Elendor
Not skating but drowning
Brandebras finds his early-morning skating session interrupted - and Phin's suggestion sends the young hobbit towards thin ice
Sort Date: no date set
Location: Small Valley with Pond
Game Date: Trewsday of Winter - January 24,1446
IC Time: Early morning
Description:
Small Valley with Pond(#25868Rn)
Bree Hill comes down from the north in folds here, forcing the Great East to bend around it. There are two main hillocks, and nestled between them is a green and grassy meadow in which is a small, but deceptively deep pond. Trees grow thickly along the hill edges themselves, but the floor of the tiny valley only has a few: ancient oaks that preside over the pond.
Obvious exits:
GER - South
================================== Bree Time ==================================
Real time: Thu Jan 29 14:47:02 2009
Bree time: Dawn <06:21:06> on Trewsday of Winter - January 24,1446
Moon Phase: New Moon
Breelands Weather
The dawn winter air is cold and dry around you. The dark sky is overcast and dreary.
===============================================================================
Winter is at its deepest, and the Breelands slumber beneath its icy grip. It is just after dawn on a clear, crisp January morning, with a light carpet of snow on the ground and netted cobwebs of frost riming every branch. Here, not far from Staddle or the town of Bree itself, a little pond lies half-hidden in a dell. Its top is entirely covered in ice, and a pair of ducks quack mournfully as they try to find purchase on its slippery surface.
They are not the dell's only inhabitants, though. Scrunching along through the snow, and whistling merrily to himself as though he does not have a care in the world, comes young Brandebras Bywater. He is decked out against the cold in a bright yellow hat, gloves and muffler, and around his neck is slung a pair of bone skates. He stops by the edge of the pond and turns his head this way and that with a 'what next?' air.
[Nob(#16122)] A gathering of players here upon this quiet stage!
A young man, 20 or so, comes quietly down through the trees that carpet the hills, pausing as he sees the hobbit - and starting to grin as his eyes land on the skates.
[Henleg(#20696)] Yet brandebras is not alone... there are the ducks, yes, and also, on the far side of the pond, lies one propped against a nearby tree, a fishing pole in his hands, and a couple of feet from his there is a hole in the ice. This is no stranger to Bree, yet any law-abiding Breefolk would never dare to talk to him alone and so far from home. This is one of those Rangers who go about and into the wild lands to the east, where no honest Breefolk has any business going... only cutthroats and strange people (like the Rangers) do go there. Grey, for such is the Ranger who sits near the pond, seems to be enjoying a smoke of his pipe, as he inhables deeply and then puffs out a small smokering.
The well-mufflered hobbit seems far too interested in his own doings to notice other people. The young man escapes his attention entirely instead, his gaze pauses on one snow-clad hummock at the edge of the pond and, after gingerly prodding to make sure it is solid, he lowers himself down on it to put on his skates. This takes quite a while - he holds his mittens between his teeth to make things easier, but the cold slows his usually nimble fingers.
At last he's ready he puts his mittens back on, stands a little unsteadily ... and wrinkles his nose. Looking across the pond, he spots the source of that peculiar smell. "You've made a hole in the ice!" he exclaims, outraged. Nothing like a friendly greeting, is there?
[Henleg(#20696)] "Well, catching fish through the ice is very difficult, see?", comes thge Ranger's reply, as he shrugs. He takes a long pull from his pipe, and throws his head back as he releases a great puff of smoke. "'Sides, can't do much during winter, besides fishing... all the animals are sleeping till spring comes", he adds casually. If the rangers has seen Toby, he gives no indication of it.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby had started to walk again towards the pond, but stops when he hears Brandebras' pleasant greeting. His grin widens, and his eye flicker towards Grey.
Brandebras eyes the smoke ring a little jealously, but having started to work up a good indignation he's not about to let it go. "But someone could fall in!" he protests to Grey. "What if /I/ had fallen in?" Then, without waiting for an answer, he begins to slide first one foot and then the other across the ice, looking rather unsteady and ungainly - it's been a year since last the pond froze, after all.
At the sound of footsteps he turns his head, and has to start windmilling his arms to keep his balance.
[Phin(#31692)]
The snow having dampened most other noises, the sound of cart wheels crunching on the snowy road above carries easily down to the small valley. And the sounds in the valley likewise carry easily up to the road so that in only a moment a curious head appears to see what is happening. The head slowly gains shoulders, torso, and yes, even legs, as the figure leaves the road and trudges down the hill towards the pond. Phin is wearing a heavy coat with the collar turned up, but his head is bare to the icy air. His hands are shoved in his pockets and he slows as he nears the ice.
[Nob(#16122)] Seeing Brandebras has noticed him, there is no longer any point in being quiet - but Toby's footsteps still are as he comes out of the skirting of trees to the pond. Habit, it must be. He nods towards the Ranger, and stops curiously a little way from the ice.
[Henleg(#20696)] Grey waves at Toby, as he shifts a bit to assume a more comfortable position. Judging by the lack of fish near the Ranger, and how loosely he's holding the fishing pole, the Ranger either wants to lose the fising pole, or the fish ain't biting this day.
Brandebras narrowly misses losing his balance. By the time he's regained his composure, he has completely forgotten the Ranger's silence. He tries to start moving again, keeping to the edge of the pond for now, and this time he seems to do a little better, having worked out how to angle his feet for a good glide. He lets out a held breath and beams with relief.
"I thought it would be quiet at this time of day," he remarks a little forlornly. "I didn't realize /everyone/ would want to skate." His gaze slips from Toby to the new-arrived Phin.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby goes around the edge of the pond and squats down near the Ranger. Apparently, he hasn't heard (or hasn't paid attention to, more like!) the edict against association with such scruffy roustabouts. He shrugs a shoulder. "I ain't skating," he points out, and lifts a hand towards Phin.
Phin exhales an amused sort of sigh at the skater's remark. "Skating? Nossir, not me. I thought maybe some treasure was discovered under the ice, judging by the number of folk gathered round here." He shoots a glance at the Ranger's hole, then shrugs. "Was just on my way back to town with a fresh load of firewood. Good business these days." He nods at Toby, in response to the lifted hand.
[Henleg(#20696)] "Ain't skating either... fishin', see", the ranger says, as he brandishes his fishing pole. "Not that 'em darn fishes are biting today... but gives me something to do during the day", he adds, shrugging. To Toby he says, "Well then, Toby. This is not a good time for going huntin', as all animals are deep in sleep in some misbegotten cave or somesuch... or have you seen any bear somewhere nearby?"
"Treasure?" Brandebras' eyes grow wide, and he stops concentrating on what his legs are doing. A moment later he finds himself sitting down with a bump, blinking bemusedly. "You really think so?" he enquires of Phin eagerly as he pushes himself back up.
A nice polite hobbit wouldn't be listening to Toby and Henleg's private conversation, of course ... Brandebras, alas, must not fall into that category, for at the mention of bears he lets out a sudden squeak.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby shakes his head. "Ain't seen none," he says. "Figure they're all sleepin'. Saw a spot I think one might be, but there ain't much use in getting him b'fore fall. Too skinny, and th'hide ain't no good." He rolls his eyes as Brandebras seriously thinks there is treasure in this little pond. "Nothing more than fish," he says scornfully.
Phin chuckles a little causing small puffs of breath to dance out of his mouth and hang in the air. As he turns back towards the road, he says over his shoulder, "Any of yall got wives or mothers need some wood for their stoves, have em give me a holler." With that the woodsman trudges back up the hill.
"Oh." Brandebras looks unconvinced by Toby's verdict, and Phin's disappearance without giving a Proper Answer only adds to the potential mystery to be investigated. "Maybe there /is/ something, down under all that ice ..." That idea in his head, he strikes out boldly toward the centre of the pond, with only a little wobbling.
[Henleg(#20696)] "Aye, as you say, better to try getting one during fall, when they're all fat from eating", grey concurs, nodding earnestly. Brandebras's search for treasure brings a slight smile to the ranger's lips, as he watches the hobbit go towards the center of the pond. "Watch where you're goin, lad! he ice might brea if you're not careful!", he hollers.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby digs glumly at the snow with a broken stick, saying disgruntedly, "Don' want t'wait." His head comes up at Grey's warning but the hobbit is still safe. No cracks or splashes. Yet...
Brandebras looks in Henleg's direction, startled. "Wha-?" Then it happens: his legs start to slip out from under him once more he lurches forward to compensate, and ... disappears. Even his shriek is cut off. Ripples start to spread outward from a patch of what is no longer just ice.
[Henleg(#20696)] "Told ya, lad!", Grey exclaims, as the shriek is cut short by the lad's immersion. The ranger is quickly on his feet, and soon he pulls the fishing pole from the hole in the ice, as he starts to run towards the hole made by the hobbit. "Here lad, hold on to this!", he howls, as he inches towards the hole, extending the fishing pole into it, careful not to fall into the cold water himself.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby is a bit slower to move - perhaps he isn't yet quite convinced as to why he should go out of his way to help people... especially when they have gotten into trouble by their own foolishness, and haven't ever done anything for him, after all. But then he drops the stick and leans forward onto his own stomach grabbing for Henleg's feet. Though if the man goes through, there's probably not much the slighter Breeboy can do to save him.
The early-morning tranquility of the frozen pond is disturbed the two men at its edge seem agitated. Maybe the ripples now spreading from its now-broken centre might have something to do with that?r
Brandebras' yellow-hatted head bobs up again the poor hobbit is coughing and spluttering, not to mention shivering. He flails his arms wildly - hardly the best thing to do - but at the Ranger's yell he tries to reach an arm toward the pole. His first grab falls short, but it at least has the effect of propelling him forward so that his upper body is on the ice. Desperately he stretches out again ...
... and this time his mitten hand contacts the thin wood.
[Henleg(#20696)] Grey stretches, as long as he is, and... finally! The lad takes a hold of the fishing pole. "Toby, pull me!", he tells the lad who holds his feet, while he starts to pull the fishing pole towards himself also.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby wriggles backwards... an inch or two at a time. His face turns red with the effort.
As the two rescuers move backwards Brandebras, clinging on for dear life (in fact, his woolly glove is probably freezing onto the rod), is dragged forward. At first the ice continues to crack under his weight, and he whimpers slightly - but at least the rod hasn't broken. Yet.
[Henleg(#20696)] The Ranger also turn a bit red in the face, as he tries to pull the lad towards him... and towards harder ice. "Kick with your legs, darn it! Help us get you out!", he bellows, and then grunts as he pulls the fishing pole closer to him.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby squirms backwards his shirt and coat ruches up and cold frozen snow and dirt scrape along his stomach. Getting one elbow into a hole in the ground, he braces himself there a moment, and pulls.
Brandebras kicks half-heartedly, his furry feet numb. "C-c-cold," he mumbles. But then, as his head and shoulders come onto more solid ice, he starts to wriggle, inching forward as best he can. He doesn't let go of the Ranger's fishing rod though, even when it jerks in response to Toby's pull. That would be a step too far.
[Henleg(#20696)] Grey does not stop pulling, as then the hobbit's head and shoulders can be seen. "Good, lets keep like this... he's almost out", he calls to Toby.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby is out of breath and he can't reply. But he summons a bit more effort, digging his knees in, and hunching back farther.
The rescuers' effort pays off. Soon Brandebras' legs are lying on solid ice. Shivering and whimpering, the hobbit worms his way forward until the point comes where at last he dares to pull his knees under him. On hands and knees then - or rather one hand and knees, for the other hand is still clenched round the fishing rod in a vice-like grip - he crawls toward the bank. Shaken as he is, he does not manage any words of thanks as yet.
[Henleg(#20696)] Grey finally gasps as the hobbit comes out of the water, and his grip on the fishing pole relaxes a bit. "It's alright Toby, he's out", the Ranger says, as he stops pulling. "I think it's better if you can get him to his house, so he can change into dry clothes and then lie by a good fire... he can catch a nasty chill after falling like that", he adds, turning his face to look at the lad.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby's face says, clearly, /me/?! and he looks at Brandebras with disfavor. "Whyn't you take 'im?" he asks the ranger.
Brandebras is a sorry sight. Sodden from woolly-hatted head to furry toes, he is also very pale and his teeth are chattering. "Th- th-" he manages to get out. Is he about to offer Grey and Toby a well-earned word of thanks? But then he goes on, in an insistent mumble, "Think th-there isn't any tr-treasure." The words trail into nothingness, and he finally relaxes his death-grip on Grey's fishing rod.
[Henleg(#20696)] "I'm not very welcome in bree at the moment", the ranger says to Toby, "so i think it's better if you go with him. That way, he won't get into any other foolish accident", he adds.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby scowls, brushing futilely at his midriff - muddy and half-frozen himself, he is - then shivers and pulls his coat tight. "Fine," he says grumpily, and to Brandebras, "C'mon, then. Told you there weren't nothing under there," he adds under his breath. "Dumb hobbit."
Brandebras tries to get to his feet, stumbles a single step and falls. "D-don't th-think I c-c-can," he mumbles, staring not at Toby but at the churned up patch of snow and mud in front of his nose. Poor hobbit - he doesn't even have the energy to file away Henleg's tidbit of information for future investigation.
[Henleg(#20696)] "Good, then", Grey says, as he stands and goes to get his pipe, which went flying when he got up. He examines it, and finding nothing wrong, he grunts and stores it in his pocket. "Well then... I'll be seeing you around", he adds as a manner of good bye, and soon enough, he leaves, heading in the general direction of Bree, the fishing pole on his shoulder.
[Nob(#16122)] "HEY!" Toby yells after the Ranger. "I can't carry 'im!" He looks down at the frozen hobbit disgustedly and bends over to yank at his arm. "Get up, already," he grunts. "You're too fat for me t'pick you up."
Alas, Toby receives no answer. Shock and a near-freezing have combined to take their toll, and the unfortunate Brandebras now lies on the ground in a dead faint. Probably once Toby has managed to bring him round his limbs will obey him enough to move a little, at least as far as Phin's cart. And of course, once the ice-skates are removed from his furry feet he may find the walking a little easier ...
What a morning!
Small Valley with Pond(#25868Rn)
Bree Hill comes down from the north in folds here, forcing the Great East to bend around it. There are two main hillocks, and nestled between them is a green and grassy meadow in which is a small, but deceptively deep pond. Trees grow thickly along the hill edges themselves, but the floor of the tiny valley only has a few: ancient oaks that preside over the pond.
Obvious exits:
GER - South
================================== Bree Time ==================================
Real time: Thu Jan 29 14:47:02 2009
Bree time: Dawn <06:21:06> on Trewsday of Winter - January 24,1446
Moon Phase: New Moon
Breelands Weather
The dawn winter air is cold and dry around you. The dark sky is overcast and dreary.
===============================================================================
Winter is at its deepest, and the Breelands slumber beneath its icy grip. It is just after dawn on a clear, crisp January morning, with a light carpet of snow on the ground and netted cobwebs of frost riming every branch. Here, not far from Staddle or the town of Bree itself, a little pond lies half-hidden in a dell. Its top is entirely covered in ice, and a pair of ducks quack mournfully as they try to find purchase on its slippery surface.
They are not the dell's only inhabitants, though. Scrunching along through the snow, and whistling merrily to himself as though he does not have a care in the world, comes young Brandebras Bywater. He is decked out against the cold in a bright yellow hat, gloves and muffler, and around his neck is slung a pair of bone skates. He stops by the edge of the pond and turns his head this way and that with a 'what next?' air.
[Nob(#16122)] A gathering of players here upon this quiet stage!
A young man, 20 or so, comes quietly down through the trees that carpet the hills, pausing as he sees the hobbit - and starting to grin as his eyes land on the skates.
[Henleg(#20696)] Yet brandebras is not alone... there are the ducks, yes, and also, on the far side of the pond, lies one propped against a nearby tree, a fishing pole in his hands, and a couple of feet from his there is a hole in the ice. This is no stranger to Bree, yet any law-abiding Breefolk would never dare to talk to him alone and so far from home. This is one of those Rangers who go about and into the wild lands to the east, where no honest Breefolk has any business going... only cutthroats and strange people (like the Rangers) do go there. Grey, for such is the Ranger who sits near the pond, seems to be enjoying a smoke of his pipe, as he inhables deeply and then puffs out a small smokering.
The well-mufflered hobbit seems far too interested in his own doings to notice other people. The young man escapes his attention entirely instead, his gaze pauses on one snow-clad hummock at the edge of the pond and, after gingerly prodding to make sure it is solid, he lowers himself down on it to put on his skates. This takes quite a while - he holds his mittens between his teeth to make things easier, but the cold slows his usually nimble fingers.
At last he's ready he puts his mittens back on, stands a little unsteadily ... and wrinkles his nose. Looking across the pond, he spots the source of that peculiar smell. "You've made a hole in the ice!" he exclaims, outraged. Nothing like a friendly greeting, is there?
[Henleg(#20696)] "Well, catching fish through the ice is very difficult, see?", comes thge Ranger's reply, as he shrugs. He takes a long pull from his pipe, and throws his head back as he releases a great puff of smoke. "'Sides, can't do much during winter, besides fishing... all the animals are sleeping till spring comes", he adds casually. If the rangers has seen Toby, he gives no indication of it.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby had started to walk again towards the pond, but stops when he hears Brandebras' pleasant greeting. His grin widens, and his eye flicker towards Grey.
Brandebras eyes the smoke ring a little jealously, but having started to work up a good indignation he's not about to let it go. "But someone could fall in!" he protests to Grey. "What if /I/ had fallen in?" Then, without waiting for an answer, he begins to slide first one foot and then the other across the ice, looking rather unsteady and ungainly - it's been a year since last the pond froze, after all.
At the sound of footsteps he turns his head, and has to start windmilling his arms to keep his balance.
[Phin(#31692)]
The snow having dampened most other noises, the sound of cart wheels crunching on the snowy road above carries easily down to the small valley. And the sounds in the valley likewise carry easily up to the road so that in only a moment a curious head appears to see what is happening. The head slowly gains shoulders, torso, and yes, even legs, as the figure leaves the road and trudges down the hill towards the pond. Phin is wearing a heavy coat with the collar turned up, but his head is bare to the icy air. His hands are shoved in his pockets and he slows as he nears the ice.
[Nob(#16122)] Seeing Brandebras has noticed him, there is no longer any point in being quiet - but Toby's footsteps still are as he comes out of the skirting of trees to the pond. Habit, it must be. He nods towards the Ranger, and stops curiously a little way from the ice.
[Henleg(#20696)] Grey waves at Toby, as he shifts a bit to assume a more comfortable position. Judging by the lack of fish near the Ranger, and how loosely he's holding the fishing pole, the Ranger either wants to lose the fising pole, or the fish ain't biting this day.
Brandebras narrowly misses losing his balance. By the time he's regained his composure, he has completely forgotten the Ranger's silence. He tries to start moving again, keeping to the edge of the pond for now, and this time he seems to do a little better, having worked out how to angle his feet for a good glide. He lets out a held breath and beams with relief.
"I thought it would be quiet at this time of day," he remarks a little forlornly. "I didn't realize /everyone/ would want to skate." His gaze slips from Toby to the new-arrived Phin.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby goes around the edge of the pond and squats down near the Ranger. Apparently, he hasn't heard (or hasn't paid attention to, more like!) the edict against association with such scruffy roustabouts. He shrugs a shoulder. "I ain't skating," he points out, and lifts a hand towards Phin.
Phin exhales an amused sort of sigh at the skater's remark. "Skating? Nossir, not me. I thought maybe some treasure was discovered under the ice, judging by the number of folk gathered round here." He shoots a glance at the Ranger's hole, then shrugs. "Was just on my way back to town with a fresh load of firewood. Good business these days." He nods at Toby, in response to the lifted hand.
[Henleg(#20696)] "Ain't skating either... fishin', see", the ranger says, as he brandishes his fishing pole. "Not that 'em darn fishes are biting today... but gives me something to do during the day", he adds, shrugging. To Toby he says, "Well then, Toby. This is not a good time for going huntin', as all animals are deep in sleep in some misbegotten cave or somesuch... or have you seen any bear somewhere nearby?"
"Treasure?" Brandebras' eyes grow wide, and he stops concentrating on what his legs are doing. A moment later he finds himself sitting down with a bump, blinking bemusedly. "You really think so?" he enquires of Phin eagerly as he pushes himself back up.
A nice polite hobbit wouldn't be listening to Toby and Henleg's private conversation, of course ... Brandebras, alas, must not fall into that category, for at the mention of bears he lets out a sudden squeak.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby shakes his head. "Ain't seen none," he says. "Figure they're all sleepin'. Saw a spot I think one might be, but there ain't much use in getting him b'fore fall. Too skinny, and th'hide ain't no good." He rolls his eyes as Brandebras seriously thinks there is treasure in this little pond. "Nothing more than fish," he says scornfully.
Phin chuckles a little causing small puffs of breath to dance out of his mouth and hang in the air. As he turns back towards the road, he says over his shoulder, "Any of yall got wives or mothers need some wood for their stoves, have em give me a holler." With that the woodsman trudges back up the hill.
"Oh." Brandebras looks unconvinced by Toby's verdict, and Phin's disappearance without giving a Proper Answer only adds to the potential mystery to be investigated. "Maybe there /is/ something, down under all that ice ..." That idea in his head, he strikes out boldly toward the centre of the pond, with only a little wobbling.
[Henleg(#20696)] "Aye, as you say, better to try getting one during fall, when they're all fat from eating", grey concurs, nodding earnestly. Brandebras's search for treasure brings a slight smile to the ranger's lips, as he watches the hobbit go towards the center of the pond. "Watch where you're goin, lad! he ice might brea if you're not careful!", he hollers.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby digs glumly at the snow with a broken stick, saying disgruntedly, "Don' want t'wait." His head comes up at Grey's warning but the hobbit is still safe. No cracks or splashes. Yet...
Brandebras looks in Henleg's direction, startled. "Wha-?" Then it happens: his legs start to slip out from under him once more he lurches forward to compensate, and ... disappears. Even his shriek is cut off. Ripples start to spread outward from a patch of what is no longer just ice.
[Henleg(#20696)] "Told ya, lad!", Grey exclaims, as the shriek is cut short by the lad's immersion. The ranger is quickly on his feet, and soon he pulls the fishing pole from the hole in the ice, as he starts to run towards the hole made by the hobbit. "Here lad, hold on to this!", he howls, as he inches towards the hole, extending the fishing pole into it, careful not to fall into the cold water himself.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby is a bit slower to move - perhaps he isn't yet quite convinced as to why he should go out of his way to help people... especially when they have gotten into trouble by their own foolishness, and haven't ever done anything for him, after all. But then he drops the stick and leans forward onto his own stomach grabbing for Henleg's feet. Though if the man goes through, there's probably not much the slighter Breeboy can do to save him.
The early-morning tranquility of the frozen pond is disturbed the two men at its edge seem agitated. Maybe the ripples now spreading from its now-broken centre might have something to do with that?r
Brandebras' yellow-hatted head bobs up again the poor hobbit is coughing and spluttering, not to mention shivering. He flails his arms wildly - hardly the best thing to do - but at the Ranger's yell he tries to reach an arm toward the pole. His first grab falls short, but it at least has the effect of propelling him forward so that his upper body is on the ice. Desperately he stretches out again ...
... and this time his mitten hand contacts the thin wood.
[Henleg(#20696)] Grey stretches, as long as he is, and... finally! The lad takes a hold of the fishing pole. "Toby, pull me!", he tells the lad who holds his feet, while he starts to pull the fishing pole towards himself also.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby wriggles backwards... an inch or two at a time. His face turns red with the effort.
As the two rescuers move backwards Brandebras, clinging on for dear life (in fact, his woolly glove is probably freezing onto the rod), is dragged forward. At first the ice continues to crack under his weight, and he whimpers slightly - but at least the rod hasn't broken. Yet.
[Henleg(#20696)] The Ranger also turn a bit red in the face, as he tries to pull the lad towards him... and towards harder ice. "Kick with your legs, darn it! Help us get you out!", he bellows, and then grunts as he pulls the fishing pole closer to him.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby squirms backwards his shirt and coat ruches up and cold frozen snow and dirt scrape along his stomach. Getting one elbow into a hole in the ground, he braces himself there a moment, and pulls.
Brandebras kicks half-heartedly, his furry feet numb. "C-c-cold," he mumbles. But then, as his head and shoulders come onto more solid ice, he starts to wriggle, inching forward as best he can. He doesn't let go of the Ranger's fishing rod though, even when it jerks in response to Toby's pull. That would be a step too far.
[Henleg(#20696)] Grey does not stop pulling, as then the hobbit's head and shoulders can be seen. "Good, lets keep like this... he's almost out", he calls to Toby.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby is out of breath and he can't reply. But he summons a bit more effort, digging his knees in, and hunching back farther.
The rescuers' effort pays off. Soon Brandebras' legs are lying on solid ice. Shivering and whimpering, the hobbit worms his way forward until the point comes where at last he dares to pull his knees under him. On hands and knees then - or rather one hand and knees, for the other hand is still clenched round the fishing rod in a vice-like grip - he crawls toward the bank. Shaken as he is, he does not manage any words of thanks as yet.
[Henleg(#20696)] Grey finally gasps as the hobbit comes out of the water, and his grip on the fishing pole relaxes a bit. "It's alright Toby, he's out", the Ranger says, as he stops pulling. "I think it's better if you can get him to his house, so he can change into dry clothes and then lie by a good fire... he can catch a nasty chill after falling like that", he adds, turning his face to look at the lad.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby's face says, clearly, /me/?! and he looks at Brandebras with disfavor. "Whyn't you take 'im?" he asks the ranger.
Brandebras is a sorry sight. Sodden from woolly-hatted head to furry toes, he is also very pale and his teeth are chattering. "Th- th-" he manages to get out. Is he about to offer Grey and Toby a well-earned word of thanks? But then he goes on, in an insistent mumble, "Think th-there isn't any tr-treasure." The words trail into nothingness, and he finally relaxes his death-grip on Grey's fishing rod.
[Henleg(#20696)] "I'm not very welcome in bree at the moment", the ranger says to Toby, "so i think it's better if you go with him. That way, he won't get into any other foolish accident", he adds.
[Nob(#16122)] Toby scowls, brushing futilely at his midriff - muddy and half-frozen himself, he is - then shivers and pulls his coat tight. "Fine," he says grumpily, and to Brandebras, "C'mon, then. Told you there weren't nothing under there," he adds under his breath. "Dumb hobbit."
Brandebras tries to get to his feet, stumbles a single step and falls. "D-don't th-think I c-c-can," he mumbles, staring not at Toby but at the churned up patch of snow and mud in front of his nose. Poor hobbit - he doesn't even have the energy to file away Henleg's tidbit of information for future investigation.
[Henleg(#20696)] "Good, then", Grey says, as he stands and goes to get his pipe, which went flying when he got up. He examines it, and finding nothing wrong, he grunts and stores it in his pocket. "Well then... I'll be seeing you around", he adds as a manner of good bye, and soon enough, he leaves, heading in the general direction of Bree, the fishing pole on his shoulder.
[Nob(#16122)] "HEY!" Toby yells after the Ranger. "I can't carry 'im!" He looks down at the frozen hobbit disgustedly and bends over to yank at his arm. "Get up, already," he grunts. "You're too fat for me t'pick you up."
Alas, Toby receives no answer. Shock and a near-freezing have combined to take their toll, and the unfortunate Brandebras now lies on the ground in a dead faint. Probably once Toby has managed to bring him round his limbs will obey him enough to move a little, at least as far as Phin's cart. And of course, once the ice-skates are removed from his furry feet he may find the walking a little easier ...
What a morning!
Players: Brandebras, Toby, Henleg, Phin
