The bright sun inn

[Helkster]

Hirilaelin

Hiri held a hand out to the dazed girl on the floor, and shot a reproving look at Helky, who was laughing outrageously. "You know Helky, you have to stop killing everyone that annoys you. It's really not..." He cut her off. "It's really not very nice," he said mockingly in a sing-song, girlish voice. Rolling her eyes, Hiri hoisted Menelien to her feet. "You ok?" Mene grinned.

"Yea, I'm fine, just a little dazed."

"Helky goes a bit... Overboard at times," replied Hiri, glaring at the elf, who was still laughing. Giving Mene her chair she turned to Helkahothion. "Shut up you idiot! Next time you do that..." He cut her off again, speaking in the mocking voice again. "I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget!"

"You know, I think I've had enough of this. I'm leaving." Instantly, Helky's laughter stopped. "Oh come on Hiri," he said in a softer tone. She didn't reply, but picked up her abandoned cloak and settled it about her shoulders, and shrugged the pack onto her back. Mene watched her carefully. "I'm all right, really," she said.

"Oh, I know. I just should have known that coming here would be trouble. That arrogant, bruteish idiot, running an inn?" Hiri snorted derisively.

"Oh come on Hiri, you know I was joking."

"Well, I'M SICK OF YOUR JOKES!!" Hiri yelled in his face. "I WILL LEAVE UNLESS YOU CAN SHOW SOME SELF CONTROL!!" Her face had turned bright red now, and her green-grey eyes twinkled with rage.

"Look, I'm sorry, it won't happen again," he said in a apologetic tone.

"I bet it won't."

"No really!"

Menelien spoke up, grinning. "You know, if you leave, who's gonna keep Helky in line?" Still glowering, Hiri sat back down.

[Helkster]

Helkahothion

Helka nodded at Menelien.

"Hehehehe, she bought it again. Appolagies, man she is so lightly touched these days. She is getting old."

"I still hear good Helkahothion. Watch your words."

"Even the brightest elven eyes can't see words dear Hiri. But I can mind my tongue."

"That would be splended."

[Helkster]

GaladrielOTO

Menelien, having recovered from her smash, sat quietly in her chair, while Helka and Hiri threw mock angry remarks at each other, listening, watching, and... planning, trying to keep any evil look which could easily alert somebody to an incoming punch at bay.

[Helkster]

Hirilaelin

For a couple of moments Hiri sat in her chair, shooting nasty looks at Helky. Then she spoke. "Well, it looks like I'm going to be staying for a while, so I suppose I'll need a room. Are there any available?" she asked Helkahothion, her voice rather icey, and acting like he was a total stranger.

"Yea, there are a couple of rooms available. How many nights will you be staying?" He returned politely, in the same tone of voice Hiri had used.

"I'll just play it by ear."

"I'll take you to your room then. Do you have any luggage?" They were still talking very politely.

"No, thank you, I do not. All that I carry is on my back." Hiri gestured to the battered pack.

"Follow me then." Helky turned, walked across the room, and up a flight of stairs. Menelien watched the scene with amusement clearly written across her features.

Upstairs Helky unlocked the door of a large, open room. "Your quarters. Please ask if you need anything else." With that, he left, decending rather noisily down the stairs back to the common room of the inn. The room was spacious and filled with the light that streamed in from a large glass window. In the corner, there was a bed, draped in white linens. A fluffy well-filled pillow sat at the head. On the other side of the room from the bed, there was a small vanity and stool. The bedside table had a silver water pitcher and cup, sitting in a basin. Beneath her, the floor appeared to be solid oak. "Even if Helky is a complete idiot, it is a very nice inn," Hiri thought to herself, tossing her pack by the window and sitting on the bed.

After hangng her cloak on one a hook in the middle of the door, she proceeded to unload her pack, talleying the contents in a mutter. "One dagger, with leather bound handle, two long knives with gold etching, one leather pouch, with exactly 23 gold coins, 10 vials of assorted poisons, one silver hand mirror, 3 old iron arrow tips, and a dagger attachment". She looked fondly at her staff, which she had brought up with her. The object she had just counted seemed to be a rather large curved dagger. However, the handle was missing, and instead there was a spiral of wood. She screwed the dagger-thing into her staff. "Yes Helky, blades are faster..." she said quietly.

As she was tucking her personal effects into the drawers of the vanity, she heard something. A dull thud-thud-thud, coming through the wall. What was going on? The sound seemed to be emmanating from the stretch of wall above her bed. From the room next to hers... Opening her door, she went out into the hall. Above her neighbor's door, there was an elborate arrangement involving a full bucket of water whoes function seemed to be to dump water onto the occupant of the room when the door was opened. Frowning, she dismantled the device and opened the door. Across the room, an elf who looked to be her own age was pounding vigorously on the wall. She stopped suddenly as she became aware of Hirilaelin's presence.

"Oh thank you so much, Anuion decided that it would be funny to trap me here, and..." She broke off her stream of thanks, and stared at her rescuer. Looking back at her, Hiri felt the tug of recognition. "Aranel?" she said uncertainly. The elf was staring at her just as avidly. "Hiri?" she said slowly. "Aranel!!!" Hiri cryed, recognizing her old friend at last.

[Helkster]

Helkahothion

Anuion heared the rackage. He hear someone screaming Aranel. Anuion just figured that someone had some very disturbing dreams. But in Aranel's room talking started to rise. Anuion got up since his sharp elven ears picked up more than they allowed. But he could not hear words. Tough the sound started to get louder. Anuion stepped up and walked trough the room, with as usual, his dagger strapped to his side. He walked to the other room and found the bucket on the ground.
He stepped in and saw Aranel talking with Hiri. Anuion had seen Hiri when he was only 23 years old, and his memorie of her had faded away.

"There he is. Anuion, if you place a bucket over my head one more time, I'll tell your father." Aranel shouted at him.

"Do you actualy think he would mind. He punches people trough chairs for fun, a bucket of water is childplay."

"Who is your father then Anuion?" Hiri asked.

Anuion laughed. He pointed downstairs and Hiri understood right away. The memorie of the little boy came back to her memory.

"You are the son of that craving lunatic?" Hiri said amazed." It makes sence now. Definetly not your mother."

Anuion heard the remark and imediatly turned away and left the room. He locked his own door and left the key in the lock. Seconds later, Hiri knocked on his door.

"Anuion, come out, you know I meant nothing with that remark. Please Anuion, come out of there. There is no use in locking yourself up again."

"Go away!" Anuion shouted with tears in his eyes.

"What is that all about?" Aranel asked.

"His mother died when he was young. Very young."

[Helkster]

Sapphire_flame

"Oh, right, I remember now." It was hard to remember that sometimes; Aranel had only been 10 at the time. Anuion was very sensitive about it. It was almost surprising that Hiri had taken a blow at him with it.

"He knows I was kidding," Hiri said.

Aranel shrugged. "Maybe. But you do know how touchy he is about that." She went an pressed her ear to Anuion's door; she could hear him crying. Lightly, she knocked on the door.

"Anuion?"

"I said go away!"

"You told me no such thing. Anuion, please open the door, I want to talk to you."

No reply. Aranel sighed dejectedly. "Be iest lin," she said, and went back to her own room. She'd forgotten how moody that boy could be.

[Helkster]

Hirilaelin

Feeling quite awful, Hiri joined Aranel in her room. She shouldn't have said that to Anuion. But she had been only kidding. Not at all a good first meeting... She hadn't seen the boy in ages, and the first thing she did was to send him to his room in tears. "Hey Aranel, could we talk later?" she asked her friend. "I need to repare some damage."

"Go ahead, I'm staying here for a while, there'll be other chances to talk. And thanks again for saving me," she said, smiling.

"Thanks." Hiri walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Walking to Anuion's door, she pressed an ear against it. He was still crying, but not as hard as a minute ago. Knocking softly, she said, "Anuion? It's Hirilaelin." The crying abruptly stopped.

"What do you want?" came the muffled reply.

"To talk. I'm sorry about the comment I made. It was thoughtless of me."

A moments silence. Hiri waited, her ear still pressed against the door. Then, she heard the sound of the latch opening. Drawing back, she waited. The door opened a sliver, and a pair of eyes looked out. "Anuion?" said Hiri hesitantly.

"Come in," he said rather gruffly, opening the door all the way and allowing Hiri to step inside. He had been crying, but looked quite composed.

"Um.." Hiri began awkwardly. "I'm sorry..." Anuion nodded, offering her a chair. Sitting, she looked at him. He looked almost exactly like his father, the same dark brown hair that you would call black, tall and lithe. A spitting image. Except for the eyes. She assumed that he got those from his mother. They were a startling blue-brown. She had never seen eyes quite that shade. He had grown up. He was sitting on the bed, slumping a bit, looking at her.

"...yes?" he said.

"I'm sorry."

"I heard," he replied dryly. "You're lucky I'm not quite as violent as my father. If I was, you'd be smashed through that chair right now."

"Yes, I know," said Hiri nervously. She hadn't ever met him, except for when he was a very young boy, and didn't really know how to converse with him. But he took the conversation into his own hands.

"You're Hirilaelin, aren't you?" he asked, his former mood fading like a summer storm. Quick to come, and violent, but blows itself out quickly. "One of my dad's friends."

"Er, well, I suppose. He's a bit older than me."

"Yes... So I'm a bit younger than you, no?"

"I think so. I met you when you we're just a kid, I think," Hiri said, sifting through her memories.

"Yea, I remember you. A tall elf, for a female, long braid..." Hiri nodded. "How long ago...?" he trailed off, trying to calculate the years past.

[Helkster]

GaladrielOTO

Menelien sat slumped over a table, dying of boredom once again. Helka had taken Hiri upstairs, and both of them had disappeared, though seemingly in different directions. She felt like taking a few drinks, but she knew how that would probably end, having ended up swinging on a chandelier with a wild animal of some sort a few months before at a hugely long birthday party which had started innocently with only a glass of beer...

Having nothing better to do, Menelien folded the assortment of things that seemed to have somehow found their way into her lap into the edge of the tablecloth and put her hands in their place, playing some simple hand game she had learned as a child in Mirkwood. Sighing again, she thought: "This is going to be a long day..."

[Helkster]

Helkahothion

"About 2 and a half thousand years ago. It's suprising I can even remember you. Hm, odd. How come I can remember the long braid?"

"You were hanging from it." Hiri replied relieved and laughing.

Helka went downstairs and saw Menelien playing with her hands. He walked over to her, removed his hair from his sight and took a seat acros the table. He soon joined in the little handgame and they were playing the childish thing for over 15 minutes. They both got bored and Helka decided to lead Menelien to her room as well.

The rooms were all the same. Helka had no need to make different rooms. He never did since he hated classes. The only difference was the view. So that he could make some money out of the snobbish rich people. When Menelien was in her room, Helka went down to the kitchen. The help was already to bed and Helka put out the fire. He went to the back of the kitchen and took the left door. The right was the other bedroom. Helka went trough the tight hallway and opened the door on the other side of it, with the hatch next to the door, so he could assist the late night visitors. Helka got his dirty cloth in a washing tub and went to bed himself.

2 'o clock in the morning


As he heared strange noises outside, Helka opened the small wooden trapdoor to see what was going on. The second he looked outside, a big monsterous being jumped at the hatch. Helka quickly closed it. The thing smacked to the wall and was knocked back by the blow. Helkahothion cursed heavely as he got to the closet to take out his javelins and broadsword. He shouted heavely so that Bordarigorn and the others would wake up.

Many of them had heard the blow and the growling and were down when Helkahothion arrived in the common room. Qynne had a terreble look of fear on her face, but the others looked determent. Bordarigorn had his weapons already with him, so did Anuion. Helkahothion stood by the door, with one jerk it was opened and the elves and man stormed outside leaving only Qynne.
Helka nodded outside, but Qynne said she would watch the door. Without hesitation, Helka stormed out side and threw a javelin at the thing.

It was big and black, altough so it seemed. Anuion and Bordarigorn had shot their quiver empty in it and Helkahohtion was throwing spears. Arananel, Hirilaelin and Menelien, were also shooting arrows. Bordarigorn had the guess correct that this was the beast that had been hunting Qynne. He charged forward, and jammped his spear in the creature's neck. It jumped, raizing himself to his backpaws and with a hard swing, Bordarigorn was smacked to the Inn wall.

"Hey watch it, it was a hell of a job building that Inn you know." Helkahothion shouted at the man. Bordarigorn got up, sword at the ready and plunched forward. Anuion had jumped on the back and with his sword in the beast holding on, he was cutting it open with his dagger. Menelien took her sword and charged forward. A firm blow right in the stomach. But the sword was jammed and left the elf-woman un-armed. The beast's head shot at her, but was interupted by Bordarigorn's blade. His bottom jaw was torn down by the steel and only hanging from little bit's and pieces. Now Menelien and Hiri charged and with their mighty blow's finished of the foul creature.

Qynne, who had seen the fight from a distance, ran to them as soon as danger had passed. She looked at the terrible monster that had been hunting her for so long. The beast was close to death, grabbing on to it's last breath. Bordarigorn nodded at the girl. She took out her dagger and stabbed the monster in the head. The last blow was for her friends.

[Helkster]

GaladrielOTO

"Well..." said Menelien, checking the cut she had received on her upper arm, "I got my action. Are the rest of you all right?" she asked, receiving a chorus of yeses and fines that reminded her nauseatingly of her school years.( )

"Thank you, by the way, Bordarigorn," she said. "I could have been chopped up there, and then I wouldn't have had a chance to annoy your friend's father about grammar any longer," she added, glancing at Helka. "Drat," he said. "You're alive."

[Eruanne]

OOC: Those from Helky's crib will know me as Hirilaelin. But I'm Eruanne here, though I'm going to continue my character as Hiri. ;D

P.S. for the Helkster: Why was I shooting arrows? I don't have a bow! I was been in there with my quarterstaff and knives.

* * *

"Fine," Hiri called in answer to Menelien's question. She wiped off her knives and the blade of her staff on the dewy grass, then on her pant leg. Sheathing the knives, she heard Helky say to Mene, "Drat. You're alive."

"That's right. That's too bad, isn't it?" was the sarcastic reply.

Bordarigorn was holding Qynne close to him as she stared at the dead monster. In the feeble moonlight its huge grey form almost disappeared into the shadows. Moving closer to the couple, Hiri asked tenatively, "...what is it? Looks like a troll."

[Helkster]

"Well, then it's a headless one now." Anuion said as he chopped of the head of the monster.

"Why did you do that for?" Hiri asked.

"So it won't come back and charge us in the back. Monsters oftenly faint they are dead you know."

The rest of the group settled in the main room once more, but Helka had enough of it all. He beckoned all the guests to bed. There was enough time to talk about this in the morning. He wanted some sleep too, being an Innkeeper was not good on your stamina and the Elf needed his rest. He took the bow of Hiri and placed it back in the arms rack next to the door. He locked the arms rack and stuffed the key along with the others back in his pocket. When the guests had all returned to their rooms, Helka got to his own bed and was fast asleep, wandering what next morning would bring.

8 'o clock next morning

[Remembrancer]

The next morning, Qynne shuffled down to the common room of the Bright Sun Inn yawning. She sat down at a table near Bordarigorn as Helkahothion made coffee or tea for Menelien and Hiri.

"I'm sorry," mumbled Qynne to Helkahothion on one of his trips from the kitchen to the tables.

"For what?" asked Helkahothion after handing a cup of tea and a mug of coffee off at Bordarigorn and Qynne's table.

“Leading the it here and endangering everyone here,” replied Qynne, sipping her tea. “I should have kept moving after staying here so that it would not have attacked here. But I was so tired and I had been running for so long! So I led it here, without meaning to.”

Where is it from? What is it?” asked Bordarigorn.

“It is from the east, its cavern home is within walking distance of the East Sea. We were exploring there, my friends and I, and we didn’t even think to search the cave. They were too excited to see the sea again, and I was too busy charting everything,” explained Qynne, pulling a folded piece of parchment from her pocket and unfolding it to show Bordarigorn. “It attacked while they were exploring the coastline, and I was back at camp sketching everything to map. I tried to help, really I did! But you know, Bordarigorn, I’m no good with weapons. The thing took Gilnar first, and Morluin and I were going to go and rescue him…but the thing took us too. There were only two of us…but Morluin distracted the creature and told me to run for it and I did. I wasn’t thinking! It followed me, all the way here. I still think they are alive though, the thing couldn’t have had time to do anything with them!”

Qynne pulled out her quill and ink and labeled the map in Bordarigorn’s hands. On the eastern coast of Middle-Earth she labeled a cave and wrote, “Gilnar and Morluin taken” and by the general spot where the Bright Sun Inn was, she wrote, “Creature defeated.”

“Thank you,” said Qynne gratefully, pocketing the map.

[Helkster]

"Apologize? My dear girl, it was the most fun we had in years. It was a while back since we had a good battle. The last one I can remember was during the war of the ring. We are just glad to be of service, you can't say that the services of the Inn have lacks." Helkahothion said with a wink to Qynne.

He scuffled around the Inn, heating up the ovens, waking up the assistance in the kitchen, awing it to come out and have a bit of ale with the others. Anuion came down and saw his father with the other elf at a table with a tankard of ale. Helka always had a strong head and getting drunk was not an issue for him. Anuion helped himself to some tee and noted the amount down on the shared bill he had with Bordarigorn. He joined the party in the common room and was surprised not to see Mordariël down yet. She was most of the time early. But at the moment he wanted to ask she also came strawling down in her working clothes. She took a tankard of ale and sat herself down too.

"So, next day, next adventure. I wonder what new guests will be arriving today. Maybe some new people from Imladris. That would be fun, haven't seen them in here. Some might have peeked in yes, but not dare to enter. Maybe they are afraid or something. Hm, maybe we should post a note that this is not a private club or something Helka?" The elf-woman said.

"I'll be at it right away." Helka nodded and went for the door.

Helka tapped a piece of paper on the wall and placed a glass window in front of it. Soon the Inn carried a message board, ready for everyone’s use. Helka scribbled something down and went back. Anuion went over and read the message.

"The Inn is open to every writer, player, Eldar, Edain, Periannath, and Khâzad. Come in and enjoy this fine establishment. Rooms for everyone!"

"Khâzad?" Anuion asked.

"Yes son, Khâzad. Those dwarves prefer their own language more than anything. Maybe this might lure more of them. Not that many are around here. It never hurts to try right?"

"Khâzad ai menu" Mordariël said.

"Well, as long as they leave them at the door and throw em at my head." Bordarigorn.

The puzzled look on Qynne's face was enough and Helka went to the kitchen. Later followed by Mordariël and the helping elf.

[GaladrielOlden]

Menelien dropped her sword, neglecting to clean off any excess blood, at the door, and kicked it, her foot connecting with the hilt, out of the way. She sat down, breathing a bit heavily, at an empty table nearby. Her eyes, now watering with tiredness, closed slowly as she laid her head upon her arms. She hadn't *really* fought for... well, a long time. She only hoped she wasn't getting in the way of anything as she fell asleep, the thought of helping Helka with the dishes slipping conveniently from her mind.