Chapter 16: Run and keep running
They passed through the street, Thom leading them to an inn he saw from the bridge. The shops held little, and what they did have was not the best. People reflected the shops, hard times were ahead. Not one person smiled, it would be a grim year if the weather did not improve.
Ruby fiddled with her braid and followed the other two. A slim brown- haired man offered her fruit. She was about to refuse when he looked at her face and scuttled away, to find a new customer. She shrugged it off and hurried to catch up.
It was a paved square, with inns and shops lining the place. Mat glanced in the windows. Ruby shook her head and marched him into the inn Thom had chosen, The Wayfarers' Rest. Upon entering the inn she saw it was nearly empty, as well as having a good layer of dust. There were two men in the back of the room; the innkeeper was polishing a glass. Thom went up to the man. Ruby and Mat walked over to the two men.
"Hi, has anything interesting been happening around here?" Ruby rocked back and forth, watching Thom out of the corner of her eye.
"Maybe, where did you come from? They say it's going to be a hard year." The man dresses in worker clothes took a sip of his ale and watched her.
"It has to end sometime. Nothing can be forever."
"Mat! Ruby!" Hearing their names called, they said good-bye and went over to Thom. They walked a little way to the hall and into a room. Thom led them to a table in the middle of the room. Like the common room, neither table nor floor appeared to have seen a dust mop in weeks.
Mat grimaced. "Why here? We passed other inns that looked cleaner." He wiped the chair with his sleeve and sat down.
"Straight on from the bridge is the road to Caemlyn. Anyone passing through Whitebridge comes through this square, unless they're going by river, and we know your friends aren't doing that. If there is no word of them here, it doesn't exist. Let me do the talking, this has to be done carefully." Said Thom.
The innkeeper walked in, three sloshing cups in hand. He wiped the table once and set down the drinks. "If you stay you won't have to pay for drinks, good wine here."
Ruby and Mat clinked glasses and proceeded to chug the burning liquid. "I will think on it." He said just above a whisper. Then he smiled. "What news is there? We have been away from hearing things."
"Big news that's what, big news." He pulled up a chair and sat down. Then he commented about his feet. Ruby sat with a small smile on her face, her head pleasantly buzzing from the quick drinking of the wine. The innkeeper then spent an hour telling about near each and every corn and sore on his feet.
Thom coughed lightly and reminded him about the 'Big News.' The man nodded and switched over to that. "The false Dragon was captured near Lugard. Aes Sedai it was." He went into detail about how he wanted to go and see the false Dragon, but his duties at the inn prevented him. Apparently the roads were packed with refugees, all trying to find a safe place to stay. "The Aes Sedai, taking him north to see Queen Morgase, and displaying him at every town and village on the way!"
Ruby snorted a small snort. Her head was still a bit fuzzy.
The innkeeper leaned over the table in a conspirital (?) way. "Logain could do...things. Not like the other false Dragon I saw, back then." He then told about before he had the inn. Aes Sedai had not been needed with the false Dragon a few years ago. Only soldiers to parade him through. He said that the Aes Sedai maintained a constant shield on Logain, to prevent him from channeling. He shivered as he said it. "I don't like Aes Sedai, and I don't see why they have to wait to gentle him. It would be a big help to them, and the rest of us."
Ruby listened intently. It was interesting. The false Dragon hadn't been severed yet? That meant he might find a way to break the shield. Ranma always said there was always a way. He said nothing was perfect. She mumbled under her breath, "That is the way of the martial artist, really, striving for the impossible. Sometimes it just takes a while to find that tiny weakness to exploit."
"You say something girl?" Asked Thom.
"Oh, nothing I was just thinking."
The innkeeper got up and left the room, shaking his head. "A fade." Mat breathed. He hung his head. "I should have known they'd be looking for us here."
"And he'll be back." Thom said. "I say we sneak back to the boat and take captain Domon up on his offer. The hunt will center on the road to Caemlyn while we're on our way to Illian, a thousand miles from where the Myrddraal expect us."
"NO!" Ruby stood up and knocked the chair over in the process. "We wait for Perrin and Nynaeve here, or we go to Caemlyn. One way or the other, Thom. That's what we decided." She glared at them. Mat looked down at his feet.
"The Fade will most likely check here first. If we're going to Caemlyn we better get a move on." Mat said while looking at the floor.
Thom huffed. "Think Girl! Illian! There isn't a grander city in the world!" She raised a hand and looked at him.
"Mat and me, were heading to Caemlyn. I am NOT going to give up on my friends. I didn't do it before and I am not going to start." Stubbornness covered her whole being and it seemed to leak into Mat.
"Thom we have to go to Caemlyn. Maybe we will see this false dragon." Mat joked.
"But Illian! A safe way out! They'll never find you!" Thom was desperately trying to convince them. Mat looked at Thom, "Why all this fuss and bother? You want to go back to the boat? Then go. We can take care of ourselves."
Mat got up from his chair and walked to the door. Ruby followed him. They were about to walk into the common room when they heard someone.
"Trollocs! Put on a gleeman's cloak man! You're drunk! Trollocs, their borderland fables."
The two friends peeked pass the door. "Gleb" Said Mat as he fingered his dagger. Thom stepped up to see what they were looking at.
"That story will be around half the town in an hour. Weather anybody believes it or not. And the half man could hear it in half that time. Domon isn't sailing until tomorrow morning. At best he'll have the trollocs chasing him half way to Illian. Well, he's half expecting it for some reason. There's nothing to do for it but run, and run hard." He shoved some coins at them. Mat shoved his into his pocket. Ruby looked trough hers. It was an equal amount of silver.
"In case were separated. You both got good hearts." He wagged a finger at them and looked hard. "Stay clear of Aes Sedai, for your lives." Thom then shuffled over to one of the windows and cracked it open. It moved soundlessly and just wide enough for all three of them to squeeze through.
Mat started for the street but Thom held him back. "Not so fast. Not till we know what were doing." He closed the window and studied the ally.
"Why are you doing this? You'd be safer with out us. Why are you staying with us?" Ruby whispered to him.
He looked at her. "I had a nephew, Owyn. My brothers only son. My only living kin. He got in trouble with Aes Sedai, but I was busy with other things. I don't know what I could have done, but when I finally tried it was too late." He paused to take off his cloak and instrument cases. "Owyn died a few years later, you could say the Aes Sedai killed him." He handed his things to Ruby. "If I can keep you two free of Tar Valon maybe I can stop thinking about Owyn. Wait here." He turned to the street.
Mat sat on a barrel that was in the ally. "What do you think the Aes Sedai did to his nephew?"
"Only one thing a man can get into trouble with Aes Sedai." They waited in silence for him to return.
Thom returned with a dark brown cloak covering his face. For a minute the two Emonds Fielders didn't recognize him. Thom laughed. "I suppose this is a good enough disguise for the gate."
He folded his gleemans cloak around his other things. "Well walk out of here one at a time, just close enough to keep each other in sight. Can't be especially remembered that way." He looked at Ruby. "Can't you slouch that height of yours is as bad as a banner." Ruby growled and attempted to make herself seem smaller.
Ruby scanned the crowd. No one looked out of place. Except maybe that dark shadowed figure over there. "Shit" The Fade was halfway across the square. Before it froze her, Ruby put one hand on her father's sword and cleared her mind. She hoped Ranma's teaching would be enough. "Come on People! Are we just going to stand here?! We have to RUN!" She yelled as Ruby attempted to move her shaky legs.
"Don't look at its face!" Yelled Thom. He thrust his bundle in Ruby's arms. "Take care of that. When I say run, you run. And don't stop till you get to Caemlyn, The Queens Blessing. Remember that. You can't fight it, can't risk it." He saw her ready to draw her blade. "Promise me you will run. Promise!"
She nodded, her mouth not working. Thom pushed them forward while drawing out his small blades. "RUN!"
Ruby grabbed Mat, no longer caring if anyone remembered her, and run toward the gates. People in the streets ran with them, shops slammed shut the doors and shutters. Ruby saw Mat running next to her. They went thought the gates, that were open as far as was possible. They kept running. They stopped when the sun was setting, because Ruby tripped.
Ruby sat on the hard-packed dirt road. She was staring into the distance. "You okay Ruby, you didn't break anything did you?" Asked Mat.
"He, He's gone Mat. Just gone."
"I know."
Mat held her close. She clutched to him like a lifeline. "What if were the only ones left?" She said, but it came out muffled.
Mat looked into her blue-gray eyes. "We can't be the only ones. They'll be in Caemlyn, you'll see."
Ruby's continence took on a grim resolution. "They had better be." She stood up and they walked along the road till nightfall.
END
A/N Short Chappie, but I didn't have as much fun writing it so go figure.
They passed through the street, Thom leading them to an inn he saw from the bridge. The shops held little, and what they did have was not the best. People reflected the shops, hard times were ahead. Not one person smiled, it would be a grim year if the weather did not improve.
Ruby fiddled with her braid and followed the other two. A slim brown- haired man offered her fruit. She was about to refuse when he looked at her face and scuttled away, to find a new customer. She shrugged it off and hurried to catch up.
It was a paved square, with inns and shops lining the place. Mat glanced in the windows. Ruby shook her head and marched him into the inn Thom had chosen, The Wayfarers' Rest. Upon entering the inn she saw it was nearly empty, as well as having a good layer of dust. There were two men in the back of the room; the innkeeper was polishing a glass. Thom went up to the man. Ruby and Mat walked over to the two men.
"Hi, has anything interesting been happening around here?" Ruby rocked back and forth, watching Thom out of the corner of her eye.
"Maybe, where did you come from? They say it's going to be a hard year." The man dresses in worker clothes took a sip of his ale and watched her.
"It has to end sometime. Nothing can be forever."
"Mat! Ruby!" Hearing their names called, they said good-bye and went over to Thom. They walked a little way to the hall and into a room. Thom led them to a table in the middle of the room. Like the common room, neither table nor floor appeared to have seen a dust mop in weeks.
Mat grimaced. "Why here? We passed other inns that looked cleaner." He wiped the chair with his sleeve and sat down.
"Straight on from the bridge is the road to Caemlyn. Anyone passing through Whitebridge comes through this square, unless they're going by river, and we know your friends aren't doing that. If there is no word of them here, it doesn't exist. Let me do the talking, this has to be done carefully." Said Thom.
The innkeeper walked in, three sloshing cups in hand. He wiped the table once and set down the drinks. "If you stay you won't have to pay for drinks, good wine here."
Ruby and Mat clinked glasses and proceeded to chug the burning liquid. "I will think on it." He said just above a whisper. Then he smiled. "What news is there? We have been away from hearing things."
"Big news that's what, big news." He pulled up a chair and sat down. Then he commented about his feet. Ruby sat with a small smile on her face, her head pleasantly buzzing from the quick drinking of the wine. The innkeeper then spent an hour telling about near each and every corn and sore on his feet.
Thom coughed lightly and reminded him about the 'Big News.' The man nodded and switched over to that. "The false Dragon was captured near Lugard. Aes Sedai it was." He went into detail about how he wanted to go and see the false Dragon, but his duties at the inn prevented him. Apparently the roads were packed with refugees, all trying to find a safe place to stay. "The Aes Sedai, taking him north to see Queen Morgase, and displaying him at every town and village on the way!"
Ruby snorted a small snort. Her head was still a bit fuzzy.
The innkeeper leaned over the table in a conspirital (?) way. "Logain could do...things. Not like the other false Dragon I saw, back then." He then told about before he had the inn. Aes Sedai had not been needed with the false Dragon a few years ago. Only soldiers to parade him through. He said that the Aes Sedai maintained a constant shield on Logain, to prevent him from channeling. He shivered as he said it. "I don't like Aes Sedai, and I don't see why they have to wait to gentle him. It would be a big help to them, and the rest of us."
Ruby listened intently. It was interesting. The false Dragon hadn't been severed yet? That meant he might find a way to break the shield. Ranma always said there was always a way. He said nothing was perfect. She mumbled under her breath, "That is the way of the martial artist, really, striving for the impossible. Sometimes it just takes a while to find that tiny weakness to exploit."
"You say something girl?" Asked Thom.
"Oh, nothing I was just thinking."
The innkeeper got up and left the room, shaking his head. "A fade." Mat breathed. He hung his head. "I should have known they'd be looking for us here."
"And he'll be back." Thom said. "I say we sneak back to the boat and take captain Domon up on his offer. The hunt will center on the road to Caemlyn while we're on our way to Illian, a thousand miles from where the Myrddraal expect us."
"NO!" Ruby stood up and knocked the chair over in the process. "We wait for Perrin and Nynaeve here, or we go to Caemlyn. One way or the other, Thom. That's what we decided." She glared at them. Mat looked down at his feet.
"The Fade will most likely check here first. If we're going to Caemlyn we better get a move on." Mat said while looking at the floor.
Thom huffed. "Think Girl! Illian! There isn't a grander city in the world!" She raised a hand and looked at him.
"Mat and me, were heading to Caemlyn. I am NOT going to give up on my friends. I didn't do it before and I am not going to start." Stubbornness covered her whole being and it seemed to leak into Mat.
"Thom we have to go to Caemlyn. Maybe we will see this false dragon." Mat joked.
"But Illian! A safe way out! They'll never find you!" Thom was desperately trying to convince them. Mat looked at Thom, "Why all this fuss and bother? You want to go back to the boat? Then go. We can take care of ourselves."
Mat got up from his chair and walked to the door. Ruby followed him. They were about to walk into the common room when they heard someone.
"Trollocs! Put on a gleeman's cloak man! You're drunk! Trollocs, their borderland fables."
The two friends peeked pass the door. "Gleb" Said Mat as he fingered his dagger. Thom stepped up to see what they were looking at.
"That story will be around half the town in an hour. Weather anybody believes it or not. And the half man could hear it in half that time. Domon isn't sailing until tomorrow morning. At best he'll have the trollocs chasing him half way to Illian. Well, he's half expecting it for some reason. There's nothing to do for it but run, and run hard." He shoved some coins at them. Mat shoved his into his pocket. Ruby looked trough hers. It was an equal amount of silver.
"In case were separated. You both got good hearts." He wagged a finger at them and looked hard. "Stay clear of Aes Sedai, for your lives." Thom then shuffled over to one of the windows and cracked it open. It moved soundlessly and just wide enough for all three of them to squeeze through.
Mat started for the street but Thom held him back. "Not so fast. Not till we know what were doing." He closed the window and studied the ally.
"Why are you doing this? You'd be safer with out us. Why are you staying with us?" Ruby whispered to him.
He looked at her. "I had a nephew, Owyn. My brothers only son. My only living kin. He got in trouble with Aes Sedai, but I was busy with other things. I don't know what I could have done, but when I finally tried it was too late." He paused to take off his cloak and instrument cases. "Owyn died a few years later, you could say the Aes Sedai killed him." He handed his things to Ruby. "If I can keep you two free of Tar Valon maybe I can stop thinking about Owyn. Wait here." He turned to the street.
Mat sat on a barrel that was in the ally. "What do you think the Aes Sedai did to his nephew?"
"Only one thing a man can get into trouble with Aes Sedai." They waited in silence for him to return.
Thom returned with a dark brown cloak covering his face. For a minute the two Emonds Fielders didn't recognize him. Thom laughed. "I suppose this is a good enough disguise for the gate."
He folded his gleemans cloak around his other things. "Well walk out of here one at a time, just close enough to keep each other in sight. Can't be especially remembered that way." He looked at Ruby. "Can't you slouch that height of yours is as bad as a banner." Ruby growled and attempted to make herself seem smaller.
Ruby scanned the crowd. No one looked out of place. Except maybe that dark shadowed figure over there. "Shit" The Fade was halfway across the square. Before it froze her, Ruby put one hand on her father's sword and cleared her mind. She hoped Ranma's teaching would be enough. "Come on People! Are we just going to stand here?! We have to RUN!" She yelled as Ruby attempted to move her shaky legs.
"Don't look at its face!" Yelled Thom. He thrust his bundle in Ruby's arms. "Take care of that. When I say run, you run. And don't stop till you get to Caemlyn, The Queens Blessing. Remember that. You can't fight it, can't risk it." He saw her ready to draw her blade. "Promise me you will run. Promise!"
She nodded, her mouth not working. Thom pushed them forward while drawing out his small blades. "RUN!"
Ruby grabbed Mat, no longer caring if anyone remembered her, and run toward the gates. People in the streets ran with them, shops slammed shut the doors and shutters. Ruby saw Mat running next to her. They went thought the gates, that were open as far as was possible. They kept running. They stopped when the sun was setting, because Ruby tripped.
Ruby sat on the hard-packed dirt road. She was staring into the distance. "You okay Ruby, you didn't break anything did you?" Asked Mat.
"He, He's gone Mat. Just gone."
"I know."
Mat held her close. She clutched to him like a lifeline. "What if were the only ones left?" She said, but it came out muffled.
Mat looked into her blue-gray eyes. "We can't be the only ones. They'll be in Caemlyn, you'll see."
Ruby's continence took on a grim resolution. "They had better be." She stood up and they walked along the road till nightfall.
END
A/N Short Chappie, but I didn't have as much fun writing it so go figure.