Middle Earth

Constance-

I let myself relax a little as we walked to Lalaith's village, but I soon was on my toes as we walked in. Tall elves looked down at us, some with horror and shock, others with happiness, and then some with disgust.

Lalaith led us to a tent where a girl with bandages sat on a bed and was stuffing her feet into a pair of boots. She jumped when she saw all of us and reached for her sword. My hand instinctively went to my sword's hilt in case the girl tried to pull something.

"You weren't going to run away now were you?" Lalaith asked pleasantly. I looked from Lalaith and then back to the other girl and started to recognize her. Yes, she was the wounded girl that Lalaith and I found in the woods a few days back.

"Maybe I was, and maybe I wasn't."

Mikael stepped forward. "We have a proposition for you..."

"Her name is Nyxe," Lalaith answered. Nyxe shot a look at Lalaith and then narrowed her eyes at Mikael.

"Why would I want to listen to you?"

"Because it's about the king and his soon coming death."

This seemed to grasp Nyxe's attention and she cocked an eyebrow.

"What sort of proposition?"

Mikael

"A proposition involving the gathering of players before a game which will end in either the death of a king and positions of power for those who fell him, or death of a fair fellowship of a few." I smiled.
"There is no need for the pretty words" replied Nyxe.
"But wait fair maiden for thats not all we must do. We must gather unto great and noble people. Bors the beorning and Grimalkin of whom im sure you are familiar" i smiled up at her a cheeky glint in my eye as i spotted her recognition of the legendary title of the white councils assassin.

**I am so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry for not posting! I, admittedly, lost track of what was going on. I'll post more now!**



-Nyxe-

It was not normal for Nyxe to even consider companions. She had been alone for so long, running from or fighting people, it just was not normal.

Nyxe smiled and slowly nodded her head, saying, "I'll join this fellowship, but I can't promise that I'll stay with you on your journey." With a smirk at Lalaith she continued, "I am allowed to leave now?"



-Aelfwine-

Alefwine gazed into the night sky. Though he could not see anything, his other senses were as good as, if not better than, any Elf's. The smoke of a town, or village's, common fire, filled the air. For days he had been thinking he should look and see what it is, where exactly it was coming from. He ran back to his house.

Knocking on the cottage door, Aelfwine listened for the voice of his mother. Once he heard the faint "Come in" he entered and laid his catch on the table, eager to tell her what he had seen only minutes before.

"I smelled smoke coming from the direction of Fangorn," he began, kneeling at her bedside. She had not been the same since the Men had attacked them. "I want to find out what's going on there."

"Aelfwine, there is always smoke rising from Fangorn," his mother said. "Why would you want to leave for something you see every other day?"

He gazed at her with empty eyes. How could he explain?

"It's not from Fangorn itself, it's from a village. I need to go," he said. "I just know it."

His mother chuckled lightly and, running a hand through his scraggely red hair, said, "You're so much like your father. Wait until morning, please."




*In case you couldn't guess, he's blind. I forgot to mention that in his profile.*

Lalaith

"Of course you may leave. But if you are part of this fellowship now, I'd advise you don't wander far." Nyxe had healed quickly, and, as I had learned when I first met her, was quite vivacious. I was surprised she had decided to join the fellowship, because she always seemed so distant from people, even the elves treating her in my camp, but I found her interesting, and was glad she had joined. "And also, I must ask, when will we go off on this quest, and where to? It sounds so simple, when you speak of this plan to kill the king, Mikael, but I'm sure it is much more complex than that."

Mikael

"Of course it is more complicated than it sounds. Is anything ever simple? To kill the King we will need certain things. An assassin, greater than any known to man. I speak of course of Grimalkin, the White Councils political killer. Finding who ever holds this title is one challenge. Another is to find an old friend of mine. Bors the Beorning. A great man and an even greater chef, but that is not why we need him. We need a distraction if we are ever to enter the castle. Bors will provide it. But why, i hear you whisper, are you here? This a dangerous mission through enemy territory and through some of the darkest land known to man, elf, hobbit or dwarf. Batlles will be vicious and many. We will all be pushed to our limit. The greater our numbers the greater chance we will kill this pretender king." Having finished my monologue i gathered my things and began setting up my tent in a clearing.

Constance-

A very pretty speech, and of course it meant that this journey was going to be rough. There are few entrances into the castle and even a chef would go through some sort of check before he could see the king, if he could see the king.

"Your face says you doubt this plan," said Mikael as he set up his tent. I shrugged.

"Not really doubting it, just realising that it will be extremely hard."

"I heard no complaint earlier."

"Did you hear me complain?"

"Behind the words, yes."

"The faster it is done, the better."

Mikael shrugged. "I don't control time."

**Terrible post, but I didn't know what to type. Sorry... and welcome back TexasWriter.**

Oh dear, I dont want this one to die but it seems I dont know where to place Meer... I'll improvise

Meer

Once again Constance and Mikael were at it again. So many elves... it was the first time he really felt truly threatened before and it scared him earnestly. He sat down, pulling an arrow out of his quiver before grabbing a clothe from his pocket and polished the stone-head. He prefered stone-heads over steel. They were... weighted better in that sense. He began to hum a tune that no one but he knew as he did so, waiting for something interesting.

He heard the crunch of boots beside him when he looked up to see Constance staring down at him with a hard look on her face as if she wasnt pleased at all with what had conspired this afternoon. She 'humphed' before sitting down beside him, pulling arrows out of her own quiver which she started to polish with some added vigour.

"You seem stressed," Meer murmured, his voice weaker then usual do to his fear of the other elves. He would be protecting her full time if he had to. The thought of creatures more powerful them him around Constance was unnerving.

"I am."

"And why is that?"

"Because I am."

"Is that all you're going to say?"

"Yes."

This seemed general enough and he wasnt expecting anything more then that so he went back to polishing his arrowheads silently, lithe fingers moving fairly quickly as he did so.

~~

Constance-

I knew I shouldn't have snapped at Meer since he was my only "friend" here. I just don't know what to do anymore. Fangorn used to be so simple and now I was thrusted into a world where I had practically forgotten everything and was still trying to block it all out.

I sighed, put dow the arrow tip, and got up.

"Where are you going?" Meer asked. I shrugged.

"For a walk."

Suddenly the half-elf from the camp came up, um... Kaida I think her name was. "Mikael says we will leave in a few minutes."

I snorted and walked past. Kaida seemed to give me a hard look and Meer stood up. Obviously kindred was more important to him.

**Constance will lighten up, she just doesn't trust too many people anymore and it takes a while to gain her trust**

Lalaith

This group had just joined together and already people were fighting, and becoming frustrated. I stood on the outside of the group, watching everyone else. The sooner we set off, the better, I thought. But now Constance was going on a walk, and who knew how long that would be, and I realized, everyone still had to prepare for this quest.
"Has anyone thought about what supplies and such we are going to need?" I asked, glancing around at everyones faces.

Rey:

He sat in the middle of the fellowship and watched as the events of the camps unfolded before him. The sorceror was setting up a little camp in the middle of the camp, Constance had just stomped off, Meer had his head in his hands in bewildered silence and Kaida was indignant about the way Constance had ignored her. Rey chuckled. They weren't the most harmonious group, most of them not trusting each other. Trust needed to be built, and fast, if the ruthless king was ever going to be overthrown.

**Sorry it's short, ran out of time***

Meer

Meer didn't like being so annoyed by everything. In fact, he usually kept a level head about everything but this was starting to make his skin crawl. The only person that he knew of that he didnt really trust was Mikael and that was because of what he had done to Constance, but Constance's disregard for anything he had to say was becoming quite a nuisance.

In fact, he felt so obviously annoyed by that fact that his attempts were fruitless in making her trust everyone that he was feeling an almost dampening on their own relationship. A strain, as some would call it.

He quickly shoved that thought out of his head and stoof up, hand still pressed firmly against his temples before his eyes shot over in Constance's direction. She was just standing there looking terribly unthrilled with everything going on around her. He sighed before finally approaching her but not saying anything. Just standing beside her.

She glared at him for a few seconds then turned her eyes to her feet. When he still said nothing she finally turned to him and stared at him hard.

"What?"

"Hmm?" He was a little bit surprised with the silence broken and somewhat happy she was the first thing to say something.

"Why are you just standing there?" She seemed terribly moody. "Shouldn't you be with your kin or something? Getting to know those other elves?"

"And why would I be doing that?"

"Because they are your kin," She stated simply. "You shouldn't be wasting your time standing her doing nothing."

"I wasnt wasting my time, Constance," He smiled brightly. "In fact, I was just so hoping to spend some time with you."

"And why is that?" She crossed her arms over her chest but it seemed her cheeks had slightly coloured. That he wasnt too sure about though.

"Because I want to is why," He chuckled. "Is there anymore of a reason to wish to spend time with you? You are my friend and I want you to know there is someone here you can trust no matter what, if thats alright with you. I know you can be... stubborn, but your smart and you'll come to realise that these people are trustworthy to."

~~

Constance-

I really hated it when I was in the wrong and someone else was right. It was just a pain. Especially when the other person seemed to show undying forgiveness. It really made me feel terrible and selfish and like a stuborn mule.

I just let him stand there and went back to setting up a cloth for me to sleep on. Meer continued to stand there and I sighed in defeat.

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I- nothing, never mind."

"Did you just apologize?"

"Yes," I said glumly.

Meer nodded and walked away. Is that all he wanted? That- no, no, he just wanted everything to be okay between us. It was like a kick to my stomach how selfish I felt.

I went back to my work and felt eyes on my back. I turned around to see Mikael, watching amusedly.

"What are you looking at?"