@Arnyn
Eryn &
Duinion
Outside a cave, The Pelennor, September 3rd
Duinion felt as if they couldn't get out of the cave fast enough, though he managed to maintain the same pace that the others had set. Particularly, he wanted to make sure that Eryn wasn't rushed because he wanted to make sure she wasn't hurt. As it turned out, he was the one out of the four of them who had the most trouble keeping up, due to his ankle aching a little. But it didn't hinder him much, if at all. Soon, he drew in a grateful, deep breath as they emerged into the sunlight. It had felt as if a great deal of time had passed while they were in the tunnels, and he had almost expected it to be night time, so it was a small, pleasant surprise to emerge and find that it was still daytime. In fact, still about noon. He had to pause and wait a moment for his eyes to adjust after the dim lighting.
At the inquiry about whether this was his daughter, it might almost have been rhetorical, but for the fact that their query had already used a decoy once. Duinion gave a smiling nod in confirmation. "This is Erynneth," He confirmed, relieved to have found her, and more so that they had found her safe. "Eryn, Vorondil." He added, so that she would know his name in return.
"Hello, Ranger Vorondil." Eryn smiled back at the unknown ranger. Her smile grew as he offered her food, upon Arnyn's request. "Thank you!" She eagerly accepted the snack, wondering how long it had been since she had eaten. Hattie, of course, put her paws up on Eryn's leg and whined, but it wasn't really necessary, for she hadn't forgotten the dog. She selected a couple of pieces of jerky from what Vorondil had given her, and kneeled down to offer these to Hattie. "Here you go, that should help ease your hunger a bit, until we get back to town," She rubbed around her ears with a smile before straightening again. "I don't know how long we've been down there," She admitted, glancing around uncertainly. "He tossed a canteen down at us, but I was afraid to drink from it unless I really had to.. I didn't know if he might've put anything bad in it," She explained quietly.
"It's been about a full day since we parted from you," Duinion explained, meaning himself, Unalmis, and Domanol. "I'm sure we've got a canteen with us, back at the horses," he added, upset to think of her going all that time without food or water. Yet, he was also glad she had been wary of whatever the man had left for her to drink.
"Oh." She nodded as she ate some dried fruit thoughtfully. In one way, it was surprising to hear that it had been a whole 24 hours. Yet, in another way, it seemed surprising it had
only been 24 hours. "And.. what about Unalmis? Is he alright?" She asked, suddenly feeling the need to check about her friend, surprised he hadn't come along with them. Since he came down to visit with her and Hattie just about every day, she was surprised that he had not been included in the search party. But she also didn't know that Duinion had left from the city, not from the farm, nor that Nal had been on duty that morning.
"He's fine, probably busy searching all your and his favorite places to take Hattie, or something like that." He looked questioningly at her. "Why?"
"The creep... he kept making rude comments about Nal in particular," She explained quietly. "Making fun of his name, stuff like that. And he knew things about him, and he knew that we're friends.. I got the impression he had some grudge against him. So I just.. had to ask, since he wasn't here..."
Duinion nodded slightly and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Unalmis is fine, as far as I know. He didn't come along with us because I set off to find you as soon as I learned you were missing, and he was busy elsewhere at the time. I didn't take the time to go find him, but I did send word so he'd know something about it." He explained. "Come on, let's go to the horses now."
Eryn nodded, relieved to hear that Nal was alright, but then her smile faded. "I think he took Buttercup," She said sadly, looking down to hide tears that had sprung up in her eyes.
"No," Duinion told her quickly, with a faint smile. "Buttercup is with us," He assured her. "She.. came back home without you.. that's part of what let us know you needed help." He left out the rest, for now.
"Oh, really?" Eryn looked up again with renewed happiness. "I'm so glad, I was really worried about her." She admitted, though it was probably silly to worry about her horse when she and Hattie were the ones needing help. She'd feared that creep had stolen her beloved horse, and she might never see her again.
Duinion smiled slightly, almost amused at how much Eryn loved her horse. He was glad though, after all the effort he'd gone to, to get her the horse, that she loved her so much. And it made him glad to see Eryn's mind set at ease about that.
Eryn looked back at Arnyn as she mentioned about Eryn going to the healers. "Hattie too," She added, with a small frown toward the dog. "That horrible man hit her pretty hard on the head. She was unconscious for a long time, and I'm not sure how to tell if she's got a concussion... she seems alright, but I'd rather be sure." She explained. "He was going to
kill her, but I stopped him.." She added, before deciding maybe she should wait on telling her tale, until it could be told in full and in leisure. She nodded though, relieved to hear that Aggie and Cailon were up on the sixth. "And the kids?" She had to check, concerned.
"Yes. Berion, Della.. and Daevion." Duinion confirmed.
"Good," Eryn was a bit surprised to hear that Daevion was also with them, but she thought that was good. If the creep knew about Berion and Della, then he might know about Daevion, too.
Duinion turned his gaze back to Arnyn as she spoke about their next step. The trap. Yes. His thoughts leaped back to that obvious trail which had surely been meant for them to follow. The man had apparently not expected them to look beyond that trail, which showed he didn't know the rangers, or Duinion, as well as he might think. That was a mistake.. and that was good. If he'd made one mistake, maybe he'd make others. His memory skipped back to the image of a jackal on the paper. This guy had used Eryn and him, in an effort to draw Dom and Unalmis into his trap. It had to be; otherwise, why send the jackal? Duinion had no prior experience with them, and for all this guy knew, he wouldn't have a clue what the jackal symbol meant. He guessed that the guy was counting on Duinion having to ask Domanol what it meant, which would have been sure to make his friend leap to conclusions, and into action. Or, given the fact that Eryn said he'd spoken against Unalmis in particular, perhaps it had been geared toward the younger Raxëlilta. Whatever the case, this threat needed to be eliminated.
Instead of answering Arnyn directly, he looked at Eryn for a moment as she finished eating the small snack Vorondil had given her. He wanted to stay with her, and not let her out of his sight for the next several years.. though he knew that was impossible. Still, while he hated to part from her so soon after finding her, yet.. he had to do this, although others might not understand it. "Eryn, you'll be alright without me for a little bit, right? And once the healers have checked you out, I want you to stay with Aggie and Cailon and make sure all the kids are safe. Alright?" It was hard to make himself leave her after all of this, but he had to do what he could to make sure that these enemies wouldn't threaten her or Unalmis or anyone else that he cared about.
Eryn blinked and nodded slowly, realizing that this meant he was not coming back
with her. He was going to go with the lieutenant. She knew without him having to say it.
Duinion really didn't like for her to travel back alone, so.. he was a little torn. Looking back at Arnyn uncertainly, he asked quietly, "Could we spare anyone to escort her back? I don't want her having to go back alone, but.. I don't know..."
"Maybe I could come with you?" Eryn suggested, though without much hope of getting a yes. She was not surprised then when Duinion turned back to her, shaking his head.
"Absolutely
not."
"If I had my bow, I could be an archer. That way, I could help, while still keeping back and out of the way..."
"No, Eryn. You're going to wait with Aggie and Cailon. You'll be safe there. Also... When you get back to the city, if you see Unalmis or Domanol," He hesitated, "I would rather you not mention to them anything about being held captive by anyone. All they know at the moment is that we were worried when you didn't come home last night, and your horse had come back without you, and we were looking for you. I'll fill them in on the rest later, alright?"
"Alright." She bit her lower lip lightly, wondering why he was keeping specific details from those two in particular, but she nodded. She was reluctant to have to part from her dad after all that had happened, but she also agreed with the lieutenant and Vorondil. Best not to leave that trap unattended... she couldn't help recalling that the guy knew where they lived. If they didn't walk into his trap, he might bring the trap to them at some other time when they weren't expecting anything. And she knew that if he had made up his mind that he was going to do this, instead of staying with Eryn after all of this, that he was unlikely to be talked out of it.
Quietly, she walked beside him, half leaning into his side, with her dad's arm around her as they headed back for where they'd left the horses.