Part Three
Tsuki and Dale chose their weapons, Dale choosing his sword after all, and split the map and message container between them. They went to their own barracks then, to collect their packs. When Tsuki came to his cot, he found a slip of paper on it. It did not appear to have any writing on it, but Tsuki thought it must be a message for him. He lifted the paper to his nose to sniff and could smell the invisible ink. He took the paper to the stove that heat the room and held the slip near the coals, enough that it was heated.
Letters appeared, a message: You may rely on him so long as you do not indulge his madness.
Tsuki felt this message must be from the Brown, for though Elves had enchantments of there own, this manner of secret message was often used by Wizards, so much that they needed to devise other means for their most secret messages, as the method of reading this ink was commonly known to those who dealt with Wizards.
Tsuki tossed the paper among the coals and watched it burn. He the went to pack his bags, certain the resident Wizard was telling him that there was nothing to fear in accompanying the seemingly mad Elf, so long as Tsuki did not encourage his mad behavior. Tsuki had certainly witnessed Dale being most lucid and calculating.
They had agreed to meet at the stables and depart the fort together from there. Dale rushed to his barrack and quickly packed, concealing on his person those things he was not supposed to have, but had acquired all the same. He lifted the bedding of one cot to retrieve charcoal and rag paper; one of the men in his Company had asked if Dale could acquire them for drawing. The Man used the supplies to draw his companions, and landscapes of his homeland near the Great River and sometimes battlefields and faces from memory. The work seemed to keep him sane.
Dale used the charcoal to write a note. There were educated men in their Company, but Dale trusted the Halfling to be trustworthy and knowledgeable in letters. He wrote that his assigned punishment was going on a mission with Tsuki Eru and that his Company would be without his services until such time as he should return. Dale hid the note in the Company's secret stash of food, then picked up his pack and went to the stable.
Tsuki was already there, saddling his horse. Dale had not know which horse was Tsuki's before, though he had been to the stables when his own Company was scheduled to ride. It seemed an impressive horse, young and silver-white. It was the sort of horse a heroic Man might be thought to ride.
Dale went to his own mount, it had been with him not especially long, only since he had acquired the beast of a horse during the war. He took down the bridle and asked his horse, in whispers, for permission to fit it.
"Where did you obtain the Dark Lord's own steed?" Tsuki asked as he approached, leading his animal. Dale's horse was large and muscular, entirely black in coloring and its hair was so shaggy that Tsuki thought it must rightly be called fur. To Dale's credit, or that of the stablemaster, the fur was well groomed and shiny and the animal was unshod, as Elves' horses often were. Dale had made no answer but laughter, so Tsuki continued. "I suppose you get your wish."
"My wish?" Dale finished securing a blanket and his pack to his horse's back with a leather strap.
"At breakfast you said that you wished to ride."
Dale laughed wildly and then vaulted to the back of his horse. "Manner of speaking."
Tsuki nodded, not really understanding, but knowing that many things Dale said were strange. "You do ride bareback, then?" He asked as he put his foot to a stirrup to mount Moon-Halo. Elves did not often ride horses; it was a custom of men, but when speed or cooperation with Men was called for, Elves would ride, though they did not consider the horses property, but a brother creature who had given consent to carry them for a time. Tsuki expected that it was Elven of Dale to ride without a saddle.
Dale wondered how Tsuki could be so...innocent. "Mm, I dislike skins between me and my mount," Dale said in his mad tone. One finger pointed out the leather saddle as 'skins', Tsuki thought, but then a moment later he recalled the other things Dale had said at breakfast and considered that maybe it was not the saddle, but him seated in the saddle, which Dale's finger pointed toward.
"So, it is not only me to whom you were making advances."
"I was not making advances to you at all. What I did was for show, so that the others would not realize I simply wanted to approach with a sincere offer to acquire goods should you need them."
Tsuki rolled his shoulders, looked out to the yard and saw it empty. "Why should you want to disguise the fact you speak to me?"
"You must know, there are rumors about you enough without you being linked to me in any way. You were kind to me and so I wished to repay the kindness."
"Was I more kind to you than to others?"
"Let's get outta here." Dale leaned forward and whispered to his horse, whom he called Nightmare, and at the command Nightmare burst from the stables into the yard, reared, whinnied loudly and generally looked mad and out of control.
It was all show, Tsuki understood, at least the horse's madness was.
He urged Moon-halo into the yard with slight movements of his legs and
hands. The white horse walked to the gate with Nightmare circling it impatiently.
Tsuki thought the boots and cloak Dale had asked to take from his baggage
must be black. A rider cloaked in black on a horse such as Nightmare would
even frighten off Orcs.
The gate was opened for them and they rode out, picking up speed.
When they were some distance south of Stone Keep, Tsuki saw the black horse stop, and Dale dismount. "See anything?" Tsuki asked, as he reined in Moon-halo and pulled the rolled map from his pack, which was tied to the rear of the saddle.
"No danger," Dale reported. He had dismounted to better scout along their path. Tsuki had anticipated they should do this when out of view of the fort. He dismounted, keeping Moon-halo's reins in hand and walking toward Dale with the map. "Does he have a name, that beast? I see you do use a bridle."
"Nightmare."
"But he seems to be a stallion."
"He is. I do not even ride him often. Nightmare carries the bags and watches over me during the day. The bridle is for others to know he is owned."
"So you do consider him owned? Not 'brother animal'?"
"No. Not this one. I broke him, so he is mine." Dale leaned in toward his horse and stroked the fur of its neck.
"Was he wild? I would have guessed something like that had to be bred."
"Broke him of previous training. He's mine."
"Moon-halo has always been mine. His grandsire was My Master's own steed. I had this one gelded. The mares and geldings are better controlled."
"Better controlled," Dale sang.
"Must you do that...singing? I was only offering the information. We will be traveling together, for a few days at least, from the look of the map. We might each have to mind the horses at some point."
Dale laughed. "I do not think Nightmare will obey you, but Moon-halo should be easily controlled."
Tsuki frowned. "We have a mission to complete. We should plan our route and consider finding food and how to prepare meals."
"I travel by night. I am willing to make compromises on Ranger business, but I do not want to sleep during the night. If you wish to sleep at night, I suggest we allow ourselves two rests per day and sleep only as many hours as needed. If we make two stops and ride the rest of the time, we can still cover a lot of ground each day. We can each feed ourselves and keep watch while the other sleeps."
"Well, it does not seem a terribly mad idea, though I will attempt to find enough food to give myself two small meals a day. I could survive on one, but it is not preferable. You are certain you do not wish to share meals?"
"Let's think of food later. You had porridge."
"Our route, then. If we go directly south, we should find the road and then be able to follow it east to River Forge."
"Let me see the map." Dale took the parchment from Tsuki and looked at the ink on it. "A Man map. I suppose it to be rather inaccurate."
"You know this region in particular?"
"I know it somewhat, but I just suppose it to be inaccurate. It does not matter. The shortest path is a straight line. There are no mountains or large bodies of water before the river, on the map, so we should be able to make a direct path."
"It is more difficult to plot such a course. We could miss the bridge."
Dale sighed loudly. "How do your Instructors find you? When you were out on your training missions, did you survive well or go without food some days? Have you ever traveled alone or in small parties without store of food?"
"I find the training challenging, but my week of survival in the wilderness was not long ago and I found what I needed to make tools and obtain food. When I was a boy, My Teacher and I roamed the wilderness often, but that land was made of plains mainly and survival there meant hunting game, as there were not so many trees and plants. When I traveled to the fort, I was alone, but then I had my Wizard gear to aide me."
"I can survive on my own without visiting a town indefinitely, and not just in summer. I have done it...but I know that my ways of surviving are not what Men and Elves might do. Maybe not what is considered civilized." Dale looked away and scanned the area.
Not civilized, Tsuki wondered what Dale meant by that. "Do you suppose pairing us was meant as a challenge?"
"What do you mean?"
"We each got into trouble when we went into that town. Do you suppose Barad decided that we needed to learn some lesson to be better Rangers?"
"Could be. The longer I am at that fort the more I feel like I am being manipulated, but, I do still want to be a Ranger."
"Then we will have to cooperate. Could you plot the course? Could you find a specific town if need be, alone?"
"I suppose I am not often looking for a specific town, but I could come close, if the map is correct. I know the movements of the moon and stars through the year and they can tell me direction at night. I can find my way better at night."
"Well, if I had my lodestone or my bear pendant I could find north without fail....we are a good distance north, so the path of the sun should appear as if in the south to us. The sun is there now. I think that is south, and that is east and from the map we should go east-southeast, assuming we plot a direct course."
"What is a lodestone?"
"A stone prized by Wizards for its particular properties. It is a kind of rock which remembers the earth it was formed in and strives always to reorient itself in the same position, so that when floated or dangling the same side of the stone always faces north, the same side East and so on. It attracts metal containing iron. If you have a piece of iron. Like a flat shape put on a string or floated, you can charge the metal with the property of the loadstone and that metal will always orient north-south."
"You think The Brown knows of it?"
"He is a Wizard."
"So, they might give graduated Rangers these things to find their way?"
"They might, but I could not be certain. Wizards do not often feel they should share what they know."
"What's it look like, this lodestone?"
"Lustrous black iron."
"You think a Dwarf would know lustrous black iron if he saw it?"
"Possibly. Some men would know. Blacksmiths would know, as iron is used in their craft."
"I would like to find this stone for you, but I do not know about rocks and metal or where to find them."
"I would not expect you to. I am not certain how the locations of mines are chosen. Do you know flint?"
"I do. Makes good stone blades if you know how to strike it into the right shape."
"Makes sparks for fire if you strike it against steel. I do not know how to find it, however. I had been making fire drills anew whenever we were sent on survival training missions."
"We should really get moving. You do not need to plot east-southeast, you realize? You can just travel paths of direct south and direct east in proper proportion."
"You were the one who suggested the straight path." Tsuki checked the sun and began moving east.
"Yes, but you had suggested one long leg of our journey be south and one other be east. If you keep the segments short, the final path will be closer to a straight line."
"I understand. I will do my best to navigate these segments during the day. Perhaps if you use your method at night we will average out any mistakes we have made and find the bridge."
"What is a fire drill? Is it like the sticks?"
"It is a variation on one of the fire stick methods we were taught. You construct a device like a bow and the string loops the upright stick. Then the bow is moved instead of the stick and the mechanical advantage in it enables the stick to be spun faster with less effort."
"Mechanical advantage," Dale sang. "More Wizard words."
"It is not an evil device. It is made only of wood and string. I will have to make a new one. They take our tools we make each time we return after the training."
"I do not make tools."
"Then how do you make fire or eat? What did you do during your missions?"
"I just stayed outside of the fort and when I got hungry, I ate things. Sometimes I followed other recruits or watched them. They send so many out at a time, that it is not hard to find others."
"We were on our honor to work alone."
"I did not say I worked with them."
Tsuki did not reply. He walked on, scouting for anything that looked like it might be made into a tool or food. Riding would be faster, but he could not scout so well while riding, so for now he walked. Tsuki would feel better about the journey when he had made a few tools and collected supplies.
As well, Tsuki made a mental not to suggest to Dale, before they came to River Forge, that he not dance on tables signing lewd songs if they had opportunity to visit a tavern there. That, apparently, was what had gotten him in trouble last time. It was a guess, but Tsuki thought Dale must have passed on someone's advances, and they, having been drinking, must have thought the suggestive dance and lyrics invited their advance.
Dale passed by and walked on ahead, his horse following, though Dale did not hold the reins.
"If I am navigating, you should walk behind."
"You should walk faster."
"I am scouting."
"I am as well. Just tell me what you want and concentrate on plotting our course."
"But to be fair, I could not scout well at night, while you navigate."
"By night you should have what you need to survive at least until morning, so there will be no need and we will ride. Even if you cannot see very well in the dark, your horse should know to follow mine. They are social animals and I know mine has what it takes to lead."
Tsuki scowled at the veiled attempt to insult his own manhood. He was truly not sure what to think of Dale. He was speaking in tolerable Elven and not singing very much. He seemed to know what of what he spoke. He also seemed agitated, but not the way he would be if they discussed Orcs or Wizards. Those topics clearly set off something inside him that caused his mad behavior.
Tsuki lifted some dead wood from the ground and then mounted again. He lifted a corner of his cloak to make a hollow between his legs, and his knife from his sash with which to whittle. The shavings stayed in his cloak and thus he left no obvious trail but the hoof prints and possibly some broken twigs.
Tsuki looked up or gave direction to Moon-halo with his body to keep them on course, but otherwise he had little to do. Sometimes Dale handed him some thing he had found, mostly sticks of various sizes, sometimes lengths of vine, some herbs and berries.
Other things he secreted away into his own pack or into a pocket and Tsuki did not see them.
"Do you want leaves?" Dale asked.
"For what purpose?"
"To wipe your bottom if you have need to squat and there is no water to clean properly," Dale said plainly, "I have had enough Man-stink living in the fort and being assigned to Second Company."
It was not put kindly, but Tsuki supposed it a very practical suggestion. In the wilderness, one had to consider such things. "Yes, but you will be sure they look clean and are free of insects and their eggs?"
"I will even ask the trees for large ones." Dale went up an oak, asked it kindly for some leaves and took from the branches a number of large fresh ones. He gave some to Tsuki when he reached the ground and retained the rest for himself.
They continued, with Tsuki guiding their course and Dale walking ahead and sometimes wandering off a short distance to collect something. Dale said, "What color?"
"Pardon?"
"Your Wizard."
Tsuki did not think it wise to speak of Wizards to Dale, but he had been asked. "I believe he was latest The White."
"That's very high up, can't be many of them."
"My Master is very powerful."
"You said his horse was the grandsire of yours?"
"Yes."
"And its sire?"
"My previous horse, which has since died."
"So, should I understand that you have not actually lived with your Master in the time you've lost a horse and raised its foal?"
"Yes."
"Then, it has been years."
"Eleven."
Dale stopped, turned and looked up at Tsuki. "You have not lived with him in the past eleven years and yet you still call him Master?"
Tsuki was not certain how to answer that, but it was true. It had been eleven years since His Master sent him away.
Dale observed that Tsuki was troubled by the answer he had given. Perhaps he did not want to believe it had been so long, or that he was without His Master or a master. "Perhaps later. Do you know our position? Are there any good landmarks at all on that Man map?"
Tsuki tucked the spoon he was carving under his arm and consulted the map again. "No useful landmarks, just open terrain."
"There is land here, the map simply does not mark it well."
"Do you really dislike things that are not Elven?"
"Not all, but many, but it is also true that I dislike some things that are Elven." Tsuki did not seem content with that answer, but Dale could not explain. "Let's forget the map for now. I asked about our position, because I think there might be water nearby and if there is, we might stop there."
"Yes, all right, if you can find water. The horses need more than we can carry comfortably in our skins."
Dale moved off in what Tsuki determined to be a northerly direction. Tsuki held the corner of his cloak and dismounted. He led Moon-halo after Dale. Soon, Tsuki could hear the sound of running water that Dale had already been following. There was a small stream that from its banks seemed it must grow wider in the spring when winter snows melted. Now in summer, it was narrow, and though running, rather slow.
I will sleep here, soon," Dale said. "Wait. I will go look for something and be back soon."
Tsuki watched as Dale walked upstream. Tsuki led the Moon-halo to the stream and hoped Nightmare would know to drink. As his horse was drinking, Tsuki took down his pack and put it on the ground near a tree. He removed his cloak as well, thinking that the day was growing warm. Tsuki went back for the saddle, to relieve Moon-halo and then began sorting through the supplies they had gathered and the contents of his pack.
Dale had found wood suitable for making drill, bow and arrows, some greener than the rest. There were some vines that might serve to string the bow. Some sinew would be better. Tsuki had learned to butcher the animals they hunted as a boy, but one did not hunt with a sword, so the vine would have to serve. Dale had even found some feathers.
There was not very much to eat. Tsuki supposed he could combine the berries and herbs with water to make it feel like a meal. Firstly, he needed sufficient dry wood to make a small fire and then he might at least boil water.
Tsuki was just building the frame for a fire when he saw Dale approach. He dropped some rocks to the ground near the firewood. "Flint!" Tsuki said.
"Yes. I knew where to look. It grows in chalky earth, where there are rivers, or once were. This is small water, but still, I found some. Do you eat frog?"
"Frog?"
"Or is that uncivilized?"
"I suppose those sort of creatures are edible. I do not recall eating one."
"Well, if you think it uncivilized, you may have the fish. I could only find one, and it is not very large." Dale showed that he was carrying a fish and a frog in his cloak. They were both dead and Tsuki supposed Dale had broken their necks, if such creatures could be said to have necks.
"Do you know that this particular frog and fish are not poisonous?"
"Yes. They are safe, as is all the food I gave you."
"Then I shall eat the frog."
"Right. So, cook up my fish. I'm gonna sleep."
Tsuki put the dead fish and frog atop his pack and continued with preparing a fire. He piled up his wood shavings beneath the frame of wood and struck a piece of flint against his knife until the sparks ignited the thin strips of wood. It did not take long and Dale was still removing his cloak and jacket.
"Why do you speak in that manner?" Tsuki asked, "I thought at first...I thought you might be crazy, but it is not that. I have seen you so lucid, and whatever tongue you speak is still pronounced strangely."
"Vale Elven."
"Pardon."
"There are various sorts of Elves. I'm a Vale Elf. I'm from the Valley."
"Yes, I know what 'vale' means...a Vale Elf named Dale?"
"I did tell you it was not a very good name. Mapulinanlóme means, basically, Shade of Maple Valley."
Tsuki understood that this valley populated with maple trees must be the homeland of Dale's people, though he had not heard of them. "Why do the other Elves call you a spirit of the dead?"
"Because the Vale Elves were killed by the Orcs." Dale climbed the tree between Tsuki and the water, carrying his cloak. It was a maple tree, but its leaves were all green.
"Are you the last one?" Tsuki asked, quietly, though Dale heard him.
Dale found branches to cradle him and curled against the tree trunk. "Maybe not, but there is nothing such as a viable population. The survivors were very few and went to live with other Elves."
Dale had mentioned living with other Elves, he seemed to refer to many Elves that way, as 'Elves' and not 'my people'. "Do they call all surviving Vale Elves ghosts, or is it only you?"
"Me," Dale called.
"Why?"
"Because the Elves heard stories that something was in that valley, something bad...lethal. They went in, thinking they might find Orcs and avenge my people, but they only found me, alone."
"And...?"
"No more questions," Dale said from the tree. He did not want Tsuki to ask in what condition he had been found. Dale might tell him. "Perhaps much later. Much later. I want to sleep." He pulled his cloak over him, to hide himself, and to block the sunlight.
Tsuki did what he could with the food. He got the few cook pots and utensils the Rangers had issued him, but he missed the Wizard made cooking kit that he had used in the past. He built up thicker logs either side of the fire to rest the pan upon, not having a proper grill. As it heated, he beheaded the creatures and removed their innards through their backs. Tsuki removed the bones he could find in the fish and then rubbed fish and frog both with some of the herbs he recognized. The fire seemed too hot to cook the meat, so Tsuki filled his pot with water from the stream, covering the pot with the square of cloth that was sometimes flag or bandage potholder or personal accessory, so that the water entered and none of the small things living in the water. Tsuki put the pot inside the pan and as the water heated checked the berries for their condition then added them to the water. When the berries had stewed somewhat, the fire had died from lack of new wood and Tsuki arranged his logs such they he could lower the hot pan and cook the fish and frog over the hot coals. When they seemed almost done, Tsuki flipped them in the pan to heat from the other side.
Stewed berries and pan-fried frog did not seem the best sort of meal, but Tsuki was not a cook. He had prepared meals in a Wizard kitchen, but there they had many devices to make work easy and controlled heating elements and tomes of recipes for dinners as well as potions.
The frog was tolerable. Tsuki ate only a little of the berries. He supposed they should be further reduced to forma syrup to make a drink, or somehow chilled to make an exotic desert, but that would be better if he had sugar. If he had sugar, he might have made preserves, but the point was to have food for the immediate meal, so Tsuki supposed he had failed this test. Perhaps chilled in the mountain stream and eaten whole would have been best.
Dale had said he made no tools, so perhaps he only ate food as found. Tsuki wondered if he ate meat when on his own, and whether it was cooked.
Tsuki set the herbed fish and stewed berries aside from toe coals, tidied up the area and then foraged. He did not go far from the horses or Dale's maple, but kept them in site. Some blackbirds had gathered on a low branch of the tree Dale slept in, but as the food was covered, Tsuki did not worry. He found some greens he was certain were edible and put them in the pan, should Dale want to eat them.
Tsuki sat and attempted to construct a bow and arrows.