It is early morning, the clouds in the sky a rich red colour in the East, whilst the darkness of the night begins to fade in the West. The company of the Black Steel are camped up inside the walls of Faldham. There is not much movement, save for two figures around the small fire in the middle of the tentage. Athlenah says, bleary eyed, mug in her hands, 'I am too tired to make sence on what you are saying.'
Caithryth would jest some, more awake than the other woman, 'It's alright, barely noticeable. What are you drinking?'
Athlenah says, 'Coffee.'
Caithryth raises a brow, 'Here? You're spending your money well.'
Athlenah says, 'I brought some from Bree'
Caithryth rubs her hands together and squats down, glancing at the woman out of the corner of her eyes. Then she shrugs and reaches out to stoke the fire a bit, saying 'Never really bothered with it. Too bitter.'
Loud snores of the rest of the company come from their respected tents, still. Except from Gaeded's, whose tent has it's flap open and her black Mastiff Grim sits on guard at the threshold. It seems that Gaeded is already awake and must have gone to meet up with the soldier a while earlier.
Athlenah mutters in response, 'I always add some sugar.' After a pause, she questions, 'Are we the only ones awake?'
Caithryth looks over to Gaeded’s tent, 'Feels like Gaeded never sleeps.” She stretches her arms a bit as she stands up again, and looks around. “There was some talk about exploring a tomb. Just the perfect thing to start the day with, eh?” Caithryth grins at Athlenah, baring her teeth.
Athlenah exclaims, not too loudly, 'Ah fuck that was today...'
Caithryth gives Athlenah an amused but somewhat confused look, '... She told us yesterday evening.'
Athlenah takes a sip from her coffee, 'I know. I just have a lot on my mind.'
Caithryth tries to get Athlenah to tell her about it, questioning, 'For example?'
Athlenah quickly shuts her off, 'Nothing that would be of interest to you.'
Caithryth puts her hands on the handles of her swords and looks a bit sceptical, 'May I be the judge of that?'
Athlenah says, 'You already have showed me your intrests'
Caithryth raises an eyebrow, 'Wine and Swords? Hats?'
Athlenah says, 'That and others.'
Caithryth reaches for her head, adjusting the hood, sighing, 'I miss mine. It was perfection.'
Athlenah says, 'What happened to it?'
Caithryth says, 'It stayed in Moria.'
Athlenah says, 'I can make you a new one... If you are nice.'
Caithryth says, 'Just you wait until we're in civilized lands again, there'll be hats for ages. With all kinds of feathery feathers. Plumes- And when am I not nice?' Caithryth folds her arms, 'If at all, my downside is being too nice. One of my few, that is. Very few.'
Athlenah take a sip from her coffee, not wanting to listen to Caithryth’s prattling, 'Sure sounds great...'
Caithryth laughs, 'Sure, we're talking about me, after all.’
Athlenah finishes her coffee and gets up picking up her supplies, quiver and her bow, putting them all on her back. Caithryth shrugs.
Athlenah says, 'You already had won me but lost.'
Caithryth says, 'Yes, but I do like challenges!' Athlenah seems to be annoyed with that and then starts walking out of the camp. Caithryth follows along after her.
Standing at the fence is Gaeded and the soldier she spoke of. Both are armoured up and have their steeds tied up to the fence, all saddled up. They are talking in Rohirric, looking surprisingly awake for this hour in the morning.
Caithryth looks up as she sees Gaeded at the meeting point and calls out, 'Looks like folks are sleepy today.'
Athlenah mutters, 'Just let’s go into the tomb and get out of there quick as possible.'
When Caithryth calls out, Gaeded stops midsentence of what she was saying to the soldier and raises a brow, "I'm surprised more wouldn't be interested. Byrthnoth here said there might be interesting treasures to find in there." She pats the soldier, Byrthnoth, on the shoulder and he nods and then smiles to the group, speaking in a broken westron that is thickly accented, "Greetings.. Is nice to meet you. Brave people to go to tomb."
Caithryth grins broadly and folds her arms. "Say it as it is, 'women'. The men are still asleep." Athlenah remains silent.
Brythnoth would smirk at Caithryth, "Yea, brave women. Very brave. My people too scared." Gaeded leans against the fence some, folding her arms, speaking after Brythnoth replies to Caithryth, "Are you both ready to leave then, if you are the only two coming?"
Caithryth says, 'Ready and able. She's a bit sleepy still.’ She points at Athlenah. ‘But stubborn, so that'll do. Just need to fetch my horse, but she's already saddled.' Athlenah looks grumpily to Caithryth. Gaeded would nod, quickly speaking to Byrhtnoth in Rohirric and looking back to the pair, "The trek to the tomb is a few hours long, so plenty of time to wake up. We should reach there by mid-morning, giving us plenty of time to have a look in the tomb and return by nightfall."
Caithryth nods, 'Then let's get going.'
Gaeded raises a brow some, 'We'll give you a moment to fetch your horses.'
Caithryth has a look of realisation and then starts to jog over to the stables, 'I'll be back momentarily.'
Gaeded would push herself up from the fence and walks over to her steed that is tied up on the fence. She takes a few moments to unknot the leather reins and the leads him away from the fence. Byrhtnoth does the same, though struggling with the knotting a bit more.
Caithryth returns, then leans over to control the saddlebags into sitting properly. "Will we cross a stream for some water? I'm a bit light on it."
Gaeded would knit her brow together for a moment, before looking to Bryhtnoth and seemingly translating what Caithryth asked so that he could answer. He looks over to Caithryth and smiles, "Tomb near river, yea. All fill up water, I say."
Caithryth nods. "In that case. Forth, Riders!" She grins. Athlenah pulls up her hood.
Gaeded would nod to Caithryth, pressing her knees into her steed's sides to get him to start walking. Byrhtnoth grins at Caithryth, "Forth Eorlingas! And other people!" Caithryth grins and pulls her hood back, winking at Byrhtnoth, as she follows Gaeded's lead. He finally gets it.
Bryhtnoth winks back at Caithryth.
Athlenah grumbles, 'Are you really flirting with him?'
Caithryth raises a brow, 'What? I'm just enjoying the company.'
Byrhtnoth doesn't really understand what is being said and just smiles happily, glad too to have company on this trip. Gaeded, ahead, rolls her eyes and sighs.
After some time on the road, Caithryth asks, 'Gaeded? What's this yellow stuff called?' She points to large patches of yellow flowers blowing in the wind on the road next to them. Athlenah yawns. Gaeded would hum, "I'm not sure what it's called in your tongue."
Caithryth stretches in the saddle a bit. "I've not seen it, neither North nor South." She smiles somewhat. "I like it. Gives the green some colour." Caithryth ponders this for a moment, then she asks. "What's it called in your tongue?"
Gaeded would tell Caithryth the name of the flowers, in Rohirric tongue. It's a long word that non Rohirric speaks would struggle to get their heads around, 'Yea, it is very pretty around this time of year. We get different types of flowers back home near Stoke, though this sometimes crops up. Not as much as here.'
Caithryth walks closer to one of the little patches running along the road and leans down to grab a bunch of them. Caithryth fiddles them into the hair of her horse as they ride on. Something to keep the hands occupied.
Gaeded would stop by the stream, nodding to Byrhtnoth before looking over to Caithryth, "Time to fill up our waterskins, it seems." Caithryth looks up as they stop. "Oh." Caithryth dismounts and grabs her waterskin, popping it open as she walks, a bit uneasy on the feet after the long ride, and pours the now warm water out into the mud. Caithryth surveys the riverbed for a bit of a rocky patch where she can get further in without getting her boots too wet. Caithryth fills her waterskin and uses the opportunity to quench her thirst as well. Athlenah dismounts as well and refills her leather waterskin.
Gaeded would swing one leg over her saddle and drops down onto the ground, removing her waterskin from where it its attached on her saddlebags. She walks over to the stream, opens the waterskin and drinks some of the remaining water, pouring the rest out back into the stream then going a little further along to fill it up with the cool, fresh water. Bryhtnoth whistles and then throws his waterskin at Gaeded. She isn't quick enough to respond and it hits her on her upper back. Byrhtnoth grins and calls to her in Rohirric. She looks somewhat annoyed but picks up the waterskin where it landed and refills it, before throwing it back to Byrhtnoth, making sure he catches it.
Caithryth whipes her mouth with the back of her hand. Then she glances up at the sun, down at the waterskin in her hand, shrugs, and leans forward, fidgeting with her ponytail. She pours a good measure over her head, open hair and all, snorting as the cold hits. Still dripping, she refills it again. Caithryth swipes some errand strands of wet, dark hair out of her face and returns to the others, to stow the filled waterskin back in the saddlebags again.
Athlenah take down her hood and cups her hand and splash some water intro her face.
Byrhtnoth smirks at Caithryth as she dumps water over her head, though says nothing, probably because of the language barrier. Gaeded simply hikes back over to her steed, putting the waterskin back into her saddlebags and then placing one foot in the stirrup and standing up on it, swinging the other leg over and then sitting back down in the saddle.
Caithryth gets up smoothly back into the saddle. Or at least she tries, because just then, her horse takes a step forward and she almost slides down again. Glossing over it, as if nothing happened, she succeeds on the second attempt, with only some ruffled pride. Caithryth turns to Gaeded and the soldier, asking them: "That means we're almost there, no?"
Byrhtnoth would cover his mouth with a gloved hand to try and conceal a chuckle, before coughing some. Gaeded quickly translates what Caithryth said to the soldier, and he nods, "Just down river. That way." He points to their right.
Athlenah wipes her face with her cloak and goes back to her horse, climbing back into the saddle.
Caithryth looks at Byrthnoth, narrowing her eyes somewhat, before following the directions. Without looking back she inquires: "Which side?" Byrhtnoth would try to look innocent, focusing on the ground to the right, "This side of river." Gaeded nods some at that, "Then let us continue."
Caithryth nods, and leads her horse onwards, taking the lead now. At least until someone tries to overtake her. Caithryth lets her horse find the path and fiddles with her wet hair, to redo the ponytail.
After some way along the river, Byrhtnoth crosses the river without a word. Caithryth coughs, once they're on the other side. Byrthnoth stays quiet, stopping on a rocky clearing near the clifface, "Tomb just down there. Leave horses. Take essentials."
Caithryth dismounts and leads her horse a bit further up to the cliff face before going through the saddlebags. Athlenah take her bag off her horse and swings it over her shoulder. Gaeded would jump down from the saddle, as does Byrhtnoth. He extends a hand and leads both horses over next to Caithryth's. Gaeded follows and then takes everything she could possibly need from the saddlebags.
Caithryth takes one of them off, as an impromptu pack and slides a small handaxe, some length of rope, a small metal lantern and a small leather roll into it. Caithryth says, 'Whose tomb are we actually going to raid?'
Gaeded would answer, not directly, 'These types of tombs are very old. From before the Eorlingas were given these lands. I’m not sure exactly whose it would be, but I don’t really care to find out.'
Caithryth grins, 'Great! So we're not angering the people here.'
Gaeded would shake her head, "No. Most people try to avoid them if possible. It's why it's in the middle of nowhere."
Caithryth nods, slowly. "Makes sense. But who's going to be afraid of a little rock, dust and cobwebs, eh?"
Gaeded would shrug, 'No one. But it's more superstitions and such.'
Byrhtnoth prepares himself and then wanders along the clifface, trying to find the door. Byrhtnoth disappears behind some rocks for a moment, before exclaiming something in Rohirric and after a few moments, "I found door!"
Caithryth points at the Rohirrim. "We shouldn't let him find all the treasures on his own. But you're right, there might be some truths to superstitions, just brings back the memories of certain nights in Breeland." she grins. Then, as Byrhtnoth calls out she looks over, and raises her voice as well. "Oi! Leave something up for us, too!" Caithryth stops as she sees the not very inviting door alongside their travel companion. "Not very inviting."
Athlenah sees the door and quite suddenly says, whilst standing at the back of the group, 'Oh no! Its locked! Welp… We can't go in there then. Let’s go back.'
Gaeded would look over her shoulder at the woman, 'Scared, Athlenah?'
Athlenah shakes her head quickly, 'No, I just want to go back to bed.'
Caithryth reaches out to grab Athlenah by her shoulder. "You're coming in with us."
Byrhtnoth looks back, to Athlenah, "Scared? No turn back now."
Athlenah sighs is frustration. Caithryth smiles and pats her shoudler after she loosens her grip. "We've been through worse. It's just a door."
Athlenah says, 'Last time we were in a tomb in these lands, i turned into a mad, mean person.'
Caithryth tries to console her, 'What are the odds of it happening again?'
Athlenah says, 'You never know in those tombs'
Caithryth questions, 'Then why are you afraid of eventualities?'
Athlenah stutters, 'Because... Just... Never mind…'
Gaeded would simply shake her head, before walking past Byrhtnoth who stands several feet from the door, up to the door itself and tries to push it open. Caithryth puts her hands at the door, giving it a nudge, to see if it actually moves. "At least that means we're going to be the first." Gaeded would push against the door and it doesn't budge. She pauses a moment, before repositioning herself by putting her shoulder against it and then pushing again. The door creaks and opens a crack, nowhere near enough to get through.
Athlenah stands and keeps an eye on their backs.
Caithryth strains against the wood with Gaeded. "That crack, maybe wedge it open with a lever. Do we have a crowbar?" Gaeded would pause a moment, looking to Caithryth before looking to Byrhtnoth and translating. He shakes his head, "No. I do not." Caithryth grins. "Well, aren't we the best organized troop ever." She tries to feel through the crack with her right hand, to see if there's a bar or anything blocking the door.
Caithryth slides her hand through the crack, which opens the door a little more. She pushes her hand in further, until her entire hand is through the crack in the door. However, as she feels about, there is nothing but air where she feels. Caithryth looks concentrated as she feels around. "Feels like there's nothing, must be rubble on the floor that blocks it." She tries to wedge her boot into the crack.
Caithryth struggles to get her foot into the crack, but as she uses her hand that is still wedged in the crack for support, she manages to pull the door open some, the doors being very heavy, though easier to pull open than push... Athlenah can't help but turn around and look at them Caithryth looks at Gaeded and tries to pull the door open, now that there's an opening. The brass scuplture of a skull on the door sticks out some, the sharp pointy teeth of it could be used as handles...
Athlenah mutters, 'So as we are the first people to enter. There might be old traps.'
Caithryth jests, 'That's why we brought you along!'
Athlenah quips back, 'So I can push you into them?'
Gaeded would grab hold of one of the teeth and starts pulling along with Caithryth. Caithryth nods at Gaeded to do a concerted effort of pulling. Both Gaeded and Caithryth pull on the door. Gaeded digs her boots into the ground and heaves with all her might and after a few moments the door creaks loudly and opens wide enough for them to get in. Caithryth pulls on the left door, but didn't pull quite hard enough, though seeing Gaeded open the right door, she feels no need to open the other one and stops pulling.
Caithryth cracks her knuckles. "Right. Now that we accomplished that, nothing can stop us." She puts her arms akimbo and grins at the others. Gaeded would let out a breath, stepping back some for a moment, "Yea," she nods. Byrhtnoth, whilst they were opening the door, had brought out a candle and holder and had been working to light it. With a small flame now going, he picks up the candle holder and smiles at the others, "I am ready with candle. Good door open. You have light too?"
Caithryth takes the wrought iron lantern from her pack and holds it up. "Light me up." She flashes another grin. Byrhtnoth would step towards Caithryth, angling the flame of his candle to her lantern so that it catches aflame. Caithryth smiles as she closes the lantern window again and holds it up, illuminating the door nicely as the oil catches fire properly.
