Liran was pulled from his thoughts by a touch on the shoulder and turned with a start. It was Arinae.. and she seemed slightly impatient, though he could not guess why. But why in the world had she said that about Rowen's snappiness? He looked at her blanky for a moment before deciding not to say anything of it and answered her question instead..
"Ah yes, Rowen. Last time I saw her..." He grinned. "She was hugging her friend."

Rowen concentrated hard on copying whatever Airain showed her. Before long, she forgot her self-consciousness and genuinely paid attention to the Elf in front of her. She grew tired quickly- the sword was heavy and she was not strong.
Airain's question caught her off guard. She thought for a moment, trying to maintain her concentration while pondering her answer.
"At first...I think at first I was not afraid. I mechanically told myself that Radiel was foolish, that in her search for adventure she could be killed or hurt, but I did not really believe it. I acted on intuition. Only when I had spent a night beyond the gates myself, when I had seen how very easy it would be to get hurt, even in times of peace, only then did I begin to be really afraid.”
She paused. This revelation came as a surprise to her. She had thought the obvious answer to be simply “yes.” Now she began to understand that there was more to her actions than a mere sense of duty.
“And when I did begin to fear...then I pushed that fear down, and did not allow myself to acknowledge it,” she continued slowly. “I channeled the energy and released it in other ways...mainly as anger...and in doing so I mistreated the very ones I should have treated with most honor and gratitude."
Rowen’s face fell as she fully realized how unkindly and ungraciously she had treated Alyan, the benevolent young man who had helped her so selflessly.

_________________
I am a Shieldmaiden for Christ!

I was Nienor before Nienor was cool. *nods coolly*
Kudos to Kitoky for the fabulous signature set, and art credit to engelszorn.
Who wants to join me in bringing back the lady?

Airain noticed that Rowen's face fell and she stopped fencing for the moment. She seemed to have just realized how she had treated her companions on their journey to find Radiel. From what Airain heard Rowen say, it seemed that when Rowen went in pursuit of Radiel she began to become afraid for herself as well as for Radiel.
"What is troubling you, Rowen?" Airain inquired, wondering who Rowen had mistreated on their journey. Suddenly, going over Rowen's words in Airain's mind it made Airain realize as well how rude she had been to Radiel on their journey together. She had told herself that she needed to be hateful to the young girl to try to make her realize what she had done, and how she had put herself in such danger, but perhaps Airain shouldn't have gone around it in such a way. Then again, Radiel seemed to have forgiven her and they were talking to each other freely now. Or maybe Airain was wrong, her and Radiel really only talked when she was teaching her and Rinkemen was of course still a bit mad at Airain because of the entire ordeal, but Airain had shoved all of that out of her mind. Maybe she should leave it that way, Airain didn't know what to do, but for now she decided to listen to what Rowen had to say so that she could stop her spinning mind.

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Rowen led the sword point fall until the weight no longer rested in her hands.
"I must apologize to Alyan...I've treated him horribly." Rowen handed the sword to Airain. "Thank you for teaching me...you are very skilled. Perhaps I might learn more from you in the future?" Without waiting for a response, Rowen turned and left the room, Radiel temporarily forgotten, and headed towards the house where she, Arinae, and Alyan had stayed the night before.

_________________
I am a Shieldmaiden for Christ!

I was Nienor before Nienor was cool. *nods coolly*
Kudos to Kitoky for the fabulous signature set, and art credit to engelszorn.
Who wants to join me in bringing back the lady?

"You mean... her friend Radiel?" Arinae's jaw dropped for a moment, as though she was about to say something. "Well that's polite..." She murmured sarcastically. "We put up with her, and assist her, she finds her friend, and does not even give care to tell us..." Her voice trailed off into several other muttered words until she realized she had been ranting on. She sighed and gave a rueful smile. "I suppose I may be on my way now..." she murmured, half to herself, half to Liran.

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I am a pro-cycling fan! Congrats to the Young rider of the Tour de France!
~Cyclist in Training~

Liran nodded. "I'm thinking as much. I can hardly see her caring to have us around anymore, now that she's found Radiel.." He sighed. He hardly felt his behavior toward her justified her being so.. disagreeable to him.. In any case, even though he tried not to let it affect him, it was getting on his nerves, and he wouldn't mind not having her jump at him like that anymore.

"I was about to go to the Hall, myself. I'm curious to see if there are any other musicians there, who would surely have a thing or two to show me. Other than that, I don't really know where I'll be going next.. "

Amoniel walked up to Airain.
"How are you?" She asked politely.

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<center>

[font=Times New Roman]
Hello, I'm Amoniel
[/font]</center>

Radiel had been watching the two with interest, while her ears caught no words of those they spoke. As Rowen handed Airain the sword and left, Radiel stood, facing the Elf, in awkward silence. She shrugged and smiled slightly, wiping off the dried blood on her hand with her sleeve. With that she sat after her friend in a slow jog, calling her name breathlessly to wait.

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^/^^ Thanks to tulk.

Rowen glanced over her shoulder as Radiel called her name, but she did not slow down. When her friend caught up with her, she shook her head and began to speak.
"I can't believe I was so horrible to Alyan...and Arinae, as well. For some odd reason I didn't realize it...or thought it was justified. I have to find them and apologize.."

_________________
I am a Shieldmaiden for Christ!

I was Nienor before Nienor was cool. *nods coolly*
Kudos to Kitoky for the fabulous signature set, and art credit to engelszorn.
Who wants to join me in bringing back the lady?

Arinae nodded. She had rather been amused at the girl's immature behavior, but it had occasionally gotten on her nerves, since she tried to keep her wit down to a minimum, managing to be at least a bit polite, despite her well known temper.

"Aye... I planned to visit a village not far from here, where a dear friend of mine lives, but seems I've been delayed somewhat," she spoke with a shrug, leaning against one of the thatch roof dwellings, her arms folded.

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I am a pro-cycling fan! Congrats to the Young rider of the Tour de France!
~Cyclist in Training~

Radiel stared blankly at her friend, while trying to keep up with her quick pace. "Alyan? Arinae? A couple of companions of yours?" she asked.

_________________


^/^^ Thanks to tulk.

"Ah, sorry, I had forgotten that you weren't with me...Alyan is the young man who played his flute for us the day before you left Minas Tirith. Arinae is a woman we found along the way..." Rowen continued walking absentmindedly, hoping to find her companions before it grew dark.

_________________
I am a Shieldmaiden for Christ!

I was Nienor before Nienor was cool. *nods coolly*
Kudos to Kitoky for the fabulous signature set, and art credit to engelszorn.
Who wants to join me in bringing back the lady?

Just then became Radiel incredibly confused, in fact, she nearly dropped her jaw. Collecting herself again, she managed to gather enough words for a short sentence: "And... why would he be here?" By the sound of her tone, it was meant as both a question and a statement.

_________________


^/^^ Thanks to tulk.

"I am well, Amoniel. What is bothering me at the moment though is the fact that we still haven't set off for Minas Tirith. Time is not something to waste, especially now.” Airain said as she swung the two Elven blades behind her and sheathed them. She noticed Radiel run after Rowen and she too disappeared out of sight as she breathlessly called for Rowen.

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Rinkemen walked inside and went back to his books. He had read these over and over for at least five times and uncovered nothing new. He sighed and shook his head.
"What does this mean?!"
He stared blankly at the picture of the banners.
"Who are you?"
Just then a knock came at the door. He sighed and opened it finding a royal guard at his door.
"Erm ... Yes?"
"King Eomer would like to speak with you right away. If you would follow me?"
Rinkemen nodded.
"Of course. Lead the way."
He followed the guard through the streets toward the Golden Hall and was lead round the side to a different entrance. The guard opened the door and inside was the King's quaters. He was with a few commanders looking over old maps. Eomer looked to the old teacher then to his generals.
"Leave us."
The generals walked out leaving Rinkemen alone with the King.
"Have a seat."
Rinkemen bowed his head in thanks and sat down.
"Drink?"
Rinkemen polietly shook his head.
"Very well. As you can see, and as you know, Minas Tirith is a good four days ride from here. My men are massing as we speak but they will not be leaving until I fully understand the problem. If your king needs my assistance then I shall send for them."
Rinkemen nodded.
"I'm sure my king will be extremely happy to hear that my lord."
Eomer nodded and smiled.
"I will be leaving this afternoon with a small group of Royal guards. Your group is more then welcome to join us and I will be more then capable of lending you horses."
Rinkemen nodded.
"Very well my lord. I shall amass my group and begin preparations."
"I believe some of your group is in the hall, fencing."
"Fencing?!"
Rinkemen thought straight away to Radiel.
"Radiel!"
"Aye I believe there were some women in there. you can go through that door to see them."
Rinkemen nodded and quickly got to his feet.
"Thank you my lord."
Eomer looked at him for a moment as if some memory had come back to him.
"Have we met before? Your face reminds me of someone I once met."
"I cannot think of where my lord."
Rinkemen bowed and hurried out the door, down a hall and entered the great hall to see Airain.
"Airain! Was Radiel here?!"

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"Rock N' Roll is the only relgion that never lets you down!" ~ Lemmy Kilmister

[!*#_:]

"Well..." Rowen tried to think of a simple answer. "I thought that he was the one that made you leave; he told us so many interesting tales I thought you'd gone off in search of your own adventure." She cast a sidelong glance at her friend. "At least I was partially right. But I digress...I berated the unfortunate Alyan, he had no idea what I was talking about, I explained myself, and somehow he ended up coming with me."

_________________
I am a Shieldmaiden for Christ!

I was Nienor before Nienor was cool. *nods coolly*
Kudos to Kitoky for the fabulous signature set, and art credit to engelszorn.
Who wants to join me in bringing back the lady?