Chapter Three: Like Ships Passing in the Night
sorry again for a less than exciting chapter two, and also for posting later today, there was a lot going on.
This one may get a little more interesting. I'd love to hear some feedback, if you feel like it would be worth your time. This is set a way's north of Rivendell, if any of you just watched the movies and don't know Middle earth like a pro-yet. Either way, enjoy chapter three.
The shadow of the night covered everything, even the stars, from where Halithir and his brother Halbarad were hunting a small group of goblins through the Trollshaws of Rhudaur. The two brothers, strong, mature men by the standards of their people, were arguing over the name of a friend.
"If you insist that that woman is beautiful because she possessed a name as unfortunate as Vonnes, you are surely mistaken," Halithir said as they turned west with the goblin trail.
"And you brother, place to much value on the pleasure of the name, and not nearly enough on it's hidden meaning. 'Vonnes' bring to memory of those with the intelligences thereof a courageous woman" Halbarad said.
"Nay brother," countered Halithir. "If we are to believe her to be named after the manner of the elves, her name brings to memory a blackened heart, for 'Vonnes' means 'ice-heart'!"
"Keep quiet, Halithir!" Halbarad shushed. "This is not the time, nor the place. There are many beasts about."
"Then allow the beasts to track the goblins, for they could surely do more harm in the night than we could."
"Sometime, brother, you must learn the difference between your fiction and the reality of your situation." sighed Halbarad. "These creatures are of the dark. They have come to Rhudaur for a purpose and we must find that purpose."
"Must we travel in this same dark? We could be within an arrow's reach of our quarry, and have no warning but the others eternal silence."
Halbarad rolled his eyes at his younger brother's dramatic fantasy, but he looked around him, searching for anything that could be a sign of ambush. In his scan of the woods, he saw a large patch of dark earth on a small hill towards their left, evidence that someone was close by.
He motioned to Halithir to go on the left side of hill while Halbarad would take the right himself. The two rangers moved swiftly and silently through the dense woods in search of their would-be attackers.
Meanwhile, hiding in the dense forest barely three meters away Rosaria had turned pale and Kyle was having a hard time staying positive about her future. Or any of their futures. They had no food or shelter, no resources, and no clue where they were. There were no trails anywhere they had managed to explore before darkness had settled in. They had taken turns sitting with Rosaria and going off in search of people or food. Kyle had found some berries, but decided it wasn't worth the risk of eating the small amount of food.
Everyone had returned about ten minutes after darkness had settled in the forest, and without a fire or anything to make one, they were all cold. Tessa was shivering with her legs partially tucked in her sweatshirt next to Spencer, who had fallen asleep. Ian was crouched near Kyle and Rosaria, thinking along the same lines as Kyle.
Ian was staring off in the distance, thinking about the situation he had gotten himself in before a forest had appeared. Maybe dying from a gunshot wouldn't have been as bad as starving. It definitely wouldn't be as bad as the innocent looking Latina lying at death's door because of a broken bone. Through the trees he thought he had seen a flash of grey, but he brushed it off. A few seconds later he saw it again and looked at Kyle.
"Did you see that?" he asked, a little worried. "Through the trees there." he pointed when Kyle looked at him curiously.
"No. It was probably just a bird." he shrugged. "Maybe a weasel."
"There was definitely something there. I'm going to go check it out." And Ian got up and left. He had made it one step beyond the small clearing when he was attacked.
Halbarad tried to knock Ian to the ground, but Ian dodged the large sword and fell backwards. Closer to Kyle, Halithir broke through a bush ready for battle and saw Tessa and Spencer on the ground. Tessa gasped as she saw a large man with a sharp arrow drawn and Kyle jumped up to face him fists raised to defend himself.
"Halbarad! These are children. Stay your hand!" Halithir called to his brother as he returned his arrow in his quiver.
Halbarad looked at the tall boy he had tried to attack with an appraising eye, weighing his height and stature against the youthful fear in his eyes. He quickly sheathed his sword and offered the Ian his hand. Not understanding that the fight was over, Ian tried to sweep his legs beneath Halbarad. The agile ranger dodged them easily and grabbed the lanky boy by his collar. His other hand held a small curved dagger that had appeared at Ian's neck quicker than an eye could follow.
"Do not move, boy," He said quietly.
Ian nodded in agreement. Halbarad released him and pulled him to his feet. Ian's legs felt like jelly and he waivered for a moment, unsure of his footing. Halbarad kept a steadying hand on his back as they walked towards the others.
Once they had all settled around the clearing, Halbarad looked at the strangely dressed youth they had stumbled upon. Their camp had no fire, none of them had a bedroll, in fact, he saw no supplies whatsoever. And then there was the small young woman, lying near the boy with brown curls. She had a broken collarbone, and was in desperate need of aid. Where to begin the questions?
"I am Halbarad, a ranger in these parts. This is my brother Halithir. We are tracking a host of goblins through here. What is your purpose in Rhudaur? By what means did you arrive here? I see no supplies, and your dress is exceedingly unusual for traversing these woods."
Tessa just looked in awe at the man who had just called her unusual. To her, he was the most strangely dressed, carrying a sword, wearing a grey cloak.
Kyle also stared, but stood up answered too. "We don't know how we arrived here. We don't know where we are, but I'm Kyle," he said pointing to himself, and each of them in turn. "This is Tessa, and that's Ian. This is Spencer, and Rosaria is right here. We don't know what happened to her, but we couldn't find help anywhere. We've been here a few hours, but had to stop looking when it got dark."
Halithir walked over to Rosaria and felt her skin. "She is very cold." He unfastened his cloak and draped it over her. "Halbarad, we must get her to Imladris with all haste."
His brother nodded and then he looked at he sorely underprepared people and silently prayed for luck.
The two rangers quickly made a small fire for light and went to work.
Halbarad helped Kyle and Ian fashion a litter to carry Rosaria. They used his cloak as the bed and found two long branches that Halithir had taken his hatchet to to use.
As Halithir was walking past Tessa, he saw her bare legs.
"Are you not cold, miss?" he asked.
"Just a little," she answered.
Halithir reached into his pack and found a pair of pants. Handed them to her, along with a string of leather for a belt. "They may be large, but he will keep you warm."
"Thanks" she said, and pulled them on immediately, tying the extra material around her waist with the thin leather.
"You have the most odd manner of speech, if I may say so."
"Well you sound like you're from the Middle Ages" she said back.
He smiled at her answer, "And where are you from? The Last Ages?"
"The last ones we know about."
He laughed at that. "We all are. We only know the time that we are brought to be in."
She thought about that for a second and said, "Unless you reappear in a forest with strangers dressed like ancient villagers, speaking oddly."
"Yes," he said jovially, "I assume that you think am dressed oddly."
"Yes," she said. And she then fell quiet as she realized she was truly in a different world, where she was odd, out of place. And in danger she thought as she looked at his bow and quiver full of arrows.
"Is something the matter?" he asked her.
She looked at his rugged face, thinking about how different it had looked when he had appeared from the bushes, cast in shadows and prepared to actually kill someone.
Her voice warbled a bit from fear as she said "I have no clue where I am or how I got here, and Rosaria is hurt, Spencer hasn't said word since I found him, and, and..."
"You're quite frightened, aren't you?" he asked as he pulled her close.
She started sobbing. "Yeah," she said with a nervous giggle.
Halithir wiped a tear away and said "Don't be, the sun is rising, we will be in Imladris in a few days. All will be well, young Tessa. Do not fear."
Indeed, the sun was rising, sending cool morning rays of light through the greenery and banishing the mist that covered the ground. But Tessa was not quite consoled with the promise of an unknown city days away, through the woods, and only two strange men to guide them.
I promise there will be more by next Sunday. If you have any comments, let me know. Thanks for reading!