Topic: The Bargain Fulfilled

Haldreithen

Date: 2019-03-27 18:47 EST
Three days seemed too long and yet not long enough for Nesgrim to do whatever it was the gnome druid had planned to do. But no one could deny that there had been no trouble with gnolls or anything else since Aran had spoken with the gnome, almost as though they had moved on in some way. It seemed he had kept his end of the bargain ....one half of it, anyway.

It seemed almost unbelievable the way the attacks had ended, and the gnolls were no longer a threat to the village. A miracle to some, though Hal knew better. He knew it was because of the bargain they'd made with the druid, and now it was their turn to keep their end of that bargain. He'd left that part to Luin; all he needed to do was escort her there and keep her safe. That, and free the drow girl from captivity. In the end, they hadn't needed to make a choice between the two drow in the village. One had declined, which left the other to reluctantly agree in his place.

Luin had spent the third day closeted with the mages, learning the essence of the spell and how to cast it. She was as ready as she would ever be to do this, but she already knew she would not give Nesgrim his peace unless he first gave the drow girl her freedom. This time, when they reached the barrier of vines, there was no separation of the greenery. They were forced to wait while, presumably, Nesgrim was summoned.

The third member of their party - a dark elf named Kalan'ar - was not a seasoned warrior, like his companions, despite the fact that he was armed, mostly for his own protection. He shifted nervously from one foot to the other, obviously restless as they awaited the gnome's arrival.

"Stop fidgeting," Hal hissed in annoyance. "You are making me nervous."

"Apologies, my lord," the dark elf murmured, struggling to remain still. He tilted a glance at the woods around them, in anticipation of the druid's arrival. "Do you think he knows we are here?"

Luin had been watching the tops of the trees in this clearing, ignoring the nervous fidgeting, and felt a faint sense of relief when she saw what she had been hoping to see. "He knows," she assured her companions, gesturing toward the shimmering hummingbird flitting back and forth above them. "I would venture to guess that he is almost here."

"A hummingbird?" Kalan'ar asked, as he followed Luin's gaze to the tops of the trees.

"That is no bird," Hal pointed out. "That is the dark elf that is his captive," without further explanation. They had already told him as much as they knew, but the drow had not been expecting her to appear in such a delicate form as that.

"He seems to keep her in that form until he requires the use of her hands," Luin commented softly, tilting her gaze back to the vines as they began to whisper and untangle themselves, parting to reveal the disheveled and bearded gnome druid, stumping toward them with his heavy staff.

He stopped at the sight of Kalan'ar. "You bring drow?"

"He is only here for the girl. We do not know what language she speaks, and we need to be able to communicate with her," Hal said, stepping between the druid and the drow, in part to protect him and in part to become a living barrier between the gnome and the drow. "Do not fear. We intend to keep our part of the bargain," he assured the old gnome."

Nesgrim eyed them warily, but it appeared that he had decided to trust at least the two elves he had already met. "Gnolls gone," he informed them. "Moved them on through a portal, back to their own lands. No more trouble coming your way from them."

Luin smiled. "Thank you, Nesgrim."

"Yes, thank you. The villagers are grateful for your help," Hal echoed Luin's words, though he wasn't quite as trusting as she was. Still, the gnome had upheld his end of the bargain. "Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked further, of the bargain they had made. All the druid claimed to have wanted was the peace and quiet that came with solitude before he died, but to Hal, it seemed a lonely way to end his life.

The old gnome huffed at the concern in Hal's voice. "Four hundred years might not seem much to you long-lived ones, but for me, it has been a very long life," he said in his cracked voice. "Peace, I need peace. No more demands. Just the Mother, and the bounty of her goodness."

"And the drow girl?" Luin asked, her tone just a little sharp.

Nesgrim scowled, but thumped his staff against the ground. The hummingbird swept downward just in time to prevent the dark elven woman being hurt when she landed, but she still stumbled and fell to her knees.

Kalan'ar gasped as the hummingbird turned into a pretty dark elf, right before his eyes, and he unconsciously reached out to steady her before she fell, without thought as to whether she might welcome his help.

"Steady," he told her quietly, as he offered his arm, choosing to speak to her in their native drow language, rather than common in hopes she understood. "We are here to set you free."

She did not shy away from his touch, but the tension that rippled through her suggested that this woman was accustomed to stealing herself against anything unpleasant. But she nodded in answer to his words, showing that she understood Under-Common, at the very least. She touched the circle of twisted vines about her neck silently, her violet eyes very carefully devoid of all emotion.

Kalan'ar scowled as he recognized the vines for what they really were. "The collar," he pointed out, switching back to the language that was commonly spoken in Rhy'Din. Hal glanced over at the girl and the circle of vines about her neck, furrowing his brows in annoyance again, assuming that was what held her in the druid's thrall. He wondered if the druid was waiting for them to uphold their part of the bargain before he freed her completely. "That is not part of the bargain," he said, turning back to Nesgrim.

The gnome ignored him, his beady eyes fixed on Hal and Luin, the two elves he had met before and felt no particular dislike of. "You kept your word?" he asked, and it was almost painful how much hope the little man held in those few syllables. He truly did want to be away from the world of men and elves and others in his last weeks and months, needing reassurance that he would have that before he gave up everything he had agreed to.

"We kept our word," Hal confirmed, looking to Luin, who was the one who would be casting the spell. "Will you keep yours?" he asked, with a nod of his head toward the drow girl and the matter of the collar of vines around her neck that seemed to still hold her in thrall.

Sensing that she was the one who would make or break this deal at this point, Luin knelt down, opening the pouch on her belt to start bringing out the components of the spell she was about to cast. Nesgrim eyed her thoughtfully, watching for a long moment. Then he leveled his staff at the drow girl, and a thin blast of green energy swept from the crystal hidden in the gnarled wood to the circlet of vines about her neck. The vines unraveled themselves, revealing the thorns that had been turned inward against her flesh, slithering away to rejoin the living mass around them as dark blood trickled from the pinprick wounds left behind by the living collar.

Haldreithen

Date: 2019-03-27 18:47 EST
Nesgrim grunted. "Done."

Relieved as he was that she'd been freed, Kal's scowl deepened at the sight of those thorns and that blood. He still had hold of the drow girl, just to make sure she stayed on her feet - or so he told himself. He wasn't sure why he was feeling so protective of her when he'd only experienced cruelty at the hands of drow females in the past, but perhaps it was merely pity. Hal remained where he was between the gnome and the pair of drow, turning only to make sure Nesgrim had done what he'd said.

"Good." He nodded to Luin, signaling her to finish their share of the bargain.

It was just as well Kalan'ar had hold of the drow girl, or she would have fallen when the spell binding her will was released. As it was, she was shaking as he steadied her, allowing him to keep her upright, perhaps even accepting the comfort of being touched without expectation. She remained silent, but kept her face turned away from the gnome that had enslaved her, as though afraid he might change his mind.

Luin smiled gently as Hal nodded to her, bending over the few preparations. She tried not to notice when Nesgrim leaned over her himself, curious about a form of magic that was unfamiliar to him.

Kal's arm went around the drow girl, almost as if he instinctively sensed her fear, but whether it was pity or compassion, even he wasn't sure. All he knew what that he didn't like anyone being subjected to slavery, and he wasn't going to allow the gnome to hurt her again.

"Why do you want to be alone?" Hal asked, breaking the silence, while Luin prepared her spell. He understood the druid's love of nature, so perhaps he didn't feel alone, so long as he was surrounded by the trees and creatures of the forest he so loved.

"You think I am alone?" Nesgrim laughed his cackling, cracked laugh, shaking his head almost cheerfully as he turned away from Luin to address Hal. "Can you hear the grass growing" The trees reaching for the sun" Can you hear all the little voices of the creatures that don't touch your world every moment of every day' Do you hear the Mother in the sunrise and the sunset, in every fall of rain?" He leaned on his little staff comfortably. "I do."

Hal turned quiet, tilting his head to the trees, as if to listen for the voices the druid claimed to hear. As an elf, he was as aware of the wonder of the woods as the druid, but he was not as tuned to the voices of the trees and the wind and the creatures as the gnome. "I am aware of them, but I do not hear them as you do," he replied, turning back to the gnome, a little bit wistfully.

"I don't need elves or humans, or people like them," the gnome told him. "I am a part of the forest. It is a part of me. All druids feel it, even those who turn their backs on it for love."

"Very well," Hal replied, satisfied that the druid wouldn't be lonely once the spell was complete and he was sealed off from any further contact with the outside world. "Are you ready?"

"Me?" The elderly gnome laughed, stepping back behind the boundary of his vines once again. "Always ready, me."

Luin smiled, glancing up at Hal. She was ready to release the spell at any moment.

"Very well, then. Aa meealle nauva calen ar malta, yaaraer," Hal told the elf, giving a final nod to Luin as he stepped back out of the way. The blessing he offered was a simple one and one he hoped the gnome would appreciate it, assuming he understood the elf's words.

Nesgrim nodded to him, turning his eyes to Luin. She raised her gaze to his from where she knelt.

"The spell will last as long as your life does," she told him. "No one will be able to approach your home, nor pass through the barrier I am about to raise. Thank you, Nesgrim. Anarven owes you a great deal."

The gnome smiled finally, a genuine, almost familiar kind of smile. "Anarven made the last century a lot more interesting," he admitted. "Be well, red one. Look after your man."

Luin laughed softly, nodding in agreement. Then she raised the little bowl in one hand, and began to sprinkle the combined powders within into the air. The space between the vines and the elves rippled almost imperceptibly, and quite suddenly Nesgrim was no longer visible, hidden from the world just as he had asked to be.

"Is it strange to say I will miss him somehow?" Hal said, once the spell was completed and the druid was no longer visible. He assumed the druid was still there, somewhere, but unable to interact with them, as they were unable to interact with him.

"A little," Luin pointed out. "You've only met him twice." She grinned over at her mate, carefully packing the little pouch once more. "You can try to walk into the vines, if you like. It won't hurt, but you won't be able to go that way."

"No, I trust you," Hal replied, lifting a hand to indicate he had no intention of testing her magic. "I suppose we will have to find another druid, if we ever need his help again," he said, frowning. He didn't think druids were a dime a dozen, the way some other mages were.

"Raniel is a druid, though he is not as in tune with the world as Nesgrim is," Luin said, rising to her feet. She glanced toward the two drow in concern. "Kal?"

Hal furrowed his brows at Luin's correction, not bothering to argue with her. That was not what he'd meant, but he didn't feel the need to point that out to her right now. What was done was done. The village was safe, and for the time being, that was all that mattered.

Kalan'ar turned his head toward Luin as she called his name. "She is shaking like a leaf, but she seems to be well enough," he answered her question, without having to be asked.

"We should return to the camp," Luin suggested, glancing at Hal for his input. "We won't reach Anarven until very late if we start out now, and the breaking of a spell can be very painful." She tilted her head, trying to get a better look at the drow girl, but the curtain of silver-white hair hid her face effectively.

Haldreithen

Date: 2019-03-27 18:48 EST
"Or we could spend the night at the cave," Hal suggested, just as they had a few days ago. It would give the girl a chance to rest and recuperate before they made the long journey back to Anarven. It would also give them a chance to see if she had suffered any ill effects before introducing her to the villagers.

Luin considered that, offering up a nod of agreement. "That is probably a better idea," she agreed. "It's more defensible, for a start, and it'll be restocked. We just have to collect our packs from the temporary camp on the way." She glanced over at the drow again. "Will she be all right to walk on bare feet?"

Kalan'ar glanced down at the drow girl's feet, as though he was only just noticed they were bare now that Luin had pointed it out. He frowned for a moment, considering, before replying, "I can carry her," he volunteered, turning to the drow girl beside him and lowering his voice to ask in their own language, "I can carry you, if you cannot walk. I don't mind."

For the first time, it seemed as though she was able to form words. She spoke in Under-Common, her hair falling back from her face as she looked up at the dark elf who held her. "You are tall for a drow."

"Yes," he replied back in the same language, not denying what she said. It was a simple fact, after all, and may have even helped him survive. "We are taking you to a cave, where we will spend the night. You'll be safe there. Tomorrow, we'll return to our village. You should come with us, at least, until you are well enough to decide what you would like to do with your freedom," he told her.

He was doing so well, right up to the point when he mentioned freedom. Deep suspicion blossomed in her gaze as she swayed back from him. "Freedom is a lie," she said, still in Under-Common. "You have bought me from the gnome. You are not my friends. You are my masters."

Kal frowned, knowing how hard it was to understand the concept of freedom and even accept it when one had been a slave for so long. "No, little one. It is trust. I was a slave once, but now I am free. Just as you are free. You will see," he assured her, but he didn't want to force the matter. "For now, we will eat and rest, but there is a little way to go yet. Can you walk on your own?"

She nodded warily, unwilling to admit to any kind of weakness when she knew so little of the people she was now among. Hearing a footstep behind her, she stiffened as Luinithlas spoke.

"Can she understand us?" the red-headed elf asked gently. "Does she have a name?"

Kal glanced at Luin, and then back to the girl. "Do you understand them?" he asked, still in the language that was most familiar to the two of them. "What is your name?" he asked her, as gently as he could. Meanwhile, Hal was looking around, as though he was nervous to remain there.

"I understand," the drow girl said, switching to Common that was accented just barely with the lilt of her own people underground. Her name, however, seemed harder to share, and for Kal, that was likely not such a surprise. Slaves were not permitted to keep their names in drow society, and she - being a female of the race of mistresses - had likely had all connection to her house broken from her. "Greylin," she said finally. "My name is Greylin."

"Greylin," Kal echoed, a soft smile on his face, glad she had seen fit to trust him enough to give him her name. "I am Kalan'ar," he told her, with a slight accent to his speech, as well, as it was not his native tongue. "And this is Luinithlas and Haldreithen. They are elves, but they do not hate our kind the way most surface dwellers do," he explained. "Come," he said, offering his arm again. "We will take you someplace safe."

Those violet eyes turned toward the surface elves, wary suspicion uppermost in her gaze. Luin let the dark elf eye her for as long as she wanted, settling her bow over her shoulder for the time being as she waited for Hal to signal them to move. Greylin turned her eyes back to Kalan'ar, staring at his proffered arm for a long moment before grasping his sleeve gently between her fingers.

Hal cocked his head a moment, as if he was listening to the wind or the sounds on the wind. Once he was satisfied all was well, he offered a nod to Luin that he thought it was safe to continue on their journey.

Kal smiled again, as the little drow took his arm. "It's all right. No one is going to hurt you," he assured her.

Greylin's solemn gaze didn't outright call him a liar, but neither did it convey any form of agreement or reassurance. "That remains to be seen," was she said, making a point of speaking in Common, as though making sure she could not be accused of anything by her unexpected companions.

"You will see," Kal assured her. There was no need to force his point when she would see for herself soon enough. And then she would have to decide what to do with her freedom, but there was no rush.

"We should go," Hal broke in. "It won't stay light forever."

Kal only smiled. If there was one thing drow weren't afraid of, it was the darkness.

Greylin's very soft snort of derision told Kal that she had harbored the same thought, though she was very careful not to share it aloud.

Luinithlas bit down on her own grin, instead moving to urge Kal and his little companion to follow after Haldreithen while she took up the rear. "It isn't far," she told them both, "and the water is warm, if you'd like to wash up."

It wasn't the dark Hal was afraid of so much as the creatures that sometimes lurked there, but he said nothing about the way Greylin snorted. He only scowled briefly. They had freed her from a life of captivity; he thought she might show them a little more gratitude than a snort of derision.

"Follow me," he said, falling into step to take the lead, whatever his thoughts might be.

The journey through the advancing twilight was all but silent. All elven kind knew how to move silently when the need called for it, and there was no call for any kind of conversation. But it was with warm relief that Luin sighed when they passed beneath the waterfall and into the cave beyond it, feeling a familiar layer of tension ease away. She did, however, take one look at Kal and Greylin and set her own comfort aside for a little while.

"Hal, let's scout a bit," she suggested, jerking her head back toward the exit.

Haldreithen

Date: 2019-03-27 18:48 EST
Hal followed her glance to the pair of dark elves, frowning in thought. He had considered suggesting the same thing, but he wasn't sure if they should leave the two of them alone. Still, from the looks of things, the girl was too tired to cause any trouble and Kalan'ar seemed capable of taking care of himself.

"There are provisions in the cave." He glanced again to the girl, noting the fact that she needed a bath. "You might want to wash up. We won't be gone long."

Despite her initial bad impression on Hal, Greylin nodded to him when he spoke, aware of how grubby she was, how tattered her garments were. Luin smiled, touching her mate's arm. She had a feeling she was going to have to explain a little more about the drow, but if they stayed close enough and Kalan'ar got her talking ....she might not have to explain too much.

Satisfied there was little the girl could do to cause any trouble, other than steal provisions, Hal turned at Luin's touch, his expression softening and started away from the clearing to disappear into the trees.

Greylin watched them go, turning to look at the tall dark elf they had left her with. "What would you have me do?" she asked him, her tone perfectly pitched to obedient desire.

Kal looked puzzled at her question, brows arching upwards, before understanding what it was she was asking him. "You are not my slave, Lady. You are free to do as you choose." He looked toward the pool beneath the falls and then to the cave, recalling how it felt to be free for the first time. It was terrifying and strange and wonderful, all at the same time, and even now, he sometimes worried they'd find him and drag him back to the Underdark. "Are you hungry' Thirsty?"

Those violet eyes, so unusual in their kind, considered him for a long moment. If he truly knew what it was to be a slave, then he already knew the answer to those questions. "Always," she said finally, giving him honesty if not gratitude for his interest.

"I will find you something to eat and drink," he said, falling back into the common tongue they both knew best. He made no further suggestions, though she did need a bath, and there was the matter of those pinpricks of blood around her neck, but he was no healer. "Sit," he told her, gesturing to one rock or another. "You must be tired."

Everything about her demeanor screamed that she thought all of this was some kind of elaborate trap, some means to win her trust before hurting her in some new way. But he had finally given her something she could interpret as an order, and so, she sat, her fingertips just barely brushing the scabs that decorated her throat. "Why didn't you let the gnome kill me?"

"Me?" Kal asked, blinking in surprise. It had not been his decision to rescue her from the druid, and he wasn't even sure if he'd have done it, given the choice. His expression shifted with his reply, his brows furrowing in an expression that looked almost angry. "No one should have to live as a slave. It's wrong," he told her simply, before turning his back on her to look through the provisions in search of food and drink.

She fell silent, acknowledging the answer, lacking as it was. Her eyes strayed toward the waterfall, feeling the heat from the water itself, quietly longing to bathe but not at all certain she wanted to attempt it. Her own experiences had not made her feel particularly safe in the company of males or females when disrobed.

He might have assured her she was perfectly safe, if his attention was so focused on looking for food. There wasn't much there that didn't need cooking, but he managed to find some jerky and some dried fruit. It would have to do for now. "I know you have no reason to trust me," he said, from the cave. "But Anarven is a safe place, a peaceful place. There are not just elves there, but humans, too, and a few others. Families, mostly. People who just want to live their lives in peace."

"And if you do not know how to live?" she asked. It sounded almost like a challenge, a woman who had somehow held onto a fraction of her pride forced to admit that she did not know anything about living her life.

He paused a moment, his mind going back to his own first days in Anarven, when he'd had no idea what it meant to be free or how to live his life without something giving him orders. "You will learn, as I've learned. As all of us who were once slaves have learned," he assured her, returning with a handful of jerky, and a mix of nuts and dried fruit. It would do for now. "I will help you, if you like."

She took the handful of pieces into her palm, displaying hands that were not callused or harmed from manual work. That narrowed down quite considerably what kind of slave she had been in the Underdark. "How did you escape?" she asked, holding the food in her hands as she watched him, waiting to see him eat before she would.

His hands, on the other hand, were rough and callused from years of hard work, but they were gentle enough, and the look on his face, while not exactly friendly, was at least, non-threatening. He arched a brow, not at her question, but at the realization that she seemed reluctant to eat what he'd given her, as though it might cause her harm. He crouched down beside her, immediately seeming less threatening now that he was no longer looming over her, and picked a few pieces of fruit and nuts from her hand and popped them into her mouth. "Safe, see?" he said, not yet answering her question.

It was plain to see that Greylin had never met anyone quite like him, and certainly not among the drow males she had encountered in her lifetime. She had never known gentleness or kindness, and while, yes, she was suspicious of it, she could not help but be warmed by it at the same time. Her gaze softened just a fraction as he reassured her of the safety he had promise, raising a dried berry to her mouth to eat as she watched him.

He actually smiled as she mirrored him, glad she had decided to trust him a little, if only for now. "To answer your question, I ran away," he said, with a shrug of his shoulders, though that hardly answered her question. It was true enough, but it wasn't the whole story.

"How?" she asked again. "The only escape is death." Which might have gone a little way to explaining how she had escaped, but not truly what she had been escaping from.

"I could ask you the same thing," he said. "How did you come to be here" How were you captured" How long have you been kept prisoner?" he asked, the questions just tumbling out, one after the other.

She frowned, looking down at her handful of fruit for a moment. "They thought me dead," she said. "My House fell. Since I was ten years of age." Each question answered with the bare minimum of information, and no emotion whatsoever.

Haldreithen

Date: 2019-03-27 18:48 EST
"And then?" he asked, quietly, patiently. He remained crouched beside her, close enough to touch her, but keeping his hands carefully to himself, afraid he might spook her.

She was silent for a long time before she spoke again, still staring fixedly at her hands. "I was a ....favored pleasure slave from the day I was considered old enough," she said quietly. "They dared not kill me, because I bear the marks of Lolth and Eilistraee. But they wanted to break me."

Old enough, he echoed in his head, knowing how little drow cared for children who were not their own, how everyone and everything existed only to serve them, in whatever way they so choose. He understood what she was telling him about what she had been, though his experience as a slave had been very different. It was hard to say which had suffered more, but both of them had suffered. He arched a brow at something she said, his pulse quickening for some reason.

"Marks" Show me," he said, forgetting that he should have phrased that like a request and not a command.

She frowned, surprised that he had not noticed the marks she bore. Then she remembered that she was filthy, and she had not actually looked him in the eye for more than a few seconds. One hand touched her hair. "Lolth touched me with silver-white," she said uncomfortably, hating that she had any connection to the Spider Queen at all. "And the Dark Maiden ..." She looked him in the eye, letting him see the violet of her irises, such an unusual color among their kind.

His hair was nearly the same shade as hers, but he had not considered it a mark of Lloth. Then again, he was not female. He met her gaze, marking the color of her eyes. His were ice blue, not so unusual for one of their kind, unlike hers. He frowned back at her, needing to ask a question that could decide whether she became friend or foe.

"Which do you favor?" he asked, of the marks.

She hissed, catlike, as though offended he would even ask that. "Lolth has brought me nothing but pain," she snapped, stiffening as she spoke. "Eilistraee brought me out of the Underdark."

"And into the sunlight," he said, reaching for her hand, though he didn't know why. "As she did me," he told her quietly. He had no proof of his claim, other than his freedom, but he believed it to be true.

Her hand tensed in his, though now he knew her past, it was likely easier to understand why any touch put her on guard. "I never learned about her," she admitted quietly. "Just that she wants more for the drow."

“A rightful place awaits you in the Realms Above, in the Land of the Great Light. Come in peace and live beneath the sun again where trees and flowers grow," he murmured, words his mother had taught him, once upon a time, long, long ago.

Greylin watched him, wary once again. The words were unfamiliar to her, but the sentiment seemed to make sense. "I ....someone spoke to me," she whispered, glancing toward the cave mouth as though expecting to see the elves trying to listen to a language they didn't understand. "All my life, when I've been in the most danger, someone spoke to me. Told me what to do to survive."

He lifted his brows, the pain of longing stabbing his heart. He would have given anything to heart the Dark Maiden's voice, to feel her presence in his life, but for all his faith in her and belief that she had been the one who'd freed him.

"And what does she tell you now?" he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper, almost afraid to hear her response.

"I do not know if it was her," she whispered, shaking her head. "I have not heard that voice since I first saw the sun. Perhaps it was not her at all."

He was frowning again, unsure what to say. "And the gnome?" he asked further. "How did you come to be his prisoner?" He had a feeling he already knew the answer to that question, but he wanted to hear it from her.

"He found me," she said simply. "Two days out of the darkness, still blinded by the sun, starving. He said he wanted to kill me, but he did not. He collared me, changed my form, fed me. Perhaps his god stopped him, I do not know."

"How long?" he asked. "Do you know how long you were with him?" He did not let go of her hand, just yet, as if by holding it he might give her courage.

"I think ....I think a year," she ventured, though she could not be certain. Her eyes flickered down to the wrap of his fingers about her own, uncertain what to make of his gentle touch. "He never hurt me, not as I am used to being hurt."

"That is good," he said, leaning back on his heels and gently releasing his grasp on her hand. He glanced up at the sky, noting how quickly dusk was turning to night. "You should eat and bathe, before the elves come back. I will find you something to wear."

For the first time in her life, Greylin felt brave enough to ask something she had never before dared to. "You will not ....not touch me, when I am ....uncovered, will you?" she ventured, not daring to look at him as she pushed the boundary of what she had never been allowed before.

"No," he assured her, his expression betraying his surprise at her question. "I will not hurt you in any way," he assured her. "No one will ever hurt you again, lotha suru," he assured her, dubbing her "little bird". "I will be in the cave in you need me," he assured her, as he moved to his full height.

The promise might almost have made her smile, if she were not so afraid still of showing such an expression to the world around her. "I will hold you to that, drizlah uss," she told him in answer, naming him "tall one" in response. Her head turned back toward the water, the invitation to be clean for the first time in more than a year clearly calling to her.

He couldn't help but smile in amusement at the name she had dubbed him, but he turned his back and made his way back to the cave, just as he'd promised. She was free to undress and bathe without worrying anyone might see or take advantage of her.

She had no shame in being seen, having no pride or shame in her own form after years of use, and indeed, she was very quick to strip off her filthy rags and plunge into the water, almost weeping at the sensation of sweeping the grime from her skin and hair. And despite herself, she trusted that Kalan'ar would not touch her when she was most vulnerable. It was a strange feeling.

Haldreithen

Date: 2019-03-27 18:48 EST
He kept his word and remained inside the confines of the cave, at least for a time, while he gathered up a few towels, a blanket, and a change of clothes that were cleaner and more practical than what she'd been wearing. There was even a pair of doeskin shoes that just might fit her tiny feet.

When she emerged from the water, what she had referred to as the mark of Lolth seemed more noticeable now her hair was clean. It was not simply white, but shone with moonsilver, a strange sparkle that likely would only show up beneath the moonlight. Dry, and dressed in clean clothing that was only slightly too big for her, she moved to join him in the cave itself, still investigating the shoes thoughtfully. It had been a very long time since she had worn anything on her feet at all.

In the meantime, once he'd gathered some clothes and left them near the water for her, he'd returned to the cave to see what else he could find in the way of food. He wasn't sure where the elves had gone off to or when they'd be back, but he had a feeling his charge was probably hungry, and that a handful of dried fruit and nuts was not going to satisfy that hunger for long. Besides, it gave him something to do besides think about her splashing around naked in the water nearby.

She watched him cooking curiously. It was something she had never seen done; her meals had always been prepared for her when she had been a slave, and Nesgrim had fed her only when she was a hummingbird. And finally curiosity overcame her wariness. "What are you doing?"

"Making something to eat," he told her, as he stirred the mixture of broth and vegetables and jerky in a pot. It wasn't going to be a very exciting meal, but at least it would stave her hunger, until the elves returned with more exciting fare. "It will take a little while to cook," he informed her further, looking up to find her dressed in the clothing he'd left for her and looking far cleaner than she had before. "You look ....nice," he said, ducking his head as soon as he'd said it, wishing he hadn't.

She was far smaller than the people who might have expected to wear this clothing, short for an elven being and definitely narrower than any dwarf. The sleeves were rolled back to her mid-forearm, the belt wrapped tight at her waist, and the doeskin shoes still in her hand. She glanced down at herself a little self-consciously, feeling the tug of her damp hair against the shirt back. "I have not been clean in a very long time," was her answer, uncertain what she was supposed to say in return.

While it was true that the clothing was far too big on her, the bath had been a vast improvement. All she really needed to do now was comb the tangle of hair that hung loose at her back, but he hadn't come across one while searching the cave. He frowned, understanding all too well what it felt like to be free after so many years of enslavement. The simple pleasures that so many took for granted - being clean and fed and having a safe place to sleep - would never be taken for granted by people like them.

"Sit," he told her, gesturing to a log someone had dragged into the cave at some point in the past. His gaze dropped to the shoes in her hand. "I'm sorry if they don't fit. It's all there was."

She moved with a surprising amount of grace, easing down onto the log as he told her to, lifting up the shoes in confusion. "What are they?" she asked, apparently more prepared to trust him at least for information now.

"They're boots ....made of deerskin, I think," he told her. "They're for your feet, so you don't have to walk barefoot," he said, as if that much wasn't clear enough already. She had to know what they were, didn't she"

Greylin studied them thoughtfully, lifting one of her feet up to measure the sole against her own. "In ....where I am from, they wrapped leather strips around their feet for protection," she volunteered. "I have never ....I have not worn anything on my feet for decades."

He shrugged, unwilling to argue with her about it. "You don't have to wear them, if you don't want to, but it's a long walk back to Anarven." Once they were there, someone else could help her sort out what to wear and what she wanted to do with her freedom. "Here ....Taste," he said, carefully offering her the wooden spoon for a taste of the stew.

Greylin automatically swayed backward from his offering of the spoon, the suspicion returning to her expression. But then ....why would he have given her clothing and allowed her to bathe if he intended to kill her now" It wasn't logical. Clearly there was something they needed her to do. So she leaned forward, albeit tentatively, opening her mouth to taste the stew on the spoon.

"How is it?" he asked, as if wanting to know what she thought of the concoction and whether she had any suggestions for improvement. "I am not a very good cook," he confessed with a dubious frown and another shrug of his shoulders.

Lucky for him, her palate was undeveloped entirely. She had lived most of her life on mushroom pastes of one sort or another. The faintest glimmer of a surprised, pleased smile threatened to show itself before her expression smoothed once more. "It's good," she murmured, almost shy of admitting this.

He smiled, pleased with her answer, but still doubtful. "It's not very good, but I'm glad you like it. It's better than dried fruit and nuts," he said, returning the spoon to the pot to continue stirring the mixture. He glanced to the opening of the cave, where the night was growing darker, the frown returning to his face. Hal had said they wouldn't be gone long, but it had to have been at least an hour by now.

Greylin ducked her head. "I have not had ....the food given to me was not ..." She sighed. "I ate paste," she said bluntly. "It was disgusting."

Kalan'ar turned back to her, the frown deepening, not only in sympathy for what she'd had to endure, but also because it reminded him of his own long years spent in slavery. "Just enough to keep you alive," he said, in a knowing voice. "There is plenty of food in Anarven. So long as you stay there, you will never go hungry," he assured her.

"That is how you mean to keep me?" she asked. "With the promise of food, if only I will stay with you?"

From outside came the sound of footsteps - at least one of their elven companions, making rather more noise than was necessary in order not to startle the inhabitants of the cave.

"Keep you?" Kal echoed, brows furrowing at her question. "No, of course not. You are free. I told ...," he broke off, glancing to the cave opening at the sound of the approaching footsteps. He moved to his feet, one hand going to the dagger that was strapped to his belt, just in case it wasn't the elves, and pressed a finger to his lips for her to be silent.

Haldreithen

Date: 2019-03-27 18:49 EST
From outside came the sound of Luin's voice, calling out the call sign they all knew well. "In the heart of the woods lies sanctuary."

Greylin frowned, tilting her head toward Kalan'ar in surprise. Was he really going to protect her if something attacked them"

He visibly relaxed as he recognized Luin's voice and called back the counter-sign that would tell her that all was well, "Where those who are lost are now found." He remained where he was, between Greylin and opening of the cave, until he was sure they were safe.

"I'm coming in," Luin answered, the call and counter completed. She was in sight almost instantly, dragging a handful of dried bracken from the fall of her hair as she smiled at the pair of them. "Did I interrupt anything interesting?"

"Just stew making," Kal was quick to reply, his hand moving away from his dagger as he stepped back to retake his place near the pot and not far from the drow girl. "Did you find anything?" he asked, only knowing she and Hal had left to scout the area - for what, he didn't know. He felt himself shudder involuntarily, but there was nothing to fear. The drow of the Underdark hadn't followed them here, the gnome was safely within his dwelling, and the gnolls were no longer a threat. Why, then, did he feel a prickle at the back of his neck"

"Nothing but a feeling," Luin said. She had never seen the need to be untruthful about anything with anyone. "Hal's doing a last sweep close to, and then I'll set up the wards. It's ....strange. The woods feel watchful."

After a pause, Greylin asked in a small voice, "Is there a moon tonight?"

Luin glanced at her sharply. "Only a crescent. Tomorrow night, there'll be no moon."

"We'll be back in Anarven by then," Kal remarked, mostly to himself. There was no reason why they wouldn't be. It hadn't taken that long to get here; they had only decided to stay for the night. Come morning, they'd be on their way again and back home well before dark.

Luin nodded. "We will," she agreed. "There are wolves out there tonight, but they rarely interfere with us. They have plenty of food in this area - there's no need for them to attack people with weapons."

"Only wolves?" Kal asked, knowing there were far worse things in the night and that some wolves weren't only just wolves. He put another log on the fire, as if that might help keep them at bay, or at least lend a little light and warmth to the cave.

"If they are more than wolves, they have not shown themselves to be," Luin told him, sitting down with her bow across her knees. She pulled a pair of freshly killed rabbits from her belt. "Shall I skin these and add the meat to your stew there?"

"If you wish," he replied, leaving the decision up to her. The rabbits would definitely be a tasty addition to the meager contents of the stew, as it was. Anything else he might have said then was interrupted by Hal's return, finding his way almost silently into the cave.

"It's good we're staying the night. It's going to rain," he said, as he pulled the cowl back from his head and swung his bow down from his back. "Is that stew?" he asked, glancing over at the bubbling contents of the pot. "What else did they leave us?"

Greylin was watching with horrified fascination as Luin neatly sliced open the first rabbit and pulled the skin inside out, removing it apparently easily from the carcass without much more than a grunt of effort. She had never actually seen where meat came from before; this was something of a baptism by fire.

Luin glanced up at Hal. "There should be some flatbread in there somewhere," she commented. "Stonebread, maybe. Stuff that keeps."

Hal set his quiver and bow aside, an elven sword still strapped to his waist, as he went about the search for something to round out the stew. Kal noticed the look on Greylin's face, unsure if she had ever eaten cooked rabbit before.

"It's all right," he assured her. "We will give thanks for their sacrifice." He did not bother to say who they'd be giving thanks, whether the rabbits or a deity of some kind, letting her draw her own conclusion for now.

The cave was pretty well stocked with root vegetables and herbs, things to make a hunter's meal more enticing than pure meat and boiled water. There was enough there to make the stew better than it seemed on first glance. As Luin moved onto the second rabbit, having dropped chunks of red, bloodied flesh into the cooking pot, Greylin stood abruptly.

"I ....if I stand outside, will you expect me to run?" she asked, turning her eyes away from the blood on the she-elf's fingers.

Kalan'ar frowned, presuming it was the skinning of the rabbits that was upsetting the drow girl. It wasn't the most pleasant thing to watch, but it would fill their hungry bellies. "I'll go with you," he said, glancing to Luin momentarily, as if for permission. Someone would have to tend the stew while he was outside.

"Why don't you fetch some water?" Hal suggested, handing over a handful of water skins.

The redhead nodded to Kal easily enough. She knew what she was doing when it came to rough cooking, though she hadn't expected that reaction from the drow girl. "Of course," she agreed with Hal. "Don't stray too far, though. Neither of you are hunters."

Greylin, still hugging the soft shoes to her chest, nodded even as she looked toward the waterfall and the entrance to the cave, waiting for Kal to give her permission to step outside.

Kal took the skins and nodded to Greylin to go on ahead. Somehow, he was going to have to make her understand that she was really and truly free - that she had no master or mistress anymore - but perhaps now wasn't the time. He needed her to trust him, but he knew trust wasn't easily given. He followed her out, waiting until they were clear of the cave before speaking.

"Are you all right?" he asked, sounding concerned.

It was an instinct borne of a lifetime in servitude, but Greylin allowed it to reign over her, stiffening her back as she wiped her expression blank once more. "I am well," she lied quietly. "I wanted to see the sky." She tilted her face upward, peering between the boughs above toward the sliver of the moon still rising through the darkening sky.

Haldreithen

Date: 2019-03-27 18:49 EST
Kal frowned. He had a feeling she was lying, at least, in part. "You don't have to eat the stew, if you don't want to. There are other things to eat," he assured her, giving her a choice - something she had probably not been given in a very long time, if ever.

She was still hugging the shoes, hugging herself, as she looked up at the sky, making no effort to escape or to speak. But eventually, her voice did break the silence. "Lives should not end, so that other lives may continue," she said softly. "The wildest beast is still a blessing given to the world." A pause, and she lowered her gaze to the dark forest around them. "I have only ever seen blood when it was mine."

"Even plants die, Greylin. Everything dies eventually, and then there is new life. The cycle goes on and on. Some think it is wrong to take a life for any reason; others feel it depends on the situation. Hunting is seen by most as acceptable, so long as it's done for a purpose and not just for sport. I know it's confusing, but you have a choice," he assured her, trying to explain.

"But was the life given willingly, or was it taken?" she asked. It seemed that her time with Nesgrim had taught her something of the way a druid looks at the world around him. "What does the hunter give back, when they steal life?"

"Perhaps that is a question for the elves," Kalan'ar replied. He was not a hunter, as Luin had so helpfully pointed out. He glanced to the shoes she was still clutching to her chest, wondering if she was ever going to actually put them on. "Would you like me to help you put them on?" he asked, as it occurred to him at last that she might not know how.

She blinked in surprise, turning her eyes toward him as he drew attention to the shoes she was holding. She looked down at the soft hide in her hands. "I ..." She hesitated, visibly choosing to trust him once more. "If you have no objection, then ....yes."

"Why would I object?" he asked, a quizzical expression on his face as he stepped closer. He reached for the pair of boots, hoping they wouldn't fall off her tiny feet. "Would you like to sit?" he asked further, trying to give her choices, rather than simply telling her what to do.

"It's rare a master wants to dress a slave," she pointed out, once again disbelieving his words that he had been a slave himself. "Should I sit?"

Kal exhaled a heavy sigh, wondering if she'd ever understand, but it had only been a few hours since they had freed her from the druid. "If you wish," he replied, waving her toward a rock that looked as though it would suit the purpose.

Obediently, she moved to sit down, setting the shoes onto her knees as she looked up at him. As her hair dried, it was developing soft motion each time she shifted, those silver streaks catching the moonlight to sparkle with each tilt of her head.

He crouched down in front of her, reaching for one of the shoes and moving to carefully ease it onto her foot, amazed at just how tiny her feet were. "When I first escaped the Underdark, I was sure they would find me and take me back there. I still think so sometimes. I still wake up sometimes and forget I'm free," he admitted, not daring to meet her gaze. He had never spoken of this to anyone, not in detail anyway.

"The matrons don't let go of favored slaves easily," she agreed, her voice shaking just a little as she said this. Had she tried to escape before her successful attempt' Perhaps, but her scars were all invisible. Her skin was unblemished, unnaturally so. Her toes flexed in the strange confines of the soft hide shoe he had set onto her foot. "Are they meant to feel so warm?"

"Yes, but ..." He frowned, wondering if he should tell her what they were made of. She hadn't reacted well to Luin skinning the rabbits. How would she react if and when she found out the shoes were made of deer. "They are meant to protect your feet and keep them warm," he told her, leaning back on his heels and pushing the almost silver-white hair of his own away from his face.

"Protect my feet from what?" she asked him curiously, bending her leg upward to inspect the shoe now situated on her foot, feeling it flex with the movement of her limb as she did so.

"From everything," he explained with a shrug. "Cold, rain, mud, rocks, snow ....everything that might harm your feet." He furrowed his brows at her, tilting his head curiously. "You haven't spent much time out of doors, have you?"

She glanced up at the sky overhead, letting her foot fall back to the prickling earth. "I have been above ground for a year," she said quietly. "And much of that time, I have been nothing more than a small bird. I know little of this new world."

Kal frowned in thought a moment, as if he was unsure whether to share what he was thinking. Finally, he tentatively reached for her hand, taking it very gently into his own. "I will help you learn, if you will let me."

Her hand tensed in his, just as it had done before, but she did not pull away. Her wary gaze held his for a long moment. "Why would you trust me?" she asked, confused by his kindness. "Why should you be kind to me" I am female. Our people ....the females are cruel."

"But you are not like them, Greylin. You were a slave, just as I was a slave. And not all females are cruel, only those who do not worship Eilistraee. My mother was not cruel, nor were any of my people. We were a small but peaceful group, until those of the Underdark hunted us and took us captive," he explained, with a scowl on his face. He did not like to hate, but it was hard not to hate those who had caused so much pain.

Greylin seemed shocked to hear him say this, her gaze uncertain in the growing moonlight. "Were you born on the surface?" she asked, and abruptly shushed herself, looking away with a sharp movement. Slaves did not ask questions.

He either didn't seem to notice or didn't seem to mind that she was asking questions, looking off into the night, a little lost in his memories of the past. "Sylo," he said, slipping into their native tongue to confirm her question. And to the surface, he'd returned.

Realizing that he would not punish her for her question, Greylin ventured a little more bravery. "What ....what are the lights in the dark sky?" she asked softly, her free hand pointing toward the stars beginning to glitter against the black of night. "Are they ....do they have meaning?"

Kalan'ar turned his gaze upwards to the stars just starting to peek out of the night sky. Clouds were slowly rolling in, reminding him that Hal had warned them of rain. "They are called stars. Sylannen," he added, in their own language. "It is said that the time for praying to the Dark Lady is at night, after the moon rises and the stars have appeared."

Haldreithen

Date: 2019-03-27 18:49 EST
"Those are sylannen?" Greylin's mouth fell open as she tilted her head backward, her whole body leaning with the movement until it was only the grip he had on her hand that kept her from tipping off her perch altogether. "I did not know they were so bright."

"The people of Rhy'Din say that there are other worlds out there among the stars. I do not know if that is true, but I do know that we are very far from the Underdark," he said, his head still tilted toward the stars, his fingers tightening their grip on her hand, so that she wouldn't fall.

She was still staring upward, her mouth still open like a child, tilting her head this way and that. "The stories said there were people made of stars," she said wistfully. "I cannot see them."

"Oh, you mean the pictures in the stars?" he asked, looking back at her. "Some people believe they are Gods, but I do not know if that is true," he said, glancing upwards again, his eyes searching for a familiar shape.

"There are pictures?" She frowned, glancing at him even as he looked back to the sky. "I see only pinpricks of light. Are my eyes not trained to see the sky as you do?"

"It is not easy to see them," he told her, letting go of her hand so that he could move beside her. "See there?" he asked, pointing to a particular place in the sky, though it was hard to follow where he meant. "That line of stars that almost looks like a winding tail with a head attached" That is called the Dragon."

"Where?" Without thinking, she shifted to better be able to follow the line of his pointing arm, bringing her back to his chest, so focused on the sky and seeing this dragon of stars that she did not seem to notice that closeness.

He didn't notice that closeness for a minute, too intent on trying to show her the wonder of the night sky. "There!" he said, reaching for her hand and drawing it upwards with his, so that she could follow the line of her own arm toward the place where the constellation was twinkling in the night sky. It was only then, when they were so close together, almost mirror images of the other, that his gaze shifted to hers, startled to find her so close.

She was very small against him, a strange contrast between them - man and woman of a race where the men were often smaller than the women. Feeling him tense at her back, she became aware of their closeness herself, drawing her hand back to her chest as her gaze moved to meet his, that guarded wariness returned. "What ....what does the Dragon do?"

She was close enough that he could feel the warmth of her body against his chest, his heart beating a little bit faster. He tried to ignore it, feeling suddenly awkward. He'd never been this close to another female of his kind, other than his own mother. "What does it do?" he echoed her question with a light shrug of his shoulders. "It doesn't do anything. It's just a picture in the sky, not a real dragon."

"It has no significance?" she asked, very carefully putting just a little extra space between them, doing her best not to cause offense. For someone with her background, it was rare to have any kind of control over what happened when someone got physically close to her.

"Well, yes ....I mean, there are stories," he started, frowning as the clouds Hal had warned them about seemed to appear almost from nowhere, obliterating the dragon from view. He dropped his arm and rose to his feet. "We should be getting back," he said, and he'd yet to gather water from the falls.

"Will you tell me these stories sometime?" The question was asked hesitantly as she turned obediently at his words, bending to pick up the water skins he had brought out with them.

"If you wish," he replied, as he started toward the fall of water, behind which was the cave where the elves were waiting for them. "You will like Anarven," he told her, finding himself hoping he was right. There were very few of their kind in Anarven, and he had not really made many friends.

She shook her head, not willing to believe it. Not yet, in any case. "I will not be wanted," she predicted. "I am a female drow. It does not matter that my life has not been typical." She knelt by the pool, pressing the skins into the water to fill them.

Kal did not think this was true, but he understood why she might feel that way. "I will vouch for you," he told her. "But I do not think you need to worry. I have never seen them turn anyone away." Then again, just because he hadn't seen it didn't mean it hadn't happened.

Stoppering the two skins, she set them aside, reaching for the others. The task seemed to come automatically to her, no doubt a product of too many years under the lash. "My grandmother taught me never to show fear," she said suddenly. "She was the reason our House fell."

"What do you mean?" he asked, crouching down beside her to help fill the skins, just as he felt a few raindrops tap him on the shoulder.

"She was our Matron Mother," she said softly, letting him take one of the skins from her. "Her decisions weakened our House, and her madness killed my sisters. She -" She broke off at the feeling of cold water hitting her face, startled. Looking up, she was shocked to see and feel water falling out of the sky.

It was probably a good thing she was looking at the sky or she might have seen the shock on his face to know she was the granddaughter of a Matron Mother. "She what?" he asked, needing to know what had happened, feeling suddenly cold, and not because of the rain.

"There's ....there's water falling out of the sky!" The panic in Greylin's voice was clearly audible as she darted to her feet, staring up at the clouds in astonishment. The subject of the conversation had been forgotten in her wonder and shock.

"It's only rain," he explained, just starting to realize how little she knew about life on the surface, despite her year spent in the gnome's woods. But she'd spent most of her time there as a bird and birds didn't fret over cold or darkness or rain. Kal shrugged the cloak from his shoulders and drew it around hers. It wasn't much of a cloak, but it would keep her warm and dry.

"But ..." Surprised to find herself suddenly enveloped in something he had been wearing, she stared at him, wide-eyed and deeply confused. "Why would you ....you will get wet."

"It's only water, Greylin," he said with another shrug. There were far worse things than getting wet. He reached for the water skins, swiping them up off the ground. "Come, before it starts to pour," he said and would have offered her a hand if he was not carrying the skins.

Huddled under the cloak, Greylin moved to follow him, her own hands full with the other skins.

Haldreithen

Date: 2019-03-27 18:50 EST
Luin glanced up as they reentered the cave, the scent of the hot stew cooking filling the little space with a homely smell. "Raining?" she asked.

"It only just started," Kal confirmed, leading Greylin back inside the cave, where it was warm and dry and safe. His stomach grumbled at the smell of the stew, whether it had rabbit in it or not.

"I said it was going to rain," Hal murmured from where he was setting up their bedrolls for the night. It was going to be a little cramped quarters, but it was only for the night.

Setting the water skins down, Greylin rose to her feet once again, glancing around the cave. Kalan'ar hadn't been able to give her a satisfactory answer, so ...."Why did you buy me from the gnome?" she asked bluntly. "What is it you want of me?"

Kal lifted his brows at her question, but it was not really his place to answer it. Hal shook out a blanket before turning her face her, looking as if he was debating how to answer her question a moment.

"That is a question for the prince," he started. "He is the one who insisted on freeing you." It wasn't that he didn't agree, but it was the prince who had made the bargain with the gnome.

"A prince." Her voice was dull. Only someone who knew her well would have spotted the fear in her form now, at the knowledge that someone of power and influence had ordered her retrieved. She didn't look longingly toward the entrance to the cave because she knew they would notice that, but thoughts of escape were in her mind now.

"You don't remember, do you?" Hal asked her, though he could not know she was thinking of escape. "It angered him that the gnome was holding you prisoner, and so, he bargained for your freedom."

"Why should a prince want my freedom?" she asked warily. "What is it he wants from me?" She glanced around at the three of them. "Am I to be punished on behalf of every drow that has ever caused harm to your lands" Turned loose with nothing but the clothes on my back?"

"Easy," Luin murmured in a gentle tone. "There's no need to get worked up."

Kalan'ar stepped forward, reaching out as if to steady or calm her, moving slowly, almost as if she was a frightened animal. "Greylin, no one is going to hurt you. You have my word," he told her, hoping she'd listen to him and trust him, though he had done little to earn her trust.

She let out a quiet huff of bitter derision. "Words are easily broken," she reminded him. "Who keeps their promises to slaves?"

"I was a slave, just like you, and now I am free, just like you. If you wish, you can leave right now and no one will stop you," Kal told her, stepping out of her way to make his point. "No one will hunt you, but you do not know this world, and you would be wise to stay with us, at least, until you know how to survive here."

Hal only glanced at Luin, as if something unspoken passed between them, and remained silent.

When Greylin did not answer, Luin smiled faintly at Hal, turning her head to add to Kalan'ar's reassurances. "Look, it's raining and there is shelter and food here," she said firmly. "All we're asking is that you visit Anarven and speak with Aran before making your decision."

Looking into Kal's eyes, Greylin considered this addition, deciding to trust the tall, gentle drow male once again. "And any decision I make is mine and not to be challenged?"

"I swear on my mother's soul," Kal said, placing a hand against his heart, as if that would somehow seal his promise. "If you do not wish to stay in Anarven, no one will try to stop you, but please, wait until you have seen it, until you have met the prince and the other people there. You will see it is a good place and that there is nothing to fear." He held out a hand to her, as if hoping she would take it, as well as his word, in friendship and good faith.

She held that ice blue gaze for what felt like too long, weighing every possible consequence of every possible decision in this moment. But Kal had been kind to her, more than she deserved. Perhaps she should not give him any reason to think her as awful as the women she had been born to. Her fingers twitched, not quite touching his. "I will come to Anarven."

He waited nervously but patiently for her answer, smiling only when she finally agreed to accompany them to Anarven. Even if she didn't take his hand, her answer seemed to please him, as evidence by the rare smile that touched his face, his eyes as bright as the stars in the sky. "You will not be sorry," he assured her, his fingers reaching for hers, but only brushing the tips before withdrawing, as if simply touching her might burn his hand - or hers.

"If you speak true, it will be the first time," she murmured, dropping into Under-Common for his ears only. Her hand stayed there, in the air between them, for a moment longer than it should have, retreating finally as she stared up at a smile she had never expected to see.

Watching this, Luin flicked a grin over to Hal. "So ....I have to ask," the redhead said suddenly. "Which one of you is the weird height for your race" Tall or small?"

Kal blinked, the smile fading, unsure what exactly she meant by that comment. He murmured quietly back in their native tongue, "I would never lie to you." Had he not sworn on his mother's soul? That was not something he did lightly.

Hal smirked over at Luin, seeing the beginning on something that perhaps the other couple hadn't realized yet, but quietly went about checking the stew. Kal blinked again at Luin's question, turning a curious glance at her. He felt a blush creep into his face, though it was practically invisible to them.

"I am," he replied bluntly, as though he was embarrassed by this fact.

"He is not weird." The sound of her own voice seemed to have startled Greylin, but she seemed even more surprised by the way she moved to place herself almost protectively between Kal and the redheaded elf woman. "He is good and kind and you should not mock him."

Kal blinked yet again, surprised this time by the way the little drow defended him, but he also knew the elves meant no harm. "It's all right, lotha suru. They mean no harm, and I am unnaturally tall." Unnaturally tall for drow, anyway.

Luin's brows rose at the unexpected display of defiance. "Looks like the hummingbird has talons after all," she commented. "I meant no offense. Most people speak in a more informal way up here in the light."

Haldreithen

Date: 2019-03-27 18:50 EST
Greylin frowned, stepping back once again. "Words cause greater harm than blows," she said with a shake of her head. "You should take more care with them."

"Stew's ready," Hal broke in, interrupting what he hoped was not about to become an argument.

"It's all right," Kal reassured the little drow again, this time daring to bring his fingers to light against her arm, gently, briefly. "Are you hungry?" he asked, changing the subject.

Luin rolled her eyes, reaching out to hand Hal the bowls one by one. She didn't appreciate being told off by a drow, but she wasn't going to start a fight.

Greylin hesitated, looking up at Kal as he touched her arm. "I am, a little," she admitted. "Should I serve you?"

"No," Kal replied, forehead crinkling at her question. He opened his mouth to say something else when Hal interrupted again.

"I'm doing the serving," he said. "Come and get it!" he added, mimicking something he'd heard in the village.

And still Greylin hung back, her trained deference insisting that she be the last to eat of them all. You could not so easily cast off a lifetime - a childhood - of absolute obedience for fear of pain in a single afternoon.

But Kal would not let her hang back too long, as he reached for her hand again to pull her forward, if she would let him, that smile of reassurance returning to his face.

Hal wasn't going to wait too long though, ladling out two bowls of stew - one for Luin and one for whoever was next in line. "Before it gets cold," he said, holding that second bowl out for one of them to claim.

Luin took her bowl into her lap, reaching to rip the unleavened bread into four equal parts for them to share. Greylin let Kal tug her forward, still wary and uncertain of everyone and everything. She looked at the bowl Hal held, and back to Kalan'ar, taking it to give to the tall drow.

Kal frowned, but did not feel like arguing, taking the bowl from her with a polite nod of his head and some mumbled words of thanks. Now that he had the bowl in his hands, his stomach was reminding him how hungry he was.

"There, was that so hard?" Hal asked, as he handed the third bowl to the drow girl.

Taking the third bowl into her own hands, Greylin looked down into it, surprised to find that she was going to be eating the same meal as they were. She tilted her head, eyeing Hall curiously. "You do not know much of slavery, do you?"

Hal looked up, as he settled the last bowl of stew on his lap, surprised to find the drow addressing him, but even more surprised at the question. "I know enough," he replied, not volunteering anymore. He turned quiet, focusing his attention on the stew, or so it seemed.

Unsurprised by the lack of warmth from the two elves, Greylin took her bowl over to the far corner of the cave, curling down onto the floor to eat quietly. It was another trained instinct, but it seemed as though it might be welcomed in this instance. She should have known that elven kind would not take to her as Kal had tried to.

Kal looked between the trio, frowning as if he was debating what to do, who to choose. His heart went out to the drow girl, with whom he shared a common bond. He knew the elves meant well, but he thought they could have been friendlier.

"You should be more welcoming," he told them quietly. "That is what your prince would want." And with that said, he turned his back to join Greylin in the back of the cave.

Luin watched the two dark elves for a moment, feeling a faint pang of guilt. But she had her own reasons for not being the welcoming party that Kal seemed to want. She sighed, looking over at her mate regretfully. "I guess we should put on the kid gloves for this one."

"They'll be fine," Hal replied quietly, with a momentary glance at the other pair. "It's been a long day, and we're all hungry and tired. Tomorrow, we return to Anarven," he said, loudly enough for the dark elves to hear before looking back at Luin. "And we are done baby-sitting," he whispered.

The redhead rolled her eyes at his whisper, her smile more than a little amused but understanding why he was prickly about all this. She patted his arm, turning her attention back to her stew. In the shadow by the wall, Greylin inched just a little bit closer to Kalan'ar, taking advantage of the warmth radiating from his larger body as she chewed slowly.

The elf prided himself on being a royal guard - or at least, on having been one once. It was a rare honor, where he was from, and one he took very seriously, but he was having some trouble finding how he fit in here in Rhy'Din. It was easy to forget that he hadn't been here very long. Kalan'ar was relieved to find Greylin enjoying her stew, despite the contents of it. For a long time, there was no sound but the slurping of stew as elves and drow enjoyed their dinner.

In truth, the gamey stew was too rich for Greylin, but she didn't know how to say it without giving offence. So she swallowed it down, every piece, and sat hugging her knees to her chest, willing the strange nausea to fade from her uncomfortably full stomach.

Kal seemed to be having no trouble with the stew, but then, he'd had more time to become accustomed with the diet he shared with the other inhabitants of Anarven. It wasn't until he had finished his bowl that he noticed his companion was looking a little uncomfortable. "Are you all right?" he asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

Keeping her lips pressed together, she nodded in answer to Kal's question, unaware that she was developing a distinctly queasy pallor to her skin as sweat began to bead on her brow. She had never felt this ill after eating before, trying to swallow down the desire to vomit. The elves would likely hold it against her if she did.

He noticed how she was starting to look a bit ill, and turned to see if the elves were paying them any heed, before setting both their bowls aside and moving to his feet. "You need some air," he told Greylin quietly, reaching to help her up. He hoped the elves wouldn't protest, or they might end up with stew on their pretty elven boots.

It galled Greylin that she even needed this help, but she wasn't so proud that she wouldn't take it, holding her mouth firmly closed as her fingers gripped Kal's sleeves, drawn up onto her feet with roiling pain in her stomach. She hadn't eaten a full meal of any kind in more than a year; a hummingbird living on nectar did not compare to a drow eating mushroom paste, much less a full rabbit stew.

Haldreithen

Date: 2019-03-27 18:50 EST
Luin looked over at them with a frown. "You okay?"

Kal shook his head at Luin to answer her question without speaking, hoping the elf would understand that Greylin was ill. "You should not have eaten so much so quickly," he told Greylin quietly as he led her carefully toward the mouth of the cave. Thankfully, the rain had slowed to a drizzle, and she was still wearing his cloak. "I am sorry. It is my fault. I should have known."

This, Greylin did manage to answer, in a pained mumble. "I did not ....want to offend," she managed, feeling her mouth filling with saliva. She grimaced, slipping her hands from his sleeves to grip her long hair and quickly twist it, stuffing the silvery rope down into the cloak as she fell to her knees in the scrub and proceeded to vomit up everything she had eaten.

Kal frowned, unsure what to do to help, but unwilling to leave her alone. He wasn't sure why, but he felt oddly responsible for her, though he'd only met her a few hours ago. Maybe it was because she seemed to have more in common with him than anyone he'd ever met before, or maybe it was just because she seemed to need protecting, and he needed someone to protect. There was nothing he could do really, but crouch beside her and wait until she was done. It was right about then when he heard it - the sound of wolves howling in the night, and his hand went for the dagger he wore at his waist.

Breathless, it was everything Greylin could do not to cry as she retched, her empty stomach feeling as though it wanted to turn itself inside out. It wasn't because of the pain; no, the urge to cry came from the sheer indignity of having had a decent meal for the first time in her life and immediately losing it because she couldn't handle it. She felt Kal tense, forcing herself to sit back on her heels, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "What is it?"

His concern for her changed from guilt to fear, as he moved to his feet and looked out in the direction of the howls. "Wolves," he told her simply, his fingers closing on the dagger and tugging it from its resting place at his waist. It wasn't a sword, but it was well-made and felt good in his hands, as it should, since he'd been the one who'd forged the blade. "A hunting pack, most likely."

It wasn't fear in her eyes, though, as she looked about the forest around them. There was more curiosity in her gaze than anything, a sense of wonder. "I have never seen a wolf from the ground," she said, glad of the distraction from her stomach. "Are they so very dangerous to us?"

"They are if they decide we are fair game," he said, moving in front of her, as if to shield her from the wolves with her body. It might be better to retreat into the cave, but Kalan'ar didn't want them to end up trapped there.

"Wolves," Hal said, coming up behind them, bow drawn. "You should get back, inside the cave."

Behind Hal, Luin was climbing up the rocks that edged the waterfall to seek higher ground, apparently drawn out by the wolves as well. Greylin frowned, unconsciously disappointed to be sent away like a child before she could see the creatures properly for herself.

"No, we could be trapped there," Kalan'ar pointed out, preferring to stand his ground than be cornered in the cave.

"Suit yourself," Hal replied, starting to follow after Luin, before turning momentarily back to hand his sword to the taller of the two drow. "Be careful," he said, leaving them to follow Luin up the rocks for a better look.

Kal looked more than a little surprised to find the elf's sword in his hand - a weapon whose craftsmanship he couldn't help but admire.

Still shaking a little from her moment of disgorging her dinner, Greylin rose onto her feet, stepping away from the disappointing puddle she had created. There was ....something ....in the air. Like a voice on the edge of hearing, some reassuring touch on her mind that felt alien and familiar all at once.

Kal was about to hand Greylin his dagger, when he noticed a strange look on her face. "What is it?" he whispered, wondering what it was that had put that expression on her face. It wasn't a look of fear, but something else he couldn't quite place.

"Can't you hear them?" she asked in return, her own voice soft and seeming to echo the whispering of the trees around them. "Someone ....something out here. Something watching over us."

Kal narrowed his eyes, searching the darkness, focusing his ears on the sounds of the woods around them, but he only heard the whisper of the wind, the trickle of rain, the rush of the waterfall, and the baying of wolves. "Hear ....what?" he asked, stepping closer.

"Like a voice but without words," Greylin whispered to him. "A feeling. We're safe. She won't let any harm come to us." As she spoke, the first of the wolves came into view, padding through the trees toward them.

"The Dark Maiden?" he asked, eyes widening. He had lived in Anarven long enough now that he knew the sounds of the forest and understood them as being natural. They weren't magical or unusual to him, but he had never heard a voice the way she was describing it.

"I don't know," was her reply. "What does she sound like?" At the edge of the trees, the wolves were gathering, yellow bright eyes piercing the darkness, narrowing their focus on the two dark elves who stood together.

"I don't know," he replied, turning back to find them being watched by strange yellow eyes that pierced the night, and he knew the wolves had found them.

But why were they only watching" Were they assessing them, waiting for the right moment to attack" And why had the elves not taken any action' He knew in that moment that if he had to put his own life at risk to protect his "little bird", he would do so without hesitation. He took a tighter grip on the sword, a look of grim determination on his face, though it was tinged with fear, but perhaps they were going about this all wrong. He hesitated for a moment, remembering the druid's words about the trees and the creatures of the forest.

Beside him, Greylin took a step forward, answering a call that it seemed only she could hear. She went down to one knee, one dark hand raised toward the pack that watched them, and a black wolf emerged from the darkness, padding close to sniff at that outstretched hand. It raised amber eyes to Kalan'ar curiously, as though waiting to know what the male drow would do.

Haldreithen

Date: 2019-03-27 18:51 EST
Kalan'ar sensed danger, but curiosity, too. He'd never seen anything like this before, and though he was afraid for Greylin, if the wolves wanted to attack them, they would have by now. Instead, he only stepped forward, taking a place just behind Greylin, not only to protect her, but almost as if he was claiming her as part of his own pack.

"There is nothing for you here, little brother, but we wish you and your pack good hunting elsewhere," he told the wolf, in the common tongue, slowly lowering the sword so that he did not appear threatening.

The black wolf tilted his head, almost dog-like for a moment, acknowledging the lack of hostility in the male before him. Then his gaze returned to Greylin, and she dared to reach out, driving her fingers gently through the creature's thick fur. He made a low grumbling sound in his throat, a sound of pleasure, his tongue lolling out to lick her wrist as she pulled her hand away, then backed up a step or two. With a last look to Kalan'ar that seemed to contain a nod between equals, the black wolf bounded back into the forest, his pack following at his heels.

Kalan'ar remained where he was, stock still, beside Greylin, tensing as the wolf sniffed at her hand, though the wolf seemed non-menacing. He was wise enough to know this was the alpha male and showing any weakness or aggression could get them killed. He only watched, his knuckles white in their grip upon the sword, only exhaling in relief when the wolf bounded away, his pack falling in behind him.

Greylin was enchanted, watching the wolves leave them with shining eyes. She rose slowly to her feet, raising her wrist to sniff where the rough tongue had licked her with an unconscious smile. The sensation in her mind seemed clearer, somehow - not the Dark Maiden, of that she was certain.

Kal did not understand what had just taken place, even though he'd seen it. He'd never seen anything like it. While wolves were not commonly known to hunt elves, they were not really known for being friendly either, and yet, there was no questioning what he had just witnessed.

"I do not understand," he murmured, mostly to himself. Had the wolves sensed the druid on her, or was it something else?

"Is there an oak near here?" Greylin asked softly. She didn't even know what an oak was, just that she felt the need to find one. "Whatever that is." She turned to look at Kal, her smile smoothing into the now familiar blankness.

"An oak tree?" he echoed, looking toward where the clearing gave way to woods. "Perhaps ..." he said, uncertainly. "Come," he told her, sheathing his dagger and reaching for her hand, the elf sword still balanced in the other.

A soft thump against the ground behind him made itself known as Greylin laid her hand in his, distracting them both from the trust in that gesture as Luin approached them. "What was that?"

Kal did not bother to answer Luin's question. She might be there to protect them, but she was not their master. "We need to find an oak tree," he told her instead. Another thump declared Hal's return, turning a silent but questioning expression to his mate.

Luin glanced at Hal, but they both knew the sight of a god's hand on companions better than they might have thought. She looked back to the two dark elves.

"Now?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.

Greylin's fingers tightened on Kal's hand. She would like to go now, yes, but she dared not say it aloud.

"Yes, now," Kalan'ar answered for them both, though it was Greylin who had asked for one. He seemed to have somehow become her protector and her intermediary with the elves, at least for now. "I do not know why, but ..." He trailed off, looking back at Greylin with a puzzled expression on his face. "I think she may be Goddess-touched."

That, of course, begged the question, which goddess" But Luin wasn't going to ask, instead glancing around to orientate herself. "There is an old oak not too far from here," she said. "It's actually between us and Anarven."

"Lotha suru," he said, giving Greylin's hand a light squeeze to gain her attention. "Can it wait until morning?" he asked, unsure what was going on, but ready to do whatever she bade him. She might be a drow female, but she had been a slave, just like him, and as such, he found that he trusted her.

Greylin paused, glancing back to the forest in the direction the wolves had fled. The sense of someone in her mind gentled, as though giving her permission to sleep first. Her eyes rose to meet Kal's. "I ....believe so."

"We should rest," he said - all of them, though she clearly needed it the most.

"I will take first watch," Hal volunteered, stepping closer and holding out his hand to reclaim his sword, which Kal returned to the elf without hesitation.

Strangely wearied almost more by the encounter with the wolves than by her moment of stomach upset, Greylin didn't take her hand out of Kalan'ar's as they moved back toward the cave. Luin paused, frowning a little worriedly as she looked up at Hal.

"I didn't imagine all that, did I?"

Kal lead the drow girl back to the cave and disappeared inside, presumably so that they both could get some rest. Hal watched as they departed before turning back to Luin, his frown mirroring his mate's.

"Not unless I imagined it, too," he said, pausing a moment in thought. "Perhaps she knows some druid magic," he suggested. She had spent a year or so with the gnome. Perhaps some of his abilities had rubbed off on her, or perhaps she was just gifted in her own way.

"Or she's a born druid, claimed by the Mother or one of the others when she was conceived," Luin pointed out in concern. "That might explain why Nesgrim didn't kill her. I mean, he clearly has reason to hate the drow. He should have killed her on sight. Instead, he looks after her for a full year or more, in his own way. But how does a being born in darkness get claimed by a deity of life and light?"

Hal was as puzzled as Luin. He did not know much of dark elves, but he knew that Kalan'ar and the other drow in Anarven had once been slaves and had good reason to hate the drow who had enslaved them. He didn't know much about Kalan'ar's background and even less about Greylin.

Haldreithen

Date: 2019-03-27 18:51 EST
"Perhaps she is not what she seems," he said, with a light shrug. "But I think there is much we don't know."

"If she's being called to an oak, we'll know a little more in the morning," Luin murmured. She sighed softly. "Come back into the cave, m'emel. I'll set up the wards again, and we can all sleep."

Hal hesitated, looking out on the terrain around them, as if he was trying to search for something they'd missed, something that would explain what had just happened here. He was an elf. He should know, shouldn't he? But he wasn't a druid; he was just a soldier. He focusing his ears on the night sounds around them, hearing nothing now but the sound of water rushing over the falls and trees sighing in the wind. He nodded at last, satisfied her wards would keep them safe, but he would likely not sleep very soundly until they were safe back in Anarven.

It was deeply unsettling to have witnessed a wolf pack interacting with their companions without any hint of hostility or distrust; worse to be left with the impression that some deity had taken a close interest in the drow girl neither one of them had much cause to trust.

"We'll find out tomorrow, " Luin said quietly. "No one can make the night go by any faster."

He nodded again, sheathing his sword and turning to face his mate. "I pray she is not a threat to Anarven," he said, a worried expression on his face. His prince had clearly told him to make sure the drow girl was set free, but he had not explicitly said to bring her to Anarven. Hal felt a little sick at the thought of that, but he would wait until morning to see what transpired.

"If it comes to it," Luin said, her voice even quieter now, "I will cut her down. You will have to keep Kal from trying to stop me if tomorrow proves that our little hummingbird is more dangerous than she seems."

"Let us hope that is not necessary," Hal replied, his face even more pale in the moonlight than usual, sick at the mere thought of having to dispose of the girl. Though he was a solider, he did not enjoy killing, but he had sworn to do everything in his power to protect his prince and Anarven.

Still, it was not a problem that would have any solutions until tomorrow at the earliest. For tonight, they could only stand guard, and hope for no more unexpected surprises.