The Next Chapter! I'm on a roll! I have been trying to make it a point to update on Sundays, but, sometimes it just doesn't work out...like now.. So, I may change it back, but for now I changed the rating on this to T, so more people will notice it, and maybe take an interest? Yes I know You ar ewaiting patiently for the Company to show up, that's why I'm speeding up and writing shorter chapters on this till we get there. Please be patient with me! This is a whole new idea and setting and so there's a lot of new ideas I'm trying out. So for an extra bonus to say thank you I have made this chapter with extra content. And now...
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"Look!" One man pointed out towards the woods. " Look at the size of that fox!"
Alicia actually did not see anything at first until something orange did in fact run across her line of sight. It was a fox, but the animal was the size of an average horse! Alicia gaped wide eyed again. She jogged closer to the tree line to get a better look as it ran across her field of vision. "That...That's huge. Are all animals here so big?"
"Not all no. That creature is unnaturally big. But if we could catch him, we'd have nearly enough meat for half the camp." The hunter explained as they watched it dart away, easily avoiding other hunters pursuing it. Shoulders were dropped dejectedly when the animal escaped.
"Pity." The hunter said with a sad smile and went off to join his own friends.
Alicia was both happy and sad that it got away. The islander picked up an old dented up pot and went to the river to get water to boil for drinking. Some people had fashioned makeshift nets to try to catch fish. She returned back and forth to get many pots filled, finishing boiling and refilling water containers just as the hunters had returned.
" Only a few raccoons." One grumbled.
On the other side of the camp, a couple of hunters did manage to get a deer.
"Still, if only we got that big fox, or at least an animal of it's same size." The hunter began to clean his game.
The old man, Dorwin, lifted his grizzled face." Big fox? Good thing ye did miss it! Don't ye know those giant animals are naught but trouble?"
"It was just a fox." The hunter rolled his eyes. " What trouble could he be?"
Dorwin huffed. " That coulda' been a dwarf! Or a hobbit! Or some enchanted creature of the White witch!"
"The white witch is half a world away. She's no reason to send her minions here." Another woman went on.
" Ye'd think so, but that's how she knows so much of the world." Dorwin went on. "Good thing ye missed that fox. We'd have another nightmare of problems on our hands. His kin would know he's missing and come searching. Then we'd all be doomed!"
Alicia's face still had an unconvinced look about it. On one hand she knew better than to believe any old rumors, but on the other she wanted to know the truth before writing it all off as ridicule. Well, it's not like she had any ways of really finding the truth right now, so all she could do was ignore it for now and focus on the present problems.
"I know only a few of us are actually warriors, but we all have an idea of a hard life. We should push ourselves as much as we can without overdoing it until we get outta Wild men territory." Alicia said, although she tried to sound more confident, there was still the undertone of question under it. The others looked around either ignoring her thoughts or maybe even considering it.
Raoul scanned over the crowd. " You do have a valid point. We must keep moving at all times."
It was weird, anxiety inducing and awkward in nearly every day and night. It was tiring and grating on the nerves. No one stayed at any stop for very long other than to hunt or get a quick break. At night even sleeping was restless. It came to a point where She'd close her eyes in the evening and open them suddenly to the day without ever taking note of falling asleep. After a few days it had dulled down to a normal routine and the anxiety was easier to ignore.
Although there were a few skilled hunters in the traveling refugees, none dared venture too far due to the territory they were in. Many were still tired from lack of proper diet or getting good rest on the hard ground, so despite being free, there were still many complaints mumbled about. It annoyed Alicia for the most part, but also reminded her what grace and patience is for. As long as the people had something to do for the most part they kept their complaints to a minimum at least.
But that patience had run thin when the few hunters came running back, arms flailing about, face of fear and yelling. " Wild Men!"
And thanks to their panic, the whole camp went into a frenzy. People jolted and scrambled over themselves grabbing things and each other and running in every direction. Few amongst them were trained warriors like Raoul after all. Alicia turned just in time to her the bellows of their pursuers come bursting through the woods. They looked quite fitting to their name. Spears were brandished and thrown even arrows notched. The refugees did not have protective clothing other than what they might have managed to lot from the ship and half the time, orc armor was defective. They did not have much weapons either which meant they only fought unless cornered. There was nothing that could have been done this time. With a heavy sigh, Alicia broke into a run to escape. Every man for himself. It was chaos. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, spurring her to move faster even though she was already going as fast as she could. She might tire herself out quickly if she didn't remind herself to be careful. The islander took to hiding in the brush as much as possible and only moving when she was as sure as possible that no one was looking her way. The calls and running about in their surprise and ambush tactics of wild men was really frazzling her nerves. She had to force herself to focus on one thing. Suddenly some spear flew past her and she ducked back behind the tree. Three wild men bellowed out in their guttural roars, coming straight for her.
Alicia wasted no time and once again broke out into a run. Needless to say though, the men gave chase easily. That was when she did realize that she as still in their native territory. They knew how to function and maneuvered here like second nature. She did not.
They would sooner or later catch up to her and catch her. Then, who knows what intentions of hurt they had in mind...
They were gaining quick.
She was getting desperate.
Four other cloaked men jumped out from their hiding place directly in front of her, making her pull-up short. That is until she remembered she was still being pursued. On impulse the girl dodged left. "Milady!" some other unfamiliar man's voice echoed behind her, though she did not look back to find out. Behind her grunts and bellows were heard.
"Milady! Wait!" the voice came again this time much closer. A strong hand grabbed her arm and stopped her.
Alicia, on impulse again, swung around with he free fist. her captor saw it coming and blocked it easily.
" Calm yourself please. I mean you no harm." the man continued. he threw back his hood to reveal a much more civilized looking man with a neatly trimmed beard and hair.
Alicia stared at him blankly before calming down little by little." Who are you?" She demanded.
" I am called Rohawk. I'm a ranger here with my fellows. One of our scouts spotted your, Traveling companions, along the river, and came as soon as we heard the Wild Men."
Alicia nodded a small head bow to him. " Thank you." She replied.
" You're most welcome my lady. Come let me escort you to safer grounds. We will rescue as many of your friends as possible." Rohawk smiled.
Wordlessly she followed him, chancing about in hopes of finding her friends. After too many long minutes, she was escorted to a small group of rangers who stood guard over other recover refugees. Alicia sat with them or helped bandage any wounds that might have been obtained.
She really did not want to know exactly who survived or who didn't. It was a morbid thought process that too much adrenaline in her veins right now would not allow.
Some rangers ushered the refugees further down the river and away from the ambush site, to which the islander was very happy about.
"Where are ye taking us?" Another woman asked.
" We shall take you to our town. A ranger's town where we all reside when not on duty." Another ranger replied.
Well, it was safer than staying out here waiting for more wild men. She was tired enough that she could drop right there and fall asleep in no time.
As she looked around her, it seemed that their numbers had dwindled down from fifty to the thirties or forties. She sighed to herself and turned away.
Out on her peripheral she saw a flash of something move. Alicia would have missed it if she chose to ignore it, but there behind a few trees, was the big fox she had seen earlier. It stalked a few steps more before stopping completely, eyeing the people as they passed, oblivious to the furred spy.
Alicia stared at him, mild wishing she could even go over there and pet his fur. But this wasn't a petting zoo, silly girl. The fox turned it's head her way, it's big ears pointed forward.
She watched him for as long as she could until her attention was demanded elsewhere.

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Hidden easily behind the trees, was yet another cloaked stranger. Clothed in dark greens, greys and browns, it was easy for him to go unnoticed by even the rangers. Not that the rangers would view him much of a threat if they did see him, but that didn't matter right now. He was on a mission, trying to find out where exactly certain illegal smugglers. They had such a tight hold on some things he was surprised that he was not caught yet. It was only a matter of time though. They somehow managed to catch his old friend, who really couldn't be suspected of anything more than the singing village idiot at times, more or less, and now he was captured, practically forced to live in the mines he worked in thanks to a threat over his brother's family. Shaking his head, sneering at the reminder of their situation, he turned back to the peculiar group of 'refugees' that the rangers appeared to have gathered up. They smelled horrendous! Clearly they had been out here for a long while, running from the orc scum that they also reeked with. He was originally coming to see if the orcs might have been in a partnership with the illegal smugglers in some way, and came in time to see these ragtag humans, desperate enough to try hunting down everything that moved, him included. They were of all various traits, giving him the suspicion that they were from different parts of Arda. At one point he tried to get closer, he was just able to make out a few accents that would help identify their origin, but that was that nearly cost him an arrow or spear in the side.
And then if it wasn't the ragtag humans it was those blasted orcs with red blood, the Wild Men!
He had to zip away, get out his trusty battle staff and beat them back.
Thanks to the rangers though evening the odds he didn't have to fight for too long.
He heard shouting and saw another young maiden running in his general direction, he changed and dashed off. She wasn't running to him though, he saw that she had pursuers. The spy growled and got ready for an ambush, then once again another ranger came to help. He cut them down before the spy had to do anything.
She was even more different. Human still, but not the straight blonde or red hair from Rohan. This human's hair had ringlets of curls like a hobbit. Almond shaped eyes instead of the straight lined eyes she had. He looked over to the other humans passing by. None of them seemed quite similar to her, all were more creamy skinned instead save for a handful of the rangers. He turned back to her and caught her looking straight at him now. He expected her to alert the others of his whereabouts to perhaps try and hunt him again, however she did not. He tilted his head with much the same curiosity. Simply she just watched him with obvious curiosity until the rangers required her attention again.
The spy hummed to himself. At least if there's anything suspicious with these folks the rangers could take care of that. Still he needed to go continue his own mission, and maybe he'd learn more the next time he came visiting the ranger's post.

Once he had recoup orated a little, he returned to his hidden camp, checking over himself and his wares. All was in tact. The spy strapped on his light pack onto the pony, which seemed near oblivious to all that transpired, and he rode off. It was nice to be off his own feet for a change. Swiftly as a pony would go without tiring it, he followed the trail that the tattered humans had left. Even a child could have pointed out that people were here. No wonder it was so easy for the Wild Men to find them too. Of course the WIld Men could find a garden snake in an elf's forest, being so much closer attuned with the forest world nearly as well as an elf.
He could tell also that where ever they stayed, they didn't stay long. Campfire were shallow, half buried with few ashes. They were clearly trying to get out of here fast. Perhaps they were running from something else?
He wasn't sure just how far he'd want to go to find out, still he trudged on, keeping his senses alert in case some unknown pursuer jumped out.
Eventually he made it to the edges of the gulf of Luhn, where the deep blue sea lay stretched out before his eyes. Within the very few times he had ever seen the sea, it never amazed him how even the mountains could look like a mole hill. The air had a veil of salt on it. Out in on the banks of sand he saw smaller boats abandoned along the sides. Out in the deeper waters was a larger old ship, battered on some sides due to poor maintained.
"Hmm.." He absentmindedly played with an accessory in his beard. Even here there was a feint stench of orc, but he found no signs thus far of the first smugglers he was searching for. Once examining the beach enough he got back on the saddle and turned north for home.
Two and a half days later he stalked a hidden path, one that he actually created himself in order to get to and fro without no eyes finding him.
He made it out into the side lines on the back side of most little shops on that side of the bustling town. He led his pony off to the small horse coral at the back of a specific building, sauntering around to enter from the back door. Usually the door was locked, but just because he knew the owner had small stash of ale in the back, he went through the trouble of picking the lock.
Immediately the building was alive with a familiar voice at the front counter selling some of his own wares to the current customers. The back room as where the ale was kept, inside an old cupboard in the far wall it was all kept along with a few extra mugs and dishes.
The spy found a nice seat and sat down, feet propped up on a crate, nursing a mug of it. What a refreshment. He tilted it back as he took another slow intake.
Heavy footsteps he ignored came through the door followed by an audible. " Oi! What do ye think you're doing?! You cannot just break into a merchant's-"
"MH." the spy interrupted with a finger raised so he could finish his pull.
" Why you... If you didn't have your uses I'd ring your neck with your own beard right now."
"Aaaah." the spy let out a satisfied sigh as she put the mug down. His hood had fallen back, revealing his three Mohawk style hair that matched his braided beard. Lazily his grey eyes drifted over to the red haired merchant. "Nice to see you too cousin. So glad you made it back in one piece. How's the family?"
The merchant sighed heavily and pulled out his own mug, walking by to pluck the bottle from his cousin's hands. "Lad. You canna' keep breaking into hear like that, if people see you then they'll think us all a bunch a thieves and it's hard enough as it is." He sat down across the way. " If my brother were not a healer already then it would be nigh impossible!" He grumped.
"Do you suggest I use the front door then? Where everyone can see me, even those who already might suspect me a shifty one?" Nori replied. " As long as you don't go hollering like an Oliphant so much then it shouldn't be such a bad thing for you anymore either. But enough about that. I've news to share." The spy said and begun retelling the events he had witnessed.
When he was done he grinned a knife smile at him. " You ought to plan a trip to the Ranger's Post. I'll come with ya. I've got a message to deliver to the king too."
The merchant took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He reached into a small drawer on a small desk where a list of herbs was kept. "What is it then?"

******************these stars are helpful*********************

The merchant handed the list to his brother. " All ready."
His brother, great healer that he was, looked it over and nodded with a grunt. He walked down the street, passing human and dwarf alike until he made it to a caravan that had just come in and was heading for home. Due to his lack of hearing he did not see a blonde headed dwarf that bumped into him carrying his own goods. The two stared each other down with disapproving looks and grumbles before the blonde haired dwarf re-adjusted his grip and loaded up on the cart.
The healer grumbled as he made a turn to a raw herbs and material shop.
The blonde merchant snorted as he jumped on the driver's bench and flicked the reins. The two ponies lurched forward, not taking too long to pass the main gates and towards the barns for the animals.
Tired and ready for food, he entered the mountain. The few guards that were there had upset scowls on their faces, eyes glowering at anyone who so much as breathed suspiciously. Apparently this black haired young one with a running mouth was one of those as he was being searched by the guards. This allowed the blonde haired merchant to walk in unnoticed.
Casually he made his way to the kitchens to grab a meal. He sat down at a table, glancing at this new list he got. A few letters standing out had subtle decorative dots on them. A servant came by and placed a pile of food there in front of him, with which he ate his fill and idly re-arranged the remaining food scraps. the servant came back and took the unneeded dishes away. He glanced at the scraps in a bored manner before taking it into the back kitchens where a portly dwarf was chopping away.
" The king's ready for his lunch now." The servant said and left.
The portly dwarf turned about, flipping his braided beard out of the way. He sighed at the dirty tray of food scraps. No need to fret he'll eat the rest later. So he made a new platter of an assortment of food, in the same pattern as the scraps, eating the scraps once the pattern was replicated. He put the lid over the platter. "Order for the royal family." He called out.
His call was answered by a servant lass and two guards. They loaded it on a serving cart, briskly walking to The royal hall. The heavily armed guards examined her and the dinner, allowing them to pass once inspection was cleared.
She knocked on the door of the King's office.
"Come."
The servant girl mutely entered, giving a little curtsied and wheeling the tray in. " Your dinner King Thorin. Lady Dis."
The king looked up. His blue gaze fell over her and the tray. He dipped his head in one short nid. " Thank you. You may leave." He dismissed her as he rose.
The servant bowed and scurried out.
The King stretched his back and took off the top. It smelled wonderfully as always. Bombur never stopped being astounding at his cooking abilities, right down to the most miniscule of notes. " Hmm. Seems Nori has found something interesting." he said as he read the message hidden in the arrangements. " Orcs, wild men, refugees with rangers..." he read the hidden message.
Another lady with the same piercing blue eyes, was sitting at another desk reading over other parchments. "Now skip to the part where he says something important."
Once again Thorin was thankful for his newest ally Bard. The man was a master at utilizing a spy network, and taught these few tricks to him and his men.
Thorin cast a look at Dis and picked dup the next lid. "He's going with Gloin on a caravan to the Rangers Post for trade to see what he may learn."
Dis had a stoney look on her face. " So basically he has learned nothing new." She got up to make a plate for herself.
Thorin poured himself some ale. " It's Nori. We would do well not to underestimate him. The rangers are a just folk. They will not turn Gloin away so easily because of rumors built of fear as others have, even without Oin at his side. It will be good for the both of them."
"My sons are not home." Dis said once again. This time though in a chillingly calm tone. " Mahal help our cousins bring back the hides of my sons soon."
Thorin turned back at his sister. She was always good at keeping her head on, even when Thorin raged. " They still no nothing of the world, but they have learned much since they left with me the first time." He re-assured her once again as he chewed a handful of grapes. The king stood near the balcony, looking out at the scenery below him.
Everyone was scattered about his kingdom. It itched at his skin that it was taking longer than it should to re-unite them all. Things just were not the same without his best guard or his best advisor at his side right now. His heart sank at the reminder.
It irritated him that he was stuck a prisoner in his own halls every so often, either called away to duty or to some kingly emergency. Thorin turned away to go sit back at the table with his sister.
"Day by day. Step by step. We are regaining the upper hand."

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MORE SHAMELESS IMPORTUNE FOR REVIEWS!

Was that vague? Yeah just a little, but It wouldn't be fun to give away everything, gotta leave something to the imagination for you. I know you were anting to know where the Company is in this, and so I added this last piece for your taste buds. Don't worry, more to come. Another reason why I'm asking for your feedback, I really want to know what you're getting from this new story experiment I'm trying out.

As for the hidden messages: It's a concept I made up myself while writing this because I thought it was a cool idea. Globin and Oin have their 'shopping list' with certain letters that have subtle details on them like a dot or an extra comma, etc. The reader makes note of them all and pieces them together into new words that reveal the hidden message. Food is cut and arranged in and edible artwork to look like subtle symbols for the message. And since Bard had his own secret network going on, I thought it'd be cool for him to be the one to share it with the dwarves.

And also I do hope you enjoyed this chapter and it was worth the wait. a huge thank you for your thoughts, that I would love love love to hear!