[Durelin]

It was always an adventure attempting to bring his scout troop together. Calenvása thought of all the different twists and turns in the relations of these four elves. They were brothers, of the same race, fighting for the same home, the same cause, and against the same Evil. But it was impossible for them to find peace among themselves. And they sought to find peace for this world…for that was the bigger picture, or at least to the Captain, it was.

These moments of separation and silence were needed for the elves to find serenity, and hopefully cool off from any confrontations. Calenvása also hoped that it gave them time to contemplate things said and unsaid. He had felt strangely restless for days now, but the feeling was strongest as he watched the prisoners be loaded like things rather than beings. Restlessness, and a hatred that he had long kept under control, and out of his life, were not a part of the air he breathed. And though he knew that both these feelings were useless, even dangerous to harbor, they escaped from any tightly locked cages he tried to force them into.

The waiting that he had been forced to do had made his restlessness worse. He had been spending a lot of time waiting in these past days, waiting, in silence, with time to think. The Captain did not like letting his mind have too much time to think. It would inevitably take his heart’s worries and amplify them. Stopping his mind from doing so was hard to do, as the time passed, but now he focused on what his eyes saw, as was necessary, and his mind was soon under his control.

For the love of Eru, we must move!

It was an urgent cry from the mind of Targil, passed to his Captain’s mind. It shocked Calenvása, to know that Targil had spoken to him in such a way. First the elf had called him by name, and now he had been able to connect to the mind of his Captain. The urgency filled Calenvása’s mind more than the words, and he immediately drew himself away from his precarious hiding place. He stirred the leaves of the large bush he had found haven in as he practically sprang out of it.

Cursing himself mentally, he took a quick look at the camp from around the bush, and almost gasped aloud. He was close enough that his eyes could see another set staring near him, and a feeling ran down his spine as they moved to stare back at his. But these eyes were not yellow, nor were they filled with hatred, and no yells rang across the camp, spreading an alert. Feeling that this was a blessing, he sighed, relieved, and crept speedily to where Targil was hidden, taking a long loop so as not to be near the camp while on open ground. It took him longer than he would have wished, because of his caution, but he knew it was necessary.

As he approached, the elf turned his head, obviously hearing the quiet footsteps of his Captain on the soft earth. “We must gather the others, quickly. The wagon, it will slow them. We can move faster.”

Calenvása nodded, knowing that there were obvious strategic advantages to being ahead of their enemy. Now was not the time to discuss or argue, clarify or consider, but the time to move, once more. Targil and his Captain carefully gathered Lómarandil and Thorvel to them. On the move, the scout troop now making their way back to Dol Guldur, Calenvása found himself laughing quietly. “What amuses you?”

The Captain had forgotten Targil was strangely at his side. He simply shook his head in answer to the elf’s question. “Why did you wait for so long a time?” Targil asked, quickly dropping any concern for what Calenvása found amusing.

He was not prepared to answer a question such as that, and so his silence reigned over the conversation for a few moments. Then Thorvel came from behind them. Lómarandil was farther behind. “Why did we wait for so long?” Thorvel asked, as well. After speaking, he grew very grim. Calenvása knew it was from agreeing with Targil, and from sounding so cold when he spoke to his Captain.

Knowing that he could not answer with any words that might defend himself, he answered with the truth. “I do not know.”