Long Lost Leaves - part II

[Aikanáro]

'I will speak what language I please,' Tabrîl answered Haldis – a little petulantly, but in Sindarin. 'She seems to do so, and expects to be understood, I see no reason why I should not do likewise.'

She was silent then until Ellysa set the food down before them. Perhaps she had only been asking if she wished to have some brought to her, Tabrîl thought then, and if that was the case, there was no harm in it. She had even set the bowls down instead of handing them out, a gesture that among Tabrîl's people might in some circumstances mean no obligation, and although Tabrîl was no longer as insistent on self-sufficiency as she had been some days earlier, she appreciated Ellysa's thoughtfulness in the matter.

Taking up one of the bowls, she checked to ensure that there was nothing there that she should not eat. There was not, and so she tried a little. It was, if not up to the standard of the food she would get at home, fairly pleasant, and so she thanked Ellysa for bringing it. Her words may not have been understood, but her sentiment was clear.

[Willow Oran]

"Westron, however accented, is a common trade tongue," Haldis lightly chided the elf, "Your language is not. She wishes you a good morning and wants to know about the blades you bear."

Switching from Sindarin to her native Westron, Haldis turned back to Ellysa, "Thank you for bringing us breakfast. I've asked her for you, I'm afraid if you wish to learn her language I can't help. I only speak Sindarin well out the elvish languages."

[Mari]

"Oh." A slightly disappointed look crossed her face, but got replaced by a smile quickly. "Well, if you could perhaps teach me some... Shindarin? then perhaps Abasi could teach me some more? In any case, thank you for translating Haldis!"
She gave Haldis another happy smile, enjoying the morning sun and having a conversation with friends.

[Aikanáro]

Tabrîl gave Haldis a slightly confused look. 'It is a high language then that you all speak, one preserved to aid communication between peoples far sundered?' She hadn't known that such a language existed among them, but then it had been a long time, in their terms, since she had paid mortals any attention.

At the mention of her weapons Tabrîl smiled slightly, thinking of the t'rai of Abasi's she carried. She was unsure, however, of how to answer, it was a strange question for Ellysa to ask.

'Tell her that the blades are the traditional weapons of our people,' she said slowly, 'and they are called t'rai.' She paused for a moment, looking at Ellysa searchingly. 'Why does she ask?'

[Willow Oran]

Haldis quickly relayed Tabrîl's reply to Ellysa and then turned to attempt an answer to the questiong of language, "I cannot say if westron is a high language or not, or if it has been preserved and spread deliberately to aid communication. I know that all kindreds of the Edain seem to speak a form of it and that such dialects have not changed so much as to become fully different languages. But my Westron and Ellysa's do sound strange side by side and I have noticed are not quite the same language as Aelfwine's Westron or that spoken by our companions from across the mountains, so I think it came to be widespread naturally and preserved as language of trade by accident and convinience. Radagast may know better..."

Haldis trailed off and looked back at Ellysa, "I was trying to recall how it is that Westron is so widely used," she explained, and then asked, "What did make you ask about their knives?"

[Mari]

Ellysa listened to the strange sounds of the conversation between Haldis and Tabril. It sounded melodic.

"I was trying to recall how it is that Westron is so widely used, what did make you ask about their knives?" Haldis asked her.

"Westron isn't used at all where I come from. Only the leaders and the wise are allowed to learn the language. Baba taught me when I was little. Perhaps she knew I would one day travel this way." She contemplated that thought. She had asked that question herself many times, but she never got an answer from the old woman.

"I asked about the weapons because Tabril and Abasi seem to care about them, because I've never seen anything like them. I guess I was just wondering about their importance."
She thought back to the exchange of weapons she had seen earlier. She still hadn't figured out Tabril's position.

[Curufin]

Abasi looked from Tabrîl to Haldis to Ellysa, holding in a grin. He, of course, spoke all the languages currently being spoken, but it was not a bit of information he was willing to offer voluntarily. Perhaps it would serve some purpose later.

When Ellysa began speaking of the t'rai, Abasi let his hand trail down until his fingers touched the handle of Tabrîl's t'rai. So little time had passed that he himself was not sure where they stood yet in relationship to each other, but he felt it could not be dreadful, surely, as she kept his t'rai and did not cast it aside as she could have had she been displeased with him.

Withdrawing Tabrîl's t'rai from his belt, he began to sharpen it carefully, looking over at Tabrîl and trying to make eye contact as he did.

[Midge]

Blossomshade stood still by the edge of the camp, facing away from the group, so she did not notice there were three new people. Coming this far distance from the place she'd almost begun to call home was seeming to be fruitless. She could tell by the feel that evil had been here once, and wasn't totally gone, even if appearances seemed otherwise. Through petty arguments and exciting fights for life she had followed this group, though, and she wasn't about to give it up. She turned to the other Ent, who stood beside her soaking up the morning's dew which had settled on his leaves and branches.

"So, Earthshaker..." she began. "How long have all you... Ents been waiting for the Ent-wives, my kind, to come back?"

"Well," answered Earthshaker slowly, "It.. has.. been... quite.. a... long time. I don't really remember how long. We all became rather sleepy right before the Great War, except for Fangorn and a few of the younger ones. So we lost track of time. Then the two hobbits, Peregrin and Merry came to us and they woke us. We mustn't be hasty, though. The Ent-wives will continue to be if they survived before and during the Great War. I am glad to have come on such a venture to look for those we loved... and lost... I.. hope... they're still... out... there... to be... found."

With that, he fell silent, and Blossomshade took to thinking about his strange way of life that she'd never known, the one which made Earthshaker continue to make veiled references to her hastiness.

[Aikanáro]

As Tabrîl waited for Haldis to translate her words to Ellysa and get her an answer, she glanced over at Abasi again. It was something she did frequently, almost as if she was making sure he was still there, and she was unsure of why she did it. He was sharpening a t'rai now, and that in itself was nothing unusual.

Except that it was hers. Tabrîl gave him a small smile, unwilling to be too demonstrative in front of these others, but wanting him to know that she had noticed. 'I have kept yours sharp also,' she said quietly to him in Avarin. 'It is a good and useful t'rai and I am very glad to have it.'

[Earniel]

While everyone was eating breakfast, Radagast told Nixie of their travels, their departure from Rhosgobel many weeks ago, their fight with the spiders and how they picked up some companions on the way.

He pointed them out to Nixie, so she could remember the many names, Radagast's companions were quite a large group now.

He also told her what they were looking for in the bleak ruins of Dol Guldur and how they had fared in their search, some better than others he said, thinking of Quickleaf's accident.

[Curufin]

Abasi smiled back at Tabrîl, a slight curling of the lips that might be easily missed by those of other cultures.

'I keep it sharp as I hope it keeps our shi'a'thabi fresh and new,' he said, a traditional phrase of courtship among his people. It was a poor courtship indeed when a m'had or m'had'i allowed the t'rai of the other to become blunted and dull - a sign that they gave equal respect to the relationship. To keep the t'rai sharp was, on the other hand, to cherish it.

[Midge]

After her conversation with Earthshaker, Blossomshade turned to go back to the company. "Oh!" She cried. "There's a new one!"

She walked up to the new elf and looked down.

"Hello," she said. "I am called Blossomshade. I am an Ent-wife. The only one we know of, in fact. Who are you?"

[Earniel]

After breakfast, Radagast returned to the Dol Guldur documents, eager to learn their significance. He took the scrolls from his tent and sat down outside, not too far from the others. As he became engrossed in the translation, he barely noticed he was reading many of the texts out loud as he translated them. The others did not have the heart to disturb him to tell him so.

“It is a pity that I have to contact you after so long with such dire news. Yet it is such a pity I have to contact you this way at all, for you seem further than ever before, Fangorn. I remember how you used to visit me in my garden from time to time, now already too many years ago. “

“I knew it!� Radagast triumphantly to himself, “This is Fimbrethil’s original letter to Treebeard. It’s identical to the one they’ve found in Orthanc.�

He read on eagerly, the others could hear snatches of the ancient letter, written in the final days of the Entwives’ realm in the Brown Lands.

“…But at the beginning of the first week of the new moon a group of three distraught Entwives and a nigh-grown Enting reached our gardens. They were weary for they had come from far and without rest; the fire of the war in the South had driven them forth. And the fire had been at their heels; for their bark was so badly scorched that one could scarce tell whether they were birch, fir or beech….�

“During the two weeks after the death of the three Entwives and the Enting, more messengers of doom came our way. Entwives and Entings from all other gardens in our realm fled North but only a few could reach us there before the fire caught up with them. The laughter stilled in our meadows and the only things that still grew lushly in our gardens were our fears. Lasencalanith, Carnegildor, Namarillië, RaufÃ*rmalin, Ornesaryátar and many other gardens, so many others! all are destroyed….â€�

“…But we will make one, final effort to save what is left of us. We cannot turn West, as we shan’t be able to cross the Great River to reach your woodland homes before the fire consumes us. We cannot turn South nor can we turn North for strange things are moving in the North, that we cannot determine. And I will not risk running into one danger when fleeing from another! Nor would the fire overlook us there, under the eaves of the Great Wood. But perchance we might save some of us by escaping East….

“…Thus I will lead what Entwives and Entings that will follow me into the East, where we might be able to escape the fiery jaws that wish to crush us. There are but eighteen who can follow me, Eighteen! Of the dozens that there have been. Such is the misery of our downfall...�

“… So I must bid you now farewell, my friend, where I wish I could bid you until we meet again. I turn my gaze to the East where I must go while there is still time. Come to me, Fangorn, my old friend. Find me thither! For we will not be able to hide long in the eastern groves and beyond that all roads end in shadow.�

“Yes, East they went, but where? I hope the other texts may provide some more tangible clue…� The wizard rummaged through the other scrolls, looked at a few one by one, and selected one.

“This looks promising, looks like a report of an orc captain to Khamûl, the Ringwraith, only second to the Witch-King… Dated second age, 3400 something… Hmmm, seems like the right period…�

“My Lord Khamûl,

We have met no one since we issued from the Black Gate and my boys were hungry for battle. We have seen many fields and gardens, but no tarks.�

“Ha yes, clearly an orc…�

“They must have fled before us, the cowards. Ha! They won’t find anything useful when they slink back to their homes, my boys like a good bon-fire as well as anyone… We did see some strange tree-like creatures that tried to prevent us from torching the gardens. They nearly killed off all off Sargûn’s squad….�

“Another report…� Radagast rifled again through the scrolls to find the next document.

“We will no longer kill the tree-creatures, my lord. Instead we burn the land at there heels, driving them North as you commanded us. It is a tricky business, we have to kill many that will not run…

“So the Nazgûl commanded the orcs not to kill the Entwives! Wait, there’s more, this report dates several months later…�

“My lord Khamûl,

we have crossed the Rhûn-river three days ago, as did our quarry before us. They know they are pursued but do not face us. I presume they intend to lose us at the foot of the mountains. Little do they know that is where we want them to go!�

“The mountains?� Radagast picked up one of his maps. “If the Rhûn river is the river Running, then the mountains ahead must be the Iron Hills,� he mused. “Is that where they drove the Entwives? What of the Dwarves? No, I’m confusing myself, the Dwarves didn’t build homes in the Iron Hills for another 2000 years… Let's read on...�

“We have the tree-creatures penned, my lord! In the caves under the rock with the three spikes, four days travel from the red river, just as you commanded. The guardian you have appointed is way-ward but she turns docile at the mention of the fate of her little ‘pets’, she will do as you command, my lord, and lock her prisoners away for all of eternity.�

“A rock with three spires, at a distance of four days starting at the point where the river Carnen leaves the hills. A better clue we will not find! There we must go.�

[Curufin]

Abasi stood as Radagast began reading the letters, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. These were Mysteries, and not to be shared with the m'haid. Such things were for the seth'en. He would not - and could not - listen.

Moving far enough away that he could not hear, he looked to Tabrîl, hoping - and expecting - that she would join him.

[Willow Oran]

Haldis on the other hand drew closer, listening intently, till she was very nearly reading over Radagast's shoulder, save for the fact that she could not read such scripts. When Radagast finished reading the description of the place where the Ent-wives had been penned she stood back, thoughtful, "What of this guardian it speaks of?" she asked, "If the nazgul appointed it, it must be a monster, but what sort? The old tales seldom tell of female monsters whose deaths are unaccounted for."

[Midge]

Whilst Radagast was discovering where to go next, Aerin felt the desire to come back to the camp from her walk. She had not lost her way, nor had she gone far. On the way back in, she noticed what must be an Ent and realized she was slightly impressed that Radagast had talked one into coming with their group.

She was nearly at the campsite and thinking hard when she almost ran into a very hard, stern-looking elf. She looked into his face to see if she remembered him, and found he was one of those she had catalogued as as sentinel, guarding the way out of Dol Guldur. She bent her head slightly, giving him a slight bow as she did to those she respected. Without looking back up at him, she turned and walked over to the quietest part of the campfire.

[orithil]

Hedrim listened intently to Radagast as he read aloud the script. When he finished Hedrim walked closer and looked at the scrolls, "Do we have a heading master Radagast?" Hedrim said.

[Earniel]

Radagast looked up when Haldis spoke, only now realising he had been speaking out loud.

"I don't know what sort of guardian was appointed," Radagast said, "so much is not mentioned. Sauron used Shelob, one of Ungoliant's brood, to guard one of the entrances into Mordor, and he made use of cold-drakes to harry the Dwarven settlements in the North. This Guardian could be anything like that or worse.

But I can not help myself but think this Guardian was not entirely willing to take on the task. The orc captain mentions these... 'pets' with which they kept her docile. Very peculiar... But what either of them are, I do not know. Nor do we know whether the Guardian is still at her station, although the orc seemed confident she would."

"And yes, we have a heading, Hedrim," Radagast replied to the Northern king. "We go north-east. In a few days time we can reach the East Bight, that is a large deforested area at the eastern side of Greenwood. There are towns there, where we can get supplies, and warmer clothing for the Iron Hills. The weather can turn cold that far north."

"But I fear the precautions needed to travers the eastern lands and reach the Iron Hills will need my actual presence. I shall need to travel ahead, alone, and join again with you somewhere after the East Bight. Have no fears," Radagast said when the others started to protest. "You know which way to go, and I will no doubt be able to find you again soon, after all you are not an inconspicious group," he said with a smile.

And gathering quickly some of his belongings, the wizard set out on his solitary journey after saying goodbye to everyone. He soon was out of sight among the trees.

[feawen]

At the mention of East Bight Nami's face light up.

"Oh East Bight i have not been there few a years. My father and i would go to the towns there in the summer seasons to trade the odd thing and to renew old friendships." A thought entered her head and a bright smile spend over her face. "Teig must still live in the area, i have not seen him in so long!"

[The Sasquatch of Fangorn]

"Iron hills?" said Borin. "Those are my old haunts! You will finally be able to see my old home!"