Celeborn's Nine - Riders of the Night

Author's note: hey, you know the boys will find a way to get into trouble. And maybe we will run into MY favorite Spartan prince again...who knows...Trojan War? I can see Tiger getting pissed off and telling Helen she needs to go home. Hey you think Parisphae will be interested? And Prometheus will pay a visit for sure.
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Aristaleonis went with Celeborn and the nine south to Athens and down to the port, where she found them transportation to Crete. Athens was certainly a more interesting livelier city, and Tiger seemed to remember things about it that just popped into her head from seemingly out of the blue. The first king, she said, had been half human, half monster, but he had been nice to her.

"You knew the first king of Athens?" Glorfindel asked as they unpacked their horses, which were going back to Thebes with Aristaleonis.

"He was Athena's friend," she said and then scowled. Tiger did not like Athena, but Master had told her very clearly not to ever say anything bad about Athena.

"Who's Athena?" Rumil asked.

"Goddess," Tiger answered and gave Horse a casual pet on the nose. "She and Master had been friends, too."

"Prometheus?" Glorfindel asked and set his pack on the ground.

"Yes, old Master," Tiger explained. She looked at Glorfindel and bit her lip; she didn't want to break old Master's rule and say anything else.

"So what happened?" Haldir asked curiously.

Tiger didn't want to talk, but she had promised young Master to never lie to him. And when he asked her something, she was supposed to answer. "Athena did not say anything when she could have," Tiger answered without saying anything real.

"You're talking in riddles," Glorfindel said, half amused by her hesitation.

Tiger frowned. "Old Master told Tiger that the Olympians were saying he was trying to seduce Athena and that she was too afraid of her father to defend him. Master knew Athena would not defend him...he did not want her. Then Master disappeared." She stopped and shook her head. "Old Master said not to speak of this."

"I thought Prometheus was punished for helping humans," Orophin spoke up. "That was what I got from all the talk."

"Yes," Tiger agreed. "Old Master loved humans, but before he disappeared there was bad talk about him and Athena. Now Tiger know why."
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Athena: restrain your cat, Prometheus

Prometheus: She is only saying what she knows

Athena: does she think we don't hear her?
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All elves are attracted to the sea, even those born in deep forests , so the constant rocking of the small ship did not bother them, and while Tiger spent most of her time hanging her head overboard, it wsn't because she was sick; she was talking to the spirits of the water. Glorfinel got to meet a merman named Tirton, and the boys exchanged nice words with lovely female water spirits.

But about the third day out a small storm came up, and everyone did get a little nervous over that. It wasn't that elves couldn't swim; they just needed some place to swim to.

Rumil, hiding under a tarp to keep some of the rain off him, looked at Tiger, who didn't seem to mind the water as much as he did, and asked, "Where exactly is this place Crete?"

Tiger frowned and raised her head to look around. With the sea rising and falling in great green black waves and the rain slapping her face in sheets, it was anyone's guess how she decided where it was, but after a few minutes, she pointed and said, "There."

Everyone looked 'there' but could see nothing. "You're guessing," Elrohir commented dryly. "I thought jinn tigers didn't lie."

Tiger frowned at him. "Jinn tigers do not lie," she growled softly.

Orophin, rubbing her shoulder, smiled and said, "Do not mind him; he just doesn't like staying wet."

But wet they stayed for at least one more day before it cleared and the sun came out. And the following day they entered the harbor of Minos, the great king of the Minoans. Semi-divine in nature, the son of Zeus was blessed with an unusually long life, but like Aragorn, he would one day pass into shadows. His palace overlooking the sea was unlike anything they had seen on the mainland. Huge painted columns made it clear to anyone who raised their eyes that this was the royal residence.

Standing on the dock, their eyes taking in Crete, the elves considered their options. "Where would an Argo hide?" Elladan asked his grandfather and Glorfindel.

"His mother is convinced he joined the bull leapers," Haldir spoke up. "Perhaps that is a good place to start."

"Excellent idea," Rumil seconded. "Now, what is a bull leaper?" They all looked at Tiger, but she shrugged her shoulders. Tiger did not leap bulls, she leaped at them, and when she did; the bulls died.

"Then I think a walking tour is in order," Glorfindel suggested and threw his bag over his shoulder. His immediate impression of the Minoans was favorable. They were not as tall as mainlanders, and they were a little darker, but they appeared to be hard workers, and there were women about....barebreasted, but he was not an elf who discriminated against bare breasted women. If the Minoan women wanted to walk around in tight waisted dresses with their breasts exposed, so be it. Besides, it made the walking tour a little more interesting.

Tiger asked Haldir if she could take her tunic off, but once more he told her no. Sulking, she remarked that it was unfair for everyone to go around with their tunics off, and she was the only one in ALL of Crete who had to keep hers on. Haldir simply ignored her argument.

"We need to see where there are bulls," he said when they stopped and looked around.

Still angry with him over the tunic, Tiger said, "I smell bulls that way." She pointed.

"I believe I smell something, too,"Celeborn agreed. "This way, then."

Haldir hesitated just a moment and grabbed Tiger gently by the back of the neck and drew her to him, his lips going to her ear. No one heard what he said to her, but Tiger's expression went from anger to desire. He smiled when he released her and fell in step behind his brothers. Tiger hurried after him, and there was no more talk about tunic or him being unfair.

"What did you say to her?" Rumil asked curiously.

"I just reminded her what happens everytime she takes her tunic off," Haldir answered, a wicked smile on his face, the light in his eyes almost as wicked. He glanced back at Tiger, and this time she blushed. He had turned her thoughts to other things, and now she was enjoying the view. Only Celeborn was stubbornly keeping his robe on, but she didn't mind; she had nine other beautiful naked backs to admire, and without the tunics...still Tiger thought Master was the most beautiful of the elves. There was more breath across his shoulders, and the curve of his spine seperated some of the loveliest back muscles. His brothers seemed almost willowy beside him. Glorfindel and the twins had lovely backs as well, although if the truth were spoken, the twins had the better rearends and legs in her opinion. But she would keep that opinion to herself.

The sounds of cattle drew her attention to the pens before them. Minoan cattle, huge long horned beasts with colorful hides. There were at least a hundred bulls in the pens before them. The part of Tiger that was a tiger wanted a piece of beef.

Celeborn looked at the cattle and asked, "How do you leap at these things."

"Tiger knows," Tiger said and stepped on the lowest rail of the fence.

Haldir grabbed her arm and stopped her. "The way the Minoans do it, not you," he said with an amused expression on his face. Tiger smiled back.

"No?" she asked teasingly.

"No," he repeated.

"No, indeed," Glorfindel seconded as they looked around. Surely there had to be some humans around somewhere with all this cattle to feed and water. "Do you see or hear anybody?" he asked the group.

"There's a building over there," Elladan spoke up and pointed. " We can check it out," he offered.

"I think it best we stay together for now," Celeborn stated. "But it is a good idea."

They followed the fences around past the enormous bulls to a barn that smelled distinctly of more cattle. Giving one another quick glances, they entered the barn and looked around. At one end a small brown skinned man with curly black hair was filling a bucket with water from a well. He looked up when he heard them.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" he demanded sharply. Leaving the bucket by the well, he approached them.

"We are visitors looking for someone," Celeborn answered readily. "A Theban lady named Aristaleonis has asked us to come to Crete and find her son Argo. Would you happen to know of him?"

"Argo?" the man answered, his face showing he recognized the name. "Don't know him."

Even Tiger could see his was lieing, but Haldir's restraining hand kept her in check. She was literally bristling, and he drew her into his body to keep her quiet. Stroking her hair, he listened as Celeborn pretended to accept the lie, asking the man about bull leapers in general and if there was a place where they could stay.

"There is one place where they speak Hellenes well, you can't miss it, there's a Medusa on the door," the man answered. "Go back the way you came. Like I said, you can't miss it."