Set in Stone - Haldir's Story -

Chapter 6 - Fire

*Hi there, I don't seem to be getting any reactions, but I'll finish the story anyway, since I'm not writing for the sole reason of pleasing anyone XD Please vote if you like it, but I will definitely keep on writing - I think Haldir deserves a happy ending. Love, Jazzlin*

When they finally reached their flet after a walk that had seemed to last forever to Haldir, it was already night time. Haldir felt as tired as he hadn't for a long while so he sat down in a comfortable chair and just closed his eyes to get some rest. He hadn't reckoned with his brothers, though. Orophin shut the door behind him and then sat down opposite Haldir. "Brother! - Come on, open your eyes. You have to explain to us how to fall off a tree. The boughs were so huge, I would not even have known how to do it, had I wanted to!" he teased. - Rumil came over to them as well. "I cannot believe they are thinking you jumped! Even..." he stopped. "Wait a second. That lady - Daëra - she said you had told her to jump with you. But you clearly never intended to leave the tree as prematurely as you did. She must have lied." - Orophin frowned. "She cannot have. Elves do not lie." - Haldir slowly opened his eyes. "She slipped, fell against me and pushed me off the branch in the process." - "She slipped?! And then lied?!" Orophin exclaimed. - "Why would she slip? How could she slip? - I thought she was a Silvan elf. A Wood Elf." Rumil's forehead was crinkled into a frown. - "She is." Haldir rubbed his eyes in an effort to keep them open. "I do not know why she slipped. It was an accident. They happen to dwarfs and humans and things all the time - or so I have been told." - "And then she lied to make up for it?" - "I guess so, yes. She said it was a 'white' lie." - Rumil crossed his arms. "Whatever that is supposed to mean. Lies do not have colours, since they are abstract." - "Thank you for reminding us, brother," Orophin remarked ironically. Haldir rolled his eyes at both of them. "It most likely means that to her it was not wrong to lie, since she had brought me into the awkward situation and was in this way trying to make up for it." - Rumil whistled through his teeth. "Still, I cannot believe she lied. I mean - what is ever going to keep us apart from humans and dwarfs, if we start acquiring all their bad habits?!" - "She has lived among humans for quite a while. You can also hear it when she speaks the elven tongue," Haldir offered as an excuse - and froze. Why had he just done that? Why would he defend her? Funnily enough, the next thing Orophin said gave him the answer: "You know what, brothers? She is weird. She does not really fit, if you know what I mean." - Haldir felt he could not stay focussed for much longer. "No, she does not. But then, neither do we."

Haldir was disturbed from his rest when he heard someone ascending the stairs to their flet. It was already morning and he felt a little bit better, although his wound was still hurting. Orophin looked through a window next to the door. "It is her. Daëra." - "She certainly wants to apologise," Rumil remarked and looked at his younger brother, nodding towards a window at the back of the hut. "We had better go; the caretakers of the Woods will be waiting for us." - Orophin frowned. "Do you think they will set off to work today? There might be a council of war first, and the woman is obviously still here as well..." - Rumil jumped onto the window sill, his gaze going to and fro between Haldir and the door. "We still have to go and check. Come on." - Orophin's face lit up. "Oh I see. Yes, we really have to do that. I apologise for leaving you, brother." With that, the two young elves jumped out of the window, not minding the height.

Only seconds later, a soft knock rang out from the door. Haldir forced himself to get up before calling to her to come in. Daëra entered, holding a basket with some fresh as well as dried herbs in her arms. She greeted Haldir and then stood in the middle of the room, frowning slightly. To his amazement Haldir realised that he found the expression of puzzlement on her face quite amusing. - "Where have your brothers gone? - I am sure I heard them when I went up the stairs." - "Yes, they were here - they have descended from the window sill." - Daëra looked critically at him with raised eyebrows. "They have... jumped out of the window?" - Haldir heard from her tone that for some reason Daëra thought he was making fun of her. "They did indeed. I am sure the elves of Lórien must do it sometimes as well - one gets so much quicker to the ground like that than by taking the stairs." - She relaxed. "You're right. I see." She craned her neck to see if she might get a glimpse of them on the ground, but they were already far gone as Haldir knew. - "Where are they headed?" - "I suppose they wanted to see whether the caretakers are on duty today." - Daëra put the basket on the floor and started rummaging in it. "They are. The forest never stops giving us new tasks." - Haldir scrutinised the herbs and tried to distinguish any, but none of them grew in Mirkwood. "Then why are you here today?" - "The Lady Galadriel told me to look after your wound, since I know a little bit about healing. May I have a look?"