Love is a battle field

The following day we exited the Bona forest, and found ourselves on the plain land in between the Bona and Kogen forests. The soil there is infertile and rough to plow, so no one, not even dwarfs inhabited the long strip of barren waste. The sky was overcast, so we were free from the sun's blistering rays, but our journey had become even more tedious. I ended up reading five more myths from my scroll that day in an attempt to stave off the boredom. The men seemed to enjoy them, but the dwarf remained apathetic, or even hostile.

I couldn't understand her mood. The old myths were rather hard to believe, but never had I seen one so set against them. When I read the story of creation, she frowned. When I read about the birth of the Sun and Moon, she glowered. When I read about the birth of the races, she glared. The men remained oblivious, but I was well aware of the searing looks she was tossing my way.

Before too long, it got dark, and we set up camp. We didn't have a fire, for there was no wood around to fuel it. The clouds cleared though, providing a full moon to illuminate our little group. We sat in a circle, idly munching on some nuts and berries the dwarf and I had gathered the night before. Just when I was about to fall asleep from boredom, Leonard Stone began to whistle a familiar tune. It was the Ballad of Sir Newt, and once he had gone through the tune once, I began to sing the words.

I am not near as talented as any fully-blooded elf, but I have a better voice than most humans or dwarfs, and none of them complained. The men seemed enchanted, and even the dwarf had a satisfied look on her face. When I was done with the song, they clapped, and I nodded my head.

"A person of many talents." Sir Knocks remarked. The dwarf snorted. "You do not think so?" Sir Knocks asked her, polite as ever.

"Everyone has many talents. Some just aren't as obvious, or well-honed as others. I can sing and read stories too, but if I did you wouldn't call them talents, simply because I don't do them as sweetly as our pretty half-breed here." I could have taken that many ways, but there's only one thing I managed to dwell on.

"You think I'm pretty?" I asked with a teasing smile. The dwarf blushed.

"Merely an observation."

"Ha Ko-ra." I said in a teasing tone.

"What did you just say to me!?" The dwarf demanded.

"You like me." I replied, in the same teasing tone as before. The dwarf turned an even brighter shade of red, but said nothing. The men watched it all with amused glances, obviously enjoying the banter as much as I did. Not long after that, the three of them went to sleep, and I sighed, not looking forward to my two hours of watch duty. It was boring work, but it had to be done.

I stared at the moon, and wondered what the dwarf really thought of me. She was hostile towards me, but she was hostile to the men as well. More than that, she had the tendency to stay close to me. It was possibly because we were both female, and when traveling with a mixed group like us, it was better to stay close to your own kind. The only thing I was certain of, was that she didn't hate me, and as far as I was concerned, that was half the battle.