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Post by Brandwyn on Jul 20, 2012 12:15:54 GMT -5
Crowley glanced around the woods, “Halt do you think we got all these bandits and are safe her for a bit?” He asked as he sat Crystal down on a log and started to build up Bunt’s fire to cook some soup. They never had gotten their lunch in all the confusion of the last few minutes. He and Halt had been lining up the bodies along the trail and searching them for clues as to why the bandits had attacked them.
Halt looked around, “I think if we missed any they have taken off now. We should be okay for a short break,” he answered. “I can’t believe Artie’s gone. Did they ask you any questions or were they after some information or something?”
Crowley poured some water from his canteen into the pot Bunt had left behind and set it on a rock placed in the fire. He dumped in one of his travel packs of dried soup stock with dried vegetables and broke up some venison jerky and put it in there as well. “Let her get some rest, Halt, can’t you see she’s dead on her feet?”
Crowley pointed to the juice in Crystal’s hands, “drink some more of that, it will help. Do you think you can ride some more after you get some food in you? We are still a ways away from Araluen Castle and I need to get back there.” He looked around again, “Besides that it seems there are bandits on the hunt for rangers, or perhaps me in particular.” He was still pondering the last words of the bandit leader right before the man had poisoned himself. “I wish we could have taken another one of them alive.”
“Well if anyone can get that one to talk, it will be Rick,” Halt said unsympathetic toward the outlaw. “He has some pretty good skills with interrogation.”
The soup was done in just five minutes and Crowley dished up bowls for all three of them along with a big hunk of fluffy white bread. “Now you just eat and rest for a moment. You can give me a full report when we get back to Araluen and we will figure out what to do from there.” He watched Crystal for a few minutes while they ate, noting her condition and hoping she had strength enough to spend the day in the saddle. He might have to carry her on his horse so she could sleep while they rode. “You are certain Artie is dead?” He couldn’t help but ask. It was a huge blow. Artie and Halt and Crowley had known each other for many years.
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dian
Apprentice Scribe
this status thing reminds me of Facebook
Posts: 100
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Post by dian on Jul 22, 2012 21:14:52 GMT -5
Crystal knew that some of Artie's best friends had been Crowley and Halt, and so she knew they must have felt something like the pit in her stomach she had gotten while she was alone trying to reach the gathering in time. She felt a sort of empathy towards them, but Crystal was working to hard on composing herself to much more than say "I was shocked too, when I saw him fall dead..." then Crystal considered the last statement. "They said nothing to me, no questions asked or anything, but occasionally they separated the two of us... When we were put back together in the same room, he always looked in worse of a state than he had when we'd been separated. I have no idea what they could possibly been asking him."
Crowley then reprimanded Halt - sort of - which was an odd sight to see,though it must have happened often enough between the two friends. However, Crowley was right, Crystal could be close to fainting, and she felt that. Crystal took another few sips from the canteen before saying "I can ride a while longer, I'm sure of it."
Crystal sat herself down next to the bubbling soup, her mouth watering at the delicious scent. When she received her ration, she started slowly, so as to not make herself sick. She was half way through a scalding sip when Crowley asked a question that Crystal had never thought about. Was Artie really dead? Her first and instinctive answer was yes, but with closer thought, she realized she wasn't sure.
"I saw him fall from a cross bow bolt right around here." she drew a circle on her chest, half of the circle would be deemed as a fatal shot, the other half was dangerous but heal-able. "He didn't move at all, and I was positive he was dead at the moment, but I really didn't have the chance to run back to him. Artie had told me that if he'd fallen I was to keep going... I suppose it's possible he'd fallen to get attention away from me... but that's only wishful thinking."
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Post by Brandwyn on Aug 1, 2012 20:32:40 GMT -5
"They said nothing to me, no questions asked or anything, but occasionally they separated the two of us... When we were put back together in the same room, he always looked in worse of a state than he had when we'd been separated. I have no idea what they could possibly been asking him."
Crowley didn’t like the sound of that but he didn’t want to interrogate her right now in their present situation or her condition. They ate the soup quietly for a few minutes. Halt kept scanning the trees around them and the ranger horses were on alert.
Crowley watched Crystal carefully eating the soup and approved of her actions, knowing she must be starving but she refrained from gulping down the soup. She was pretty thin and looked pretty worn and definitely was exhausted. He really didn’t think she was going to be able to ride on to Araluen, especially after the food got in her for then she was going to get sleepy most likely.
"I can ride a while longer, I'm sure of it." Dian said.
Crowley raised an eyebrow and looked at her dubiously. “It’s the better part of a day until we get to the city and since the day is two-thirds over now, it is going to be in the early morning hours before we get close.” Crowley wanted her to understand they weren’t talking about an hour or two. “We can stop at Rick’s cabin rather than going all through the city and back to the castle before resting, or we can move on down the road a bit and make a camp.”
They sat in silence again while Halt and Crowley considered the options and Crystal sipped her soup. When Crowley voiced his question about Artie really being dead, he didn’t expect there to be any hope.
"I saw him fall from a cross bow bolt right around here." she drew a circle on her chest, half of the circle would be deemed as a fatal shot, the other half was dangerous but heal-able. "He didn't move at all, and I was positive he was dead at the moment, but I really didn't have the chance to run back to him. Artie had told me that if he'd fallen I was to keep going... I suppose it's possible he'd fallen to get attention away from me... but that's only wishful thinking."
“Maybe, maybe-not,” Crowley mused, staring into his empty soup mug. “He could have been giving you the chance to escape. However with a wound like that…” He let his voice trail off. There wasn’t much hope, but there was a chance. “After you’ve rested you are going to need to point out on a map where you were so maybe we can find him and get him back here. And I mean after you have rested, not right now.”
Seeing that they were finished eating, Crowley packed up Bunt’s gear and stowed it in his saddlebags. “If you are sure you want to ride alone, let me give you a leg up,” Crowley said to Crystal. “Just be warned if you start drifting off I am going to jump up there behind you and keep you on your horse while you sleep.”
Halt doused the fire and scattered the ashes, sweeping the area clear with a fallen pine bough. It didn’t erase all signs of their passage, but he never left obvious signs of a fire or camp if he could help it. Then he mounted Abelard and looked from Crowley to Crystal. “I better take point,” he stated and spurred his horse to the north, resuming their interrupted journey.
“Good idea,” Crowley concurred. “Crystal you go next and I’ll bring up the rear.” He wondered if staying on the road was a good idea. They could ride right into another ambush. He decided to let Halt make the call. Going through the trees might not be a good idea with the exhausted apprentice riding a draft horse.
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dian
Apprentice Scribe
this status thing reminds me of Facebook
Posts: 100
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Post by dian on Sept 15, 2012 9:05:11 GMT -5
“It’s the better part of a day until we get to the city and since the day is two-thirds over now, it is going to be in the early morning hours before we get close.” Crowley wanted her to understand they weren’t talking about an hour or two. “We can stop at Rick’s cabin rather than going all through the city and back to the castle before resting, or we can move on down the road a bit and make a camp.”
Crystal didn't mind either choice in reality, even though one required more effort on her part than the other. No, what she cared about was trying to get back to some sense of normality. She longed for Artie to come out of no where and take her back to their fief, where she would continue her training like none of this had ever happened. That wouldn't happen though, because it seemed that anything good that ever happened to crystal flew out the window when she least expected it.
“After you’ve rested you are going to need to point out on a map where you were so maybe we can find him and get him back here. And I mean after you have rested, not right now.”
Crowley was right to tell her to wait, she had already started to put down her half finished bowl of soup to go do as he said, but when he told her to wait she smiled gratefully and started at her soup again. Sometimes she just didn't know when she had pushed herself enough, and when she deserved a rest.
She remembered all of the times Artie literally had to drag her away from practicing or had to go chase after her when she was working with Amber, racing around in the forest. He had really cared about her, and his loss was much worse than anything she had ever felt. She never felt any remorse for the parents she had chosen to leave at a young age, nor did she miss any friends she had made at the ward, but Artie she would certainly mourn for the rest of her life.
Crystal just nodded as the two Rangers talked about riding before adding, "I can ride myself for a little while," in as strong of a voice she could muster in her state. She walked over to the beast of a horse that she had and patted his snout. He seemed to like Crystal quite a bit better than he had liked Dian, which was fortunate since Crystal couldn't take a bad-tempered horse right now. She mounted slowly, ignoring all her aches and pains and tiredness. With a small gesture she was soon behind Halt and in front of Crowley, she really hoped this horse could keep up for a while.
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Post by Brandwyn on Oct 9, 2012 16:43:44 GMT -5
Over the next sixteen hours Bunt easily followed the bandit’s trail and led Rick, Tam, Red and their prisoner at a very fast pace through the forest. They only stopped briefly to let the horses catch their breath before they were on the move again. The trail skirted around Araluen Castle at an angle to come out on a clearing filled with activity. The clearing was fairly close to the Semath river, but not close enough that one could hear the water or that they would be discovered.
The ranger’s gagged their prisoner and studied the encampment for a few minutes as they tried to figure out the best way to get their apprentices back. The bandits, or whatever they were, seemed to be totally disorganized at first glance, but Bunt soon realized that the scurrying around was due to the fact they were breaking camp and packing up their things.
“We ain’t got long,” he said softly to Rick as he handed him the spy glass. “Looks like that lot is leaving right soon.”
Rick nodded and glanced through the glass quickly and then handed it to Red, casually laying a hand on the impulsive ranger’s shoulder to prevent him from jumping up and doing something – impulsive that would jeapordize the girls and possibly get them all captured or killed. “There are the apprentices and it looks like they aren’t alone.” Rick pointed to the center of the camp where there were five figures tied up and sitting or laying on the ground.
Bunt had seen them, “Looks like Ivey’s unconscious, and so it that other fellow…looks like he’s wearing what’s left of a ranger cloak,” Bunt motioned for Red to hand him the glass again to confirm it. “He’s not looking good at all. Not sure he’s still alive.”
“I can’t tell either but it looks like Dian is okay. That other kid too, though I can’t tell who he is because he’s hiding his face in his arms. Looks like he’s a courier apprentice,” Rick murmured. “That could be another courier there lying next to the ranger, but it’s hard to tell.”
There were about twenty men below, some of them sentries and some working diligently to break down the camp. The 8 sentries were heavily armed with crossbows and longswords and wearing heavy leather armor and metal helmets.
“What do you think? Any of you have an idea on how we should rescue those five?” Rick asked Bunt, Red and Tam. “We are going to need horses at least, if not a wagon, to get those three that are unconscious out of here.”
“Well now, there’s four of us, an’ way I figure it, we can each take out two sentries. We strike ‘em fast an’ the others won’t know what’s going on.” Bunt suggested. “Red, you think you cin git down there after you take out yer two sentries an’ cut Dian an’ tha’ boy loose? You can git them ta’ help ya load the other three onta that there wagon that’s half full o’ flour sacks.” Bunt pointed to a wagon with four horses hitched to it that was about 20 feet from the prisoners. The men loading the wagon were making frequent trips into the tent next to it and coming out with sacks of flour, sugar, coffee and other dry food items. “Then ya’ll git inta tha wagon an’ drive it on up here as fast as ya cin. Us three’ll keep raining arrows down on them and keep ‘em distracted.”
Rick looked thoughtfully at the wagon and then the prisoners. “He might need some help getting those two men into the wagon, even with Dian and that boy assisting, assuming they will be able to help.” Rick looked at Tam, judging he was going to be too small to be of much help in loading full grown men onto a wagon. “I’ll have to go down there too while you and Tam keep shooting arrows. We are going to have to neutralize them all, or they will be coming after us”
Bunt nodded and both of them turned to Red and Tam, “It sure would be nice to take a couple of them alive back to the King so we can find out what they are up to.” Bunt agreed, but his foremost concern was that of rescuing his two apprentices safely. “Ya guys okay with tha’ plan?”
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Matthias
Ward
Back at it again... maybe
Posts: 31
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Post by Matthias on Jun 20, 2013 16:25:18 GMT -5
"I think its an excellent idea," said a new figure who mysteriously appeared from the nearby bushes. The other four, startled, turned to look at the newcomer. He was a Ranger, but how did he get there? "Who are you?" asked one of them quietly. "I am Jonah. I have been hiding and following you throughout your trek, and have been waiting to assist you. I think now is a good time to do so," the man whispered.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jun 26, 2013 10:52:51 GMT -5
"I think its an excellent idea," said a new figure who mysteriously appeared from the nearby bushes. The other four, startled, turned to look at the newcomer. He was a Ranger, but how did he get there?
"Who are you?" asked Rick quietly. He didn't recognize the newcomer and he knew just about all the rangers in Araluen, at least he thought he did. Could the man be a Grizzly in disguise?
"I am Jonah. I have been hiding and following you throughout your trek, and have been waiting to assist you. I think now is a good time to do so," the man whispered.
Bunt eyed him for a moment with a thoughtful look on his face and then the light dawned, "Ah, yes. I 'member yer graduation day from yer appren'iceship." He glanced at Rick and assured him that the newcomer was a ranger. "Once we git these captives back you'll haf ta tell us where you been all this time, Jonah." Bunt glanced down at the bandits below. "Think ya can go down there wi' Red and rescue dem young-uns whilst Rick, Tam n I cover ya's?" Bunt asked Jonah.
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Matthias
Ward
Back at it again... maybe
Posts: 31
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Post by Matthias on Jun 26, 2013 13:05:06 GMT -5
"I am at your service," replied Jonah. "I will do anything I can to help."
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Post by Brandwyn on Jun 26, 2013 18:30:47 GMT -5
Rick tied their prisoner to a pine tree with low hanging branches so he wasn't visible unless someone knew where to look for him.
"You better hope we all come back, otherwise you are going to bleed to death right here," Rick told him quietly as he made sure the gag was secured in the man's mouth. "Of course if the vultures don't find you first and start eating you while you are still alive." He gave the bandit a cold smile. The look in his eye showed the bandit just how angry Rick was even though he was keeping it tightly in check.
Leaving the bandit to ponder his fate in the middle of the thicket, Rick took up his bow and knocked an arrow. He nodded to Bunt and made sure the others were ready. "Tam, you take out that sentry to the left behind that tree over there. I'll get the guy down there closest to the camp on the other side, and then the one standing there watching all the activity in the camp."
Bunt nodded, "I got th' two watching them prisoners." He looked at Jonah and Red. "Better git on down there as soon as Rick an' Tam shoot," suggested Bunt.
When everyone was ready, Rick loosed his first arrow. It sped silently through the trees and embedded itself into the throat of his target. The man fell without a sound, never knowing what hit him. Rick's second arrow was already half way to his second target before Bunt got off his first shot.
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Matthias
Ward
Back at it again... maybe
Posts: 31
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Post by Matthias on Jul 13, 2013 13:32:30 GMT -5
Immediately, Jonah sprinted to the area where the prisoners were held captive, all while observing even the smallest details of his surroundings. Out of the corner of his eye, Jonah saw movement, and discovered it was a bandit moving toward their direction, and so he took out his throwing knife, hurled it to the far-away man, and the knife sank in between the man's ribs, and punctured his heart. His life ended in a flash, with no recollection of what hit him. Jonah, now spotting the apprentices, rushed to them, hoping Red was right behind him.
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