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As Parkun watched Eric walk out of the inn, not daring to look back, a single thought ran through his head: You could just leave, too, you know. You can back out now. His father would make his life filled with a little more annoyance even than usual, but... No, he had plans, anyway. He would put an end to this...
Parkun was rather amused when someone finally voiced a thought that he assumed must have crossed most of their minds. There had been all this talk of creatures who did not have the brains to go unseen, even leaving no clues, much less would kill seemingly at random, out of amusement rather than simply necessity... Did anyone really think that something living in Chetwood would be capable of baffling them so, causing them so much fear?
Kun's question was answered when one of the Hobbits, Sam, spoke up against the idea. His naive reasoning made the young man want to laugh. It seemed that Sam thought all people were the soft-hearted, neighborly, good natured sort like the slow-witted shepherds just outside of Bree. Parkun responded immediately, holding back a derisive snort with difficulty.
"Can you really say that? None of us know what a person is really up to, regardless of how they seem. And you have to admit some people around here seem pretty off. I mean, everyone seems to have a different story about Old Jak, and most seem to feel he's still around..." He cast his eyes about the table, expecting a reaction at least from all of the native Breelanders. "So maybe Chetwood is our best bet, if not to waste our time looking for animal tracks we don't know for sure are there."
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