Gathering Wood

[Acelen(#32035)]

Acelen removes a rather grimy bandana from his neck and swabs his face as he glowers up at the sky. His straw hat is pushed back a little on his forehead by this movement, and then an impatient hand sets it right again. He glances over to where the wagon is tied and begins to walk towards with the load of wet wood he has gathered.

\"Humph,\" he mutters, \"Imagine Nob sendin me out to get the wood. What does he think I am? The animals need tending and here I am grubbing around in the rain.

Keldean is exceptionally miserable. The air is cold and wet, and he\'s soaked to the bone from the rain. He\'s wearing a heavy cloak over a sweater and pants, and has a knit winter hat and gloves on. The teen is struggling to carry an over-heavy load, wanting to make less trips. \"We\'re going to get sick.\" He states, perhaps for the hundredth time, his tone sour.

[Acelen(#32035)]

Acelen heaves the branches into the back of the wagon, startling the horses, then removes his hat to shake it out. His own cloak is sodden, but he has taken the precaution of wearing a felted garment underneath, so he isn\'t quite as miserable as Keldean.

He half turns to look as the boy struggles closer to the wagon. \"Methinks Nob had it in for both of us, lad,\" he says. \"Mind them horses when you throw that in, I almost spooked em myself a moment ago.\"

Keldean has been fairly good with his attitude the last months, but sometimes the teen can get very surly and he\'s well past any shyness with Acelen where he isn\'t afraid to share his feelings. Or show them. The advice from the stablemaster is completely disregarded and the youth practically throws the wood down into the cart. \"Well I doubt they want to be out here either. This is stupid! We should just go back and do it tomorrow.\"

[Acelen(#32035)]

\"Ho! Whoa there!\" Acelen shouts as the horses take a nervous jump forward. He turns and looks serely at the boy. \"You want to explain to Nob why we have no firewood AND no horses? Anyways, I think we can take a rest for awhile under that big oak over there. It\'s pretty dry underneath.\" Having said this, he begins to lead the way to the dry area under a massive oak.

\"You want to stop and rest? We should just get it done and get back inside to where it\'s warm..\" Keldean complains, and goes to collect another load. \"The sooner we finish the sooner we can get out of this rain.\" He grumbles as he picks up wood.

[Acelen(#32035)]

The boy\'s reticence to join him under the tree doesn\'t phase Acelen, he just keeps walking and then settles on a dry log under the massive oak. \"Come sit awhile lad,\" he calls out. \"I have a little proposition I\'d like to discuss with you. It\'s a pleasant enough evening if it weren\'t for the rain, and if we go back too soon Nob will surely find more work for you.\"

Keldean pauses in his gathering, looks up, and with a disgusted sigh dumps the wood onto the ground again. Then he walks over and sits down next to the man and begins peeling off his gloves. \"I wouldn\'t care if the work was inside. I don\'t want to get sick again.. it was bad enough the first time.\" He mutters, but eventually his complaints die off and he looks to the man with curiosity. \"What kind of proposition?\"

[Acelen(#32035)]

Been thinkin...,\" Acelen says. \"Been awhile since I\'ve gone to the southern markets. Might be a good way of getting out from under Nob\'s thumb for awhile. I\'d kinda like a little trip...a little variety...you know? He won\'t like it much though.\"

A wet hand goes up to rub his forehead as his hair drips on it. \"Next time I won\'t wear a darn straw hat out,\" he grumbles. \"It looked pretty fine when we first set out.\"

\"The southern markets?\" Keldean asks first, tightly twisting up the gloves to wring the excess water from them. \"What are those? Where are they? What would Nob do if we both left?\" He asks, but there\'s a sudden, intense curiosity on his face.

[Acelen(#32035)]

Acelen gives Keldean a sly look and nods. \"Yep,\" he says winking, \"Some darn fine horse flesh down that a way. Besides, don\'t you want to get out of Bree for a while? Slider has given me more than a little urge to travel.\"

\"Yeah.. well.. What about the rangers? And what about Nob? He\'ll never hire me back again if I leave. He\'s told me as much and I believe him.\" The teen says, looking apprehensive. His sense of adventure was seriously quelled when he disappeared the winter prior.

[Acelen(#32035)]

\"You leave Nob to me,\" Acelen mutters. \"If he gives me any trouble, I\'ll tell im I\'m quittin. That\'l stand him on his ear. Don\'t worry lad, I\'ll tell im I need you.\"

He brushes a wet curl from his forehead and continues. \"I need to get some remedies for the animals that I can\'t get from Archet for from anywhere around here for that matter.\"

\"Are they sick?\" Keldean asks, frowning now and sharply looking over at the horses. \"Is it catching?!\" There\'s some alarm in his voice and he begins to stand from the log, staring at the beasts as if afraid to approach them.

[Acelen(#32035)]

Acelen looks amused and shakes his head. \"Course they aren\'t sick. But I\'m runnin out of some of the herbs I need to treat em when they do get sick.\" He grins at the young man. \"When was the last time you ever caught something from one of the beasts? You must be inventing some new diseases.\"

The stable master removes a small leather pack from his long coat and opens it to reveal some bread and cheese. This is duly offered to Keldean.

Keldean slowly sits down again, warily looking between the stablemaster and the horses. \"Well, I .. I don\'t know. I don\'t want my horse to get sick, either.\" He says quietly, then reaches for a piece of bread when it\'s offered. \"Thanks..\" He chews on the snack thoughtfully for a moment, then shakes his head. \"I still don\'t think Nob\'s going to be okay with it.\"

[Acelen(#32035)]

\"Like I said, leave Nob to me,\" Acelen grins and winks. \"I give one of the livestock a bit of a tummy ache and tell him that we\'re out of medicine...and he\'ll send us off to get it directly, you can bet on that.\"

\"But.. \" Keldean frowns, \"Would you really do that? Trick him like that?\" The youth asks, which is strangely out of character for one that\'s told his fair share of lies.

[Acelen(#32035)]

\"When it comes to the beasts, Nob always defers to my judgement,\" Acelen says with no just a little touch of pride. \"We\'ve sold some fine animals for top dollar because of the condition they\'re in...so Yes, I believe it will be no problem.\"

\"So you\'re not really going to lie to him.\" Keldean states, but it\'s almost in a questioning tone. He finishes the bread, then pulls the hat off of his head and begins wringing it out as well.

[Acelen(#32035)]

\"It\'s a sort of creative truth,\" Acelen says smugly as he reaches for a piece of cheese and then wedges it between to hearty slices of bread. Then next few moments are spent in ripping off a rather large section and chewing it slowly. After he swallows, the stable master grins. \"So, am I to take it that you don\'t wish to come, then?\"

\"No.. that\'s not what I meant. I just.. I don\'t think we should lie to Nob. I\'ve gotten into a lot of trouble with it in the past, and Grey said I should try to be more honest about things.\" Keldean must have been talking to the rangers again if he\'s bringing one of them up. \"That\'s all I meant. I want to go.\"

[Acelen(#32035)]

Acelen shrugs and takes another huge bite. \"Results the same,\" he slurs through a mouthful of sodden bread. \"As long as Nob gets what he wants, he\'ll let us go. You got anything you can bring to trade with, boy?\"

Keldean frowns, but says nothing more on the subject of honestly, though his brow is furrowed in a troubled fashion over the matter. \"Trade? I don\'t know. What would I bring?\" He asks, shrugging. He pulls his damp hat back onto his his head, and huddles under the soaked cloak.

[Acelen(#32035)]

\"Nothing to trade? Why have I wasted all my time teaching you how to work with leather to make those headstalls, and lead ropes? You have no imagination, that\'s your trouble,\" Acelen grunts. He extends the packet of cheese and bread once more. \"Here, finish it, the cheese is just how I like it, a little bit nippy. Then we\'ll go finish off the load and have a nice hot glass of mulled wine.\"

\"No imagination?\" Keldean asks, frowning. \"I have plenty .. How am I supposed to know what I could trade in a place I\'ve never been?\" He takes the rest of the food, more than willing to finish off the meal. He asks, with a mouthful of bread, \"And isn\'t that your stuff? You had me do it while I was working?\"

[Acelen(#32035)]

Acelen makes a disgusted snort and shakes his head. \"D\'you think I been teaching you all that stuff just fer fun? I\'m trying to give you something you can take away with you. Something that\'ll allow you to make a few pennies here and there. Do you always want to be a stable boy, or Nob\'s servant? I\'m savin up for a little patch of ground just outside of Bree.\" He places a cautionary finger to his lips, \"But shhh, best not to tell Nob about that.\"

\"Oh.. \" Keldean says, and it\'s true. The boy can be rather dense at times. \"I didn\'t think about that. I just thought you wanted me to learn how to do your work for you.\" He admits, looking embarrassed. When Acelen makes him out as Nob\'s servant, the teen scowls. He stands up, pulling his gloves back on. \"Maybe I figured I\'d get your job someday.\" He says, grinning.

[Acelen(#32035)]

At this comment, Acelen laughs heartily and begins to rise himself. \"You got plenty of learnin to do yet before you\'ll be the equal of the stable master,\" he says, and reaches out to give the young man a fond clap on the back. \"You\'ve turned out to be a fine horseman lad and you can do anything you set yer mind to. Just remember that lying is no good, but a little creative stretching of the truth can be advantageous. You\'ve just got to be smart about it. We\'ll pick our moment and then ask Nob. Come let\'s get this done and get back into the warmth again.\" With that he sits his hat none to gracefully on his head and leaves the shelter of the oak for the sodden forest.