He let out a hearty laugh ''Not only do I know that my dearest Nienna, I pride myself upon it'' he said, grinning and giving her a mock bow.
''I slept soundly enough. It lifted the heart to know you were next to me'' he said with a smile. ''What of yourself? Did you find yourself plagued by never-ending dreams of me?'' he said, almost teasing her.

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She smiled, chuckling at his antics. She then smiles warmly at him, remembering as well how nice it had been with him there. Then he threw out the line about the dreams. She was sent into a laughing fit. "plagued may not be the right word." she said tapping her finger to her chin, pretendig to ponder. "Ah! There is a word for it, tortured endlessly." she nodded twice. She looked him over, wondering how he managed to still look good after a night's sleep. How so was beyond her.

He laughed. ''Tortured endlessly?'' he put on a mock hurt face. ''how cruel you can be!'' He paused and then spoke again.
''Perhaps I should tell you of my dream so you feel bad at how you have hurt me.''
He paused at length and then moved towards her ''Last night....during sleep I had a dream.'' He paused. '' This dream..'' he paused again, this time moving closer to her so that his face was inches from hers '' This dream.. had nothing to do with you'' he concluded with laughter and a mischievous smile, entertained by his joke.

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She shoved him again " An absolute imp!" she said laughig before gathering her hair into one long braid. She picked up her little water flask, drinking deeply before speaking again. "alright then, I say it's time to eat." as if on cue her stomach growled loudly. She laughed and put a hand over her belly. "are you hungry, Niko?"

He laughed as she spoke. "Thank you, but I'm fine" he said with a smile. He went over to her and began stroking her hair. "It suits you in this manner" , complimenting her braid.

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She blushed, playing with the end of the braid "you think so? Thank you." she smiled and ducked her head. She reached out, touching his arm above the bandage. "how does it feel today? It may not have been poisoned, but those orcs certainly don't keep their arrows clean. I don't want it to get an infection." she glanced back up. "it does not look bad."

He also looked to his arm. ''I think if there was any considerable danger, I may have felt it last night. With luck, it will stay without infection ''
''Thank you'' he added shortly with a smile. ''What do you wish to do now? If you agree I would suggest that we wait until the rain lowers itself?''

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She nodded slowly, thinking. "I believe that would be good." she then chewed her lip, as was her habit when she was concentrating. "what of the orcs? I have been thinking, perhaps it would be better to warn people, so they can be prepared. Less lives will be lost that way. Maybe after that we can also find the reason they have been on the move."
Her eyes moved to the entrance to the cave, glad it was thoroughly concealed in case the orcs were not as far behind as they originally thought.

He paused, considering what she said.''I agree. Though how should we go about warning people? We may be able to warn those we see on the road. Though we may need a larger audience.''
He stopped speaking, troubled. He couldn't see how they could alert that many people without going to a city. He looked slowly at Nienna. I would not ask that of her, to return to Gondor knowing he is there. Perhaps Rohan would be a smarter course. If we are lucky we may find someone on the road willing to ride and alert Gondor.
''Perhaps we should alert those in Rohan? those in Edoras would be more vulnerable to an attack as opposed to other cities and towns.''

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She pondered that. "If we alert Gondor, I know they will send defenses to the outer lying cities. The army in Gondor is bigger, and trained a bit more. In my opinion that would be a better course of action. Rohan does need the extra reinforcements." her mind was analyzing the situation, her brown eyes seemed to take on a brighter, sharper look to them. "yes...that would be good." she said, almost to herself. Her main concern was saving as many lives as possible, and Gondor would most likely help that happen.

''Gondor it is then'' he said slowly. ''How long would you think it would take to reach Gondor?''
He knew it wouldn't take too long, but there was certainly enough time for them to be under threat. He rubbed the back of his neck, while he was thinking. It is necessary that we return there he thought to himself. He sat down and began to make sure all his possessions were packed.

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"not long. Maybe a five hours ride." she too went about, putting her things in her saddle bags. She didn't want to go back, but, this was not about her. she smiled as she took comfort in that. "I think we are far enough ahead of the orcs, so there will be no problems in reaching Gondor in good time without delays.

Niko let out a grim smile. He knew that she had made up her mind and there was no changing it. ''Very well'' he said. He finished packing his belongings. ''I suppose we should leave soon then. Remind me to buy more ale once we have the chance'' he joked with a smile, hoping to take her mind off what may lie ahead.

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She snorted and chuckled "And do you fight better, loaded up on ale?" she gave a small smile, never taking her eyes off get task. She went to the entrance, moving the vines slightly to look out again. "The rain has let off some. We should leave now." she grabbed the saddle, and quickly tacked up Raven. She gave the ebony black horse a gentle pat on the neck when she had finished. Grabbing the reigns, she led the horse outside and waited for Niko to follow.

'' I do enjoy most things better with ale''' he said with a smile. He gathered his things and shouldered his pack, wincing slightly at a slight pain in his shoulder.
He followed Nienna outside the cave and noticed the rain wasn't as strong as it had been.Pulling his hood over his head, ''Shall we?'' he said to her with a half smile.

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She sent him a lopsided grin before jumping into the saddle "I say yes." Raven was ready to stretch her legs, the horse arched her neck and pranced her feet "I believe Raven is ready too." Nienna said with a laugh.
By the gods, he even looked good with a hood on! She giggled and focused her eyes on the trees in front of them while waiting for him to get on.