Quibby

Posted: Wed May 23, 2007

 

Within the vast web of the Wheel lies one almost insignificant speck, an orb of blue and green and brown circling the sun. If one were to look closer at one of the green masses, one would see the source of the green: grass gently swishing in the breeze, trees rocking to and fro, their leaves rustling. One would also begin to see roads winding through the green. Near the center of one of these green masses on a road therein...

 

"...they'd find me, a dumb kid on a horse in the middle of nowhere." It was rare for Jehryn to finish his thoughts out loud, but it seemed right to do so for some reason, even with his strained, croaking voice. It also helped that there was nobody around to hear him. For three days, Jehryn had been riding about, completely lost, in this Two Rivers region, the only sounds being the sounds of nature: a chirping bird, a cricket in the grass, a frog in the stream. Crack. The snapping of a twig. Jehryn's head whirled towards the source of the sound, a hollow tube coming to his lips through a slit in the linen strip wrapped around his face. The dart that he had slipped inside of it earlier was soaked in a concentrated mixture of a few herbs, the result of which would put a big man to sleep for a few hours. It was deadly to small animals. Probably wouldn't even slow a bear, though, he thought nervously, slipping the dart out of the tube and into its place with the other darts clipped to the blowgun.

 

Atop his horse, Jehryn felt taller than he actually was; he only stood about five-and-a-half feet tall, though the horse added a few more feet to that. It also gave him something of a vantage point while he surveyed the road ahead of him. He hadn't seen anybody for three days, not since he'd been pointed in this direction. Behind him were the villages of Watch Hill and Emond's Field. Ahead of him were the Mountains of Mist. According to the villagers, the Band had established their Citadel there. It would be there that he'd find Mehrin. Will he even remember me? Jehryn wondered silently, his eyes gazing warily through the bandages. Mehrin would have to remember that.

 

Jehryn's scars had given him a touch of maturity beyond his years, or at least that was what he liked to believe. However, childish as it seemed, he couldn't help but believe that Mehrin would remember him. "I must be getting close by now," he muttered, coughing as he spoke. Even riding as he was, it was a strain. He'd have to take a break soon, or risk passing out. Jehryn had just started looking for a suitable place to stop when a shape stepped out of the forest, causing his horse to rear up, tossing the seventeen-year-old boy to the ground. Bandits!

 

 

Estel

Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007

 

Carnhain found humour in everything.  That his laughter now was at someone else’s expense didn’t strike any guilty chords in his mind.  Sitting atop his black gelding, the young man clutched his ribcage as he occasionally glanced at the strange boy lying in the dirt at his mount’s hooves.

 

The newly promoted Captain General was out for a ride after hours and hours at a desk, trying his hardest to read when he was all but illiterate.  The feel of a horse between his legs, the sight of a distant horizon and the scent of sweat and horse stirred an urge to kick Black Fire back into motion and never stop.  He did not take this urge seriously, though, as he still had too much of a life back at the Citadel and was loathe to leave the only real like he had ever known.

 

“Indeed you are getting close, boy.”  Carnhain chuckled, answering the question asked of the supposedly empty air.  “And not just to the ground either.  The Citadel’s another few hours’ ride west yet, though no doubt you’ve had scouts trailing you for the last… oh, I’d say day or two.”

Jehryn glared up at the man from the ground, trying to hide his pained wheezing.  The fall had knocked the air out of his already-tortured lungs.  It took him several moments of ragged gasping to finally be able to stand and face the man who had instigated all this.  "And what do you know of the Band?" he croaked, the words sending fire through his lungs.  Light, but there were some things he hated about being himself!  His tendency to speak before he thought, for instance.  Bowing his head humbly, Jehryn muttered, "My apologies, sir.  I'm quite thoroughly lost, and am seeking the Commander of the Band; I knew him once, a long time ago."  Silence.  Did the man expect his entire life's history?  What else did he want?  A sudden wave of dread poured over him.  Did he want to see his face?  Jehryn would stick him with a dart before he allowed that to happen!

 

"Sir, I've been on the road for a long time.  Could you please bring me to the Citadel?"  Begging came easy to Jehryn.  It was a necessary evil.

“What do I know about the Band?” Carnhain snorted.  Stupid kid, what did he think the red hand on his uniform was.  “You’re not terribly observant are you?  I’m from the bloody Band.  One of the officers actually.”  The fact that he was a huge prick didn’t seem to register.  To Carnhain, arrogance was something he had earned when he fulfilled his promise to “make something of himself”.

 

“You know Jaem?” Carnhain said, ignoring any confusion on his companion’s face.  “Would that be before or after he was kidnapped?  Bloody hell, you’re not that old,” not that Carnhain was that much older “or did you know him during?”

 

The blonde man turned Black Fire back towards the road, kicking the beast to a trot.  He had gone a few feet already before looking back.  “You going to get on your old fleabag or not?  Come on!”

 

 

Carnhain Stromblade

Stupid Prick

 

...never try to write an SGer at the same time as your Bander

Jehryn hesitated a moment before mounting his "old fleabag," as the arrogant blond man had so eloquently stated.  It was tempting to try sticking the man with a dart, but he was unlikely to get far if he did.  Especially if he was still being trailed by scouts.  They'd see to him in a hurry if one of their own went down, and Jehryn had no intention of being a dead man.  As he rode behind the man, he started pondering what the other man had said.  He'd named the commander as Jaem, a name that Jehryn had never heard before.  Had Mehrin been killed?  Had he simply given up command?  The latter seemed more likely to him; Mehrin had never seemed the type who could lead people.  He was probably back in the infantry or whatever division he would have come from, busting skulls and happy as a clam.  More than likely, he'd also found himself a woman.  Chuckling to himself, a tortured wheezing sound, Jehryn wondered if the man was a father yet.

 

Gradually, Jehryn's attention returned to the man leading him.  The arrogant bastard didn't even seem to remember that he was alive, which suited Jehryn just fine.  If something were to happen to the man, Jehryn would be damned if he would help him.  Maybe he'd give him something to allow his passing to be swifter, but that'd be about it.  Probably didn't even notice the bandages either.  Maybe I should let him get a good look at me... no!

 

The silence seemed to stretch forever, only stopping when the other man thought that Jehryn was dropping too far behind.  All the while, Jehryn kept turning the name "Jaem" over in his mind.  Who was he, and would he be able to help him find Mehrin?  If he couldn't would there be any reason to stay?  The curiosity was too much.  "Sir, I apologize if my silence has given you the wrong impression.  Who is this 'Jaem' individual of whom you speak?  The last I knew, the Band was under the command of a man named Mehrin."

Carnhain was more than content to simply sit back in the saddle, occasionally going out of his way to jump Black Fire over a ditch or bush, and stare up at the snow-capped Mountains of Mist.  Catching sight of a hawk circling high above, he was sorely tempted to chase it over the plain when he remembered the boy lagging behind him.  Reining Fire impatiently, he waited for the boy to catch up.

 

Body language spoke a lot louder than words and the silence and hot eyes on the back of his neck was beginning to annoy Carnhain.  Sneering slightly in response, he kicked his black mount up to a canter, hoping to hurry the boy along.  His mere presence was beginning to grate on the cavalryman’s limited patience.

 

The rasp from behind him was a surprise even though it didn’t rise much above the crunch of their horses’ hooves on the path.  “Mehrin quit a little while back.  Jaem Caran is the new Commander.”  Unconsciously, Carnhain rubbed the horizontal scar across his middle where Mehrin and driven a blunted claymore into his belly.

Mehrin had quit?!  For some reason, that did not surprise Jehryn all that much.  He had not seemed like a man for command anyway.  He'd just have to find Mehrin in whatever division he'd reverted to.  No problems there.  Jehryn allowed himself a small smile under the bandages as the Citadel came into sight.  Soon enough, things would be as they should be.  There was no doubt in his mind that Mehrin would take  him in; he had to.  The chaos in Lugard after the attack on the king's wedding was more than enough reason to stay away.

 

Another thing about the Citadel that made Jehryn wish to hurry along: the sooner he was in the Citadel, the sooner he was rid of this arrogant horseman.  No matter what else happened, Jehryn knew that he'd never like the man.  However, his attention was drawn away from his intense dislike by the sights awaiting him within the Citadel.

 

It was like a city in small scale.  From the gate, Jehryn could see wide empty spaces, where the only sounds were the steady clacking of wooden training weapons against each other, accompanied by the occasional sounds of live steel.  A dull roar came from the crowds, filling the air with a background static noise.  To the right, he could see a vast field of white crosses with two men patrolling the open gate.  And ahead...  Even if the towering structure was not finished, whatever made up the far end of the Fortress was enough to take Jehryn's already-short breath away.  It was huge, impressive.  And it was finally time to rid himself of this irritating boil of a man.  "I thank you for the escort, sir.  If you'll just tell me which division I can find Mehrin in, I'll be on my way."