Faramir was awake before all the others, having woken with the dawn. He had eaten quickly and then had somehow snuck past a sleeping Eomer, into Eowyn's tent. Silent as a cat hunting it's prey he moves over to the cot that Eowyn slept on. He smiles as he kneels down beside it. She looked so beautiful when she slept. Leaning down he places a gentle kiss against her lips, then whispers to her. "Eowyn...wake up."

Eowyn was having such a nice dream, it was of Faramir and the hills behind Rohan. They had gone on a ride one day and gone up into the hills. She had showed him a special place of hers an outcrop of rocks and stones that you could see the whole of Rohan from when you stood on it. She had turned to smile at him when he had sudden stolen a kiss. She smiles in her sleep, not realizing that it was a real kiss that was getting stolen. When she hears her name it makes no sense since in the dream he was still kissing her. It dawns on her suddenly that not all of it was a dream. She opens her eyes suddenly and is about to ask him what he was doing in there when she realizes the handmaiden's might hear. She sits up quickly, motioning to the ladies on the other side of the tent. "What are you doing here?" she whispers ever so softly, her blankets clutched to her chest.

He smiles and reaches up to caresses her cheek in a loving manner. He continues to whisper to her, not wanting to wake anyone. "No worries, Sweet Eowyn. I would not wake them. I have come to tell you I am going to scout ahead. I did not want you to worry when you awoke to find me gone so I risked your brother's wrath to see you." He smiles. "I would ask you to come but I do not wish to compromise your standing in the men's eyes."

She frowns, reaching up to take his hand that was on her cheek and kiss him palm before bringing it down to her lap and holding it there, clasped in both of hers. "Faramir, you should not do that alone. If you will not let me go with you, you must take someone else. Please." Her face darkens, the storm brewing obvious even to the blind. She was upset and she was going to get it off her chest so as not to blow up later worse then now. "Lord Faramir," she tone is firm, using his title to emphasize the importance of her words. "You slept away from the fire last night. It is not save to be so far from the fire. I asked you to please come closer, I even sent a King to ask you, and for a moment you relented. I thought you were going to stay by the fire when you came over to read. Alas you did not." She shakes her head a few times, her eyes now stern yet full of a new kind of pain as well. It is the fact that her eyes were now full of tears that threaten to flow over that brought the point firmly across. "The place outside the light is not safe. Many die for the mear fact that they did not use their own common sense. I beg of you, do not do that again tonight. I do not know what I would do if something were to happen to you."

He sees the look in her eyes and it hurts him as much as it hurts her. He takes her hands and rubs his thumbs against them. Then he sighs and whispers to her. "Meet me outside when you are ready. We will go scout ahead together. And I will tell you why I could not sleep near the fire." He leans up and kisses her gently again. Then he quietly gets up and leaves the tent, again stepping over a sleeping Eomer. He then starts to get Eowyn's horse ready for her, placing her saddle on the horse and securing it before he does the same with his, so that when she is ready they could just jump on their horses and leave.

She returns his kiss, her eyes closing for a bit longer then normal as she savors it, letting the taste of it linger a moment longer before she opens her eyes and looks into his, the tears gone from hers. "Okay," she whispers softly, nodding again. She lets his hands go and watches him sneak out. Luckily she hadn't woken either of the handmaidens, but she would have to wake them now so that she could leave a message for her brother. It was the only safe way.

So she tosses the covers back, sliding her legs from between the sheets, her bare feet hitting the cold floor. It was only leather and did little to keep out the majority of the cold, but she knew that once she started riding she would heat up soon enough. So she quickly dresses, being quiet up until the last moment. Then leaning over Monica she shakes her shoulder lightly. "Monica, wake up."

"What is it, M'Lady?" the groggy woman asks, blinking several times to get her eyes to focus on her. "Is it time to rise?" She looks around, seeing the other handmaiden was still asleep. She sits up and once more looks to Eowyn for instructions.

"Monica, I need you to hold a message for my brother." At her nod, she goes on. "I need you to tell him when he wakes that Lord Faramir and I have gone on ahead to scout. We will not be long, in fact we will be back before the end of breakfast. So he is not to worry, just get the camp ready. Can you do that?"

The woman didn't know that she liked this new twist, she had seen how Eowyn would look at Faramir and she thought the Lady should be with Lord Aragorn, or now Aragorn King. It was her rightful place, was it not? "Okay, I will do it." She doesn't sound enthusiastic about it and she wasn't. But the lays back down and closes her eyes, intending to tell Eomer as soon as Eowyn leaves. However she is asleep almost before she has taken her second breath.

Eowyn smiles and moves over to the flap in the tent, pulling it back to look outside. The temperature must have gone down a lot last night as there was still frost on the leaves of the trees and the grass away from the still smoldering fire. There was one guard on duty, she knew there should be, but she didn't see him and hoped he was off relieving himself and wouldn't stumble on them leaving.

She very carefully steps over her brother, shaking her head once more at his actions. What, did he think that she would try to sneak out without telling him first? The thought brings a smile to her lips and a giggle comes out before she can think about it. He stirs as she stays perfectly still, but then settles down again and her breath comes out in much are more relieved manner. Quickly she makes her way over to where he had the horses, taking hers and mounting easily. She was a little still from their ride yesterday, but she knew that this early morning jaunt would get both her muscles and that of her mount's stretched for the day ahead. "Where are we going?" she whispers, waiting for him to lead the way.

He smiles as Eowyn comes out. He hands her a flask of fresh water and some bread and cheese. "To tide you over until our real breakfast." Before he gets on his horse and quietly moves out of the camp with her, not noticing the look or amused smile that comes from the one guard on duty, Gandalf. The old wizard had relieved the other guard so that he could rest some more.

After a moment, when he is sure they were far enough from camp not to be heard, he looks over at Eowyn and speaks. "We will just be going up ahead. I could not sleep any longer and I felt the need to make sure no one was waiting up ahead for us. The Dark Lord may be gone, but there are still evil things in this world." He smiles at her as they ride along. Finally, after another few minutes, he speaks again. "Now I shall tell you why I could not sleep close to the fire. I am afraid of it. It haunts my dreams. I can smell it, hear it, feel it burning me. Even in my waking hours I fear it. But you need not worry, Eowyn. I have slept without a fire before. In Ithilien, when my company of Rangers were patrolling the borders of Gondor and Mordor. Dangerous times they were."

She had been nibbling on the bread and cheese, the flask hanging from her saddle horn as she rode. She had stayed quiet because he had told her that he would let her in on why he had not slept near the fire. So she had waited silently, eating the small breakfast he gave her. It isn't until he seems finished that she speaks.

"I don't want you to do that again. I don't care if you have to sleep on the other side of my tent, making it a sort of firewall, but you are going to move it." She knew just how bad that sounded, seaming to force her wishes on him and she frowns, glancing at him again. "Let me re-phrase that, Faramir. You NEED to be closer to the fire. It is the fire that protects us in the night. It is the fire that keeps the majority of the nocturnal creatures at bay so that we may sleep in peace. Please, Faramir, please. You need to hear me on this one. Please." Her eyes begged him to listen to her and she had said everything she could think of to bring him around to her way of thinking.... Everything but one. "Faramir, I do not think less of you for the way you think. You have had a traumatic experience and you may be scared of fire the rest of your life. But there are a few things you will need to endure and being near one so that I know you are okay is one of them. I will sleep out there with you if you will be closer. " She knew her brother wouldn't go for that, but she needed to try everything.

He looks over at her, his eyebrow raised in a slightly shocked look. She would chance looking bad to others just to help him. He looks away and down at his horse's neck, thinking about what she said. Finally after a little bit of silence he speaks. "I shall sleep beside your tent, Eowyn. But no. You must not sleep outside beside me. It would.......not be proper. And I do not think your brother would allow it." He looks over at her, smiling a little. "He thinks that I am here to steal your virtue, Eowyn. Thought we came to an understanding last night. I told him I could not steal your virtue. You would destroy me if I harmed you in such a manner." He smiles at her, then continues on. After they finish talking, he is silent again, riding along beside her, listening to the sounds of the land around them at this early time of the morning. Finally, after they come to a hill over looking a clearing, he speaks. "I was pierced with a poison arrow." He looks over at her when he hears her gasp. "That is why my shoulder is not healing as quickly as it should. And it is why I must still take my medicine."

She can't help it, she bursts out laughing when he says that she would not allow him to steal her virtue. "My brother is right on that account, as are you. I wouldn't let you get away with 'stealing' anything." She emphasizes the word, blushing at her forwardness, then looks away a moment. Then as they ride in peace for awhile she just enjoys her time with him. It was nice to be able to ride along side a man and know that they both were at peace with the silence, listening not to each other's words, but to their souls. As they come over the rise and he finally speaks again, she gasps. No! This couldn't be! Not her fair Faramir! She feels her throat tighten as she looks at him. She knew her massages had a therapeutic healing power, but she had never tried to use something like that against poison. She always put off her massages as just that, that she knew how to manipulate the muscles to relieve the ailment. Eomer thought it was magic. She supposed then that this would be the test. She would continue to massage his shoulder and see what happens. "You will have to let me try to relieve the stress in it then," she finally says softly. "My brother always said I had magic hands." She laughs it off, trying to seem nonchalant about it, hoping he didn't see beneath her new fear nor her need to try again. "I don't believe it, but it did seem to relieve some of your stress the other day." If for only a moment, she would do anything, if to relieve him of pain for only a moment. She tries to hide the worry written all over her soul now, smiling tenderly at him and giving a brave front. She would talk to Gandalf later. There had to be a potion, something, that could be taken.

He looks at her and smiles, nodding. "You do have magic hands it would seem." He would enjoy having her massage his shoulder again. Because for some odd reason, when she had massaged his shoulder, it had eased the pain so much more than the medicine ever had. He sees the worry on her face and leans over to pat her hand. "You need not worry, Eowyn. If it has not taken me now, it will not take me anytime soon." He leans back and looks around again. Then he sighs softly and points to where they would have to cross the river. "That is where Gondor ends and Rohan begins. I do not dread going to a new land, as I have been there before." He looks over at her and smiles. "With my brother and my mother. But we merely just crossed the river to have picnics." He looks back at the river again and sighs. "I will miss Gondor for the time. But I do wish to see Rohan. And to have you show me it's beauty." He smiles at her again, then gestures for her to follow him. "Come along. We must continue our scouting." Down the hill he goes, then across the open field and to the road on the Gondor side of the river. There was another road on the Rohan side but for the moment he concentrates on the Gondor side. "Wait here please." He turns and rides his horse down the road, watching around him. No one had traveled this way recently. He could find only old markings of horses and men. Good. Turning his horse around he sends it back up the road, smiling and nodding a greeting to her as he passes her as if they were strangers, though he was merely doing it for a joke. Grinning when he hears her laugh at him, he continues on and up the next road. He turns the bend and stops his horse instantly. There in front of him were many tracks, only a day old at the most. Climbing off his horse he inspects the tracks, his hand on the hilt of the sword. He looks back as Eowyn comes riding up, then he looks back at the tracks on the ground. They were orc tracks, mixed with the tracks of men. Once again he wondered if they were survivors or if they were just late to the war. In any case they had gone into the lands of Rohan. He squats down and pulls a dagger from his belt. He draws something in the sand beside a track and then looks like he was debating something. Finally he stands again and puts the dagger back into the sheath on his belt. He looks at Eowyn. "I must ask you to go back and tell your brother and Gandalf of this. I will go ahead and see if I can catch them." He moves over to his horse and waits for the protest, knowing one was coming.

She had waited when he asked her, laughing when he rode by as if he were a stranger, but when he takes longer on the next road she decides to follow. Coming up behind him she frowns at the tracks he was staring at. Crystal was getting nervous too, and it took skill to keep her calm. They must be fresh or the horse would not be so skittish. Which means that he could easily find them and they him. "No, Faramir. I won't go back. If you are going forward, then I am going forward. I will not allow you to go into a battle you know you can't win. Did you not get enough of that with your Father?" She was angry at him and it showed clearly on her face. She was angry because he dared think so little of their love as to go off and risk death as if his life didn't mean anything. She reins in her skittish horse, staring at him. "I won't go, Faramir. I won't go unless you come with me."

He gets up onto his horse as she speaks, sighing softly but smiling as well. He looks over at her. "I assumed you wouldn't go back. Come along then. But we shouldn't run into any trouble. They are fleeing. To where I do not know. But they are fleeing." He turns his horse around and heads back down to the ford in the river where they would cross. "As for my running into a battle I can't win, now who said I would confront them." He smiles at her as they cross the river to the other side. "I am a ranger, I know when to be quiet." He winks at her. "Or did you think I had snuck into a Lady's tent before? And with her brother sleeping at her door as well?" He grins and turns his horse down towards the tracks that had come out of the river on the side they were now on. He rides along beside them, watching ahead to make sure they didn't run into them.

She follows him to the fork in the river, crossing along side of him. "You have shown to have more honor then brains, Faramir." She smiles tenderly at him to take the edge off her words, as they weren't meant to sting, they were a compliment in their own way. "How am I to know that you would not think you had it handled and try something, while I go back to get the others, only to return to find YOU one of the prisoners." She shakes her head, then moves her horse closer to his so that she can reach across the gap and lay her hand on his forearm, causing him to stop riding for a moment. "Faramir, you indeed did sneak past my brother, which is a feat in and of itself, I have to agree. But I need a promise from you. I need your word that you will not try something stupid again like the last battle you went into for your misguided need to show your Father you were as good as your brother. I don't pretend to know what it is that I feel for you, but I do know that if you go off half loaded again like you did then, then there is the good possibility that I will never get the chance." Her eyes begged him to promise her, to give what they were feeling a chance. She felt something for this man, something different then what she had felt for anyone else. More then what she felt for Aragorn. And that caused the fear. The fear that he would get hurt and she would never know what this feeling was.

He smiles and glances over at her when she makes her comment. "As much as you wish to think that, I was not about to go marching into their camp and announce myself. I am no god. I can die like everyone else. No. I merely wish to know how far ahead they are and what they are up to. Besides, my charge on Osgiliath was my father's orders and I can no more go against my father than I could go against King Aragorn." He stops when she reaches over and touches his arm, giving her a strange look but listening to her. When she finishes her takes her hand off his arm and kisses it lightly. "You need not worry, Eowyn. I do not wish to put myself in danger like before. I have no need to now. My father is gone and I need not prove myself to him anymore." He smiles at her, shaking his head as he releases her hand and continues on. "Enough talk of this. We will find...." He winces as his arm is pulled by his horse when it suddenly starts snorting and thrashing it's head. He looks forward and sees why. They had come to an outcropping of rock over looking a village and the village was over run with the Orcs and men they had been following. Luckily, no people of Rohan seemed to be in sight. Though they could all be dead. He quickly turns and rides back down and out of view of the village. Getting down off his horse he whispers something to him and then takes the reigns from Eowyn and ties her horse to his. Gesturing for her to follow him he moves silently through the grasses and up onto the outcropping again. Laying down on his stomach he crawls to the edge and looks down at the village again, glancing at Eowyn as she comes up beside him. Speaking very quietly so only she could hear he says, "It looks like they are resting here for the moment." He looks back at the village, looking to see how many there were and which ones seemed to be the leaders.

She is relieved when he agrees that he will not put himself in danger, though his remark about Aragorn has her slightly worried. It was as if he was challenging Aragorn in some way and she knows with certainty that he would always butt heads with Aragorn because he had been there before Faramir. What Faramir didn't seem to understand was that Aragorn hadn't been there at all. He hadn't been everywhere.

She is brought out of her thoughts when the horses start to act up and she does as Faramir tells her, sliding off the horse and moving along on her stomach with him to lay near the edge. She tries to think if there would be any villagers there. "We need to get back to my brother and the other men. That village was empty, but the next may not be. That village held some of the soldiers and their families, all of whom came with us. Some of the men may be back in the camp." She was doing as him, keeping her voice barely above a whisper. "If they set up a perimeter they may stumble across us." She wasn't afraid, she was merely cautious.

He nods. She was right. They needed to get back to the others. "Come. We will go." He turns around and slowly moves back down to the horses. Once they get to them he unties her horse and hands her back the reigns before he climbs up onto his horse and then races off with her back towards the river. He doesn't stop when they cross it, nor when they hit the edge of the woods. Time was of the utmost importance now. The enemy could move on to the next village. They had to at least try and stop them. At the pace they were going it isn't very long till they are in sight of the camp, and a very angry Eomer. When they come to a stop he climbs off his horse and looks at Eomer, who was being held back by Gandalf. "There is no time to mince words, Eomer King. Lady Eowyn and I were scouting up ahead. It seems not all of the enemy have perished. The closest village across the river is overrun with Orcs and wild men." He sees Gandalf's nod and then looks back at Eomer, who, for the moment, has given up his anger at Eowyn and himself and was now thinking of his people. "If I may, Eomer King, I have a suggestion. Split up the group. Have the hobbits and Eowyn take the wagon along another path. Around the village. The rest will go with you and I to the village." He stops and awaits Eomer's answer.

Eomer was livid as he watches the two come racing back to camp. How dare Faramir steal his sister away in the morning! Who did he think he was putting her in such danger, just so they could be alone together. He snorts and takes hold of the reigns of his sister's horse, giving her an angry look that told her he was not happy at all with her actions. Then his gaze turns to Faramir and if not for Gandalf quickly moving to stand partially in his way and reminding him of who he, Eomer, was, he would have already bloodied Faramir's nose with his fist. But instead he just listens to the soon to be Steward of Gondor. When Faramir finishes he thinks about it, then nods. He turns and looks at 4 of his men, the most he could spare. "You four will go with the wagon, the hobbits, and Lady Eowyn along the secondary route around the village. The rest will accompany Gandalf and myself to the village." He walks over to his horse and climbs onto it, looking at Faramir. "You, Lord Faramir, will accompany me." He looks over at Eowyn as she starts to protest. "You are to lead the other's Eowyn. Uncle Theoden's body must not be captured. It would not be fitting." He rides over to where Faramir and Gandalf were waiting and then, when everything is set he leads his group out of the clearing and down to the river. He leads them across and then stops and waits for the second group, Eowyn's group, to follow suit. Once they are across he gestures to the right. "That way. And make haste. We will meet with you hopefully before night fall." He then turns and calls his group to follow, leading them off down the road towards the village.

She gets on her horse and spurs her along, Crystal quickly taking her back to the encampment. She can see by the way her brother was walking that he was upset, making movements with his arms and hands at them long before they got there. So she isn't surprised at his actions when she reins her horse in close to him. She tries to get a word in, but fails as both men keep talking, neither really letting her speak. "Eomer, it was nothing.... Faramir and I...... But I want to go.... Wait, I can do this, I can come with you.... Eomer it isn't fair!..... I ...... But...... Faramir!..... Wait!..... Okay," she finishes with a sigh. She couldn't fight her brother when he was like this and Faramir wasn't helping either. So she leads the others down the road, stopping at the fork to look at her brother and Faramir. "You know that the rest here could take Uncle home. That I could be better put to use coming with you and Lord Faramir." But her brother doesn't even speak to her, he just shakes his head and sits there waiting. "You are not going to let me go, are you?" Once more he shakes his head and she growls, seeing that Faramir isn't even speaking up for her, in fact he had been the one to insist at the beginning that she take the rest to the castle. "I will see you tonight, Eomer, in one piece." She looks pointedly at Faramir, then back at him. "All of you. Yha!" she shouts, kicking her horse into an instant trot as she leaves, obviously upset over how the men had acted in such a high manner. She gets out in front of the others and the wagon and finally slows down to a normal pace. She would like nothing more then to kick her mare into a full out run, but she had a responsibility to the others.

"You look as if the world were against you, M'Lady Eowyn," says a soft voice next to her.

She starts, having been off in her own world and not heard anyone come up. "And you are very quiet when you ride, Dolwern." She glances over her shoulder, seeing the Hobbits waving at her, happy to be on their way again. "It is probably why you are one of my brother's favorite men. He always speaks highly of you." She didn't like what the men had decided that she wasn't worthy to go along with them. She was a strong fighter, the hobbits and the men her brother had sent along with her could have taken her Uncle's body on. She didn't need to go along. Had her fight just a short while ago not proved she was worthy of wielding a sword? The more she thought about it the darker her features become. Faramir had started it too! That fact really gets under her skin. He had suggested she leave and be nothing more then a guard to a body.

"Aye, and he must think very highly of you, M'Lady Eowyn." At her questioning look he continues. "You're uncle's body can not be captured and defiled." He motions to the other three men. "He has left you with four of his finest to ensure you have the help you need. Should those beasts be on this trail as well."

She thinks about that a moment, upset that he had made a good point. Indeed her brother had sent along his finest men, leaving them with her instead of taking them for the battle. But she could not let go of the fact that Faramir had started it, taking the battle from her as easily as her brother had. She prods her mount. "Tell the others not to dawdle, Dolwern. I want to make it to Helm's Deep before noon." She prods Crystal again, pulling away from the man, wanting to think about what had been said by herself.