Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Come see come see!" Arwen urged Lin excitedly. She pointed to the paper on her desk, then picked it up to show Lin.

"See?" she grinned. "It's a picture of Mama and me!"

And indeed, it was a picture of a tall elven woman and a small elven girl, though their features were far from distinguishable and their sizes far from accurate. Still, Arwen loved to draw, and she insisted that she was constantly improving - despite the fact that she still drew as if she were only five or six years old.

"Ummm ..."

Arwen set her drawing down again and looked at it thoughtfully.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I don't think so. I have to practice more and get better first, I think. But it's better than how I used to draw," she added proudly. "Someday I'll be really good, and then I can draw people just like Halmir can! He's really good, have you ever seen his drawings before?"

"You should," Arwen grinned. "They're really good, really pretty. Not exactly like real life, but ... better. It's kind of hard to explain, but they're really really beautiful."

She peered past Lin through the glass doors towards the dining room, then looked back at Lin.

"You better get washed up for lunch," she told her. "It's time to eat."

Five days had passed before Celeborn informed the others that they were close to the smaller group of hunters that they were seeking. They had enjoyed lovely sunny weather the entire way there, and Celeborn was certain that there would be nothing to stop Celebor and Donovan from trailing the slavers to their current position without him.

"If you go straight ahead here," he told Donovan, pointing, "you'll come to a bluff. Follow it. You should pick up their trail almost right away. I'll follow with the cart, but you can go quicker without me, and ... as decided, this is Celebor's chance."

He nodded. "Safe journey. I'll catch up to you by tonight."

Celebor also waved to Celeborn, then followed after Donovan, nudging his horse to catch up with his grandfather. After five days of almost straight riding, his backside was beginning to get a bit sore, but he said nothing of it.

He rechecked his bow and sword, making sure they were loose and ready to use at a moment's notice, his eyes on the back of Donovan's head. He was starting to feel a little nervous, knowing that the time of his testing was coming close, but he was determined not to show it.

Celebor's ears pricked up (so to speak) as he heard a faint noise coming from up ahead. He rode up next to Donovan and held up one hand to get his attention, then pointed ahead.

Yes, definitely two men ... in a language he didn't recognize ... and some children. One crying, the other comforting.

There was an advantage to having a sister who was deaf, and never before had Celebor appreciated the fact so much. He raised his hands and signed to Donovan, Two slavers, two children, just ahead.

Then he nodded forwards and signed, How should we do this? I have my bow, I can snipe if you need. It would be safer for the children.

Celebor nodded and dismounted from his horse, slipping the reins over its head and letting them drag on the ground. While the human might not hear them approaching, dwarfs, he had learned, had better hearing than the humans, though still not as good as the elves.

He took his bow off his back, made sure that his sword was loose and ready to use, then pulled an arrow from his quiver and nocked it, so that he could shoot with the littlest warning possible.

He looked over at Donovan, then mouthed, Are you coming with me?