Brasseniel did not realize she was alone until she was halfway down the hill. She stopped and whipped around to look behind her, blue-grey eyes flashing with annoyance.
"Nelthiel!" she snapped. "What do you think you are doing?"
There was her sister, sitting on a rocky outcrop near the top of the hill, a bundle of grey fur in her lap and an expression of stubborn determination on her face.
"Resting!"
"You can rest when we reach the Valley. If we keep going, we will arrive before sundown! Wouldn't you like to sleep in a nice feather bed tonight?"
"I would rather not die from exhaustion first!"
Brasseniel raised her eyes heavenwards, counted to ten, and finally relented, trudging all the way back up the hill and letting her pack fall to the ground with a definitive thump. Truth be told, she had not expected to make it to Imladris tonight, but she had hoped that they would make a little more progress than this.
Nelthiel shot her a winning smile as she perched on the rock beside her.
"Brat," chided Brasseniel, hiding a smile as she reached over to scratch the little rabbit between its ears. "I should have sent you right back home, you know."
Nelthiel sniffed.
"You never would. You would be lost without me."
Brasseniel shook her head, but could not quite hold back a grin. She was happy that her sister had followed her. The prospect of traveling alone to Imladris had not daunted her one bit, but she had foreseen this coming winter to be a lonely one -- in a strange place so far away from home, without her family or friends or companions by her side. She would have been miserable within the week.
Some of Nelthiel's hair had come loose since this morning, and Brasseniel took it upon herself to set it right, deftly twisting the silky strands into a braid as she replied.
"Maybe."
