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| 6 Fourth Age: Book Worm; [Open] In the library | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 25 Sep 2008, 10:44 PM (379 Views) | |
| Deleted User | 25 Sep 2008, 10:44 PM Post #1 |
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Inside of her head, as the words from the pages she read painted a clear enough picture, images of brave warriors, fair damsels and the nasty sort of villains paraded. She could see the crooked nose of the dark haired spy and the pleasant smile of the charming hero as if they were right there in front of her eyes. Real enough that she could have sworn them palpable and true but not so foolish enough actually to believe it. Those days, where she'd dared to dream of far off places and handsome hero's had come to an end. Her father had tamped them out of her system by refusing to allow her to indulge 'folk tale' books to read. It was only moments like these where Gwenneth sat alone in the quiet and vastly large halls of the library that she would risk the chance and read more into whichever folk tale she had currently been in to. It was hardly a productive use of her time but Gwenneth didn't care. With the Chamberlain out and about seeing to his duties it left her day wide open to a million possibilities, that naturally all co-existed within the seventh level of Minas Tirith. She'd thought about leaving Minas Tirith more than a few times. Her eyes wide with glutton and ready to take in all of the world. Why she hadn't was simply because Gwenneth had never quite figured out where she would go. Reading maps and looking up cities had always been a favorite pastime of hers but knowing names and regions was far different than knowing the lay of the land or the girth of their cultures. Gwenneth licks the tip of her finger and flicks past to another page in her story but this time does not focus on the words. Instead she settles the ridge of the novels spine in between her clutched thighs and turns her eyes towards the ceiling. This space truly was beautiful. It's atmosphere hypnotic and mysterious in its right and made her skin tingle with delight. Perhaps things such as this were other reason's why Gwenneth had yet to stray from Minas Tirith walls. The comfort of familiarity gave a person confidence and security, out in a world she didn't know there was none of either of those things. Standing, Gwenneth made sure to keep her book held up against her stomach as she strolled towards one of the open windows and leaned out of it. Her arms crossed across the ledge while her fingers still fanned themselves around to the rear cover of the book. Outside the sun was high and the city was full of activity. Families and friends, merchants and buyers, they all buzzed along the roadways and went on living their lives unaware of their watcher. The thought made her smile. When she was younger she often pretended to be the Watch Guardian of Minas Tirith and that the seventh level was not at all the cage she felt it to be today, but her perch to better look over the entire realm and its people. |
| Deleted User | 5 Oct 2008, 10:05 PM Post #2 |
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Her head was pounding the colours of Minas Tirith flew in front of her eyes in a million directions. Her eyes were dilated and wide with her struggle to see in front of her own nose. Her breathing was ragged and she didn't know how to find her way to the Houses of Healing. With her sight and her mind all over the place it was difficult for her to work out which direction she was going in. What she didn't realise was that she had staggered all the way past the Houses of Healing and had somehow entered another building on the seventh level of Minas Tirith. She stumbled through the doors looking around wildly feeling as though this...sickness....this ailment could take an even stronger hold any minute. She managed to get upstairs although why she was headed that way she didn't know. She burst into another room, not realising how much of a sight she looked. She wore brown pants, a green tunic with a brown vest and belt carrying a dagger which was sprayed with blood. In fact the front of her tunic had black orc blood over it. Her red hair fell wildly about her and her face was marred by several bruises and a slit across her cheek which extended to the side of her head. It wasn't too deep but it hurt occasionally. Her whole figure was bent ready to collapse. She wore a green cloak over all of this, her hood had fallen and she wore a bow and arrow set on her back as well. Everything looked worn and she looked like she had been in some kind of fight. She stumbled into the room looking around until she saw a woman she recognised. "Gwynneth!" she gasped falling to her knees |
| Deleted User | 6 Oct 2008, 01:43 AM Post #3 |
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The unpredictable and sudden crack of the libraries heavy doors opening and slapping themselves closed was as thunder. A startling revelation that quickly brought Gwenneth back out of her dreamy state and pungently back into the reality of the libraries womb. So startled in fact that it took her a split second longer than it should have to realized the woman stumbling in, looking as if she'd dragged herself through mud and battle to get there, was indeed a friend and not foe. It took her a moment to realize that the stranger who had paraded in, seemingly half drunk as they wobbled too and fro was no stranger at all but a newly made friend. "Haeleana?!" Gwenneth gasped sounding just as surprised and stunned as she looked. It was only a heartbeat then that it took the Chamberlains daughter to dash across the space between them and cover it completely just as Haeleana buckled beneath her own weight. Gwenneth, who was of similar size and build, struggled to steady them both as she too dropped to her knees in front of the woman and caught the bulk of Haeleana's slight weight with the front of her chest and shoulders. Instinct took over and everything Gwenneth had ever learned rushed through her mind as she went through steps to determine just how badly off the woman was. "Haeleana, look at me. Look at me and tell me what happened?" - and yes in truth Gwenneth wanted to know but more importantly she wanted to get a feel for how aware of her surroundings Hael was and if she was with it enough to speak coherently. Gwenneth continued her subtle examination. Peering into the womans eyes to check how wide her pupils were and gently touching the back of her hand to Hael's brow and cheeks to feel for fever. "we've got to get you the houses of healing, Haeleana. Lean on me now and we'll do it together." Naturally, Gwenneth knew she wouldn't be able to do it alone and had every intention to bellow her lungs out for help the moment she got somewhere public and guards would hear her troubled plea's for assistance. |
| Deleted User | 6 Oct 2008, 01:54 AM Post #4 |
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"Haeleana?!" Somewhere in the depths of her sub consciousness Haeleana recognised the voice. She looked up as Gwynneth managed to catch her although truth be told Gwynneth was a big blur of colours at the moment. Once Gwynneth had gotten her to the floor Haeleana's mind began blur and she could barely see or hear anything yet she could just about make out Gwynneth's worried tones. "Haeleana, look at me. Look at me and tell me what happened?" "Gwynneth..." was all Haeleana was able to stir. She felt the woman's hands on her and she shook her head. "Healing...Houses...where..." she said deliriously. "Please...poisonous plants...need...where....Healing..." she mumbled incoherently. "we've got to get you the houses of healing, Haeleana. Lean on me now and we'll do it together." "I can't..." she said rolling so she was lyng on the floor beside Gwynneth. "Can't....carry me....down...stairs...too far....Healer...someone" she said as she brought a hand to Gwynneth's cheek. "Uruk hai....moving....White Mountains..." |
| Deleted User | 6 Oct 2008, 02:25 AM Post #5 |
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Desperation took the place of panic and Gwenneth did her best to keep Haeleana ground in one spot and as calm as she could. The words she was trying to detail made little sense to Gwenneth, who was doing her best to piece the little bits and pieces together unsuccessfully. Frustrated and scared Gwenneth shook her head and grounded her thoughts and focused closely on each word. It still didn't help much but the words 'poisonous' and 'plants' were enough to get her moving again. Gently, Gwenneth placed her cloak beneath Haeleana's head and stood from the ground. "Don't move!" she said, hoping that the simple order would make sense to the girl in the depth of fever. Gwenneth had never ran so hard in her life, as she flung herself through the library doors and down the corridor from it. Her feet pounded pavement with a fervent pace and the second she saw a guard in the distant she started to scream. "HELP!!!!!!" she wailed at the top of her lungs, heaving for air as she kept running towards the pair of men in the distance. "PLEASE HELP!!" she cried again, her slight arms pumping at either side of her waist as she stumbled on the trim of her skirts, caught herself and just kept running. "I need a healer!! A healer!!" her labored breath breaking up the sentence into heavy, raspy pleas. " It's Haeleana! She's in the library! I think she's been poisoned!" Gwenneth knew that she wasn't trained enough to medicate Haeleana, it might've risked the womans life. When in truth, the same odds extended to leaving Haeleana alone in the library as she went to fetch someone who honestly could. The two guards started running to meet Gwenneth the second they had heard her and immediately were asking questions she was already answering. 'Where is she?' - 'What's wrong with her?' One of the guards immediately shot off down the corridor and towards the houses of healing. The other tugged Gwenneth by the arm and drawed her in to leading the way back to Haeleana. She couldn't have been left alone for more than a few minutes by the time Gwenneth and the male had made their way back into the library, but Gwenneth twinged with guilt already that it was far too long to leave someone in suffering alone. "Haeleana! - Gwenneth fell back on her knees and was quick to take Haels hand inside her own. "I'm here Haeleana. Helps coming. Just lie still, lie still and don't move..." Gwenneth knew to a point, that the quicker the blood moved through Haeleana's system the less likely it would be to tame. So keeping her calm was key and although she felt clueless, Gwenneth started to talk to her. "Shhhh now," she'd say as she brushed a hand through Haeleana's fiery hair. "I need you to concentrate on my voice, Haeleana. To think about something you love, to think about your mother and being wrapped up in her arms okay? Think about your family and Gondor and how safe you are here...I need you to breath Haeleana. Slowly and with me now...In and out, just like this..." |
| Deleted User | 6 Oct 2008, 02:37 AM Post #6 |
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"Don't move!" "Gwy-Gwynn-Gwynneth?" Haeleana called out as the other girl rushed off. She was starting to shake as she felt the poison from the plants start to work its curse. She looked around the room and for the first time real fear was in her eyes. She was too weak to follow and she couldn't see anyone. She could only see the ceiling and she didn't have a clue where Gwynneth was. "Gwynneth!" she called trying to stay calm. She could hear Gwynneth in the distance. "Haeleana!" Haeleana looked up as Gwynneth rushed back in with a guard and knelt next to her. She smiled appreciatively as the other girl took her hand. "Gwynneth" she mumbled. "Plants...poisonous plants...not poison itself...can't breathe" she said closing her eyes. "I'm here Haeleana. Helps coming. Just lie still, lie still and don't move..." She did as Gwynneth told her although thankfully she had stopped shaking but her face had gone significantly paler and she looked back up at Gwynneth nodding slightly. "Shhhh now," she'd say as she brushed a hand through Haeleana's fiery hair. "I need you to concentrate on my voice, Haeleana. To think about something you love, to think about your mother and being wrapped up in her arms okay? Think about your family and Gondor and how safe you are here...I need you to breath Haeleana. Slowly and with me now...In and out, just like this..." Tears filled Haeleana's eyes. "Mother....Mother....Falwine....Beorld....Father" her voice cracked with the last one. "Father....he's dead....he wants me with him" she sounded bordering on hysterical. "Falwine...Gondor..." she shook her head. "I cannot see them. I cannot see anything. The darkness..." she said. "The white hand...the red eye" she muttered. "Please..." she looked up at Gwynneth. She started breathing with Gwynneth and found it helping |
| Deleted User | 6 Oct 2008, 02:53 AM Post #7 |
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"No." Gwenneth insisted, the steady conviction in her voice a cool bit of reassured. "Your father wants you to live. To live a long, and harty life as any father would and your mother does too. So you think of your mother and you think of the White tree of Gondor." Gwenneth squeezed her hand a little tighter and shifted ever gently Haeleana's head from the bunched up cloak and onto Gwenneth's lap. Every bit of movement and every time she petted or smoothed down Haeleana's hair or cheek it was with a gentile and reassuring grace. "Do you remember the celebration of peace Haeleana? The wondrous sight of all the people, the beauty of Queen Arwen and that time we first met? I knew right then that we'd be friends a long time coming and I know it still. So you just hold tight to me and focus on my voice..." Down the hall she could hear a parade of footsteps, a slew of people coming that sounded like a small army of hope. Immediately Gwenneth knew it was the guard and the healers he had summoned. They had been quicker than she had expected and Gwenneth had never felt such a swell of relief overcome her as the doors burst open and the medics rushed over. The rush of space and time seemed to pick up as a handful of men and women surrounded Haeleana and started to examine her condition. Through it all, Gwenneth refused to let go of Haeleana's hand and if she ever felt Hael tense in the chaos that overwhelmed even Gwenneth's senses, she leaned down and whispered a few more words into her ear. Assuring Haeleana that she was there, that things would be alright. Even if Gwenneth herself wasn't so sure... Eventually, Haeleana would be eased onto a fabric gurney made of two poles and some cotton cloth. Four men would take each end and hoist her as they slowly marched down towards the houses of healing, while the women dabbed Haeleanas forehead with cold cloth and Gwenneth, she kept her word and never let go of Haels hand. |
| Deleted User | 6 Oct 2008, 03:12 AM Post #8 |
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"No." Gwenneth insisted, the steady conviction in her voice a cool bit of reassured. "Your father wants you to live. To live a long, and harty life as any father would and your mother does too. So you think of your mother and you think of the White tree of Gondor." Tears filled Haeleana's eyes. "I do not want to die....I want to see Arnor restored...I want to see you again" she smiled. "I want to celebrate seven years of peace" she said finally starting to speak in coherent sentences although it cost her more strength. She closed her eyes. "Thank you" she rasped. She smiled slightly as the healers gathered around her. They all seemed to be speaking at once and her eyes darted from one to the other as special herbs were placed against her wounds. She felt a familiar substance being rubbed on her head. Water mixed with Athelas. She smiled a little more thinking of her horse and she closed her eyes. She was taken by surprise when they lifted her onto a gurney. She felt a little better with the fabric beneath her head rather than the solid floor. She turned to Gwynneth grateful for her support. After a few moments but what was probably about five minutes they arrived at the Houses of Healing and there Haeleana began to sleep. |
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