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Kyrie looked over at Lin. "It depends on the country," she replied. "Some countries are full of travelers, others have almost none. Caras Galadhon ... sometimes has quite a few, sometimes not many. It really depends on whether or not there are people leaving their countries behind."

She shrugged. "We probably had nothing to worry about back there, but I haven't survived this long by being careless."

"Of all the places to run into someone, I do have to say that Caras Galadhon is probably one of the safest," Kyrie added. "Considering that most of the people who are traveling here are on their-"

Suddenly she was interrupted by a shout that came from behind the group.

With a curse, Kyrie whirled around, blades already in her hands.

Behind the group were two people, both elves: a male with chocolate skin and hair and a female with pale skin and flaming red hair. Neither of them were holding weapons - at least not visibly - and the man was standing in front of the woman, protecting her from the others.

The man said something in the other language, and Kyrie slipped between the others so that she could speak with the two of them. She lowered her blades, though she didn't put them away entirely.

Earendil glanced down at Lin and lowered his sword slightly. "What do you think?" he asked her quietly, nodding at the two who had come up behind them so suddenly.

While Kyrie spoke with the two, Daeron slipped off into the forest to make sure that there weren't any other surprises waiting for them while they were distracted.

Andarien was looking at the two travelers, intrigued by their sudden appearance, and he brushed past his parents so that he could listen in on the conversation that was taking place.

Eon of course didn't like his master taking this course of action, but when he stepped in front of Andarien, the youth just stepped over him and kept on going. Giving up on stopping him, Eon walked beside him, ready for anything.

Andarien grinned at Miyuki, not at all concerned.

"They're just asking for directions to the city," he told her. "They're the ones that passed us a few minutes ago but they didn't hear us then, then when we started talking again they heard us and decided to ask for directions!"

He glanced at the two strangers in time to see the woman step up beside the man, clearly unconcerned about the weapons that the group was baring. At the same time, Kyrie returned her knives to their hidden sheathes.

"I think we scared them at first, though," he added with another glance at Miyuki.

"They didn't yell, they called out to get our attention," Andarien corrected his sister patiently. Then he pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Though ... I guess if you didn't know what they were saying, you might call it yelling ... well, a shout anyways ..."

Kyrie and the couple finished their conversation, and the two strangers waved to the group and turned and headed back into the trees.

Kyrie turned back to the group and motioned for them to put their weapons away.

"It's safe," she told them, exhaling slowly. "They're looking for Caras Galadhon, the city. Starting a life together."

She smiled softly as she headed forward to take her place back at the front of the group so that she could lead them again.

"Wait," Iorlas called out, her brow furrowed slightly. "Daeron hasn't come back. He went to see if there was anyone else around."

"He didn't say," Iorlas replied, "but I'm sure he won't have gone far. And he's been traveling in forests for most of his life, so I know he'll be fine."

"Glad to hear you're not doubting me," Daeron's voice came from the trees near the group. He emerged at the same time, grinning. "I just wanted to double check that they were actually alone. I've been ambushed a time or two. As a matter of fact, we used to use that tactic when we hunted the slavers."

He returned to his wife's side and pressed a soft kiss to her brow. "It's safe, they were alone," he assured everyone.

Kyrie nodded. "Then we should keep going. We can get a few more miles in before we need to stop for the evening." She pursed her lips and looked around at everyone. "How do you all feel about doing some climbing?" she asked them.

"I'm always up for trying something new," Iorlas added, though a bit uncertainly.

Kyrie nodded. "Well, it's not ... the most difficult climb, where we're going," she told them, "but there are ways to make it easier, too, if we need to." She started them off again, turning once more to the north. "We'll camp at the base of some cliffs tonight, and tomorrow we'll climb them," she told the others over her shoulder. "They're not terribly tall, and if we go around them we'll have to go pretty far out of our way."

"We have a set destination and route?" Lancaeriel asked with a soft laugh.

Kyrie chuckled in reply. "If you'd like to see other settlements in this country, yes. Otherwise I suppose it doesn't matter which way we go."