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[gondolin_noble]

The air is sweet in the clearing Glorfindel had been using as a campsite, and the birds are singing a bright morning chorus. Asfaloth, grazing peaceably nearby, nickers a greeting as Glorfindel leads Sunshine through the treebranch doorway he'd found by accident.

There is no sign of habitation, human or otherwise - Glorfindel could have dropped them on an empty planet.

Comments

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine slows to a stop beside him, not too far away from the horse but also not so very close by.

"Fly?" she asks with an undaunted grin in between breaths. Her breathing is still quick, but is gradually slowing. "Won't our arms get tired?"

[gondolin_noble]

"Alas, but you have the wrong elf for that." He smiles, and crouches to offer a leg up. "Have no fear, he will not let fall any burden I ask him to bear."

[sunbaked_baker]

"There's a right elf for that?" she asks, only slightly incredulous as she moves to mount the horse.

Having visited Milliways for a few years leaves one with a very small capacity for incredulity.

However, visiting Milliways has done little to improve her experience with horses. She mounts with all the grace of someone who has been on a horse all of twice in here life. That is to say, not much.

[gondolin_noble]

Asfaloth (long-suffering horse that he is) doesn't even bother huffing at the girl sitting on him like a convenient sack of potatoes, merely standing until Glorfindel mounts (with that somewhat insufferable elven grace) in front of her.

"Hold on to me, and Asfaloth will teach you the meaning of speed." He instructs gleefully.

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine almost - almost - replies that she knows the meaning of speed.

But she isn't stupid. And that gleeful look on his face is kind of worrisome.

She holds on.

[gondolin_noble]

Glorfindel calls out to his horse, joyfully , and the stallion eagerly lunges forward. The gems studded in his headstall flicker and flash with movement, almost ablaze in the morning light. The tiny bells sewn to his tack jingle merrily in time with the rapid clipity-clipity-clip of his hooves against the ground. In front of her Glorfindel is a solid as a rock, as comfortable as if he were on the couch in front of the fire at Milliways. Around them the world opens up - first to the cultivated fields of the men who live in these parts, then to wild lands beyond, untamed and free.

[sunbaked_baker]

Later, if necessary, Sunshine will steadfastly deny any sort of high-pitched eep! that might escape her as the horse leaps into a gallop. As it is, she's quite thankful for Glorfindel's solidity. He's reassuringly wall-like. Steadying, for the girl feeling very high off the ground to be going so fast.

The view does a lot to get her to relax. It's a beautiful countryside, the leaves and grasses still wearing the almost impossibly bright green of springtime.

She laughs as she recognizes one of the crops growing in the cultivated fields. "It gets everywhere, I see," Sunshine grins, having seen very similar fields outside of New Arcadia.

[gondolin_noble]

"The hobbits adore it, and the Men become uncommonly cross when it runs low on patrol." Glorfindel calls back, laughing. "Wargs are better company in such a case."

[sunbaked_baker]

"I believe it!" she calls in reply, grinning. "I remember when my boyfriend decided to stop smoking. We put up warning signs around the coffeehouse."

Mel found it a lot less amusing than all his coworkers did.

[gondolin_noble]

The signs of civilization become farther and fewer between as Asfaloth churns through the miles, alternating between a smooth canter and an unavoidably rougher trot (and Glorfindel only laughs a little, honest, at Sunshine's riding when Asfaloth slows). As lunchtime nears, he lets Asfaloth slow to an ambling walk and shifts to eye her over his shoulder.

"Would you care to walk for a time?"

[sunbaked_baker]

Her riding is... a sad thing. Horses have always been things standing or wandering in wide open pastures. She's only been near a horse a handful of times, and only ridden one twice before, each for a relatively short interval. Sunshine has her doubts about her ability to stand without wavering, at this point. Her rear is numb.

"I think I could manage it," she replies, wry. "Though it might not be in a straight line for a while."

[gondolin_noble]

He laughs at her, but not unkindly. She has actually been fairly uncomplaining, given the strain of the ride. Asfaloth slows to an ambling halt, and Glorfindel dismounts, then offers a hand to help her down.

"Walk, then, for a time - perhaps the feeling will return."

[sunbaked_baker]

"From your lips to the ears of all the listening gods," Sunshine says, wryly, as she gets down from the horse's back with his help. She stumbles just a bit as she lands - a tiny step and a moment of questionable balance - the ground was a bit further away than she'd anticipated. Rae could've sworn she felt every bit of the massive height at which she sat upon Asfaloth's back, but apparently even she had been getting used to it.

With something of a wince, Rae digs the knuckles of her fists into the small of her back. She doesn't voice the thought aloud, but it's likely clear that she's thinking about just how sore she's going to be tomorrow. And the day after tomorrow. And the day after that.

[gondolin_noble]

He chuckles, low (and perhaps in a fashion that fails to be reassuring), before reaching into the pack and pulling out a small silver flask, elaborately etched with flowing patterns. He pours a capful of a clear, odorless liqueur for her, and hands it over.
"Drink - I must introduce you to one of the humans' horses some day, you will think Asfaloth then as gentle as a cloud."

[sunbaked_baker]

"I don't suppose horses are susceptible to bribes?"

Sunshine is, no matter what world she's in, a food person. Of course she sniffs at the capful of liquid, curious. And made even more curious at there being no smell. It'd be her luck that it'd just be water, but she drinks, anyway.

[gondolin_noble]

"Miruvor - there are still stores of it, in Middle Earth, though not for much longer." He explains, "And Asfaloth will go to the ends of the world for a honeyed roll."

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine can feel the smile beginning even before she finishes swallowing. The liquid resonates, lifting the spirit and easing superficial tiredness.

"I'll likely owe him a whole tray of honeyed rolls for his patience, by the time I get anything like used to riding."

And she'll likely owe Glorfindel even more, for putting up with her on this strange roadtrip.

[gondolin_noble]

"I wouldn't let him know it." Glorfindel advises, taking back the cap and storing the flask again. "Else he begins to expect it."

Asfaloth snorts his offended dignity and lips Sunshine's hair.

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine laughs, patting the horse's withers lightly. She's seen others do similarly to horses, so she feels it's a safe enough gesture. "Don't worry," she tells Asfaloth, mock-seriously. "I can tell he just wants them all for himself."

She wouldn't leave anyone out.

...provided she had ingredients for rolls, a way of baking them, and honey, of course.

[gondolin_noble]

Seeing as Asfaloth fails to revert to his warhorse training at her patting, evidently she guessed correctly in horsey etiquette. Both of them, horse and master, seem a bit distracted by something further down the road, beyond the next turning.

A few minutes later, the creak of wooden wagon wheels can be heard.

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine hears the wagon much later than both elf and horse, of course.

"Must be rush-hour," she says, lightly. Part of the city-girl is still marveling about how few people they've seen.

[gondolin_noble]

"... Rush hour?" There are no ponds nearby, so he is left completely befuddled. Well, somewhat befuddled - he's still sharp enough to make sure he's between her and the cart.

Just in case.

The Dunadain have done a marvelous job policing the green road, but it is still wise to be safe.

[sunbaked_baker]

"It's what we call times when there's a lot of traffic on the roads, back home, usually in the early morning and late afternoon," she replies. Pure hyperbole, of course, though the difference is reminding her just how far away from home she is.

[gondolin_noble]

"When you must put rushes down to keep carts from becoming mired?" He asks, his expression clearing. The cart is close enough now to see the shaggy little horse pulling it, the man armed with a cudgel walking beside, with another holding the horse's traces. There's also a dull clanking, from the bell on the cow walking behind.

[sunbaked_baker]

"Rather, everyone is rushing about, trying to get somewhere," she says, watching the cart and its people nearing them. Yeah, there's a man with a cudgel, but there's also a cow. It doesn't look to her like they're looking for trouble, just... trying to get somewhere.