The link I tried posting on my other one wouldn't show up... the pics are at Max- Dan- Wiz . com /profiles/blogs/hmmmmm
no spaces. It's being idiotic and won't let me just include a link.
Will looked around his cabin, two saddle bags in his hands already packed. He paused, then grabbed his mandola from by the fire place, and walked out the door. Tug was waiting, already saddled, and Will tied on the saddle bags. He walked back inside, pulled his quiver on over his shoulder, grabbed his bow, and tied on his cloak. He flicked the cowl up, and went back outside, locking the door behind him.
He mounted Tug easily, and the horse walked out of the clearing surrounding the cabin without prompting. Keely followed. Will looked around as he rode through the trees, taking deep breaths of the autumn air. Red, orange and yellow leaves blew around Tug's legs, catching the sun and the clear blue sky. The woods opened up by the castle and he took a right through the dirt road that went through the farm houses.
Tug trotted past the tavern Will had eaten at three days before, and out past the farm houses with the largest plots to where the woods closed back in on either side around the dirt track. He hooked his bow over the pommel of his saddle for a moment, reaching back into one of the saddlebags to overview his map for his rip once more.
The meeting was to the South-east, so he would have to take the next fork to the left. That would lead him into the next fief over, where there was a small town he would spend the night. From there he'd continue across the fief, then he'd have to turn east again onto a different track to Redmont. From there, of course, he knew the way by heart.
He rolled up the map again and returned it to the bag. For the sake of something to do, he looked at the trail in-front of them, reading the tracks there. Recently, a large horse had gone through with a single rider. Perhaps a day before there had been two men on foot. And before that, two girls and three guys. And before that he couldn't see much. He sighed, bored again. He looked at the trees around him, and then nudged Tug into a quicker trot. Up ahead, around the corner, is where the fork ought to be.
Alis waited impatiently at the first fork Will could possibly take, mounted on her horse. Soon, she heard the faintest hoof beats of his horse. She fidgeted with the dirt smeared on her face, hoping he wouldn't notice. She pulled her cloak lopsided, trying to get it to cover some of her face but not her hair; show him as many differences as possible. He would probably keep the first mental image he had of her, and she didn't want him to make the connection later.
His horse trotted around the corner, and he nodded at her. He took a left, and she kicked her horse to follow him.
Will nodded to the boy wandering around the intersection on his horse. The boy looked at him and rode after him, but Will paid him little mind.
"Ranger!" a somewhat high voice called. Will looked back over his shoulder, raising his eyebrows in question. "Can I ride with you?" Will shrugged, then turned back around. The boy rode up even with him, his horse a good 4 hands taller than his, but still leaving them almost on level height.
"Where are you headed, boy?" Will asked, in a bored tone. In truth, he was glad to have someone to talk with, rides alone were exceedingly boring. The boy hesitated.
"Anywhere. I'm setting out to make something of myself," he said. Will looked at the boy for a moment. He was small and his voice was high, but not so high as to be a girl's. He obviously hadn't hit his growth-spurt, Will decided.
"Respectable," Will commented.
"Where are you going, Ranger?" the boy asked, looking at him. Will frowned. The eyes were oddly familiar. The dark light pattern he had seen somewhere recently. Must be something common in this fief, he decided.
"A sorcerers convention," Will replied a little sarcastically. The boy's eyes widened, and Will threw back his head and laughed. "Ranger business."
"Oh," the boy said, nodding. "Can I ride with you to where you're going?" Will studied the boy for a long moment.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"They call me... Sandy," the boy said, hesitating just a half-beat. It was probably normal to hesitate before telling a Ranger your name, Will decided; after all, they were the 'black wizards' of the kingdom.
"You can ride with me, Sandy..." Will said, eyeing the boy. Sandy's face lit up. "... if you can keep up with me." On cue, Tug broke into a gallop, leaving the boy in the dust. Sandy coughed into his tunic, then spurred his grey horse to follow Will. Will looked over his shoulder and noted that the kid could ride. Sandy's horse was catching up with him, and so he spurred Tug on faster.
He ducked under a big heavy branch that went low across the path, and looked back over his shoulder and saw the boy getting to his knees on the saddle, then jump over the same branch and land straddled again on his horse on the other side of the branch.
Will nodded his approval, then turned back to face forwards. Up ahead there was a large tree, and he pulled Tug to a halt beside it, and saw the boy slow his horse down so he wouldn't be hurt by the sudden stop the Ranger horse had been trained for.
Sandy's grey horse bowed his head, clearly out of shape. The boy's face was alight with a grin. He saw Will's manola case, and looked at him in question.
"You play?" Sandy asked.
"Yes," Will said.
"Lute or Mandola? I can't tell by the case," the boy said. Will regarded him with interest. Most people just said it was a lute and were done with it.
"Mandola," Will said. Sandy smiled. "So, tell me. Have you heard of Redmont?"
"No," the boy said, a quizzical expression on his face.
"It's two fiefs over," Will said. "It's where we'll be tomorrow evening, if you choose to ride with me." The boy grinned.
"Does this mean I have permission to ride with you?" Will nodded. "Then I've always wanted to see a new place." Will smiled faintly at the boy, trying to mimic Halt in his appearance, although he broke down and smiled anyway.
He thought he could like the kid. He wasn't afraid of Rangers, at the least, and that was always in his favour. And he had spunk.
And, Will was incredibly bored and wouldn't mind riding with someone.
