================== Eldarin Calendar <in Sindarin> ===================
IC time is: Nighttime
IC day is: Orgilion <Stars-day>
IC date is: 72 Rhiw <Winter>
Moon phase: First Quarter <HIDDEN>
Earendil: Gil-Estel is not visible.
IC year is: Loa 17 o Yen 22, Nelandran o Endor <TA 3041>
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RL time: Wed Sep 26
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Golden Roadway - Northeastern Arc - Courtyard
You stand in a long open air courtyard that interrupts the Golden Roadway. The main body of the yard stretches out before you for about a hundred yards. In the center is a marvelous shimmering fountain carved from the purest white marble in the shape of a swan. Here and there, layed out in geometric patterns, are low rows of hedges and riffled through bushes.

Along the west edge of the yard lies the entrance to Lorien's Theater, an arching silver gate covered with twisting vines and satin white roses. Nearby, a marble stairway climbs the hill. To the east lies the stairs that lead down to a grove, sacred and beloved. The soft glow of a thousand stars is the only light on the quiet courtyard.

Contents:
Galharth
Rhibi
Galadriel
Mia
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~Picking Up Mid-Scene~

"I shall be in the Order," Rhibi says, as if such a thing were self-evident. Nothing yet has turned his mind from his long-desired goal. And though he no longer worships Mia, still, something of the old awe and admiration colors his future plans with glory. "And I shall keep everyone safe, and I shall kill those evil things." This time, his look takes on a slight tinge of defiance, but he stands very straight before her.

His tone seems to strike a chord in the old elf. Where she is usually cautious to spur him towards any sort of rambunctious activity, here she considers him with quite a taking-you-serious sort of look. She puts a hand upon his shoulder and bends her head towards him slightly, "I do not doubt this, Rhibi, and I shall be glad of you. It is why I worry so, you know. I need you to be strong and whole when the time is come."

"Goals envisioned do not always come to pass," A gentle voice calls out as a figure moves imperfectly along the hedge. "And one too eager can often bring about disaster not desired."

In the starlight, the Tailor's face comes into view. Still somewhat pale, but much recovered in the past weeks. "Well met," Galharth says, pausing his hobbling along with the use of his staff. "How goes this eve for you both?"

The weight of her hand on his shoulder is but a feather, but its warmth spreads through his body and unconsciously, the elven child smiles. Then he is serious again, though with youthful naivity and lack of full understanding. "I am strong! But," he tells her persuasively, "I must learn more. I am careful, truly I .... Galharth!" Rhibi turns with a joyous cry. "I have asked her, she says that we shall go and the Lord shall come with us and she herself as well!" A little creative editing of the truth? More, this is what the ears of hope have heard. "But we shall not go far, and I shall learn to be stealthy when everything is white."

Galadriel coughs at Rhibi's regurgitation of her statement, but hopefully the look with which she fixes Galharth tempers his understanding of the situation. The look then eases a bit and she smiles gently, "Galharth, how glad we are to see taking a moonlit stroll. You look well, truly. But well enough for a winter-time excursion....I did say 'perhaps', Rhibi."

Confusion flickers upon the Tailor's face, for indeed it seems he's walked into something that is slightly beyond his understanding. "To Imladhrim?" he mutters as he blinks his eyes several times as if the act would clear up the confusion. Turning his gaze towards Galadriel, his eyes open with understanding as she speaks. "Oh! The snow!"

"Perhaps?" Galharth repeats from the Lady's last words, "Certainly much different than tales of an outting with the Lord and Lady in tow." Clicking his tongue against the inside of his cheek, he shakes his head a the boy. "Rhibi, you should be a bard with the tales you tell."

"But he will say that we may," Rhibi says confidently. "I know that he will." That both Lord and Lady would like nothing more than to picnic in the chill winter and have snowballs thrown at them and statues made of their likenesses, is clearly evident in his mind. "No," he says to Galharth seriously, "I am not going to be a bard, I am going to be in the Order."

Galadriel raises her eyebrows at the certainty of Rhibi's statement, but unable to summon the strength to combat him further on it this evening, she simply remains silent on the subject. Instead, she turns her attention to the second topic, "The Order indeed." Her eyes stray to Galharth and she seems to trouble over him for a moment, "We will always have a need for the Order, alas." She seems unwilling to say anything else.

"Ah, well perhaps he will, and I'd hope you would have a good time." Galharth says with a slight frown. "Unfortunately, I don't think I'd be able to join you this winter, but perhaps we could plan to do it next winter as well." Shifting his weight as he leans upon his staff.

"And when do you plan to join the Order, Rhibi? Before or after this outting with the Lord and Lady? Or perhaps after your adventure to Imladhrim?" He asks, though there seems no enthusiasm in his words, almost as if the vision of the young elf joining the Order is one not entirely welcome. "Indeed, the Lady is right, it seems there always comes a reason for the Order, so I suppose you've got many years to come before you need to make your commitment."

"I have already joined!" Rhibi scolds Galharth. "Do you think that I watch at the gates only because I want to? I mean, I do want to," he adds. "But it is my duty, too! And sometimes, I watch at the borders. Though not by myself, yet."

"Is it ever really too soon to begin doing what you love?"

Mia appears on the path, a taught smile on her lips as she nods to those gathered. "I began my training in the cuigrithweg when I was a little younger than Rhibi. I think he is doing an admirable thing by learning now what his chosen profession might bring in the future."

To Galadriel, this seems a dangerous road to start down, "Learning, yes. So long as you are learning only and doing anything to endanger your reaching the future. But here, this is no talk for such an evening. Mia...Rhibi here wishes to see the snow. What do you think?"

Mia's eyes widen slightly, her smile growing. "I think snow would be fabulous, though it is a long walk to the northern border. Have you another way in mind, or is this your way of suggesting that I take Rhibi on a little hike?"

A smile touches on the Tailor's lips, and he raises a hand in defeat. "Clearly I know little of the Order. And I'd also point out that this is not the first time my knowledge and understanding has been questioned." Taking a deep breath, he suddenly looks in dire need of rest. "Perhaps I'm just too weary to think. Perhaps you can come visit me later, Rhibi and provide me with some measure of understanding." Nodding to the Lady, Rhibi, and offering a friendly smile to Mia, he turns and begins to hobble away, along the same path that he had come.

~RP Continued ~