Gwenneth slowed to a trot, desperately making sure she wouldn't miss anything. But wait --

That was no rock. A lifeless form was drifting its way to the bank, facedown, limbs spread out, about 50 yards away. Gwen called to the others, dismounted, and raced over to Darrell in a numb sort of way, praying they weren't too late.

By the time she got there, he was already on the shore. Her heart was pounding, her mind jumping to the worst conclusion as it always did. Many of the others were there now, some of them murmuring to each other.
"I don't think he's breathing," Gwen croaked, her voice weaker than she had hoped it would sound.

[Ack, I had very little time, running out the door! Somebody finish]

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^Thanks Gily!
<By Bubble Black

Melda couldn't help giggling, but smothered it and knelt down. "That was way too close - is he breathing?" she asked anxiously, peering down at the river. "He's really lucky to have gotten out of there."

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Melda rolled her eyes. "Oh, and he'll be so thrilled to know who gave him mouth-to-mouth," she teased, sitting back on her heels. "Though he should really thank his lucky star he's even alive."

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"Oh, thank goodness," said Gwen breathlessly, taking a step back to allow Darrell some air. As he was quickly coming to, Gwen decided to go back and fetch Thalion.

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^Thanks Gily!
<By Bubble Black

Darrell revived slowly, coughing up half the river's water in the process. Opening his eyes slowly, he looked up at the faces above him, his vision hazy. Shaking his head to clear it up, he coughed up more water. "ugh, if I wanted a drink I would have filled my water bottle" he said wryly with a slight smile. "I don't recommend tthat to anyone, it's not good for your health"

[hehehe, your post made me laugh Ellie ]

Gwen nodded in agreement and held her hand out to pull Darrell up.
"Those rocks out there," she began. "I'm surprised at how you scathed them without a single broken bone."
Since she had never untacked Thalion, or removed anything from his packs, she led him back over to the group, ready to mount.

[Yeah, erm, can't people break bones from being slammed against rocks? Oh well...]

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^Thanks Gily!
<By Bubble Black

[Haha! You guys are doing really great! I haven't been here for ages - i dunno what has happened since my last post but i'll try to catch you up. (and i hope you'll help me )]

"Ok, if Darrell is alright, we can go!" FaZ laughed sitting still on his horse called Neurion (It's my real name in Elvish btw ). He rode towards Ellie and whispered.
"Eh, after the situation with Darell... you know... if i - god forbid! - stop breathing... i just must make sure that you will not try to reanimate me." He laughed. "Please, really, leave it to girls!"

[Faz! Good to see you here again! ]

Gwen mounted and patted Thalion's thick neck before following Ellie at trot. [s]The group made good distance before stopping in the shade of a tree.[/s]

[Erm, right...couldn't think of anything else to happen. ]

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^Thanks Gily!
<By Bubble Black

"Why does it seem like we keep riding and not getting anywhere?" said Melda impatiently. "It's going to take absolute AGES to get to Rohan! Especially if there are more goblins around." She groaned. "And I think if I sit on a horse anymore my legs are going to elongate themselves!"

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[geesh, give a guy time to recover! Get him breathing again and you want to move off again. His recovery time isn't instantaneous lol
Oh, and the broken bones thing, yeah probably, he should have broken something, not that he actually smashed straight into a rock...]

Darrell took Gwen's hand and stood up slowly. However the moment he tried to put weight on his right leg a stabbing pain shot through it, almost causing him to fall back down to the ground.

"Yeah, funny you should say that Gwen" he said through clenched teeth. Wincing he hobbled over to his horse. Judging from where the pain was coming from, he had broken his ankle. Not good he thought. Still, he hoped that if he got it heavily strapped up, it might be servicable. Then he realised he had nothing in his pack to strap his ankle with. "Well, you're just going to have to grit your teeth and bare it. Good job you've got a high pain threshold"

So he hoisted himself up into the saddle of his horse, but refrained from putting his foot in the stirrup. He hoped that they wouldn't have to do any hard riding in the near future.

Melda looked at Darrell, worried. "You can use my t-shirt if you want..." she said hesitantly. "The one I was wearing when I came. It's not like I'll be wearing it, and it might not really help, but at least you'll have something on your ankle." She dug around in her saddlebag for a minute and pulled out her wrinkled, slightly wet but still clean "I'm out of my mind - please leave a message" t-shirt.

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[oh dear, I missed the life-threatening situation! thats no fun ]

Luthien watched Darrell from astride her horse. "Typical man" she thought, "trying to pretend it's not that bad." She spoke aloud, "Do you think it's broken, Darrell? It looks like it hurts. We shouldn't leave until you're ready."

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Thanks Haldir and Gil!
"You said: I know that this will hurt, but if I don't break your heart then things will just get worse..."

Gwen couldn't help but laugh at Luthien's comment. But as she watched Darrell mount and attempt to settle himself in the saddle, she made a grimace.
"Not that I know anything about broken bones, but I do know that horseback riding with a leg in that condition will be extremely uncomfortable...and probably dangerous."

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^Thanks Gily!
<By Bubble Black

[*ish back* From where? I do not know, but I am back nonetheless]

Larael breathed a sigh of relief upon finding Darrell somewhat safe and sound. She even had to chuckle as Melda wrapped his ankle in her T-shirt. As Darrell caught his breath from his misadventure, and wrapped his injuries as best he could, Larael plucked a few apples from a tree and ate.

[Whoa... I'm eating apples. I think I'm getting desperate here.]

Darrell smiled as best he could and took Melda's t-shirt, wrapping it tightly around his ankle. With this done his ankle felt a lot more solid, and whilst it would still hurt and restrict movement, he at least had some support for it. Setting his foot back in the stirrup he grimaced slightly, but settled down.

He turned to Gwen, answering her statement "I don't have much choice really. It will be uncomfortable, but we have to get going. As for dangerous, it will be no less dangerous than fighting a band of Orcs. Something we may have to do more of. Now, let's get going, if everyone else is ok. I'll cope, at least until we get to somewhere it can be tended to"

He turned his horse and started walking, wincing as his ankle was put understrain. There's nothing you can do about it, you'll just have to grit your teeth and bear it he thought to himself, as another sharp pain shot up through his leg.

Luthien watched Darrell's stoic performance, wincing inwardly every time he took a step. "It's your ankle, I suppose," she said as kindly as possible, "just tell us if you have to stop at all." Giving Panache a swift kick in the side, she rode after Darrell, eager to continue their journey.

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Thanks Haldir and Gil!
"You said: I know that this will hurt, but if I don't break your heart then things will just get worse..."