In the Shadow of the Star: Part 1

[piosenniel]

theWhiteLady's post

29 Nárië

As the trio hiked over the countryside, Rose began to reflect more deeply upon the seriousness of their mission. The young hobbit had set out determined to pull Mithadan back to the inn, but now she found herself moving farther away from the Shire she had grown and played within and closer to a danger crafty, deceitful, and desperate. Rose had been accustomed to fighting foes that openly defied her; these men were, in comparison, either cowards or very clever. Or perhaps a bit of both.

Rose gazed at the beautiful land they were passing through: a towering oak spread strong arms to the sky, as though bidding the passing birds to rest within his strong embrace and beneath his sheltering shade was a very fat and contended cow, who gazed with lazy curiosity at the three passing strangers. To the horizon, the land rolled away. Some hills were cleared and smoke could just barely be seen curling from a home to the west, but much of the land was still wooded and wild. Rose shuddered at a sight she would normally have felt her heart lighten. Her free spirit generally loved old forests that had not been subdued by human hand, but now she could only wonder if bandits used the wood for shelter and where in the shadows they might be hiding all those poor babes.

Mithadan called for Rose to catch up, his voice breaking through her gloomy thoughts like the midday sun. The young hobbit hurried along and began to apply her mind to more practical matters, such as how to get a message back to the inn if Mithadan were in trouble, and her own alibi for being in such an odd part of the Shire.

[ May 01, 2003: Message edited by: piosenniel ]