Loyalty, Honor, and a Willing Heart

Chapter 1 - Lost

The three women walked briskly in the woods of the hillside, breathing deeply the fresh morning air. The trail was clear to follow, they almost didn’t need the map after the first few hours of the previous day. They had set camp late in the afternoon the day before, so they could rest fairly for the second day of their little journey.

“We must be very close to the back end of the LARP (1) ground, already.” Said the taller one, looking like thirty and some years old. “I think we could stop by those boulders, change and make up for the party.”

“Sure, Aunt. I can hardly wait to thrush into the camp from the wrong side!” The red haired girl giggled. “One day in the wild hasn’t done much for my locks, tough. Lily spent hours curling them to look like a hobbit’s, but now I’m not sure it was worth all the work.”

“Oh, sorry, dear, but it was the best way for me to have a little more fun during my vacation. And the LARP camp is so close to this natural park I thought we really could hike it there.”

“No problem, Aunty!” The girl fastened the strings of her velvet corselet and the double scabbard for her fake swords. “I won’t wear my hobbit feet slippers until we reach the camp, they are too soft underneath to walk on this stones.”

“Good idea, Iris.” Her older sister said while reaching for her curls with a knowing look. “Here, let me fix your hair a bit. I can make it again at night, if you wish. You will be the prettiest hobbit in the Cosplay (2) tomorrow.”

The youngest giggled again. “And in the Contest, too! Are you sure you won't go to the boffering (3) contest?”

“Sure I will, but with the archers this time. I spent the whole year training every spare time I had, I’m sure I have a chance to win a prize.”

“Yes, I believe it too, Lily.” She blinked. “Hey, lend a hand to Ellen with her wig, she looks more like a Wookie than like an Elf!”

The sisters laughed hard at their aunt as she made a Chewbacca like growl and took off the long black haired wig. Her own hair was brownish, with some lighter shades; its length was close to the shoulders. The eldest of her nieces complained as she easily put the wig in place and got it tight with some hairpins.

“I liked better when you had your own hair long, you should not have to wear a wig, then.”

Ellen nodded while putting on her light boots that fitted with her long skirt.

“I had more time and patience then, dear. The rhythm of my worksheet barely gives me time to sleep, what then to take proper care of a long hair. No, just for playing at LARPs and boffering contests, a wig will have to do.” She tied some strategical strings to get her skirt far from the ground so she could walk without stepping into it even through the trail they still had to go. “Good trick, Lily, the rough boots and the aluminum can seals hauberk make you look sturdier and stockier than you actually are, really dwarfish.”

Lily laughed.

“See, Aunt, with you as an elf and Iris as a hobbit, my size only fitted a dwarf’s, don’t you think so?”

They all laughed at the five feet seven inches “dwarf”, got their back packs and headed for the trail. It got stepper as they reached the next patch of trees, and wet from nights moisture. Iris feet faltered, Ellen grabbed her arm and steadied them both.

“Iris, take one of your boffers and use it as a prop, like I’m doing with my bastard one.”

“Mine are half as long as yours, Aunty! I don’t believe it will work.”

“Better than nothing, dear. I have some duck tape to fix them if their points get torn.”

They went on, struggling trough the step path once more, not wanting to stop to eat because they should be so close to the LARP camp now. There they would be in “on” mode for LARPing through the next five days, among two thousand other nerds. It would really be fun. Lily was thinking about all this and her boffering group friends who would be there when she heard a rumble behind her. She tried to steady herself but lost her footing when her sister and aunt came sliding down the path, and then the three of them fell to the side of the trail, rolling through bushes and small trees but with no chance to stop sliding down the hill.