Long Lost Leaves

[Aikanáro]

He could, and yet would not. Tabrîl had her answer, and she would accept it.

'Seth'enati,' she said to Radagast, perfectly formal, an unspoken appreciation that he had answered her at all.

Haldis' question, though, she did not care to discuss. 'You would not understand it, if I tried to explain,' she said defensively.

She looked then to Abasi. What did he mean, to suggest they play now? It hardly seemed appropriate to her - but she would not refuse, the Game was important enough to her that the opportunity to play was welcome, even now.

'If you would,' she said to him, and began to walk away from the group, hoping he would follow. The circle ought to be a distance from the uwindi, if not the seth'enati.

[Willow Oran]

Haldis sighed, accepting Tabrîl's lack of response. Clearly she was not yet ready to work with the binding. Better that she distract herself with this Game, Abasi spoke of.
Haldis resisted the urge to follow and watch them, staying by Radagast.

[Curufin]

He followed her, and at an appropriate distance sat on the ground crosslegged, drawing his t'rai - a traditional three-pointed dagger - from his belt, then nodded at her, intimating that she do the same.

[Aikanáro]

Tabrîl too sat on the ground, directly opposite him, and took one of her own t'rai from her belt. This she placed on the ground between them, an indication that Abasi might take it up and be the one to begin the Game.

She tried to calm herself, to think only of what lay ahead. To be distracted even for a moment could prove to be a serious error. Perhaps that was why Abasi had asked her, she thought then, as she could not worry about this binding as she played. Or at least, she should not.

[Coffeehouse]

Emptying his water flask, Quickleaf walked over to Nami, who silently had been witnessing the spectacle. Still annoyed he sat down beside her and excused himself for borrowing her arrow, putting it back where it belonged.

"Was not my intention to use it Nami, I only wanted to make a point. The spectacle between the two of them startled me. Was hard knowing what was going on.., with Tabril attempting to kill Haldir."
The thought made him angry, but he tried to quell the feeling and instead took out his blade and started chipping away at his night's work, making arrows. He still couldn't believe he'd lost them back at the former camp.

In any case the sun was rising rapidly, swiftly painting the trees around them with a golden glow, the forest awaking to life. The air was cool, but warming. Quickleaf started singing, making it up as he went along.
"Bitter words, on the hillside
Sheathed sword,
Cold steel
This breath of darkness. A foul tide.

Cast off your cloak, the coldness' gone
Don't search on the mountains
Or the mines so deep
Cause all you need is right here, and there's nothing to be won...

[Curufin]

Abasi looked at her for a long moment, taking her t'rai in hand. He watched her face especially, deciding for himself that she was in a proper frame of mind to play. Then he took both of the t'rai and cast them both at her quickly and without mercy.

[Aikanáro]

As soon as Abasi's throw came, everything fled from Tabrîl's mind except the Game, the rhythm that needed to be established. It came naturally to her now, the catch, grabbing the hilts of the spinning blades in mid-air, and then the throw, sending them sailing back to Abasi at an equally perilous speed.

[Curufin]

Abasi's mind focused as well, grasping the hilts mid-air, and with a quick flick of his wrist, cast them back at her, speed increasing with every exchange. He did not think about the rhythm - he felt it. He felt it in his blood, in the beat of his heart - a rhythm he had known since the days his kind had still lived on the shores of Kuiviénen. It was the rhythm of their people, as natural to him as breathing.

There was a danger inherent in the Game, and he had seen people die before while playing, had even been responsible for a throw that had had not been caught properly and met its mark. But a m'had who missed was a weak m'had, and they played to keep their skill and reflexes, as well as to deserve life.

Catching both blades again, he cast them back to her.

[Aikanáro]

Tabrîl eased into the Game, matching Abasi's speed with each throw, increasing it, seizing the t'rai from the air and casting them back to him.

At home, in m'haid-hall, she would have played the Six, and Two was a different pattern, a different rhythm, but it was the same Game, and ever since Tabrîl had been old enough as a child to play at it, with two stones in place of the blades she threw now, it has held meaning to her. It was the Game of their People.

Again she made her throw, spinning the blades up in a high arc this time, a variation. If Abasi was attentive, he would catch, and the Game demanded such attention.

[Mari]

Ellysa walked a while before finding a place that she liked. The whole scenery was still unfamiliar to her, but here there were flowers, a lot of green and there was some water running.

First she cleansed herself with the water present. She allowed her thoughts to stray a little before returning to the things at hand. This land was blessed with so much water!

She took out some herbs from her pouch and crushed them above a small bowl, only large enough to contain a thumb. But it was big enough for her purposes. After mixing the crushed herbs with some water she drank it and assumed a meditative position.
It would help her think. She needed to have some clarity and guidance now.
Ellysa needed to know what to tell, what to believe.

Ever since she had joined up with this group her curse had been acting up. She had seen far more things than usual and they started to get out of control. A control she had spent years to get and maintain. It was at times like these that she wished Baba was still with her.
She could suddenly hear her voice snapping at her again. "Breath right! Deep, not shallow! Taste the air! Okay, now just let the images come to you and let them touch you. When they do, look at them and ignore them. Ignore them, not examine them!"
...
Slowly Ellysa sank away in a state of calm grounding which would eventually lead to the clarity she sought.

[Curufin]

Abasi was indeed attentive, and caught them both easily and cast them back at her, a little off center, testing her left side. Long ago, in m'had-hall, he would help to train the young m'haid, testing their reflexes, their concentration, their patience. It was long ago - days so far gone they were but a shadow in his mind.

The speed of the game was increasing exponentially. Abasi barely saw her hands move any more. She was good - very good.

[Aikanáro]

Tabrîl saw what Abasi intended as he threw. Now that was clever of him, her left side was the weaker, though not by much, and if she was going to make an error it would be there. She did not, though, and caught the t'rai without hesitation.

She threw back to him then, a quick, curved throw, and one she would not have tried had Abasi not shown such skill, it was not her intention to try to harm him.

[Curufin]

Abasi grabbed the t'rai out of the air easily, barely seeming to notice the strange angle of her throw. He watched her, not the daggers, catching them by reflex. He would have been glad to have her in his m'had. She had calmed a great deal since her talk with Radagast, and right now he was sure that she had nothing but the Game in her mind.

'If your entire m'had has the skill that you do, I would be impressed.'

He would see now how she dealt with distraction, as he cast them back at her, hard, and with deadly accuracy that would certainly end her life if she missed.

[Aikanáro]

If she had allowed her concentration to waver even for a fraction of a second, Tabrîl realized, only after she had caught the t'rai, that throw could have killed her. Abasi did not hold back with her, not even when he knew she was tired, and that she appreciated. It meant his words were genuine.

'Some have more skill,' she replied modestly, casting the blades back at him, this time sending them off at slightly different angles, it would mean a difficult catch. 'I confess I am impressed by yours also.' Particularly since Abasi had been alone for a time, with no m'had to play the Game with.

[Curufin]

Abasi caught the blades simultaneously, his hands working in perfect unison to snatch the blades from the air.

'It is perhaps the reason I was made m'haidati,' he said without a touch of arrogance - just a statement of fact - as he cast them back, one hard to the left and one hard to the right.

[Aikanáro]

'You were?' It was pure instinct that enabled Tabrîl to make the catch then, this revelation came as such as a surprise to her.

M'haidati? Then how could he have been the last of them, he ought to have been protecting his in'kasha...

'Why did you not tell me before?' It was in mid-sentence that she cast the t'rai, perfectly straight this time, but very hard. Perhaps he would not expect something so obvious from her, after these last few passes.

[Curufin]

Abasi caught the t'rai by instinct only, for his eyes darknened and he frowned.

'Would you tell such a thing if you were a m'haidati who had failed his people?'

He cast the t'rai back at her, directly at her face.

[feawen]

Nami had watch the whole thing in silence, she had no intent on getting involved but had anyone made an attempt on anyone else she would have. She watched as Quickleaf returned her arrows and begain singing. As he sang she too took up some of the arrows he was working on.


When he had finished singing Nami started talking, always looking at the arrow she was working on.

"You had good intent thats all that matters. I know you would not use it if you could get away with it. Words are mightier that the bow for you. All this i know from only a few days of knowing you so it must mean something important too you. Their ways are so different to ours its so hard not to offend, but i have to agree with Tabril, Haldis is in the wrong. No one should work magic on anyone with out knowledge or agreement." Nami shook her head.
"What a group of misfits we all are!"
Nami sat working for a while in silence.

"You know i would have backed you up if anything did happen, didn't you?" Nami cast a quick side ways look at Quickleaf.

[Aikanáro]

'I would not,' Tabrîl answered simply, reaching up and grabbing the hilts of the blades an instant before they would have found their mark. 'Did you fail them?' The question was direct, and such a thing Tabrîl would never have said to her own m'haidati. But Abasi was something else altogether.

She threw the t'rai again, one high and one low. Even if he told her that he did, she realized then, she would not think badly of him for it. He had done far more than was necessary for her.

[Curufin]

Abasi caught the t'rai easily, his mental disturbance not affecting his concentration.

'I did,' he said simply, casting them back in a straightforward manner.