Chapter 25- Soup and Spiders
Estriel woke up, refreshed and feeling much better than she had in a long time. She felt a momentary pang of guilt for sleeping from about 12 noon to, perhaps five am? It passed momentarily, as she remembered what Jen had told her- 'If you won't give your body what it needs, it will take it'. Obviously she had needed sleep, and her body had taken it. Imagine, she giggled, being mugged by your own body!
She missed Jenna, who would have found that amusing, and decided to get up and make breakfast. Aragorn and Elrohir were both asleep, obviously Aragorn's watch had been too much for him. She moved softly about, then went to the cave mouth, almost tripping over Elrohir's sword, which he had left lying by his head.
"Dangerous place to leave a sword," she muttered, picking it up and moving it away, "who'd be that retarded? Aw! They must have been so tired they couldn't move it, bless their little hearts! Well, I'll be on watch, and they can just sleep as long as they can while I make breakfast. And a darn good one too."
She looked out, expecting to se the rolling hills and mountains she had seen before falling asleep the other day, but instead, clean white snow as far as the eye could see. A few paw tracks clustered about, here and then, and she marvelled at their size and shape, memo-ing herself to ask the boys later. She scooped up snow in their cooking pots, and set it on the fire to melt. Eventually, she had washed her face, fed and watered the horses, warmed the cave, brushed her teeth, and set soup on to boil. She knew it would take a while, and went outside for a look-see, taking her weapons with her. She trudged around, and suddenly heard a most peculiar sound- running water.
In the middle of snowy mountains, water that is clear and pure is often harder to find than one might think, and this had been thoroughly ingrained into her head by the boys and Jen, so she went to find it. She turned a corner, and stopped, blessing the valar with all her heart, ready to forgive anyone anything- it was a natural hot spring. She immediately ran back, took the soup off the boil, grabbed some new clothes and ran to bathe. She had missed being clean so much!
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Jenna, meanwhile, was not so lucky. She and Darayne were still travelling through the thicker snow, and frankly, her legs were frozen and wet, a situation she heartily disliked. She might have cursed Es, in fact, had she known that at that moment, Es was pretending she was in a Jacuzzi spa, and warming up a treat- even washing her hair. Darayne was in a similar position, except his boots were higher, and so he had less damp trouser stuck to his leg.
"Are we nearly there yet?" Jenna asked curiously.
"No- it is still a way yet." He replied calmly.
They walked on, Thorne hanging his head slightly in pain. They had taken as much of the baggage as they could manage from him, but friendly animal was still laden.
"Are we nearly there now?" Asked Jenna, an imp of mischief in her eyes.
"Nay, Jenna- you have only even now asked." Reprimanded Darayne, not noticing her impishness. They walked on in silence for a few more minutes. Jenna simply couldn't resist.
"Are we almost there yet?" She asked innocently. Darayne looked at her, irritated, until he saw her 'innocent' face.
"Jenna; are you teasing me?" He asked, face just as innocent tin return.
"Why would I do something like that?" She asked carefully.
He looked at her, bemused, and burst into warm, deep laughter, that made Jenna forget all about the snow.
"I think you are," he added, once he had calmed, "so how do you feel about snowballs?"
Jenna was amazed- who would have guessed middle-earthians knew about snowballs?
"Erm...I...Argh!"
He stuffed one down her neck, and she writhed deliciously at the sheer cold, laughing and squealing, and swearing vengeance.
Darayne and Jenna were absolutely exhausted by the time it was getting dark.
"Not much further now, my...Jenna." Darayne comforted, hoping she hadn't noticed the slip.
"Great. So, do you think it's time for a chocolate break? I think we deserve it."
Darayne eagerly agreed, remembering the delicious foodstuff.
As she got out the chocolate, a new conversation topic broke out in her mind.
"Darayne, what's Mirkwood like?"
He smiled grimly.
"It is a terrible forest, indeed. As you look upon it, the borders stretch darkly for miles in either direction, and the trees seem to be permanently black-leaved. As you enter, light and sound fades behind you and you feel cut off from all life, breath and goodness. Around you, things move in the dark, rustling, slimy and crawling, but only eyes do you see- glimpses of yellow and red beady eyes, staring out at you, the intruder in their evil home. The ground is untrustworthy if you stray from the path; boggy in places, full of holes to trap the unwary traveller. Things slither in the treetops above you, and the only thing you can do is walk on, faster, until you reach the other side, which is a good 12 days away at the furthest point.
If you are elven guests, though, as are our friends, the elves will guide them quickly through hidden pathways to their palace, underground and the most beautiful cavern I have ever seen."
Jenna was stunned. Who knew Darayne could wax poetic?
"It sounds like a really nice place to take a holiday, huh?" She murmured. Darayne heard her, and turned to look at her.
"I haven't mentioned the spiders yet."
"Spiders? Uh-oh."
"As big as Thorne, and poisonous indeed. Terrible foes, they are, and hated most by the elves, who kill them for sport and despise them."
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If Estriel had been listening at that moment, she might have decided to practice her weapons skills while she had free time. As it was, she didn't, and the angels were clearly all too busy shopping or something to warn her.
She had climbed out of the spring, dried and dressed quickly (for fear of pneumonia) and found that although her wound seemed to be healing and now, thanks to the spring, very clean, it looked something awful. She went back to the cave, concerned for the boy's safety (unnecessarily, as it turned out, they were both sleeping like babies still). She let her hair loose to dry by the fire, and began boiling the soup into a stew. Soon the warm and comforting smell pervaded the cave, and Aragorn stirred, thumping Elrohir's hand as he sat up.
"Morning sleepy head! Guess what I've got for you? A place for you to w.a.s.h. Know what that smells? I mean spells?" Es chirped cheerfully, giggling to herself over her wordplay. Aragorn grinned.
"As I can see...Wait- I was on watch, wasn't I?"
Oh no, Es could see he was going to spaz out over sleeping on guard. A little white lie wouldn't hurt anyone here, would it?
"Nope- don't you remember? You let me switch with you a couple of hours ago. You were practically asleep on your feet and I couldn't sleep."
With a troubled nod, Aragorn agreed.
"Well, I remember it not, but if you say so. Where did you find a place to bathe in this hell-hole?"
She told him and he went to wash, while she took some food and water to Gollum, who had been asleep earlier. He was awake and moaning feebly at the back of the cave.