[Carrûn]

Nárello scuffed his feet against the clean floor of the Inn. The Innkeeper had gone out for the day and he deemed it best that he leave before she returned. He went over the various items in his possession one last time to make sure everything was in place. Knife, food, pen, paper, water. Water! He took the empty skin, walked into the back of the kitchen and filled it as full as he deemed necessary for a lengthy trip but light enough that he could carry it without difficulty.

Sitting down he thought about his route. Not easy since I'm not sure where I'm going, he thought. He pulled out an old map that Awyrgan had given him and studied it for some time. Finally he decided it best to travel to Bree and from there the South Downs. He considered passing through the Old Forest on his way, having spent some time there while looking for rumors of strange men that Awyrgan had heard and had greatly enjoyed his time in a land that others seemed to dislike.

His mind made up he took out a clean sheet of paper and drew a small representation of a house in the upper left corner. Underneath he penned the letters GDI. He then rolled the sheet back up and placed it inside his vest. In doing so his hand brushed the jewel strung around his neck that the elf had given him. Enien. He mused over the strange name. Nárello will suite me better for my travels, he thought.

He walked into the Innkeeper's room to make one final check in case he left something. For some strange reason he felt compelled to leave one last sketch behind as a sort of goodbye-and-thank-you-and-I-hope-I'll-see-you-again note. His mind strayed to one of the few happier stories Awyrgan had told him, but even for the strange man the details had not been clear and the boy fumbled in his mind for a while before he began to draw.

When he finished two trees stood together. One glittered as if shining silver and small drops fell from its many leaves. The second was a yellow but no less beautiful. The boy was particularly proud of this as he had used a "trade secret" to make the yellow appear. He did his best to add a bit of a glow on the whole scene but it was quite a challenge. In the bottom corner he wrote his name in rudimentary Elvish. Something tells me she'll like this, he thought to himself and layed it on a desk next to the Innkeepers bed.

He gathered his supplies and made his way to the back door where his exit would be less noticed. Grinning to himself he completly ignored the door and scrambled out the nearest window, landing in a small garden with a thump. Re-shouldering his pack he made off down the road whistling. Softly he sang a small tune that he had caught Awyrgan murmering during one of their few travels together.

'The higher I climb, the further I fall,
The longer I tread, the longer I crawl.'

And so the small boy passed out of the haven that was the Shire and into the Wide World. Over the years he travelled far and wide but he would not be seen in settled lands for many long years. When he was he had become a tall, grim man like the one who had found him curled up in the log. But his hair was the color of the sands and his eyes shone in laughter more often then they flashed. His drawings would bring the past alive and for some give insight into the future. He traced his journies on the same page which he sketched the Inn on until both sides were covered in writing and he no longer had room nor the need for more travels.

[ February 03, 2003: Message edited by: Carrûn ]