Life After High School. Is It Scary? You Bet.
By Risty Maskell and Silver15
Disclaimer: We don't own them 'cept our characters…damn.
Summary: WooHoo! A sequel! I dunno where it's going, so there's no summary!
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We rode as fast as we dared towards Bree. We were in a hurry but it was dark and we didn't want to injure our horses in any way. We didn't speak at all, focusing all our energy on riding.
We got to Bree in an hour, which is pretty good going really. Having such fast horses meant that we could use shortcuts and that helped a lot. We were both anxious to get to the Prancing Pony before it got too late.
When we got there, we stabled our horses and went inside. It was actually fairly quiet, just one or two humans and a few hobbits. As we looked around, a black-cloaked figure in the corner of the room stood up. I glanced at Billee and he nodded. We went over to him and he gestured to us to sit down.
As we sat down, the figure drew back his hood. He looked at us for a minute and we looked at him.
"Damon" Billee was the first to speak. "Its you"
Indeed it was our old friend. Damon Darkshield had been best friends with Marcus and we all used to hang around together. However, since Marcus died, neither Billee nor me had seen Damon. We were both shocked at how much he had changed. His face was pale and there were dark circles under his eyes. He badly needed a shave and there was a large, recent bruise on his jaw. Under his riding cloak, his clothes were torn and grubby. It looked like he had been sleeping rough.
"Hey kids," he said weakly, forcing a smile. "It's been a long time"
"It has indeed," Billee signalled to the landlord and the man came over immediately. He ordered three drinks and three plates of food. Damon shook his head, but Billee insisted.
When the food came, Damon asked what Billee and me had been doing for the last three years. We told him everything, leaving nothing out. He smiled to hear about Billee and Legolas and my engagement, but he wasn't pleased to hear about my suicide attempt.
"So that's all about us," I said finally, pushing my plate away. "What about you?"
"Me and the family went to Gondor to find work," Damon said slowly. "Course I didn't get very far. Had no education, did I? No one wanted to employ my brother or me. We did odd jobs and earnt just enough to stay alive, but then my mother, she went mad again. Landed herself back in hospital. That was a year ago, she's been there ever since. My younger brother, he killed himself, a few months back. Got kicked out of me house, started living on the streets. I turn to thieving and stuff to survive now"
Billee and me sat there in silence. We had no idea what to say. We knew that Damon had a tough life, his father died when he was very young and his mother is mad. She has been in and out of hospital since I was a little girl. So Damon and his brother were constantly being shifted from relative to relative until they finally refused to have anything to do with Damon anymore. But to lose both of the people you care about and to end up on the streets, well that was worse than anything either of us had been through.
"I'm sorry Damon," I said finally, reaching across the table and gently touching his hand. "I don't know what else to say"
"It doesn't matter," he said with a shrug. "Lots of people in my position, they just feel sorry for themselves. Not me though, I just get on with it. It's the only thing I can do"
We sat in silence for a while after that. I turned my head away from the two of them, not wanting them to see the tears sliding down my cheeks. When Damon spoke again, his voice was low and serious.
"I asked you to come here," he said carefully. "For two reasons. Billee, you remember Sol-leks, don't you?"
"How could I forget?" Billee replied at once. "I think about him often"
"He still whines for you" Damon told him. "He's outside somewhere. I want you to have him. I can't keep him any more, he's too much for me to handle"
"He has wolf blood in him" I said slowly. "He's dangerous. And he hates people"
"He likes the pair of you" Damon pointed out. "And Colan. I love him very much, but he belongs with you"
"I'll give it a shot," Billee agreed with a sigh. "But we're staying with friends at the moment. I'll have to keep him away from them until we leave. What was the second thing?"
"I had a visit from your dad, Emma" Damon said quietly. "That's where I got the bruise from" Slowly he brought a hand up to touch his cheek. "He was completely off his head. Was ranting and raving about you being a good for nothing whore and Billee being a stupid little loser who couldn't keep his nose out of other people's business. Said you were completely out of control and he'd find you if it was the last thing he did."
"Shit" Billee told my hand and held it tight. "I should have known that he wouldn't give up"
"I'm never going to get away from him, am I?" I whispered. Billee sighed and shrugged.
"It's gets worse," Damon said sadly. "Have you met Boromir's parents yet?"
"No" I shook my head and then realisation hit me. "He hasn't…"
"They are pretty well known in Gondor" Damon said carefully. "They have a lot of money and power. A man I know works for them. He told me that your dad went to visit them and asked them to keep Boromir away from you because you were crazy and needed to be locked up. I tell you, I really wanted to hunt him down and rip him to pieces when I heard"
"I can't believe he did that," I whispered. "Why can't he let me go?"
"I thought you should know" Damon continued after a minute. "In case he managed to track you down and tried to cause trouble for you"
"Thanks Damo" Billee said with a small smile, using Damon's old nickname. Damon gave us a ghost of a smile. "If there's anything we can do for you in return…"
"Well" Damon glanced down at the table. "Don't worry if you can't help, but I've…well I've got some people on my back. I…I need a place to stay for a day or two. Somewhere where they won't think of looking"
"I don't know Damon" Billee said slowly. "Are you…are you involved in illegal dealings?"
"I was, yeah," Damon admitted. "That's why these people are after me"
"Well" Billee and me exchanged a look. I knew what he was thinking. Jamie would be happy to take him in for a few days, but not if her or Frodo knew that they were harbouring a criminal.
"Come back with us" Billee said finally. "Jamie will let you stay for a while if we tell her you're homeless. But we can't say anything to anyone about you being a criminal. Emma, we can't tell Boromir, Legolas, Elrond or anyone"
"Alright" I felt kind of guilty, after all I had promised Jamie that I wouldn't lie to her again, but as far as I could see, we didn't have any choice.
We went out to the stables and mounted our horses. Damon had a small horse, which he referred to only as 'Blackie'. Then he gave a whistle and a large wolf bounded out of the trees. When he saw us, he stopped and sniffed the air before running up and rubbing noses with Laddie.
"Hello Sol-leks" Billee said, grinning down at the wolf. "You certainly have grown"
Sol-leks went mad at the sound of Billee's, running around and howling as we rode out of Bree. It was very, very late, but none of us particularly wanted to stay in the Prancing Pony overnight. All we wanted was to be back at home with our friends.
