Thunder rumbled faintly in the dark of predawn, the clouds had finally made their way from the west and drops of cold rain began to sprinkle down on the summit of the ancient hill among the ruins of the old watch tower. The two figures slept under heavy furs, warm from their own body heat as no fire glowed to indicate people were there. The fine dust was settled by the rare rain in the lone lands, the stones of the ruin washed clean to reveal more indecipherable secrets. When the sun rose it was not seen, only the faint lightening in the east was an indicator that dawn had at least arrived.
Pren slowly opened his eyes, looking about at the rain with a small grumble. He then looked to Gwennol, who it seemed he had shielded from the rain during the night using his body and furs. Pren glanced up into the sky, getting hit by a few drops of rain, noting the sky was dark grey rather than black and soon lowered his head to look at her.
Gwennol murmured in her sleep, tucked under the heavy bear hide, her head still on his thigh. A drop of rain hit her face as he was no longer leaning over her and she shifted and her eye fluttering open.
Gwennol breathed out softly, stretching her legs as wakened. Her small hand reached out, seeking his despite the cold drops of rain. Quietly she murmured, "I knew we needed at tent." A smile tugged at her lips and she opened her eyes, "You did make a fine replacement though."
Pren took her hand, smiling down at her slightly. "It is just some rain." He then looked towards the rain briefly again then back down at her, "I hope I do not have to do it too much."
Gwennol nodded against him before finally sitting up, pulling the fur over her head, "It's cold rain and we've no fire." She stretched her arms over her head, arching her back as her spine popped.
Pren eyed her, finally asking, "Well.. are you warm now?"
Gwennol sighed and looked over at him, the fur still covering her hair, "I am warm."
She gave him a slight close lipped smile before reaching for her bag, "I think we should make a quick breakfast and get moving, that'll help keep us warm. Since there is not really any shelter around."
"I am not good at making any sort of food. I will leave that to you," Pren replied with a small smirk forming on his lips, remembering the last time he had made food for another.
Gwennol handed him some smoked fish and some hard travel biscuit from a leather bag, "Here." She stood up, reaching back pull her hood up, letting the heavy cloth fall nearly over her eyes.
The man looked at the leathery trout before he put it in his mouth, chewing as he took the bread before pushing himself up, examining her hood. It was tightly woven wool, made water resistant by the lanolin left in the wool, "At least your hood doesn't not hold water.." He then pulled his bear hood up, the fur soggy with rain and drooping slightly because of the weight.
Gwennol looked up at him and laughed, a sudden and startling sound from the normally stoic woman, "You look like the day I found you."
Pren chuckled with a small shake of his head as he remembered it. He then gnawed a piece from the bread, a small smile remaining on his face. A strange thing for him.
Gwennol ducked her head, her hood shadowing her face as the silence stretched out. She remarked, "I think your horse wandered off to get out of the rain." She glanced at him, catching the expression under his beard.
Pren sighed with a grumble, "You stay here and get ready to leave. I will go find it.."
Gwennol watched him go, giving a minute shake of her head as she gathered their bags to secure to the saddle. Cysgod hunkered down under the shelter of the stone arch still intact, preening his glossy black feathers. Pren returned upon the large horse around five or ten minutes later. He reigned it to a stop before he sliding off, "Was down in the valley below."
The small woman slung the bags onto the broad back of the steed, securing them to the saddle, "Probably has more sense than us." She gives him a slight smile before looking at him for help to get on the tall horse.
"A horse will never have more sense than a Dunlending," Pren gave a deep chuckle before he went to pick her up and place her on the back of the horse.
Gwennol laughed with him, a soft sound under her breath, "I'm not so sure." She swung her leg over the broad back of the horse, hitching her robes up to get comfortable. Her slender bare calves were exposed, her feet encased in small leather shoes curved inward against the barrel of the steed.
Pren climbed up behind her, rolling his shoulders before he reached around her to get to the mane of the horse, "Anything else needed before we leave?"
Gwennol settled back against him and shook her head a bit, "No, I've seen enough and there is nothing left on this peak."
Pren nodded before he kicked the horse in the ribs slightly, it heading off in a gentle trot down the winding path that lead to the base of Weathertop. The name of the hill was known to Pren but the story of the watch tower was not, nor was he very interested in the doings of the men who had betrayed the Dunlendings so long ago. They were mostly gone, all that remained was their futile efforts to conquer the land and now the land reclaimed itself. Gwennol took a last look, peering around the bulk of Pren's body to see the ghostly silhouette of the broken tower through the grey curtain of rain as they traveled out of the shadow of the peak, heading east.
The big warrior tightened his grip on the horse's mane as they went over more rough terrain, the horse still managing it well. It was a sturdy beast, stoutly built and tall, with a rough brown coat. It carried the two Dunlendings and their belongings with little effort it seemed, able to keep a steady pace over long distances.
Gwennol kept her head down against the rain, riding in comfortable silence along the rolling hills, the dust creating a slurry of mud under the hooves of their horse. She squeezed her thighs tighter to hold on but Pren's body provides a security as the horse's gait became rougher as it kept it's traction.
Pren kept the horse going at the same pace when they came onto the road, "Hmm. How did you sleep? I forgot to ask."
He looked down to her briefly, though his eyes are more focused on the surroundings. Nothing stirred in the rugged landscape thought the rain had finally stopped and the sun peeked through the clouds, long shafts of light illuminating the golden brown hills.
Gwennol breathed deeply, the air cleaner for the rain and no longer dusty, "I slept very well, your thigh is comfortable though a bit hard for a pillow." She tilted her head, unable to look back at him with her hood in place.
Pren chuckled deeply, "Then next time you will have to sleep on a softer part of me."
"Is there one?" she asked, half serious.
Pren replied thoughtfully, "Hmm. I do not know."
After a long day of riding, they camped once more and set off the next day, pausing only to let the horse rest and to share a quick meal. They came upon more ruins, the largest they a had seen since Weathertop. Gwennol could see the tendrils of smoke rising from several areas within the ancient fortress. People must live there, or someone did and it was best avoided so not to impede their progress. It must have been a hard life, harder even than Dunland perhaps as the land here was empty and little in the way of plants or animals seemed to be around. Perhaps they were better at hiding, Gwennol thought and part of her longed to ask questions of those that would brave these lands to live in but she knew Pren would not want to stop and it could be dangerous. No one showed themselves, though the Derudh felt her scalp crawl as they passed the fortress and she was certain their progress had not gone unnoticed by whoever made their home there.
She could hear the sound of water and perked up, noting a bridge that appeared at the end of the road. The water tumbled over boulders in the river, the foaming spray loud as it raced under the stone arch. Along the banks and beyond to the east, it appeared more verdant. Gwennol gazed past the bridge they would now cross, "The land becomes more green, this must be what you showed me on top of the peak."
Pren slowed the horse down to a stop, and said, "Yes. These lands are filled with spirits. We can make a camp, and then we can look about, hmm?"
The horse plodded over the bridge, the ringing sound of its hooves on the stone nearly drowned out by the noisy water. Once they were across, they left the lonely barren lands behind. Gwennol looked up, the steep cliffs and dark trees looming over them. The sun fell behind them, illuminating the landscape in golden orange. It would be dark soon and she agreed to camp when Pren mentioned it once more. She nodded, "As you wish, at least we will have fire wood."
Pren let the horse trot forward again, following the same road that now cut through the steep cliff faces of reddish stone that cast their long shadows over the pair. Pren asked, "Do you prefer this or the barren-lands?"
Gwennol smiled to herself, "I prefer this place, it is alive and I can feel it." She looked back at him, her smile faded, "But it is not familiar."
"It is familiar to me," Pren pulled his hood back now as the sun set.
Gwennol said softly, "You've traveled so many places."
Pren gripped onto the horse again as the terrain became rough, leaving the road to follow a path up a slope, pushing into Gwennol some more to keep her still. "That I have." He then stopped the horse as they reached yet another set of ruins. These had different markings than the one on Weathertop but Gwennol could observe some similarities. The young woman clutched the horse's mane, feeling Pren's broad chest against her back, "I am glad again that you chose to guide me home. The Greenway is crawling with bandits and the desperate."
"That is why I had to kill so many on my way up," Pren moved the horse over to the edge of the ruins, sliding off before he offered her help again.
Gwennol nodded, "That is why I hid, skulking in the shadows like a frightened hare." She took his hand, swinging her leg over to dismount, grunting slightly when her feet touched the ground, her legs buckling for a moment.
Pren moved his spare hand over to keep her upright, chuckling deeply, "You and riding do not suit."
Gwennol grasped his arm gratefully, "I'm unused to it, I've always walked. We had no need of horses nor could we afford them." She canted her head slightly, "I'm sure I"ll get used to it. It just makes me a bit sore." She looked away, scanning the sky for Cysgod who had been shadowing them.
"I have been forced to ride them many times," Pren muttered before he went to lead her up onto the ruins, to see the setting sun, lighting all the green trees in its orangish-pink glow.
Gwennol turned and looked up at him, "I'll admit that they do make travel faster and that is good. I want to get home." She stood beside him, gazing out at the landscape, the rugged steep cliffs and deep ravines, covered in dark coniferous trees, "This is a wild land, it is good."
"And there are animals in this land. I will hunt for us instead of dried food," Pren said, glancing at the sky to check how much light he still had.
Gwennol clasped her hands together, "I will prepare a fire then." She remained in place, watching the dusk start to fall. She closed her eyes as the breeze stirred her hair, sensing the living land and the pulse of the spirits around her.
Pren nodded before he pulled up his bear hood, leaving her to watch the sky as he made his way off into the forest.
Gwennol moved back, going to gather wood in the falling dusk, stepping carefully, mindful of the steep drops as she gathered an armful of kindling.
In the distance she heard the strange strangled sound of a dying deer, cut off abruptly nearly as soon as it began. Gwennol crouched before the flames in the middle of an old fire ring, the stones half scattered and sunken into the ground. She looked up at the faint sound and then murmured her gratitude to Rhi Helvarch, tossing a bit of dry sage on the fire.
Pren came back into the camp, looking at Gwennol. He was covered in mud and blood with a doe hanging over his shoulder. In his other hand, there is a dead lynx, a bite mark on Pren's bicep could also be seen.
Gwennol glanced up at him, frowning. "What happened?"
She moved to look at his bicep, clucking her tongue against her teeth, "Nasty bite."
Pren just grunted before he threw the dead lynx at her feet, "Now you can have a hood to match mine."
Gwennol fetched her herbs, already she had her copper pot filled with water to boil for tea and she cleaned his wound. "Do you think the a dead cat on my face look would be an improvement?" She chuckled slightly before looking at the corpse. She knelt and ran her hand over the soft fur, admiring the faint spots. "It is lovely and...oh...Pren, she's a mother." She pointed out the mammaries still swollen to give milk, "Her poor babies will starve now."
Pren snorted, "And? Just a few less things that can bite me."
Gwennol looked up at him, "They're helpless." She dropped her gaze, touching the lynx once more, biting her lower lip, her expression showing her true youthfulness, "I know the ways of nature and the Hunt but I feel so bad, their mother was only trying to feed them."
Pren groaned slightly before he turned around, "They will be lucky you are here. I am not doing it for them." He grumbled before he headed back down into the forest, using a pine bough as a torch to see in the gathering darkness.
