Hello Everyone~~
Heres our next sweet, short chapter. It was a fun one to write and do the research for, as I'm pretty holistic (don't agree with too much modern medicine and practices), so I have quite a few books on herbs and things. Please check out my Facebook page of the same name (Kili Cannot Be Dead), I'll post my notes and the book I used. Yes, a bit of another (I know! ;)) cliffhanger~~but nothing horrible, actually a very special place for them, to come. Love the reviews-keep em coming :)
Chp 49
First the horses moved slowly, as their passengers added to their burden and they had to climb the steep hills up the sides of the valley. They went up the left side, the same place where Dain's army had come over the horizon. They finally arrived at the crest of the hill and the horses stopped to briefly rest. They could easily see the vistas all around them now. Dale to their right they saw how they could skirt around the city, follow along the banks of the lake for awhile and finally arrive at the distant forest. Mirkwood was on the far right but Tauriel thought it might be better to stick to the East, or left side of the River as from her far-seeing eyes, the forest there seemed fairly untouched. It would easily take over an hour to reach so they waited until the horses had rested sufficiently.
Swiftfoot neighed and the other horses clip clopped in anticipation, Kili directed Coron to hold onto the saddle, sure enough a moment later the horses took off swiftly, aided by their descent down the hill and Till and Coron were holding on, a slight look of terror in their faces. Bilbo wasn't as nervous as he had some experience on a horse before but he still was a little apprehensive looking. Kili and Tauriel on the other hand, looked like they were having the time of their lives both smiling from ear to ear. Twain was ably steering his horse, spending his time scouting around left and right. As they got to the bottom of hill the horses eventually slowed down to a calm trot and Twain was able to converse with those on the other two horses. "This is the Celduin, as the Elves call it. Dwarves call it River Running. There is another river, further East called Carnen, Redwater by those from the Iron Hills, from which it flows. We call it Redwater because my home in the Iron Hills is made of very claylike soil and any runoff that goes into the river turns it quite red. Many leagues ahead the two rivers join and go on for awhile until it meets at the famed Sea of Rhun. I have never traveled that far myself, but many of my older kin have said tis a wondrous site to behold...water as far as the eye can see and immense sailing vessels to traverse from one side of the other." All who listened to Twain were in wonderment and lost in their own thoughts of his tales as their horses trotted along the river's edge on their right side.
After awhile of riding they got closer to the forest and Tauriel took the lead as she used her farsight to scout out a good place for them to stop. She spied a slightly shaded spot next to a freshwater pool on the edge of the river. She steered her horse over to it and the rest followed. When the horses reached it they stopped, beads of sweat glistening on their strong necks and backs. Tauriel hopped lightly off of Swiftfoot and patted his mane. He and the other horses neighed happily but were ready to rest and for a drink. Kili and Twain helped their traveling companions off, and Tauriel put her hand out to Bilbo and he jumped the long distance down. The three horses headed to the pool to satiate their thirst; meanwhile, the dwarves and Bilbo were all stretching and taking inventory of their equipment and Tauriel focused her keen senses on the sights and sounds around her. Even though she had never been on this side of the river, she neither heard nor saw anything out of the ordinary. She told the others the immediate area seemed clear.
Coron and Bilbo started talking about all the plants they hoped to find, which generally were similar kinds, but Till was still busy unpacking all his gear. He had brought the most so Twain helped him get jars, nets, bottles and jugs out while Kili and Tauriel watched the borders of their camp. Bilbo went up to Tauriel, "My good elf...which direction do you think we should head first?" he asked. She looked around, the river was at their backs and the forest straight ahead. To the sides, on the left was an interesting looking field of different kinds of plants; on the right the pool where the horses were resting in the shade and there also seemed to be a bit of a boggy area there too. She pointed left, "I would head that way good sirs, and check that area out first." They started to gather their things but Kili reminded them, "Now...don't go going off by yourselves you two! Twain will go with you. Tauriel can you help me with Till and his gear?" She nodded and headed over there while Twain, Bilbo and Coron headed off.
Tauriel asked, "What kinds of things are you hoping to find Till?" He thought for a moment, "Well, we are sorely in need of so much...but some Apatite, mother-of-pearl, quartz, Apis, sneezewort, bryonia, ipecac, moor grass, hypericum, rue, digitalis, opium and ergot would all be immensely helpful for our patients." Tauriel replied thoughtfully, "Yes, I know what some of those are. Kili, why don't you and Till head towards the forest. I'm going to search over by the bog for some of the things Till needs." Kili looked at her with unspoken apprehensiveness, she smiled back letting him know with her eyes she would be okay. Till was anxious to be off, so Kili sighed and started off in that direction and Tauriel towards hers. Every so often he glanced in her direction and was glad she was still in his sight line, even though she was a good distance away, for his eyesight was pretty keen too.
As she got closer to the pool's edge, the horses neighed at her watching her happily from the shade. She smiled back, so content was she to be back out in nature, close to her foresthome it healed all her ills in the instant she got on the horse's back, felt the wind whip through her hair and could hear the sibilant sounds of the forest. She looked down and saw some of the rocks sparkling. Bending down, she picked a few up and turned them over in her hand. She smiled, they had all the markings of quartz, so she picked up about ten decent sized ones and put them in her pack that hung from her waistbelt. She walked on to where the ground was softer as this area was more like a swamp. She thought she might find some moor grass and digitalis here so she looked for the tell tale signs of the pinkish red buds open. She walked along the water's edge, and thought she spotted some a little ways away. When she neared it, she stopped and kneeled, completely still and watched the plant. Red hairs protruded from the buds and what she waited for had finally come...a buzzing fly landed on the flower of the plant, it stayed there for a moment but when it seemed like it wanted to fly away it was stuck, it's wings buzzing furiously, but it was too late - the petals began to close inward on the fly until no more buzzing could be heard. Tauriel found a few similar plants nearby and dug them up from the root with a small handspade she carried with her.
She walked around the bog for a little while longer, but wanted to get back to others as it was going to be high noon soon. Her nose detected the smell of camphor though so she walked a little ways further into the forest. There underneath a few tall pines was a green plant with long, feather like leaves. She felt under the leaves and could feel the tiny hairs there, she smelled her fingers and they definitely had that antiseptic smell. She took the small knife on her belt and cut off a number of the branches from the marsh tea plant and put those in her pack also. Nearby, in a small clearing of the forest, she spotted what would be the greatest of all finds that day, she thought. She approached, kneeled and ran her hands across the fluffy white tops of the low growing plants. She carefully dug up a good amount of them, and smiling, put them in her pack.
Satisfied with her forage, she headed off in search of Kili and Till. She found them a little ways away and Kili brightened when he saw her approaching, just like that day in Mirkwood, except he wasn't being chased by immense spiders, and Tauriel this time was smiling. "We should head back to the river's edge and meet up with the others, " she said. Kili agreed and they turned around. As they were walking, Tauriel showed Till all that she had found: the quartz rocks, the marsh tea and the moor grass. He was very impressed. He reached into his pack and showed her all he had gotten so far: rocks of zinc and hellstone, rhododendron and ipecac leaves, some hypericum, sneezewort, and rue plants, digitalis and wild hops roots and a few jars of Apis, carefully collected from the bee's hive he chuckled. When she got out the plants with the little white flowers at the top, Till had a puzzled look at the weed-like plant she was holding in her hand. She told him that it was Athelas, one of the greatest healing herbs known to elves, and with it, she could definitely ease the suffering and heal most of the dwarves' wounds. Kili looked over and gave Tauriel an immense smile and said, "Yes, Till, that is what Tauriel used to bring me back from the brink of death from that black arrow." Till had an amazed, and now excited look on his face like he wanted to get back to the mountain now.
They arrived back at their camp, the other three hadn't shown up yet so Till went to start loading all his finds onto the packs on the horses. This gave Kili and Tauriel finally a chance at some time alone. They located an ancient fallen log and they sat on it, reaching their hands out toward each other as they did. Their hands warmed to the touch of the others' as they were joined. Kili had a really goofy smile on his face, Tauriel grinned and said, "What?" Kili laughed and said, "Oh nothing...it's just...seeing you today in your elven gear again reminded me of the time of our first meeting, in yonder forest... I knew the moment I saw you...you had come to me like a star, a bright beautiful shining star that stole my breath away, and despite our...different backgrounds, I knew I wanted to hold you and never you let you go." Tauriel blushed and couldn't believe someone could have this depth of feelings, for her. She looked up and looked into his eyes, knowing he was completely serious. She thought about the first moment she saw him too...how the spider had knocked him over but she managed to throw a dagger and fell the great beast. He stood up brushed himself off and that's when she noticed how tall he was, and how fair his features seemed to be, to her eyes. She hadn't had much dealings with dwarves, but those she had seen seemed brutish, blunt and not attractive...Kili was different, in every one of those ways, and she too, wanted to know more. She smiled and it was his turn to smile and say, "What?" She smiled and squeezed his hand, "Yes, for I knew the moment I saw you as well...there was something different...I sensed a kindred spirit, a sensitive and caring heart, but a regal bearing and dashing courage, to undertake such a journey. It didn't take long to see all that was true...and more, and truly I desired to be with you too." He reached up and touched her jawline and brought it down for a sweet kiss...he loved the way she tasted, like the sweetest nectar of a pure golden flower.
While in their embrace they could hear the others approaching, they broke apart from their kiss, but smiling, almost giggling to one another, and still holding hands. Twain and Bilbo noticed the gesture and couldn't help but smile, as their pure expression of truest love made everyone around bask in the same happy radiance; Till and Coron were too young to pick up on it, and were busy and excited about their finds anyway. Everyone came up and sat in a circle by Kili and Tauriel's log. Bilbo and Coron were chatting happily about everything they had found so far. One prized find was numerous wheat plants that Bilbo had gotten the seed pods from. Till was excited when he saw it because he spotted some ergot present on some of them and collected a few of those samples. Bilbo continued, "Yes, rosemary and garlic and dill will all be fine additions to stew...but think of the great desserts that can be made from my apples that will grow," he said and proudly and held up a shiny red apple he had found. Bilbo and Coron laid out everything they found for the others to see, there were: different kinds of nut tree saplings Bilbo had cut, pecan and walnut, a few fruits and vegetables of red, orange, green and purple color and the many herbs Coron had laid out: garlic and onion bulbs, dill and chives, rosemary and basil.
There was happy conversation for awhile, then Bilbo patted his stomach and said, "Hmm...I wonder...if anyone happened to bring any food? I find I'm getting a little bit hungry." The others admitted they were too, as it must be past noon by now. Coron said, "Well, I never travel without my cooking pot and utensils," and he started to unpack everything he would need. "I've got the rudiments to make all of us a fine meal, but it would be nice to have some meat." Tauriel, who was used to hunting to provide her supper volunteered and she got up and started to ready her weapons. Kili also rose and said, "I'll go with you." Twain and Bilbo winked at each other.
Kili and Tauriel headed out while the others got wood ready for a fire or filled the skeins with water at the pool. Tauriel asked, "When you went with Till, which way did you head?" He thought, "Well, we were in this area, we went a little deeper into the forest, but not much." She thought and then said, "Alright, let's head in this direction, past the bog, for I visited there earlier and didn't see much game." He smiled and said, "Whatever you say, my'lady." They noticed the terrain started to go up a little and the trees were a little denser. Tauriel was having no problem scaling the more sloping ground but with Kili's shorter legs he was having some difficulty, so she held her hand out and pulled him up. The light coming from the trees ahead seemed unnaturally bright and something seemed to be drawing them to the summit of the hill. They were almost there, Tauriel took Kili's hand and helped him the last few, steep and rocky feet of the hill. They finally reached the crest of the hill and marveled at the sight before them.