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‘Stay back,’ warned the burned elf. ‘Look to yourself!’ He took a step back, and gathering of his cloak about him quickly, he ran away.
Look to myself? Uien stood confounded. She had purposely closed her mind, and so had no notion of what the other had thought or felt, save by his actions. And they made no sense. Then his earlier, unspoken words, came to mind: 'get out'. This burned elf acted as if he feared her, little Uien. A little smile came to her face as she laughed inwardly at the ridiculous thought. Whom had she ever caused to fear? The smile quickly disappeared as she discovered pleasure within at being feared. She was horrified.
But he had not answered her question. Or had he? Reluctantly, she thought back to her own dark time in the deeps of Caradhras. Orcs leered at her, taunting her with what they intended for her. She shuddered. It had taken Falowik's love to dispel that darkness, and that had taken time. This burned elf had been grievously used.
She felt the gem of her necklace, warming. Falowik was thinking of her. Should she go back to him, and leave the burned elf be? No. There was a new hardness within that held her to this new path. Maybe Falowik would understand, maybe give chase. She chose to let that be as it would. She followed the faint elvish shimmer of his fleeing footprints. She did not hurry. Look to yourself? What was that supposed to mean?
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