Lost Boys and Rescue Rangers

[Nob(#16122)] The sky has darkened as the two boys snuck away from the wagon, and now it is beginning to rain. Lek stops walking and peers blearily around. \"Where\'re we going?\" he asks, his voice sounding a little funny.

\"We\'re going back to where the treasure was, Lek.\" Now.. more than once Keldean has gotten lost out in the wilderness. The youth has the direction sense of a lemming at times. He follows the path that the wagon was on.. or.. at least thinks he does. \"You want to be rich, don\'t you?\" More than once Keldean glances around with shifty eyes, growing jumpier as night settles but still determined.

[Nob(#16122)] \"But...\" Lek\'s voice wavers a little, and he flushes, looking to see if Keldean has noticed. He doesn\'t look in the right place at first. \"But it was over there,\" he says, suddenly obstinate, and points a bit to their right.

Keldean stops and turns to look, frowning. \"No it wasn\'t.. I can see the tracks of the wagon in the grass.. here..\" He gestures vaguely, a look of uncertainty on his face. He looks back in what he thinks is a northward direction, \"There\'s the wagon..\" Well, it\'s some shape. It must be the wagon.

[Nob(#16122)] The younger boy stares squinting through the misty rain, and shivers. \"It\'s getting awful cold,\" he says. \"You sure that\'s the wagon?\" He turns in a circle, looking all around. \"I don\'t see nothing...\"

\"Yeah.. what else would it be.. so we have to be going in the right direction. I just have better eyes than you. Let\'s hurry before it gets darker.\" Keldean starts moving again, resolutely, though he stumbles clumsily more than once on what is relatively flat ground.

[Nob(#16122)] Lek shivers again, rubbing his hands along his arms, then tucking them under his armpits. His coat isn\'t all that thick. \"You sure?\" he asks, hurrying after Keldean. \"It wasn\'t this far, last time, was it?\"

\"We haven\'t gone that far.. it\'s only been a few minutes. There was a bigger hill, and then the lower one with the wall. We\'re climbing a hill now so it\'s probably the bigger one.. \" Keldean glances back frequently, and just as they reach the top of the rise he stops and peers back, licking his lips. \"Well, I suppose they wouldn\'t keep the fire lit with the rain, right?\" He rubs his eyes and squints through the darkness.

[Nob(#16122)] Lek is feeling more and more dizzy. He clambers up the hill after Keldean, and stands, swaying slightly. \"I\'m cold,\" he says in a low voice, too scared and sick to be so worried about appearing brave before an older boy. \"And... and I don\'t that\'s the wagon.\" Then he brightens abruptly and points to one side. \"Look, there\'s the fire!\" In the darkening evening, there is no light where he is pointing.

Keldean shrugs off his coat and reaches over to wrap it over Lek\'s shoulders. Not the best idea after he spent an entire winter ill, but Giliath would approve. \"I don\'t see anything. Where are you looking? I see a darker strip over that way.. I bet that\'s the wall. Let\'s go see.\" And the teen starts moving again, descending the hill carefully in the dark.

[Nob(#16122)] \"Thanks,\" the other boy says absently, scowling into the darkness. \"Thought sure I saw it,\" he says, uncertainly. \"Keldean.... I want to go back. We can come back when it\'s daylight. That stuff ain\'t going nowhere.\"

Keldean pauses, looking back to the younger boy. \"You\'re worried? Look.. in my coat pocket, on the right, there\'s a clay disk. Wrap your hand around it.. it\'s magic, from the elves. It will make you feel better, but be careful not to drop it.\" The teen gazes back towards the dark shape. \"I think I see something reflecting.. that has to be it. It\'s not that far. We\'ll take a look and if it isn\'t we\'ll go back, okay?\"

[Nob(#16122)] Lek slides his hands into the pockets, jamming them in deep, as much for warmth as to feel around for the disk. Reluctantly, he follows Keldean - unwilling to be left alone in the dark. \"All right,\" he says unhappily. \"But I don\'t like it out here...\" The rain is growing harder, and a cold wind picks up.

Keldean shivers, the cold seeming to spread through him more rapidly now that he\'s without a coat for protection. As he approaches the dark shape he thought would be the wall, he realizes it\'s not anything at all.. just some tall grasses that sway in the wind. \"Ok... it is cold.. let\'s just go back.\" Keldean agrees now as he slows and looks around nervously, that sinking feeling settling into his stomach as he realizes that they aren\'t where he thought they were.

[Nob(#16122)] Lek sighs with barely disguised relief, turning at once to start back. But he only takes a few steps when he stumbles to a halt. \"I... where are we?\"

Keldean bumps into Lek when he stops so abruptly. \"We have to climb back up the hill we just came down. This way.\" The teen holds one arm up to sheild his eyes from the rain, and reaches to hold the shoulder of the second coat that Lek is wearing with his free hand. \"Stay close.. it\'s too dark with the rain..\"

[Nob(#16122)] Lek\'s hand, the one not holding a small bit of clay so tightly his knuckles (unseen in the depths of the pocket) are white, creeps out to take a tight hold of Keldean\'s shirt. Or trousers. Or belt... whatever is reached first. He is nearly 12 years old he is not afraid of the dark. He glances over his shoulder and shivers, and who is to say it\'s not because it\'s wet and cold out?

Keldean doggedly climbs back up the hill they just descended, trying to keep his courage but stopping more than once to dart fearful glances at shadows. \"Come on.. Let\'s move faster..\" He says after a few minutes, and tries to tug Lek along at a faster pace.

[Nob(#16122)] Lek tries to go faster, but his legs are much shorter, and he is still feeling fairly woozy. He trips over rocks and stones, and shadows, but scurries up the hill as fast as he can.

Once they\'re at the top of the hill, Keldean searches through the darkness, breathing heavily and pushing rain-soaked curls back from his face. \"Ok.. umm.. \" The teen hesitates, trying to figure out which way to go. He stalls, \"You\'re okay? Still feeling sick? I think some of that meat was bad.. I don\'t feel well either.\"

[Nob(#16122)] Lek nods. \"My head\'s going around,\" he admits after a minute. \"And I keep... I keep thinking I see lights.\" Despite himself, he can\'t quite keep the fear out of his voice. \"Wh-which way do we go?\"

\"I think, this way.\" Keldean says, moving with less surety now. The rain is disorienting and nothing looks familiar to him now. \"You didn\'t lose that stone, did you? It\'s in the pocket of the coat, right?\"

[Nob(#16122)] Lek nods again, then says, his voice very quiet, \"I\'m holding it.\" He takes a deep breath and looks into the near-dark. He follows Keldean as the other boy begins to descend the other side of the hill they have just climbed.

Keldean walks in silence for a long time, not ready to admit that he has no idea where they\'re going. He\'s hoping to see the camp just over the next rise, or around a patch of bushes, but it shouldn\'t take long for Lek to catch on that the older boy is no longer sure of their path. Though, more than once Keldean has stopped and looked intently in a direction, then shaken his head and continued on.

[Nob(#16122)] Lek follows in silence for a while, holding tightly to Keldean. But at last, he says, \"We\'re lost, aren\'t we?\"

\"No.\" Keldean answers immediately. \"We\'re not that far from Bree.. I\'m just .. I can\'t see the wagon through all this rain. Once it stops they\'ll make a fire and we\'ll be able to see them without any trouble. So.. just don\'t worry.\" He\'s cold, shivering as the rain soaks through his clothes. \"Here, let\'s just find a thick pine to sit under until it stops, okay?\"

[Nob(#16122)] This sounds like a good idea. Anything that will get them out of the rain. Lek nods wearily, and stumbles on.

Keldean wanders for a bit longer, peering through the dark night and trying to keep himself from growing too frustrated. Finally he sees a darker blob ahead and heads for it. It is an old, leaning oak that looks half-dead as they get nearer.. but there are branches thick with leaves and Keldean isn\'t going to be choosey at this point.

[Nob(#16122)] And the two of them huddle beneath it, trying to stay warm, uneaten...

----------------------

Oppressive night crawls by, minutes seeming like hours as cold rain borne on gusting winds pelts the ground, dark clouds swirling ominously overhead. A flash of light sears the sky, briefly illuminating the crumbling ruins of a wall once high and proud running along the base of a sudden rise of the land: the Barrow Downs. The pinnacle of stone at the top of the nearest Barrow briefly silhouetted black, before plunging again into darkness, thunder rolling like the distant drums of war, and a wolf\'s battle cry rising from the nearby hills.

In another surge of lighting, near the wall is glimpsed a thick, twisted oak. It leans against the tearing winds, its branches swaying but not giving way an old warrior wise in the ways of weathering such storms. At its base, some shelter might be found from the rain and wind at least.

Emerging from the brush, and making for this very tree, might be glimpsed by keen eye a cloaked figure, moving stealithy in the night. Not that this requires much effort amid the driving rain which thunders on the stone of the wall and splashes on the waterlogged earth. He takes a couple steps then stoops, as if inspecting the ground, then rises with a wary glance towards the Downs. His careful steps, however, carry him directly towards the old oak.

Keldean has been sitting quietly next to Lek, huddling and trying to stay warm even though he\'s soaked and he gave his coat to the younger boy a while ago. When the rain evolved into a storm the teen began to grow worried, and now he jumps with each streak of lightening and blast of thunder. He\'s trying to see through the gloom around them, an impossible task, when the landscape again is lit up for a moment and he sees the silouette of a figure. \"Lek!.. We need to go, right now!\" He reaches out to grab the boy as he surges to his feet. \"There\'s something coming!\"

[Nob(#16122)] Lek, miserable, dizzy, unhappy, and above all wet, is sitting with his arms wrapping tightly around his knees, his head bent. Keldean\'s warning brings his pale face up, eyes white and wild in the night. \"Wh...?\" he says, and then lurches to his feet and bolts. The older boy\'s coat, too large for him, flaps as he runs - and trips over a stone, going face-first in the mud.

If the cloaked form would seem tall by daylight, it is downright towering by the terror of such a night. Seeing one of the boys dash, it comes forward with swift but unhurried strides to where the younger has splayed on the earth. Crouching down, one hand is stretched out to help the boy up, the other lifting to push his own hood back. Leland Foxbrush, as he is known in these parts, looks between the two lads, his gaze stern but not unkind. \"Good thing I have found you on this side of yon wall,\" he says between clashes of thunder. \"Else you would be facing worse things than wind and rain alone. Come, none of us should be so close to the Downs in a night such as this.\"

Keldean tries to think of what Giliath would do, but he has a habit of panicking and losing all reasoning in tense situations. He races after Lek, barely stumbling around the boy to keep from toppling over him, arms windmilling for balance. He reaches down to drag the younger boy back to his feet, but suddenly that figure is towering over them. Keldean grabs for the rock, pulling it from the wet mud and swinging it at the terrifying figure in an instictive reaction. \"Get back!!\"

You blindly attack Thulion with your Bare Hands...

Your attack against Thulion mildly wounds him!

[Nob(#16122)] Lek, frightened already, and confused by the hallucinations that make the Ranger seem first to balloon terrifyingly large, and then shrink, tries to scramble away from the man\'s touch. Keldean\'s scream makes him jerk and leap to his feet again, only to trip on the coat this time, and fall again. \"Don\'t hurt him!\" he yells, trying to grab the man\'s ankles. The comforting words of help and direction are lost in his panic.

Unexpected perils beset the Ranger from both sides! Leland ducks his head away just in time, Keldean\'s rock thunking relatively harmlessly against his shoulder then ploping into the muddy ground once more. His ankles are mercilessly throttled by the younger, smaller Lek, though with no apparent effect upon the man\'s balance. Looking down to the latter, he frowns, just watching the small boy. \"Oi, I\'m not going to hurt either of you. I\'ve come to help you get home,\" he says over the drumming of the rain. \"I warned you two about coming out here, did I not?\"

One thing the poor ranger may not realize is that both boys are suffering some rather tainted food effects. Keldean yells, \"Stay away from us!, then swings his fist at Thulion\'s jaw. He\'s not seeing the familiar face.. he\'s seeing something far more intimidating and after all the stories that everyone told him there\'s terror on the teen\'s face. \"Run Lek!\"

You attack Thulion with your Bare Hands...

Your attack against Thulion mildly wounds him!

[Nob(#16122)] The legs of the giant, no doubt a troll, don\'t move. They are clearly immovably rooted in the ground... Lek\'s head jerks up at Keldean\'s shout. The movement makes the world spin, and the ranger suddenly shoots upwards about 20 feet in height. The boy stares up, mouth open, frozen in horror. Rain spatters on his face.

Thulion

The Ranger looks up from Lek just in time to meet the flying fist of Keldean. Thwack! \"Oi!\" Leland flinches, then just stares at the teen, his brows furrowed, reaching a hand up to rub what is sure to be a lovely little bruise along his jaw. His other hand he lifts slowly, palm outward. \"Easy now, lad,\" he says slowly, calmly, though he studies Keldean very closely, then glances to Lek. Something is definitely not right with these two. \"I\'ll not harm you,\" he repeats, remaining still and passive as he can, lest he startle them further. \"I know where the road lies from here, and I can take you home,\" he adds.

While Keldean also has a healthy fear of trolls, that isn\'t what he sees in the dark, towering ranger with the stubble and shadowed face. He sees Asht back from the dead, and the teen has nothing but terror for the man that made his life miserable almost a year ago. \"I don\'t believe your filthy lies!!\" Keldean yells, \"Get away from us! You\'ll only try to kill us like you meant to kill Seeker!\" He swings at Thulion again.

You attack Thulion with your Bare Hands...

Thulion dodges your attack.

[Nob(#16122)] ...Home. The word strikes a chord in Lek\'s mind, and he repeats it, questioningly. \"Home?\" Scooting back a little, trying to stand up - the boy is covered in mud by now - he stands swaying. \"Keldean... he said he knows how to get home,\" he says, but the older lad is shouting something about killing, and attacking the man. It is just a man.... isn\'t it? Lek rubs his eyes, blinks, and shakes his head. The motion makes him groan, and turn pale.

This time, the Ranger well anticipates the teen\'s swing, and leans back just enough that Keldean throws a mighty punch against... air. \"No one is going to be killing anyone here,\" he says. \"But if you would rather stay out in the rain and wait for the wolves, your young friend and I can make our way home.\" He looks down to the younger lad, a smile drawing his lips in a line, and he nods, speaking kindly. \"Aye, home. Back through the brush there,\" he tilts his head towards the direction he came from.

Keldean stumbles a few steps when his punch misses, and slips in the mud. He falls to the ground and yells at Lek again, \"Don\'t trust him! Run!!\" Then struggles to stand again, one whole side of him dark from the wet mud coating him. \"He\'s a liar and he\'s trying to trick you!\"

[Nob(#16122)] \"I want to go home,\" Lek says, his voice quivering and very quiet. He takes a step in the direction that the man has indicated, then stops. \"Come on, Keldean. I\'m c-cold. And.. my head hurts.\" Then a wave of sickness sweeps over him. Under the mud, his face looks green. \"Turn off th\'fireworks,\" he mumbles, putting his hands over his eyes. Taking a step back and trying to turn, he falls again.

\"Follow me for just a little while... if we don\'t get to the road soon, then you will know that I am a liar and you can disappear into the brush. How else do you plan to get home? The wolves are hunting tonight, and they will find you ere the morn.\" After a long, careful look at Keldean, the Ranger slowly stands and walks after the younger boy. \"Careful now, lad,\" he murmurs, hurrying forward a step when Lek falls. Stooping, he reaches to lift the boy into his arms. \"Both of you seem to have taken ill. Come, we had best get you home quickly.\"

[Nob(#16122)] Lek lets his head fall against the ranger\'s chest, mumbling something as he is lifted then going limply unconscious.

Keldean regains his footing and wipes mud from his face, then rushes after the man as he goes to pick up Lek. The teen is too slow and draws back again when he finds himself too near to his nemesis. \"Put him down! I\'m sick of being tricked and lied to! I\'ll carry him.. Put him down or.. \" Keldean hesitates, and then reaches down to his boot to draw a slim dagger, holding it in his muddy hand and glaring at Thulion.

Standing with the boy in his arms, he half turns and arches a brow to Keldean, his glance going to the glinting dagger. \"You will attack me, young master? Do so and you risk hurting your young friend here, who... mind you.. I have not laid a harmful hand upon, and would be quite vulnerable were you to go doing something so foolish, and getting yourself hurt.\" He breathes a sigh, glances towards the brush, then back to Keldean. \"It is some two hundred of my paces from here to the road. Give me that many to show you that I lead you true.\"

Keldean stands motionless, having no real stomach to attack the man. His threat was just that, a threat. Rainwater is wiped from his eyes, and then he nods as he begins to regain some of his senses, his pulse slowing. He leans down and tucks the knife away into his boot again, and suddenly something occurs to him. \"Wait! Don\'t move! He may have dropped it!\" Frantically Keldean approaches the ranger now, a new fear in his eyes. \"He\'s wearing my coat!\"

[Thulion(#28108)]

The Ranger looks perplexed anew, and looks at the boy in his arms, who is indeed wearing a rather large coat. \"Aye. Generous of you to loan it to him.. but, dropped what?\" His brows furrow at the teen. \"If it is treasure that you two picked up, best to leave it to the mud and rain.\" Still, though, he does wait, and his glance skims the ground at his feet and the boy-shaped puddle where Lek had fallen.

Keldean shakes his head, not bothering to answer. He searches first one muddy pocket of the coat, then the other. He moans in despair, but a moment later sighs in relief as he pulls out what looks to be little more than a smooth disk of clay in the darkness. \"It\'s here.. \" He says, laughing, then repeats, \"It\'s here. Okay. We can go.\" The item is held tightly and the teen seems far more relaxed now, his earlier aggression all but gone.

[Thulion(#28108)]

The teen receives one last curious look from the Ranger before the man turns away then, pacing deliberately back towards the place amid the brush where he had emerged. Nearer, now, a wolf cries mournfully into the violent night. \"Hurry,\" calls the Ranger back over his shoulder to the teen. \"It will be bad enough if we meet any wolves upon the road, let alone here. And how chill the winds that blow off the Downs. Let us be away from this place!\" he urges, then glancing behind him to make sure Keldean follows, makes to slip back into the brush.

Keldean doesn\'t linger, the howl of the wolf more than enough to convince him to hurry. He rushes after the ranger, wet, cold, and covered with mud. He still clutches the item that he so desperately searched for, a strange thing to be so worried about.

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A long, wet and stormy night it has been, with wolves crying in the hills, but at last it is coming to an end. Morn is not far off, the lands greying with the dawn, yet still sheets of rain come down and thunder rolls in the distance to the West. The sign of the Pony swings and creaks faintly in the intermittent gusts of winds last, meek puffs of the storm\'s vigour brought down upon the lands.

Up the drowned streets comes a tall man, soaked through and through as though he had been out in the rain all night, his dark hair falling limp and thoroughly wet. Worn leather boots splash only lightly in the many (and deep) puddles as he strides quickly towards the inn, a small, thoroughly muddied boy, wrapped in a jacket rather too large for him, held in the Ranger\'s arms.

Keldean isn\'t far behind the tall man, without his coat that is wrapped around Lek, and equally soaked to the bone. His auburn curls hang long and wet around his face and he looks around with shifty eyes, more nervous than usual for some reason. His hands are stuffed into his pockets and his clothes are covered in mud.

[Cordelia(#24827)] A woman approaches, coming from the direction of the Pony. The wind and rain whip her cloak around her so that she repeatedly has to reach a hand up to keep the hood of her cloak drawn up against the weather. Even so, her black hair escapes the hood, wet strands of it slashing about and sticking to her face. \"Cursed weather,\" she mutters under her breath, not particularly looking where she is going and liable to walk into the approaching men.

Fortunately, the Ranger at least is watching the road ahead of him. As he nears the inn, he calls out to the dark haired woman. \"Miss Wood?\" He calls to her. A pause, and a quick glance behind to be sure the teen is still with him. \"Do I remember correctly that you work at the healers? If so, may we impose upon you for your services? These two young lads were out all night in this weather, and apart from catching cold, I fear some other ailment has their minds confused.\" The boy in his arms seems to be out cold, and though the Ranger lingers outside the door of the inn for Cordelia\'s answer, he does not seem to be inclined to wait long.

Keldean notices Cordelia and a guarded expression comes across his face. \"She\'s not a healer.\" He says immediately, reaching his arm up to wipe rain from his face. \"She only helps them, and we\'re fine anyway. I know where Lek sleeps.. he\'s just sick from eating too much.\" Maybe Cordelia will notice how Keldean glances back to the west frequently, as if expecting to see something Bad behind him. He brought the coin and gems back.

[Cordelia(#24827)] \"What\'s wrong?\" Cordelia asks, stepping forward quickly toward the ranger to look at the boy. She shoots a sharp glance to Keldean. \"He\'s right--I\'m not a healer, but I do know enough that you should get out of this rain and both get dry. And if you need a healer, I can fetch one. Unless you want to head there now--I was on my way over there. But what happened?\"

[Thulion(#28108)]

\"As for that,\" the Ranger turns a knowing glance towards Keldean. \"You shall have to ask the young master here just why he and his friend were out in the rain, away south of the road west of here. If he has a reason other than greed, I, too, would like to hear it.\" He takes a step towards the door of the inn, then. \"But, we should not linger out in this weather. Warmth alone will do much for them just now, and we can see if a healer is needed soon enough.\"

Keldean glowers at the man, but it doesn\'t last long when someone down the street slams a door. The teen jumps and looks back, his nerves on edge. \"Let\'s get inside.\" He agrees, and hurries for the entrance to the inn. \"Cordelia, have you seen Nob?\" He asks as he reaches for the door handle, sounding worried.

[Cordelia(#24827)] Just like that, Cordelia turns on her heels and heads back toward the Pony--though of course she was originally heading away from it. \"I\'m getting soaked to the bone, too,\" she nods to Thulion, walking briskly toward the Inn. Her eyes narrow, though, and she stares at Keldean. \"South of the road west of here? YOu were at the Barrow Downs, Keldean?\" she snorts. \"What happened to the elves being your friends and changing your nature, Keldean? That didn\'t last long, did it now? And no, I haven\'t seen Nob.\"

[Thulion(#28108)]

\"The elves?\" The Ranger arches a brow slightly towards the teen. \"Seems like you would have a fair number of interesting stories to tell, Keldean.\" So saying, he, too, ducks into the Pony, turning side-ways through the door so as not to jostle Lek in his arms.

Keldean ignores the jibes of Cordelia and moves in with the rest of them, eager to get inside where it\'s warmer. He heads for the common room, \"It\'s late.. no one will be around and the fireplace is really warm.\" The teen says, glancing around for a certain hobbit that\'s probably furious with him. Halfway to the fireplace though, Keldean stops to look out a window, his eyes suddenly growing large with fear. \"Did you see that? Out there?\" He asks, nervous again.

[Nob(#16122)] Lek stirs in the ranger\'s arms, and half-opens his eyes, then lets them fall shut again.

[Cordelia(#24827)] \"Take off his wet things,\" Cordelia tells the ranger. \"Yes, elves. And you, Keldean, take off your wet clothes.\" She throws her own cloak onto one of the benches, heading over to Thulion and Lek. \"We could use more wood to build...what?\" Cordelia is distracted by Keldean, then. \"There\'s nothing outside,\" she says, then frowns, looking to Thulion. \"Would..something...follow him so quickly? What would it be?\"

\"Not by daylight,\" murmurs the Ranger, bearing Lek towards the hearth. \"More wood, aye. Either of you know where the wood, and the blankets are kept?\" He asks as he crouches down to lay the boy upon the rug before the fire, pulling the mud-soaked jacket off of Lek and setting it aside. \"The wights--- the ghosts which haunt the barrows, will only follow him if he has taken some of their treasure,\" he adds, glancing up to catch Keldean\'s eye as he says this.

[Nob(#16122)] Lek throws out an arm, and turns his head restlessly, mumbling something and then he is awake. His foggy brown eyes are fixed on the ranger\'s face. \"Where.... wood\'sna shed,\" he says, voice slurred. He squints, and shuts his eyes as if the dim light of the fire hurts them. \"Kel..?\"

Keldean looks back to the others, frowning while he stands there, shivering and dripping all over the floor. His eyes stray to the fire, and the place where there\'s usually a pile waiting. \"The wood didn\'t get brought in, I\'ll get some.\" He rushes off before they (hopefully) realize he avoided answering the question of the wights. He doesn\'t believe in that rubbish anyway.

[Cordelia(#24827)] As Keldean rushes out, Cordelia bites her lower lip and looks at Thulion with brown eyes gone wider. \"He must have taken some treasure,\" she says quietly. \"I tried to keep him safe...\" She shakes her head as if to shake off a dark mood that has come over her and says in a more normal voice, \"I\'ll fetch blankets.\" Then she hurries out of the room.

By the frown on the Rangers face, it might be guessed that he Keldean\'s non-answer did not go unnoticed. He breathes a low sigh, and nods once, at Cordelia\'s comment. \"The sooner that treasure is returned, the safer all of us shall be.\" he murmurs, then looks down to Lek. \"Keldean went to fetch the wood,\" he adds in a kindly tone to the boy. \"How do you feel? Still dizzy?\" He reaches to feel the lad\'s forehead with the back of his palm. \"Who looks after you?\" he adds after a moment.

[Nob(#16122)] The younger boy\'s skin is damp and cool. His eyes pop open at the man\'s touch, then he squeezes them shut again swiftly. \"An\' m\'head hurts,\" he says. A minute passes. The fire burns, sparks dancing up in the smoke as a log shifts. \"Mister Barl\'man,\" the boy replies. \"An\' Nob... Stuff keeps movin\' round.\"

Keldean returns a few minutes later, dripping anew from the rain, but he\'s carrying a couple logs for the fire. He has that spooked look on his face again, but moves to the hearth and tosses the logs in with the practice of someone that has done his own fair share of tending the fireplaces in the Pony. Then Keldean sits down on the rug next to them and begins pulling his sodden shirt off.

\"Easy, try to lie quiet. Too much to eat, hrm?\" adds the Ranger with a glance up towards Keldean. \"Everyone on that wagonload was acting a bit strange, come to think of it.\" he muses aloud, then reaches to help Lek out of his shirt. \"You\'ll warm up the sooner without these damp clothes, now that we\'re inside. Miss Wood should be back in just a moment with blankets for you two. In the meanwhile,\" his gaze shifts between the two of them. \"Care to tell what you were doing out there, and why you, Keldean, are so spooked now?\"

[Nob(#16122)] \"Din\'t eat too much.\" Lek tries to sound indignant, but he can\'t quite manage it. He lets the ranger take off his shirt, shivering a litte. The fire is warm though, the flames licking eagerly at the new wood, and sending out waves of heat into the already warm room. \"\'M fine..\" The boy pushes himself up, to sit, then his head sags and he lays back down swiftly, but still insistent. \"Din\'t eat too much... wouldn\' give me... no more.\"

\"Cordelia.. How do you know her?\" Keldean asks, moving to sit up on the edge of the hearth to be closer to the warmth of the fire, still shivering. \"I\'m not spooked. I just thought I saw something.. And I don\'t like wolves.\" Now bare-chested, it\'s more obvious how skinny this young man is, his ribs easy to see. He also has old scars on his chest and stomach, dozens of thin lines that are easy to see on his untanned flesh.

He shoves his hand into his pocket and pulls out the clay disk again, and there\'s a faint reflection of the light off it where it has a gold-colored metal worked into it. \"You\'ll feel better in the morning, Lek.\"

[Nob(#16122)] How many cookies Lek might have snuck when no one was watching, likely no one will ever know.

\"We\'ve crossed paths a few times,\" answers the Ranger, settling himself upon the floor as well, still in his fully soaked clothes. With his cloak cast back, his clothes beneath are plain to see: a plain, rather worn looking woolen shirt of moss green (though it may have once been darker), belted about his waist with a broad, sturdy leather belt. Another strip of leather crosses his chest, supporting his belt further, for upon it are many pouches, and at his left hip gleams the golden hilt of a longsword.

Almost idly, he tugs his cloak back over this last item, then stretches long legs out, casting a long glance towards Keldean. \"You still haven\'t answered my question, lad. About what you and Lek were doing there.\"

Keldean rubs his thumb over the medallion, seeming distracted at first with a look of sorrow on his face. He\'s still shaking from the chill, despite the heat of the fire rolling over his bare back. He looks up at the man finally. \"We went back for more of the gold.\" He answers bluntly, a challenging expression on his face. \"What were you doing out there?\"

[Nob(#16122)] Lek curls up, rolling onto his side. His wet hair clings to his forehead, and his muddy, drenched pants are steaming slightly. His eyes are still squeezed tightly shut, and his face (under the mud-streaks) is pale. He looks ill.

[Acelen(#32035)]

\"Thrice accursed wind!\" This imprecation is followed by the slam of the door against the frame as it opens briefly to admit the skinny figure of the stablemaster. \"T\'aint fit fer man nor beast out there,\" he grumbles as he shakes himself and whips the knitted cap from his head. \"Look at me new boots,\" Acelen continues to complain, but as he makes his way across the room, he stops and chews on his bottom lip.

\"By the look of ye, the storm caught yourselves also,\" he continues, frowning a little at the impropriety of undressing in the middle of the Common Room. Finally, his eyes light on Keldean and narrow. \"There you are! And nothing done in the stable. No beasts fed neither. I\'ve a mind to give you a good beating.\"

[Thulion(#28108)]

The Ranger raises a hand in a quieting gesture to the angered stablemaster. \"If I may,\" he begins calmly, his glance straying briefly to the two boys before he looks again to Acelen. \"These two have had a long night. They went along with the good Mayor\'s investigation, got themselves locked out and lost in this storm. They\'ve only just returned. Not that discipline isn\'t in order,\" a hard glance towards Keldean. \"But hardly a beating\'s worth. Wouldn\'t help the lad to go about his chores were he more sore than he is now, on top of cold and tired.\"

Of all the bad timing for Acelen to waltz in. Keldean looks up as the stablemaster begins laying into him about the work that wasn\'t done. He\'s just opening his mouth to argue when the ranger speaks on his behalf, and for the second time Keldean looks relieved tonight. After the man is done talking he asks Acelen, \"You didn\'t tell Nob, did you?\" oncern heavy in his voice. \"We didn\'t expect to be gone so long. I was helping the mayor.\"

[Acelen(#32035)]

\"No...but it might make \'im think twice before he does it again,\" Acelen says with a snort. He eyes the lad, taking note of the obvious signs of someone with a little money.

\"Haven\'t seen Nob...yet,\" he says ominously. \"Now, tell me what was so urgent that you had to leave without telling me er anyone else?\"

Acelen swaps his knit cap on his leg in irritation and a fine spray of water sails through the air. His eyes take in the armoured one once more. \"And just who be you, sir?\" he says. \"Hard to believe that this one,\" Kelean is indicated by a thumb jerk, \"Would be of any interest to the Mayor.\"

[Nob(#16122)] The younger boy, warming up slowly from the fire - mud baking onto his skin, that skin flushing - slowly relaxes into sleep. The voices of the men drone above him, wordless. And as he sleeps, the last of the hallucinogen works out of his blood. Unfortunately, in nightmares, but those will come later.

\"Leland Foxbrush I am called, or just \'Lee\' by more than a few,\" answers the Ranger, seemingly not bothered by the sodden state of his shirt, cloak, pants, boots and all. Indeed, there seems to be nothing about him that is not wet, almost as though the man had been dunked in a lake, though the only muddy part of him is his boots, and the bottom of his cloak. \"Not of interest to the Mayor, perhaps, but the Mayor\'s doings were certainly of interest to him. I do hope, however,\" his gaze is returned to Keldean. \"That he has learned some amount of a lesson in that.\"

[Acelen(#32035)]

Acelen\'s eyebrows raise as his gaze shifts from Lee to Keldean. \"The boy is not one to worry about putting his hands where they don\'t belong,\" he says cryptically. Turning to Keldean he growls, \"Come boy! Out with it...and mind you make it a story worth hearing, or Nob will surely cut you loose.

Hetill gazing at the boy, the stablemaster points to the bar and addresses the armoured one. \"If ye\'ll ask at the bar young sir, they\'ll lend you something to towel yourself off. Ye\'ll catch yer death standing around in those wet clothes. I\'ll have the maid come and build up the fire a little for you.\" A quick glance is given to the form of Lek, \"Best move im away from the fire a little. Gets pretty hot once it gets goin\'.\"

Keldean scowls again, but doesn\'t seem overly phased by the threat of a beating. Likely because Acelen has never acted on such a thing and the teen is almost too old for such a thing anyhow. \"It must be so easy to be rich and travel around telling people what to do.\" He says in a frustrated voice meant for Lee, standing now and snatching up his sodden shirt and coat. Then the teen kneels down next to Lek and makes a careful study of the easiest way to haul the younger boy to his bed.

With a glance towards Acelen he speaks in a more even tone. \"I was helping the mayor. I thought we would be back a lot earlier. I\'ll do extra work tomorrow..\"

A soft sigh comes from the Ranger, and he glances down at his worn, weathered tunic which conceals whatever armour he may, in fact, wear. Slowly, he shakes his head to Keldean, \"If that were so, what need would I have to travel so much? And if you in fact despise being advised for your own safety, then perhaps next time I should let you wander where you aughtn\'t, hrm?\"

He pauses to shift the sleeping Lek to a safe, yet still warm distance from the fire, then nods gratefully towards Acelen. \"My thanks, but... I\'ll not be staying long enough to get dry, I fear, though something hot to drink would be most welcome.\"

[Acelen(#32035)]

\"Helpin\' \'im with what?\" Acelen says to Keldean with a scowl. \"Yer nothin to the likes of the Mayor. Why would he ask ye to do aught?\" He eyes Keldean suspiciously, for this is not the first time the lad has gotten into trouble. \"Nob\'ll be after me, wondering where ye\'ve been. Did ye really think that ye could come into the Inn and not have every person in Bree know that ye\'ve been somewhere ye shouldn\'t have been? Folks around here know ye of old, lad.\" This last is said with an air of resignation, as if Acelen has given up on his charge.

He sighs deeply and nods to Lee. \"Mabel! Some hot spiced mead for the young Lee here - and bring him a little bread and stew while yer at it!\" Acelen bellows in the direction of the kitchen. Then he turns back in surprise as he hears that Lee is planning on going out again. \"There\'s few folk that would be addled enough to chance that storm again,\" he says soberly. \"Must be some strong inclination that ye have.\"

Keldean carefully reaches to heft up Lek, straining a bit under the weight as he lifts the younger boy up. \"I was helping him.. go investigate treasure. You can..\" He shifts the dead weight of Lek, \".. ask him yourself. I\'m not lying.\" He glances at the ranger again. \"I saw the sword. They cost a fortune, more gold than was out there on the ground.\"

[Thulion(#28108)]

\"Not so much an inclination as a promise. I\'ve a friend to meet.\" answers the Ranger. \"And, well,\" he gives a soft chuckle. \"How much more wet can I get? And, the young master here isn\'t lying about helping the Mayor.\" He adds in Keldean\'s defense, then shifts his grey eyes to rest long on the teen. \"My entire fortune, it would seem, by the looks of the rest of me, eh? But wandering... hunting game and the like... being my business as it is, it would be foolish to go without one.\"

[Acelen(#32035)]

At the mention of gold, Acelen\'s face changes. \"Gold ye say?\" he says softly. \"Tell me all about it lad.\" A wary glance is given to Lee\'s sword as the stablemaster wrestles with this little mystery, wondering how the stranger fits into the whole thing.

\"Must be a heavy burden - a promise like that,\" he observes. Then he chuckles. \"Mesself, I hunt the stag with a bow. Never seen anyone hunt one with a sword. Must be an interestin\' stalkin\' method ye\'ve got.\" He grins at his own joke and then sobers again. \"Ye\'ll be no good promise-wise if ye catch the comsumption. Best to dry off a little and warm yer bones ere goin\' out in that again.\"

Keldean gazes at the man in return, still holding Lek though the boy is feeling heavier with each breath taken. \"Do you know a man by the name of .. Thistlewool? Or Grey?\" He asks, his voice quieter. Then.. as if he\'s only just realized how rude he\'s been, (which happens to be the case), he adds, \"I\'m sorry. Thank you for the help Mr. Foxbrush.\"

[Thulion(#28108)]

The Ranger gives a low chuckle to Acelen\'s remark. \"The trick is to slink close, like a fox,\" he says first with a gleam in his eye, then sniffs softly and continues more seriously. \"Though it does tend to be easier, and more practical, to hunt with the bow, yes. But there being bandits and the like about, it doesn\'t hurt to have a bit of defense at hand. That mead and stew\'ll do quite well. My thanks,\" he says once more.

\"Thistlewool a friend of yours? I\'ve met him,\" answers Lee in a low voice to Keldean, studying the lad carefully. At length he nods then. \"You\'re welcome, Keldean. Just try to keep out of such trouble again, eh?\" His tone this time, however, is perfectly friendly. Perhaps he feels the lad\'s been scolded enough.

[Acelen(#32035)]

At this point Acelen gives an exasperated exhalation. \"Will someone please tell me what all this is about?\" he growls. \"I\'m no stranger to those bandits,\" he adds. \"And there have been other queer doin\'s here in the past.\" A quick glance is given Lee - \"Bree is a peaceful place, but not so long ago now we had some trouble. Good thing Rhifaroth was here then. There were those of whom most don\'t speak hereabouts. Burned some houses, they did.\"

Just then the maid comes in through the kitchen door, swinging her ample hips as she threads her way through the tables to deliver the heated mead and food. \"There ya go,\" she says with a wink, then turns on her heel to return behind the bar.

\"I spoke with him.. a couple months ago.\" Keldean answers Lee, then looks over towards Acelen sharply at the mention of Rhifaroth. Another expression of worry crosses his face. The teen starts moving now, because Lek isn\'t getting any lighter and he\'s starting to fear that he might drop his friend on the floor. He disappears out into the hall, beating a quick retreat.

\"I spoke with him.. a couple months ago.\" Keldean answers Lee, then looks over towards Acelen sharply at the mention of Rhifaroth. Another expression of worry crosses his face. The teen starts moving now, because Lek isn\'t getting any lighter and he\'s starting to fear that he might drop his friend on the floor. He disappears out into the hall, beating a quick retreat.

\"An... investigation,\" The word is said somewhat dubiously by the Ranger, as though he doubts the term is properly applied. \"By the Mayor. Some old bones found out,\" he waves a hand vaguely westward. \"There. Ah, thank you, miss,\" he adds, accepting the food and drink gratefully, though with not so much as a second glance at the woman. \"As curious folk are wont to do, many tagged along, and found nothing but trouble because of it. Speaking of trouble,\" He looks curiously to the stablemaster, brow arching slightly. \"What was that trouble a while back? I\'d been away, hunting, and have only heard scanty rumours.\" He brings the mug of mead to his lips, sipping thoughtfully, his eye still upon Acelen.

[Acelen(#32035)]

Acelen bends close to the lad. \"Found a couple of broken black arrows I did,\" he whispers. \"Smelled right peculiar they did.\" He glances warily around. \"After the houses were burnt, Rhifaroth left. I didn\'t know where he had gone. So I took my staff and followed the path left by those...things.\" This last is accompanied by a look of repugnance. Rhifaroth told me that I was lucky not to have encountered the live ones with only that staff.\"

He seats himself opposite Lee and then raises a finger towards the bar to signal for a pint. \"T\'was a dark day that brought them here. Luckily, the rangers took care of em.\"

\"Black arrows? Burnt houses?\" So-called Lee frowns. \"Foul doings indeed. This...\" He pauses, sounding out the obviously foreign name carefully. \"Rhi-far-oth. He\'s one of the rangers, then, I take it? He was right to warn you, though... most things that would attack a man out in the wilds wouldn\'t hardly flinch at a mere staff. Takes something a bit sharper to fend them off. Still, I don\'t suppose anyone saw exactly what it was that left those arrows?\" The conversation seems to keep his interest, though not enough that his food is forgotten. Dipping his spoon into the stew, he ladles some of it into his mouth.

[Acelen(#32035)]

\"Aye, someone saw them a\'right,\" Acelen says softly as he points to himself. \"I didn\'t see the ones that left the arrows close to town, but as I followed the path left by the fighting, there were plenty of dead ones..with the same arrows. You could smell em from some distance, and as the wind changed me horse was almost like to have thrown me, that\'s how crazy she became at the scent.\"

His ale arrives and he pauses in his speech, nodding his thanks to Mabel and sitting back to look at Lee thoughtfully as he takes a drink. \"I still have those arrows. At first I was planning to sell em in the market...but now I just keep em out of sight.\"

Keldean makes his way back into the common room finally, covering a yawn as he carries a bowl of stew. He\'s barefoot now, and wearing a dry shirt and pair of pants. His auburn hair was wrung out, and is beginning to curl as it dries out. The teen sits down near the fire again and begins eating his own procured meal.

[Thulion(#28108)]

\"Perhaps best keep them there,\" nods Lee, reaching for his mead once more. \"I can\'t imagine why anyone would want to buy black, putrid smelling arrows. How many Breefolk got hurt in all of this? If some houses got burnt...\" The man\'s brows furrow at what is apparently a dark thought, and he takes a long drink of the mead. He nods to Keldean as the lad returns. \"Your friend settled alright?\" he asks quietly, his voice echoing a little hollow in his mug.

[Acelen(#32035)]

As Keldean returns, Acelen simply nods to Lee and offers him a thin smile. \"None got badly hurt,\" he says quietly, then turns his head to glare at Keldean. \"Come sit down here lad and give me a complete accounting of what went on with the Mayor...unless you want me to ask Nob to question you about it.\" He peers over the mug at Keldean with an appraising look.

Keldean nods, his mouth stuff too full of stew for him to answer the ranger right away. He\'s made an effort to wipe some of the mud away with a damp towel, but still has a lot of dirt in his hair. Acelen\'s demand is met with a frown, but the stablemaster\'s new threat holds far more weight.

The teen swallows his bite, then says, \"I was in the market, and Cordelia and the mayor started going on about investigating some bones and a treasure. The mayor\'s been cross with me, so I offered to help. He agreed, and I went out there with him and the others. People started getting sick, though. The mayor fell and rolled down a hill and hit his head. Me and Lek got a bit lost trying to make our way back to the wagon in the dark.\"

[Thulion(#28108)]

\"I\'m glad of that, at least,\" nods Lee to Acelen, then listens with interest to Keldean\'s story, frowning a little at the mention of folk getting sick. \"I still wonder about that,\" he muses softly. \"About what made everyone so sick. Seems like you\'ve recovered well enough, though? And Miss Wood...\" he pauses, then silences himself with a long draught of his mead, and another spoonful of his stew.

[Acelen(#32035)]

\"Sick you say,\" Acelen muses with a quick glance at Lee. \"Odd that it should come of a sudden and everyone should be taken with it. Now this treasure, and these bones. What is the story behind them? Seems a bit of an odd tale. And how did ye make the aquaintance of our young master Lee here?\" The hand with the ale pauses in midair on the way to his mouth as if it too, is waiting for an answer.

The teen answers around another bite of stew, \"I don\'t know.. I think some of the food was bad.\" He chews and swallows, then answers the next question, \"He was there looking at things too.. Never said -why- he was out there alone, though.\" The last few bites are quickly polished off and Keldean covers another yawn.

[Acelen(#32035)]

\"Which leaves me the question as to why /you/ were out there at all,\" Acelen says without a smile.

[Thulion(#28108)]

\"I was there to ward off fools like yourself who would get yourselves into trouble by messing about with that cursed treasure,\" Lee just sighs, shaking his head. \"Rumours enough I\'ve heard about those parts to fear for all of Bree\'s safety, if people go meddling where they aught not. Seemingly, however, those rumours \'ve not spread so far as the Pony, or are disregarded as mere ghost stories.\" He frowns still, and returns his attention to his stew, now seeming in a bit more of a hurry to get it finished.

\"I told you, I was helping the mayor.\" Keldean says in that tone of impatient all teens get when asked to repeat things. His gaze shifts back to the ranger. \"Bree always has rumors going around. I bet there will be at least a dozen about you by midday.\" The teen stands now, setting his bowl down on the closest table. He yawns a third time and slinks for the exit before Acelen can get more upset with him.

[Acelen(#32035)]

Acelen\'s eyebrows raise at this rather heated reply, and while he ponders it, he sips on the dark brew in his tankard. Finally, he places the drink on the table in front of him and says gravely. \"There are few if any that would call me a fool, for none are better with the horses than I. I may not have a pig sticker like yours, but I\'ve done well enough with me staff.\" He rises in a bit of a huff, obviously miffed and heads for the door with his drink in his hand.