Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Elves of All Kinds (1x1)

Raeliel spent most of her waiting period throwing up, and even the human knew what was wrong with her. And even though she had threatened him, he still tried to convince her to go back wherever home was before she got herself and the child killed. But Raeliel refused. When she was feeling well enough she tended to the captured elves and got them freed from their bindings. Soon, the back-up came. She left the elves in the hands of the new group, told them all about what they'd learned from the human, and then left. She had to catch up to Saelhil, though she wondered if that was even possible.

It was late into the night when Saelhil practically fell limp from exhaustion. His muscles ached and his chest hurt from the cooling air of the northern region. He was used to warm, sweet air; the night air at the edge of the forest was crisp and cool, not a good combination with his heavy panting. He was faced with the plains, now, but he couldn't risk sleeping out in the open. Upon opening the small bag at his hip, he could see that he had just a few berries left. Although his stomach growled, he saved the berries for morning and made himself comfortable in the fork of a tree, leaning back and trying to get some sleep. There had been no sign of the second group, not even a trail to follow, but he had marked the trees along the way so that the other elves could follow where he had went. He fell into an uneasy doze, with strange dreams and nightmares about what could be happening to the second group of elves; he even dreamed that the village had been laid siege upon, and that Valenthion and Talainna and the others were killed or carried off as slaves.

Raeliel didn't catch up to him. She was too far behind, and too sick. In fact, half of the back-up group came and caught up to her before she could catch up to Saelhil. They insisted she go back, but she couldn't. Not without talking to Saelhil first. So, in the morning, Saelhil woke to a group of elves. Their own, those who were able to fight that hadn't stayed to help get the sicker elves back to the village.

"Saelhil." Raeliel looked at him worriedly. "We have to talk."

"What is it? What's wrong?" Saelhil pulled Raeliel aside; whatever it was, it seemed serious enough to talk alone with her. He studied her face. Had someone gotten hurt? Did she not want him to pursue the humans?

Raeliel looked at him, then sighed and looked away. "...I have to let you go on alone. I'm sorry. I can't keep up. I..." She blushed a bit. "..I'm pregnant, Saelhil." She glanced at him. "I'm going to go back to the village." She would have stayed with him if she could...but she couldn't even keep up. She had to let them go on without her.

"You're--" Saelhil blinked. His face showed that he was suddenly very conflicted. On one hand, he was elated that they were going to have a baby! But... it was during the war, and things could be dangerous. And her being pregnant meant she wouldn't be able to stay with him while he was out doing dangerous things. A thousand thoughts ran through his mind, and he didn't know how to respond. Tell her he was overflowing with joy, or show his concern? In the end, he just pulled her close and kissed her for a long few moments. He smiled at her, though it was a bit sad. "I'm sorry... We should have waited until after the war." He breathed a half-hearted laugh. "But I'm so happy... I promise, once we get everyone home safely, I'll show you how happy I am." He kissed her again. "For now, take care of everyone at home. You're still plenty capable to do that. We can't lose our first son." Of course, he meant Valenthion. He pushed some hair behind her ear and pressed his lips to her forehead. "I love you, Raeliel."

Raeliel was just as conflicted as he was. She hugged him closely and kissed him back each and every time. "I don't mind, Saelhil. Honestly, I don't. Things happen." War happened, she wanted the baby either way. She smiled and kissed him back. "I'll protect everyone. And I'll wait for you to come back. I love you, Saelhil. I love you."

(I figure this might help speed things up a little rofl xD)

Saelhil smiled gently, then let her leave. He and the rest of the group moved out to catch up with the humans and free the rest of the elves.

{Woo~ Skip to when he comes back, now?
And also, I was thinking that maybe the humans are trying to tame some dragon hatchlings they found as eggs, and that's the poison~ Soon the hatchlings will get too big to be controlled and escape and yeah }

(Oooooo yes that would be nice. How long would it be until he comes back? So I know how pregnant she is xD)

Raeliel had arrived safetly back at the village, and had kept everyone safe and healthy. Honestly, she was glad to be able to watch over Valenthion their son, but she missed and worried about Saelhil each and every day.

{I wouldn't think more than a week... or maybe it can be a month? I'll say they had a falling out with the humans and fought a few times up in the mountains once they got the elves free, and now they're on their way home (with hawks!) }

Exhausted was the only word to describe the troop of elves coming home to the village, laden with a few spoils of war, not to mention cages of hawks. It was early morning, before dawn, but the look-out had already gone back to wake up everyone, announcing their arrival. Women rushed out to greet their husbands, and others began to weep for the loss of their loved ones. Only a few were lost, though, so they felt it was a victory, since they had sent the humans high-tailing it back to their homeland. The war was over.

Saelhil looked... well, pretty awful, as did most of the other warriors. He was bruised and pale, not to mention a bit gaunt from lack of proper supplies in the relentless north. He looked ready to collapse, but he refused to accept any food or drinks offered to the weary warriors. He just wanted to see his wife, his son, and his unborn child.

Raeliel ran out of the house as soon as she heard that they were back. She hugged Saelhil tightly, noticing how thin he was. They would have a feast tonight, that was for certain. She just held him now though, and kept him close. It'd only been a month, she wouldn't really be showing yet, but there was the slightest swell to her stomach that Saelhil would be able to feel as they held each other so closely. "You're alive. I can't believe you're alive..."

Saelhil embraced her tightly, eagerly taking in her scent and her warmth. He could feel just the tiniest inflation of her stomach against his own, and he almost broke into joyful tears. After a bit of hugging, he cupped her cheeks with his hands and kissed her passionately, not caring who else saw. He was too happy to care... The war was over and he was home with his pregnant wife and their adopted son... They were all safe and sound. His elation could not be explained through words.

(Forgot to mention it in the PM post so I'll mention it here. xD I'm going to bed, lol, I'll respond in the morning)

Raeliel held him close, then kissed him back. She didn't care, either. He was back, he was alive. She hurried him into the house to see Valenthion, who was probably overjoyed to hear that Saelhil was back safe and sound. A feast was already being set up, and Raeliel helped Saelhil wash up and get bandaged up and dressed in fresh clothes. She never left his side.

Valenthion and Talainna greeted Saelhil enthusiastically, and the greeting was returned. Once Saelhil was cleaned up, he returned to Valenthion, holding an egg.

"It's almost ready to hatch," he told his son. "Find something to wrap it up in and keep it warm. Make sure it hatches safely." Valenthion, having never been given such responsibility, nodded, vowing to guard the egg with his life. Saelhil smiled and watched him run off to show Talainna. Saelhil took this oppurtunity to kiss Raeliel again, feel her warmth against him when he pulled her close, and be reminded of their first natural-born child.

Raeliel smiled happily. "You got the egg..." She looked at Saelhil and chuckled. "You're amazing, you know that?" She told Valenthion to be careful as he hurried off, then she kissed Saelhil back happily. She wrapped her arms around him, but then paused. A question had finally come to her mind. "Saelhil? Your...father..?" She hadn't been paying attention to the other warriors who had returned. What had become of his father?

Saelhil hesitated, now resting his forehead on hers. "He... He's terribly wounded. He barely survived the trip back home..." He gulped. "The other warriors said he was kept separate from everyone else, so they don't know what happened... It's like they poisoned him and had him fight a...a bear. He has terrible claw marks all over... He hasn't been able to speak. It isn't coherent. But don't tell Talainna. She's been told that he's just exhausted... I don't want her to see him like this."

Raeliel touched his cheek and stroked it gently. "I won't tell." she promised. "Oh Saelhil...I'm so sorry..." She held him close, nuzzling against him. "If they could get me to survive the poison, I'm sure they can get your dad to survive it too. I'm sure. It'll be okay." She kissed him gently.

Saelhil kissed her in return, then paused. "...you were pregnant when you were poisoned," he said, now looking a bit worried. "Do... Do you think it affected the baby? Or... Maybe it was too early to hurt anything?" The second question/statement was cautiously hopeful.

Raeliel looked down and smoothed her hand over her stomach. "I...I don't know. The baby's there, I can...feel it. It's strange, but I can just...feel it, living inside of me, you know? It's alive. So it must be okay." She smiled gently at him and leaned in to kiss him again. Then she pulled away and took him to the feast the others had prepared so that he could eat.

Saelhil was comforted, and he happily kissed her and let her lead him to the feast. He,along with the other warriors, ate heartily, and their spirits were lifted. The women had made good work of quickly cooking enough food, and there was river wine enough for all. Afterwards, when others began to dance and celebrate the ending of the war and the return of the warriors, Saelhil didn't join them. Instead, he pulled Raeliel aside. "Come with me," he said. "I want to sleep... Please come with me." He nuzzled her forehead.