friends continually. Though she didn't seem to mind that much, always laughing with her friends. (Shall I get you a ladder so you can pick some strawberries?) (Odango-chan: Do you think I-Chan would mind, that I wrote that? Is the tranlation correct? ^^;)
*The poor guy....wait a moment!* Her eyes continued to observe him. *Holy shit!* Was all she could think as her eyes fell on the wicked looking axe, that was at his side, loosely tied to his belt so he could pull it out in a heartbeat without problems. If he could but reach up he would be able to behead a horse with one blow of this blade. Like Legolas he also had two daggers in his belt, ready to be drawn and sliced through someone's throat. *Hopefully not yours, Em.* Great, the voice was still there.
*This gets really scary now...* The now 'dangerous' labeled dwarf still mumbled what sounded like curses under his breath, though he had changed into another language some time ago. She must have made a noise then, because he looked up; and saw her. He had the axe in his hands within moments, just like she imagined...or rather feared he would be able to. *Yep, DEFINITLY dangerous....Legolas where are you?* Her mind whined. Wasn't he supposed to appear out of nowhere to rescue her now? Naw,...he would have to be a prince, like in the old fairy tales her mother read to her when she had been younger, to act this clichee, but still...
"Who are you? What are you doin' here?" he asked her, eyeing her carefully. "Gimme your name, lass, or you might find yourself dead before you know it!" he threatened her when she didn't respond.
*Oh come on now,... that just can't be true! What the hell is this place, where you get death threats in any form every few steps you take...*
"Now what, girl, are you friend or foe?" The dwarf barked at her, stepping closer, while Em pressed her back against the bark of the tree again in a useless attempt to get away. And to make matters worse she still held the, now absolutly silly looking, branch in front of her....to protect herself from a dwarf...with an axe...a sharp axe, by the way...*Oh the irony...* the voice wispered in the back of her mind. *Shut up!* Em snapped back silently. The voice just laughed.
How could she explain all to him without him chopping her to pieces because she'd been to slow with her answers? She was mute for heaven's sake! *Oh man, that's not my day...* she sighed.
*Really now?* Came the reponse.
How could the short man manage to hold the heavy axe, which was nearly as tall as him, that easily in his hands, without dropping it, hacking of his feet?
When he took another few steps in her directon and demanded in his gruff voice "Speak human!", her thoughts stopped weaseling around frantically, in search of a solution and her mind shut down. Em burst into tears; the second time this morning. Her view became blurred immediatly as small sobs escaped her throat and tears streamed down her cheeks, chin and neck. Leaning back into the tree even further, she put her face into both hands, hiding the tears from his and him from her view. The branch lay forgotten on the ground.
A warm hand on her shoulder caused her heart to leap up and her to let out a startled, tear choked yelp, that sounded not quit right, like all her attempts to use her voice in whatever fashion. Had it not been for her sprained ankle, she would have jumped aside. She moved her shoulder to shake off the obtrusive hand and peeked between her fingers when it refused to get shook off. It was Legolas who looked down at her, concern written all over his face. Recognizing him, her brain decided that it had been on standby long enough and started working again.
Legolas!
In one fluid movement she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him between her and the dwarf. Em let out a sigh as if saying 'Finally safe'.
Legolas gave her shoulder a slight squeeze and murmured "I am here, Aier. (Little One) Nothing will happen to you.", then he turned his head to the dwarf and asked "What did you do to make her cry, Gimli?" His voice showed amusement, but also a slight accusation for the dwarfs intimidating behavior, the obvious cause of the fresh tears on her face.
"I just asked for her name and purpose here!" the dwarf defended himself, slightly miffed.
"The 'Name or Death' choice again?" Legolas asked.
"If she would have but answered my questions, I wouldn't have threaten her life!"
"She cannot speak, Gimli!"
"What do you mean, she cannot speak, everybody can spe-"
"She is mute Gimli, and you scared her to death when you said you would kill her if she does not answer you." Legolas interrupted his friend. "I found her this morning, being attacked by a group of orcs. I killed them, but scared her with my arrows. It took me a while for her to trust me as far as looking at her injury and letting her stay alone here to retrieve you and our luggage."
"And then I came and upset her again..." The dwarf looked guilty now. "Uhm,...my lady." He adressed her, " I apologise for my rude behaviour and hope you will forgive me, that I threatened you in such a manner..."
He looked at her as Legolas stepped aside, that she could look at him as well. Em took in his guilty expression and sent him a shaky smile. So he was a friend of Legolas, who had mistaken her for an enemy. So she was safe again. She sank to the ground, exhausted.
Legolas kneeled next to her and took her ankle in his hands again. He produced a small box and some strips of a white linen fabric. Carefully he applied some of the cream in the box to her ankle and started to wrap the linen around it. "This should help you against the pain." He explained. "Do you have any shoes?" Em shook her head.
"Well we will stay here until tomorrow, you should be able to walk without pain until then." Legolas smiled at her. "You should get some sleep. I am sure you are quite exhausted from the chase you led me on."
Em grinned and nodded gratefully. She was tired now that the excitement and fear had left her body.
Legolas spread his cloak he had taken from his pack on the ground, motioning for her to lay down on it. Thankful she smiled again, laid down and snuggled into the cloak. She yawned sleepily.
She could hear Gimli, the dwarf. "Sleep well lass....uhm..." Em sat up again remembering . She leaned on one hand, while she pointed with the other to where she'd written down her name. Both stepped to where she pointed and looked at the ground closely, curious at what she wanted to show them. Legolas was surprised when he made out the words on the ground. He looked up, meeting her eyes, questioning her.
Em nodded, smiling, laid back down and closed her eyes. Before she dozed of, she was sure she could hear Legolas' soft voice.
"Quel kaima, Lady Emerald." (Rest well.)
#####################################################################
Well, what do you think? I chnaged the rating with this chapter, because it got some swearwords, but im still unsure if the rating is right now. Please tell me, if you think otherwise.
The next chapter will start at a different place, with different characters and I willjump between the two actions from there. I know it sounds confusing now, but you will understand, when you see it.
Thanks for reading and reviewing so far! NightLight4