Arwen woke me up with a gentle shake as I blinked awake to realize that in my sleep, Arwen had pulled me in front of her and wrapped herself around my back with her front, with her arms wrapped around my chest to bind me to her as our hide blanket kept us warm.
"You are awake. Good, come we can rinse out our mouths and eat some lembas as we make our way to Bree." Arwen said softly as she elegantly moved to get ready.
And with a tired nod, I yawned in agreement as I splashed a bit of water over my face and with a glance at Arwen I couldn't help but notice how, despite riding all of yesterday and sleeping in such a rough position.
Her elven beauty was unmarred, as her dark as the night's void black hair was without tangles or any mortal grease despite not washing for more than a couple of days at this point.
And as for myself? I had literal divine blood running through my body. My golden, divine hair I knew I inherited from Marika, was utterly immaculate. As went the rest of my appearance.
We swiftly did our morning things, and soon enough we were hitched back atop Arwen's horse and with how close we were to the more tamed lands of Man. Arwen pushed her horse further, and we were riding at a leisurely gallop for the horse that had its own divine bloodline, however diluted.
"Othorion, although the men of the Westerlands are allies of Rivendell, especially the mayor's family of Bree itself being known to us. The hearts of men are not without fault, they are easily corrupted, easily twisted to darkness." Arwen spoke softly as the scents of men began to fill our noses.
The smell of fires filled the forest and the road we were riding upon. Not the well-tended fires that filled Rivendell with life as we only burned the wood that washed up on the rivers and had long dried, as we knew to leave the fallen wood in the forest to be reused to fuel future generations.
But fire's using not even fully dried out and aged wood. Wood that was cut from trees not even fully grown and filled with the sap of acrid youth that had not mellowed out.
"Have you been attacked by men before?" I asked Arwen.
And she made a humming noise before she said quietly. "Indeed, I was riding with my brothers down to the south. To see the coastline where the Corsair's once ravaged the lands and raiding easterlings found us."
Left unsaid was Arwen and her brothers, and assuredly a host of other elven rangers very... Very finally dealt with those raiding Easterlings.
And soon enough, we came across my first human in my new life after years in a small trio of hunters walking down the Eastern Road with several small game strung along their backs as they made their way to Bree.
Their eye's lit up as we passed by, and it was disconcerting to see the looks awe and... Otherthings as they gazed at Arwen especially with dull eyes at her beauty as we passed by.
Though there was one other thing I noticed very much as well. 'They stink.' I thought with my face twisting as I remembered how men weren't built with immortality at their core.
They were born only to die in this world and their souls would ascend and leave their bodies behind. And I could literally smell the mortality within them as they had lost the scent of the forests and life.
And it was at that moment I had a very powerful realization as our horse continued past those humans.
'I will never marry and love a mortal human... Literally smelling their bodies rot with each day as they die a little more with each passing day would drive me to the typical elven suicidal depression.
And it seemed that Arwen sensed my discomfort as she whispered. "Elves avoid Men for good reason Othorion. They can be brilliant, they can be loyal and just. They can be legends matching some of the best elves... But for us, it's painful watching them die as they don't even fill a single chapter of our lives with their lifespan."
And considering that elves in this world didn't have a lifespan and many of the leaders of my kin were over ten thousand years old at the very least... Yeah, a human life span, even a Numenorian's at three hundred years wasn't even a single chapter of our own lives.
Then my face curled up in disgust as the true stench of humanity hit and Arwen giggled as she said. "Yes Othorion... You are smelling the sewage of several thousand humans who pour their waste into dwarven-built sewers. Sewers that haven't been maintained in centuries and is exposed to the air in some spots."
I brought up a silken scarf that Celestine had made for me. As the winters around the Misty Mountains could be harsh. And I bound it around my face with a couple of herbs stuffed into it as the smell was overwhelmingly harsh to my enhanced senses that were so used to the forests.
I then leaned back into Arwen and whispered. "Can I just... Ride Sergei around Bree? I don't want to go into the city at this point."
Arwen chuckled and said softly. "You must understand the other races Othorion. You do not need to like how human's aren't living with nature in peace and cleanly. But you must understand them."
I exhaled heavily and I asked helplessly. "What about the dwarves? Do they smell as bad or are so... Dull of senses to the world around them?"
To which Arwen's chuckles grew in depth as she said helplessly. "They are... Worse, they smell of booze at all times and they love to get into your personal space as they boast about their accomplishments. Not out of bravado or arrogance, but it is how they comport themselves."
I sighed heavily and then with a hum she said thoughtfully. "Fine then. Maybe this was a jump in your training. Besides our goal was to patrol the Eastern Road and going beyond Bree isn't of much value. We can pull back to Rivendell if you wish Otharion?"
I shook my head as I pushed down my enhanced senses reactions as I said firmly. "No, no I wish to see the Hobbit's Shire. As well as to see the Old Forest so that I may collect some branchs to help make a bow of my own. Let's keep going."
Arwen's arm around my waist gave me a light squeeze before she said with some pride in her voice. "Good, being a ranger and patroling the lands doesn't give you the option of living in total comfort."