The young woman in the green hood continued to offer her softly murmured thanks to the curly-haired hobbit, even as he bobbed his head and repeatedly assured her that she was most welcome. Somehow, a single word of gratitude didn't seem enough, for he had given her a warm cot inside a tent, a bit of bread and pottage, and a cup of tea, all without charge. She was not an overly sentimental person, but she firmly believed in both expressing, and allowing herself to feel, thankfulness whenever someone showed her a kindness.
The early morning air was chilled, and dew sparkled on the countless blades of grass stretching away over the rolling meadows about the hobbit's roadside camp. A faint rush of goosebumps traveled over her skin as she settled her pack in place and set foot onto the road.
A wall of towering, closely gathered trees lurked to the south. She glanced towards it now and then, curious, for beneath the boughs, the morning sunlight seemed muted and dim, as if it were being swallowed up and not allowed to shine. A quiet hum of thought rose in her throat, and at the same moment, a large, dark grey shape slipped out of the wood and began to trot at an angle towards the road, as if to meet her there.
Her expression softened at the sight of the creature, though she did not smile, not truly. Her lips rarely relented into such an expression, at most giving a faint twitch at the corners that would quickly vanish. "Hello, Cormac," she said in her quiet way, as the wolf hound took a stride alongside her, with his tongue lolling out.
Her slender fingers reached up to adjust the hood hanging over her brow, and the two travelers continued in silence, moving westward under the bright, morning light.
