Seekers of Truth RPG

[Crystal Heart]

Hama glared at Raen, shocked that he would go around him and straight to Sandrina. He had no idea who she was! What made him think that he could just, just... His anger bubbled up inside him, causing all thought to fly from his head. He watched as Sandrina looked farway in thought and wondered just what dilema was going on in her head. She of all people did not deserve to have to deal with this. She had been used as a pawn in her extended family's game. She had wandered around for nine months, not truly knowing her own name or where she was from. All of her memories had vanished when they had beaten her and now here she was being told that they could be slaughtered. What horrible thought could Raen have believed in? It was clear the woman had gone through enough trauma. She did not need to know that there was the possibility that she was having all of these people go forward to their death. His hands clenched angrily as he continued to watch Sandrina's face.



Sandrina had not thought about the fact that there could be a possibility that these people would die during this quest. That she would be asking them to give up their lives for justice. For her. The thought had not crossed her mind. Then again she had been trying vainly to recover all of her memories. She had thought that whatever memories she could retain would be of some use to them and had overlooked the threat on these kind people's lives.

"You are right Raen and I apologize for not thinking about it," Sandrina said, bowing her head slightly in shame.

Hama jolted his horse forward, in between Raen and Sandrina.

"She should not have to be sorry in any way. What are you doing Raen?" Hama hissed, his eyes narrowing. Sandrina placed a hand upon his forearm, trying to get his attention away.

"Please do not fight each other. We need to be a group. Undoubtedly they will be. If they find a faction within us they will destroy us. You will stop this right now Hama!" Sandrina commanded, rising up to her full height upon her mare. Hama looked over at her in shock.

"If you can not handle your emotions, Hama then you should not be in our quest. Can you handle yourself sir?" Sandrina asked sharply, narrowing her own eyes. Hama looked down and away, his cheeks flushing in embarssement. He took a deep, ragged breath and looked her straight in the eye once more.

"Yes, Sandrina Lightheart I can handle myself. Do whatever you feel is correct."

[Morsul the Dark]

Sam was tired, his will broken his body ached, grief clouded his mind. Sam looked ahead at his brother and father. If he were to say anything his father would not let him hear the end of it, but if he didn't say anything his conscience would drive him mad. There was nothing to do but act as their shadow, silently follow them. Like a shadow, yes that was the answer. "Shadows are invisible at night what if I return to the estate and tell our whereabouts to Sandrina and the others?" He whispered very quietly.

Harold looked back at him, "What are you mumbling about now? You know thisa is the only way." Harold drew back level with Sam and gave him a fatherly pat on the back, "Sorry about your guilt, but you know I'm right..." He sped forward past Arthur.

Sam looked up, "You may think it is the only way, I myself have other plans." Sam took out his pipe but as he did his horse hit a rock and fell breaking its knee. "Blast!" Sam cried.

Harold and Arthur looked back Harold had turned an odd toned red and Arthur sat silent. "You fool your a waste of time and money I should have left you behind where you would cause no more trouble get your other horse and ride it will have to bear the extra burden!" Harold yelled scaring a flock of birds from a nearby tree.

Sam threw off all his baggage except two loaves of bread and a cantene of water. "That should lighten your load." Then he looked at his other horse and began to tend to its knee.

"We don't have time for nonsense leave it to die!" Harold shrieked.

"Then ride on without me! I will not let Wisetail die!" Sam cried tears of anger streaming down his face. His horse's knee had broken before so he knew it would take a few weeks before he could walk again with this in mind he began to gather grass and other vegetation that he could eat and dug a hole that would with luck fill with water when it rained. He washed the wound and bound it with an extra shirt. "FRare well wise tail and when you mend may you find your way home. Harold and Arthur had gone ahead so Sam scribbled out a note outlining their plans and tied it to wisetail's mane. "May Eru watch over you." he gave wise tail a pat on the head then mounted the secondsteed and rode off. He finally caught to Arthur and Harold. There was silence for quite some time after that.

[Himaran]

Raen was so taken aback by Hama's remarks that he slackened the pace of his horse to a near stop; with Sandrina's rebuke of the man still ringing in his ears. For a brief moment resentment flashed through him. Who was Hama to speak with such scorn? He had not spent months in the wilderness searching for the woman, but acted as though Raen should have nothing to do with her. Was it... anxiety? Jealousy? Or perhaps overprotectiveness... but whatever the cause, the ranger was not about to let it lead them to their deaths, and he tried to view his quick conversation with Sandrina as a success.

He quickly turned to Braedon. "We should approach on foot. It will be far less noticeable. Who knows what is waiting down there." The ranger nodded, and they both trotted their horses back down the path and dismounted, tying the halters to a tree. Raen readied his bow, pulling a shaft from his quiver and setting it on the string. The pair moved back up the hill to where the others remained on their horses, conversing.

"We're going to scout ahead," said Raen, which drew a nod of thanks from Sandrina and no response from Hama. Pushing the frustration from his mind, he followed Braedon down the hill in a crouch. Quickly reaching a band of trees, they spread apart and checked for sentries; bowstrings taunt. No one was in sight outside the estate. But it was sound, not sight, that brought the rangers the information they needed.

In the distance, a horse neighed, as if in pain. An angry voice was heard also, and then another. An argument among the enemy, most likely. "Run back and get the others," Raen whispered to Braedon. "We can approach unseen from this angle, and the trees extend almost to the far wall." The man was already on his way back up the hill before the sentence was complete.

Raen turned back, wondering if the enemy he so desired to meet was slipping right through his fingers.

[starkat]

As they had approached the estate, Anora had grown more determined to make certain that Sandrina remained unharmed. Feeling for the blade at her side had become an instinctive movement for Anora on their journey.

She had stayed close to Sandrina, but had remained quiet. Her time had not yet come. She watched as Hama and Raen had begun arguing. I hope they figure this out. The whole point of this mission is to reunite Sandrina with her parents.

Raen and Braedon rode off to scout ahead and Anora walked her horse in front of Sandrina. Her friend looked at her in confusion for a moment and then nodded. Anora breathed a sigh of relief. I am glad that did not come across as being heavy handed. I just want to protect her.

Her hand rested on the hilt of her blade. Suddenly Anora caught the faint sounds of someone coming towards them. She pulled her sword from it's sheath and Hama did the same. When Braedon came out of the trees everyone waited for him to explain.

[The Perky Ent]

Arthur hated watching his father yell at Samuel, but he dared not interject. After his blunder with Sandrina, Arthur would make to more mistakes, or his fathers love would be as far away as Melkor from the Secret Fire. Leaving the estate was hard for Arthur as well, but, for now, he would ride it out. But if the mercinaries failed and their land was lost, Arthur didn't know what he would do. Even though it shouldn't have been their land, Arthur felt no remorse to it all. To him, it had always been theirs, and Henry had been keeping them from destiny.

As Samuel pased out of sight, it was just Harold and Arthur riding into the horizon. Looking around, and seeing nothing, Arthur couldn't help but ask, "Father, where are we going? Not to Edoras? That's too far. And how will we know when the men we hired have done their job? What if it's too late? If Sandrina and Henry come back and seize out lands, they will be able to find some precious information. We shouldn't linger long. Where are we going?"

[Crystal Heart]

Sandrina glanced up, her eyes widening at the sound. She relaxed only slightly when she saw Raen come up, but his expression of stress and fear were easy to recognize in his face. She knew what he had heard. She knew what she had heard. It was them.

She looked around at the group, her heart racing. This was the moment of justice in her mind, but a cold fear grabbed her.

"Is that noise them?" Sandrina whispered, hoping deep down that it was not. Raen nodded his head in response. She took a jagged deep breath and let it go slowly. She licked her lips nervously, trying to clear away the shakiness that she was feeling deep down inside her stomach.

"Then we must bring them to justice. How do you suggest we do that, Raen?" Sandrina whispered, edging her horse closer to him. She prayed that he had a plan for she did not and had not thought to even construct one. The only thought that had been racing through her mind was to bring them to justice and return to her family. She had not thought of how and now that the moment had risen to do it she was as scared as a rabbit. She only hoped that he or Hama or anyone for that matter had had enough insight to create a plan during their short journey to the Lightheart estate.

[Firefoot]

Harold shifted uncomfortably but disguised it by craning around to see what Samuel was doing. He shook his head in disgust; the fool boy was dumping out most of his supplies and tending for the horse. What had he called it? Wise-tail? Harold sneered. Such a foolish, weak name, fitting since it was given by a foolish, weak son. Did the boy not know that a horse with a broken leg was as good as dead? He did not seem likely to be catching up any time soon, so Harold turned back to Arthur and his questions.

“Going? We are not really going anywhere. As you have mentioned, Edoras is entirely too far away, and any of the nearby towns are too small; Sandrina and Henry would catch word of us immediately. Rather, we will circle around the estate and return to it in a week or so. This way we will be able to see for our own eyes what is going on there. We cannot just abandon the estates at any rate, because once Sandrina is dead there will be no one left to run it.” Harold was mostly improvising as he went here. He had not planned much of this out in advance. “As for them discovering important information, there is not much for them to discover save by questioning the workers, and none of them know very much that could be useful. My men will be too afraid of what I would do to them for speaking up, and they do not know much that Sandrina and her new friends will not have figured out already. The only one that might have useful information is Cerdic, and he is too loyal to do such a thing. All the important documents and papers I brought along in my saddlebags for such a reason. Does this answer your questions?” Arthur nodded, though Harold wasn’t sure whether he meant it or not. Frankly, Harold did not care whether Arthur accepted the answers, because it was the best that he would get.

Harold glanced back again. Samuel was still tending to the horse, and Harold judged that he had a few minutes before Samuel would catch up. He turned once more to Arthur.

“What do you think about Samuel? Will he stay loyal to us, or will he try to aid Sandrina?” he asked. Harold thought he understood Samuel’s position fairly well, but as his brother Arthur might have some different ideas on it. It would also give Harold a chance to see where Arthur stood. Arthur looked distinctly uncomfortable, and hesitated before speaking.

“Well, I’m not exactly sure-” he began, and was cut off by the sound of hooves behind. Harold spoke softly so as not to be overheard by Samuel. “Well, think about it and you can tell me your thoughts later, when we have a moment together.” Arthur nodded again. Samuel caught up, and they rode on in silence, each one alone with his own thoughts. For himself, Harold was spending his time trying to figure out what Sandrina would do upon reaching the estate. Cerdic had said she was gathering a small force to herself, so Harold supposed that meant between five and ten men. The idea that she might bring women did not even occur to him. It was the men that concerned him more than Sandrina, that and he did not know where Henry was in all of this. Leaving Henry out of his calculations would be a dire mistake. So his thoughts went, until the sun was high overhead and it was nearly time to stop for a break and lunch.