RP 🎲 RP 36: Redemption

[chrysophalax]

Sensing that they were being followed, Caimare and Nildadari ran for the trees dragging Turig with them. He attempted to break free, struggling violently with Caimare. Caimare quickly gained the upper hand and held a knife to Turig's throat, defying him to call out as Turig's companions slipped by them...

 

[Grond]

Herugurth thought to himself as he subdued the wild man, "By Elbereth, this man can fight!! He fights like a demon even with that deep wound to his shoulder. What worth would one such as he be, if one could gain his loyalty and friendship?"

He looked up to see the other three men who faced him, drop their weapons and run for hidden rooms within the cavern. "Ha!" he thought, "While the leader may be strong and resolute... the underlings are mere cowards!"

He began to drag Henrick by his collar towards the woods in the direction he had seen Nildadari and Caimare. "They were going West. I will seek find a place to hide and wait to see if they win free and get the others of our party." Herugurth found a deep hole in the forest floor and slowly laid Henrick in the recess and then he sat beside him. He slowly began to dress Henrick's wound the best he could and he gave him a drink of the 'Melian's elixir' that had been a secret of his people passed down from their kinfolk in Doriath. Henrick began to stir.

 

[Maedhros]

As I began my journey to seek my companions a memory of my past came to haunt me. I remember, Nirnaeth Arnoediad the time when we had the chance to deal a devastating blow to Morgoth, and it failed because of the treason of Men. The plot of Ulfang was revelead and our victory was turned into disastrous defeat.
Many died in that battle, and I, the one who engineered it didn't see the treason coming. It's a hidden guilt that I carry inside me, yet now i have the hope of my entire house in me and i will not let anything happen to my companions in this difficult quest. Brigands, you have chosen the wrong prey, you will feel my wrath if something happens to one of them.
I kept going, yet I will arrive there soon.

 

[Snaga]

As Eäritila made her way stealthily through the woods, she heard the sound of many men crashing towards them.

Motioning to Maedhros and Eve to stay back, she slid into the shadows behind a large oak tree, and waited. But she realised that Eve could scarcely hide her horse in the woods. Soon the men would be right on them. She notched an arrow and waited. How many were there? A dozen or more, shouting and running. In the ghostly moonlight she saw clearly a dozen or more approaching.

 

[EverEve]

Sensing what Eartila knew about her horse's obviousness, she slid off Windrider yet again, and sent him off saying, "Leave quickly, but stay close. I know not when I'll need you, my loyal companion" and tapping him lightly on the rump. Windrider left, slightly subdued at the indignanty of being sent away from his lady, but silently did as he was told. Smiling at her beloved horse, Eve slid her bow off of her back, and stood ready for an attack. The cries of men met her ears more loudly now, and her thoughts darkened at the thought of yet more bloodshed.'Ahh, put that didn't stop Maedhros or any of the others did it,' she thought to herself, but quickly pushed it aside as it had nothing to do with what was happening now.

 

[Zale]

Caimarë was fuming. As stealthy as he was, the prisoner he and his sister were dragging was making enough noise to be heard in the Blessed Isles. As they crashed through the forest, they virtually ran into Eve. The female Elf had had no problems in finding them. When she arrived, Caimarë looked at the puny human in exasperation, and whacked him solidly between the eyes.
"That solves that problem" said Eve, acidly.
"It worked, didn't it? Don't complain; simple things work best" he replied.
"Let's get back to camp; Maedhros will no doubt want to speak to the Atan. When he comes round." Eve chipped in,
"Wait. What about my bodyguard?
-He's back at the human's hideout; he should be all right. There's only about three of them". Eve, satisfied, said nothing, and moved on back towards the camp. The others followed.

 

[Turgon]

'These elves are as bad as orcs...' Turig thought as he nursed the blow Caimare had given him 'for all their airs and graces - and that elf will pay for the hurt he gave me.' His rage had subsided now, and a slow-simmering anger had taken its place. Nobody every did Turig a wrong without being repaid in full. He'd live through this, he swore he would, and when he was free again...

 

[Grond]

Heregurth finished binding his prisoner. The prisoner appeared to be too weak to pose much of a threat but Heregurth had learned long ago that it was better to be safe than sorry.

He heard the lightest of footsteps and watched as Nildadari and Eve walked past. He noticed Caimare was with them and carrying the prisoner. Herugurth wondered if the man was wounded or merely unconscious. He heard Eve say, “"Wait. What about my bodyguard?” and heard Caimare reply, “He's back at the human's hideout; he should be all right. There's only about three of them". Herugurth smiled to himself and slowly got to his feet. He gave a glance at his own prisoner and noticed that he was still breathing deeply, enjoying the healing effects of the elixir. He thought, “He’ll sleep for another day at the least.”

He got up and followed the others. He slowly closed the distance between himself and the other elves. Finally, they stopped to rest and Caimare laid his prisoner on the ground. Eve sat slightly away from Caimare and Nildadari. Herugurth stealthily made his way to the tree above where they were sitting. He dropped down on top of Caimaare and struck down with the pommel of his short blade onto the top of his head, stunning him senseless. He then brought a drop of blood from his throat with the business end of the blade.

Herugurth looked at Nildadari and said, "That nick on your brother's throat is for not following my instructions." He continued looking directly at Caimare, "I know you were worried about your sister, but that is no excuse to put her life at risk unnecessarily." He looked back at Nildadari, "We would have been better served had some patience been shown in this matter. It will take all of us to fight these brigands, not some thoughtless act of heroism. We have but stirred the hornets nest now. I beseech both of you to come to your senses. Eve, go see if you can find Maedhos. As he looked up, Herugurth was astounded to see Maedhros walking towards him.

 

[Ice Man]

Henrick had a taste of Melian's elixir, which made him, at the same, feel strong and calm. The pain on his shoulder eased a bit and slowly let go of all the anger and madness that filled hs mind.

There was nothing Henrick could do to free himself, and he didn't want to, for setting himself free would imply in having to once again fight Herugurth, which would surely come to another defeat. "Hum... I will behave for now, but I will fool them with my words later." thought Henrick to himself, as his mind eased and the elixir made him fall asleep, dreaming with what had always ben his dream.

 

[Maedhros]

It seems Heregurth, that you have a bad habit of drawing your sword at your comrades. I have many questions for all of you. Yet, this is neither the time nor place. I sense that we are not out of danger. This time, we will remain together and find a safe place.
Come follow me.
As we were moving, I saw Heregurth's prisioner. Men, I thought, it has been a long time since I have encountered one of them. I will not be betrayed by them again.

 

[chrysophalax]

"A safe place" was not to be found in time however. Even as Maedhros spoke, a dozen Men could be seen advancing through the trees toward the company. Herugurth ran back to Henrick and dragged him over to where Turig lay and told Earitila and Eve to guard them. He and Maedhros stood together, awaiting the first attack while Caimare shot Herugurth a resentful glance, then signalling to Nildadari, they took to the trees, readying their weapons...

 

[Grond]

Herugurth hastily retrieved his own sword from EverEve and stood at the ready next to Maedhros with sword and dagger drawn. As the first of the men came out of the trees, several "twangs" were heard and two of the advancing men fell to the ground, each with an arrow in their necks.

At that moment Herugurth shouted, "At them!!" and both he and Maedhros charged the men. Herugurth dodged the first man's thrust and stabbed into the man's exposed groin with his dagger. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Maedhros had easily dispatched two others. The bows again "twanged!" and two more dropped. With this last volley of arrows, the other men began to cry out and a panicked restreat ensued.

Herugurth looked at Maedhros and stated, "Well your fighting skills are as good as they were when you slaughtered my kin at the quays of Aqualonde!" Herugurth smiled grimly at Maedhros and said, "Well done... at least this time you have fought an enemy and not a friend."

He turned back to Evereve and made sure that she was safe with Caimare and Nildadari. "Is everyone safe and unhurt?" He ran over to EverEve and said to Caimare and Nildadari, "I thank you both for protecting my charge. I am in your debt and apologize for my hasty actions before. Never have I seen such skill with a bow. Both of you are expert marksman!!!" He said to the others, "Let's get our prisoners and get back to the camp where we can set up a defensive position and question our captives!"

 

[Zale]

Caimarë looked over at Herugurth, still resentful from vthe blow.
"If a task is set to me, I always complete it. The same goes for my sister. As for our marksmanship, there was little else to do on Tol Eäressëa, strange at that may sound". He then turned toward Maedhros.
"What now? Surely the Atani will eventually gather their courage and come back; we could probably beat them off a second time, but it would probably be best to move. They know where our camp is. There are safer places to interrogate prisoners". This last was accompanied by a scornful glance at Herugurth.

 

[chrysophalax]

Nildadari moved to her brother's side and crossed her arms, feet planted firmly. "I agree with my brother. Why should we return to our camp, except to pick up what few supplies might've been left? We should be heading East, back toward Mirkwood. There we can find some help for Maedhros in his quest. And as for there two..." She said gesturing at the Men, "Don't you think they would make fine hostages against other Men hereabouts? It's obvious they know a thing or two about fighting, so they might even be of use otherwise."

She then narrowed her eyes dangerously and approached Herugurth with a grim look on her face. "And you! Should you ever strike my brother again..."

 

[Nildadari]

Nildadari glared wickedly at Herugurth.
"There could not be enough magic in the world to bring you back from where I will surely send you, should you lay finger on my brother again."
She shot him a searing look and went back to Caimare's side.
Herugurth opened his mouth to speak, but it was Eve's voice who broke the ridgid silence.
"Sister! I shall not tolerate such behavior!"
Eve said in a low, fierce voice, anger blazed in her eyes.
Nildadari sighed in impatience.
"Or what? Dear sister."

 

[Maedhros]

Enough. Stop this petty bickering among yourselves. If you don't then abandon this quest at once. We have too many enemies to be fighting ourselves. I warn you, I will deal with the next quarrel personally.
We should be moving east to resume our quest and find a safe place to camp and to interrogate this prisioners.
Maedhrosh looked grimly and without favor at the prisioners. "I will have a long talk with them."

 

[chrysophalax]

Maedhros and Herugurth stood glaring at each other as Caimare and Nildadari moved away and stood next to the prisoners. Herugurth was loath to take orders from anyone save himself and anger burned deep in his heart. However, he was not a fool and knew that, no matter how much he disliked he it, Maedhros was correct. With a grunt of acquiescence he stalked over to where Eve was and drew his cloak around him in silence.

Calling the twins to his side, Maedhros asked them to tell him the fastest way to their people where maybe he could seek further assistance. After a short debate, they decided on a route North of the Shire. Through the ancient realms of Arnor and Angmar, then angling down for a short respite in Rivendell before continuing on to Mirkwood. This was not the easiest way they could have chosen, but they decided it would be the quickest and where they could stay they most easily concealed, as much of the land was hilly and wooded.

Having decided this, Maedhros directed Eve, Earitila and Nildadari to return to their former camp and bring all remaining supplies with them back to the forest, where they would prepare to set out as soon as possible. Meanwhile as they had been talking, Herugurth had grown restive and slipped away only to return in a short time with a few fat rabbits.

By the time the others had returned with the gear, a supper of sorts had been prepared and they ate in silence, each thinking their own thoughts. Caimare brought over water and some food to Turig and after glaring at him, Turig decided now was not the time to show Caimare what he thought of him, so he took some and ate, keeping his eyes on the Elves the while.

A couple of hours was granted for rest and preparation, then Maedhros asked Eve if they could use Windrider to carry Henrick as he was still asleep from the draught. She nodded and then whistled piercingly. Very shortly they heard hoof-beats as the Elven-horse pounded up to them. He stood shaking his mane and snorting, eager to be on his way. Herugurth and Caimare hoisted Henrick up onto his back and bound him in place lest he slip. Having covered all trace of their passing the company set out Eastward toward the North Downs...

 

[Turgon]

Turig trudged along in the middle of the company. The Elves had left his hands unbound - it was almost as if they were daring him to make a break for it. The Brigand was brave but not foolish - he knew well enough what the outcome of that course would be. They were a fell crew this lot. The one called Herugurth gave him the shivers - there was a darkness in him that even Turig could feel; and as for the tall one, Maedhros, sometimes Turig couldn't bear to look at him - he seemed filled with a fierce light, unyielding and unbending. The Brigand knew that in art of darkness and bloody deeds he was but a beginner compared to those two. He gritted his teeth and carried on - he would bide his time, a chance at freedom would come, he knew it. Turig would be nobody's slave.

 

[Grond]

Herugurth walked over to Turig and offered him some of the rabbit. "Why would you attempt something as foolhardy as kidnapping and Elf? Did you not know that Elves seldom travel alone?" He glanced at Henrick who still appeared to be sleeping. "Your friend is not doing a very good job of feigning sleep," Herugurth said loud enough to be heard by all. He looked back at Turig, "Both of you fight well....... for Men!!!" He smiled at Turig as he reached for his dagger.

 

[Turgon]

Turig was afraid now - life was to short to end on the point of a blade. Kill or be killed that's what Hendrick had taught him; but now it seemed that Turig didn't even have that choice.

'What do you know about men?' Turig spat. 'Demon! Your kind are all alike - hiding away in your filthy bolt-holes - the world of men is nothing to you, save a place to lord it over us. It was your kind that raised the wrath of the darkness in east - but what do you do when his servants come howling from the hills? What do you when his servants drive us from our homes, slay our livestock for sport, butcher our womenfolk and our children... What do you do then Demon? You laugh and you dance and you do nothing.'

Herugurth advanced with a wicked grin, like a sword-slash cut into his face.

'Is this how it ends?' Turig thought.