What lies ahead

[Gadrial]

During the day. It was cold. But at night, when the sun sat below the mountain tops, it was..... beyond words could say. Snow layered the ground, like a thick blanket. And the wind never stopped blowing. It slowed down at times. But never stopped. And when it gusted, it felt like small needles being jabbed into the skin.

Gadrial has traveled miles and miles in life. But he has never traveled through conditions like this. After as little as 12 hours, the feeling in the tips of his fingers were almost non-existent. Gadrial knew that when he left Archen, to head north. He would be facing the elements. He was ready for the wild would throw at him. But what he wasn't ready for, was the cold.

He was about half a days travel into the Whispering Hills and they were named rightfully so. Wind the wind picked. You could hear whispers. Gadrial thought back to the INN back in Archen, to what he had over heard from a couple of dwarves as they got drunk and Brandy Wine.

"The Whispering Hills? HA!!!!!! More like Whispering hells. That place is so treacherous that not even the wolves dare travel there." One dwarf said has his drink splashed around, some of it hitting the floor. The other dwarf laughed, with a pipe hanging out of his mouth and said "I heard that orc once braved it. They found his body just on the southern edge..... Looked like a Wraith had gotten him, a wraith." The other dwarf chuckled slammed his mug on the table, yelled for more wine and spoke "I have heard that an old which with the power to control dragons lives deep in those hills or mountains, or what the hell they are."

Both dwarves laughed, and drank. Than a dwarf who had been a bit silent said "How about we dare it and show these peasants how it is done. A young girl carrying a plate stated "I would rethink that fellas. There are reasons why the two roads to the north go around the hills and mountains."

Gadrial has heard others speak about what Whispering Hills. Before reaching Savlar. He had talked with a young scholar, who believed that after the civil war had ended. The many warriors, mages, and scholars who did not agree with this new reconciliation among the church and state took their own, and their slaves and fled to this small remote hillside where they were free to live the old ways.

He believed that they felt this area was their own and that no one deserved to travel their. So those that trespassed were never heard from again. But non of that had ever been proven. The real truth was that no one really knew what laid in Whispering Hills because no one had ever really talked about them.

"Maybe I should have taken one of the roads" Gadrial thought to himself as a storm began to move in. Just off to his right, Gadrial noticed a cave in a cliff side. He knew that some animal called it home. But he knew that needed to find shelter to wait out the snow storm. Gadrial made his way slowly to the cave. Drawing his bow as he got within 100 or so feet from the entrance, he wanted to be ready in case a surprise awaited him or something came out at him. But as he entered the cave, he realized that nothing was there. Though the smell of wet fur lingered. Several days old, but none the less. It was there.

Gadrial found some old bones, animal it looked like off against the wall and used those to build a fire. A satisfying feeling, the warmth, the crackling sound that echoed in the small area. He could now feel the blood flowing through his fingers again. The pain of the numbness started to subside and Gadrial, now able to rummage around in his satchel pulled out some bread, and a water pouch. The pouch was cold, and the water almost frozen. But still offered some nourishment, and the bread offered the same though a bit hard. due to the air reaches it.

Gadrial had built his fire close to the far wall of the cave, so that he may lean back and have some support. And even though the wall was rough, it offered comfort. Has Gadrial leaned against the wall and nibbled on the small bit of bread that he had, he though about many things. What he was doing, and where he was going. What he was looking for, which at this point, he was not entirely sure of anymore.

The wind howled outside and the snow fall was so harsh and heavy, that Gadrial could barely see a few feet past the cave opening. As he laid there thinking, leaned up against the wall. Gadrial could feel his eyes beginning to get heavy, it had been a long day and Gadrial knew that he would need to sleep even if it was just a little. So he closed his eyes and drifted off. not in a heavy, deep sleep. But enough to offer the rejuvenation that he needed, but still be aware.

[FennWenn]

What lies ahead? Unknown.
What lies behind? An angry bear.

Shitshitshitshi- was the only coherent thought Fenn could form as he fled through the fresh drifts of snow, leaping over craggy boulders and weaving through the trees. The night gales, thick with blinding snow, whipped punishingly in his face as he fled. Salvar wasn’t very hospitable for traipsing through in the best of times, and it was even worse with a monsterous bear on your tail. The deafening cries of the bear and the snapping branches certainly encouraged one to keep quick anyway.

The bear roared from behind, its call rattling the twiggy spruce trees. Fenn really regretted taking snowberries from that grove now. They bounced around in one of his bag pockets, a gleeful and guilty weight. Who knew that the berry grove had belonged to such a vicious beast? It seemed he was a thief even when he wasn’t trying.

He swore he had passed by a sort of cave as he was passing through his area earlier. Fenn mentally mapped out the path he had taken. A gutteral growl encouraged him to think faster. It should be… just around the corner, inset into these bluffs.

Fenn dashed around the bend with all haste, before skittering to a surprised halt as soon as he rounded the bend. To his surprise, someone else already occupied the cave! The soft light of a fire flickered from within, barely visible through the thick, fluffy snowfall.
What kind of a madman would be all the way out here in this place? In this weather? Sure, Fenn had come out here, curious about the old tales and the whispering winds. But he could stand bare down to his buttocks in a blizzard and be just fine. Most other sentients couldn't.

Suspicious. The question was whether they would be friendly or not.

A snarling roar and the thumping thundering of paws through the snow behind Fenn caused him to jolt. Yeah, he decided, he'd rather take his chances with the caveperson than the bear. He scrambled inside, tripping hurriedly over his own bare feet and flinching as he trampled over sharp bits of animal bones. Nonetheless, it felt a little safer in here. That bear had been fucking gigantic, and he prayed that it wouldn’t be small enough to fit through the entrance.

There was a burly figure sitting by the fire, an elf with raven whom was snoring peacefully against the cave wall. On closer look, he might only be a half-elf. His ears didn't seem sharp enough, and his features weren’t of quite the angular curve one expected of full-blooded elves.

He had a bow on him. Someone who could hopefully fend off the beast. Score!

Fenn unthinkingly dove behind the half-elf, cowering behind him. Momentarily, he considered waking him up in some abrupt and unpleasant way, only for the bear to give another earth-shattering roar from outside, probably waking the fellow up anyway. Whenever the guy came to, he’d find a jittery Fenn frantically gesturing to the entrance of the cave, which was shadowed by the outline of a ginormous bear.

[Gadrial]

Between a slight nudge to his back from what looked like a young boy, and the roar of the beast disrupting the soothing crackle from the fire, Gadrial's eyes shot open. All three of his obsidian blades flying through the air before he was on his feet. As a growl/grown flew from outside, Gadrial was readying is bow with two steal arrows. He glanced behind to find the small boy shaking, his feet cut open from the small shards of bone. His cloths tattered and torn from running through the spruce trees so quick.

Right as Gadrial turned his head back to the entrance. A large, monstrous bear reared his head into the cave, one of the obsidian blades sticking out of his eye, the others in his throat. And even though all three where in positions to drop the beast. It still stood. The monster let out a ear splitting roar, moisture and heat flying from it's mouth like a small geyser. Gadrial looked at the bear, contemplating his shot, "Looks like dinner." he thought to himself as his tilted, he released the arrows. Both of them flying through the short space between him and the beast. With a thunderous, wall shaking thud. The bear hit the ground.

The young boy, still shaking scared stared in awe at what he had just seen. Not much of a fight was had, and the beast still fell.

Gadrial, now wide awake looked back the the boy, this time turning around completely. As he placed his bow back around his shoulders, he reached down to his side, grabbing hold of one of his daggers and unsheathing it, terror now stretching across the young boys face. Gadrial looked down at him, noticing him becoming more frightened. "Calm down, I am not going to hurt you young sir." Gadrial said in a comforting tone as he turned to the bear and made his way to it.

As Gadrial approached the bear, he moved cautiously, to be on the safe side. The seemed to be dead, no movement from the torso to signal breathing, no sounds at all. But out of no. With one last breath, the beast lunged up one of his front claws slashing through Gadrial's leg, just deep enough for Gadrial to react quickly "SHIT!!!!!" he said as he dragged his dagger up the bears torso and than bring the blade down on it's head. Sure the bear was dead, Gadrial retrieved his arrows and his Obsidian Blades. He than grabbed the bear by the back leg and strained to drag him out of the cave, but managed to get the job done.

The boy, now by himself still frightened, grabbed a few small bones, what little he could find and tossed them on the fire. Waiting to see what would happen next.

Within moments. Gadrial emerged back through the entrance. In one hand, a large bundle of sticks, and in the other, meat from the beast. Gadrial walked back over by the fire, looked at the boy and as he sat down the sticks, and the meat he asked "So tell me, why is such a young boy out in these treacherous parts, during this storm, and by himself?"

The boy looked at Gadrial, thinking. The whole while, Gadrial stoked the fire and prepared the bear meat. "One moment and this will be ready by the way." He said as he waited for the boy to speak.

[FennWenn]

Before you could even say, “THERE’S A GIANT FUCKING BEAR IN HERE,” the half-elf was on his feet! In the instant it took to blink, three knives zipped from the man’s hand and lodged into the bear; one into it’s eyes, two into it’s throat. It loosed a high roar and reared up, swiping a paw defensively into the cave, catching naught but air. Somehow, the thing was still standing. That was one hardy bear.

Fenn startled and scooted back a few feet from all of the action, shaking in surprise. The man effortlessly drew his bow and notched two steel-tipped arrows with but a quick glance at the little Fae behind him.

It seemed like this dude had things under control. Fenn took a soft, shuddering breath and leaned down to nurse his tender feet, which he had now noticed had been cut open by the bone bits rather than just poked. Thick black blood oozed from his skin, and he rummaged around in his bag for bandages. At the same time, he kept a wary eye on the fight about to break out in front of him.

The beast stuck it’s snarling muzzle into the cave and let out another roar, spattering the cave in spittle and a wash of meaty breath. Calmly, the half-elf notched his arrows, cocked his bow, and fired. From this close, he couldn’t possibly miss; the arrows found their target in the left side of the monstrosity’s throat, and the other in it’s chest. A last raspy gasp escaped the bear. It fell forward with a mighty thud and laid still.
That was certainly over fast. Fenn stared in faint shock as the bear was brought down in mere minutes at most. His bright green gaze fixed on the man as he slung his bow across his back once more.

To Fenn’s surprise, the half-elf swiveled around to face him, a dagger in his hand. There was a rather intense expression on his face; whether it was held over from killing that bear, or from some terrible intention towards the little Fae, Fenn didn’t know. The boy paled and flashed a terrified grin back. Was he to survive the bear only to be murdered by a madman?

The elf stood there a moment, his cold blue gaze boring into Fenn's face and taking note of his fright. "Calm down, I am not going to hurt you young sir," Gadrial said in a comforting tone as he began walking over to the bear. As soon as the man had turned his back, Fenn was rolling his eyes. Yeah, because pulling a knife and staring at someone wasn’t intimidating in the least. He wrapped his arms around his knees and watched the elfy dude approach the corpse of the bear.

Or, rather, not-so-corpse. Though the man walked with care, the bear had one last blow left in it that neither of the two saw coming. With it’s last gurgling gasp, the beast lunged forward with a massive paw and gashed through the half-elf’s pants and into his skin. An explosive burst of profanity left the man’s mouth, and he brought his blades to bare in swift retaliation. Fenn averted his gaze as the job was finally finished.

He waited as the half-elf gathered his weapons and began dragging the bear out of the cave by one of its back legs. It looked like quite a hassle. Fenn briefly considered offering to help, but a few things stopped him. For one, the Fae was quite diminutive, and what paltry strength he had to offer would not be of much help. Two, he wasn’t yet certain if it was safe to be near this possible madman. Finally, his feet hurt like hell. No way was he going to get back up on them until he really needed to.

Still a little shaken by these stressing events, Fenn slumped in relief and resentfully tossed a few bits of bone into the fire. They cracked and blackened in a satisfying way.

Shortly, the elf strode back into the cave, carrying a bundle of suitable firewood - once the snow was brushed off it anyway - and some meat. Probably, amusingly, from the bear. He sat by the fire a little closer to Fenn than the boy would have liked and set the sticks and meat down. "So tell me,” he said curiously, “why is such a young boy out in these treacherous parts, during this storm, and by himself?"

I might ask the same of you, Fenn thought dryly, watching the elf tend to the fire and prepare the meat. Fenn had never had bear before. "One moment and this will be ready, by the way." The man watched him in an expectant way, obviously expecting him to speak up. Fenn snorted and pointed to his throat, shaking his head. No can do.
Instead, Fenn brushed dirt and bits of bone off of the floor, clearing a space for him to work with. All it took was a light brush of his finger across the stone to make a patch of frost. He began writing in the frost diligently, hoping that the half-elf was literate.

YOUR NAME? AM FENN. HERE BECAUSE CURIOUS ABOUT WHISPERS, he wrote, turning his nose haughtily. NOT A BOY, EXACTLY. I GO WHEREVER I PLEASE AND TAKE CARE OF MYSELF. NEED NO REASON TO WANDER THROUGH.

BESIDES, THE COLD NEVER BOTHERED ME ANYWAY. FOOD NOW?

His mouth watered as the meat began to cook. Fenn stared expectantly at the juicy, fat-dripping morsels, looking rather hungry. He could always use a snack...

[Gadrial]

Gadrial saw the boy create the patch of frost from nothing and was intrigued. He imagined this possibly startled some people..... Maybe. But he didn't worry much about that. Gadrial was more focused on making sure the boy was okay and getting wounds cleaned up quick to avoid an infection.

"Well Fenn, let me start off by apologizing if I startled you." Gadrial said with an apologetic voice as he turned the cooking meat. Gadrial reached into his satchel, pulled out a small wooden bowl, and walked back to the cave entrance. Snow still fluttering in from the storm. Or rather the blinding storm would better describe it. Gadrial scooped some snow up in the bowl and returned to the fire, he sat the bowl close to the embers on the outer edge and the snow began to melt.

Outside, the wind howled and the snow was heavy. Gadrial felt lucky to have found some sort of shelter in the wilderness. And now some company that he could share a meal with. It gave Gadrial a sense of familiarity. Reminded him of when was a child. When he would share a meal with his other and uncle.

He looked at Fenn, curious about the boy. What does he mean, not a boy, exactly? he thought to himself has he pulled the bowl of now warm water away from the fire. "Here, lets get those cuts cleaned up?" He asked offering a hand. "And once we get that taken care of, we can eat. Look like you could use a semi good meal from the way your mouth is watering at the site of the bear." Gadrial said, a slight chuckle carrying with it in an attempt to show Fenn that he meant him no harm.

A curious glance was exchanged just as Fenn allowed Gadrial help him with doctoring his feet. Gadrial was more than pleased to help the young man, boy, adventurer out.

"So you came out here out of curiosity, huh?" Gadrial asked as he wiped a warm wet cloth across the bottem of Fenn's feet, cleaning away the blood and than wrapping a bandage around them. "I guess I can't really blame you much for that" Gadrial said, "I am more or less the same for being out here, though I am headed somewhere." He added, cleaning on some of his obsidian knives with some of the warm water and cutting some meat off for Fenn, "My name is Gadrial by the way" He said as he handed the meat and some water to Fenn. "Ever had bear before?" Gadrial asked as the Fae boy began digging into the bear meat.

One thing Gadrial was curious about was when Fenn snorted and shook his head, pointing at his throat.

Gadrial, after making sure that Fenn was taken care of, and not so frightened got himself some of the meat. He sat there, waiting for a reply from Fenn, Not sure of the he could speak. But welcomed the company with a smile. Gadrial dug around in his satchel again, this time, pulling out what was left of the bread that he had. Gadrial broke the bread in half, and offered Fenn the larger piece of the two halves. "I would offer you more, but this is all I have." Gadrial paused, "Friend?" he continued in the form of a question.

[FennWenn]

After an apology and the preparation of food, the tension in the air seeped away, like the smoke from the crackling fire seeping out of the cave. Fenn breathed a sigh of relief and wiped away his frost message.

"Here, let’s get those cuts cleaned up?" the man asked, holding a bowl of water in one hand and offering the other out to Fenn. Fenn took it gingerly and shook it for but a few seconds, hesitant to make the stranger colder than he already was - the boy’s touch left a trace of frost on the half-elf. "And once we get that taken care of, we can eat. Look like you could use a semi good meal from the way your mouth is watering at the site of the bear." An amicable laugh left the man.

It all seemed to be an attempt to reassure Fenn; the boy sighed and begrudgingly nodded, relaxing where he laid on the cave floor. He began picking bits of bones out of his cut skin and exchanged a curious glance with the half-elf, who, to Fenn's annoyance, still hadn’t stated his name.

Evidently, his glance acted as some sort of cue for the man to fuss over his injured feet. He gasped and winced as the warm cloth was swiped across the soles of his feet, staining the cloth with his sappy black blood. Streaks of the thick liquid were left behind on his skin. Fenn grit his teeth together and squeezed his eyes shut as the man took the bandages the Fae had grabbed from his bag and wrapped up his feet. Even as he knew the man was aiding him out of kindness (and hopefully not pity) Fenn couldn’t help but flush in faint embarrassment and briefly bare his teeth.

Though he did not directly complain - how could he, without seeming cold and unforgiving? - Fenn was not appreciative of this particular "help". A sour expression curled on his lips for but a few seconds afterward. This was something he could take care of himself, and thus, not something he wanted to be aided with.

"So you came out here out of curiosity, huh?" the man said once he was done fixing Fenn up. He began cleaning off a knife with the bowl of water, and sliced off a slab of meat. "I am more or less the same for being out here, though I am headed somewhere. My name is Gadrial by the way," he said as he handed the meat and some water to Fenn.

Hunger shone in Fenn's eyes, and he took it eagerly from the man’s hands. As soon as he had it, he was biting into it, more or less ignoring the offered water. The meat was more gamey than most Fenn encountered, but that was okay; it was juicy and still quite warm. This was more like it!

"Ever had bear before?" Gadrial asked aside to Fenn with a grin. The speck of a Fae shook his head furiously and continued tearing apart the bear meat. Grease dripped down his chin and quickly congealed into chips of ice.

A moment of silence and furious chewing passed. Gadrial seemed to be waiting for him to speak. Was he so dull as to not understand the whole point-at-throat-shake-your-head thing that Fenn had come to accept as a part of most meetings?
The quiet broke as Gadrial rummaged around in his satchel for a piece of bread that was a little gnawed on already. He broke the bread in half, and offered Fenn the larger piece of the two halves. More food for his insatiable appetite? Fenn took it gladly and began eating it alongside the meat.

"I would offer you more, but this is all I have,” Gadrial said, then hesitated. "Friend?"

Fenn snorted and reluctantly set down his food, leaning forward to renew his patch of frost. The delicate ice crystals crept across the ground. He dragged his hands through them, writing the words he only wished could pass his lips and into the frosty air. FRIEND, PERHAPS. MUCH THANKS FOR HELP WITH BEAR. MY MAGIC IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH FOR DEFENDING MYSELF. Sometime, he mused to himself, he would have to learn to refine and strengthen the talent he already possessed. If he could just get the hang of icicles… SORRY I NOT HAVE MUCH TO OFFER IN TURN.

On second thought, Fenn considered the snowberries in his bag. Since Gadrial had shared with him, and had killed that bear for him, it only seemed fair to be nice in turn. His heart wasn’t so icy as to take all this without giving a little in turn.
Whether that was because he wanted to be seen as useful himself, or because his old Raster had instilled a certain sense of give-and-take in him, Fenn wasn’t sure. The boy dug around in the pockets of his own satchel and grabbed a fistful of firm berries out; they were mottled with light blue and silver-white. He popped one in his mouth before offering the rest to Gadrial; mmm, tangy.