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Post by Brandwyn on Feb 22, 2011 15:33:00 GMT -5
Rick searched the forest as Darrel mounted behind Tam and saw the glint of an arrowhead flashing in the campfire light through the trees. He shot in that direction and heard a thud and crash in the trees as his arrow found its intended target.
He took one circle around the camp at a canter and grabbed their bedrolls with his good hand from the back of Domingo and slung them over the front of the saddle as the shadowy figures moved in. Then he turned and followed Tam, only then noticing that Darrell appeared to have been hit by a crossbow bolt.
He quickly caught up, Horse not being able to carry two people as easily as Domingo would have been. They weren’t going to get far with him carrying double. In spite of that they outdistanced their pursuers rather quickly.
After about a half hour Rick could not hear any signs of pursuit. “Keep going!” He said as he pulled up alongside Tam. “La Rivage is that way. When the sun comes up keep it off your left shoulder and you should reach the city by nightfall if you keep to a good road jog.” Rick said to Tam as they reined the horses in for a walk so they could catch their breath. “I should catch back up to you within a half hour though, but just in case…” Rick looked behind them again and then at Darrell who didn’t look good at all. He definitely needed a doctor, but Rick wasn’t sure if he was going to make it all the way back to the city. He doubted it. “Get him to a doctor as fast as you can. I am going to hang back and set some traps for these guys.”
Rick laid a hand on Tam’s shoulder. “The Red Feather Inn – don’t forget that name. If I don’t catch up, wait for me there. Now if you don’t have any questions, get going again, Darrell is not doing well and I think his wounds are beyond my meager skill.”
He took a quick look at the crossbow bolt and knew that to remove it would cause Darrell to bleed to death rather quickly. There wasn’t much he could do as long as they were being chased. If they stopped to tend it, those men would just find them again. He had to stop their pursuers, or at least slow them down.
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Post by Firehead on Jul 28, 2011 18:55:35 GMT -5
(OOC: OK, since it's been awhile since the War in Gallica, I'm going to do a sprint on this post--to finally officially have Darrel die.)
(OOC: Skipping to the Red Feather Inn, where Tam awaits Rick's appearance on his own. Darrell has--presumably--died en-route and is no longer alive at this point.)
Tam sat in front of the fire in the main room of the Inn--alone. He sat with his knees drawn up under his chin, gazing steadily at the fire, but alert to the sounds behind him. No one would be sneaking close to him if he could help it.
The road had been a long one, and it had been after dark before Tam arrived in the city, walking alongside Horse. it had been just after mid-day, when Darrell had fallen from the saddle, unable to continue. Tam had gotten down and helped him as best he could, but there hadn't been much he'd been able to do.
Darrel had written--scrawled, really--a short note to a man by the name of Captain Dougal, SWC, of Araluan. At least, that's who he said he'd written to. He'd explained the SWC Special Warfare Something-or-other. At any rate, Darrel had told him to deliver the note. "He'll give you my journal....Just don't ask too many questions...or he'll hunt me down and...kill me a second time....And a third....And a forth..." His voice had trailed off, and he'd died shortly after.
Tam had done his best to dig a grave with his knives and give him a decent burial. Then he'd taken Horse and walked the rest of the distance to the port city and the Red Feather Inn. And here he sat, waiting, hoping that Rick made it in one piece...or at least, alive.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jul 29, 2011 22:16:30 GMT -5
Rick staggered into the stable with Domingo limping behind him. Domingo snorted and then whinnied throwing his head up and perking his ears. Rick was relieved to hear the answering whinny that he knew so well from the third stall down on the right. The stall next door was empty with a full manger, bucket of grain and a full bucket of water. “Thank God, he made it!” Rick whispered and then led Domingo into the stall. He glanced into Horse’s stall half expecting to see Tam curled up in the corner, but the young man was not there. “Hi Horse.” Rick said warmly and patted him on the nose. Then he turned back to Domingo who was gulping down water. Rick removed the bloodied bandage he had hastily wrapped around Domingo’s neck and between his front legs to hold the thick padded bandage in place over the long, deep gash in Domingo’s chest. He had stitched it up, but it was not one of his better jobs and he’d not been able to numb the skin or sedate Domingo to do it. If he left it like this it would leave a huge scar and might not even heal up at all. He had to make sure Tam was okay first though so he replaced the bandage with a fresh one and wrapped it back up. Domingo would be okay for a bit now that he wasn’t on the run.
Rick knew he was a bloody mess from the stares he had gotten as he’d walked through the city. He took a moment and dumped a bucket of water over his head, washing a bit of the blood and grime from his bruised face. His own leg needed stitching, but Rick wasn’t too concerned about the gash running down his shin. It wasn’t very deep and he had wrapped a bandage around it that seemed to be staunching the worst of the flow of blood. He shook his now wet hair out and gingerly touched the bruised right cheek and eye that was almost swollen shut. He was going to scare the snot out of poor Tam as soon as the kid saw him, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.
He stumbled into the back door of the inn, limping heavily and made his way past the inn keeper’s office and into the common room. “Tam!” he exclaimed with relief as he saw his apprentice sitting in front of the fireplace staring at the flames. “You’re okay. You made it. You are okay aren’t you?”
He sank down onto a chair next to Tam and leaned forward rubbing the unbruised side of his face, his hands shaking in relief. “I thought some of them might have gotten past me, but then I saw Horse…I knew you had to be here, but I had to see to make sure.” He was babbling. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept. His quiver was empty, his clothes torn in several places and covered with dirt and blood. His face was bruised and he was bleeding from a half dozen places although the one on his leg was the deepest cut. He could remember only one other time he’d felt like this and he was fairly certain he looked worse now than the day his tribe was attacked by the Kalkara and wiped out when he was just a little bit younger than Tam.
“Greenriver, you look like hell.” Rick heard a voice behind him and recognized it at once as belonging to Brice Tarrow, the Innkeeper of the Red Feather. “Here, drink this.” Rick glanced at the shot glass of whisky and nodded and then gulped down the amber liquid and handed the glass back to Brice.
The whisky burned and then sent out waves of heat through his body. Brice handed him another but Rick waved it away. “No, but thanks Brice,” he said huskily. His hands had stopped shaking and he was regaining a grip on himself but he knew he needed sleep in the worst way. He also knew that Tam wasn’t safe here. “Brice, we need to get on a ship with our horses tonight. I would prefer it to be going to Araluen, but at this point I would settle for the first one no matter where it is going. Think you can help me out with this?”
Brice looked at him in concern and then handed him a nearly frozen raw steak. Rick looked at it dumbly. “For your face,” Brice demonstrated by holding the steak up to his face. “It should help with that nasty bruise and the swelling.” Brice handed it to him and Rick gingerly pressed the cold meat to his face. He had to admit it did feel soothing. “I’m on it. When’d either of you eat last?” Brice had been keeping his eye on the young ranger apprentice, recognizing the gear, but hadn’t wanted to scare the kid off so he hadn’t done more than ask if he was hungry a little while ago. He wasn’t sure if the kid had even heard him.
Within half an hour Brice returned with two plates of beef roast, mashed turnips with gravy and peas and onions in a butter garlic sauce. He set down two mugs full of root beer on the table behind the ranger and his apprentice. “There’s a ship leaving in an hour for Celtica. It has room enough for your horses and the Captain owes me a favor. She’s agreed to get you and your horses on board as soon as you finish eating and might even drop you off at Seacliff if you bribe her.” Brice looked a bit sheepish. “Uh, she’s not exactly angel material if you get my drift. It might be best not to go prying around his ship while you’re onboard. Not if you want to make it to Araluen in one piece anyhow.” Brice winked at Rick. “The name of the ship is the Light Dancer and the Captain is Camilla Alverez.”
“Thanks Brice. Now I owe you another one.” Rick’s words were garbled as he spoke with his mouth full. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he smelled the food and taken the first bite. Rick turned to Tam, “Looks like we are going back home, Tam. We need to get you someplace safe before any more of Darrel’s friends or enemies come to find you.” He lowered his voice and lay a hand on Tam’s shoulder. “I am sorry he didn’t make it Tam. I expect he was the closest thing you had to a father. You did a fine job burying him, considering everything.”
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