Arial
Roughin' It
Chapter Six
by Bethuviel
Disclaimer: The estate of J.R.R. Tolkien owns all recognizable characters from the works of literature encompassing The Lord of The Rings. I have received no compensation for any work I have written and/or published on this site.
Author's note: All reviews, whether critical or applauding are appreciated.
oOo
"Well, I'm back where I was, lost, alone, and hungry," said Arial aloud to herself. She needed to hear a voice, even if it was her own. She thought back and remembered from the maps of Elrond's that if she continued in a southwest direction, she would find the 'East-West Road'. She thought that the name was not very original and wondered what captain obvious had thought it and then had the audacity to pen it. She sighed. This place was strange. Elves and Orcs. Arial hoped she did not run into any more of either race.
She spied the tops of trees in the distance and hoped she would be able to find someone there to help or guide her along her way. She kept her pace steady and sang softly to herself to keep her spirits up. She did not want to get depressed about her almost desperate situation.
"At least I got my own clothes and shoes back." She almost skipped when she realized that fact. She crossed over the Ford and turned onto the road she had been anticipating. She wondered why the forest was called Trollshaws. Suddenly she stopped and looked at the forest again. Trollshaws. Trolls.
"Surely not." She said to herself. "Can't be. No way on god's green earth. But then again, there are elves and orcs…" Arial shook her head. "What have I gotten myself into?" She frowned, unsure of what to think of her newfound problem. She looked up at the sky and guestimated the time of day. She closed her eyes and pulled the map from her memory and focused. If she remembered correctly, it was about fifty miles she had to look forward to in this little part of the vacation avoiding the trolls. "I know nothing about trolls. Not really. They eat people in fairy tales. Elves were in the fairy tales, but they were really tiny and somehow baked really great tasting cookies in TV. commercials. Except I've come to a real life fairy tale that's more like Grimm. So, with my luck, they really do eat people. Have to get off this road and away from that forest." She reasoned quietly to herself. She spun around and eyed her surroundings. To the left of the forest and off the road was a field with tall grass.
"That might offer some cover, as long as I'm careful. And I can easily keep track of the road and my bearings." She carefully stepped off the road, eyeing the forest. She wondered if she was being watched. She didn't want to leave tracks but found that the mud created by the previous day's rain showers made that nearly impossible. Arial had to be satisfied with her effort and hope for the best.
She moved with stealth through the high grass, watching for any sign of trolls. Arial had no idea what a troll looked like but she figured that when she saw one, she would know it. She was hungry and thirsty. Every so often she would feel a squish when she stepped. She had avoided looking away from the forest but could not stand to feel that one more time. She squatted and examined the ground.
"Strawberries!" She whispered as loud as she dared with excitement. She began picking and eating them, giving them a cursory wipe off before popping one in her mouth. She held out the bottom of her shirt and placed them inside the hollow. She scurried over the field picking as many as her shirt would hold. When she was satisfied she sat down and ate them, relishing their sweet flavor. She kept her eyes on the forest.
Arial noted that the activities of the forest animals were normal and nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be happening. "Surely trolls are hideous. Just as hideous here as in the fairy tales back home. And something like a troll lurking around would make the animals run away or hide. But they're not. Just business as usual. Maybe trolls don't come out til after dark." Arial thought aloud as she fingered another strawberry. She ate until her shirt was empty.
The sun was nearing its zenith and Arial thought about her food. She looked at the grass around her. She ripped some up and tied individual bundles at their ends, forming long strands of raw material. After she had a pile of the bundles, Arial weaved them together creating a crude basket. She got up and walked through the field, bending and picking berries to put into her basket to eat later. Her throat burned with thirst and she needed a drink of water. The Bruinen was far behind her, and she didn't know where she would find a source of water.
She eyed the forest. The animals would know where to find water. She bit her lip and argued with herself. "Just name association. No such thing as trolls," argued personality A.
Personality B argued back, "But there are no such things as elves either, and oh, let's not forget the lovely and heartwarming orcs…"
A said, "Shut up! I'm thirsty and there's water in that forest…we will die of thirst out here in this blazin' sun."
B shouted, "Don't tell me to shut up! We can survive for a few days at least without water. That forest ain't called Trollshaws for no reason you dimwit!"
"Stop being a friggin' wuss. Worry when there's something to worry about. Right now we got to have some water. We could sneak into the forest, and our way around."
"Yeah, we could sneak," replied personality B, "and crawl our way right inside of a troll's mouth and get eaten."
"You don't even know what a troll looks like, so stop being such an expert," retorted A.
"You don't either…but go right on, yeah go right on, you never listen to anybody anyway and when you get ate by a big ol' nasty troll, don't come crying to me!" Personality B fell silent and personality A sighed.
Arial started toward the forest, hoping she was not being watched. When she was on the edge of the field she squatted and watched. Her heart pounded hard in her chest. She could not see or smell anything unusual. She took a deep breath, stood up and darted to the forest's edge. She hid behind a tree and looked around. She did not know what she had been expecting, but for all that she could see it was an ordinary forest. No beasts waiting to pounce on her from hidden shadows. Arial bent and picked up a large stick from the ground. She tiptoed through the trees, listening for anything strange. She crept around, looking for signs on the floor of the forest of animal paths. At last she found one and followed it deeper into the forest.
The sunlight peeped through the tree tops and lit the forest well. Undergrowth was sparse and Arial was grateful she did not have to plow her way through thorn bushes galore. She stopped when she found a berry bush. She examined the bush and saw the tips of the branches. Small animals had ate the berries, and often. She went with her gut and picked the bush, putting the berries into her basket. She moved on, listening as she walked. At last her heart slowed to a normal rhythm and Arial laughed at herself. She stopped walking on her toes and walked like a normal person.
"I'm tired of being afraid." Arial thought.
She walked for a few minutes more and heard trickling. She held her breath, listening. It was the sound water made when moving slowly over rocks. A smile lit her face and she hurried towards the place from where the noise came. Arial could almost taste the water.
Suddenly, Arial stopped. She wet a finger in her mouth and held it up into the air. She was down wind from the water. She thought about that for a moment, not sure if that was good or bad. She was downwind from whatever was already there, but upwind from everything that followed that path to the creek. She hurried to the water.
Once there, she hid behind another tree and watched for a few minutes. She could not see anyone or anything for great distances in either direction. She reverted to tiptoes and crept to the edge of the little creek. She watched the sun dance on the little ripples of the water, amazed by the simple beauty of the light.
Arial bent down and cupped her hands together, catching as much water as she could. Returning her hands often, she drank her fill. She sat down on the bank, bloated.
Arial looked around, searching for anything that would hold water that she could use for a canteen.
"I am just S.O.L." She stated to the forest. "Always got to be the hard way. Nothing's ever easy, no, not for me. Always the hard way. Well this just sucks." She stood up and pretended to search around again, while walking westward. The little creek flowed beside her, every once in a while disappearing underground only to reappear a few feet away. The sun started its downward journey and Arial knew she had to find shelter. She spied the tree tops and decided that that would probably be the safest place for her. She found a sturdy tree and jumped up to catch the lowest branch. Using her arms to pull, and her legs to push on the trunk of the tree, Arial inched her way up and finally rested on the branch. When she caught her breath, she stood and climbed up to the last of the strong branches, about twenty five feet off of the ground.
"How am I going to sleep up here? I'll fall out and break my fool neck!" Arial tried to wedge herself around and could not. Another Arial light bulb came on in her head and she frantically started removing her belt. Carefully she twisted around and holding onto the buckle, she whipped the other end around the trunk of the tree. She repeated the action a few times before realizing that the belt was too small. She slumped against the tree, tired. She rested there a few moments before jerking herself up afraid she would fall asleep. She looked at the branch under her. She twisted back around and scooted her back until she rested against the tree. Arial ran one end of the belt under the branch she sat on and back up over her legs. She latched the belt as tight as she dared. Arial knew that if she became unbalanced, that belt was the only thing holding her up. She shook her head; she knew that it was not going to work.
Disgusted, she bumped her head against the trunk of the tree. "Socks!" Arial undid her shoes and removed both of the socks. They were the calf socks. She hated the short ones; her ankles always got cold and made her irritable. After she put her shoes back on, she tied the socks together and tested the knot. She unbuckled the belt and tied a sock to tip of the belt. After trying different knots, Arial finally found one that would hold. She turned again and whipped the socks around the tree and caught them. She tied the socks to the buckle, twisted around and slid under the makeshift belt. She positioned herself until she was comfortable, sure she would not fall to her death, and then fell asleep under the blanket of darkness that enveloped her. She was exhausted and soon snored.
She did not know that the sound of her snores attracted her worst nightmare, orcs.
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