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Post by Mippin on Sept 13, 2003 0:29:52 GMT -5
Ránewen sat, alone once more. Whatever the danger was, it had to be real, and strong. For Amarië seldom became so distraught. She slowly began to finger the stone hanging lightly about her neck.
She sat in silence, deep in thought. It seemed she was frozen in time, re-living the past, and she drifted off.
Ránewen looked at the beautiful carven box. It's smooth inscription spelling out her name. The golden ink filling in the wood and sparkling in the sunlight. What was inside?
She spotted a small parchment next to the box and picked it up, and began to read the smooth flowing letters:
Dearest Ránewen,
At this time, we are not at home. But do not fret, we have friends among us to guide us in our journey. We shall return promptly.
Take care of your brother, and be safe.
Open up the box, there is a gift waiting for you. Always treaure it.
With much Love,
Your Parents.
Ránewen was saddened, once again her parents were out, striving to help with the battles. They had never refused an opportunity to ride out and protect their land.
She looked down at the letter, tracing the golden script with her finger and thinking of her beloved parents.
Her father was a great man, a valiant warrior in many battles. He stood tall and proud, and had won a bit of renown. Her brother always wished to follow in his footsteps.
Her mother was fair and beautiful, her dark hair as a veil about her, but her brillianteyes were fierce. Her mother was no house-wife. She was a shieldmaiden, and though won little renown, Ránewen looked to her mother with utmost respect. She was a strong woman.
Ránewen set down the letter, and looked again at the box. She eyed the inscription, thinking how lovely her name looked in the finely polished box. Slowly, she opened the box, and her eyes went aglaze when she saw the contents.
She lifted the chain, and saw the beautifully adorned ruby. Her mother's necklace. 'But she never took it off, it was a gift from father.' she thought as she held the precious stone up to the light.
Once again, she looked in the box, and saw yet another note. She opened the neat folds, and read.
This time, the note was in a fine spidery hand, and written in elvish. As she read the last word, she let the note drop. The tears flowed from her eyes as she flung herself to the ground. And so came to be the first of Ránewen's griefs.
She packed her things, and got her brother. Then, they set out on Ránewen's horse, Istel. She would not speak a word to her brother, but she wore the necklace of her mother.
Swiftly they rode together on Istel to the scene of the battle, but there was laid upon Ránewen the second of her griefs.
It was there that her brother at last saw what it was that Ránewen had took him to see. For before them was laid the dead bodies of their parents, felled in battle.
Each year, the two siblings would ride out to see the mound which was raised over the bodies of their parents. And there, they wept.
Ránewen felt the pain over again, and this time more deeply, for now, now she was to go alone and see the mound of her parents alone, and she would be left to darkness.
A mound was to be raised for her brother, though no body would lie beneath it, beside the mound of her parents, and there she could weep. Weep for the dead, and weep for the living. For her line was broken. She felt the cold fingers of her darkness grasp her, slowly suffocating her until she wished for death.
She heard the soft, light footsteps of an elf, and she wiped the tears off her face, and looked out into the inn. Amarië was heading her way. She motioned for Amarië to sit.
"Now, you shall tell me how your horse fares, and then you shall tell me how it came to be injured." Ránewen said forcedly. She was pained, but she had been since the dreadful day when she recieved her mother's necklace, and she knew, that she would be for her days to come. Until at last, a mound would be raised over her feeble body. And she could join her family once again.
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Post by Amarië on Sept 16, 2003 17:42:01 GMT -5
'I do not have the time to talk, but my mare was injured. Deep wounds run along her side... I will leave her here to be kept under the care of you and Lila. I may send for some good elvish medicine, but she will live. I must depend upon Eärél. I did not want use him before, but now he is my only chance. He is strong and will help me greatly. I shall take a different route this time. It is a harder route, Eärél will take to it well,' the elf told Ránewen.
'You still have not told me of how Aranel became injured,' Ránewen said.
'I knew you would ask that; although, you should know what danger is out there,' Amarië left Ránewen with that to think about.
Amarië stood up and left the main hall. She walked back to her room. Still in her wet clothes, she set down her bag next to the bed and changed into something dry. It was a pale blue elven dress, that draped down onto the floor. Long sleeves hung from the arms, as Amarë picked up her bag and began to search through it. Inside she found a letter, which was adressed to Ránewen. It was supposed to be given to her long ago, but she had been away. It was from her mother.
The beautiful golden letters stretched across the paper. Amarië knew she should have found Ránewen and given it to her long ago, but the inn had stopped her. The story behind the letter made a tear fall from Amarië's face, rolling down her cheeck and falling onto the wooden floor. Wiping her misty eyes, Amarië new it was time. She had to give the letter to Ránewen. And then she had to go seek revenge, for Ránewen, Ránewen's family, and herself.
Setting the letter down onto her bed, she reached back into the bag and took out another letter. This time it was adressed to her, and the seal on it had not yet been broken. She knew who it was from, but she had not yet dared to open it. It was time to, Amarië could feel it. She grasped it tightly and began to open the seal.
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Post by Mippin on Sept 16, 2003 21:31:50 GMT -5
Once again, Ránewen was left alone to ponder. As she sat, she decided that she could not let Amarië leave without her knowing what danger was outside. Although she was beginning to form some idea, which brought little hope to her. But little was enough. She drained the last of her cup and rose.
She walked around until she was nearly at the entrance to the kitchen. There she summoned for Lila. In a few short moments, the hobbit-lass came to Lila's side. "Yes'm?" the hobbit asked.
Ránewen bent down a bit and whispered to the hobbit. They then walked off towards the room where Amarië would be set. The hobbit knocked gently on the door and called out. "Miss Amarië? It's Lila. May I have a word with you?" there came a quick reply and Ránewen nodded. The hobbit was gone as the door was opened.
Amarië peered out of her door to see Ránewen standing before her. "Quite clever. Come in," she said, as she walked back in her room with Ránewen following. She closed the door behind her.
"Now, you shall tell me, whether the time be pending or no, what is this great danger." Ránewen said rather forcefully.
Amarië looked down, down at a letter laying at her desk.
Ránewen immediately recognized the beautiful script, which so often she had seen as a child. But still she pressed on, pretending not to notice and straining not to cry out and weep. "Amarië, you must tell me."
Amarië was silent, but she gazed at Ránewen. At once her thoughts went back to the dreaded day at Fangorn, where the Goblins took the life of her beloved brother. But no, now she knew that Amarië had seen what she had not dared to speak. For Ránewen could not contend with the Warg Riders. With all eminent threat gone, they must have taken their precious time.
Ránewen broke her gaze, and questioned quietly. "How far are they from Rivendell?"
Amarië kept her glance and replied slowly "Close to Dimrill Dale, about 3 furlongs north as the eagle flies."
Ránewen could not keep her emotions and she cried out. "Did you see him?!"
Amarië made no reply, but instead she looked down at her desk once more and took up the letter. She took her things and walked towards the door, where Ránewen stood. Handing her the letter, she spoke once more. "I should have given this to you sooner, but alas I had not the chance. Now, I give this to you, and bid thee farewell."
Ránewen looked at the letter, not daring to open it, but watching the golden ink glitter like mithril in the candle light. She looked up, but Amarië was not there.
She turned and quickly followed her friend.
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Post by Amarië on Sept 16, 2003 21:56:02 GMT -5
Amarië left the inn and made her way to the stables. She was not ready to leave yet, for there was some busness still left unattended. The was a quiet spot up in the lofty hay lofty where Amarië new she could read in privacy.
Ránewen had recieved her letter, and the will of her mother had been done. Amarië had given her the letter as Ránewen's mother had wished. Now she felt she should read the letter inscripted to her.
It was from her own mother, who had sailed over undying lands long ago. There was one secret her mother had never told her, it was linked to her past, and it was in this letter. Amarië broke the seal as the rain drizzled outside. The hay was still dry under the sturdy roof, and Amarië sat down and began to read.
The letter was written in red ink. Long elvish letters stroked up and down the page. Amarië started to read, but was interupted. She jerked her head to the right. A sound from below. Someone was calling her name.
Amarië peered over the side to see a hobbit-lass. She had the same physcal features as Lila, but she was a bit more bold. 'Ruby! Your here! I thought you would never come! Up here,' the elf shouted over the hobbits head.
The hobbit made her way up to the top of the hay loft. Sitting next to Amarië she said, 'I have arrived! Now I can help you and Lila with the Inn!'
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Post by Amarië on Sept 19, 2003 19:05:39 GMT -5
'So how have you and Lila been?' the hobbit asked fiddling with the end of her long tan dress.
'We have been fine. The Inn has just started and everything is going well. There is one worry that burdens my mind though...
'There is a danger growing in the south, I have seen it, and experience what damage it can do. I am worried it will spread and put the people of the inn in danger,' said the Amarië, hiding the letter back in her pouch.
'That does not sound good. we shall have to put up a big wooden gate around the inn and the stables.'
'That would not be good. It would hide all of the beutiful rose gardens.'
'We may have to. If the danger grows too strong.'
'Do you really think a wooden gate will hold what danger is out there?' Amarië asked, already knowing the answer.
'You're right. I shall go see Lila now. I hope she is not busying herself too much,' the hobbit said. She climbed down the hay loft and scurried away.
The rain drizzled outside. It grew no better, yet it grew no worse. It seemed that the weather would last through out the night, and possibly the day. She took out the letter and began to read again. As she read on, she new that what the letter asked must be done. It had to be.
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Post by Mippin on Sept 21, 2003 21:29:50 GMT -5
Her eyes followed the hobbit back into the inn, Ránewen dare not to show herself until the hobbit-lass was out of site. She was hidden behind a pile of hay, where she could see Amarië clearly. As the hobbit went back in, Ránewen prepared to come out and speak once more to Amarië, and try to dissuade her not to ride out. But there was something that kept her. As if something was restraining her.
Something fluttered beside her, glimmering in the pale moonlight, as a shimmering feather. The letter fell lightly at her feet. She sat down, and picked it up. Tears welling up in her eyes as she stay watching the letters bitterly. It was time to open the letter.
She slowly placed her finger under the seal, breaking it, then opened the letter cautiously. The graceful, extravangant hand of her mother flowed in front of her, reminding her of sweet times when she was but a young girl. Times, that seemed lost. Buried beneath her grief. She read the letter, and longed to call out for her mother. How she felt so empty inside. With each word a chill came over her, and she drew her cloak around her as if trying to keep out the cold. But nay, the cloak did nothing but seal her frozen bitterness about her.
She stood at last and came out of her hiding place. She walked towards the loft where Amarië was seated. There she sat close by and tried to speak. But once again, something restrained her. Amarië gazed up and looked at Ránewen. At last, at long last they realised their connexion with each other. Ránewen nodded slowly, but then recoiled.
"I see why now, that you must ride out. But I shall not let you go alone. Let me ride with you." Ránewen said defiantly, a new strength growing inside of her.
Amarië said nothing, but shook her head. For, Amarië was immortal, but Ránewen was not. Amarië feared for Ránewen's life.
"If I be felled amongst the battlefield, I shall die in honour, and then I shall be shed of my darkness. Do not fight me, Amarië. I am coming with you."
With these words, Ránewen went back inside. As she walked in, she saw Ruby and Lila, busy working. 'Lila has Ruby now, they can run the inn.' Ránewen thought to herself, as she walked towards her room to pack.
She barely heard the light footsteps following her.
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Post by Amarië on Sept 22, 2003 19:26:09 GMT -5
Amarië followed behind Ránewen. The letter still gripped tightly in her hand. She now knew the secret behind her father, what he had been through, and hurt her deeply. She knew how much her mother must have suffered. The letter also mentioned something. She must make a journey. There was one person she must see, they would hold the secret of her past, and present.
She walked to Ránewen's room and tapped lightly on the door. It slowley opened and Ránewen stood there, her bags on the bed being packed.
'I must go. I shall not seek revenge now, I have to speak to someone first. They lie in Mirkwood and I must see them soon. I cannot tell you why at the moment, but please don't do anything drastic while I am gone. Ruby and Lila still need your help, for they both are still unexperienced,' Amarië said to Ránewen, as she walked over to the other end of the room and looked out the window at the long jouney that lay ahead of her.
'What could it be? Why are you so urgent to see this person?'
'They hold the key to my past. It has always been a mystery to me, and now I can finally discover what my mother always wanted me to know, but could never tell me. I have not seen her in what seems like an age, being separated from her when I was merely your age. Now she has summoned me to see this person, and I must go soon before what is left of my past is lost. Stay here with Lila and Ruby, they need you. I shall ride fast, and hopefully return as quickly as possible, for I know of a secret way to Mirkwood. It was in this letter,' Amarië held up the letter.
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Post by Mippin on Sept 22, 2003 21:02:44 GMT -5
Ránewen did not stop to fight Amarië this time, but let her go. She knew her friend would be true to her word and return promptly. She walked with Amarië and saw her off.
"Fare thee well, dear friend." Ránewen said, "I bid thee a safe journey; I would see you off, but I am weary and shall rest early tonight."
"Namárië, my friend. I shall see you when I return."
She looked down solemnly and walked back in, back to her room. Glancing at the bags sitting upon her bed she continued packing slowly. Her bags contained little more than the necessary. In her heart, Ránewen had but a few reasons to insist on riding out with Amarië. To avenge her family, and moreover to join them. Ránewen planned to ride to her death.
She looked out at the pale moon of Rivendell, trying not to think of her pain. She set her bags aside and drew the cover of the bed, and settled in. She slid the letter under her pillow and lay for the longest time.
She lay staring at the moon from her window. She couldn't take the pain anymore. It was time to escape, time to escape before all air was cut off from her. She had to escape her suffering. A tear slid down her face as she tried to block out her thoughts.
She struggled inside, fighting a battle within her. And at long last she fell asleep to dark, bitter dreams.
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Post by Amarië on Sept 23, 2003 18:23:24 GMT -5
Amarië watched Ránewen walk away. Eärél stomped one of his hooves. He knew that Amarië was about to ride him far and was pleased at it. He was tall and slender, slivery white, and a long beautiful mane. He was fairly young but very experienced.
Amarië wasn’t ready to leave. Knowing that she must see this person now, she had to go for her family. Her life had been long and hard, and finally when she thought she could find comfort in the inn, she had to leave. Her past was coming back and she had to solve it so she could live her life in peace.
She led Eärél out of his stall and into the soft sprinkles of rain. He grunted and fog blew out of his nose. He was excited to ride; he loved it. Amarië mounted. She rode down the street. Taking one last look at the inn, Eärél and her went down the street. Eärél's walking soon turned into a gallop, his hooves clopped on the road, and they soon disappeared from view.
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Post by Mippin on Oct 5, 2003 23:43:34 GMT -5
When Ránewen awoke, she felt weak. She rose from the bed and prepared for the morning. At last she walked out of the room and towards the common room. She ordered a meal and walked to a seat at her usual table. Ruby came rushing over with her meal, and Ránewen thanked her, and handed her a few coins. Once she finished her meal, she walked over to the kitchen and called out for Ruby and Lila. The two rushed over. Ránewen informed them over Amarië's leave, and offered them help with the inn.
Almost immediately, a guest had just walked into the inn, the first in a while. Ránewen rushed over and greeted the guest, handing them a rose. After that, she saw to it, that the guest had a room and a meal. Then she had time to herself. She wondered when Amarië would return. She counted the hours, awaiting Amarië's return, and when the time would come that she herself would ride out to face the Warg Riders, and give her life up.
The thought of death did not scare Ránewen, but it felt to her to be the only way to suppress her pain. She was ready to join her family. It almost seemed to be something Ránewen looked forward to. The coldness seeped into her skin, chilling her to the bone, and she felt her heart freeze over.
Ránewen watched some of the guests, laughing heartily, singing and merry-making. But to her, it seemed impossible to do such things. Impossible to move, to do anything at all. As she wept her tears felt ice-cold against her chilled face. Her eyes stung, and she felt every minute to last an eternity. In secret she asked herself why she had to linger on. Why was her life surrounded by death, and why could not she join them.
Ránewen thought back to the moment in Fangorn Forest. She would have loved to give up and join her dead brother. But no, instead a rage came across her, and she fought. Ránewen was a warrior, a heartless warrior. If not pained by the death of her loved ones, she was slaying her foes, and it seemed to her, that the only happiness she could remember was seeing the dead corpses of the enemy.
She got up and walked to her room, where she in secret unsheathed her sword. For a while she stared at the sword, visioning the blood upon it, the blood of her foes. So much blood. The sword was now cleaned and looked fairly new, though it had been through many a battle.
She then thought of the tale of Túrin, and she lifted up her sword. Grasping the hilt, blade pointing downward, she curved the sword, the blade now pointing toward her heart. In seconds, Ránewen would be no more. Closer and closer the blade came, when at last it would pierce the skin and her heart. As the blade came closer, Ránewen shook. It wasn't fear she felt, but something else. Something she could not explain. She faltered and at once fell to the ground. The sword slipping from her hands and flying through the air. There was no time to move, and Ránewen watched the blade come down towards her. She closed her eyes as it made contact. The sword swiped across Ránewen's neck.
Ránewen said nothing as the blade came down, but her mind blurred. She was still alive, but the hilt had seemed to knock her unconscious. She laid in a darkness. No one could help her now, for there was nary a noise to signal distress. When at last consciousness came back to Ránewen, she opened her eyes but saw nothing. Her body felt cold, and she could feel the blood around her. This time, her own blood. She lie unable to move. Her blood flowing about her, and she felt the life being taken away from her. Could it be, at last, she would escape?
Ránewen was encaged inside her slowly fading body. She could not see, nor hear anything of the outside world. But dark visions clouded her eyes, and vile whisperings called out to her. Calling her name. She tried to flee from it, tried to run, but she couldn't. At last pain settled within her and silently Ránewen screamed.
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Post by Amarië on Oct 17, 2003 21:58:39 GMT -5
NOTE: I will be playing the role of Ruby until Amarië returns.
Ruby heard a scream from Ránewen's room. She rushed there, dropping the tray she held. She saw a puddle of blood on the floor and Ránewen lying there life less.
'LILA!' she screamed. Her head raced. Lila appeared at the door of the room. Seeing Ránewen, she stopped there and starred at the whole scene for a moment. 'Get some towels and hot water. Fast!' Ruby said to her as the hobbit-lass ran to get them as quickly as she could.
Ruby took a sheet out of the closet and began tearing it up, and wrapping it around Ránewen's neck to stop the bleeding for the time being. Lila rushed back with what was wished for.
'Help me get her on the bed,' she said. Lila obeyed and they both lifted Ránewen onto the bed and began bandaging Ránewen's wound.
'The wound did not run deep, but it still knocked her out,' Ruby said. The puddle had been cleaned up, as well as Ránewen's sword, which lay across the room on the wooden table. Ruby and Lila both sat at the edge of the bed.
'Lila, we should tend to the guests, we can both check in every once in a while to make sure she's alright,' Ruby suggested. The sheet that had been laid over Ránewen was moving up and down as she breathed.
'Yes, I will go, you can stay here. I can handle it myself,' the hobbit said as she rose and left the room. Ruby smiled at her dear friend.
Ránewen stirred in her bed. Ruby walked to the table that the sword was laid and set a cup of water on the table next to the bed. Ránewen began to mumble two words over and over again.
'Ilya firin, ilya firin,' she said in a weak voice, her eyes were still closed, as if she were asleep.
'Ránewen, miss? Ránewen,' Ruby said shaking her gently, 'Are you okay?'
Ránewen's eyes opened. Ruby handed her the water, 'So your alive. Can you talk, or did the sword run too deep, and what were you doing with it anyways?'
Ránewen drank from it and paused, watching her surroundings. Lila walked into the room. With her, she brought some more bandages to replace the old ones, and some hot water.
'So you're alive! What happened?' Lila asked.
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Post by Mippin on Oct 17, 2003 23:33:09 GMT -5
Ránewen woke from her darkness, to two hobbits with worried looks on their faces. She coughed a bit, and felt the blood rushing up her throat into her mouth. She slowly sat up, and felt a bit disoriented. At last she spoke in a coarse whisper.
"Amarië. Do not....do not tell her of this," she managed to say to the hobbits. She picked up a cloth on the table beside her and wiped the blood from her mouth. Lila and Ruby insisted that she take a sip of water. The draught was mingled with her own blood. They asked what had happened. Ránewen searched for the words to explain.
"I had an accident," she muttered, but yet they interrogated.
"And the sword?" they would ask. Ránewen shut her eyes and lay for a moment. The hobbits decided that Ránewen was tired and decided to leave. As they closed the door quietly, Ránewen sat up once more and saw the sword upon a table. It was cleaned, but Ránewen felt the blood upon it.
She had let herself down. When she thought death could have been an escape, she faltered, she failed. How wouldst she ride out with Amarië now? How didst she plan to face death in such a manner. She planned to die in honour but nay, nay she couldn't wait. She had shamed herself.
She saw the light glinting from the tip of the sword, so sharp. She saw it cutting through flesh. She gazed for a while, twitching a bit. Slowly, fury and rage seethed into her skin, and down to her soul. She was furious at herself, at her failure. She had no honour now, but she had fought hard, and it was enough for her.
She took out a piece of parchment and a quill and on her soft mattress she wrote a note, and left it lying upon the table.
The inn no longer brought ease to Ránewen's heart, nothing did. It was the perfect time, she felt. Amarië was gone, and the hobbits would be little concern to Ránewen after her life. She got up, and took off her bandage, her rage exceeding all pain. She took up her sword once more, with the same fire in her eyes as had she in battle. Without a pause the forced the sword in, into her flesh it pierced and continued, blood pouring out on the floor, but it didn't matter. For there was no pain any longer. It had ceased, as the body fell to the floor, dishonoured. At last, Ránewen ceased to linger, her tears ceased flowing, and she was bothered no longer by life. Her face was delicate, as it lie upon the cold floor, her eyes opened but a little, and not a sound could be heard. Blood covered her lips and from her mouth there came a flow for a while, staining the floor evermore. Her raiment soaked, and the sword through her middle.
At last, Ránewen had escaped.
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Post by Amarië on Oct 18, 2003 22:19:27 GMT -5
Ruby had just finished washing the bedclothes, when she heard Lila's running footsteps growing louder.
'Ruby! Come quick, its Ránewen! She has done it again!' Lila said, her voice rushed with confusion and concern.
Ruby dropped the sheet she was hanging up to dry and followed Lila to Ránewen's room. She gasped as she saw the pile of blood and Ránewen laying lifeless on the floor once more. 'Lila get some more hot water and bandages!' Ruby cried frantically, her mind racing.
Lila came back running as fast as her hobbit feet would carry her without spilling that water. Ruby took it and started bandaging to wounds to the best of her ability. 'Ránewen! Come back!,' she cried, unwilling to let Ránewen pass away.
Lila helped as much as she could, although she was not as skilled as Ruby. They both worked frantically, their minds spun on what to do. All hope seemed lost for Ránewen. Her grasp on life seemed to have let go. Ruby felt her pulse; her heart still beat on, but it was faint and distant.
Ruby did the best she could to bandage the wounds but it just seemed as though it wasn’t enough. Ránewen it seemed was lost, and Ruby couldn't help her, and slowly, bit by bit, Ránewen seemed to slip away from life.
'It seems hopeless,' Ruby said. 'I don't think I will be able to save her, she needs Amarië, but alas, she is not here.'
Ruby was bandaging the wounds, which did not run as deep as she had once though. She bandaged them as best she could, and with the help of Lila, laid Ránewen on the bed once more.
'This time we shall take her sword, along with any other weapons she may carry, and keep them in Amarië's room. We do not know what she may do next,' she said, as Lila cleaned the sword and took it out of the room.
She came back shortly, but this time she was not alone. An elf maiden followed her. With a letter grasped in one hand, she rushed to Ránewen.
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Post by Amarië on Oct 18, 2003 22:55:29 GMT -5
NOTE: Amarië has returned, and I will now be playing her, not Ruby.
Amarië quickly began work on Ránewen. Taking out a few herbs from her bag, she tended the wound. She did her best to stop the bleeding.
'What happened?' she asked Ruby and Lila, who took turns explaining while she worked.
'Ránewen, come back to life. Don't die. You have no reason for it. You are not the last one left of your family, and you won't be the last to die,' Amarië said to her while she worked, trying to bring her back.
Amarië spotted the note that Ránewen had left. 'What does that say?' she asked, pointing to the note.
'I did not even see that,' Ruby said walking over. Picking it up, she scanned it with her eyes.
'I cannot read this; I only understand bits and pieces. It's in elvish.' she said handing it to Amarië.
Amarië's eyes ran back and forth across the paper. She shook her head slightly, exhaled, and put the note aside. 'This is the best I can do for Ránewen now. She shall rest now. You two go tend to the guests and I will stay here and keep and eye on Ránewen.'
Lila and Ruby shook their heas and walked out of the room. Amarië took out the same letter she had before and reread it. She held it up against her heart, and then put it away. 'What have I gotten myself into,' she said to herself.
Amarië figured that talking to Ránewen would keep her holding onto life, 'and what have you gotten yourself into?'
'You won't believe what I have found out, and I didn't travel as far as I planned, but I still found something that is the reason you can't die,' Amarië said to her. She talked to her, trying to keep her from loosing her grip on life.
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Post by Mippin on Oct 19, 2003 1:35:24 GMT -5
Her body felt nothing, and she could not move. Her breath was laboured and for a while, gone. The same darkness that has always been with Ránewen had it's own voice now. It taunted her, reducing her down to a spec of dust and making her feel wretched inside. It's hands grasped at her throat and closed off the air, taking her life away. Ránewen was brutally tortured inside herself, the pain emitting from her sword.
She could feel the hobbits, but her darkness twisted it into malicious acts, claws grabbing at her, scraping against her. Her thoughts were no more, and all went into darkness. A icy hand wrapped around her, chilling her to the bone and she shivered. Everything was fading, save the cold. It stung and she went numb. She did not feel herself being lifted onto the bed. She could hear nothing.
For a moment the cold seemed to giveway, but it came back all the worse, she could barely breathe from the frost within her. She lie in her misery, edging towards the death she so looked to. But how could she be granted this freedom to escape? Wouldst her luck be with her this time? She heard a voice speaking to her, a cold voice, taunting her. Inside she fought the voice, screaming at it to be gone amidst her pain and immobility. She focused all she could on fighting the voice, making it go away. The voice persisted, growing evermore and she fought persistently, but at last she could no more. She faded, trying to lose the voice, but it grew and grew.
'Go away' she uttered to the voice, but it became menacing and boomed at her. At last the coldness bit at her so hard she could not take it, and she unleashed from her lips a piercing scream, the note flying into the air, and lingering in the ears of all that heard.
"Ránewen! Ránewen, come out of your darkness! Hearken to me, come out of your darkness!" the soft, gentle voice of Amarië called out. She touched Ránewen's forehead, and slowly the cold ceased. Ránewen opened her eyes and saw the face of her beloved friend. She was overjoyed that Amarië had made it back, but hated herself for her failure.
"Amarië. Amarië!" Ránewen called out weakly to her friend.
"Why did you do this, my friend?" Amarië asked softly, her voice sounding like a sweet melody now. Something that would never be found in her darkness.
"I...I failed. I am dishonoured, Amarië." she replied ever softer. She slowly closed her eyes, and no longer was encircled by darkness, but by fatigue. She fell asleep.
Amarië stayed beside Ránewen through her sleep, singing a soft tune that fought her darkness for her. Ránewen's dreams were blurred, emotions out of sync. But through her long slumber the melodious voice stayed with her, and enchanted her. When at last, Amarië had sung her last note, Ránewen shortly awoke.
A few days had gone by, and Ránewen began to heal. She could talk now, without labour, and could sit up in her bed. Amarië stayed with Ránewen at all times, mending her wounds and fighting her darkness.
One morning, whilst Amarië was tending to the guests, Ránewen rose from her bed, and searched for something. She wasn't sure what, but she could not find it. Amarië walked in to find Ránewen sitting on the bed, with a worried look on her face. She spoke hurriedly.
"Where is it?! Where is my sword?!" she shouted. She was nothing without her sword, and it meant so much to her.
"I have saved it for you, Ránewen." replied Amarië slowly. Ránewen was bewildered, and at a loss without her sword. It felt that she was missing a part of herself without it. She felt defenseless and weak.
"I need it, Amarië! You must..you must give it back to me!!!!" she fumed. Amarië gave a negatory word and Ránewen flung herself to the floor, weeping. She sobbed, and her pain increased a bit. Amarië stooped to the ground and put her arm around Ránewen, lifting her up, and moving her towards the bed.
"I'm so sorry," Ránewen muttered through her tears. "Forgive me, please. I failed, I..I tried to escape, but I couldn't, and now I feel so weak. Please, sister, forgive me!"
Ránewen begged for forgiveness, but Amarië simply called out her name. Ránewen at last looked up at Amarië, and into her eyes. She gazed at her friend, and at last she knew what Amarië had rode out for. "sister..." Ránewen said once more. Amarië nodded, and for a while said nothing.
At last, when Ránewen had stopped crying, she asked Amarië a question. "In my darkness, I heard a voice, yours...I think, telling me, telling me that I was not the last of my family. Was it you? Are you-" she was interuppted by Amarië.
"Your mother, is not dead, Ránewen." Amarië gazed upon her friend.
Ránewen looked up at Amarië. How could it be? When all was lost, that she had now found her family. How could it be that her grievance was in vain? She didn't believe it, it was against all logic. 'Where is she?'
"Rest now." Amarië told Ránewen, and once more she sung her song, and again, Ránewen slept.
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