Micha smiled and put one arm around her shoulders. "I'd love that, it sounds wonderful."

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Sygnet walked with him to the stables. She didn't bother to saddle up Vorn but just jumped on her back and settle in, patting her neck gently. She waited until Micha was finished then began traveling North, skirting the large hedge around Caras Galadhon at a walk, side-by-side with Micha.

Micha jumped on Syndar and followed beside Sygnet. It was a peaceful evening and even Syndar seemed to be enjoying the outing. "I imagine there is more that you could tell me of your years here than we would ever find time for," Micha commented. "What are the youngest memories of an elf? Do your remember things all the way back from when you were an infant?"

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Sygnet smiled and looked up into the trees thoughtfully, "I remember when I was really young, around 17, and my mother brought home a bird. It was a little blue jay and it was the loudest thing. I remember my father asking her to let it live outside but she would flat out refuse," she took a break to laugh, "There was the time that bird chased me around the house until I ran out the door. It followed me there and...we never saw it again," she smiled and laughed again, "my parents weren't too disappointed to lose that bird," she patted her horse on the neck and smiled once more, glad she could share her memories with Micha, whom she loved.

"What about you? What were your earliest memories?" she asked him.

Micha laughed as she told her story, he couldn't immagine her as a 17 year old running from a bird... But then it was hard to imagine that she was so much older than him too.

He sighed, a slight smile still on his face. "I remember very little of my childhood. Most of my memories faded after I died in the misty mountains... Something about being brought back by the Ice Queen... I don't really understand why."

He paused for a moment, thoughtful. "I do remember a garden... We had a huge garden every year. My mother would feed nearly half the militia. My father was always bragging on her," he said with a chuckle. His face grew dim now. "I was so excited the day I joined the militia at my father's side... Then... The orc raids started and..." He forced a smile and shook the thoughts away. "I suppose it's to my benefite that my memories are distant and poor. Yet I know my parents were good strong people and I'm proud of that heritage."

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Sygnet smiled and nodded at him. He never really mentioned the time he had died. She had been lucky to survive this far with all that she had been through.

"At my coming-of-age birthday, I had gotten into a bad argument with a very large deer over in the Greenwood. I had spent the last century beforehand, learning to be quiet on my feet but that wasn't enough for this deer. Long story short, I spent most of the first century of my life running from angry creatures," she laughed again.

"My mother would always make fun of me. When I was a child, somewhere around..." she trailed off, eyes closed, thinking hard, "...22, I think, she had me go off in search of fog in the shape of a cube," She shook her head, smiling, "I spent hours, combing the woods for a cube-shaped fog because my mother was right about everything. I finally admitted defeat after a full day of searching and returned home. She taught me a valuable lesson that day."

Sygnet paused for dramatic effect, "Mothers will use any excuse to show you a sense of adventure," she looked over at him.

He laughed at the idea... He had never considered the possability of getting in an argument woth a deer. "Sounds like you were quite the adventurouse young woman," he laughed. LI'd say your mother's lesson was well learned."


By Sygnets face he guessed he had forgot to fill her in on that whole dying thing... Sometimes it was hard for him to keep things straight. "After my town and family were killed by the orc raids I went in search of revenge. I became angry... Dark..." He explained. "My hunt took me to the Misty Mountains but the or s there were too many. They trapped me in the caverns in that valley..." He spoke of the valley of the Elder Elves. "After three goblin arrows and a bad cut to the back I crawled into a cavern and died. The next thing I knew I was waking up... Somehow the Ice Queen had revived me. She explained it at the time... Something about ice crystals in my blood preserving my life, I don't pretend to understand. After that I continued hunting goblins and orcs but with my faded memories I also had faded emotions. My anger, most importantly my hate, was no longer my driving force."

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Sygnet frowned, "That's why you knew so much about the tunnels. I didn't want to ask because it seemed like a sensitive subject," she smiled comfortingly at him.

"I'm sorry," Micha apologized. "For some reason I thought I had mentioned something about it... if only in passing. It's not my favorite subject to recount, but it made me what I am today. I also haven't seemed to age a day since that time... I don't know why that is. That was nearly... sixty years ago I reckon."

He sighed and looked ahead towards their destination. "Anyways... on to more cheerful thoughts. This is supposed to be a pleasant outing. Do we need to be wary of any stray animals that might still be holding a grudge?" he teased.

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Sygnet laughed, "Not unless they have angry great-times-a-million grandchildren," she joked, then she turned a little more serious, "How old are you, then?" she asked him, eyebrows creased. She had no idea that he was that old.

He chuckled and nodded. "True... good point."

He got a thoughtful look on his face at her last question. After all those years, adventures, loosing track of days months and years... it was hard to remember just how old he was.

"It seems I was twenty...something when I went into the misty mountains. I was up there for... years. I suppose it could have been two...three... maybe five. So I guess I am probably somewhere around eighty to eighty five years old. Honestly I don't know how you elves keep track through all the years."

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Sygnet laughed, "We tend to have excellent memories," she grinned at him, "I am 6,769 years old," she said after a few moments of hesitation as she tried to remember.

She looked over at him again, "Do you remember your birthday?" she asked him curiously. She didn't know how much he could remember. Man was never as good at remembering this stuff.

Micha shook his head in disbelief at the ease with which she seemed to raddle of the number. Then she asked about his birthday... He hadn't even thought about a birthday in who knows how long. "Birthday?" He said with a shake of his head. "Goodness no... I haven't even thought about my birthday in..." He shrugged. "I don't know how long. None the less remembered it."

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Sygnet laughed and smiled, "I don't remember mine either. It wasn't a very important day after my Mother died. She always celebrated it but my father wasn't too keen on it after she died," she sighed heavily but then smiled again, shaking it off. It was a long time ago.

"Well... Maybe we will have to pick a day," he offered. "I could throw a callendar and you could shoot it with an arrow." He teased about the meathod of choosing. "I've never done birthdays, to be honest. We always had a single day of the year to celebrate everyone in the family. I can't remember if that was normal or if it was just something my parents did."

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Sygnet thought about it for a moment, "So, we pick a day together," she smiled warmly at him, "This is it. This is the tree," she looked up, bringing Vorn to a stop below a massive Mallorn. It did indeed overlook the Anduin and a rope ladder extended down from a large Flet high, high above them.

She dismounted and put one hand on the ladder, smiled knowingly at herself before beginning the climb. It was a long climb but a simple one. The rope ladder was sturdy and didn't wave too much in the wind.