Open To Anyone For Anything RP Post

[questionablewit]

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[takesnoshit]

Haleth chuckles. She too walks a little more slowly than usual, even given that she must keep up with Caranthir's longer strides. Normally she is more brisk in her movements, but...she is reluctant to let this idyll end.

More foolishness, she knows. But...let it be so. Let her be foolish, for a little while. She looks up at him, with that small quirk of her mouth that serves as a smile. "And do they fear your temper enough to heed you?" It is almost teasing, certainly fond.

[grumpycatanthir]

His answering smile is sharp.

"The young ones do." The older know his bark is worse than his bite.

"How goes your own people?"

[takesnoshit]

She chuckles again at his answer, but it turns to a grimace. "They wait. There is little else to be done until the winter ends. Our stores should see us through, for we took care to hunt and gather and trade all we could before the snows came. But until spring returns there is little to do but wait, and the coldest months are yet to come."

She sounds a little grim. This will be the worst, this winter of recovering, and when they overcome it they may begin to regain their strength in truth. But Haleth does not like being unable to act. Still, frustration will not bring game out of hibernation, nor make the plants grow. "We busy ourselves with crafts, or with storytelling and songs." Or with sharing a bedroll, in many cases, but that she does not mention. Though they need to repeople themselves, and she imagines there are worse ways to spend a cold night...

She shakes her head, refusing to blush. "At least now the days will grow longer, even if they remain cold. That will help us."

[grumpycatanthir]

He nods, understanding.

"In the winter with the ground hard and game scarce, there is little enough else to do." He agrees. "I have asked for patrols to be particularly careful, in this region. Your folk do not need another attack so soon, although it is not likely to happen until the snows melt."

[takesnoshit]

She grimaces again, disliking the charity, but nods. It is done for her people and she now believes he would do the same for any on his lands, so she accepts. If it were done as an attempt to earn her favor, to her away her good opinion, she would refuse to permit it.

But he knows that, and they have struck a careful balance, with his courtship stating a separate thing from the duties of lord to tenant.

Too careful a balance, too easily overturned, and Haleth turns her thoughts elsewhere. "What do your people do at such times, when all is dark and cold?" she asks instead. "Have you any midwinter celebration of your own?"

[grumpycatanthir]

"We do. Although winters were mild in Aman - nothing like they are here. We adopted many of the Silvan practices with fire and music and dancing in the long dark, and will probably adapt others, as time goes on. But particularly relevant to us is the Long Night, where we celebrate the sun's first rising."

He shrugs. "That's a new tradition, technically, but we blended it with our own midwinter traditions and then also those of the Silvan. It's a night with no large fires, but every household lights a single candle for every family member, and we set a single lantern in a high place of the house to light the road for those who might be journeying."

[takesnoshit]

"Not so unlike our own celebration, then." She smiles up at him, pleased by the similarity. "I am glad your companions enjoyed it. And you."

They are drawing near to the camp, and she releases his hand, drawing herself up and pulling the mantle of Chieftain around her once more. "If you need aught, you know where I may be found, or if I am unavailable you may consult my Second, Tir. He has some of your language. I had planned to join the hunters this afternoon, though if your men are supplementing our ranks that may now be unneeded. I will decide when I wake." She hesitates a little, then reaches for his hand again and clasps it briefly in both of hers. "I will see you later this day, after some rest."

[grumpycatanthir]

"Not so unlike." He agrees with a small answering smile. "Different enough to be interesting, while similar enough to be comforting. A reminder we are all still Eruhini, no matter our fates."

He releases her hand reluctantly, but nods, accepting.

"Rest well." He squeezes once, lightly. "I will see you when you wake."

[takesnoshit]

She too is a little reluctant to let this idyll end. But she needs the rest, after a full day and night awake and working. And as always after seeing Caranthir, she has been given much to consider.

So they part, and she goes thoughtfully back to her tent and sleeps as a stone for the morning, and wakes to return to her duties at luncheon.

And later that afternoon, when Caranthir returns, he is stopped by a woman with dark blonde hair, who plants herself in his path and speaks without introduction. "Are you courting our Chief?"

If Caranthir was paying attention, he might recognize her as the other woman who stood near Haldan, last night at the bonfire.

[grumpycatanthir]

The Eldar need little sleep - one night is little enough loss, so Caranthir makes himself useful, instead.

He blinks at the woman, face set in its customary scowl.

"I know you. You were there at the fire." He observes. "And what if I am?"

[takesnoshit]

The woman is beautiful, or used to be; she now looks more haggard, lines in her face solidly set by frowning or some strong emotion. She has the hardiness and strength of the Haladin, but looks soft compared to Haleth, for all that she's taller. She looks at Caranthir, her gaze intense.

She takes a deep breath when he admits it, and nods shortly. "Good. Good. She likes you, she must, else she would not tolerate your company, much less seek it out." The woman suddenly grabs his arm, holding it hard. "Convince her to wed you, and to take us back to your lands. Please."

That emotion in her eyes is suddenly more identifiable: fear. Not of him, not of anything obviously present, but fear of something, for certain.

[grumpycatanthir]

The thought that others think he has a chance brings a warm glow to embers of a heart made hard, but his frown deepens at her words.

"The Chief is free to do as she wills, whether she agrees to my suit or no. I will not say where she deems fit to take her people - that is her prerogative, not mine. What frightens you so?"

[takesnoshit]

She lets go of him, but laughs, a bitter sound devoid of any humor. "You, who came to our aid when we were all but destroyed, you need to ask? My family and my husband lay dead on the field you rode over, and now my son has no father."

She shivers, holds her arms close around her, though she still stands tall. "He is all I have, and it is he who will lead after Haleth, if we all live so long. I would have him safe, as safe as may be in this world. I would have all of us under the protection of the Firstborn, and not see my law-sister sacrifice our well-being to her pride. Pride will not shield us from sword or arrow. Pride will not feed or clothe us during the lean months." Her eyes are intense to the point of near-fanatical as she looks at him. "Convince her, I beg you, before I live to see my son bleed out his life uselessly, as his father did."

She turns abruptly and hurries away before he can make any response.

[grumpycatanthir]

He frowns after her, not entirely surprised by her sentiments but sighs. If anything, he should, in that case, be urging Haleth on faster towards safer lands. How anyone can think that Caranthir, whose lands are indeed part of the March and therefore considered "front line" (admittedly the only people further away are the Ambarussa - Maedhros trying to protect his brothers) to be "safe" is anyone's guess. But he supposes he should mention it to Haleth, that her law-sister approached him. She cannot be the only one, after all.

But Later.

Haleth needs her sleep.

He grumbles quietly to himself and then goes to practice with his men and await her to be free.

[takesnoshit]

Haleth has, of course, been working,tending to various things that need doing. Much of the camp is quiet and resting the day after Yule, but "resting" is a term but rarely applied to Haleth. It is nearly time for the evening meal before she is free to seek out Caranthir, and when she finds him and his men sparring, she takes the time to watch, her gaze both appreciative and analytical. The Firstborn fight differently from the Haladin, their stances and styles a little strange to her, and it is always wise to watch other warriors. There are many ways of learning, and she has much to protect.

[grumpycatanthir]

Caranthir trains as he does all things, with almost vicious focus and grim fury - even if his own mood had not leant to such things, they learnt swiftly here that nothing less would keep you alive.

He looks up, eventually, and nods at her, dismissing his men to their own pursuits and jogging over.

"Your law-sister spoke to me."

[takesnoshit]

There is much in Curufin's fighting style that speaks to Haleth. For all that she is calm and levelheaded off the battlefield, that is not always so on it. That focus and fury are familiar to her. Another thing they have in common--and she is still surprised whenever such things are found.

But before she can comment on that or anything else, he speaks, and she grimaces. "Ah."

One might have the impression that Haleth and her law-sister do not get along. One would be correct.

[grumpycatanthir]

An eyebrow goes up. "Ah." He echoes her wryly.

"Then I would guess you do not need me to tell you what she said."

[takesnoshit]

"I may guess." Haleth continues to look grim. "She wished me to cede my authority to you and accept you as our overlord. If that was not what she said outright, still it is what underlaid whatever request she made. Am I correct?"

[grumpycatanthir]

"You guess aright." He nods.

"I know not how common this sentiment is."

[takesnoshit]

Haleth shrugs. "Somewhat. Perhaps a third of my people, who believe we would be more safe under your protection than on our own, share her wish. Most of those are not as fervent--or vocal--as Beyhild, and I believe the number who would contest me if I chose otherwise is few. But she is very determined."

[grumpycatanthir]

"Hmph." He opinions.

"Have they paid no attention to the maps? I remain perilously close to the front lines."

[takesnoshit]

"But you have numbers," Haleth says in return, her expression serious. "You have weapons, armor, horses. You have resources, metals, a smithy. You have allies and information about the Enemy's movements, his abilities. We have nothing but our hands and feet and what scraps we have salvaged, and the Enemy has already proven that he will seek out weaker prey first. We are no match for him. We are barely a match for the elements."

She rubs at her forehead, and the set of her jaw is grim. "I am not altogether certain my law-sister's faction is wrong, though the thought tastes like submission to me, and I little like it."

[grumpycatanthir]

"So do all of us" he snorts. "I am rich, yes - but that is shrewd management and luck of placement. If you must accept oversight, there are safer lands than mine."

[takesnoshit]

Haleth is silent for a moment. "That is so," she says finally. "But accepting oversight in your lands has as an advantage to recommend it that no other could offer. As my sister has guessed, and does not hesitate to point out."

And Haleth is not at all pleased at having her...not weakness, perhaps temptation...used against her.

She sighs and rubs her forehead. "But all this is known, by us both. It serves us little to cover such ground again."