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Post by Brandwyn on Jan 23, 2009 11:20:45 GMT -5
Shanna’s Farm:
Shanna rented a sturdy, rather sedate riding horse for Kainoa to ride out to her father’s farm about 2 days ride up the coast. They spent the rest of that day in the Baron’s riding arena teaching Kainoa the basics of riding, turning, stopping, falling off – all the important stuff.
This rental horse was just what he needed to learn on. After the two-day ride out to the Farm she knew he was going to be very sore, but by then he should be able to handle a spirited ranger horse much more easily.
Teaching him riding brought back fond memories of home. She would have stayed on the farm and trained horses with her father, if he hadn’t had other plans for her when she was 15. But though she enjoyed working with the horses and new riders, she wouldn’t trade her job as ranger for it. She loved being a ranger and the traveling and never-ending excitement.
She watched Kainoa gaining confidence as the afternoon wore on. He was catching on fast, but it was probably time to call it a day. She motioned him over to where she was sitting on the top rail of the arena.
As he approached she said, “Well, what do you think? How was your first riding lesson?”
She knew he was going to be sore tonight, actually. It was pretty mean of her to make his first lesson nearly three hours long, but she couldn’t help that. They had to get back here before the Dancing Swan left in 5 days. With two days ride up and two back, that didn’t leave them a lot of room for taking it easy.
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Post by kainoa on Jan 23, 2009 19:10:57 GMT -5
Kainoa's first day of horseback riding was just as Shanna had predicted very sore. He had bruises on his legs from the near three hour lesson but despite that he thought he was making some progress.
"Sore"Kainoa replied
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Post by Brandwyn on Jan 23, 2009 22:21:33 GMT -5
Shanna smiled knowingly. “Go put your horse up and make sure you hang the tack up. Your horse’s needs always come before your own. Then go back to the ward for one last night.” She rummaged in another pouch and took out a very small jar of salve. “You should go soak in some hot water and then rub this on your aching muscles. It will help.”
She really felt sorry him. He was going to be miserable tomorrow evening. “Early tomorrow we are going to ride up the coast, so you will have the whole day to get to practice riding!” She said cheerfully, then took pity on him, “really, the best thing to relieve sore muscles from riding is more riding. Well, up to a point anyway.”
“We leave early in the morning. Try to get some sleep and meet me here a half hour after dawn. I have some business I need to attend to, so you have the rest of the evening free.”
After making sure he didn’t need any help caring for the horse, she nodded to him and strode back off towards the Baron’s study.
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Post by kainoa on Jan 24, 2009 1:44:42 GMT -5
After making sure that his horse was brushed feed and his tack was hung up Kainoa headed back to the ward for what he knew would be his only day off for a long time. Back at the ward Kainoa spent time relaxing with his close friends Trever and John then later decided to ready himself for the trip up the coast then later the voyage to Gallica.
The next day he met Shanna half an hour before dawn.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jan 24, 2009 8:15:06 GMT -5
Shanna got down to the stables just a bit before sunrise and found Kainoa already there. “Wow, you got here early! Eager to get back on that horse, are you?” She grinned.
They saddled up their horses and loaded the pack pony. “We will be coming back here, so we can get all your things before we set sail. I think we are going to get another pack pony for you, though. I simply have too much stuff.” The pack pony did roll its eyes as she loaded her traveling harp in its little waxed leather case on top of the almost overburdened beast. Everything she owned was on that pack pony or Kookie, her ranger horse.
Solo was running circles around the courtyard, urging them to hurry. He really did love being on the road. ‘Silly dog,’ Shanna thought fondly, motioning him to follow as she mounted and led the way out the castle gaits.
They had a slight delay as they waited for the Ferry man to get up and ferry them across to the mainland, but then they were swiftly eating up the miles along the coast instead of on the road that led through the woods.
Shanna kept alert to her surroundings. This area of the country was not too civilized and occasionally a band of bandits would plague travelers along the roadway. Her mare, Kookie, had her ears pricked up and danced around in excitement. She had been cooped up in the stable too long as well.
Shanna also kept her eye on Kainoa and Fang, not riding too fast so they would not have any trouble keeping up. His rental horse was sturdy, but would never be able to keep up with Kookie over long distances at the ground-eating ranger horse pace. So she trotted every so often and then walked, keeping them moving but, not pushing it too hard. They stopped for lunch and to rest the horses, and then pushed onward.
It was nearing sunset and she was lost in thought, not paying quite as much attention to her surroundings as she should have been when Kookie flicked her ear and tossed her nose to the left, looking into the woods.
Shanna noticed that there were no sounds of the sea birds here, nor any animal sounds except what they were making. Solo was not in sight. She hunched lower and said softly,
“We have company. Act natural, as if we are just having a normal conversation,” to Kainoa. He was riding on her right, closer to the ocean and had to turn his head naturally towards her to talk – towards her and towards the woods on her left. “Scan the woods without looking like you are scanning the woods. Do you see anything or hear anything?”
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Post by kainoa on Jan 24, 2009 14:42:37 GMT -5
Kainoa resisted the urge to look immediately to the left but, instead glanced carefully to the left. He saw a group of scruffy looking men carefully stalking them and trying to stay concealed but his years spent hunting in the forest was more than enough to see through there sloppy attempt at unseen movement.
"There are about three of to the left" Kainoa said casually "They look like they want trouble" He added casually.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jan 25, 2009 13:03:45 GMT -5
“Well, so much for staying off the road to avoid the bandits.” She had already knocked an arrow to the string, but used her horse to block the movement so their “company” could not see her weapons. They had gradually come to a stop. “There will likely be more of them just around that bend up ahead where the woods jut out. The beach narrows there and we have to draw closer to the woods at that point.” She told him softly, covertly scanning the woods to identify if there were more than the three he had spotted. “That is where I would plan an ambush.”
She moved Kookie to block their view of her apprentice, making it appear as if they were having a casual discussion and that she had slowed down and moved closer in order to hear him better.
“Got your bow ready? I wish we’d had time to get you some basic shooting in before this.” She scowled. “All right, don’t raise your bow until after my first shot. Maybe I can talk us out of this,” she said softly. “I very much doubt it, but we have to give it a shot.”
Shanna laughed loudly for their listener's benefit, as if Kainoa had said something funny. “Watch how I hold my arrow and draw my bow,” she continued softly, “and do your best to copy that. Don’t shoot unless you think it is necessary. It may be enough to just look menacing.” She studied his face worriedly. “Be safe.”
She turned Kookie back as if to resume moving forward, but after only one step she had located the man in the lead in his futile attempts to conceal himself and had let loose an arrow that thudded into a tree trunk right in front of the man’s nose.
“Good Sir!” She called loudly, “Please what can my friend and I do for you?”
The man she had shot at had frozen and the two behind him had ducked down into the underbrush. Kookie tossed her head and stamped, her ears pointing ahead of them to the point where the trees jutted out towards the water.
A very tall, thin man in dark leather stepped out of the woods where the trees came closest to the gently lapping waves. He had a crossbow aimed at Shanna. She was ready to fire an arrow at his throat, but had not yet lifted her bow. “Keep your eyes on those first three,” she muttered to Kainoa, her lips barely moving.
“Why look boys!” The tall man’s deep voice carried across the beach easily. “A pretty little songbird and her sparrow have fluttered onto our cozy beach.” He laughed and motioned with his free hand for his companions to approach us.
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Post by kainoa on Jan 25, 2009 20:42:24 GMT -5
Kainoa quickly took out his bow and knocked an arrow. He watched the three bandits approach and tried his best to appear calm.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jan 26, 2009 18:55:19 GMT -5
Shanna kept her attention on the man in front of them, the obvious leader, but also kept watch on the other three out of the corner of her eye. She thought furiously on how they could possibly talk their way out of this. She didn’t see much chance, though. These men were convinced they had easy prey, and were not likely to give up easily. Shanna really hated to kill them, but she expected that was what it was going to come down to.
She decided to try the friendly approach first. “Why look, Sparrow, a pretty little wolf and his pack, come to listen to our music!” She bantered back. “Perhaps the gentleman would care to share their fire this night in exchange for some good music?”
Apparently this was not the reaction the man was expecting from her. His eyes widened in surprise and his finger twitched on the crossbow.
“Come now, sir, surely you would not deny hospitality to two weary travelers?” She flashed him her most winning smile. He smiled back. Charm had its uses. “That is if your camp is nearby. I am afraid we don’t have time for much of a detour.”
The man lowered the crossbow slightly, but Shanna knew he had noticed that she was ready to shoot. He probably figured he could get that crossbow bolt off before she had time to raise her bow. He might be wrong about that.
The man motioned his cronies to stop their advance. They were about halfway down the beach at this point and had no cover. ‘Good,’ thought Shanna, ‘easier to pick them off if I have to.’
“Well, that is unfortunate. For you.” The man replied. “I am afraid our camp is a good two hours from here, and you are coming with us, regardless of your urgent errand.” He smiled menacingly.
Shanna sighed. She had tried, but she had no intention of camping with these men. “Sir, I give you one chance to walk away from here now. One chance to save your life.” She sat motionless on her horse, ready to shoot.
The man actually laughed and his cronies joined in. “You!” he snorted, “You are going to give me a chance? Ha Ha” He waved to his friends to advance again as he brought the cross bow back up. Abruptly he was serious. “Get down off your horses and hand over those bows!” he demanded.
Shanna didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence. Before he had the crossbow centered on her, she had already let loose an arrow towards his heart and had another one on the string. Then the crossbow bolt was racing towards her…
At the same moment she let her first arrow fly, she said, “now Kainoa! Shoot!” She knew he had not yet been trained, but she hoped that a few arrows going in the direction of the other three would keep them off of her long enough to take them out too.
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Post by kainoa on Jan 26, 2009 20:42:16 GMT -5
Kainoa was certainly not able to shoot up to a the rangers standard but he had used a bow before and knew what he was doing. His arrow was off about five seconds after Shanna's and due to a considerable amount of luck found it's mark in one of the three advancing men. The next shot wasn't so lucky however and only distracted the men enough for Shanna to get off two more shots killing the remaining men.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jan 26, 2009 21:20:53 GMT -5
Shanna heard Kainoa’s first shot thud into one of their attackers, but was too busy firing at the other two men and dodging the first man’s crossbow bolt. Kookie danced sideways and Shanna rolled her head over to the right as she snagged the second arrow from her quiver on her back and the crossbow bolt went whistling past her ear. ‘That was close!’ She thought as she held her breath to aim at the first man she had startled with her very first shot.
Then she had her second shot away followed swiftly by the third. She heard Kainoa’s second shot at the same time as she loosed her third and was very impressed. She had no idea he already had some skill with the bow.
“Great job!” She said as she scanned the woods for any more of them. She thought she heard some rustling in the underbrush deep in the woods up to the front and left of where they now stood, but was not sure. She didn’t bother to shoot in that direction, since she didn’t have a clear indication of a target.
Four men lay bleeding on the sand while she waited to see if any more would appear out of the woods.
“Well, Kookie, what do you think? Was that all of them?” She asked her horse. Kookie was scanning the woods also, sniffing the air and listening, but the wind was coming off the beach and was blowing their scent into the woods rather than the other way around. This limited what Kookie could sense.
Shanna swung her right leg over the saddle horn and jumped down facing the line of trees, her bow still ready and trained on the woods as she slowly approached the leader.
“Check out those other three, if you don’t mind, Kainoa.” She called back over her shoulder, never taking her eyes off the woods until she got up close to the man on the ground. She aimed her arrow at his head and kicked him in the foot.
The man was laying flat on his back with her arrow imbedded deep in his chest. He was obviously dead. She made a face as she pulled her arrow out and cleaned it off on his shirt. She inspected the arrow, deciding it was too damaged to repair. She broke it in half and tucked it into a compartment on the side of her quiver. She could use the point and fletches again on a different shaft.
She glanced at Kainoa to make sure he wasn’t in any danger. He appeared to be looking at the man he had shot. Shanna realized this was probably the first person he had ever killed and remembered how sick to her stomach she was after her first. She never seemed to loose that feeling, even now her stomach did little flips. She hated this part of her job.
“Are you ok?” She asked him, concerned what his reaction was going to be when it sunk in that he had actually killed someone.
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Post by kainoa on Jan 26, 2009 23:36:57 GMT -5
After the short battle was over the realization of what he had just done overcame him for a few minuets then decided that what he had done was just. He had killed to survive and killed to help another survive. Added in that these bandits had probably killed many other people and would continue helped him overcome his doubts. Still there was a sadness that stayed at the back of his mind he was unable to rid himself of. The more he thought about it though the better he felt. Besides if he was going to be a ranger he reasoned his job would likely require some killing.
Then seeing Shanna recover her arrows he decided to do the same.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jan 28, 2009 17:11:45 GMT -5
Kainoa looked like he was handling things just fine, so Shanna scanned the woods again. She didn't want anyone to sneak up on them. She crouched down next to the leader's body with her back to the sea and her bow ready as she rummaged through his pouches and clothing.
Something was nagging at her, but she couldn't place what was wrong. She didn't find much on him that was interesting except a small pouch of coins and a pendant slung around his neck on a silver chain. The metal of the pendant was twisted into the shape of a bear footprint with claws. A tiny ruby was set into each toe of the claw. Shanna had never seen anything like it before. She undid the pendant and placed it in the pouch of coins and stowed it on her belt. Crowley was going to want to see it probably.
She relieved the corpse of his weapons, a fine sword and the crossbow as well as a couple of daggers and the quiver of crossbow bolts. She inspected the crossbow, having little interest in the other weapons except for their resale value. The bow was a nice weapon, sturdy and very powerful. She suspected it might be a bit more than she would be able to draw back to reload, though she didn't try it.
Shanna walked back over to Kainoa and handed him the crossbow and its quiver of bolts. He was inspecting the three dead men, having already retrieved the arrows. "Here, I suspect in a couple of years you will find this far more useful than I." She didn't particularly care for crossbows, but knew they were deadly in a pitched battle - highly accurate. For every day ranger life, though, she felt it took too long to reload them. She recalled a competition with her Royal Scout friend, Ian. She had been able to shoot off five arrows with deadly accuracy to his single crossbow bolt. She smiled smugly as she remembered how much fun it had been to collect on that bet. Shanna brought her thoughts back to the situation at hand. "If you don't want to keep it, sell it and keep the money for it. It is your's now."
She pointed at the arrows Kainoa was holding, "let me see those." The nagging feeling that something was wrong came back as she was inspecting them for damage. She put her two in her quiver and returned Kainoa's to him. They were still ok for using later.
"Something seems-off. I mean, not right. I am not sure what though." She walked around the three men, studying their faces and clothing. "This seems odd for simple banditry. Why would they be on the beach instead of along the road?" She bent down to see if any of them were wearing any pendants. "Did you find anything on any of them or notice anything strange?" She asked Kainoa.
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Post by kainoa on Jan 30, 2009 15:30:09 GMT -5
Well there was one thing he had found odd all the men he had inspected were wearing pendants. Not just simple pendants they had stolen from any old traveler they were very fancy with a boar footprint design with a ruby set in each claw. "They were all wearing pendants like these"He replied as he held the pendants aloft. "What do you think that could mean."He added curiously.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jan 30, 2009 17:23:22 GMT -5
“Interesting! That guy had the same thing on too.” Shanna studied the men more closely.
“Look at their features. I don’t think they are from Araluen. Their skin is very pale and see how bushy all their eyebrows are? I wonder if they are from the northern steppes?” She had not traveled that far north or east, so she wasn’t sure what the people looked like up there.
She tried to recall the leader’s words again and the more she thought about it, the more she thought he had a very slight foreign accent.
Shanna felt a shiver of apprehension down her back. “I bet they are not alone.” She scanned the tree line again, suddenly feeling very exposed on the beach. “I don’t know what those pendants mean, except for one thing – this is not a simple band of thieves raiding travelers. “
She examined the pendants in Kainoa’s hand. “It must be some kind of identification – that they all belong to the same group or something, but I have never seen them before.” She indicated to Kaiona to place the other three in the pouch with the coins and first pendant. “Crowley is going to want to see these.”
She started gathering up their weapons and stowed them on her pack pony. “Help me get all their weapons. I hate leaving weapons behind for someone to use against me or my friends.”
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