Enough Despair To Go Around

Calista spotted the footprints and got down off her horse. She examined them more closely and could see one set was that of a child. She swore to herself that she would not let anything happen to the child. She looked back at the guard and saw that he had taken out his dagger.

"Put that away immediately," she commanded. "Enough blood has been spilt today, don't you think?"

She began to carefully follow the sets of footprints.

"We aren't going to harm you," Calista called out. "Please come out."

Herbs hung over the kitchen sink and the house definitely looked lived in. It wasn’t dirty exactly but it didn’t take long for Eldarion to figure out just how poor these people were. Foraging baskets were stacked by the door and most of the furniture looked shoddy and home made. No one else was there though. The few rooms, one in which there were several small bed pallets made up, two with some kind of down stuffing, the rest with old, dry hay.

She heard a faint, muffled whimper from down low to her left. As rory complied with her demand to put his dagger away she saw two, terrified sets of eyes looking back at her from inside a large, thick, rotted log. One set was light blue, the other a darker blue and both belonged to girls. One maybe 4 or 5, the other maybe 9 or 10 by her estimation. Both had light colored hair but it was all mussed and ratty as if a brush had not touched it in a long time. Their clothes were poorly fitting dresses with many rips and tears in them. Once fine perhaps, now faded and threadbare. The girls didn’t run, those faces were resigned to what would happen next.

“Will you...will you take us away now?” The older one said almost indignantly.

Calista heard the whimper and immediately looked over to her left. She heard a bit of rustling and then spotted two sets of eyes staring back at her from inside a large log. She could see that both of them were girls. The oldest was no more than 10 and Calista's heart broke even more. As they crawled out she could see just how dirty and unkempt they were. She knew that they would not be able to survive on their own here. She slowly knelt down to their level and looked at the older one.

"I'm not sure what else I can do," she replied honestly. "What happened was an accident. We never meant to hurt anyone. Are you both alright?"

The older girl swallowed hard, her face was filthy and her were hands rough from picking berries and probably other things. “Ya kilt Paw an Demi...dincha?” The young girl said softly, her gaze distant and her eyes welled up with unshed tears. The younger one just stepped forward, her head down and hugged Calista as she began to sob.

Eldarion had seen what there was to see there. He exited the small hovel as the three guardsmen began to bury the 3 that were dead. The girl appeared to be maybe 11 or 12 to his eyes. The boy a bit older. The man was not old, maybe 30? He could not be certain. The graves would have to be shallow. They did not have the proper tools for more. His gaze shifted toward the treeline where Calista and Rory disappeared into as he began to make a small fire in their firepit outside. He hoped she was alright and also hoped that they would not find anyone.

Calista truly didn't know what to say. She felt tears come to her eyes as she felt the younger one put her arms around her and begin to sob. She felt responsible for them now and knew that she and Eldarion needed to take them back to Minas Tirith with them. She picked up the smaller one and held her in her arms and led the older one out of the woods. She could only hope at this point that the others were buried. She did not want the girls to see their family like that.

As they came out of the woods she was relieved to see that the bodies had already been buried. Eldarion had a small fire going as she approached. She wasn't entirely sure what to say to him, but he would see from the look in her eyes that she was extremely upset. She rubbed the younger one's back and looked at the older one.

"What are your names?"

Eldarion had rolled several stumps and a couple of the rickety chairs so that there were enough for everyone. After this he didn’t doubt they’d all need a moment to reflect on what had just happened. All of it only lasted moments but in those moments people died and either directly or indirectly by their hands. That was not what they were out here for. Troubling folk, killing their kin. He managed a blank expression when he saw Calista with two girls. One looked like she was maybe 9, the other was in her arms, perhaps 4? He could not be certain but their fear was real and their eyes made a stab of guilt drive into his chest. He sat with two other guardsmen on large stumps. He fidgeted with the fire with a long stick as the other men just looked glumly down into the fire.

“I’s Jenna ans she’s Minnie...we calls er Min. She na’’er talkin since mama died though,” she said as she eyed the joint of salted beef Eldarion had unwrapped to eat. He wasn’t hungry he knew and he silently handed it over to Calista.The girl was thin and wiry he saw, the younger one to and upon hearing that their mother was also dead he flinched as another pang of guilt stuck him. “I’ll...I’ll go check the horses,” he said and then briskly stepped away. Kailin, the head of their guardsmen held out a waxed paper that had a large wedge of cheese on it. The older girl’s eyes looked eager and she licked her lips as it appeared her mouth had begun to water. However she only looked at the food, not daring to reach out for it. The little one had buried her face in Calista’s chest when the guard came closer.

Calista could see from the look in Eldarion's eyes that he felt the same amount of guilt that she did. She needed to talk to him about what they were going to do with the two girls, but she didn't want to do it in front of them. She would wait until they were asleep.

"I'm Calista," she replied after Jenna told her their names. She could feel how skinny Min was and figured they both must be hungry. She could see Jenna eyeing the salted beef Eldarion had in his hand. He handed it to her and she took it. Then Kailin held out a wedge of cheese for Jenna to take. Jenna seemed hesitant so she took it for her. She then walked over and sat down with Min in her lap and began to give them both some of the meat and cheese to eat.

The two girls ate hungrily as they watched the guards warily. Min ate with her face still have buried in Calista’s chest. Jenna though sat and bobbed her legs back and forth as if she was no longer really afraid. “Is Nora kilt too?” she asked as she nibbled on the hard cheese without pausing. Her teeth were in surprisingly good shape and they stood out white against the yellow of the cheese. The mention of that name made Min clench onto her harder it seemed to Calista though Jenna seemed to take it all in stride as she made appreciative noises as she ate.

Calista was surprised by Jenna's rather blunt question. She hesitated for a moment on what to say as she felt Min grab harder onto her. She decided in the end that the girls deserved the truth. She sighed a little and nodded as she gently stroked Jenna's head.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," she said.

She made sure both girls were well fed and gave them some clean water to drink. As a treat she gave them each some candied fruit she had in her pocket. She then gave the girls blankets and they fell asleep by the fire. After she was sure they were asleep, Calista approached Eldarion.

"We need to take them back to Minas Tirith. There is no way they can live here alone."

The guards made a second small camp over by the horses. They erected their tents then sat down and quietly spoke about what had happened. Eldarion leaned up against an old, tall oak as he whittled away at a small piece of wood he held in his hands with a small, carving knife. He hadn’t done this in a long while but he needed to sift through his thoughts and decide what to do next.

He heard her approach him and heard what she had said. ‘Take them to Minas Tirith’. Surely they could but they had many miles to go yet in the opposite direction. They were actually much closer to Gehenna. Only two days from there though by her expression he knew full well she felt some responsibility for them. Leaving them at all might not satisfy her but they did have a duty to more than just two girls. No...two girls who just had their father and older siblings killed. In response, it was difficult to keep his face expressionless, he shook his head in disagreement and stopped his whittling to look up at her.

Even moderately unkempt as she was Calista was still quite beautiful though her eyes looked at him gravely. “No Calista...we can not,” he said in reply. “Gehenna is closer, my grandfather can see to their well-being. ‘We’ have a long way to go yet,” he said and made his eyes hard though it took real effort.

Calista knew that Gehenna was close and that his grandfather would not hesitate to see to Jenna and Min's well-being, but she ultimately felt responsible for them. She felt guilty enough over what had happened. It made her heart ache to think that they would just be dropping off these girls after killing the rest of their family with people who were strangers to them. She wanted to argue, but she could see from Eldarion's look that he had already made his decision and that there was no arguing. He might see a few tears come to her eyes as she looked away from him and slowly nodded. Her maternal instincts were raging that that point and she wanted to protect them.

The girls had insisted on sleeping with her that night and all 3 of them barely fit on her pallet in her and Eldarion’s tent. He slept on his bedroll near them and woke to the little one standing right near him. She looked down at him silently, her long, wavy hair a mass of tangles down her back. “Do ya have to go to the bathroom?” he whispered, he had alot of sisters after all and this was nothing new. Min tilted her head back toward Calista and her sister who still slept then nodded as she looked back at Eldarion, or the floor in front of him at least. “Alright, I’ll take you,” he said softly and handed her the small carving of a piglet he had made for her. She took it as he picked her up and stepped outside into the cool, morning air. He felt the girl shiver and he lifted up his cloak to cover her as he made his way to the outhouse.

Jenna woke when Calista did and she smiled up at her then looked around for her younger sister. “Min!?” She said in a panicked whisper. Of her nor Eldarion there was no sign. Outside the guards milled about, some were eating while others began to pack up the tent. The outhouse is at the back of the house and a bit away from it. The opposite side of the house from their camp. Eldarion stood outside as the little girl went to the bathroom. A part of him liked taking care of Min and his guilt had not helped either. When she was done she held up her arms to be picked up again, her little wooden piggy still tight in her grasp. “I bet you’re hungry...lets see if we can find you something to eat yes?” He said as if a question. Mind said nothing just buried her face in his chest as he covered her with his cloak as they came into view.

Calista let the two girls sleep with her that night. She slept with her arms around them in a comforting manner. She had a hard time falling asleep. She kept replaying what had happened over and over in her head and her guilt ate away at her. Finally, exhaustion set in and she was able to fall asleep...although it was not entirely peaceful. She was awoken the next morning by Jenna who was frantically looking around for Min. Calista immediately sat up and saw that Eldarion was gone as well. She hoped that he was with her...and not out looking for her. She got up with Jenna and the pair went looking for them. She was visibly relieved when she saw him walking towards her holding Min. It was clear he had taken her to use the bathroom.

After the two sisters were reunited, Calista made sure they both had something to eat. The two girls ate hungrily still and she herself ate only a little, giving the rest of her food to the sisters.

OOC-Do we want to jump ahead at this point?

ooc: did you want to convey the next two days where they become more attached to the girls? You could start a new thread with that bit then I'd come in after with them coming to Gehenna. I'm going to make it extremely difficult for Calista to leave those girls.

OOC-New Thread