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 Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 7:31 pm
Gaunt learned a lot. He certainly wasn't a natural, and he did take a few spills, but he wasn't hurt badly. A few scrapes and bruises, but otherwise he's still A-OK. He smiles softly as he passes the reins off to Ahren and nodding. "Thank you very much for teaching us today." He looks over his shoulder to Prince and Ian. "Did you two have fun today?"
"Yeah~!" Exclaimed Prince, looking excited that he managed to stay on the horse. Of course, since he was trying to protect Ian, he probably was a little gentle with the horse and didn't really try to do much of anything besides letting the horse do what it wanted, outside of following Ahren's instructions.
Gaunt nods and he smiles, letting prince and Ian go on ahead while he walked with a casual pace with Serenity, reaching out to try to recapture her hand. He had every expectation that they would be put in separate rooms tonight. He just wondered if either of them was brave enough to try to sneak into the other's room.
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 3:21 am
Ian grinned at Gaunt. "Yeah!" he cheered excitedly, his lilac eyes sparkling brightly. He ran ahead with Prince towards the house. "That was so much fun, Prince! Maybe we can do that again in the morning, before we go back to get my bow!"
He really loved riding with Prince - he felt safe, protected, much like when he was with his mom. He kind of wished he could ride by himself, but he knew he was too small for that.
Ahren smiled warmly at Gaunt. "It was my pleasure," he said honestly. "I'll see you later." And he took the horses and headed off towards the stable.
Serenity slid her hand into Gaunt's and laced their fingers together, smiling tiredly. Riding was a lot of work after all, especially for one who wasn't used to it.
"That was fun," she told him softly. "Perhaps we could come back and continue lessons from time to time?"
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 3:43 am
Prince nods and he cheers as he runs with Ian. "Yeah! And maybe we can ride horses too whenever we come back while Gaunt is at work!" He giggled.
Gaunt smiles and he lets their fingers lace together again and he leans over to softly kiss her. He was dirty and probably a little smelly. "Mmmn. I would like that." He smiles as they make it back to the house, and he slips his shoes off and stuffs his socks inside, letting him pad around in his bare feet while they looked for which rooms they were assigned, and the nearest baths.
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 3:55 am
Ian giggled and held onto Prince tightly so that he wouldn't fall.
"I bet we can!" he beamed. "Ahren's a really good teacher! He'll make sure nothing happens to us!"
Haradhel was just coming down the stairs when they came in, and she smiled at the foursome.
"Welcome back," she said warmly. "I hope you had a good afternoon ... I've prepared a hot bath, Serenity you go in first, and then I'll prepare some more baths for Gaunt and the boys once you're finished."
Serenity nodded and squeezed Gaunt's hand, then smiled at him. "I'll try not be long," she assured him; and then she headed up the stairs and out of sight.
Haradhel turned her attention back to the remaining three. "Come, I'm sure you're hungry," she said warmly. "Let's get you all something to eat."
She motioned towards the dining room, ushering them in that direction.
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 4:02 am
Prince almost ran into the carpet, but a sharp sound from Gaunt pulled him in and made him take his own shoes and socks off. He wasn't as dirty as Gaunt was, but Gaunt didn't want someone who was his responsibility to track mud all over the place.
Gaunt smiles softly and he nods. "We all had a good time learning how to ride horses. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I never really considered riding until now." He smiles and he nods as Serenity starts to slip away, returning the soft squeeze and reluctantly letting her go. "Take your time. Enjoy your bath." He then blinked at Haradhel and he glanced toward the stairs, then toward his body. "Ah.. I'm sorry.. Haradhel? Are you sure that's okay? I'm filthy. I don't want to get your furniture dirty." Prince, on the other hand, wasn't so hesitant. When Haradhel wants them to go to the dining room, he marches right toward her, his eyes alight at the prospect of food.
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 1:15 pm
Haradhel chuckled and motioned for Gaunt to follow. "I have a husband and two sons who spend all day, every day, getting themselves filthy," she smiled as she led them into the dining room. "An afternoon of riding horses is nothing. Of course, I make sure they all wash before they go to bed - that's where I draw the line."
The dining room was almost more like a mess hall, or a cafeteria, with long tables with benches on each side. There was easily seating for more than one hundred people. There was another door on the far side of the room, and that was where she led Gaunt, Prince and Ian.
Ian looked around, eyes wide. "This place is as big as school," he whispered to Prince, his tone filled with awe. "But if it's just the four of them ... why is it so big?"
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 1:30 pm
Gaunt nods slowly as he was eventually reassured that it was okay for him to be walking through the house when he was this dirty. He follows up the two boys and he laughs softly. "Alright, I understand." He smiles and he tilts his head, slowly looking around as they're lead through the house, wondering what exactly was for dinner. He slowly sniffs the air, trying to catch a whiff of something good.
Prince nods as he listens to Ian's question and makes a long, thoughtful noise. "Maybe this is where they feed everybody. Or maybe the get a LOT of guests!"
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 1:58 pm
Haradhel grinned at the boys. "When the hunters come back with a group of children," she explained, meaning the fighters who hunted down the slavers, "they stay here to receive medical attention and rest, and then once things are organized they're returned to their homes. Sometimes the groups are pretty big, so we need a lot of space to feed them all."
The next room was the kitchen itself, where a loaf of freshly baked bread was cooling on the counter. A stone oven was built into one wall, and there was a fire crackling underneath it and on both sides of it.
"I hope you don't mind just a bit of bread for the moment," Haradhel said apologetically, reaching for a serrated knife that was hanging above the counter. "Once everyone is washed and ready, we'll have something more. I've some venison roasting, I'm not sure if you like it ..."
"I've never had it," Ian piped up, "but it's Nako's favourite! I bet it's real good."
He nodded seriously, looking around at everything again.
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 2:31 pm
Gaunt and Prince nodded slowly at the explanation. It took a while for them to catch on what Haradhel meant, especially for Gaunt, since when he hears hunters he imagines them game hunting, not hunting for slavers. But it made sense after the explanation and he smiles softly. "I have to say that I'm proud of you, Haradhel. That you and everyone else here is here to completely take care of these slaves and see them safely home. It's quite the undertaking." He smiles and he nods, moving over to the sink to at least wash his hands, gently picking up Prince and Ian as well so they could do the same. He didn't want himself, or them, to eat with dirty hands. "Mmn. Thank you very much for the bread. And, like Ian, I've also never had venison. And so neither has Prince. I'm looking forward to trying it, though." He smiles over at the elven woman.
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 2:50 pm
Haradhel laughed softly, a faint blush sprinkling across her cheeks.
"To be honest," she admitted, "when we first moved here, Elrohir and I, some of the construction wasn't even complete, and the house was ... bare. Literally bare. Sure, there was furniture, but that was about it. I cried. It was like ... like moving to another world. But ... in time, we got used to it, and now it's home, more than any place has ever been before."
She looked thoughtful as she cut the bread into thick slices. "Do you recall seeing a two-floor house when you went to see Ulrich and Ulani?" she asked Gaunt curiously.
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 3:00 pm
Gaunt looks thoughtful as he helps Prince and Ian get clean enough to handle fingerfood without getting the food dirty. He turns around and he folds his arms over his chest, trying to remember the layout of the property they came to. "I... believe so.. Why?" He blinks and he looks at her.
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 3:05 pm
Haradhel set out the bread slices and put the rest of the loaf back on the counter.
"The woman who lives there, Shael," she replied, "she was once one of the children who were enslaved. You won't meet her on this visit, she's off traveling at the moment with her family ... but when she was rescued, she had been so badly beaten that she had no memories of her life before enslavement. Naturally, if she didn't know where she was supposed to be from, we couldn't take her back home, so she was raised here and never left."
She paused. "There were also two others who ... well, they went home for several years, but they came back here. A brother and sister. The sister lives in the valley now, she married Ulani and Ulrich's grandson. The brother, I'm proud to say, is now my own son-in-law." She smiled warmly. "But they moved to the Southland, so we haven't seen them in a long time."
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 3:27 pm
Gaunt nodded and parceled out the bread between him, Ian, and Prince, also setting some aside for Serenity once she was done with her bath. "Mm. I see. And because of the time difference you can't just go visit them, am I right?" He looks across at her and he smiles a bit. "Sometimes this place sounds exciting and yet peaceful, sometimes it seems lonely.. because while this place is home, and you are surrounded by friends and family, you are also effectively stuck here."
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 3:36 pm
Haradhel paused where she was, reaching to get some butter from a cupboard.
"Time difference?" she asked, her tone slightly confused. "I ... did Serenity not tell you anything about our world at all? Geography wise, I mean?"
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 3:45 pm
He blinks. He thought the Southland was through one of those portals, and he blushed furiously as he found himself looking the fool. "No.. Not really.. Just that the portal is hidden within a tree and lies practically equidistant between this place and Ulrich's.."
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