With her wounded hand cleaned and wrapped, Rhavaniel turned her attention to Kili's pack and the arrows she had made for him throughout the night at the Watchtower.
"We had better see if these work, or there is no value in carrying them any farther," she said.
"All the Elf arrows were much too long and narrow for your bow. I took three arrows and bonded them together, cut them to fit your bow, and fletched them as one. The nock is chipped along all three to work with your bowstring. You will have to try one to see if the balance is right. I cannot pull you bow." she said sheepishly.
Kili had more than a few doubts that this concoction would work, but he was impressed with the resourcefulness of the Elf. The three-headed point did look quite menacing.
"I will take a shot." and he loaded the bow. She had the length and the nock right, at least. He aimed carefully for a low hanging branch and released. To his surprise, the arrow sailed smooth and hit its mark.
Kili was deeply relieved. The few original arrows he made for himself were not going to last long in these woods. "Those will work, thank you. You are a clever girl."
"My hands are quick. It makes up for being slow of wit." Rhavaniel said as she picked up her pack and they begin to walk again.
"Why would you say such a thing?" Kili inquired.
"I am mediocre in studies outside the forge." she confessed, "But that is not what vexes me. It is my lack of ...comprehension... of the world. For example, my second parents left for the Undying Lands when I was small. I know they were old, and had lived a full live, but the idea that one could grow weary of Middle-Earth, with all its wonders, is something I still cannot understand. Here I've met a Dwarf and it may take years to know you. You are a young Dwarf, I think?" Kili nodded, "So, you will not be the same today as you will be tomorrow. Every day is different - no two sunrises, or apple blossoms, or snowflakes are the same. And I could not find two the same in a thousand years. I can't imagine being weary of it."
"They left?" Kili asked, "Your grandparents? They did not have to go?"
Rhavaniel turned to him, "Grandparents? Oh, by second parents I meant the parents who cared for me when I was small. I do not recollect my first parents, but I was quite attached to my second parents."
"They made a choice to leave, and planned it in great detail. It was a beautiful celebration, with all of their friends and family, and music, speeches and laughter. Everyone was happy. I was still small. I heard all that was said, but my wits did not understand it because I thought they were going on a sail and would be back soon. I did not know I would never see them again. I did not even know enough to be sad that day, or the next, or for many days thereafter. I was very ignorant, and the realization was slow to creep in. My poor siblings had to cope with me constantly asking when they would be back. The answer never changed, so I do not know why I kept asking."
"My father died," Kili told her, "in battle. I was young, but I remember."
"Did you know enough to be sad?" she asked, with curiosity rather than self-pity.
"Aye, I knew to be sad." he replied.
"Then you were far smarter than I was."
(*********************************)
They hiked North until mid-day. Rhavaniel selected a tall tree and climbed to assess the best path forward. To her dismay, she discovered a party of Orcs and Wargs approaching. She scurried down the tree to confer with Kili.
"The Orcs from this morning are tracking us, and we are upwind of them." she reported.
"Is it still a large group?" he asked.
She nodded, "At least twelve of the twenty riders we saw before, and I could not tell how many foot soldiers."
"We will have to double back and get downwind," he says grimly.
"Perhaps you can climb here, with our packs, while I race ahead and deliberately leave a scent. The trees are tall and thick, and I can come back to you safely along the high branches. They won't see me, and I am light enough that they will not hear me."
Kili had to admit, it was a good plan. After the Ravine, he was reluctant to be separated from his new companion, but he saw no alternative.
"Take this." Kili handed an empty food sack from his pocket to Rhavaniel, so that she could drag it on the ground for scent. He hoisted both of their packs with ease and began the climb. "Go no more than a half league ahead of me." he warned, as she took off along the forest floor at a sprint.
Kili secured the packs between sturdy mid-height branches and kept climbing with just his bow and a good supply of arrows. He had a clear view of the ground from his perch and not long to wait before the band of Orcs passed beneath him. They did not slow as they continued to track Rhavaniel.
He counted thirteen Orcs on Wargs and at least twenty Orcs on foot. They passed beneath him without looking up or wavering from their mission. His relief was short lived, knowing that meant all the risk was on the Elf girl now. He regretted that he let Rhavaniel engage in such a dangerous plan. He waited anxiously in the tree. He knew Mahal answered the prayers of Dwarves, but did not know if Mahal's grace applied to Elves. He thought there was no harm in trying, so he offered a quick prayer for Rhavaniel's safety. He was not long waiting for the reward of sight of her, half a league away, popping up through the treetops. She waived an all-clear, and dropped in and out of his sight as she slowly worked her way back to him along the high branches.
When she joined him in the tree, she smiled, "Back in time for lunch." and handed him his sack. She had managed to find wild grapes along the path and grabbed as much as she could stuff in it.
"Well done." Kili told her, then froze, looking down. They had both failed to see one straggling Orc, far behind the others on a badly injured and lame Warg. It had heard them.
The Orc whipped his ragged Warg to a run as Kili climbed as fast as he could down the tree. Rhavaniel raced along the branches to get ahead of him.
Kili shot an arrow before his feet even hit the ground. The Warg fell and rolled, taking the Orc down with him. The Orc began to scream for his companions when Rhavaniel's arrow through his throat silenced him. Kili raced up as Rhavaniel dropped to the ground, shaken and pale.
"You did well." Kili told her.
Rhavaniel nodded, "It had to be done." and after a pause, "Does he have anything we can use?"
Kili was more surprised at her practicality than her willingness to take a life. He had never imagined the haughty Elves would consider foraging dead Orcs in the woods.
"Let's look, but be quick about it."
They decided his shield and helmet were too cumbersome, and his lance too heavy for their journey. They took two smaller spears, a knife, and a ragged bit of his cloak to lay down a false scent.
Rhavaniel noticed an enamel feather pierced through the Orc's ear and took it. "This is Elvish," she showed Kili, "unique to the Avari tribe. They are distant kin to Silvan. Some live in western settlements of Mirkwood, and on the southern mountain range."
"Then he has killed your kind. Let that reassure you of your actions today." Kili said grimly.
Rhavaniel pondered the ornament, "Odd that an Orc would choose to wear it the same way as Elf."
She cautiously approached the fallen Warg, to check the saddlebags. The Warg whimpered, for it was not dead after all.
"They did not even try to treat his burns." she noticed.
"Get back," Kili warned, with arrow drawn.
"No!" she help up her hand.
"We have to kill it." Kili said
"Are we going to eat him?" she demanded.
"No!" Kili replied.
"Is he going to eat us, in this condition? Please spare him. This is not squeamishness. I see something in his eyes that asks for mercy and if it is in our power to grant it, we should." Rhavaniel pleaded.
Kili kept a sharp eye and loaded bow on the Warg. He had thought to yell at Rhavaniel, perhaps crack her along the side of her head with his bow, the way Uncle Thorin had done to him on more than one deserved occasion. But the girl had listened to him and proven herself today. She had earned benefit of doubt.
"Be quick about it." he said grudgingly.
Kili's arrow had gone clean through the Warg's rear leg. Rhavaniel quickly bound the wound with cloth. The animal was too weak to protest.
Rhavaniel retrieved her balm from her pack, and patted it on the Warg's burns as she unhooked his saddle. She threw the saddlebags to Kili. There was food in one - putrid and unidentifiable. Kili tossed it back to her, "We are not that hungry yet. Leave it for the beast."
Rhavaniel prepared a bowl of water for the Warg as well, from the dead Orc's supplies.
Kili took what he thought worthwhile - leather chord, some throwing spikes, fishing hooks and line, and some chainmail. The last thing he pulled out of the second saddle bag was a long braid of silken chestnut hair that could only have come from an Elf. As it unraveled, Kili saw a piece of dried scalp still attached. He tossed the gruesome trophy behind a rock before Rhavaniel could see it.
"We're done here."