Post by Brandwyn on Dec 6, 2011 22:46:59 GMT -5
(OCC: Late August in the year 657: This thread is open to any rangers / apprentices leaving the Gathering and heading north to Norgate, Araluen, Marshwood or Caraway…)…)[Crowley, Halt, Rick, Bunt, Ringulf, Red, Tam, Mylia, Dian, Ivy]
Bunt rode along at the end of the somber group riding hard for the northern fiefs from the Gathering Grounds. He studied his two apprentices and wondered how on earth he had gone from Greenfield Fief to Caraway Fief and to training two young women to become rangers. ‘Times were sure changing’ he thought. Ivy and Dian seemed to be opposites but so far they were getting along okay. He wouldn’t say they were friends yet, but at least they weren’t at each other’s throats. He had a few ideas on how to handle that should the need arise, but he would be very happy if he never needed those tactics.
He still wasn’t able to read Dian very well. She seemed pretty quiet and shy and scared of her own shadow. He wondered how to build her confidence and get her to face her fears and overcome them. Maybe Ringulf would have some tips, he seemed to have done wonders for Tory. ‘Poor kid,’ he mused privately, ‘I hope Tandar goes easy on her when they get to Meric. Whatever it was that was done to the girl it must have been pretty darn bad, and I am not just thinking about the whippings.’
Rick was setting the pace up in the front of the cavalcade with a bone jarring trot alternating with a slow lope and then twenty minutes of walking so the horses could catch their breath. They’d been in this pattern for six hours now and Bunt was in a pretty bad mood due to every bone and muscle aching from the ride and the increasing cold as they made their way north. He didn’t say anything however, for each of the rangers were anxious to get back to their fiefs and assess the damage and situation. Bunt figured they were all wondering if they would find friends fallen victim to the plague upon their return. He couldn’t remember a Gathering that had broken up early or one where the rangers were leaving in such somber moods. There had not been any jokes or pranks and with each handshake and farewell, they were all wondering if they would see their friends again. Crowley, who was in the center of the group, was reading reports as he rode and muttering under his breath.
Bunt looked at the apprentices and they all seemed to be scared out of their wits. He urged Low Belly to a slightly faster pace and caught up with Dian. For a moment he rode along beside her in silence. Clearing his throat he said, “I’ll be glad when we stop fer a bit but I think Low Belly is gonna be ecstatic.” Low Belly flicked her ear back at him and the look in her eye suggested that he had no idea how glad she would be. “Ya have any family anywhere’s about, Dian?” he asked wondering if there was anyone she was worried about having contracted the plague. One thing that had him and apparently Crowley stumped is why it didn’t seem as if any of the rangers that had been in Norgate at the Winter Revel had gotten sick.
Bunt rode along at the end of the somber group riding hard for the northern fiefs from the Gathering Grounds. He studied his two apprentices and wondered how on earth he had gone from Greenfield Fief to Caraway Fief and to training two young women to become rangers. ‘Times were sure changing’ he thought. Ivy and Dian seemed to be opposites but so far they were getting along okay. He wouldn’t say they were friends yet, but at least they weren’t at each other’s throats. He had a few ideas on how to handle that should the need arise, but he would be very happy if he never needed those tactics.
He still wasn’t able to read Dian very well. She seemed pretty quiet and shy and scared of her own shadow. He wondered how to build her confidence and get her to face her fears and overcome them. Maybe Ringulf would have some tips, he seemed to have done wonders for Tory. ‘Poor kid,’ he mused privately, ‘I hope Tandar goes easy on her when they get to Meric. Whatever it was that was done to the girl it must have been pretty darn bad, and I am not just thinking about the whippings.’
Rick was setting the pace up in the front of the cavalcade with a bone jarring trot alternating with a slow lope and then twenty minutes of walking so the horses could catch their breath. They’d been in this pattern for six hours now and Bunt was in a pretty bad mood due to every bone and muscle aching from the ride and the increasing cold as they made their way north. He didn’t say anything however, for each of the rangers were anxious to get back to their fiefs and assess the damage and situation. Bunt figured they were all wondering if they would find friends fallen victim to the plague upon their return. He couldn’t remember a Gathering that had broken up early or one where the rangers were leaving in such somber moods. There had not been any jokes or pranks and with each handshake and farewell, they were all wondering if they would see their friends again. Crowley, who was in the center of the group, was reading reports as he rode and muttering under his breath.
Bunt looked at the apprentices and they all seemed to be scared out of their wits. He urged Low Belly to a slightly faster pace and caught up with Dian. For a moment he rode along beside her in silence. Clearing his throat he said, “I’ll be glad when we stop fer a bit but I think Low Belly is gonna be ecstatic.” Low Belly flicked her ear back at him and the look in her eye suggested that he had no idea how glad she would be. “Ya have any family anywhere’s about, Dian?” he asked wondering if there was anyone she was worried about having contracted the plague. One thing that had him and apparently Crowley stumped is why it didn’t seem as if any of the rangers that had been in Norgate at the Winter Revel had gotten sick.