Guess what, kids? I'm back!! A new chapter for all of those who may have been waiting. Enjoy.~~~
Really it was just a mistake. No signs had appeared of them being followed. They were getting along well enough, though still pretty awkwardly after Aaron had exploited the fact that Gilan had followed after him for an alterer motive then to simply help the poor boy out.
Still, they weren't terribly bad off. Aaron looked pretty wear to Gilan, so he began to offer taking first guard duty to allow the young man to get more rest. However, Aaron always insisted on taking first watch, as he, apparently, preferred it to second watch for the night. After a bit, Gilan began to think he just shouldn't ask anymore, but the dark rings under the boy's eyes reminded him constantly of Aaron's tiredness. This became the reason he prompted ever night, no matter how tired he himself was, to ask to take first watch. Aaron stubbornly refused for one night after another.
Still, Gilan would ask none the less. Despite his tired look, Aaron was still as active as ever in the daytime. No matter how worn out he was, the boy just kept pushing forwards into the forest at his determined pace.
It was still as hard and none stop as it had been the first day that Gilan had joined up with Aaron. If nothing else, Aaron was a very hard worker, even in these discouraging times. Gilan was glad for that.
One night in particular, they set up camp along the top of a cliff, a river roaring and splashing about down at the bottom of it. To Gilan this was a slight annoyance he needed to block out of his mind. Aaron however, found the sound very soothing. Actually, the constant cashing sound of the waters proved to be the greatest of comforts for his troubled brain. It interrupted his thoughts, thoughts that lay well away from where he was and what he was doing, or even where he was going. No, his thought lay to the land he'd passed, with the Master he'd left so very far away from this island of Araluen.
" You really like all that noise from the river?" Gilan asked, over his dinner. He'd gotten used to Aaron's ravenous way of eating, and could now have an easy meal without the slightest discomfort from the way the young man seemed to eat without chewing. Aaron nodded, swallowing hard on the soup in his bowl, and licking his lips greedily.
" Like it? It's the most comforting sound I've heard since I got to this nation of yours." he gulped down some more of the broth, while Gilan stared at him like he was crazy. Seeing Gilan staring, Aaron could only shrug to him.
" When I was young, my Master and I spent a great deal of time in one town in particular. We rested and relaxed there for a the majority of the winter months, as we could go no farther forwards without walking into a bitter, cold blizzards that are common in a Skandian winter." he spoke thoughtfully slouching down, and setting his empty bowl to the side and out of his way. "We hunkered down for a few months. The town was right next to the most beautiful river side I've ever seen in my life. Nothing has ever looked so unbelievably gorgeous to me as that did, though a few places have come close." he spoke of the mystifying sight in the most peaceful way that Gilan hadn't seen from Aaron to date. The boy smiled in the relaxed way an old man does in a rocking chair on a porch side watching his grandchildren play in his yard.
"Anywhere in that town, no matter where you went, at that time we stayed there, you could always hear the river splashing." he explained. Gilan gave a slow nod, rather solemn now. He too now, set his bowl to the side, and allowed the thought to wander about his brain for awhile.
" It sounds like you travel around quite a bit, Aaron." Gilan replied, getting a frown from Aaron this time as he shook his head once at the Ranger.
" Like you hadn't figured that out already." he answered back, annoyed with Gilan's response to his romantic talk of the river side.
" Well, did you like it?" Gilan asked, and Aaron froze where he stood for a minute. He stood there, almost like a statue, looking at his feet, thinking over this question for a great deal of time that most wouldn't need to come up with an answer.
" I did. Still do." he finally said, stretching his arms and grunting while he reached towards the stars. Aaron sounded more convinced of this then he felt, and he made sure he did on purpose. To be honest, Aaron had asked himself if he liked traveling, and had no clear answer for himself for this question. Then again, how could he possibly live a stationary lifestyle? Who would he stay with other then his Master . . ?
" I see . . ." Gilan murmured, and a silence stretched between the two of them.
This only lasted a short time, as shiver suddenly hit it's way up Aaron's spine.
Looking around, his whole body tensed, his muscles squeezing together, twitching with the urge to spring and run away.
" Somethings not right." Aaron told Gilan now. Gilan nodded. He'd noticed too.
" Why didn't the horses warn us?" the boy glanced over at the horses to his left.
" Can't hear anything coming so close to the river," Gilan muttered in reply to him, " if somethings after us, it must be downwind of them too." Aaron frowned, but said nothing.
So like Halt, still. The young boy nodded his understanding to Gilan.
Then, all at once, Aaron's face lights up, and a twinkle enters his eyes.
" I've got an idea on keeping these guys off our backs at least until we reach Redmont Fief!" he whispered, excitedly, going over and raiding Gilan's packs on Blaze's back. Blaze grunted disapproval of this, but nothing more while Aaron looked through the packs.
" What are you doing?" Gilan asked, unsure of how to react to the sudden invasion of his belongings by Aaron. Finally, Aaron pulled out what he needed. A rope.
" Ah! Here we go!" Aaron exclaimed, going over to his own horse this time, and working the horse around the stallion's neck. " Gilan, grab what you'll need for a few days travel, quick. We don't have much time to get this to work."
Baffled, but ready to give whatever this idea was a try, Gilan did as he had been told. After tying the rope around Rurin's neck, Aaron tied the other end of it to Blaze's reins.
" Have Blaze follow Rurin for the time being."
" You heard him, Blaze." Gilan instructed, and the mare tossed it's head to show it's understanding. Aaron grinned, glad to see his plan was working out so far.
" Off with the two of you then." Aaron instructed Rurin, and both mare and stallion clopped away at a fast walk. " Good boy." Aaron murmured at the receding figures or the horses. Then he turned to Gilan and smiled.
" What next? What's this plan of yours?"Gilan inquired, ever the curious one, Aaron noticed for the first time. He smiled at the older man, and was about to start to explain it when he was interrupted.
" You're surrounded, Aaron!!" Came a shout while, slow and sure, a huge sort of semi-army crept up in a half circle around Gilan and Aaron. Aaron gave a mocking chuckle, hand on his hip in that very un-masculine fashion once again as the semi-army came nearer to them.
Gilan couldn't place these people. Not one of them appeared to be a recognizable ethnic group from Gilan's mind. These were not Skandian, nor Gallican, not any race Gilan could place. They were clearly a cavalry, all mounted on horses, and carrying the appropriate equipment for a cavalry man. These men wore black uniforms though, with a blue insignia branded on the shoulders and left beast of each man. Not that this helped, Gilan couldn't place this symbol either. Nothing about these people seemed familiar, almost as if they weren't from this world at all. They were clearly human beings though, so that couldn't be.
" Urosia," Aaron's voice was thick with sarcasm and contempt as he spoke onwards,"pleased to see me, I'm sure."
That's when this Urosia took a step forwards. He, too, was a bulky man, much like the majority of the others, similar to that of a Skandian, but clearly not. He was tall, and easily distinguishable from the others around him from his commanding mannerism. The only thing different about his uniform that showed his superior rank was a bit of a gold pin that glowed slightly only when the moon hit it just right.
The cavalry leader looked to have ridden a hard ride himself and appeared to be a tired man in his early forties. The throngs of curly brown hair were held back in a loose ponytail that trailed down only to his upper back. However bits of his brown curls had freed themselves from the restraint, and he made no motion to put them back into confinement.
" As always, you show no respect for us, Aaron." Urosia's voice was a deep, loud one, clearly used to shouting orders to others. There was an unusual crispness, hinting to an accent in his voice that Gilan couldn't identify, once again. The man Urosia commanded were clearly well disciplined, for they kept steady and calm, moving one when motioned to do so by Urosia.
" Because I have none for the lot of you." Aaron gave such a sadistic sort of smirk, Gilan began to wonder if this was truly the boy who had spoken so romantically of the river side only a short time ago.
" The message, Aaron," Urosia prompted, firmly, in a way that almost seemed to demand compliance to the one spoken to, " give it to me." he motioned the men forwards another step.
Both Gilan and Aaron stepped back, Gilan glancing over at Aaron.
" No." Aaron replied, his defiance seeming to be out of his very nature. Like it had been engraved into the boy's heart at birth even. Urosia had been frowning from the beginning, and did even more so at Aaron's answer to his request. This wasn't the reply he wanted to get from the boy.
" Let's not make this messy, Aaron. You've got nowhere to run." he said, advancing his men even closer. Clearly, he was not a man who took well to disobedience from anyone.
Aaron cocked his head to the side, smirking still more now in a ghastly expression of contempt for this cavalry man. The boy shifted on his feet unable to sit still while Gilan and he were being cornered.
" I'll get away again, Urosia. You'll never catch me." Aaron said still, stubborn as ever, it seemed. Urosia was quit baffled by this. The boy had nowhere to go.
" Really?" Urosia was unconvinced by this show. This sounded like a classic bluff to him. A ditch effort to try and sneak out of here with his life intact. His dark eyes fell on Gilan. Would Aaron leave the other man behind so that he could get away? Like bait? Truth be told, Urosia wouldn't put it past Aaron to do something to this effect. " I'd love to hear how you plan to get away this time. My men have blocked off any route out of here."
Aaron only kept smirking that evil way.
" You'll see, Urosia, you'll see." Aaron assured him, backing up a bit more, his heels at the edge of the cliff. Gilan was next to him, looking a bit nervous about this.
" Sorry about getting you mixed up in this." Aaron apologized softly to the Ranger who looked over at him. Gilan gave a grin at Aaron.
" Ah, well,I'm always getting into trouble. Nothing new here." he replied, chuckling a bit at this. Aaron was glad to hear that Gilan was still in good humor.
" Be ready." he informed Gilan, who nodded once to his understanding.
" Well, I'm waited, Aaron!" said Urosia, waving for his men to move slightly closer again.
That's when Aaron made his move.
Spinning on his heels, Aaron grabbed Gilan by the arm, shouting as Gilan turned round too.
" JUMP!!" And down they fell off the cliff side, leaving Urosia and his man shouting and staring in amazement as their forms disappeared into the black river below. ~~~~~~~
Was it too obvious what they were going to do? I kept thinking that it might be sort of obvious what would happen, even though I tried to make it seem unexpected. Until next time, Read and Review.