Snyd couldn't help but fiddle with his belt knife, couldn't help but grin. There was a wonderful feeling that always came before a raid. One of almost childish wonder, excitement filling him at his own ignorance of what was to come. He had done this before, and so should know how the slaughter felt, but it never failed to become a fresh experience. Snyd loved surprises, and this had the look of a large one, and one that would require the use of the blade he fingered.
He fell back beside Jaheira, who glanced at him starkly. His presence was certainly not wanted, but he was used to that. "Why so sour, Jaheira? A raid, after so long!" He couldn't help the eagerness in his voice, and he shrugged off an odd look from Jaheira. "Sour? Me?" she asked, obviously expecting no answer. "As always," Snyd murmured with a grin. Sometimes, if he got her angry enough... "Have you heard of our destination?" she practically spat at him. Yes, if angry enough, she would spill out what Snyd wanted to know. "You know no one ever tells me anything around here." Jaheria snorted. "Of course not," she mumbled. Suddenly her expression grew dark and forboding, stern and...was there fear? "Lothlorien." She all but whispered the word.
Now Snyd understood. Glancing at Jaheira, he decided against his belief of seeing fear in that woman's face. It was all anger and hatred, now. What belonged there, really. "So..." Snyd shook his head, changing what he was about to say. "Why?"
"Why? We're going to help the bloody elf! And Vlad may see profit in it, but I see none! I see us all dead!" Jaheira was smart enough to keep her voice low, even as angry as she was, but still her voice seethed with hatred that stung Snyd as hard as any enraged shouts would have. He worked his mouth several moments, unsure of what to say. They were helping the elf? No, Vlad was. Vlad?
Though it made no sense at all, something else now did. Do you except my...offer? And the elf had thanked him. Why hadn't Snyd seen it before? He wasn't that slow in the mind. He found words to say, just to break the silence, crackling with so many dark emotions and thoughts, most coming from the woman beside him. "I see no profit either. And as to seeing us dead...I can hope not, but that usually means..." He swallowed the words he was about to say. He couldn't joke about that, not when... "I...see it to." Jaheira looked at him strangely, surprise contained in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, but Vlad was signaling them to silence and to move. Snyd was again ignorant, and anticipating a wonderful surprise. Childish excitement made him forget Lothlorien and his worries, as deep as they were. Stroking his belt knife, Snyd moved on into the darkness, grinning.
[ 4:56 PM December 05, 2003: Message edited by: Durelin ]
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