Aldarwen accompanies Terridan

From Evening to Midnight
Ormenel Heavens-day
45 Rhiw Winter
Moon phase: Full <HIDDEN>
Loa 137 o Yen 21, Nelandran o Endor <TA 3017>

Field Hospital
You are in a small clearing cut into the thickets. All about you, the bushes and trees grow thick and unwavering, blocking out most of the sunlight and dimming the atmosphere. Dispite the lack of sunlight or moonlight, the clearing gives of a calm, quiet, secure feeling. Here is where the Cuigrithweg have made their Field Hospital. Several woven mats are laid about on the ground in neat rows and a pair of small chests rest at the north side of the Hospital. High above the mats, a large tarp is strung to provide some shelter on the off chance that it should rain. On the south side of the clearing, a small stream runs by the Hospital. It also serves as the only entrance and exit.

While the sun approaches her setting time, and the first stars appear in the sky, Aldarwen walks into the Field Hospital, burdened with many bags and things, as always. She looks around with a small smile and then goes to leave all the things near the old chest. After doing that she approaches Terridan, walking quickly toward his side.

Terridan opens his eyes slowly, blinking once as he hears the approach of another. As he looks over, and sees Aldarwen, he smiles softly, and begins to sit up slowly, "Mellon... you are indeed a kind sight to these eyes... do you need any help with those bags?"

Aldarwen shakes her head as she arrives at Terridan's side, "Not at all, mellon, I'm accustumed to carrying them from one place to another." She gives a quick look to Terridan's body and asks, "So, my dear Banneret, how are you doing this evening? Is anything hurting you?"

Terridan looks down to his own body, then shakes his head, "Besides some mild discomfort... nothing more, Aldarwen," he smiles, "Though... I do have one request... if you will allow it?"

Aldarwen nods, "Of course, mellon, as far as I can fulfill it". She smiles broad as she looks expectantly towards the guard.

Terridan smiles softly, "Well... might I at least try to stretch my legs a bit? Perhaps a walk to the clearing through the thickets?"

Aldarwen nods, her smile shinning brightly as she does so, "Of course, mellon, I was just going to suggest you that you should try to stand up. Let's see if that fragile leg is finally healed." With this, she passes her arm under the guard's arm, and waits for him to get ready.

Terridan smiles, "Well... there is only one way to find out, now isn't there..." he leans carefully on the healer, then swings his legs slowly off the bed. Setting his feet down gently, the Banneret slowly places preasure on his feet, and rises up to standing, a slight wince of pain on his face.

Keeping her arm under Terridan's shoulders, Aldarwen waits for him to settle himself on his feet. She asks softly, "Does it hurt you too much, mellon? Maybe we should wait a little more?"

Smiling warmly after a moment, Terridan shakes his head, then looks over towards Aldarwen, "Nay mellon... just a moment of discomfort, remember it's been a week since I've been standing," he winks, "Come... let us go..."

Aldarwen nods and smiles again, her face shinning with the light of the setting sun, "Alright, let's get on with this, then". She moves slowly forward, toward the Thickets, looking at Terridan's legs as she does so.

Terridan walks forward as well, still moving slowly as he takes tenative steps, for Aldarwen's sake, not his. He turns his head towards her slowly, then smiles, "I never did thank you for caring for my injuries mellon..." with that, they reach the thickets.

You approach the river and quickly find the two hidden guide ropes. You cross easily and push your way through the thickets, back onto the path again. You follow the path through the shrubs for some time. The path keeps going in the southeasterly direction. After a while the thickets on both sides suddenly give way, and you find yourself standing at the edge of a...

Small clearing
You stand in a small clearing in the middle of dense and dark forest. Tall mellyrns and sprawling shrubs block your view wherever you look. You guess that the hilltop of Cerin Amroth must be somewhere to the South. The ground is covered with lush grass of vibrant green, reaching up to you knees. It is slightly moist, and drops of dew tremble at the ends of the leaves. The air is still and filled with scents of meadows and flowers. You look around, and indeed here they are, beautiful flowers of many colors, carefully planted along the edges of the clearing. The whole place just breathes onto you the aura of peace and tranquility. Even the usual forest noises are quieter here.

Still watching Terridan's steps with a warm smile, Aldarwen shakes her head slightly, "That's alright, mellon, I love to see you out of it so quickly..." She makes a brief pause, as one of your steps falters a bit, "Are you sure it's not hurting you too much?"

Terridan nods his head slowly again, looking to you once more, "Aye... I am fine... the pain is not much..." he looks around, "Can you help me to the springs there?"

Aldarwen nods, "Of course." She walks in the same slow motion toward the springs, and as they reach the waters she says, "It's incredible fascinanting to see how quickly you have recovered your usual strangth and color, mellon, it makes good to my fea".

Terridan smiles softly, then begins to slowly undress, and blushes slightly, "Thank you, mellon... though I believe you've done more for my own fea than I possibly could have for yours," he grins, "But... I have always been a fast healer, thankfully, maybe it's because I actually do what I am told by the healers," with that, after he finishes undressing, he slips into the waters.

Aldarwen nods at Terridan's words and grins to herself. She stays by the waters, looking at the changing color of the surface as the night becomes deeper in the sky. Her fingers touch the surface here and there, as she says, "Indeed you do. Nothing like Captain Kathalis, in your situation he would have been here five days ago". She giggles and then sighs softly.

Terridan chuckles softly as he sinks up to his shoulders, and a relaxed sigh escapes from his lips, "I think you give him too much credit... he would have tried to be here his second day..." he looks up to her, "Will you join me, mellon?"

Aldarwen laughs softly as she bites her underlip. She touches the water with her fingers one more time and then nods, saying almost to herself, "Alright". She undresses with swiftness and elegance, and enters the water a few moments after that. She seems to shake a bit at the first touch of the waters, but relaxes again when her body is completely covered.

Terridan raises an eyebrow slightly as Aldarwen shakes, "Are you cold, mellon?" he sits up a bit in the waters, moving towards her slowly.

Aldarwen shakes her head, a smile upon her lips, "Oh, no, that's alright. It's just that water always makes me feel very strange". She caresses her wet hair, as she says, "So, how are you feeling? Back in your usual self?"

Terridan smiles softly, then nods, leaning back up against the side of the springs, "Aye... I feel fine, Aldarwen, I do believe I am back to my normal self," he smiles, "But... why does the water make you feel odd?"

Aldarwen bites her lip again, her hands still playing with her wet hair that dances on the water, "I just don't know, it has been happening to me since..." She stops suddenly, her eyes lowering and her hands becoming still. Then, after the frozen moment has passed, she goes on, "Since I returned to the woods, after my first trip outside..."

Terridan frowns a little, "Mellon... where did you go on your first trip out of the woods?" concern crosses his face as he moves again towards the healer.

Aldarwen opens her lips wide for a moment, her eyes fixed in some point behind Terridan and then closes them again, "Well... It's a long and quite sad story, really." She lowers her eyes and stares at the surrounding waters, she speaks with a low and sad voice, "I don't know if I ever told you I had had a brother called Tuofin..."

Terridan shakes his head slowly, "No... you did not," he sits back, and listens to the story quietly.

Aldarwen nods slightly, "Oh, well, I thought so. Many years ago, my brother was a guard, just as you, a Banneret. And he went toward the dark forest of the north, I don't know with which mission". She pauses for a moment, looking northwards, her lips pressing, and her eyes shinning wetly, "They were ambushed by a group of yrch, many of the elves in the group died, and some managed to scape. But my brother was kindnapped by the yrch..."

Terridan nods slowly, a frown coming ot the Banneret's face as she speaks of the capture.

Each moment speaking more slowly and more softly, Aldarwen goes on, "My family and many guards from the order searched for him but it was useless... He was probably killed as the yrch realized they wouldn't be able to make use of him... Anyway, I was too young and very fond of him... After some time had passed and he had not returned, I decided to go and search for him myself... I left the woods alone and told nobody about it. I just left..." As she says this, her whole body shakes slightly, her lips trembling violently.

Terridan wraps an arm around the healers shoulders, hugging her tightly, "Aldarwen..." his voice is quiet.

The Healer's voice is broken in pieces as she goes on speaking, "The things I saw... The things I felt... I cannot describe." She looks into Terridan's eyes, and from her own come many tears down, rushing toward the water of the springs.

Terridan hugs Aldarwen tightly against him, comforting her slowly, before looking down into her eyes, "Aldarwen... what did you find?"

Aldarwen presses her lips as she gathers strength to go on, "I found no trace of my brother. Instead, I found a world filled with wounds and scars, I found sadness and loneliness." She breathes in deeply and then goes on with more decision, "I found out why was that we needed guards in the woods, and finally I found out what fear meant. I ran from it with all my young strength, I ran from him as fast as I could... And that's when the story turns from sad into happy". The maiden smiles again, and passes her hand over her face, in gesture of drying her tears away.

Terridan smiles softly, "You found your way home then..."

Aldarwen shakes her head again, almost giggling as she speaks, "I told you I was too young. I ran at my best speed, but in the wrong direction. And suddenly, when I stopped and look around at the forest around me I realize it was not my forest, my Golden Woods, it was another forest. A different but yet similar one". With each word she pronunces, the smile is broader upon her lips, and her voice sounds merrier, "It was the Ent forest. Fangorn."

Terridan smiles softly, nodding his head, "You met the ents then?"

Aldarwen nods, "Indeed, that was the first time I saw one of them. I was so tired and scared that had not been cared by him I may have died right there... But he took me to his home and took great care of me, until I could walk back home by my self... And since that dream-like meeting with the Ent, water has made felt odd, it is as if everytime I slip into it, some part of my body returns to the old woods of the south".

Terridan nods slowly, then thinks a moment, "Did you drink any of their water?"

Aldarwen frowns for a second and then asks, "What do you mean by THEIR water? He gave me some water to drink, and to eat too, since his water calmed my hunger and my thirst. Why do you ask?"

Terridan smiles softly, hugging Aldarwen gently, "Mellon... the water he gave you is what they live on... it is all they drink."

Aldarwen nods, "Yes, I know, it was not like any other water I had drank before, nor like any other I have drank since then. Do you think it was that what has made me feel so strange at the touch of water?"

Terridan nods slowly, then smiles, "Yes... I do..."

Aldarwen thinks for a moment, "You may be right, mellon, I don't know. I know I have felt different since then, but that strange trip out of the forest was so filled with things that I never knew which of those was the one that had changed my feeling towards water".

Terridan nods slowly, "It is obviously not a bad thing, I would not worry..."

Aldarwen nods, "I do not really worry about it. So many years have passed since this started to happen that I'm quite accustomed to it..." She leans back, resting her body against the border of the springs for a second and sighs.