OOC: I'm backtrcking a bit, FYI.
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Celandine shivered inside her cloaks. The air was cold, and the going slow. Many hobbits were having trouble withthe snow, knee deep in drifts and hampered by heavy clothing. Celandine was mounted on Catcher, and leading her other pony, Cockleshell. Catcher was fascinated by the snow, and kept sticking his nose in it and snuffling around.Celandine smiled through the cold. Very little could dampen Catcher's spirits. Cockleshell, however, was a very different matter. She kept tugging on her lead rein,and prancing about upset and even more unpleasant than usual.Celandine looked down at the other hobbits, wading through the snow. Perhaps I should offer one of them a rideShe thought.
"Let's break for lunch," Bullroarer cried over the howl of the wind. "Start a fire over there." As hobbits rushed for the tarps, Emerald, Gaddy and Daffodyl went to get wood for a fire.
Celandine swung down, wincing as her frozen toes connected solidly with the ground.
She froze, as a terrible howling reached her ears.
What's that", Branda blurted out.
"It's howling. Maybe the wargs have come." Dinadas ventured wih fear in his eyes.
Bullroarer turned to face the group. "Whatever it is, we need to find out, and fast. Grab your weapons. Now!"
Celandine hurried to comply, and grabbed her bow, hurrying to string it as she hopped along after the others.
She gasped, as she saw the predicament. The three wood gatherers were surrounded by a pack of snarling, slavering dogs.
Following her first instinct, Celandine shimmied up a tree,partly to make sure she herself did not get injured, and partly to get a better vantage point for shooting.
The tree was completly stripped of leaves, and it made climing easier. She swore as a large splinter decided to take up residence in her palm. But at least it wasn't her shooting hand.
She nocked an arrow to her bow, and watched carfully as a target presented itself. The pain in her hand made her aim unsteady, but the arrow did not miss altogether. it struck the beast in the shoulder.
Celandine fired arrow after arrow. Some found their mark, some went wide. All the while, the splinter was digging deeper and deeper into her palm.
Celandine reached for an arrow, but found she had used them all up. the hobbits were rushing back to the road, and Celandine very nearly fell out of the tree, and ran after them.
She stumbled back into camp, and was shocked to see Emerald, Daffodyl, Robin and Gaddy all wounded. Celandine, overtaken by exhaustion, curled up by the fire and fell asleep
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