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Lalwendë · 07-29-2005, 08:03 AM

Renedwen's cracked hands dug at the snow and the cold caused a wave of pain to surge down her fingers and up her arms, but she was not going to stop. She knew there must be some kind of edible root buried here. The boy Gilly seemed to have a knack for finding the hiding places of the few edible plants in this frozen place; he would poke a stick into the snow a few times and then tell her where to dig. Each time she had found something to eat, enough to share with the few others who had survived so far. Boiled, these roots provided reasonable food, but they were usually eaten raw as people had now begun to get desperate to eat.

When she had first started to dig in the earth with her bare hands she had despised herself for such uncouth, low behaviour. It was something an Orc might do, but not a Dunedain woman. But then she had seen some of the peculiar things others in the group had found to eat and what she was reduced to having to do did not seem quite so bad.

Anything now, she found, was better than dying. She had lost her wish to follow her husband; as the struggles she had endured passed by, each one made her a little more determined. It was as though it would have been a waste to struggle only to throw it all away just by giving up. And, she had reflected to herself, if her husaband and father and brothers could make their contribution by fighting the enemy, she too could fight, by not giving up.

The child Gilly now rarely spoke. He took comfort in finding the roots that they ate, as though being busy was pleasure to him. But he did smile when he saw the baby, who was as healthy and placid as ever, so Renedwen took care that Gilly was always able to sleep right beside them each night; he found comfort from the baby, and she found comfort from having him near. She found it slightly odd that ever since she had taken him on, they had been very lucky many times. Did the child bring luck with him, like a talisman? She had almost convinced herself that this was true, and in any case, she did not like him to stray too far from her side.

07-29-2005, 08:03 AM	#186
Lalwendë A Mere Boggart Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: under the bed Posts: 4,737	Renedwen's cracked hands dug at the snow and the cold caused a wave of pain to surge down her fingers and up her arms, but she was not going to stop. She knew there must be some kind of edible root buried here. The boy Gilly seemed to have a knack for finding the hiding places of the few edible plants in this frozen place; he would poke a stick into the snow a few times and then tell her where to dig. Each time she had found something to eat, enough to share with the few others who had survived so far. Boiled, these roots provided reasonable food, but they were usually eaten raw as people had now begun to get desperate to eat. When she had first started to dig in the earth with her bare hands she had despised herself for such uncouth, low behaviour. It was something an Orc might do, but not a Dunedain woman. But then she had seen some of the peculiar things others in the group had found to eat and what she was reduced to having to do did not seem quite so bad. Anything now, she found, was better than dying. She had lost her wish to follow her husband; as the struggles she had endured passed by, each one made her a little more determined. It was as though it would have been a waste to struggle only to throw it all away just by giving up. And, she had reflected to herself, if her husaband and father and brothers could make their contribution by fighting the enemy, she too could fight, by not giving up. The child Gilly now rarely spoke. He took comfort in finding the roots that they ate, as though being busy was pleasure to him. But he did smile when he saw the baby, who was as healthy and placid as ever, so Renedwen took care that Gilly was always able to sleep right beside them each night; he found comfort from the baby, and she found comfort from having him near. She found it slightly odd that ever since she had taken him on, they had been very lucky many times. Did the child bring luck with him, like a talisman? She had almost convinced herself that this was true, and in any case, she did not like him to stray too far from her side.