"I will take watch tonight." Aragorn said.
"Wake me half way through the night, so that I may take turn."
"A child like you should not wake." Aragorn protested. "A Ranger would be more fitted to last the night."
"I will be a man soon, Aragorn." Tei reasoned. "I must get use of such things." Aragorn made to argue, but Tei stopped him. "Wake me in the middle of the night." Turning a deaf ear toward the Ranger, Tei fell asleep.
As the last light of day faded from the sky, Aragorn sat upon a log, staring into the darkness. Who was this child in which he had obliged to take with him? Had not Galadriel asked, he would have left him in Lorien. The Golden Woods is no longer a safe place, the Lady of the Golden Woods had told him. But Aragorn cannot see how. Galadriel had also said that he must get to Bree. Gandaf is in need of you, she had said. If so, then he would wish to reach Bree as soon as possible. But the pace of which Tei could keep was slow, and he wished not leave him in the middle of this wilderness.
"You should have woken me." Came the voice of his burden from behind him.
With a sigh, Aragorn stood, and allowed Tei to take his place. Tei sat, looking about. When he was sure Aragorn was asleep, he called his friends.
"Melina, Whiskers." He called in a whisper.
The lioness was the first to wake. With a nod to Tei, she woke her brother, and carried him over to where Tei sat. Woken by his sister, Whiskers let out a yawn, and sleepily climbed upon Tei's shoulder, his favorite spot.
"Paint, if you would." Tei said to Melina.
Restraining herself from uttering a growl, Melina did as asked. She found the shire grazing on what bit of grass she could find in these forest grounds.
"We are holding a council." The lioness said. "Come." Turning, she walked back to their camp, not bothering to glance back to see whether the mare had followed.
"Ahh, good." Tei whispered at the arrival of them. "Now, we must talk."
"Isn't that what you have woken us for?" Melina snorted, but kept her voice to the same level.
"She felt us, Tei, she did." Whiskers said excitedly.
"Who?" Tei asked.
"The Lady Galadriel." It was Paint who replied. "We heard her voice inside our heads, just like you did."
"We're more real as well." Melina said. "Or at least, I feel so."
"What do you mean?" Tei asked.
"A leaf fell upon my back today, and it did not pass through." Said Paint.
"A rabbit sensed us when we hunted today." Melina told him. "It ran, and we missed."
"It could have been a rather attentive hare though." Whiskers added hopefully.
Tei thought about this information for a minute. "Perhaps the magic of this land affected you so."
"Whatever it is, let us all hope that others would not start seeing us." Paint said.
"Wait a minute." A thought came to Tei's mind. "Hold still, Paint."
The mare did as she was asked. Her breed was that of a large equine, therefore, Tei had to stand upon the log to reach her back. Rather clumsily, for he had never been on the back of a horse before, Tei hauled himself upon her. He sat there, looking down.
"You can ride her!" Whiskers said excitedly.
"Such is strange times I live in." A voice came.
Turning around, Tei found the Ranger, leaning against a tree, watching them. The man had walked so silently that none of them heard his footsteps.
"You've proven to be a poor watch indeed. But that does not matter now. How is it that you can sit upon air as easily as thought sitting upon a mount?"
"The horse upon I am sitting is call Paint, of the Shire breed." Tei told him. "She is as real as I believe her to be. It used to be that I could not sit upon her, but this land is strange, and many things can happen."
"What of this Melina and Whiskers?"
"They are my companions. Their existence is the same as Paint. Melina is a lioness, and Whiskers is a fox."
"I can carry you through your journey, both if need be." Paint said softly.
"Can you hear her?" Tei asked of the Ranger.
"I can only hear the wind."
"Such is an interesting finding, but that is not of importance." Tei said. "We now have a strong steed who is willing to bear us and our packs."
"Then that is good news." The Ranger cried. "Now, rest, and let me take watch for the rest of the night."
Tei meant to argue, but it was clear that the Ranger will not sleep anyway. Sleep drowned him almost immediately when he lay down.
They packed Paint the next morning. It was strange for the Ranger, putting your packs upon air and it would hover there. But with Teis help, they were able to get the job done. Aragorn mounted first, though he did it rather clumsily, despite the horseman that he is. Offering his hand, he pulled Tei up in front of him. They used no saddle, since it would be impossible to find one.
"Just tell her where to go, and she will do as you bid." Tei told him.
"Forward then, though you may pick your pace."
"I like him." Paint said, before doing as was asked.
Smiling, Tei closed his eyes. Weariness came over him, for he had not had much sleep the night before. The trotting hooves below him did not keep him awake, but rather, it gently rocked him to sleep. When he opened his eyes once more, the trees had thinned. Upon his shoulders he could feel the slight weight of Whiskers. Looking down, he found Melina trotting at an easy pace next to the constantly moving hooves of Paint. He could also see further ahead than he had before. In front of them lay the roots of the Misty Mountains. The tip of the jagged peaks was frosted with snow, and the clouds were gray in that area, a sign of a storm to come.
"We would not try the path of Hithaeglir, would we?" He asked the Ranger rather worriedly. "That route should only be tried when one is most desperate."
"You need not worry." Aragorn reassured him. "We are taking the path of Nimrodel, a path that leads through the mountains. From there, we must follow the path of Glanduin for while, then turn North West and avoid the Nin-in-Eilph. We would join the Andrath Greenway through the South Downs, and should come into Bree from the South."
"Do you have the map of all the lands in your head?" Tei asked, amazed.
"As a Ranger, that is needed."
"If he's that smart, why didn't he lead the Fellowship through this gap during their quest?" Melina muttered. Tei ignored her, as usual.
"We'll rest here tonight." The Ranger said, dismounting and unpacking Paint.
Tei slid down from the mare's back. Giving her a loving pat, he led the mare to a patch of grass.
"You could have told me to gallop, you know." The mare said as she ruffled his hair with her nose. "We might have been out of the forest by now."
"I was asleep most of the time." Tei said as he ran his hand over her body, checking for injuries. "Besides, we're heavy. You won't last long in a gallop."
"You do not weigh much, neither does the Ranger. You didn't have anything with you when we came to this land, and the packs of a Ranger are light."
"Well, I guess that's better than calling me fat." Tei remarked as he left her and went back to Aragorn.
The Ranger had his back to him when he came to the clearing where they would be camping. Aragorn looked out to the horizon. He had taken off his cape, which he lay lying in a pile of the forest floor.
"Can you teach me the skill of a sword?" Tei asked, coming up to him.
The Ranger looked as though he had just been shaken out of a thought. He nodded, and went back to his packs. Opening one of them, he pulled out a short sword. If it had been any shorter, it would have been called a dagger. He tossed it lightly to Tei, who caught it by the blade. With a yelp, Tei dropped the weapon. Hiding amusement, the Ranger picked it up, handing it to the boy, hilt first. Tei took it, gripping it awkwardly. Aragorn took the boy's hand in his, correcting his grip on the weapon.
"Hold it firm, but not to hard. The harder you grip, the more energy you will waste." He instructed.
"It's not heavy." Tei gazed at the light weapon. He thought that all swords were heavy.
"This is an elven sword."
The reply almost made Tei dropped it again. He had never dreamed to touch something made by the species he so long admired. As he looked closer upon the blade, he found markings. There were elvish curves growing from the hilt and rising through the blade, entwined with elvish runes.
"A weapon should be made to use." Aragorn's voice brought him back. "Come, I believe you wished to learn how to fight with a sword?"
They spent their evening practicing together, though Aragorn spent more time teaching him. It was hard for Tei to get use to the feeling of a sword, but he soon felt as though he got it. He quickly worked up a sweat, parrying and dodging Aragorn's blade. Melina and Whiskers watching from a safe distance, Whiskers cheering Tei on. Paint joined them after a while.
"That'll be enough for one day." The Ranger said after a while.
Tei was glad to be able to stop. He didn't want Aragorn to think of him as a weakling, and so hid his tiredness and kept on. But now, he felt as if his arms would depart from his body at the slightest tug.
They reached the roots of the Misty Mountains around noon the next day. It was decided that they would eat their midday before taking the journey though the passage in the mountain. Both kept silent as they chew on the lembas given to them by the Lady. Tei looked at the passage. It was rather narrow, and pebbles scattered the ground. They'll have to walk; Tei didn't want Paint to twist a bone. The passage looked as though a knife was slashed through a rock, for the two cliffs that made the trail was so narrow that they were straight, raising their ends to the sky.
They set of through for the passage once their food was eaten. Once on the trail, everything seems to echo against the rocks on their sides, making everyone except the Ranger feel the need to be silent. The Ranger trod along, knowing this passage well, and seems to be deep in thoughts. When they were through, Tei couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief.
But now the breath collected inside him once more, for before his eyes stretched plains and plains of lush green grass. Since he had always lived in the city, he never saw anything without the gray cement in the background. The sun most blinded him. It was always the top of the mountains or the trees that blocked part of the sun when it came out. But now, it shone fully, and intensely, upon his eyes. He also felt somewhat naked. There were no more trees, nor the mountains, to hide behind. Nothing but plains stretched ahead.
"Shall we ride?" He asked.
The Ranger nodded. Tei helped him once more to get on Paint, though the Ranger seemed to have mastered it faster this time. Smothering a sigh, Tei climbed up in front of him. They galloped through the plains, and made camp in the mist of the tallest grass. Looking to his left, Tei found what looked like to be a swamp.
"The Swanfleet." Aragorn said, following his gaze.
Tei practiced with the sword Aragorn had lent him once again. His arms still hurt just like yesterday. But you can't improve in just one day, he though to himself as he fell asleep. The next day was same as the day before, and they camped at the foot of the South Downs.
"We'll be in Bree tomorrow." Aragorn said as they made camp.