This chapter is about traveling. Because cars don't exist yet, horses are unavailable and teleporters are unreliable.

Also, because I am a terrible scholar of Tolkien languages, here is the language key for this chapter.

"Scarlet's normal English speak."

"Westron"

Chapter 4: Snippets of near silence

Luckily for him, Scarlet was a pretty smart girl and simply ignored his attempts to communicate and using her hand, gestured for him to proceed walking.

Getting the hint, Theoraan simply decided that he would drop the kid off at Bree since it was somewhat on his way. Being a prominent crossroad for travellers there may be someone who could recognise Scarlet or her language. Bringing the kid to Bree would fulfil his sense of honour in protecting the child and allow him to continue onwards with his duties unhindered.

At first, they travelled in awkward silence. This was, of course, mostly because they could not understand each other even if they tried anyway.

Scarlet simply followed behind Theoraan quietly whilst keeping an eye on her surroundings. She could not help her cautious behaviour. Her father had conditioned her paranoia to the extent that it became second nature to her. Scarlet inadvertently made an unpleasant face as she recalled how much her father enjoyed jumping out of nowhere and scaring her. He did it whilst regular training, whilst training in the woods, even at home and even in the shower. No place was sacred. Scarlet then shook her head at the thought of how her father would cackle in glee for taking years off her life and then pull a 180 personality change and berate her for failing to have constant vigilance.

Whilst Scarlet was recalling her father's antics, Theoraan was also keeping an eye on her. He had to admit that he was rather impressed by the young lady that followed him. She was able to keep up with his demanding pace and yet showed no signs of tiring nor did she make any sounds of complaint. He briefly wondered how old she was. She looked about the same age as his son but he knew that his people aged slightly differently than common men. Regardless of what age she was, he felt that she should not be travelling alone on her own; dark times were upon them.

They continued their track for many hours; pausing a few times only to fill Theoraan's waterskin. Theoraan briefly noted that he was filling his waterskin much more frequently than he was used to. This was because he now had an extra mouth to feed. The first time he lent his waterskin to Scarlet was yet another uncomfortable moment. It started with him noticing that she would lag behind for moments despite having been able to keep up with him for most of the trek. His curiousity finally caused him to turn around in time to see her stoop to take a drink from the stream. Knowing that they would be headed further into the woods and away from a direct water source in time, he turned back towards her and offered her his waterskin; not saying a word.

Scarlet, who was bent over scooping water from the stream with her hands, turned to look at the skin bag held in the outstretched hand and met Theoraan's eyes. At his second insistent offer, Scarlet broke out into a smile and nodded her thanks. Taking the waterskin and uncapping it, Scarlet looked at Theoraan from the corner of her eyes as she brought the rim to her lips. Not seeing any protest about 'sharing saliva' or the like, she shrugged and took a gulp before capping it and returning it to him. Since then, whenever Theoraan to a swig of water, he would always offer it to her right after.

Other than the water incident, there were other mishaps and incidences before they settled into a comfortable travel routine.

Other mishaps included the time Scarlet tried to serve them nuts and berries for breakfast. Some of which turned out to be poisonous. That was not a good day for Scarlet.

Having awoken before Theoraan, Scarlet thought to be considerate and provide breakfast that day. Hence, she had went around scavenging for things to eat. She did see a rabbit but decided not to catch it as they rarely cooked for breakfast. Thus far, breakfast had always been fruits picked by Theoraan or leftover smoked meat from the evening before. After a while she managed to collect a fairly large amount of nuts and berries and so returned back to camp. When she got back, Theoraan was already awake and watching her return. After she put the collected food down, she picked up a berry and was just about to pop it into her mouth when Theoraan lunged across and grabbed her forearm. Stunned, Scarlet stayed still with her mouth open and her fingers just a couple of centimetres. Unfortunately for him, the berry was already in her mouth and she had already bit down on it.

Thankfully for them both, the berry tasted awfully bitter and Scarlet quickly spat it out. The next thing she knew, Theoraan was back with his waterskin which he offered to her insistently. Looking between the waterskin and Theoraan, understanding dawned in Scarlet's eyes. Quickly, she took the waterskin from him and began to chug down water like a drowning man until the skin was empty. Whilst she did that, Theoraan quickly wrapped his hand in a cloth and collected the rest of the food she brought and threw them out away from camp.

Once she was done chugging, Theoraan yanked Scarlet up from her seat and dragged her to the nearest stream, plucking some leaves on the way. At the stream, he quickly thrust her hands into the water and rubbed them all over, trying to get them clean. He then crushed the leaves he plucked and rubbed the resulting paste all over her hands and fingers too. Again Scarlet was confused, until her skin began to itch something bad and swell a little.

'Oh god, Ariel Scarlet Winters, you complete and utter genius' she thought as she continued to rub the paste on her hands by herself now that she understood what was going on. 'Not only did you pick poisonous berries and try to kill your current benefactor, you had to pick those that came from the poison ivy equivalent of this place; wherever this place is. You, madam, are a champion of the highest order. There is a reason dad taught you flora and fauna extensively you know. '

Of course, with Scarlet, her own voice in her head berating her was not enough. The voice of her father also came forth. 'Yes, Scarlet, there is a reason why I insisted you memorise all that data on flora and fauna. Let's just hope that small amount you swallowed won't do anything to you.'

With a sigh, Scarlet turned her attention back to Theoraan who was now carefully inspecting her hands.

"Thank you," she said as she tried to give Theoraan a small smile. She felt incredibly guilty for the trouble she had caused and yet, also incredibly thankful for his quick response; hence Scarlet felt the need to say something even though she knew he would not understand.

Her voice made Theoraan look up from his inspection. At her embarrassed face and shy smile, he could guess what she had said. Feeling the need to reassure her, he simply patted her hand, gave a half smile, nodded and then stood before helping her up.

After that, they walked slowly back to camp.

Scarlet spent the rest of the day struggling, and sometimes failing, not to scratch at her hands. She tried everything from keeping her hands in clenched fists to interlocking her fingers in a firm grip on her staff to continuously shaking her free hand but it was still not enough. A couple of times she wanted to swear real bad but she managed to keep everything to a mumbling grumble. In order to distract herself, Scarlet finally tried to interact with Theoraan by tapping him and randomly pointing to various plants around them whilst giving the questioning face. Theoraan personally preferred to travel with purpose in silence but seeing her struggle with the itch made him relent and start pointing out plants and explaining their names and uses on his own initiative. Naturally the only thing she managed to grasp was how to identify the plant, its name and whether it was good or bad from Theoraan's gestures but getting an education whilst 'talking' to each other surely was not a bad thing.

Of course, their journey together was not some jolly frolic through the woods. There were naturally other beings with more malevolent tendencies such as orcs, and bad men with neither moral nor honour. The pair had the distinct honour of encountering some of these despicable men one evening on their travels.

It was early evening and Theoraan was somewhere away from camp, probably hunting, and Scarlet had been given a needle and thread to mend her own clothes and his shirt. When he had passed it to her she could not refrain from rolling her eyes at the 'woman work' he assigned. Scarlet did not like that Theoraan frequently refused to let her hunt. She felt like she was freeloading on his efforts and not contributing sufficiently to be on equal ground with him.

Regardless of her inner feelings, Scarlet had accepted the assignment and sat down to begin working. Whilst she was concentrating on her stitching, a gang of burly men had noticed the campfire glow in the waning light of day. Seeing that there was only a solo, unarmed young lady, the men thought they had hit the jackpot and were going to get some that night.

Unfortunately for them, Scarlet's well-honed caution and paranoia still persisted and she sensed their approach even before they stepped out of the shadows. Pretending that all was well, Scarlet quickly finished the stitch, because it would be a waste of time and effort to let it unravel in the ensuring fight, and set Theoraan's shirt aside. Causally tucking Theoraan's knife, which she had yet to return, into a holster, which he had relented and given her, Scarlet pretended to yawn and stretch her back and arms before placing one hand on her staff beside her.

The men chose that moment to enter the campsite with smug grins on their faces.

"Well, well, what have we here boys?"

Scarlet ignored their jaunts that she did not understand and surreptitiously cast her eyes about; mentally counting their numbers. Six; there were six of them in total. So confident in their strengths that they had not bothered to surround and entrap her. The leader stood at the forefront with his two henchmen at each side. The remaining three stood slightly apart from that pack, two on the left, one on the right, hence forming a semi-circle of sorts around her.

As the leader continued to blabber on and have his henchmen laugh at his jokes, Scarlet slowly inched the staff closer towards her. When at last the leader got tired at her lack of answers and made a move towards her, she quickly sprang out of her seating position and put distance between them. She kept her staff lowered in a non-threatening manner but maintained a tight grip. Scarlet eyed the startled men whilst constantly hoping that Theoraan would return soon. She also hoped that he himself was fine and had not encountered troubles of his own.

The two parties stood still for a while; the men, not knowing what to make of her and Scarlet, trying to use eye-power to will the men not to do anything stupid. Sadly, eye-powers were not her forte and naturally, the attempt failed.

Now on guard, the men tried to form a circle around her. Sensing that they had finally turned hostile, Scarlet raised her staff and gripped it with both hands, switching her stance to prepare for any sudden movements. The leader of the men, becoming impatient, finally stomped forwards to make a grab at her again. This time, Scarlet stood her ground and instead smacked his hand away with her staff as a warning strike. The leader was affronted and tried to intimidate Scarlet by coming in closer. Scarlet prevented his advance by pointing her staff at his centre, causing him to walk into her staff but advance no further. This, however, only served to infuriate the leader even more; prompting him to draw out his sword.

As a man of little worth but much pride, the leader instructed his followers to stand down. It would not do to be defeated by a girl who refused to be intimidated. Unfortunately for him, that was exactly what happened. Not five moves into the 'fight' Scarlet had hit the leader in the arm, causing him to drop his sword, and in the left ribs and in the right kneecap. So assured of their strength, these men wore neither body armour nor helmet, making them susceptible to the blunt force of her staff.

Groaning in pain, completely embarrassed and rightfully indignant at his loss, the leader quickly retracted his previous orders and screamed at his men to attack Scarlet and show her true fear. It was this scream that rang out through the forest and attracted the attention of Theoraan who was on his way back with two pheasants; hunting went well that evening. Now alert, Theoraan paid careful attention to the faint cries that were echoing through the forest.

Hearing the words 'Get her!' sent a chill through his bones. Immediately dropping the dead pheasants, Theoraan ran towards the campsite.

Meanwhile, Scarlet had to admit, she was in a bit of a tight spot. Careers were trained to gang up and take out the stranglers one by one. Now, the roles were reversed and the odds were not in her favour. Swiftly whacking one on the head with one end of the staff, she made a quick twist to block a swing of another's sword before jabbing the other end into the stomach of the third. She had already knocked out the leader and another with blows to the head but she still had four grown men waving four swords to contend with. Ducking the swords of one, she took advantage of her low position to sweep another off his feet. A quick roll to the side helped her evade a grab from minion number 4 into open space where she managed to get back on her feet.

Facing the four minions left, Scarlet calmed her breathing. They were at another stand-off yet again. Then, Scarlet caught movement behind the men. It was Theoraan who had returned with his sword raised, ready to protect his unrequested ward. Theoraan had watched the scene as he ran back and he was secretly impressed with the fact that she had knocked out two of the men and still managed to hold her own with the other four. Stepping over the bodies of the two she had knocked out, he quietly approached the men from behind and signalled to Scarlet which men he'd take out whilst throwing her a small upward tilt of his mouth.

At his version of a grin, Scarlet's face also broke out into a grin. Shifting her stance such that she looked relaxed, Scarlet causally met the eyes of each men before nonchalantly pointing behind the men.

All four men turned to look back.

In that split second moment, Scarlet had launched herself at the man on the outside left to deliver a swift blow to the head, knocking him out instantly. At the same time, Theoraan had taken out the man on centre right, also with a swift blow to the head. As Theoraan crossed swords with the right most man, Scarlet was evading and blocking the swings of the remaining man. Scarlet was soon pushed to the outer edges of the campsite.

After Theoraan dealt the decisive blow to his opponent, he looked up just in time to see Scarlet's outstretched hand and the glint of the flying knife. Time seemed to freeze and for a moment, Theoraan had feared that she had betrayed him. That moment was quickly banished by the whoosh of the knife past his ear and the loud thud and gurgle that sounded out right behind him. Turning his head to look, Theoraan came face to face with the gang leader who had his sword raised above his head preparing to strike him down. Said leader also had a knife in his throat which was now spewing out precious lifeblood. Scarlet had struck a critical artery.

Letting out the breathe he did not know he was holding, Theoraan smiled to himself. He was now certain that whoever Scarlet was, she meant him no harm and evidently, would protect him to the best of her abilities; which, judging from the distance between her and the leader and the deadly accuracy of her throw, appeared to be quite impressive.

After that incident they tied up all the knocked out men. Scarlet stole their knives and money; Theoraan approved of the first but not the second but turned a blind eye to it. The two of them then went back to retrieve the dropped pheasants and had a celebratory feast, of sorts.

As time passed, they settled into a simple routine. They would trek from dawn to early evening, only stopping to rest for natural reasons or for a quick lunch. In the evenings, if they had ran out of smoked meat, they would take turns to hunt whilst the other built a fire. Whoever caught the food could then rest or wash up. The one who did not hunt had to cook and clean up after. That person could then go and wash up.

Scarlet preferred being clean and hence preferring to do hunting duty in exchange for more 'clean time'. Theoraan did not care as much but was reluctant to let Scarlet go and hunt until she managed to prove her hunting prowess by nailing a bird to the trunk with a throw of the knife. Of course, her method of hunting was far more troublesome since she had to climb the tree to get it down after, but food was food.

At night, Scarlet would take first watch, yet another duty that she needed to convince Theoraan she could take on, whilst Theoraan would take second watch till dawn and prepare breakfast. After they broke their fast, their travels would resume again unless they had more 'incidents'.

In any case, as the days passed, their interactions were still rather awkward but slowly but surely, they were becoming more and more comfortable with each other and starting to care for each other. All built from their moments of silence.

The end of this chapter! Yes, I know this looks like a filler, and there are no fellowship members in sight but travel, the time spent travelling and the moments of travel is important! Anyway, next chapter is Bree!

OMAKE: The first time Scarlet tried to get clean

Scarlet was a little disgruntled. Quite a few days had passed since the start of the Hunger Games and her accidental arrival here in… wherever she was. Since that time till now, she had yet to properly take a bath. At first it was because she thought she was in the Arena and could not risk getting caught with her pants down, literally. Now that she was not in the Arena and with pretty safe company, the grime was starting to really irritate her.

Finally she could take it no longer. When Theoraan went out hunting, she slipped away to the small stream nearby. Quickly stripping off her clothes, Scarlet ran into the cold water that only came up to her knees. Sitting herself down, Scarlet made sure her trusty stolen knife was within reach before quickly washing herself. Deciding that there was no point getting clean only to wear back dirty clothes, Scarlet also set about rinsing her attire. Once she was done, she realised it might not have been her greatest idea to wash up without a towel to dry herself. Fighting the chill, Scarlet quickly shook off the water from her waterproof windbreaker and pulled it on.

After squeezing out the water from the rest of her garments, Scarlet pulled her boots sans socks on before slipping back to the camp… only to see Theorann gutting a rabbit and chucking the guts into a dug hole.

Both stared at each other for a while. Scarlet closed her eyes and winced as she felt her face start to heat up with a blush. She had completely forgotten that she was not out in the woods training with her father but instead with a total stranger. Inhaling, she opened her eyes, ignored Theoraan in a determined manner and stalked over to a branch nearest to the fire to hang up her washing. As she raised her arms to hang her socks, trousers, shirt and underwear, she prayed to every deity she knew and hoped that her windbreaker did not rise up too high. Whille her windbreaker was a long one, it was still an insecure feeling and so her blush remained.

Meanwhile, Theoraan had somewhat gotten over his shock. When she first appeared underdressed, clothes in hand and hair dripping, well, surprised would be an understatement. The thought that she was trying to seduce him did briefly cross his mind but it was quickly quashed. She was clearly embarrassed. Despite being a grown man with a wife and kids, Theoraan himself could not stop blushing when Scarlet started to blush. Even his daughter did not run around the woods underdressed. At her dismissal, Theoraan simply shook his head and returned to preparing dinner.

Neither spoke nor made eye-contact for quite a while after that.

That was the moment Theoraan realised that Scarlet literally had nothing but the clothes on her back.

That was the moment when he decided that at Bree, he would buy her clothes.

Most importantly, that was the moment when he decided to set aside bath time for both parties in their travel routine.