A Late Night Conversation

[Tet\'Nak(#6174)] There is a slight drizzle falling beneath the dark sky. The moon is covered by clouds, causing it to be a dark night indeed. Only the light of dim torches, barely staying lit, give any light at all. There are few guards on duty at this hour, mostly sleeping, but the massive influx of people have kept everyone on guard. Refugees from Kiekgard Dun and the surrounding area have mostly ended up here, in Forthunn, arriving only days ago. The Fian of these lands, Shadrack MacDuff, has given sanctuary to them all, regardless of clan.

Meanwhile, benath the night\'s wet sky, Tet\'Nak sits quietly on a barrel behind the alehouse, smoking a pipe, his head ducked in order to keep the pipeweed\'s flames from dying.

Finnian slowly approaches the man that he met the first night he joined this growing group of people. True to his word, the vagrant has asked for little and only eaten what he needs to get through the day. He\'s worked hard to be a help around the camp, doing what he can. Tavish is wet from the rain, but doesn\'t seem to mind it too greatly. As he closes the distance to Tet\'Nak he speaks in a soft voice, \"I do be having a question.. sir. If you have a moment?\"

[Tet\'Nak(#6174)] Tet\'Nak looks up from beneath his hood, but it is hard to see, but the fire in his pipe does give off some light underneath his hood. \"Hrm?\" the grunts, \"Oh, you, Finnian,\" he says, reciting the name. \"You have done well,\" he says simply, nodding and smacking a nearby barrel.

Finnian moves to sit down, smiling briefly before it slips away. \"My thanks.. \" He is quiet, glancing around once before he speaks. \"What do you be thinking of all these Hawks that join us? I don\'t be grudging a man his heritage, but.. people don\'t be happy that they be such a loyal group. Makes a man wonder if he be shunned for another clan\'s roots down the road.\" Obviously Tavish isn\'t afraid to speak his mind.

[Tet\'Nak(#6174)] Tet\'Nak shrugs, \"Not surprised,\" he says, \"Carac\'s father was /the Hawk/ after all.\" He gives a short chortle, \"I knew they would flock to him once he had returned.\" He smiles, \"I think a great many things will change in the coming months. A great many. Not without bloodshed, of course, but, well, that\'s to be expected.\"

\"What be the goal? They say Brodie is dead. Do we be seeking to end all Ceanni rule?\" Finnian asks, lifting a hand to scratch through several days growth of stubble on his chin. \"I wish I be knowing for certain that the bastard is gone. Makes me want to go lookin\' for his body to be sure.\" He scowls, his brows narrowed angrily.

[Tet\'Nak(#6174)] Tet\'Nak takes another draw off his pipe, \"I do not know his plan, I am sure he wishes to reestablish the Hawk. I suppose if they are corrupt, they will meet their end, just like Giric did twenty five years ago. Just as Kedhern did. Just as, perhaps, this Brodie did. Though, I always have said, if you do not find a body, they are not dead.\" He exhales with a smile, \"Look at me for proof!\"

\"Maybe I do not be knowing my history as I should be..\" Finnian says, his face growing curious. \"I have heard that the Hawk met an unfortunate end, but little beyond that were we permitted to speak. The fianni I worked for was none too caring about educating his people, only cared about .. tellin\' us what to do.\"

[Tet\'Nak(#6174)] \"Not much that I know either, save that Carac\'s father was the Hawk Ceann. I would not want to speak too much about it, I\'d ask Carac if you really wish to know.\" Tet\'Nak nods, \"You seem a good sort, just because the Hawk has returned, does not mean you need to become a Hawk. The Bear, Stag, and Wulf will live on after all this, I am sure. They always do.\" He shrugs, turning his pipe in his hand slightly, \"Screw em\' anyway. All of em\'.\"

\"When I left the Bear, it be little loss. I be wanting my vengence.. if I get that, I will be helping in what ways that I can.\" Finnian speaks with the same conviction that he did the first night that he met Tet\'Nak. \"I only be worried that this revival of the Hawk will cause more bad feelings. I don\'t want to be seeing fighting here when we could all be fighting a bigger enemy, the men that put us here.\"

[Tet\'Nak(#6174)] \"We can only do what we can. Hopefully people will calm down, and I think they will, once they realize without Carac they do not eat.\" He shakes his head, \"These people, most people, are nothing more than sheep. They have been kicked in the teeth since they could carry a hoe, and do not have much in the way of their own ideas or thoughts.\" He takes another drag and releases it through his nose, \"Still, even now, after all that has happened, they do not see the truth.\"

Finnian lifts a brow, rain water dripping slowly down his face. \"What truth do that be?\" The man asks after a long moment of thought, his eyes trying to see within the shadows of Tet\'Nak\'s hood. \"That they do not eat? Or that they do not be knowing how to live without someone to tell them what to do?\"

[Tet\'Nak(#6174)] \"Eh, the second one,\" Tet\'Nak retorts, continuing to smoke his pipe and blow the smoke into the night. He does not offer any to the other man. \"They are sheep. Lots of sheep in Dunland.\" He laughs to himself, \"Lots of them!\" He falls into outright laughter, coughing and spitting afterward. Through bated breath, he says, \"I need to stop making such wonderful jokes, going to sufficate myself!\"

Finnian doesn\'t laugh, but there\'s a smirk that crosses his face after a short contemplation. \"Carac be leading the sheep.. As do be yourself. As I say, this sheep will be helping where he can as long as he be getting a chance at the Bear.\" Tavish stands as if to leave, but he pauses to consider.

\"There was a singer that was talking of news.. he be saying that someone made off with Brodie\'s body and armor and that the Bear has a reward for any who find it.\" Finn shakes his head. \"Who be bothering to drag the body of a dead man around when they can be taking the armor?\"

[Tet\'Nak(#6174)] \"Good question, no idea,\" Tet\'Nak says. \"Like I say, never trust a person is dead unless you have them at your feet, and they no longer breath.\" He stands, stretches, and sticks his thumb in the pipe, extinguishing it. \"I believe I shall take a chance to get out of the rain and sleep.\" He yawns, \"Sheep always need shepherds, but, well, there are not many good ones. Carac, he\'ll be a fair one I suppose. Me? I\'m no sheperd, I am a wolf.\" He grins, walking away, toward the front of the building, without a word.

Finnian chuckles while shaking his head. He says nothing in parting, but simply turns and moves off to find something to do, too restless to sleep on a rainy night.