Other Worlds Than These

[Aikanáro]

'I am not certain of your meaning. This land falls under the jurisdiction of King Elessar of Gondor,' she said slowly.

Was he quite mad? Tanwendë hoped not. Yet even the questions he asked didn't make sense. She had understood him wrongly. He believed he had already come from a ship in the sky. That was clearly absurd, but it was also obvious that he wasn't from anywhere around here. She thought again on the circle of light, the circle she had seen on the sky above them. By no stretch of the imagination could it be called a ship, and yet...

'Your ship,' she said to him plainly, hoping to appeal to whatever sense of reason he possessed. 'If it carried you hence, then where does it now lie?' The plains were empty. No sign of a ship, wrecked or otherwise. 'How did you come from there to here? Had it anything to do with the circle of light?'

~-~-~

Rivailen blinked, not quite comprehending. The words the woman spoke were of no language she had ever heard. She was alert, though, and that was a good sign. It didn't seem that the fall had hurt her much.

She glanced back towards Beryn and Barufiniel, and then decided that her own efforts were hardly going to do any harm. 'Rivailen,' she stated clearly, tapping at her own shoulder. Then she pointed back at the woman sitting on the ground. 'Ishal-Nolu?' she ventured, trying to imitate the sounds she had heard. Then she reached out further, intending to help her to her feet.