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It didn't take them long to reach the clearing again, and only when they reached it did Earendil let go of Miyuki's hand.

"Do you remember where they were when it fell?" he asked Miyuki, looking around. It was a bit hazy to him - but he had been more focused on the men, and not the shiny item.

"Go ahead and look," Earendil nodded.

He hoped she would find it. He didn't know if it had fallen straight down, of Celeb had found it and dropped it again when Cald had kicked him, or if Cald had kicked it somewhere else. He just hoped that Miyuki would be able to find it under all the vegetation.

Earendil was half tempted to get on his knees and help Miyuki look, but he knew he would be pretty much useless in the dark. Yes, he had keen eyes, but in the darkness that meant nothing.

Instead, he kept an eye out for anyone that might come around, just in case someone else decided to pick up on the interrupted wrestling match or something.

Earendil became even more anxious when Miyuki turned into a fox - what if someone came across them and tried to hurt her? But as the minutes passed and no one came, he relaxed - though when she changed back and said she had found it - whatever it was - he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good," he smiled, holding out his hand. "Come, give it to me and I'll keep it safe until we can return it to Celeb."

Earendil smiled as he took the trinket from Miyuki, and held it up to examine it. It would need to be cleaned as well ...

It was very pretty, he decided. It was a necklace, made of very fine silver links, and the pendant that hung from it was also made of silver. It had clearly been custom made: it was Haldia's profile, and out of the waves of her hair a roc appeared, part of her and yet separate and distinct.

Briefly, he wondered where Celeb had had it made. It must have cost a small fortune ...

He smiled at Miyuki and tucked it into his pocket. "I'll let you be the one to return it to him," he told her, quite proud of her, "since you were the one who found it."

Earendil chuckled softly and patted his pocket, the one that now held the precious item.

"Now let's go back to the village," he grinned. "Grab some food, talk to some of the people we met on our last visit. That is what we're here for, after all."

A few hours later, in the late hours of the night, Haldia and Celeb returned to the village. Celeb's wounds were not gone: his eye was still swollen almost to the point of being shut, and there was still a cut on his cheek as well as many bruises; but the bleeding had stopped, and there was a bandage on his forehead and around his ribs.

Earendil was in conversation with Kelirahc when they returned, and so he didn't notice them at first, but the two of them spotted the group and headed towards them.

Celeb grinned down at Miyuki as if nothing had happened, though the effort made him wince. "Hi, Miyuki," he said softly. "Glad to see you're all right. I didn't miss anything exciting, did I?"

Earendil looked up as Lin called after Miyuki, then glanced over at LIn. "Should we be going after her?" he asked her, wondering aloud.