Rangers: Headquarters & Armoury

[Arnyn]

@Rillewen

Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen
Armoury
December 28th, dawn

It was only at Cali's next question that Arnyn realized what the younger woman was trying to do. Part of her wanted to snicker and roll her eyes. Instead, she gave Cali a lopsided half-smile as she kept holding the item. "If you really do need help with this, and it was not all simply a ruse, I suggest you continue," the Lieutenant told her. If Arnyn was disappointed or annoyed about the fact Cali and Trastion had both noticed she wasn't feeling well, she didn't look or sound it.

"The best of my ability is not always required for everything," she countered calmly. "Besides this training session, the only other item on my schedule today is the afternoon shift at headquarters. I was planning on resting some more this morning." Well, she hadn't been planning on doing that - but she could Her schedule was clear. The only thing she had still hoped to be able to do, was take Narsule out for a ride. She wasn't exactly sure of whether or not she should attempt that, anymore. Her vision was much better than when she'd walked in this morning, but she definitely still needed food and rest. "And I think I will be able to manage sitting on my butt behind a desk for the afternoon," she said drily. Arnyn straightened, and smiled a bit amusedly at the smith. "But, thank you, Cali. It's nice of you to notice. And to try and persuade the workaholic to take it easy." She slanted her head. "I suppose it takes one to know one?"

[Rillewen]

@Arnyn

Smith Cali Dringolben
Ranger Armory
Dec 28th - Around Dawn

When Arnyn continued holding the armor piece, Cali smiled slightly when she suggested she finish, if it wasn't just a ruse. "I did," She answered. "But the tricky part is done now. You can put it back down." She told her, and was glad to hear that she would be taking an easier day, today. She gave a little smile when Arnyn mentioned that it takes one workaholic to know another. "Sometimes we all need a friend to drag us away from work." She shrugged. Something Nal had always been very skilled at. But Arnyn didn't have a 'Nal' to drag her away, at least not that Cali was aware of.

"So.. I just wanted to make sure you're alright. And when I saw you lying out there, in the cold..." She shrugged. "I got worried. My mother's a nurse, you know?" She gave a slightly apologetic shrug. "And with everything that's happened this year," She sighed. "Anyway. I figured you shouldn't be out in the cold if you're sick, anyway. So, at least I succeeded in bringing you inside? And away from prying eyes, since I figured you wouldn't want all your rangers seeing you at your worst." She paused. "Assuming that is your worst." She wasn't really sure. But it was the worst she'd ever seen the lieutenant, as far acting ill. Hopefully she wouldn't get any worse, anyway.

[Arnyn]

@Rillewen

Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen
Armoury
December 28th, dawn

Arnyn was thanking Varda's Stars that Cali had stopped ramming in those rivets. Her head was pounding in a way she had rarely experienced before. Even so, she smiled at the smith. "That is true," she agreed with Cali's statement about sometimes needing a friend to drag them away from work. She debated for a moment whether or not to protest when Cali spoke of her lying down outside. And how that might be her 'worst'.

"I did not think anyone would notice," she finally said. "I was just about to get back up, anyway. Clearly it would have been wiser not to move forward with Trastion's training session, today. I did cancel his session on the morrow. Just as a precaution, in case I am not yet feeling much better." Odds were she might be feeling worse, of course. She had read about that, too. But Cali did not need to know that. Otherwise the smith might be running off to Pele, next, to ensure Arnyn was taking proper care of herself and what not. That was the last thing she needed. She needed to get through the worst of this, all on her own. Or people would try and stop her before she got any results whatsoever. "And don't worry, Cali. I've felt worse." With a small smile, Arnyn touched Cali's arm and retrieved her things from where she had deposited them nearby.

"Until next time," Arnyn bid Cali, hoping the smith wouldn't try and say or do anything else to make sure she 'would be fine'.

[Rillewen]

@Arnyn

Smith Cali Dringolben
Ranger Armory
Dec 28th - Around Dawn

Cali nodded slightly, and decided not to mention how worried she'd been when she caught sight of a random foot outside, through the window. She'd thought for a moment that someone was badly hurt, or worse. Hearing that she had canceled the training with Trastion, Cali nodded again. "Hope you can get some rest, then." She said. She probably needed all the rest she could get, after all.

She smiled slightly as Arnyn touched her arm and said 'until next time'. "Bye," She said. "I hope you feel better soon." Just because she'd felt worse before, didn't mean it would be pleasant to feel however bad she was feeling, now. Cali waved at her as she left, then let out a little sigh and picked up her hammer again. She had the tricky part done, so the next rivets would be easier to manage without assistance. She waited until Arnyn would be a reasonable distance from the armory before she began pounding the rivets in again.

[Ercassie]

@Pele Alarion @Rillewen

Unalmis Raxëlilta
FLASHBACK - New recruit. 5 Years ago.
(Not long before the War of the Ring/Return of the King .. )

The sky spared no eye for the scene. Any memory of the golden daystar slumbered beyond a heavy canopy of gloom cast cloud. Intrigue might upon a brighter day have seen the world watch on as newly hopeful men and women made their entry towards enlisting. There was a story behind each stride, each outfit, each expression. Bets were made upon the basis of build, of apparent bravado. None would have laid a wager of great expectation upon the latest contender.

There was no jaunt in the step of Unalmis. Yet neither was there any domineering father, hand pressed urgingly upon the youth's back. Not today. The prospective recruit was here of his own accord, either plain obstinacy or else some naive hope which had driven him through the downpour. He had bourne some of its symptoms into the headquarters, each squelch of a sodden boot betraying his approach.


It was far from the sort of first impression he had wished to make. Some of the soldiers might already know him of course, if they knew his father. And there was a very very rare chance that Duinion might be around, or so he might like to believe. Not that he needed company, he had come here to make that start, a new chapter. It was just that .. he had always imagined this day as coming to join Ryndir, to serve alongside his friend, as they had always spoken of. And that simply wasn't going to happen now. Disheartening was something of an understatement when it came to his current condition. Dishevelled might even have been a better description.

Not remotely impressive, but no less than average, he had height just enough to match his peers, though he looked down on very few of them in a city which grew tall young men like a forest grows trees. His build betrayed much still of the boy with mere hints of the man he hoped that he might come to be. The clothes he wore were well-used, hand-me-downs of grey blue shades, rolled up at the sleeves in efforts to cover the patches there (and to desguise also that they had never been conceived with him in mind). There was nothing ornamental or unique about his entire ensemble, save perhaps the standard issue practical black boots, one with a hole clear through the sole. His dark hair was slathered about a somewhat apologetic face, dripping wet where it sat upon his shoulders, which were hunched. His expression might be due to the small puddle he had made already on the floor. Brown eyes dared to glance about him, as though looking for some means to clean up after himself, or to else entirely evade some awkward explanations of the weather.


Of course he might have waited for some fairer climes. But he had waited overlong already to take this first step. So a sodden squelching step it was. If naught else, he had been well schooled that a military career was far from the patriotic ideals of glory that had been advertised in the popular heroic novels which he had scoured through. The forces of Gondor must campaign during foul weather as easily as in warm climes. A scored twelve inch hunting knife he turned over and over in wet fingers, as though he could ease fortune or faith out of the yellowed bone handle. At the very least he aimed to harm neither himself or any other with this kind-meant gift; not at the headquarters anyway. Not when he had just this day enlisted.

The Headquarters themselves were an absolute empire of a building and seemed to be eerily quiet on this particular day. Still the youth took that as a sign of the Country's immediate need for more enthusiastic recruits. Sure in his heart that he wished to eventually enter the ranks of the Rangers of Ithilien, he had first to locate the barracks. Or the armoury. but the very first thing that he located when he left the enlisting officer's office .. was a trail of puddles which led back down the corridor. It did not take too great a deduction to realise he had caused such a stain upon the premises, his very first day. And so he stopped before furthering the sodden trail further, to think how he might dry the floor when every inch of him was already absolutely soaking wet. Belated concerns of having ruined the chair he'd so recently been sat in also, .. kept him from rushing back and asking of the enlisting officer, what he ought do about that. This was the first day of independence and he wasn't about to start it by asking for help.

He would think of something. It wasn't the worst thing in the world. It wasn't anywhere near the worst thing that had ever happened to him. Now, what would Ryndir do .. ?

[Pele Alarion]

@Ercassie , @Rillewen
Sergeant Pele Alarion
Entering Headquarters, ~ 5 years ago (Flashback)

Having grown tired of loneliness of her own room and finding no soldiers in the common room or mess hall, Pele had ventured to the Headquarters despite the heavy rain. It was only a short jaunt from one door to another, so she did not look too soaked, though she did leave a trail of wet footsteps behind her.

She hoped to find some sort of assignment that would keep her occupied, so she eagerly headed towards the notice board to check for anything of interest. However, her gaze first fell on Unalmis who had just exited from the enlisting officer's office. The youth still looked as if he had recently been dragged from the depths of the Great River, yet there was this smile about him. Walking up to him, Pele tilted her head slightly, a small grin playing on her lips.

"Look, who the cat dragged in," she greeted him in too informal a way for the very formal surroundings. "Suppose you did not just come here to escape the rain?" Her hand motioned towards the office he had seemingly just left. "Signed up, did you, Unalmis?"

Pele figured she might just as well exchange a few words with the young man and perhaps make him welcome, if he had indeed decided to join their ranks.

[Rillewen]

@Arnyn

Sergeant Galion, of Pelargir
Dec 28th
Ranger HQ

He had arrived sometime the previous night, but assuming that the headquarters would be closed by then, he had not bothered to come up yet. Instead, he had taken a room at an inn, eaten a simple supper, and went straight to bed. He had a few things to do during the morning, so it was early afternoon when the sergeant made his way up the circles until he arrived at the sixth. The message that had been left for him nearly a month ago, had rather intrigued him. Someone asking about some of the young men he had once trained, years ago? It was unusual, but what was more unusual was the particular young men in question. He had not seen fit to merely reply to this message by writing, when he returned to duty after a well-earned vacation. Sergeant Galion had, instead, decided to come in person.

A guard at the gate gave him directions to the ranger facilities, which was not hard to find once he headed in that direction. The quiet in the building was broken by the sound of Galion's knock on the door to the command office. From there, he stood by and waited. Perhaps he ought to have at least written ahead of time, to let them know to expect him, he thought, but it was a bit late for that, now. He didn't know whether to expect the lieutenant or captain, but surely, it didn't matter too much.

[Ercassie]

@Pele Alarion @Rillewen

Unalmis Raxëlilta
FLASHBACK - New recruit. 5 Years ago.
with Sergeant Pele Alarion

“I’m not sure if I did escape the rain, as it turns out. It seems to have followed me inside,” the young man shook his head, albeit with a grin, and then recalled a little belatedly that he was not supposed to consider Pele as a friend, not here. She was of course an officer, and as such a superior. And … he had just disagreed with her ! On the other hand, the woman clearly had left a trail of wet behind her as well, which made the young man feel much better about his own mess. He decided to believe that she had done it quite on purpose, which was an exceedingly kind gesture to make a new recruit feel more welcome. Today especially, when the threat of feeling lost was at it’s greatest, she was a gift from the Valar themselves. Yes, this was a good thing.

“My first report, Sergeant,” the youth threw his heels together, in a rather over-exuberant fashion, which might have seemed too much except that he was grinning. This last rather undermined the rest of his performance, and suggested that none ought take him too serious. Especially when he half leaned in and mentioned that, “It is in fact and definitely raining out there.” With a confirming nod, he let Pele know what she .. already must know.


“I do not mind the weather actually,” Unalmis fell easily, perhaps too easily, then unto a conversation, and could almost hear his austere cousin groan at such unprofessional behaviour. Still, this was but his first day. He could only improve, and such a sentiment leant further cheer to his mood. “You can get used to about anything really,” he gave a shrug and half laughed. “And I’d make a rather poor ranger if I was too tender about the climate. Especially since I am not sure which way the armoury and Barracks Master are sat at. Should I have waited for a tour guide, or is this the first test of training, to find my way ?“ he glanced about ways, as though hoping for some fantastic inherited instinct to somehow immediately kick in. It did not seem vey likely.

But of all the people he might have encountered then, he was grateful that the sergeant was such a familiar face. Not only because it furthered his chances of not being expelled his first day for impudence.

[Arnyn]

@Rillewen

Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen
Headquarters - December 28th, afternoon

The knock made her glare at the door. The door, which she had quite intentionally closed today. For the Lieutenant did not feel like dealing with anything today beyond what was already planned. And she had no meetings today. Or did she?

Well. It was not as if there were time to check her schedule, now. Whoever was at the other side of the door, would be waiting. "Come in," she called out, slowly rising from her seat already, so she would not risk having to get up too fast.

She looked a bit pale, but it would take even people who knew her a closer look to determine that it was a shade paler than usual, so she was not worried about that. Besides, she was feeling a lot better than she had this morning. Whatever the matter which had shown up on her doorstep, the Lieutenant figured she could handle it.

[Pele Alarion]

@Ercassie , @Rillewen
Sergeant Pele Alarion
With Unalmis, Headquarters, ~ 5 years ago (Flashback)

She calmly watched Unalmis make an attempt at military bearing, which he immediately undermined by his own silly grin and chattering away. Apparently all youngsters seemed to be more or less similar in this matter, and Pele had learned to be patient with them, and allowed herself to be entertained, when the situation did not require absolute seriousness and professionalism.

"Ah, you think you are not daunted by any weather or such, hmm?" she asked, a somewhat mischievous grin appearing on her lips, as her mind began to generate all kind of possible tests to push Unalmis to his limits to see just how much he could actually take. While he would surely still mature and become stronger, she could already see that he would not be easily daunted.

"And what is it you say? A tour guide?" Pele could only shake her head at his ideas. "The place is not really that complicated that you wouldn't be able to find your way around. Though... if there's nothing urgent that requests my attention I might be able to go with you and ensure that you are equipped properly."

But first things first, she stepped over to inspect whether there were any tasks posted that she should or could undertake. It seemed that lately she was left only with the ordinary, and she was beginning to be slightly bored and itching for a bit of a challenge.

[Rillewen]

@Arnyn

Sergeant Galion, of Pelargir
Dec 28th
Ranger HQ

The voice that instructed him to come in was definitely female, but Galion had done a bit of research and had learned that both the captain of the rangers, and the lieutenant, were female. So, that told him little about which one he was about to be speaking with. He supposed he'd be finding out soon enough.

He opened the door and stepped in, offering a professional nod in greeting to the lady. "Good afternoon, ma'am." He greeted her politely. "Do I have the honor of speaking with Captain Alarion, or Lieutenant Dealedwen?" Then again, for all he knew, it might be some secretary or desk clerk he was addressing, but he hoped it was one of the ladies he had come to speak with. "I'm Sergeant Galion." He explained. "I've come in response to a message left for me in Pelargir back in November, by a Lieutenant Dealedwen, of the Rangers of Gondor." He pulled out the paper in question, as if to prove his claim.

[Arnyn]

@Rillewen

Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen
Headquarters - December 28th, afternoon

Arnyn returned the nod, and luckily she did not have to worry whether or not she was supposed to recognize this man for long. The Drill Sergeant from Pelargir! Inwardly, she groaned. Of all the days... of course this should be her luck. But at the very least this would finally give her the opportunity to verify a few things - beyond any shadow of a doubt. "Sergeant Galion," she repeated, allowing some surprise into her tone. "I am Lieutenant Dealedwen. I am surprised to see you here, for I assumed you would offer a written reply, rather than come in person." She hoped she had not given the wrong impression of her expectations. "Did the road - or the river - treat you well?"

[Rillewen]

@Arnyn

Sergeant Galion, of Pelargir
Dec 28th
Ranger HQ

Well, at least he had found the person he had hoped to find, but he was mildly surprised to find a woman so young. Yet, he also recognized that she had been in battle. There was a look that veterans had, which fresh recruits did not, in the eyes mostly. "Pleased to meet you, Lieutenant." He approached and offered a hand for a shake.

Once that small formality was over, he gave a little smile. "The river, lieutenant." he supplied, before answering, "The trip was pleasant enough, thank you." He put the paper away again, as it seemed he would not be required to show it. "Well, your inquiries were most... intriguing," he explained. "And I did not feel that I could properly summarize any sort of response, in writing. My handwriting isn't so good, anyway," he added with a little amusement. "I'm more used to wielding a sword than a pen, and I figured it'd be simplest all around if I were to simply come and speak to you in person."

He paused, again thinking perhaps he ought to have written ahead. "I hope this isn't a bad time?"

[Arnyn]

@Rillewen

Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen
Headquarters - December 28th, afternoon

She stepped from behind the desk to shake his hand. "The pleasure is mine," she returned politely, ignoring the headache that was flaring up. At his words, she smiled in understanding. "I thought the odds were more likely that you would find my inquiries boring. Yet I am glad - that you found them intriguing is much more beneficial to a good conversation, I imagine." Arnyn shook her head when he asked if this was a bad time, and headed for the door. "Not at all. I have been wanting answers to these questions for months. I am pleased to have someone in this office who could put some of those questions to rest. At last."

Or at least, that was the hope. The Lieutenant glanced out of the door, into the quiet hall of headquarters. Everyone was off, fulfilling their duties. She still closed the door, however. For she would prefer to have this particular conversation in private.

(end)

[Ercassie]

@Pele Alarion @Rillewen

Unalmis Raxëlilta
FLASHBACK - New recruit. 5 Years ago.
with Sergeant Pele Alarion

"Oh, I know so," the candid young man assured the Sergeant. He was quite ready to launch into an explanation of what had convinced him, though managed to stop himself in time. Any notion of being hemmed in or cooped up did not sit well with him these days and, if possible, Unalmis was more prone to restlessness than ever he had been before. Still, this increased preference to enjoy the great outdoors, he had figured, could only improve his chances in his chosen profession. Rangers roamed. And they fought against all the sorts of things that the young man had already decided he wanted to help fight off. He just had to manage all the training before anyone would allow him to attempt that chosen profession. He just had to do it, .. for Ryn. Since it would not now be with Ryn.

For now Pele was clearly thinking on his request for directions. With a hindsight that he wished had shown up somewhat earlier, the recruit recognised he just asked for special treatment. Just because he had met the officer socially, afore he had ever enlisted. Accepting the Sergeant's measured response then he chose to laugh, easy and apparently agreeable. "I'll make a pretty poor ranger if I can not even navigate a path to the barracks, you are right," he conceded, good-naturedly. "Though it is my first day and folk might be less inclined to yell me out for dripping puddles all around the place if you are with me .."


As though just now recognising just how wet he was, Unalmis raised and lowered each of his sodden boots in turn. It was tempting to wring out his over-sized sleeves to make good his point, but as though he'd spoke the thought aloud, he felt eyes upon him. A rather austere looking man had entered the Headquarters, slick with wet himself and soaking. Though somehow the newcomer stepped only in the already formed puddles down the corridor, as though he could not possibly be blamed for adding to the wet. Either that or there was already so much wet that puddles were quite impossible for anyone walking the corridor to avoid.

“Sergeant Alarion," Lieutenant Brian met the other officer with something resembling relief about his tone. This faltered ever so slightly when he noted the wet young man aside Pele. “How fortuitous to find you, and with time on your hands as well. I might have even said it is my lucky day, but there is a leak, in the Barracks. I would appreciate any assistance you might be able to manage.”


“I’ll help,” Unalmis spoke up with a shrug, glancing from the man back to the woman before him, for her approval. “I mean, since I am supposed to go to the Barracks next anyway. And it isn’t like any leak will make me wetter at this point.”

“And you are ..?” Brian acknowledged, narrowing his eyes as though he already somehow knew how much headache this insignificant moment would inevitably lead to. Swiftly informed that Unalmis had just enlisted for training, the Barracks Master managed to overlook the young man’s barefaced expression, since merely signing up for something he had in no way shape or form yet accomplished wasn't exactly anything to be proud of. The required hard work and long practice often convinced many a young man in next to no time at all, that the armed forces were not simply a free bed and independence.

“Sergeant ?” Brian campaigned to Pele for action, on behalf of his beloved barracks. If the Ranger Sergeant had been itching for a challenge, she had no idea what she was about to get caught up in.

[Pele Alarion]

@Ercassie , @Rillewen
Sergeant Pele Alarion
With Unalmis, Headquarters, ~ 5 years ago (Flashback)

She had barely managed to look over the notes on the board and turn back to Unalmis when Lieutenant Brian entered, apparently with a task for her.

"Lieutenant," she offered a quick salute even and then listened to the very general description of the task at hand. A leak. Presumably a very real water leak rather than a leak of very secretive information or he would not have declared it out loud.

"Yes, Lieutenant. I will see what I can do about that leak," she said, though thinking to herself that she was not a plumber, hence she was not sure she would have a solution readily available. At any rate, it was worth seeing so she could then get appropriate help if need be.

Even as she made the first step to follow Brian towards the source of trouble in the barracks, she regarded Nal for a moment. "Go to the armoury and get yourself all the equipment first, and then the barracks," she instructed, and then hurried to keep up with the Lieutenant and his determined strides.

[Ercassie]

@Pele Alarion @Rillewen

Unalmis Raxëlilta
FLASHBACK - New recruit. 5 Years ago.
Heading for the Armoury. Meeting Cadil

He was not exactly sure why neither of the officers looked at all keen for him to help with the leak, unless 'leak' did not in fact have anything to do with the wet, and was instead some sort of code that he was not as yet aware of. In any case, Unalmis shrugged an accord when Pele suggested he go to the armoury before bringing his wet into the barracks. No chance of drying off at the latter, before potentially making puddles in the former. But perhaps that was wiser, as the prospect of getting dry only to come back out and get wet all over again on his way to the armoury would be rather a step backwards, or at least no firm step forwards. That was when he realised he did not have any thing dry to change into here anyway, as he hadn't in fact even been assigned a room yet. And turning up to enlist with everything he owned would just have meant traipsing it through the rain so that it too was all entirely wet.

Since neither of the officers seemed to be hurrying through the deluge, the young man followed suit, wiping a hand across his face every so often, so that he could in fact see. The Armoury turned out to be closer to the HQ than the Barracks were as well. So having recognised the Sergeant's smarts by exploration rather than any explanation, the young man entered his second official building of the day, and tried not to concern himself with every new squelch and squeak that his boots made on the polished floor. The reams of armour and weaponry that stood to attention in every single direction were somewhat of an eye opener, so much more than even at the Dringolben smithy ! So the recruit took the time to savour the moment, and ignore the drip which was assuredly coming off him and onto the floor thereabouts. There was no denying now, that this was where the war began. First one with his own capabilities and then the one with the enemy he should hurl those same capabilities at.


He was in fact so engaged at observing the huge room and all that it held, that Nal near failed to observe the other young man who he came close to sliding into across the (now) slippery floor. Stopping just short of a collision, he decided to assure this stranger that he was supposed to be here, as clearly he did not look yet like he belonged at all ...

"Hi. Do you know, is this the armoury ? The sergeant sent me."

[Pele Alarion]

@Ercassie , @Rillewen
Cadil, ~ 5 years ago
Armoury, with Unalmis

He had managed to wear through the heels of one pair of his socks in the matter of a week and so he had sneaked into the armoury to find a new pair hoping not to run into any senior folk who might reprimand him for being careless with the issued gear. So he was standing on his newly clad and booted left leg, balancing on it perfectly well as if he were a stork, while he pulled off and put in his pocket the torn sock from his right foot and intended to put on a fresh, unstained and completely whole sock.

"Whoa there, careful!" he exclaimed as another young man came right at him. He stretched out his arms hastily to maintain the balance, the new sock still in his right hand. "This is the armoury, or have you seen any other place so overwhelmed with equipment?" he asked, a grin forming on his face. "Ah, the sergeant sent you. New here then, aye?"

"Name's Cadil. And yours?" he asked even as he managed to pull the sock on and slip his foot into a boot. Now well rooted on both of his feet, he stretched out his hand towards the newcomer for a proper gesture of introduction.

[Ercassie]

@Pele Alarion

Unalmis Raxëlilta
FLASHBACK - New recruit. 5 Years ago.
Meeting Cadil at the Armoury

Nal’s first thought upon meeting the other youth, was that he was too young, surely, to be the blacksmith. His second thought got waylaid somewhat then as he tried to shake off the memory of Ryndir and instead work out why this other young man was stood on just one foot. “It is a sight,” he agreed then, with a smile, as he was asked if anywhere compared to such a store of weapons and armour. There was no point in comparing it to a forge, for it was one, he supposed, even if upon a grander scale to what he was used to. But whatever must Ryndir have thought when he saw this … ?

“New, yes,” the recruit shook himself back to the present and the person who was here, corporeal, and friendly. “And impressed. You hardly even lost your balance or anything !” the approval was evident about the sincere compliment. “Cadil,” Unalmis nodded, as he met the other hand with his own, and offered his name. “I’m Unalmis. And I think I’m supposed to suit up here. So .. socks, right ? To start ?”


As he found the shelf from where Cadil likely had obtained his socks, the new recruit removed his own boots, and socks also, without any hesitation. Holding up one wet sock moments later, brown eyes glanced from it’s sorry, dripping wet state, back toward the fellow who must known more than he what to do here. But it’s good to learn by example, of course. “Your’s get soaked through too ?” he asked. And then puzzled. “Wait, am I supposed to call you ‘sir’ ?” The thought was perhaps a little belated, but this fellow had not named himself an officer, and how was he to know then, unless he asked ?

He could not expect to know everything on his first day. Not even his stuffy shirted cousin would have accomplished such a feat ... and thank the stars that he was not here today.

---

Anardil 'Warder' Thavron
Looking for Sergeant Pele Alarion. – A separate FLASHBACK
Several weeks or so after Unalmis’s enlistment

The Belfalasian made short work of even so long a corridor, for his legs were long and his stride was urgent. His errand was yet more urgent still. A shame, for he should have liked to wander these halls with more time to idle in reverence and reflection, here where the greatest warriors of Gondor’s white watch tower had walked before him. The legends of the land he called his home. This was their lair.

They were no less doughty in the dark days that now shrouded the south, thank the stars. And one of their number in particular he had been bidden to locate. A warrior and a healer both in one. As uncommon then and as essential too, as the King that was promised. One day He would return. Until then, the ones who waited simply hoped he would be known here in their lifetime .. and that they might hold fast the stalwart fortresses of their mutual ancestors. So that there would still stand a Gondor for a King to return to.

The cause for his arrival then pressing. And the officer he sought, the one whom the Steward himself had sent him to speak with .. where would he find them ? Approaching the notice board, the squire of Lond Col scanned for any news of where he might seek his quarry with the most success. And when that failed, he straightened up tall and to attention, for the amusement of the first person that he saw approaching.

[Pele Alarion]

@Ercassie
Cadil, the recruit – 5 years ago
Armoury, with Unalmis

“Great to meet ya, Unalmis,” Cadil flashed a grin and also felt proud at the praise for his balance. “I figure having good balance is good, so I’ve been practicing it a bit. Also, I am no sir, them officers have fancy insignia to show for it, and an important air about them too. You haven’t been to the barracks yet, I assume? Beware of the barracks master, Lieutenant Brian, he’s a mighty dragon of a man and can burn the hair off your head by his angry breath alone.”

He then turned to the matter at hand and produced the sock he had hidden in his pocket, sticking his fingers through the large hole in its heel. “Yeah. Socks. Mine don’t seem to hold up to the work I put them through it seems. More that than soak through currently.”

“Socks, shirts, trousers, boots, some sort of basic armour and weapons. Practice weapons, more like… A helmet…” he listed the items Unalmis might need and turned around in circles to look at the shelves and stands to remember all the pieces of equipment. "A bag... a belt, a bedroll."

“Did they give you proper directions at the headquarters, whoever sent you here?” he wondered. “I got mine in great detail, though I have no idea how any one person is supposed to remember everything at once.”

Sergeant Pele Alarion – approx. 5 years ago
Headquarters, spotting Warder

Pele had spent a good couple hours out on the training grounds and had changed her muddy clothing for a proper clean uniform and had now let herself into the headquarters to see if there were any new assignments for her in addition to the plans she already had for the day.

As she walked with determination across the hall she half hoped there would be nothing to add for she was craving a bit of time for solitude and quiet. The sight of a man standing by the notice board made her halt for a moment as she appraised his near perfect posture. As far as she knew he was not one of the soldiers though he certainly looked to have the bearing of one.

“Welcome to headquarters, sir. Any way I could help you?” she asked him, taking the remaining number of steps to a comfortable conversational distance.

[Ercassie]

@Pele Alarion

Unalmis Raxëlilta. FLASHBACK - New recruit. 5 Years ago.
Meeting Cadil at the Armoury

“For sure.” Unalmis agreed, about the balancing, and nodded to express his understanding, when Cadil explained that only officers were addressed as ‘sir’. “Well you’re senior to me at any rate,” he smiled. “And I’m glad for the advice.” He was rather less glad to hear the description of the Barracks Master though, which inspired an unnerving feeling that he had just met that very officer minutes before. “I’m supposed to report to him for room listing,” he groaned. “Sergeant Alarion was about to give me directions but a rather unimpressed looking man appeared out of nowhere and led her off on some emergency about a leak. She sent me here. I guess we were already passing.” He guessed now, perhaps that Pele had even just spared him from some positively dire experience that had the potential to discourage new recruits even on their very first day !

“You must have been practicing a whole lot, to wear holes in it !” he marvelled then at the exhibited sock. “Wait, you get a whole new pair, because of a hole ?” If anything the young man marvelled over that some more. “At home, we’d just darn that. My neighbour is a seamstress. She taught us all.” The small skill which had led to a lot of sore fingers at the start, had come mostly out of that neighbour and his grandmother lamenting over such a state of clothing their respective grandchildren brought home. And the constant expense of having to replace things. Teaching the boys to mend what they had recklessly ruined had been meant as a lesson to take more care in the future. It had not been an especially popular exercise at the start but, as it turned out, he and Trev had eventually became more able to cover up the recklessness and hide what damage they had gotten up to. The concept of brand new clothes now, that was a lot. Near everything he’d ever owned was some sort of hybrid of a hand me down. This was going to take some getting used to.


“Thanks,” Nal grinned as Cadil then ran through the list of all he was supposed to collect from the stores that were stacked up all around them. “The enlistment officer did give me a list but .. ” with a grimace, the young man began to retrieve pieces of some by now very wet through ruined paper from his pocket. “I was told to sign up for a trainer on the noticeboard before I left the HQ, so I had the not so genius idea of jamming this into my pocket while I did so. And ..” A sigh accompanied the glance back up from the sodden correspondence. “There was a map of the grounds mixed up in there too,” he admitted. Suggesting that such a resource had met a similar fate. “By the time I’d realised I didn’t have a quill with me anyway, it was too late.”

That had been around the point when the Sergeant had fortuitously happened by. Very fortuitous indeed. Because in looking to add his name up under any trainer’s sign sheet, it had soon become apparent that most of the instructors were already over filled or had been cancelled because the trainer themselves had been called out to bolster numbers in Cair Andros or Osgilliath. Perhaps he’d have time to properly explore the grounds and construct his own replacement map, before he would have even a chance to do any real training.

“Forget remembering it all, how is anyone supposed to carry all of that at once ?” he wondered, considering the pile which had now been begun. The possibility of taking several separate trips was silently measured against the chance of ruining yet more things that he was supposed to take good care of, before he could even get them as far as the barracks ! “Do you think it would be allowed to borrow that ?” He indicated a dirty wheelbarrow which was innocently minding its own business.

---

Anardil 'Warder' Thavron - A separate FLASHBACK
At HQ. With Sergeant Pele Alarion.
Several weeks or so after Unalmis’s enlistment

The woman who approached, seemed very sure of where she was and where she was going. Which should have screamed out the fact of her belonging here, even without the telltale uniform. The Belfalasian dearly hoped he had not trespassed in some manner, but then he had .. after all .. been sent. Officially. He had cause. He recalled both that fact and the fashion of such cause, as he marked the officer’s insignia.

“I thank you, my lady, and a very good day to you,” he straightened up if it were at all possible to do so any further than he had already. His flat dark hair fell in a lacklustre way to border a pale face and stone grey eyes. Though he was not in uniform, or even in the colours of the House he served in Belfalas, he nonetheless was as well turned out as any soldier might be. “I am sure you shall be able,” he smiled. It was not a wide or natural smile, but more a restrained showcase of his mood. Which was not entirely glad, given the nature of his visit. But that was not this lady’s fault. It was neutral then, at best. It would be hard to imagine how such a serious expression could contort into a real unrestrained smile.

“I was sent with a message of significance, to find a Sergeant Alarion,” The squire held his bearing as he conveyed both his relevance to being here, and the alibi of who he had been sent to speak to. “Would you by any means be able to point me to where I’d likely locate him ?”

[Pele Alarion]

@Ercassie
Cadil, the recruit – 5 years ago
Armoury, with Unalmis

“Ah… that might just be Brian that appeared,” Cadil said in half whisper as if the referred to man could overhear him. “When you go to get a room do surely ‘sir’ him rather more than less.”

He then shrugged and grinned somewhat sheepishly when Nal wondered about the hole in his sock. “Guess my heels are just too sharp or what,” he found excuses. “And I have no idea how to darn anything. I snuck in here to grab a pair while no one was watching else I would hear no end of scolding.” He was loath to admit in more detailed that he was probably too pampered back home and had absolutely no clue how to do many of the things that many would take for granted.

Cadil then frowned when Unalmis suggested using a wheelbarrow; perhaps it would be a reasonable idea except that it was dirty and he could very well imagine what the consequences would be.

“If you use that you better be prepared to scrub all the barracks for a month. What do you say if we stuff most of things inside the bag and I help you carry the rest, eh?” he suggested.

---

Sergeant Pele Alarion – approx. 5 years ago
Headquarters, with Warder

Contrary to Anardil’s standing tall as a tree, Pele eased into a relaxed stance, hands clasped behind her back, as she tilted her head slightly at being titled a lady. But as the man continued it became clear that it was she who was wanted. So far for some off time.

“Sergeant Alarion would be me,” she responded, amusement touching her eyes with a smallest of glints, yet further response she gave was serious and business-like: “If the message is important, I assume that it is one meant to share behind closed doors.” She turned towards the small room which she used upon need, which was not very often. “And then I would like to hear all about who you are, who sent you, and what is the content of the message.”

[Ercassie]

@Pele Alarion

Unalmis Raxëlilta. FLASHBACK - New recruit. 5 Years ago.
with Cadil at the Armoury

Leaning in to receive this veteran’s wisdom, Unalmis was both assured and dismayed to hear more about the Barracks Master. Because he recalled that yes, actually, Pele had certainly greeted the man as ‘Lieutenant’. And who else was likely to come to HQ reporting on repairs required at the Barracks, but the Barracks Master himself ? “Do you have a room there yourself ?” he wondered. It certainly seemed like a long way to come, in the wet, for supplies if Cadil had to come from a home outside the compound. Which reminded him that he still had that errand to run later. It had seemed rather presumptuous to turn up ready to move in, before he’d even been cleared to enlist !

The fact of there being no one around to ‘watch’ their antics at the armoury, duly saw the young man glance about, in search of some apparently absent smith. It was true he’d already reasoned there seemed to be nobody else to ask, about borrowing the wheelbarrow. But Cadil proved his mind was as sharp as his feet supposedly might be. When he pointed out that the barrow itself was liable to make a mess. Forget dirtying his gear the moment he obtained it (after already soaking through his paperwork within an hour of receiving that), .. but taking a sooty wheelbarrow through the rain before introducing it to the Barracks .. Cadil was right. Puddles he could not be really blamed for, given the weather. But a dirty trail of mess ? He most certainly would be.

“The Barracks and all of the gear as well perhaps !” he agreed, realising quite how far the mess might extend. And before being condemned to just such a punishment in payment. But only just before ..


“Do I hear someone volunteering to clean all the gear in the armoury ?” a sturdy looking, bald-headed man gave up this assumption, after emerging from his store room to overhear the tail end of the boys’ conversation. “Ah, Cadil, is it ?” the Ranger Smith recognised at least one of his ‘guests’. “And who is your friend ?”

“I am Brastor.” the explanation was given, after Unalmis had given up his name. “I’m Smith here for the Rangers, so if you’ve come over from enlistment, I imagine they gave you some papers to ..” The rather booming tirade ceased as he watched the new recruit offer and try to unfold his very wet paperwork, without ripping the wet paper all to pieces. At least it seemed that he could make out enough of the contents to believe the young man was a genuine new member of their force. The Smith’s face had already flattened into amusement by this point, and he smiled as he considered the two young men.

“You sign out all equipment here,” Brastor explained, brandishing a very large log book. “That goes for those socks as well, Recruit,” the man added, with a knowing look aimed at Cadil. “I’m sure you were about to regale your new friend here with the way of things.”


“We were just admiring your wheelbarrow, sir,” Nal put in, glancing up from what turned out to be a lot of paperwork. Thankfully there was a quill and ink set close by for that very cause. And somehow it did not get spilled, so maybe the day was improving after all.
“Come your turn for armoury duties, I’ll show you what it is used for,” the Smith suggested, which made the newest arrival wonder quite how much the man may have overheard ! But no more was said about the hastily abandoned scheme, and Unalmis quietly stowed as much as he could of the newly (authorised) gear into the authorised bag, as per Cadil’s advice.

“Thanks for your help,” he offered a very relieved smile to his new friend, as they took their (authorised) leave of the Armoury. “I can show you how to darn your socks, if you like.” Hands, and indeed arms, both full, the pair considered the happy break in the rainfall, and figured this was their best chance of crossing over to the Barracks, before the great storm of wet began anew. Brastor shook his head slowly with a smile as he watched them out, and then took up a mop to clean up the wet footprints that indicated they’d ever been there.


(NB: The character of Brastor, the Ranger Smith of this Flashback time setting, has been here expanded for the purposes of plot only, and he remains an NPC character of Ranger staff, in the likes of Lieutnant Brian and Sergeant Pete. He has been previously mentioned by name if not in actual play, by other writers, from whom I obtained his name. For the sake of continuity. Cali Dringolben remains the CURRENT Ranger smith in the current time frame, as from the understanding of Brastor's eventual retirement.)

[Ercassie]

@Pele Alarion

Anardil 'Warder' Thavron - A separate FLASHBACK
With Sergeant Pele Alarion. Several weeks or so after Unalmis’s enlistment

The surprise reached his expression before sound ever escaped the Belfalasian. And the shock, the utter horror of embarrassment was evident. Even before he started stammering an apology. “Oh, I .. I do beg your pardon, my lady. I mean, .. Sergeant,” Anardil could not believe he’d made such a grave error. It was certainly not the case that he believed a woman incapable of being an officer. More that he had not expected to be so lucky to run into the very person he was looking for. Still, the offence had been committed. He was very glad Ilisys was not here to see it, and hoped she’d never hear of it.

Thankfully the Sergeant herself did not seem too put out by his mistake, and he was keen to put it behind them. So as she indicated a room close by, the man nodded, observing the insignia at her uniform which and followed her in, closing the door as calmly as he could manage, behind them.


“Thank you for seeing me, Sergeant.” the tall man hastened to improve upon his first impression. “I am named Anardil Thavron, visiting with relatives in Minas Tirith, from the estate of Lond Col, in Belfalas.” He bowed, mostly in embarrassment about his almost presumptuous name, which he did not tend to use except for outside of his family. When you were named after a King of ancient Numenor, it was a sore trial to keep from tarnishing even your own name in the face of expectations. “I have come from the Steward himself, to speak with you. For I was granted an audience to speak with him just this morning.”

‘Granted an audience’ had in fact been more a case of cordially invited not to resist the guards who escorted him before the kingdom’s ruler. But Anardil had already embarrassed himself enough, without mentioning that technicality. Rather than keep the officer waiting, he offered forth a still-sealed document, which had been his honour to deliver.


Once opened, the document would dictate the Steward’s wish for Sergeant Pele Alarion to investigate a case of attempted theft, of the Red arrow replica from the Minas Tirith museum. A matter which, given the item’s relevance to national security, could not be left in the hands of the City Guard, as it suggested involvement of persons from outside their realm of jurisdiction. The paper also expressed the Steward’s concern that this (albeit seemingly menial) crime, when combined with recent matters that threatened one of the Beacons .. had the possible implication of some plot to undermine their kingdom’s entire means to call for aid from allies in a time of need. And the significance of that, in the wake of the ever more growing dangerous times, did not need to be outlined in full. The decision to relegate this matter to Pele then was also explained, in that she had been the officer involved in investigating the Beacons matter already, just a week or so before. That is, investigating the case of a few wayward recruits who had inadvertently stumbled across the Beacons matter, and duly imparted her better judgement of the situation, for the safety of the kingdom and all concerned. The Steward welcomed her already informed take upon this latest development involving the Red Arrow and, given she was also Master Healer of the city, asked her to speak with their prime witness to this latest crime. A small boy, who had been near drowned by the perpetrator during their flight from the scene of the crime. He was currently in the Houses of Healing.

Besides her prior knowledge of the possibly related Beacons threat, there was of course the telling truth that few officers at this time could be spared from the front lines for such a task. The Sergeant’s already proven discretion for the past matter was praised, in light of maintaining peace and not alarming the city of what plot from the enemy might be slowly unfolding. The messenger he had sent to her (Thavron), in order to limit the amount of people who were aware of the crime, was a witness who had claimed to recognise the thief as he had left the city, as one of his countymen from Belfalas. Thavron’s role as a servant of one of the most esteemed families in service to the Prince of Dol Amroth had been satisfied as good character. And his bringing this to the Sergeant, rather than the sending of an official Guard of the Citadel, hopefully would keep the general populace from intrigue or intelligence as to the official ‘response’ to the matter. He had apparently agreed to assist the Sergeant in whatever actions she may decide, in this matter. The Steward recognised that Pele was a former command of their military, and although she currently was holding a more relaxed position of rank, she was deemed entirely qualified to deal with this matter. And was welcome to make call upon the Steward himself to report her findings in due course.

[Pele Alarion]

@Ercassie
Cadil, the recruit – 5 years ago
Armoury, with Unalmis

Cadil was not sure how all these officers and other experienced folk end up appearing out of nowhere and reading right into the situation. Perhaps it came with training hard for a very long time? Or with age? Be it how it may, he grinned sheepishly at Brastor even as his ears were slightly touched by blush.

“I was certainly trying to instruct Unalmis as best I knew how,” he explained and truly believed in this statement with all of his heart.

At any rate, all the paperwork got properly done, even for his socks, and they could attempt a dash for the barracks. Perhaps gathering gear was the easiest part of all the introductions to a soldier’s life.

[Pele Alarion]

@Ercassie
Sergeant Pele Alarion – approx. 5 years ago
Headquarters, with Warder

Pele considered a light teasing towards Anardil but decided against it seeing how flustered the man had become, so she accepted his apology with a small nod and a lingering hint of a smile.

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” she responded to his introductions, maintaining a light and friendly tone. “I am not very well versed in proper customs of Belfalas, so… should I refer to you as sir or use your full name? I am too used to calling people either by their ranks or by name, so I might not be the best example of social etiquette.”

She then accepted the sealed document and gave the seal a quick look-over before breaking it to read the contents. It became clear that the missive held an assignment for her, and a rather serious one.

“Yes…” Pele concluded with a thoughtful expression, not quite sure how to proceed with this beyond going to talk with the little boy right away. “Since you did have an audience with the Steward, perhaps you could also advise me on some details regarding this?” she lifted the document slightly. “I understood that you might have some useful information?”

[Ercassie]

@Pele Alarion

Anardil 'Warder' Thavron - A separate FLASHBACK
At HQ. With Sergeant Pele Alarion. Several weeks or so after Unalmis’s enlistment

The Sergeant’s capacity to overlook his rather embarrassing error in etiquette would have won her his relief, even by itself. But her decision to go so far then as downplay her own apparent ignorance of formal introductions … the man ducked his head in respect, mostly to hide the unexpected smile she had raised in him. To instruct her though ? In how she ought refer to him ? Anardil could have rallied a monologue for the span of several hours, detailing the proper courtesies and the initial causes for how they had evolved, and why .., but he knew too he ought not. And thankfully he recognised that there was, of course, a rather more pressing matter than the history of protocol at hand.

“My rank is but that of Squire,” he managed to utter, and halt it nearly thereabouts. “But you may of course term me as suits your requirements, Sergeant,” he let her know. Quite sure that by the time Pele had thenafter read the Steward’s message, she would have far greater concerns than merely him, save for how he might perhaps help her. And certainly it was his duty to try, let alone his hope to see it all made right.


“I saw a carriage depart from the city, through the South Gate, and I saw who was within,” he admitted, coming right to the point, quite determinedly in fac. “I thought naught of it at the time,” he added, and then paused, slightly frowning, for that was not entirely the truth. There had been in fact a vast amount of thoughts inspired by his observing Lord Estennin, here … of all places. But how much of that was relevant ..

Shaking off his own personal feelings about the nobleman, at least for now, the Squire started fresh. “A fisherman came rushing the small boy soon after back into the city,” He nodded toward the note, which Pele was holding. It would surely have mentioned about the boy. Though he could only guess at how much the Steward had inferred about himself in that message. “The child cried out and cowered when he heard me speaking to the Guard at the gate. The Guard in question being a friend of mine.”


Straightening to a further point that must look rather uncomfortable, unless one had any idea how ‘failing’ to do so would make the man feel much worse .. Anardil continued. “It transpires that the man in that carriage saw the boy down to the water. And .. ” A want to speak true, fought valiantly with a stubborn need to muzzle his pre-existing opinion of Lord Estennin. “The boy was found, and in need of medical attention. He was very afraid. And it was his belief that .. I spoke similar to the one as did him such harm. And though he recognised that I did not look as that other, nor am I he. Still the suspicion is that the culprit is a nobleman of my knowledge, out of Belfalas. The accent ..

If it please, you, Sergeant, they took the boy to the Houses of Healing,” Anardil concluded. And decided to see what the Sergeant might make of that much, before he might else say more than he ought, about his countryman, a fellow of such elite standing. And dubious character, as far as his experience could attest. But .. that surely was irrelevant ... ? “The Guards suggested I share all that I know with the Steward. So ..I told him the name of the man I believed to have been within that carriage. And he has sent me now to you. With his word.”

He indicated the official piece of paper.

[Arnyn]

@Rillewen @Pele Alarion

Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen
Headquarters - December 30th, late morning

Things seemed to be improving. Just like her research had said it would. She felt nowhere near normal as of yet, but the worst response had come shortly after taking her third dose of poison, the evening before. That had been... unpleasant. The night had been... well.

This time at least the worst of it had passed by morning. Her sight had not been blurry during her training with Taras. And even though he had been able to tell she still wasn't at her best, that was easily blamed on her recovering from not feeling well. It had been obvious, at least, that she was doing better than two days prior. Hopefully, that had been enough to ease Trastion's concerns... as well as the smith's. The last thing Arnyn needed was for either of them to go tell Pele she should be in bed, or something to that effect. Because that would cause questions. If Pele had not already heard about her visit to the Houses of Healing and her request for Belladonna. At least her friend hadn't been banging down her door as of yet. So either she did not yet know - or she wasn't concerned about it. Both options suited Arnyn just fine.

Regardless, that might be one strange advantage to the mess that had been created last night. If Pele was indeed planning to talk to Arnyn about the Belladonna supply, then Arnyn was about to provide Pele with not one, but several distractions. Not that the Lieutenant was looking forward to any of them.

The first of these distractions was necessary, for the Captain needed to be made aware that two certain Northern Rangers had pieced together their upcoming mission - however vaguely. They had pieced it together even though they should not have been able to do so - which Arnyn knew would reflect poorly on her. Furthermore, it would be up to Pele, not Arnyn, whether or not to tell them any more than they had already concluded. Regardless of Pele's decision, though, Arnyn had the sinking feeling that they would be asking to join in on the mission, even after they knew the full scope of the danger involved. So far, Arnyn had been trying to avoid their participation. However, making sure that those two stayed far away from what would probably prove the most dangerous engagement since the culmination of the War, now seemed more like wishful thinking than an attainable goal. For what reason could Pele have to cast aside their aid? Arnyn could not claim they were untrustworthy. She could not claim they were lacking in skill. The only reason she had not to involve them was her selfish wish to keep them out of it. A reason she could not press from her position as Lieutenant.

The second distraction was also necessary. And far more challenging from a security point of view. However that one would turn out... There would be at the very least one person, Arnyn figured, who would be very displeased with her. She could not honestly see a solution that would please everyone involved.

No. She was not looking forward to these meetings.

But at least she could see straight. At least her skull didn't feel like it was splitting open - there was only a dull pounding at the back of her head. Not that this meant it might not worsen by morning's end. At least she felt rather balanced, and there was no reason for someone to start spinning her around. At least she did not feel like she was going to hurl.

All good things.

So she focused on that, as she stepped into headquarters, just after she had seen two others entering. She had made sure not to arrive first, just in case Pele did have a mind to talk to her about the nightshade.

[Rillewen]

@Pele Alarion @Arnyn

|
Gladhron & Gwestion
Entering the ranger HQ building
Dec 30 - late morning

They didn't have very far to go, now, since their move to the fifth level. Still, it was just a bit earlier than Gladhron would have liked, since he felt like he had gotten very little sleep, stressing and worrying about what was going to happen today, as well as worrying about Celume. While he and Celume had ended the evening on good terms last night, he was still worried that she might still be upset at him, and he had found it difficult to stop his mind from racing all night, wondering what sort of 'consequences' she had in mind, and how it would affect him, and also.. the time he might spend with her. Not to mention some of the nicer things she'd said yesterday, and wondering if there was any hope for her having, for him, the same sort of feelings that he had toward her. And on top of all that, worrying that she might not be feeling well again, or that she might fall down the stairs or any number of things.

And then, just when he'd finally drifted off (or so it felt), Gil had come to wake him for breakfast. Before dawn! Needless to say, Gladhron had not exactly been pleased with the valet, right then. He was hungry now, since he had grumbled and shooed the young man away, and then rolled over to go back to sleep. Therefore, he had missed breakfast.

It was fortunate that when Gladhron had come in last night, he'd remembered to put the note where Gwestion would see it, since his brother had already gone to bed before Gladhron got home. That way, he would know not to spend all day elsewhere, and could prepare to go to the headquarters at the designated time.

Gwestion had wakened him with just enough time to get ready, and together they walked to the headquarters. "Anything I should know, before we go in there?" He asked quietly, as they approached the place. "I mean, you haven't said a word the whole way here." He frowned. This seemed unusual for his brother, but then, maybe he was still sleepy.

Gladhron hesitated. "Uhhhh. Well, it has a lot to do with that thing we were trying to figure out more about.." He didn't have a chance to say much more, however, for he noticed Arnyn coming up behind them. "Ah, there's Celume." He hastily changed the subject, and lingered at the door to hold it open and wait for her.

Gwestion patiently waited, just inside. Once she had gone through the door, Gwestion nodded to her. "Good morning, Celume." He greeted her, for it was still morning for a little while, yet. "How is your day going, so far?" He asked. Gladhron may have only been up for less than an hour, but Gwestion had been up since before six, and he knew that Celume was typically more like him in that regard, so he guessed that she had already been busy about her day for several hours. Together, the three of them moved toward the office as they talked. He was half-tempted to ask her more about what this was about, but he figured he would soon find out, anyway.

[Arnyn]

@Rillewen @Pele Alarion

Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen
Headquarters - December 30th, late morning

Arnyn smiled without thinking when Gladhron held the door open for her. Again. She didn't say anything, though, and neither did he. Gwestion did, however, and she had to frown when the younger brother bid her a good morning. Was it more important to Gwestion to be polite? Or... Arnyn glanced at Gladhron before looking back at Gwestion. "I wouldn't exactly call it good," she said slowly. "Considering what we are here for." She watched Gwestion's expression, but he showed no sign of understanding or recognition of what she was talking about.

She lifted her eyebrows and let out a little sigh, avoiding to look at Gladhron for the moment. "Well. It looks like you are in for a surprise, then," she told Gwestion drily. "Come on," she said to both of them as she continued on toward the office. "The Captain should be expecting us." She didn't want to explain the same thing twice, after all.

The Lieutenant resolutely knocked on the office door, and waited for Pele to call them in.

[Pele Alarion]

@Arnyn, @Rillewen
Captain Pele Alarion
Headquarters, late morning of December 30

Having come for her shift at the headquarters, Pele had long stared at the note informing her of the upcoming meetings. She was not sure quite what to expect, but she wondered if Arnyn was finally coming to tell why she had sought out nightshade. But that could only account for one meeting, while that little information seemed to suggest there might be several.

A frown on her face, Pele sat with her legs outstretched and slowly sipped from the large mug of tea she had brought with her and let her mind roam, not caring to start on any possible project before the meetings.

Eventually the knock came at the door and disturbed her lengthy tea party in solitude, and she blinked pulling herself out of whatever thoughts had taken her over.

“Yes, come on in,” she responded, rising from her chair to face the door, leaving the nearly empty mug on otherwise completely empty desk.

---

@Ercassie
Sergeant Pele Alarion – approx. 5 years ago
Headquarters, with Warder

“As suits my requirements,” Pele repeated Anardil’s words quietly, being amused and thinking of several serious and several not so serious options; even so her face did not betray the amusement, perhaps it could only lightly be heard in the tone of her voice.

She listened to all the man shared about the relevant topic and remained silent for a few moments considering the events, the knowledge Warder seemed to have and his probable trustworthiness.

“Right,” she eventually stated. “I can see that the whole matter is way beyond my abilities if I were to tackle it all by myself. And you are already in the know.” She rubbed her chin lightly with a knuckle of her index finger as if it helped her to think. “I will go and see that boy, check on his condition and see what he can say. Since you know that guy from Belfalas, would you be willing to assist me and see if you can track him down, see where he has gone and what he intends to do with that arrow. And share the findings with me? I doubt I can come up with any conclusions before that.”

[Arnyn]

@Rillewen @Pele Alarion

Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen
Headquarters - December 30th, late morning

Arnyn opened the door, but it was Lieutenant Dealedwen who walked into the office. Her back - straight. Her shoulders - low. Her head - high. Her expression - serious. "Captain," she acknowledged Pele, adding a fist-to-heart salute. Dark eyes swept the top of the desk, noting the solitary mug and nought else. What did that tell her about Pele's current mood?

She moved to the side, holding the door. "I believe you have met one of the two others involved in this first meeting, since you signed their permission slips for the training grounds upon his request," the Lieutenant immediately continued, moving forward with announcing their 'guests'. Arnyn nodded at Gwestion to step in. "Gwestion." And once he had done so, she waited for Gladhron to follow. "And this is his older brother, Gladhron." For Gladhron's sake, Arnyn held out a hand toward Pele. "Captain Pele Alarion."

Once both of them were inside the office, Arnyn closed the door behind them and moved forward in the office, walking alongside the wall as to not step in front of the two northern rangers. She halted about a yard from one of the outer corners of the desk, and chose not to beat around the bush. "Captain, I requested their presence here today after it became apparent to me yesterday evening that they have learned of our upcoming mission in the spring. While I do not believe they have very many details, it was clear to me that they seem to know more than what may be desirable, given that they at least are aware of more than what our own rangers were allowed to tell their loved ones."

Arnyn lowered her head apologetically. "Unfortunately," she added, "I believe I am to blame for this breach of intelligence - unintended as I assure you that it was."

After this introduction of the meeting's topic to Pele, and after an appropriately timed pause to give Pele some time to process her words, Arnyn made a quarter turn toward Gladhron and Gwestion. Her hands loosely clasped behind her back as her eyes focused on them. "Can you two please inform the Captain of what it is exactly that you know - or suspect? As well as how you came to these deductions or assumptions? You may sit, if you like." It took some effort not to glance back at Pele to see what her friend and Captain was currently thinking about this. Instead, the Lieutenant kept her eyes on her two friends from the north. "It would really help if you include as much information as you can, from the start," Arnyn added more quietly.

[Rillewen]

@Pele Alarion @Arnyn

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Gladhron & Gwestion
Entering the ranger HQ building
Dec 30 - late morning

Gwestion frowned slightly at the way Celume responded to his greeting. Why was it not good? He noticed the way she had taken a glance toward Gladhron, and then back to him. He frowned slightly, wondering. 'considering what we're here for'? He raised an eyebrow slightly and slowly turned to look at Gladhron, wondering if there was more to his silence than simply lingering sleepiness, as Gwestion had assumed. When she said that it looked like he was in for a surprise, he gave a slow nod. "So it would seem." He agreed, as he noticed Gladhron avoiding his gaze.

They fell in behind Arnyn as she led the way to the captain's office. Gwestion had been here before, and had met the captain briefly, but while Gladhron had been to the office before, he had not met the captain. Gwestion caught his brother's elbow lightly and slowed his pace, letting Arnyn get a little more ahead of them. "What did you do?" He asked in a whisper, frowning.

Gladhron hesitated. "I uhh.. said something stupid, without stopping to think first." He admitted reluctantly, cringing inwardly.

Gwestion raised an eyebrow. "Really? Wow, what a rare occasion." He replied drily. "That generally only happens on days that end in 'Y'..." He rolled his eyes, still keeping his voice low, although Celume would probably still be able to hear it if she was paying attention. "How stupid?" He demanded with narrowed eyes, wondering just how bad this was going to be.

Gladhron cleared his throat. "Um... you'll see." He answered, pushing Gwestion forward, as he had just heard Arnyn saying his name to introduce him.

Gwestion came forward, with a brief glance back toward his brother, then focused his attention on the captain as he entered the office. He bowed his head respectfully. "Captain." He greeted her calmly, offering a handshake as seemed polite.

Gladhron came in next, offering a small smile as he also greeted her in like manner. "Hello, Captain." Once those formalities were over, Arnyn plunged right into the heart of the matter. Both brothers stood quietly in front of the desk while they waited to hear what the lieutenant had to say. Gladhron stood with his hands clasped behind his back as he focused on the wood of the desk, feeling worse as he heard Arnyn taking blame for them figuring out what they had learned.

In his peripheral vision, Gwestion couldn't help but note the somewhat contrite behavior of his brother. What in Arda could he have said that would be so bad? He held back a sigh as he heard what Arnyn was saying to Captain Alarion, and frowned slightly. After a moment to think after this 'introduction', he gave a glance to Gladhron, but when he only fidgeted and said nothing, Gwestion spoke up.

"Alright." He remained standing, since both Gladhron and Arnyn did so. Where to begin? "The other morning, we all met to watch the sunrise together. Before we broke up our gathering, a topic came up about ships." He recalled. "The lieutenant asked whether either of us had ever been sailing." He paused. "Gladhron mentioned that I had been on a ship, which is not the same as 'sailing', for the ship was anchored, and I was not on it for long. But it was a corsair ship, and I explored into the depths a bit before I and another ranger exited. Arnyn," he used her proper name here because of the situation, though he had not forgotten that she'd said she preferred he and Gladhron to use the other, "asked me if I knew who the captain of that ship was. It was a man named Uhta Halsad, and I told her so." He explained, then turned to look at his brother.

Gladhron lifted his gaze after realizing that Gwestion was indicating that it was his turn to give up his own answer. He cleared his throat. "Right. Well, another day, I was.. trying to be nice, and brought a lunch up here, and sat with Arnyn while we ate," He explained, feeling his ears grow a little warm at the admission. "When I came in, she cleared away the desk, but.. I caught a glimpse of a map, and.. while I didn't think much of it at the time, I later recalled that it was of Umbar." He explained, then shifted his weight to the other foot. "While we were talking," He went on, "I think I asked if she was busy, and she mentioned she was planning for some mission, and that it was a lot of planning, and she was stressing about it, and I asked if I could help in some way." He drew in a breath. So much for helping. "Well. Um, anyway, we talked about a few other things, but one thing that I recall was that she was worried about her people, and that she wanted to make sure everyone was well prepared so they could come back from this mission safely." He fidgeted, realizing that his blunder may have jeopardized that. "I was surprised by the amount of planning involved, because well, I'm not really the sort of person to plan much in advance," He explained awkwardly.

Gwestion's jaw twitched slightly but he gave no indication whether this was from amusement, annoyance, or another cause. He cleared his throat quietly. "Also," he picked up the tale, "While I was in the training grounds the other day, someone asked me whether I was here to join your group for a special training 'thing' which was happening soon." He explained, though reluctant to give the name of that ranger. It was clearly a mistake, and he did not want to get her into trouble unnecessarily. "Since I did not know what 'training thing' was being referred to, the other quickly brushed it off and pretended like it was nothing, but later when I spoke with Gladhron, and he mentioned the mission that Arnyn had been planning, we could not help but wonder if it was related." He frowned slightly toward his brother, then looked at Arnyn. He recognized that it was probably rather necessary to tell all of this, but it went against his liking to reveal so much of what he knew.

"We also spoke some about the slave trade, and how it bothered us," Gladhron spoke up. "For it has even become an issue in the North, and we would like to see it stopped. Arnyn was telling me something she'd learned, that relates to that very problem. Some bandits we encountered, and fought together, in the North, have taken to capturing people and selling them, and while Gwestion and I had suspected this was going on, Arnyn had learned from somewhere that it was definitely the case, so she told me as much. Her source had told her that it was to Umbar that these folk are being taken," He frowned.

"When Gladhron and I spoke together and put all of these facts together," Gwestion continued, "We agreed that all of the facts seemed to point toward the possibility that there was a mission in the planning, to go to that place, and... we don't really know the plan from there. Recover slaves, probably. Try to put the slavers out of work, perhaps." He paused, looking at Arnyn although he doubted she would give any confirmation. He turned his gaze to Pele, then. "Whatever the plan, we had also agreed that we were going to come here and offer whatever aid we can give, once we had enough information to be sure of our guess." He explained, frowning slightly. "I did not expect to be summoned here, however, and so soon at that." He added with a sidelong glance at his brother. What stupid thing could he have said to get them both summoned here?

[Arnyn]

@Rillewen @Pele Alarion

Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen
Headquarters - December 30th, late morning

While Arnyn listened to the bits and pieces the brothers supplied, she made a few mental notes - to fill in a few gaps for Pele, here and there. Even though Pele was her Captain first in this particular setting, which would also require some additional details as it was, Pele was also still her best friend. Arnyn hid little from her, and she had no qualms with Gladhron and Gwestion being made aware of that.

She didn't give anything away once Gwestion laid out their assumptions, not even when he said he and his brother had already agreed they would be coming to headquarters anyway to offer their help with the mission - once they were sure what the mission would entail. Gwestion's words made it very clear he'd had no idea of exactly why they had been summoned here, now. And Arnyn was ill inclined to reveal the full details already. One step at a time. Gwestion would have to be patient a while longer.

The Lieutenant tilted her head to subtly reclaim Pele's attention. "I should clarify that the three of us have known each other for years, even if we were not in contact for most of that time. As you know, after I resigned as commander, I left Gondor to travel. I encountered them in the North, not far off from Bree, and the three of us ended up traveling and working together in the area for almost two months. Most of the work we did involved dealing with a bandit group called the Copperheads, which are the bandits Gladhron referred to. We were making very good progress on decimating their numbers, when the news of Dhalion's death brought me back home." That would allow Pele to put her meeting the brothers in the correct timeline, at least, and would also immediately explain to Pele why Arnyn had not stayed to 'finish' the task, which was not very much like her.

"They do not know anything about Uhta Halsad, other than his name and that he's the Captain of a corsair ship," she clarified, with a brief glance at Gwestion. "And the other Ranger whom Gwestion made mention of, who happened to be on that ship with him, happens to be Domanol Raxelilta." Arnyn's dark gaze returned to Pele. "Unalmis' uncle." Whom, as Pele would be aware, the King had allowed to be involved on this mission to whatever degree Pele and Arnyn saw fit.

"I should have cleared the desk before I let Gladhron in," Arnyn told Pele openly, lowering her chin. "The documents on top were mostly barracks reports, and could not reveal anything, but apparently Gladhron noticed something as I was squaring them away. That was, clearly, a mistake on my part." It had just been so unexpected for someone to actually bring her lunch at headquarters. But she did not add that. She was self-conscious about Gladhron mentioning she had been stressing about the mission, as well as the fact that him knowing that she had been also meant she had admitted as much to him. "I only mentioned my... concerns... about the unclarified mission to Gladhron, because he is not a part of our unit," Arnyn told Pele. "I can assure you I have voiced nor revealed any similar concerns to our own people." They did not need to see their command stressing over it, after all - they needed to see them calm and confident. Arnyn did not even particularly like having owned up to this to Pele, though she would have if Pele had asked her about it directly.

The matter of the 'special training' had her debating with herself momentarily of whether or not to involve Kaylin. For while Arnyn did not blame Kaylin for her slip of the tongue - not that much, anyway - it could be useful for the Captain to know. And odds were that Pele would find out anyway, sooner or later. "We should not blame Kaylin for mentioning the training to Gwestion," Arnyn opinionated, revealing it after all. She would want all of the cards on the table. She would pay Pele the same courtesy. "For she did not mention anything more specific than that. And Gwestion had clearly been found trustworthy enough to be allowed onto the ranger training grounds. The slip is understandable. I was the ranger to 'brush it off"," Arnyn continued, her voice changing a little as she used Gwestion's phrasing, "though clearly I did not do good enough of a job to make Gwestion forget it even came up."

Arnyn held back a deep sigh. "So with nothing more than that," she summarized, frowning slightly as she looked to the two brothers, "You assumed I was planning a ranger mission to Umbar. But you were not sure. And you had no further details." Her frown deepened as she focused more on Gladhron. "But you did not happen to discuss that if there were in fact to be such a mission, it would need to be kept a secret to maintain its viability?"

She raised a hand almost immediately. "Wait. Don't answer that yet." The Lieutenant turned back to Pele. "Captain. The main reason for this first meeting is their current assumptions. Clearly my lying and denying could use some work," Arnyn admitted, lowering her eyes to Pele's desk. She had never been very good at either of those, no matter how skilled she was at keeping her face expressionless. "My reaction to something Gladhron said yesterday evening - which I can assure you, we will delve into further, later - all but confirmed that there is some kind of mission involving Umbar in the works. This is why I have brought them to you, here. I need your orders on how to proceed."

[Pele Alarion]

@Arnyn, @Rillewen
Captain Pele Alarion
Headquarters, late morning of December 30

Pele found herself looking with a small amount of perplexity at Arnyn's official entrance with all due military bearing, and her hand automatically executed a near perfect return salute. She had become used to not being too ceremonial, not if it was just two of them, but seeing that there were visitors...

"Gwestion. Yes, I remember," she returned Gwestion's handshake firmly. Not that many people came asking for permission to use the training grounds, and she had memorised his face though she did not happen to see him afterwards. She could not help revisit the thought of just how many meetings Arnyn had planned to spring on her in this one day. "Well met, Gladhron," she returned the greeting of the other guest.

It seemed that her friend had no intention to beat around the bush, and Pele turned towards her, folding her arms across her chest and her eyebrows rising ever so slightly. So. The brothers had figured out that there would be a mission to Umbar, and Arnyn had let slip of some information? This was an interesting turn of events to say the least, and she had to hear more before she could come to any certain conclusions without making instant - and wrong - assumptions.

As further explanations came forth, she could see nothing wrong with watching sunsets and discussing ships - up to the point where it came to Uhta Halsad. There seemed to be nothing wrong with lunch at the headquarters either, though the thought of it caused a sudden lighthearted twinkle in her eyes as she regarded Arnyn for a brief moment before returning to full seriousness and keen attention. She did not say a word, only listening to be able to get as full a picture of the interconnected events as possible.

"All right then," she eventually said, sounding very matter-of-fact. "This is certainly not something I expected to handle on this fine day, but let us see what can be done. I would think this might take a while, so why don't we sit down to speak?" She motioned towards the chairs and showed an example by sitting down in her own chair and pulling it closer to the desk so she could rest her arms on it, hands lightly clasp in front of her.

"So you two have been keen-eyed and gathered up enough clues to guess that a mission to Umbar is in works, but not much more than that, yes?" she sought to confirm and then paused in consideration. She was not sure she could blame Arnyn for not keeping all the papers and maps away from the desk, especially when in the middle of work, and the calm look she gave her friend expressed as much. Nor could she really blame Kaylin. Yet it seemed that there was a mess to handle nonetheless.

Pele kept in mind that from what she had heard it appeared that Arnyn had found these two to be trusty during their work together in the north, and she found that to be one of the good things about all the said mess. "You said that you were about to come and offer your aid when you had gathered enough information," she then referred to Gwestion's words. "But considering that this was to be a hush-hush... how would you have gone about obtaining that information? I doubt you would have collected more than the snippets you already had, no?"

"And as for planning," she turned more towards Gladhron then. "We cannot just walk into the middle of Umbar at a random whim. Not when there are so many Rangers entrusting to us their very lives. I do not want to lose any one of them due to carelessness, nor does Arnyn; hence a very thorough planning. And secrecy. Should the information come into the wrong ears, it could be easily turned against us. Do you understand? We cannot afford losing any of our people."

She paused for a moment, and then asked: "But what I want to know now is if you have spoken to anyone else about these suspicions? The more people are in the know, the more difficult it is to ensure that there are no such leaks of information that would reach the wrong ears either here in the city or elsewhere."

[Arnyn]

@Rillewen @Pele Alarion

Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen
Headquarters - December 30th, late morning

"Perhaps," Arnyn suggested quietly, now the only person still left standing, though she was leaning her back against the wall, and she was now the one with crossed arms, "first you could both address the Captain's question about how you were planning on obtaining more information. Were you simply trying to find out whether your assumption about Umbar was correct? If so, you know that now. What you were planning on doing, exactly, once you had some kind of confirmation?" She did not want to ask. Not really. The sinking feeling that they would be offering their help had only grown stronger. But she needed to have that addressed - at least partially - before they continued.

"And then... we can continue on with the other matter. As it stands, I would dare venture that Gwestion, for one, has spoken of this to no one else," Arnyn said slowly, looking at the younger brother. If he had, it would have been very out of character for him. "As for Gladhron... Unfortunately, that happens to be our next order of business." Her gaze settled on Gladhron.

[Rillewen]

@Pele Alarion @Arnyn

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Gladhron & Gwestion
Entering the ranger HQ building
Dec 30 - late morning

After taking a seat when invited to do so, both brothers listened quietly while Arnyn supplied the missing bits of information. Gwestion gave no reaction when she supplied the name he had deliberately left out, but he made note of the fact, and was also glad to hear that neither she, nor the captain, were laying too much blame on the redhead. Still, the fact that Arnyn chose to tell the captain every such detail, told him much.

Gladhron, however, blinked in surprise at the lieutenant, then at his brother, upon hearing that he had met his new friend. Of course, he had not really indicated that he'd actually met her, just that he had spoken with her. He realized it was very possible that Gwestion had not even learned her name, since he hadn't divulged that information here. So, he dismissed the whole thing and decided to ask about it later.

"So, with nothing more than that, you assumed I was planning a ranger mission to Umbar,"

Gwestion spoke up then. "We concluded that it seemed logical," He offered a mild correction. "If not Umbar, then something regarding to the rescue of slaves, or the prevention of those who operate in that business." He explained. "Although, I will admit that it could very well have been hopeful thinking on my part, at least, since that is a matter which troubles me greatly." He drew a slow breath. Arnyn would surely be able to guess why.

Gwestion then frowned slightly as she asked, seemingly more to Gladhron, whether they had discussed whether it would need to be kept secret. He turned to look at his brother. Technically, he recalled, they had not actually discussed that, but it would have gone without saying, obviously. Right?

Gladhron opened his mouth to answer, but before he could say anything, Arnyn stopped him and said not to answer that. He closed it again, inching down slightly in his chair as he felt Gwestion's eyes on him.

"Correct," Gwestion answered Pele's question, concerning whether they had not found out anything more than that a mission was probably in the works. As for how they would have gained the information, he paused. "Well," He looked down briefly as he thought about that. "Quite honestly, I had not yet figured out any way of doing so. It was only three days ago when we," he motioned to his brother and himself, "put all our bits of information together, and drew our conclusions. And I have not really seen C-Arnyn, since then." He explained, then glanced to Arnyn when she spoke up. "Once we had confirmed our suspicion," He answered her question, "we planned to come here and ask to be permitted to help. To be a part of the mission." He looked at Pele. "We would like to offer our help, in whatever manner we can be of aid."

As the captain then turned to Gladhron, he resisted the urge to scrunch down further into his seat, feeling more and more guilty as she spoke of how they could not just walk in on a whim, and how she didn't want to lose anyone due to carelessness. He gave a small nod, showing that yes, he did understand. "I was.. well, mostly keeping my eyes and ears open for anything that might add to the facts we had already gathered," He answered, for his own part. "Aside from that.." He gave a little shrug, finding that he didn't want to admit that he'd been distracted from that goal, by going out dancing with Arnyn. And then she asked the question he had been dreading. He drew a slow breath, even as he heard Gwestion giving his own answer;

"No, of course not. I would never." Gwestion realized, of course, that the captain did not know him that well, but he was somewhat pleased when Arnyn spoke on his behalf to say that she did not think he would have done so. But then, as she went on, Gwestion blinked and then slowly turned toward Gladhron. Gladhron was being suspiciously quiet. And.. he also looked rather contrite over there. Gwestion narrowed his eyes. "Gladhron?"

Gladhron hesitated, feeling like all eyes were on him now. His ears grew warm, but he didn't shrink down any further. "I made a mistake," He admitted quietly, ashamed to have to tell what he had done, but he couldn't deny it, since Arnyn knew all about it. Even if she hadn't, he wouldn't have lied and denied it, though. "I.. said something without thinking, and.. in a public place." He cleared his throat. "With some friends present, whom I.. thought must have been already aware of the mission, but as it turns out, they were not." He looked at Captain Alarion. "I'm sorry." He said with sincerity.

[Arnyn]

@Rillewen @Pele Alarion

Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen
Headquarters - December 30th, late morning

The confirmation that they'd been planning to offer their help to the mission - to be a part of the mission - made Arnyn lower her gaze. She'd gone perfectly still, to keep herself from shifting against the wall and possibly giving away she was not entirely comfortable with that idea. She'd been over this more than once, in her thoughts, however. She could offer no reasonable counterarguments to their participation. Besides, for Gwestion, it might be just as dangerous to forcefully keep him out of it than to include him. The former would be dangerous for his state of mind. The latter would be dangerous for his life.
In any case - it was out of her hands. The offer had just been made. In no uncertain terms. And it would be up to Pele to decide what to do with it.

Slowly, her eyes lifted to the Captain. The fact that Arnyn did not rush in with any arguments not to involve them, would already tell Pele that Arnyn had very few that she was willing to share, if any. Of course, the fact that Arnyn also did not rush to bolster their offer, to sing their praises, might be another indication altogether. What would Pele make of it all? What would she say?

The Lieutenant gave Gwestion a small nod when he clearly stated he would never speak of their suspicions concerning such a mission. Not to anyone. Knowing the brothers rather well, despite their actual limited time together, she noticed when it started dawning on Gwestion that his brother might not have held to the same ideas.

Arnyn also noticed how uncomfortable Gladhron was, now they had arrived at this point. He was looking rather small, too. And even though she did not want to put him in such a position - because Arnyn actually felt Gladhron thought much too little of himself, and she'd rather made him feel like he was capable of more than he thought, rather than strengthen any negative opinions he might have about himself - she could not avoid putting him in this position. This was bigger than he was.

What she could do, however, was take her eyes off him, and focus her attention on the Captain, instead. "I can add to that," she offered. "Gladhron is speaking of yesterday evening, as I mentioned before. When we were at a tavern on the Third. With my brother and a lady he's grown to take a liking to, since the masquerade. No one heard what Gladhron said besides the four of us - the buzz in the tavern was too loud."

"To be more specific, Gladhron mentioned something along the lines of 'the Umbar thing', which doesn't say all that much in and by itself, and it perhaps especially not in front of civilians. Only there were a few problems," Arnyn explained, taking Pele and Gwestion through it one step at a time.

"First of all, Gladhron's words caught me entirely by surprise. First of all because none of us were thinking about work or anything related to the troubles of Middle-Earth, so they came very much out of the blue. And second of all, I had no idea that anyone around the table had an inkling that any kind of mission to Umbar was in the works." Arnyn paused to draw a deep breath, before continuing. "Now - as you well know, I can usually hide my surprise rather well," she told Pele. "But I had no reason to suspect I had a need to guard my reactions, that evening." It felt a little counterintuitive, talking about it, because the close observer would take away from her words that she was usually on guard here, even around friends - which was, in a way, sad - but also that she had felt safe enough to lower that guard, the evening before. Which was saying a bit more about herself than she cared to, in front of others. Of course it had quickly come back around and made me regret it. Really. I should know better by now.

"The second problem was that my brother was there. And Tercen..." She sighed audibly, now. "He is rather sensitive about my profession as a whole, because of the dangers it entails. He thinks I am too reckless with my own life," she explained to Pele. "The whole Relic affair, for instance, did not go over well with him." Understatement. "You might say he has learned to pick up my tells, not only when it comes to when I'm trying to hide something, but especially when it comes to the times I am trying to hide something about a dangerous event or mission. So he could see right through me." Arnyn glanced at Gladhron before focusing back on the Captain. "If it were just Tercen, things would not be so bad. He will be upset with me, yes, especially if he ever finds out I instigated the whole mission. But I am absolutely certain he would and could keep it a secret. In a few days, he is returning to his home in Ithilien, anyway, where he lives closeby the Emyn Arnen settlement, though not quite in it. He's sociable but he wouldn't want to talk about it to anyone anyway, even if he was allowed to."

"The third problem was that my brother's lady friend was there, as well. And that matter... is a much more complicated one. I was going to talk to you about her, as it was," Arnyn told Pele earnestly. "But after what happened yesterday evening, I requested her and Tercen to come to headquarters, as well. In fact, they should be here shortly. Because even if I had been an excellent liar, even if my brother would not have been able to know when I was lying, and even if the lady were to completely believe my lies - the fact that she knows I am a Ranger officer and the fact that it was only mentioned I am working on an 'Umbar thing', would remain a problem."

[Pele Alarion]

@Arnyn, @Rillewen
Captain Pele Alarion
Headquarters, late morning of December 30

Pele watched in silence as Arnyn seemingly attempted to give the brothers a clearer framework to work with in their responses, and after they started responding and Gwestion explained that they had not formed any plans of how to obtain more information but were willing to offer their help, Pele replied with a simple: "I see." She studied the two men before her for a while and then looked to Arnyn to see whether she would have any comments on the matter. The fact that she said nothing caused a thoughtful frown on Pele's face, as she lined up what she had been told about their common work in the north. She did not say anything more either, deciding to return to this matter later when she had learned more about the other issue.

"You said something? It is a very general statement, Gladhron," Pele said, when the man admitted to having spoken things in public, to friends, and she wanted more information on what exactly was said. Luckily Arnyn provided much further information on it, and the Captain listened carefully to the account and listed problems.

"Right. Umbar thing," she murmured eventually, and then said louder and clearly. "Additional two people then, not the whole tavern; at least I hope no more than those additional two, so that the leak can be contained. I do not like things like that being said to civilians as they are not bound by secrecy and could easily talk to others about it without making much of it, creating an avalanche of rumour."

"As for the second problem..." her voice gained a gentler tone. "I don't think it is a security issue, though it can cause strained relationships and stress. I can very well relate to that, Lieutenant." She still seldom told her family of her comings and goings, trying to save them from worrying too much of her safety. Though perhaps it was not the best way to go about these things.

Learning that the referred to civilians would be arriving, Pele held back a sigh as she considered that it would take a different approach than addressing her own rangers or people who might be otherwise involved in anything remotely military. "Who is this lady your brother likes so much, Arnyn?" she wanted to know. "And why is it such an issue that she knows your standing and that there are plans of visiting Umbar?"

[Arnyn]

@Rillewen @Pele Alarion

Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen
Headquarters - December 30th, late morning

"It is not an issue that she knows I'm a lieutenant here," Arnyn clarified after Pele's questions. "But it is most definitely a problem that she knows anyone in command here might even be considering going there." A brief pause. "Since she will be going there shortly herself."

Tercen
Headquarters - December 30th, late morning

He hadn't really known what kind of attire would be expected, and so had been able to be of little help to either Ava... or himself. As it was, though, Tercen could hardly wear the more formal clothes he'd worn to the tavern the previous evening - they hadn't been washed yet - and so he was left with his usual, more casual attire anyway.

He and Ava had woken up together, had breakfast together and had gotten ready together. So obviously, they had also come here together. Even though the guards at the Sixth Gate had recognized him, Tercen had shown Arnyn's request to explain both his and Ava's presence, and they had been let through with brief instructions to headquarters. Not that the building was very difficult to find.

"I have no idea what to expect from this," he shrugged to Ava as he held the door for her. "But surely it'll be good to get some clarifications, right?"

Would it just be Arnyn? Would there be anyone else? If there was, he dearly hoped there would be no questioning comparable to the one Arnyn had subjected Ava to a few days earlier. He guided her through the main hall, knowing from experience where the command office was and assuming that is where they'd be expected to go. Part of him had a bad feeling creeping up on him as they'd walked up here, but another - still bigger - part of him was stubbornly trying to shake it off, and was also responsible for the friendly smile on his face.

Soon, he knocked on the door to the office, loud and clear, very similar in fact to how Arnyn's had sounded about 20 minutes before. They were on time, perhaps even a few minutes early, since Tercen figured it wouldn't hurt to give a good impression...

|
Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen | Tercen

At the sound of the knock, Arnyn glanced at Pele. At the Captain's indication, she moved from her spot by the wall to the door, and opened it. Finding, as expected, Tercen and - thankfully - Ava. Part of Arnyn had vaguely wondered whether the lady would decide not to show, after all. That would have been... very problematic.

"Hello," Arnyn bid the both of them. "Come in."

Tercen was still smiling as he stepped into the office, guiding Ava in. He wouldn't want her to step in first - not here. He wanted to... well... set the tone, he supposed? "Good morning," he told Arnyn good-naturedly, though as his light brown eyes fell on the small gathering in the office proper, his smile faltered for just a moment. "Oh. Hello, everyone," he said a bit more hesitantly. It was little surprise that Gladhron was there, considering he had also been there last night. But, why was his brother here, too? And... the Captain. Alright, it was her office, but... crap. Arnyn really meant business.

Arnyn closed the door behind Tercen and Ava. "I think everyone has met my brother, Tercen," she said, coming up beside him before reclaiming her earlier position by the wall. "But not everyone has met the lady."
She gestured at Pele. "Captain Pele Alarion." Arnyn indicated Gwestion, next. "Ranger of the northern lands, Gwestion, who is also Gladhron's brother." Finally, she indicated Ava. "Lady Ava, who met my brother at the masquerade."

The Lieutenant moved to place two additional chairs in front of the desk, and gestured toward them as she continued with her introduction to this part of the meeting.

"Tercen wanted me to meet her some days after, and she invited me to dinner at the house she has acquired upon the Fifth. Where I learned where she is from and what her reasons were for coming to Minas Tirith. That prompted me into having a few lengthy conversations with her, these past few days, to both determine her intentions and whether or not we could risk her moving about the city and eventually returning to her home. And which is also why I was going to talk to you about her, as it was," she told Pele openly. "Though where she is from and what she wants to do, were not the only reasons for why I wanted to talk to you about her. There was already a third, as well, even before what was said yesterday evening made all of it infinitely more complicated. Given that... Ava hails from Umbar."

[Pele Alarion]

@Arnyn, @Rillewen
Captain Pele Alarion
Headquarters, late morning of December 30

It seemed that Arnyn's brother with his lady friend had arrived just as they were referred to, and Pele stood to welcome them as Arnyn let them in. She nodded a greeting to them, a touch of a smile visiting on her face when she saw Tercen's smile; however, hers was only a small reflection before it gave way to complete seriousness again.

She was about to sit back down after Arnyn had completed the introductions, but when she explained further what the issue was with the lady, she remained standing, her hands resting on the top of the back rest of the chair. Umbarian. Enjoying life here as if nothing else was going on behind the scenes. Pele caught herself before she let herself run away with judgements before she had heard all there was to hear and motioned towards the chairs to encourage the newcomers to sit down.

"And what's that third reason?" she asked Arnyn, wondering how much worse things could get from here.

[Arnyn]

@Rillewen @Pele Alarion

|
Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen | Tercen

Tercen cleared his throat before Arnyn could reply. "Captain," he began, not seeming to care that he was interrupting the reply to Pele's question as he extended a hand out across the desk for Pele to shake, "thank you for having us." Whether that was an attempt to keep things light, or an actual friendly comment, was impossible to tell, but his smile was back - and it seemed to negate any awkwardness that clung to the air. He waited for Ava to take a seat, before he would. Meanwhile, he looked questioningly at Arnyn. He wasn't even sure what this 'third reason' was, unless she was splitting up the 'bringing former slaves back to Gondor' and 'trying to get rid of the temple'?

A half smile played around her lips as she watched Tercen being Tercen, but it faded when he gave her that inquiring look, indicating that he had realized the Captain's question all too well, but had insisted on just a little bit of normalcy. For Ava's sake, probably.

The Lieutenant inclined her head respectfully to Pele. "We will wait on further explanations for the second reason, then," she said a bit more quietly, "and begin with the third." A surprisingly soft smile came to her face as she turned to Ava.

"Ava," Arnyn began, "I am sure you remember telling me about one of the occasions where you... secretly visited the home of a fellow Umbarian? The situation you came across before you actually made your way inside? What you did with that situation? As well as... what kind of shift it caused in your thinking?" Arnyn held Ava's eyes. "It would be best if you speak plainly. And in full; with as many details as you told me. Please... Trust me in this." A pause. "And you can also trust the people present here today." She glanced at Gladhron. "None will speak of it beyond this room."

Blinking, Tercen looked from Ava to Arnyn. What was this about? He glanced at Gladhron and Gwestion. Do you guys have any idea?

[Rillewen]

@Pele Alarion @Arnyn

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Gladhron | Gwestion
Ranger HQ building
Dec 30 - late morning

Gwestion frowned slightly as he listened to Arnyn speak to the captain, explaining about how Gladhron had dropped a hint of 'the Umbar thing' while in front of Tercen and a lady friend of his. He glanced slightly toward his brother as he tried to mentally determine whether this was quite as big a deal as what they were acting. He was annoyed that he would be so careless with his words, but he was used to it. And while Gwestion would have definitely preferred that he had not said that, even if there weren't any others present, he wasn't entirely sure that it was a horrible thing. A nuisance, but...

His gaze drifted toward Arnyn, wondering. She had never struck him as the type to overexaggerate, or to be over dramatic about anything. Yet, she seemed to be making a lot out of this. And also, if he was reading the signs right, she was beating herself up a bit for letting this happen. He observed how uncomfortable Gladhron looked when the captain asked 'who is this lady and why is it an issue?'.

Before Gladhron had decided what to say, or else summoned up the nerve to explain the issue, Arnyn did that for him, by mentioning that the lady in question would be going to Umbar soon. "I'm sorry... I just thought she must have been working with you on that," he mumbled.

Gwestion turned his head, again, to look at his brother, then back to the officers. He carefully concealed any surprise, and any other emotion, that came to him then. And then there was a knock on the door.

---

Ava
Arriving with Tercen

Ava was nervous, but she was taking care to appear calm and collected. She had dressed in a more casual dress today, a smooth green dress with flowers embroidered on the front of the bodice, with the sleeves and some trim in a pinkish coral color to match the flowers. After breakfast, she had spent some time in the study, gathering a few things together. As she and Tercen had approached the building, she was carrying a container that would keep the papers inside safe. When Tercen led her toward a building that was on the sixth, Ava was surprised. "This is the place?" She asked, pausing to look at it. When he replied 'yup', she tilted her head and looked upward toward the city's next level, at the tower looming over them. "Then.. what is that?" She wondered, somewhat puzzled. "I thought that would have been where we were going." She had thought it would be like the Ivory Tower, and that had been a large part of what had been making her nervous about this meeting.

Tercen replied, "The highest level. That's where the big man lives." He grinned. "The King, I mean. I don't know what he does or doesn't do in that tower, though. The grunts," he winked, "they do most of their business here."

Ava nodded slowly, again made aware of the differences between Umbar and Minas Tirith. She took a deep breath and smiled, relaxing slightly as she let him lead her the rest of the way to the place, and gave a small smile when he held the door for her. She gave a small nod in acknowledgement of his words that he also didn't know what to expect. They would find out together, she supposed.

As they stepped inside, she hesitated at the door, seeing.. far more people present than she had expected there to be. Arnyn was there, of course, as well as Gladhron, whom she was not terribly surprised to see. But the other two...?

It seemed that Tercen was also a little surprised to see the whole group assembled, so in a way, that was mildly reassuring. As Ava entered, the stranger, whom she guessed was the brother of Gladhron, stood up, followed almost immediately by Gladhron. A polite gentlemanly act that she recognized with a faint nod and smile to them each. Though it wasn't just them that stood, either, she noticed, for the captain also did. Arnyn soon introduced them all. Ava's eyes flicked to the captain and gave a little nod, then to the two men as Arnyn verified her guess by naming the stranger to be Gwestion, Gladhron's brother.

(Tercen bits were agreed with writer)

---

| |
Gladhron, Gwestion & Ava

As they all took their seats once there were enough for them all, Arnyn went into explaining about Ava having invited her to dinner, and how they'd had several 'lengthy talks' after. Ava let her eyes stray to the others in the room, but mostly kept returning to the two officers while she listened, holding the file container in her lap. She caught her breath softly when Arnyn revealed her origins openly to those in the room.

Gwestion's eyes widened marginally at this news, and he slowly turned his head to look at Gladhron, but his brother avoided his gaze. He gave a silent nod in greeting to Tercen before turning his attention back forward, to the captain.

Normally, Gladhron would have greeted Tercen with a grin and handshake, but considering the situation and the atmosphere, he remained quiet and took his seat again after a friendly nod to the other guy. He let his gaze remain on the captain, wondering just how upset she'd be with him for his mistake.

Ava noticed the way the woman captain remained standing, and she wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but did she look alarmed? Or, perhaps she was debating whether to arrest Ava immediately. And what did she mean about 'third reason'? She remained sitting up straight, maintaining a very correct and upright posture, but not too rigid as to be obvious that she was tense.

Before anyone could reply to Pele's question, Tercen broke in and lightened the mood, as he was so good at doing. Ava let her shoulders relax marginally, and her gaze went toward Arnyn when she began to speak. She wanted Ava to tell about that robbery? Ava's gaze turned thoughtful as she looked again at the captain. Alarion, Arnyn had said was her name. That name had a familiar ring to it, somehow, though she could not quite place where or why. But she remembered that Arnyn had hugged her after she'd told that tale. And... thinking back to the description she had given to Arnyn about that woman, Ava began to wonder...

She drew in a slow breath as she looked back at Arnyn for a long moment. "Alright." She did not conceal her accent, now. There was no point; Arnyn had already revealed where she came from. Arnyn asked her to trust her in this. And assured her that she could trust everyone in the room. She wanted to reach across to take Tercen's hand, give it a squeeze for reassurance. But she did not, and kept her hands clasped over the folder in her lap.

Meanwhile, Gladhron looked at the women in mild confusion, and when Tercen glanced at him, he offered a little shrug before turning his attention to listen to what Ava would have to say.

As Arnyn declared that none would repeat anything, Gwestion took a moment to speak up quietly before Ava began, "Indeed, I can give that promise, and also another," he declared. "That if my brother ever so much as looks as if he might say something he shouldn't, I will make use of my needle and suture, and stitch his mouth shut... then seal it with the stickiest spiderwebs I can find." He declared with a hard look at Gladhron.

Gladhron fidgeted. "This isn't the best time for you to start making jokes, Gwestion."

"Did I sound like I was joking?" Gwestion asked with a frown, then settled back in his chair. "My apologies. Carry on." He told the lady with a nod to turn the floor over to her once more.

Ava couldn't help a little smile of amusement at the exchange between the two. "I appreciate your words of promise, but I don't think such drastic measure should be needed." She informed him, offering a little smile toward Gladhron. She then focused on the two ranger officers again. Time for her to tell her tale, then.

"This happened in the summer of 3018. Around the beginning of July." She began, switching to a more businesslike tone. "I.." She hesitated. "well, I was entering the estate of Lord Haarith Gimlan, a despicable man who fully supports the temple and all of the other terrible things going on in my city. Things which I hope to bring an end to." She explained. "I was going there to rob him." She figured there was no point beating around the bush. "You see, for many years before that, I had been doing things of that sort, in order to strike the best blow I could at the wealthy men of the city. Take away the resources they would otherwise spend to support the army that was being gathered... to fight in the war. Or else, they might use that money to buy more slaves, which I wanted to put a stop to." She added, then dropped her gaze slightly. "In those days, I must admit, my motives were geared more toward revenge against those who had murdered my parents. I stole from the rich people, telling myself that without the money they lost, they would not be able to do as much harm. But.. I did not do as much as I could have done, to actually help the people I told myself I was trying to help." She admitted.

She looked up again. "That particular evening, I wanted to get into Gimlan's treasury. There were two guards blocking the door that I needed to get into, and I did not wish to harm them. So, I used another ruse to get them to move out of my way. I freed a prisoner, one which Haarith had acquired earlier that day. She had been locked into a cage which was hoisted above the gate. She'd been there all day," Ava went on. "I lowered the cage, picked the lock, and gave her some water," She gave a tiny smirk at that, "taken from Haarith's fountain, which he doesn't allow any to drink from." She couldn't help adding. "And, whatever dried fruit, nuts, and seeds I had left," She paused. "I brought it to give to the peacocks, for they would otherwise raise a horrific alarm. But I gave whatever was left to this woman, along with the means to escape. After raising the unlocked cage up level with the wall again, I went back to hide, and waited for her to take my advice. To wait until the guard patrol had come and gone again, and then go along the wall until she reached a low place." She explained, her gaze resting on Pele the whole time she was speaking.

"It worked. She drew the guard's attention away, while making her escape. I was able to get in and steal a small fortune from Haarith before I too got out." She drew a slow breath. "But later, I learned that there were some harsh consequences that resulted from that evening. It seems that he punished his slaves as well as his guards, quite severely, both for letting a robber get away, and for letting that woman escape." She said softly. "And that.. that was a bit jarring. It made me reconsider my approach to all of this. For, I questioned myself; how does it help the slave population for me to rob the rich, if the rich then punish the slaves for something they did not do?" She sighed. She would have stopped there, but Arnyn had asked her to tell how that day had changed her view on things.

"From that day on," Ava went on, "I changed my tactics. Instead of simply robbing money and valuables from these men... I have also been stealing their slaves.. helping them to escape, rather." She explained, casting a slow glance around before returning her gaze to the captain. "I felt bad when I thought back to that night, and knew that I could have done far more to help that woman escape. I never was sure whether she actually got away safely or not, and I decided from that point on that I would do my best to help as many others as I can to get away from their cruel masters. I have been gathering them for a while now, hiding them at my estate while waiting for the searches to die down, while I try to make arrangements to help them get home." She explained.

"When I came here, I brought twenty of these people along with me, but that was all that I dared to bring. I have been working on a plan to bring the others home as well, but it's difficult to manage without drawing the notice of others. It will have to be done gradually, to keep the operation secretive." She glanced toward Arnyn, wondering if that was enough for now.

[Pele Alarion]

@Arnyn, @Rillewen

Captain Pele Alarion
Headquarters, late morning of December 30

Pele waited patiently for Ava to share what Arnyn had asked, and she barely kept herself from rolling her eyes when the brothers jumped in with their remarks. She remained stood behind her chair, though now her arms were crossed once again, as she looked around at everyone present briefly before settling her gaze on Ava as the woman began to tell her story.

Parents murdered... revenge... trying to minimise Umbarian resources for war and purchase of slaves. The Captain studied Ava with more intent at the mention of Gimlan's name and the year, even though the initial iciness of her blue gaze softened in acknowledgement of pain and loss the other had gone through. Besides, apparently there were also people in Umbar who were not satisfied with the existing order of things, a bit of resistance, so to say. Perhaps it might be good for their cause, though she would require more to even consider any further possibilities and had all intentions to probe what else Ava knew besides what was overheard at that tavern.

When Ava continued with details, Pele felt as if she was transported back in time, back to that horrible heat of the sun draining the last bit of moisture and energy from her, the occasional and yet one too many burns of the hot bars on her skin, the cramping of muscles as she attempted to maintain whatever uncomfortable positions she could to avoid the burn. The coming of the night had certainly been welcome even if feeling as of being baked alive had been replaced with shivering in the cold. And then the stranger... the invigorating and life-giving sips of precious water. And the small pouch of just as treasured nutrition, and a chance of escape. There would likely not have been any other options as far as she knew. Pele blinked herself back to present day, closing the book to those skilled enough to read from her eyes. But what were the odds of the same person who saved her back then sitting now here in this room? She looked to Arnyn as if to double check the reality and in silent question of how on earth she had found this out?

She cleared her throat then aware of the presence of three men who knew next to nothing of her beyond the rank she held: this was neither the place or time for digging into too much history, even though she felt the matter deserved at least some acknowledgement. Pele made herself concentrate on the rest of Ava's story, and then slid unto her chair smoothly so that she would not be towering over all those sitting down and reached her hand across the desk towards Ava. "Thank you for that water, that food and the opportunity," she said, a small smile on her lips and warmth of genuine gratitude in her eyes. "I see that your heart is in the right place, Ava."

"I would also assume that your work towards releasing people from slavery is a part of the answer to the second question, namely, what you mean to do. Since the third and the first have been answered?" she looked towards Arnyn again to check and returned to a more matter-of-fact discussion, steering away from revealing too many personal details on her own part and aiming to draw a big picture of how everything was connected, what it meant for the mission in works, and what would be the appropriate future steps.

[Arnyn]

@Rillewen @Pele Alarion

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Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen | Tercen
Headquarters - December 30th, late morning

Tercen wasn't sure what to think. Gladhron or Gwestion clearly were unaware of where this was going. So was the Captain, it seemed. Even Ava didn't seem very sure. So only his sister knew where she was going with this, then? He raised an eyebrow when Gwestion spoke of stitching Gladhron's mouth shut in case the latter were to give any indication of saying something he shouldn't. When Tercen's eyebrow came back down, he was frowning a little. They were, all of them, rather negative, or so he found. As if Ava being from Umbar seemed to indicate that she must therefore be some kind of terrible threat. He glanced at her- at the way her hands were clasped over the folder she had brought. Despite her perfect posture... he recognized she was tense. But he also figured she would not want him to reach out to her. Since she was not reaching out to him, either.

When Ava started her tale, Tercen was rather intrigued. He had clasped his hands together, too, but loosely. And his elbows were leaning rather casually onto his knees as he leaned forward. Yet he listened attentively. For he had not heard this before.

Arnyn had, of course. Even so, she listened just as attentively, to see if she would want to add anything once Ava was done. Her eyes, however, remained upon Pele for most of the time Ava spoke. Arnyn only spared a few glances at the men in the room, and another few at Ava. The Lieutenant was very interested to see how Pele would react to the different parts of the story. Because it immediately painted a rather full and interesting picture of the Umbarian woman now sitting in their midst. Not a bad one. Not a perfect one. A grey one. Ava despised the goings-on in Umbar. She had robbed people in Umbar. She wanted to steal resources that would be spent to fight the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth or that would be spent on slaves. She wanted to stop the practice of slavery. She had released Pele. But not out of the kindness of her heart - she had done so mostly to provide a distraction to the guards, so she might rob the estate more easily.

To Ava's credit, she truly was being honest. At least, if it hadn't all been a very elaborate lie which she had been deliberately spinning from the very beginning.

At Pele's look toward her, Arnyn nodded minutely. In confirmation. "I did not feed her anything," the Lieutenant said more quietly. "I only asked open questions."

Tercen snorted. "Arnyn has a way with asking questions." He continued with a mumble. "Third degree..." But whatever else he might have thought to say, faded into silence when the Captain sat back down and reached out her hand to Ava. And thanked her. Thanked her - in a way that sounded very personal.

At Pele's question, Arnyn nodded through her pride in her friend and how she was dealing with this situation. "The second reason," Arnyn answered Pele, "indeed has to do with what Ava said about helping slaves escape. And what she plans to do with it in the future. Which is to help set up some kind of system so the slaves may return from the shackles of Umbar, to the safety of Gondor, without them requiring her presence to do so. After our talks..." Arnyn shot a look at Ava then, before returned her attention to the Captain, "I advised on a location for a.. recovery house, youmight say, here in Gondor. Which would also allow us to keep some kind of track of the operation." The Lieutenant tilted her head as she looked back at Ava. "Which... Well, I am sure you understand why we would want to do that."

Arnyn loosely clasped her hands behind her back again, shifting her weight slightly, as she was still on her feet, as she had been the whole time. There were only four chairs in the office, however, and she was fine standing. "Ava," she addressed the Umbarian again, "would you mind telling the Captain what you have learned in your time here? I am quite sure that the Captain wishes to know what you might have heard, picked up on, or assumed, based on the different interactions you have had with people here." At least, that is what Arnyn would want to know, if she were Pele. Because it would be mostly Pele who would need to decide what to do about Ava, next...

[Rillewen]

@Pele Alarion @Arnyn

| |
Gladhron, Gwestion & Ava
Ranger HQ building
Dec 30 - late morning

Ava watched as the captain slid into her chair. Then reached out toward her, with words of thanks. The vague suspicion she had begun to wonder about, now seemed confirmed. With a small smile of her own, she reached out and clasped the hand that was reached out to her. Though a little self-conscious of the men in the room, Ava spoke softly in reply. "I have often wished that I had done more, but I am very glad to know that what little I did do... made a difference."

Releasing her hand, Ava sat back again when the captain switched back to business. She let her own gaze stray to Arnyn, then. This was her idea to meet here, after all. What did she intend on Ava telling?

Meanwhile, Gwestion observed this in silence, quietly drawing his own conclusions from all that was said, as well as what was not said. If he was reading this right, it sounded as if this Ava had once helped the captain out of a bad situation, and for that, he could certainly understand the gratitude. Either that, or someone close to her. All that aside, he still found it astonishing that his brother had gone and blabbed something about a mission to Umbar.. to a person from Umbar! Really. Arnyn's summons now made perfect sense, and he was annoyed that Gladhron had not even bothered to give him any sort of pre-warning about what he had done. If he had been warned, he might have had more time to adjust to the shock of it... in private. He also might have said a few more things to him, and he had a feeling that was exactly why Gladhron had not told him.

However, on the other hand, they had wanted to learn more about the mission, and being summoned here to listen to all of this... well, it was certainly an excellent way to find out more. Not that he approved of Gladhron's means of getting them summoned, and he really hoped that had not been some sort of absurd plan to get them summoned here. Taking a slow look around at each of them, Gwestion's gaze settled last on Arnyn, and he thought about the fact that she had asked for he and Gladhron to come here before Ava and Tercen. And had not asked them to leave before she began to tell all of these things. And, that she had told Ava that 'everyone in this room can be trusted'. He appreciated that, and had a feeling that it meant a great deal more than some might realize. He let his gaze rest on Ava then, as he listened. One small part of him was also listening to the lady's accent, wondering if he could mimic that again, at more length, if he needed to...

When Arnyn confirmed Captain Alarion's guess about the 'second reason', Ava listened to all that she told the woman behind the desk, and gave a little nod with an understanding little smile, when Arnyn glanced at her and mentioned 'I am sure you understand why we would want to do that.' "Indeed," She agreed. "And I think it is wise." She added, making known her approval of such caution. After all, the lieutenant had only Ava's word that she planned to smuggle slaves into Gondor, and not out.

When Arnyn addressed her yet again, and asked her to tell what she had learned while she was here, Ava paused briefly to consider quite what she meant by that. "Well." She slowly let her back rest against the chair, at least partially relaxing. "Aside from the fact that you people somehow manage to survive in these frigid temperatures," She began with a tiny hint of amusement sparkling in her eyes, allowing herself just a small amount of teasing in the hopes that these rangers would catch on to the fact she was exhibiting a little humor. The winters were actually not that much colder here, but there was a noticeable difference, to her at least.

"However, I have observed a much different kind of warmth," She added more softly. "Among the people here. For the most part, at least." She hesitated. "There is.. kindness, and friendship," She glanced at Tercen and then at Gladhron, recalling how swiftly those two had befriended one another, when they hardly knew each other. She returned her gaze to Pele. "The merchants in your market... as far as I could tell, they do not try to cheat the customers, nor is there an auction block or anything of the sort." She drew a slow breath and glanced toward the lieutenant. Was this what Arnyn had meant? "People can walk the streets without fear, without any thugs troubling them, children can play in the parks without anyone pressuring them into this or that gang of criminals..." She swallowed. "And, people have no worry that they might be snatched off the street and delivered.. to the temple." She added quietly. "This.. is what I want for my city." She said softly.

"Initially, I came here for the purpose of bringing some of your people home, with the excuse of going to the masquerade ball. I.. had never been to anything of the sort," She explained, then, anticipated that the captain might wonder how she had learned of it. "There was a woman being auctioned off not too long ago, and I.." She paused to consider her wording a bit more carefully. "let us say, 'paid her ransom', and brought her to my estate, where she would not fall into harsh or cruel hands. She mentioned the masquerade. This woman had been a servant to some lord, in.." what was that word? "Loss-ar-nach," She pronounced the word slowly and glanced ever so slightly to the side, at Tercen, to check she had pronounced it right, and went on, "She was a seamstress, and had been expecting to make the clothing for her lord and lady, but she was snatched by men, put on a ship, and ended up in Umbar." Ava explained.

"Well. She told me about this event, and spoke of what she knew of past events like it, and I was... intrigued. There... aren't really any parties like that in Umbar. People are busy fighting one another, often assassinating each other, to get ahead and become more powerful or something. They don't really socialize together for the sake of simply enjoying an evening together." She frowned. "The concept is.. not really heard of, as far as I know. So, I wanted to see what this was about." She smiled faintly, happily remembering that evening. "And.. it was wonderful. I have never been to anything where everyone is just there to.. be together." She couldn't quite put it into words, and looked down at her lap as she drew in a slow breath. "People here... are happy." That was the best way she could summarize. "While the people in Umbar..." She trailed off, a troubled look replacing the happy one she had worn moments ago. "They are oppressed." She settled on that, at last, and looked up at the captain again. "I wish the average people in Umbar could experience the way things could be, and see how much better their lives could be..."

The troubled look remained. "However," She hesitated. "Since I was asked to speak of all that I have learned, assumed, and noticed... While at the masquerade, I encountered a man who made me rather nervous. I am not sure, but I grew concerned that he might very well be a spy from.. back home." She glanced around but settled her gaze on Pele. "I know that some of the powerful men there, one in particular, have been known to send spies here and other places, for various purposes. And, while I do not think that this man was directly sent to spy on me," She hesitated. "I do fear he may have recognized who I am, and could report this back to.. whomever sent him. I have not seen him since the masquerade, however, and while I have been.. a little distracted since," She was careful not to look at Tercen, at that point, and continued, "I have also been keeping an eye out for him. I don't know who he is, but he had a.. very distinctive accent which I am sure I could identify again, if I heard it." Then, remembering another thing, she added, "It's also possible that he was not the only one, for there were a total of four men in the same mask as he, that evening." She thought that could be important to let these rangers know, after all.

Beyond that, she could not really think if there was anything else she needed to say for the moment, and cast a brief glance around, wondering whether she would need to offer more information about this mysterious, possible spy.

[Pele Alarion]

@Arnyn, @Rillewen

Captain Pele Alarion
Headquarters, late morning of December 30

Pele settled comfortably in her chair and listened to Arnyn's short explanation and questions and Ava's more lengthy answer, while she looked briefly at the men among them wondering how much of this information was really relevant to them, but seeing that the two brothers were concerned about slavery, and Tercen had apparently fallen up to his ears for Ava and they surely talked about things, she let that thought be and focused on the matter at hand.

A hint of a smile touched her lips when Ava made an attempt at a joke while she could not help but wonder how freedom to enjoy life without imminent danger, the simple joys of life, friendships and even simple human relationships seemed to be a common theme - she had found that Shamara was also drawn by the same even to the point of becoming careless. However, the motivation and reasoning seemed to differ, if Ava was being honest. Shamara seemed to care only for her own comforts and wellbeing while Ava appeared to want the same for her own city and people.

"It appears to me from your words, Ava," Pele then began, "that you started doing things all by yourself, but if you mean to develop the whole system for returning slaves it would require various resources. It is a long way: how would the rescued people travel, where would they hide while on the way? Do you have trusty people, perhaps even back home? Except for those of your own household, that is." This all sounded like a major project requiring lots of coordination, if it was not just a random soul set free now and then.

"I cannot imagine that those in Umbar owning slaves would be happy if they ever found out what you are doing; unless there is a major turnaround of the whole system of being," she continued, looking thoughtfully at Ava and probed. "But how come you have come to care for people who are not even your own? I can see why you would want revenge on people who harmed your family, to make things better for yourself. But the slaves? What makes you care for their lives?"

She paused a little and then added a thought on a different aspect: "And how do you imagine you could bring that warmth, that joy of living to Umbar when people are used to the way they live now and can't even imagine it being differently? What do you think might make them reconsider?"

As for spies, Pele was not that naïve as to think Gondor was totally free of those, else her captors would not have had so much information on her. But the fact that there might have been some at the masquerade to possibly notice Ava made her frown. "If someone has spied on you here," she said about the topic. "You might run straight into trouble upon your return. If I remember correctly you mean to return to Umbar shortly?"

[Arnyn]

@Rillewen @Pele Alarion

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Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen | Tercen
Headquarters - December 30th, late morning

Arnyn couldn't find it in herself to smile at Ava's little joke. Now they had come here, to this - so close to the topics that would be certain to alienate at least one person present in the room, and possibly more - her own brother very likely among them - the humour was entirely lost upon Arnyn. Her mind was on other things. And her heart worried for her relationship with Tercen.

While Tercen listened to Ava's words, he glanced around the room. The atmosphere... was so much more official than anything he was used to. He felt self conscious about wanting to reach out to Ava and take her hand in his. The seriousness of the whole conversation...meeting... also made him question whether Ava would even want him to reach for her hand. Maybe she'd think it would give the Captain the wrong impression about her. And while Tercen had met Pele, in the past, he did not know her well enough at all to be able to assess what she might think about any such move on his part to offer Ava some sign of support. So, he refrained. It wasgetting increasingly difficult, however, to maintain the casual air he generally liked to drape himself in.

Pele's questions about Ava's plans to find some way to return escaped slaves to free lands, to Gondor, were interesting. Arnyn would agree to that much. She had not gotten into that too deeply during her conversations with Ava, after all. Arnyn wanted to hear the answers, too, and her head tilted meaningfully.

When Pele addressed the matter Ava had brought up about spies... and possible trouble for Ava upon her return to Umbar, Arnyn softly cleared her throat, to draw attention to herself. "If I may... I believe another question has been forced upon us, Ava." Arnyn's gaze flicked to Gladhron, then back to the Umbarian. "Namely whether we can afford to let you return to Umbar, as you had planned, at all." The Lieutenant glanced at Pele, looking for an indication of what her Captain might think about that.

Tercen blinked and smiled uncertainly. "You must be joking," he said as he turned to Arnyn. "Right?"

Arnyn calmly returned his look, shaking her head slowly. "Ava," she continued, "After the conversations we have had. After what you heard from others while you were here. What do you think we may or may not be thinking or planning on, in regards to your home city?"

Tercen's lips parted with a slow kind of realization as he stared at his sister, and then slowly shifted that stare to Ava.

[Rillewen]

@Pele Alarion @Arnyn

| |
Gladhron, Gwestion & Ava
Ranger HQ building
Dec 30 - late morning

Though her joke didn't quite go over as she had hoped, Ava was a bit relieved to see at least a tiny hint of smile on the captain's face, even if it didn't help to actually lighten the mood.

Gladhron, meanwhile, let out a quiet, amused snort and muttered, "She thinks this is cold?" But at a light elbow jab to the side from Gwestion, seated beside him, he hushed and offered an apologetic smile to the others for the muttered words.

As Pele spoke again, Ava recognized the opening to speak about the plan she had been trying to set in motion. "Ah," She smiled, letting some of her enthusiasm emerge, in both her expression and her voice. "There you have struck upon the very plan I have been working on bringing to fruition." She said, leaning forward away from the back of the chair, now. "For I do, in fact, mean to develop a system for these people to return home, purchased with a false name of course, and manned by people employed by me." She explained. "This recovery house which Arnyn spoke of, that is only to be the last in a line of strategically placed houses, which I plan to purchase and convert as needed, into safe houses for these people as they journey along the way." Though still guarded, and a close observer would be able to tell that she was still a little tense from her posture, she had gained a bit of excitement in her expression and voice, as she spoke of this project.

"I realize it will be difficult and dangerous, but it seems to me like the best way to ensure that these people can actually have some way to get home." She sighed. "My thinking is something like.. once I have helped them away from their former master, they can hide at my home for as long as needed, while their former master searches for them. That part, I have already been doing for some time now. But I cannot keep all of the slaves of Umbar at my estate indefinitely, so I need a way to get them across the border. So, I figure, once I determine that it's safe to make the attempt, I can help a small group of these people to the first safehouse. There, they can lie in wait as long as they need to, and be taken care of by the people I will pay to do so. I will have hiding places built into it, just in case. And the places will have some sort of front, like.. a farm or something, I don't know.

"Anyway, once the people have rested and feel ready to move on, the staff who are there will help them get to the next place along the line. Whether they provide transportation and smuggle them there in a cart or something, or simply give them the directions to get there, I suppose that would be a matter of judgement depending on the situation and the place. But, in my vision, they would refill their food supplies, give them water to last until they reach the next house, and so on." She drew a breath. "And so, by the time they reach the end of this string of secret safehouses, they will arrive at the recovery house, which Arnyn has recommended I place in Pelargir." She concluded. "And, from there, at this last place, the people who run it will be able to help the refugees to locate their families if needed, or help them to get to whatever part of Gondor they were taken from, or find them jobs if needed... that sort of thing. Help them return to their old lives."

"As for resources," Ava shrugged without seeming troubled by this matter. "That is no concern there." She offered a little smile. "The very people who these refugees are escaping from will be providing the funds for it all, though they don't know it." She explained. "I thought it seemed fitting..."

Listening as she spoke, Gladhron grew more and more amazed. He'd had no idea, when he spoke to her last night at the tavern, that she was attempting such an admirable operation. He glanced at Tercen, wondering if he had known about all of this. And it sounded to him like it was something she was rather passionate about, even though she did seem a little uneasy talking about it, probably given how many people were in the room, he guessed. He could also see why encountering spies from Umbar could definitely be a huge concern to her. And.. he also realized that him recognizing her accent, and calling attention to it in a public place, must have been alarming for her. He would have apologized to her for that, but she was still talking about her plans for this slave rescue operation.

As the captain mentioned that the slave owners of Umbar would not be happy about this, Ava shook her head and gave a small, regretful smile. "No, they would not." She agreed quietly, sitting back once again. "But I have been doing this for a few years now.. ever since that night I spoke of before, in fact." She added with a look at Pele, hoping she would realize the impact that encounter had had on Ava. "And I am well aware of the danger it poses to myself." She assured her, then tilted her head slightly as the woman asked her how she had come to care for these people. She took a moment to consider that, and how to answer it. "Should I not care for others? Is it not the right thing to do?" She questioned thoughtfully, though rhetorically.

"I suppose.. it all comes down to my mother." She answered softly, looking down at her lap. "She was not from Umbar. She came from a people who resisted the Dark lord, and opposed him. She did not agree with the beliefs of my father's people." She drew a slow breath. "She was eventually murdered for her beliefs, but not before she had converted my father to her ways. And then, later, he was also murdered, for the same reason." She explained softly, slowly looking up to meet Pele's eyes. "My mother taught me to care for others. To show kindness... mercy.. compassion. And, though I did get a little lost in selfishness, and my desire for revenge, for a few years, that night with the woman in the cage reminded me of what I had forgotten, and helped me get back onto the path my mother had started me on, years before." She shrugged slightly after speaking these quiet words, feeling a little self-conscious about the others in the room. "She always said that those who were opposed to the dark lord, were allies of her people. And that included Gondor." Ava mentioned. "And although this is the first time I have ever been here, I have always in my mind thought of myself as your ally, even if you did not know of me."

She paused, and grew more solemn as Pele asked her how she imagined she could bring happiness to Umbar. "I.. don't really know." She admitted. "I did not even know what it was like here, until I came. And.." honestly, she didn't want to leave, but she knew she must... "I find it hard to imagine anything like.. this, actually existing, there." She sighed. "It would be nice, though. It seems like.. an impossible dream, but perhaps one worth fighting for." She frowned, biting her lip lightly before continuing. "I think, though, that the first thing that would have to happen before anything else.. is for the oppressor to be cast down." She drew a slow breath. "That is.. the priest of the temple of Sauron," She explained quietly. "Pharak Halsad. He refuses to accept that the Dark Lord has been defeated. As long as he is there, keeping the city under his thumb, the leading citizens of Umbar will never stop their horrific practices, whether they agree with them or not. They would be too afraid to stop, for fear of what he may do to them." She sighed. "I don't know what to do about him, but I have no doubt that the city has no chance of making any sort of changes, as long as he is running things. I have asked for some advice on how to deal with him, but I.. I don't know if I can, myself." She admitted, looking down at her lap with a little sigh.

The next topic was even less pleasant to think about. Ava had sort of expected them to ask more about the spy or spies she had seen, but it seemed that they were not that surprised to learn of the possibility of spies. She frowned thoughtfully at the question of whether she would be returning shortly. "I suppose that depends on what you mean by shortly," She mentioned, genuinely unsure about that. Before she could say anything further, Arnyn spoke up with an interjection on that topic. She shifted her gaze to the lieutenant, blinking as she heard her words. Ava's lips parted slightly in surprise, but she said nothing. She held her breath, wondering what she meant by 'if they could afford to let her return at all'. Did that mean they might actually lock her up?

It did not cross her mind to wonder if she was joking, though Tercen seemed to hope that was the case. Ava stared at her while inwardly struggling to remain calm. Outwardly, she did at least look calm, but she was sitting very still, back and shoulders straight, hands clasped over the folder in her lap. Then Arnyn brought her back to finishing her answer to the previous question, which Ava had been working up to, before the matter of spies, and then the captain's other questions, had distracted her.

She cleared her throat softly after taking a long moment to pause and think about this. "Well, given what was said last night, in the tavern," Her gaze flicked briefly to Gladhron before returning to Arnyn. "And, putting that together with some of the things you asked me, and said to me, during our talks," She added carefully, "I cannot help but wonder if there is a plan already in the works that involves Umbar, though what the goal is, I couldn't say. While I did not dare even think to ask for that to happen... My hope is that if such a mission is indeed being planned, that it would align with my own wishes... to put a stop to the slavers, and somehow bring down men like the priest, who keep the city in a state of constant darkness and fear..." She breathed out slowly, and her gaze shifted from one woman to the other, wondering if they would deny it or simply refuse to say anything further on it. "If that is the case," She ventured quietly, "I would like to be of help in any way that I can."

[Arnyn]

@Rillewen @Pele Alarion

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Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen | Tercen
Headquarters - December 30th, late morning

Arnyn held Ava's gaze calmly. "Let me lay out for you, what the problem is with you going back to Umbar." Her eyes swept over the others. "Let me lay it out for all of you. So that you may, hopefully, understand the complexity of the issue."

The Lieutenant took a deep breath. "First, there are two options. Option one: We are not planning anything, and my questions were fuelled by nothing more than my incessant need for information. Which, several of the rangers could tell you, is definitely part of my personality. Option two: We are planning something, and my questions were fuelled by the need to make as good a plan as I may. Which, several of the rangers could tell you, would also align with my personality."

"You might think that, if there is no plan, there is no problem with you returning to Umbar as planned. That is, sadly, not true.
"Even if you are being honest with us, even if you believe there is in fact no plan, you are only human. The possibility exists that you might slip up and mention something, and that rumour spreads. Such a rumour, even an unfounded one, might lead to retaliation against Gondor. As I understood it, your leaders are rather vengeful. The possibility also exists, as you have literally just mentioned yourself, that there are spies here. And that it will be known where you were. The possibility exists that you will be taken upon your return to Umbar, and that you will be pressured into talking. Through threats, against you, or against the people you are trying to protect. Through torture, of yourself or of the people you are trying to protect. That would also likely lead you into mentioning you thought there was a plan for a moment. And that, again, could be enough for the powers in Umbar to retaliate against Gondor. Neither option is acceptable.
"The last possibility of course, is that you are not being truthful with us at all. And that, upon your return, you will simply report back. Even though this option does not seem to be the case, it is still one we have to consider. Because I have not been able to verify your claims objectively, nor will I be able to do so in the short term."

"And the same goes in case there is in fact a plan.
"Even if you are being honest with us and you are on our side, the possibility exists that you might slip up and mention something. Which could not only lead to proactive retaliation, as I have already mentioned, but also to preparations that would surely see the plan fail before it is even set into motion. Leading to the deaths of anyone of us who might be participating in such a plan. The same possibility of you being pressured into talking also exists, with the same possible consequences of relaliation and preparation and losses on our side. Which is all, clearly, unacceptable.
"And if you are not being truthful with us - well. I don't believe I have to repeat myself."

"The odds that, upon your return, you will not slip up, you will not be found out and pressured, and that you will not report back anything - all of those together, are small. And the odds of any of the other possibilities - all of those together, are much higher."

"It would have already been somewhat risky to let you return to Umbar as you had planned, before you started wondering about any possible plans. But now that you are in fact wondering, given what was said last night, everything changes. The risk, given the unacceptable consequences, is too high. In my opinion."

Tercen couldn't believe what he was hearing. Even if he couldn't fault Arnyn's logic. "Arnyn, come on! You can't seriously believe she might report back, after everything she's told you? After everything she's told... us?"

Arnyn swallowed. "It's not about what I think. It's about not being able to make certain. And about not being able to risk certain things."

"But... she..." Tercen frowned. "You can't be thinking about keeping her here against her will. She has done nothing wrong as far as you know. What happened to people being innocent until proven guilty?" He looked around the office, looking for support. "You are not certain about her having done anything wrong, either. That logic should go both ways, sister!"

Arnyn's expression was grave as she turned her attention to Pele. What would the Captain say about all of this?

Tercen gritted his teeth as Arnyn's shift of attention. Was she really ignoring him?