[IC] It begins with a map....

[Kelewen]

Glenn turned to look. "Peyton and Dax," he told Roan, not sounding particularly pleased to see the pair. "They're cousins and get into trouble sometimes." Not that they'd ever really caused Glenn any trouble personally, but they had made Scarlett cry once and that was enough for Glenn to consider them shady.

"We stole nothing!" Glenn retorted back to them. "I paid for his stuff and mine!" The large young man dug into his pocket and pulled out his remaining silver pennies, as if that was proof. In doing so, the piece of parchment fell loose and landed on the dirt road. Calmly, Glenn picked it back up and tucked it back into his pocket.

[Pacifista]

As the two cousins looked between each other, Roan shot, “You heard him! Now get gone!” After a bit of muttering, the taller cousin, Peyton, asked, “What was that paper ya dropped there, Glenn?”

Dex added, “Cause we want it. You took it!”

Roan retorted, “You just said it was me who took something.” Of course, he had, but that was beside the point. Not giving them another word, he turned back to the road, beginning to head off. It wasn’t more than a minute when a rock from one of the two boys sailed through the air and smacked him in the back of the head. Snarling from the stinging pain, Roan dropped his pack, stomping back to the pair, demanding, “Which one of you did that!?” Peyton and Dex didn’t exactly seem intimidated by the small boy whom was only slightly older, but they were occasionally shooting glances at Glenn, worried what the large boy might do.

[Kelewen]

"It's a..." Glenn wasn't usually one to catch himself before blurting out something that was best left unsaid, but it actually occurred to him that telling these two troublemakers about the map might not be wise.

After the rock hit Roan, Glenn strode quickly after his smaller companion back toward the pair. It took a lot to upset him, but the violence had done it, apparently and he bypassed Roan, attempting to grab Peyton by the front of his shirt.

"Peyton, I'll... I'll ... tell your father," he said, rather lamely. Glenn had never really been a fight. All his life, people had avoided making trouble with him due to his intimidating size and he'd never had to actually punch anyone.

[Pacifista]

As Glenn stomped past Roan and over to Peyton and Dax, Roan stopped as the large boy passed him, not wanting to get in his way. Peyton froze, too intimidated to move, while Dax took several cautious steps back, not brave enough to act. At Glenn’s threat, Peyton didn’t seem impressed, but he didn’t say anything either.

Clearing his throat, roan approached, giving the two a grin as he said, “Yeah, you don’t want to mess with Glenn, do ya? Not that I blame you, but messing with me is just like messing with him, so I’d count your blessings to Erther and get gone.” Dax gave Roan an angry look before relenting, turning and running. Peyton managed to wrench himself out of Glenn’s loosened grip, hitting the ground and running after his cousin.

With the two gone, Roan let out a sigh, mumbling, “Little brats.” Rubbing the back of his head, he froze as he felt something warm. Pulling his hands into sight, he cursed under his breath as he rubbed his fingers, red blood between them. Grumbling at the two cousins, he pulled a cloth out of his bag as he tried to absorb blood from the wound, turning back to walk on their path.

[Kelewen]

Glenn clenched his fist angrily as he stood and watched Peyton and Dax take off and kept watching until they were out of site. "That hurt bad?" he asked Roan when he finally turned back around and saw the bloodied rag being held to the back of his head.

--

The next few hours proved uneventful other than getting the bleeding on Roan's head staunched and wrapped in a bandage, rather skillfully actually, for Glenn had helped Dotta do the same for the farm animals from time to time.

The sun was starting to sink back toward the horizon when the road the pair had been following split at a rather large tree. Glenn pulled out the map and tried to make heads or tails of it. "Which way do you think, Roan?"



(OOC: I think there might be a bike or something in the pic, but ignore that. Was one of the cooler pics I found!)

[Pacifista]

As the pair walked on their road, Roan grew increasingly worried about his wound. It stopped bleeding just fine, but the fact that it happened so early in their journey was not a good omen. Glenn had at least been able to take care of it, but it didn’t do as much for Roan’s mood as he’d hoped.

He moped about that for a little while, but got over it eventually, at least for now. A short while after that, the pair came across the fork in the road. Roan grumbled for a moment, before checking the map in Glenn’s hands. He had a rough guess as to where they were, but given that the map didn’t list and cities or show any roads, they were on their own otherwise. Their best bet was to find a large town and get a better map somehow. There wasn’t a signpost either, and Roan had come from the other direction, so he hadn’t a clue regarding the geography of the land. The fact that there were roads meant it was well traveled, at least, so he let out a sigh, before pointing to the left, saying, “This way, I suppose? I haven’t a clue which will get us closer. We want to get to another town so we can find a better map first. We’ll see where to go from there.” Readjusting his pack, he made for the path. He didn’t figure it made much difference if they got a little lost, as long as they made it by winter.

[Kelewen]

Glenn didn't seem to notice Roan's foul mood. He was too busy enjoying the walk in the beautiful weather, occasionally pointing out some novelty such as a funny shaped cloud or an animal that startled at their presence.

"Alright," Glenn replied, following Roan. "Hey, Roan, you think the 4 silver pennies'll be 'nough to buy a better map?" he pondered, worried suddenly that their adventure might be stalled by lack of funds.

The pair hadn't gone more than a few steps along the left path when the rhythmic 'clip-clop' heralded the approach of a rider coming down the path to the right...

[Pacifista]

At Glenn’s honest and relevant question, Roan thought for a moment, before shrugging, “Well, if we are short on coin, I’m sure we’ll manage.”

Then, as he heard the horse hooves, he froze, looking around. A bit tense, he held up his hand, motioning for Glenn to stop, before shaking his head and hopping into the nearby foliage suddenly, as if to hide.

[Kelewen]

For a moment, Glenn stood still, just listening to the horse approaching. He was not used to hiding from anyone, but as Roan moved into the nearby foliage, the bulky man followed suite, assuming Roan had good reason to do so. He crouched down awkwardly a few moments before a small, but stocky sorrel horse trotted into view, turning down the same path Roan and Glenn had started down. Both horse and rider, a blonde woman clad in dirty trousers with a long dagger hung on her belt, were sweaty. She glanced over her shoulder, as if checking to see if anyone was following, then continued past the two hidden figures, seeming unaware of their presence.

[Pacifista]

Roan didn’t react as Glenn came to hide next to him, though he was kind of surprised the big guy had managed, to be honest. Peeking out carefully and quietly, he got a look at things, hearing the horse approaching. He carefully waved for Glenn to stay down, not wanting him to move and give away their presence. Looking at the rider, he saw she seemed nervous, checking over her shoulder for someone or something. Of course, the ever cunning Roan saw there were numerous ways she could improve her technique, and who better to learn from than someone else who was certainly no stranger to running. There was just the matter of approaching her...

Being hit by a stroke of inspiration, Roan sat on his rear, before letting out a loud yawn and sitting up, peeking his head above the foliage, looking around sleepily as he pretended to adjust his eyes to the light. He mumbled, “Horse...” as if to imply that the noise had awoken him.

[Kelewen]

The woman, who looked as if she couldn't be much older than 16 or 17, turned her head sharply toward the noise, hand going toward the knife on her belt almost instinctively. But she seemed to relax, at least slightly, when her blue eyes landed on Roan. She sat back in the saddle and the horse slowed to a walk quickly, seeming glad for the chance for a more relaxed pace. The rider steered the animal to the far side of the road, putting a greater distance between herself and the strangers. "My apologies if I disturbed you," she said, seeming leery. "I'll, ah, let you get back to your nap..."

[Pacifista]

With the hook having sunk in, all that was left was to pull it in. He didn’t know who this girl was or why she was running, but the idea of a favor or reward for aiding her was too good to ignore. Nudging Glenn, he muttered, “Come on, time to get going.” Standing, he brushed himself off, before stepping back onto the road, saying, “You’re looking kinda nervous, and your horse is breathing pretty hard. Run into a spot of trouble? Bandits and the like? We’re traveling the roads too, so a bit of forewarning would be nice.”

He also added nonchalantly, “But if you’re trying to run from something, you’re making a couple amateur mistakes...”

[Kelewen]

As Glenn lumbered to his feet and Roan stepped out onto the road, the girl nudged her horse a little farther away from the pair, ensuring she had plenty of room to escape if she needed to.

Her eyes narrowed a bit as she studied Roan for a few moments before answering cautiously, "There was a fellow a couple miles back that way," she jutted her chin toward the right hand fork in the road, "who tried to stop me on the road. Maybe a bandit, maybe not, but I wasn't taking any chances and hightailed it outta there quick. And what do you mean 'amateur mistakes'?" she asked, sounded slightly vexed.

[Pacifista]

Roan shrugged, “Well, you’ve got a horse there. If I had one and I was being followed, it’d have been simple. Send the horse walking down one way and go the other myself, covering my tracks as I went.” Stepping out onto the road, he shrugged, “But if it’s just one brigand, well, what’s the worst he could do?” Roan’s words made him sound sure of himself, but he doubted he could go up against any kind of adult without the advantage of surprise or the helpful bulk of Glenn. Slipping his hands in his pockets, he made down the path as before, saying, “Well, good luck with your brigand troubles...”

[Kelewen]

As Roan started down the path, the girl gave her mount a light kick with her heels to get the horse moving again, ensuring she kept distance between herself and Roan. "Okay, well, ah, thanks, I guess," she said, then kicked the horse harder to prod him back into a trot, continuing her quick pace ahead of the pair.

Glenn stepped out onto the road, breaking half of a small bush apart in the process. "You think that brigand's after her?" he asked, looking back toward the fork in the road, but for the moment, the coast was clear.

[Pacifista]

As the lady rider headed off, Roan simply shrugged, before following along at his normal walking pace.

As they began, Glenn shared his worries, and Roan replied, “Even if he were, she managed to get away quick enough on that horse, so he’s probably on his feet. I doubt she’d be in any trouble. Neither would we be in danger, since we’re pretty poor marks, honestly. Not worth the trouble.” Looking over Glenn, he added, “Be sure not to mention you have that map, hear?”

As they walked, the lady rider was well out of sight when Roan realized something cursing and stopping his walking, standing in the middle of the road for a moment. Shaking his head, he began to walk, muttering, “Could have asked for directions...” That would involve showing her the map, but she was more concerned with getting where she needed to go to worry about what a little x mark meant, hopefully.

[Kelewen]

Glenn nodded, seeming very serious, as Roan asked him to keep the map a secret. "I won't," he promised.

-

The sun was headed toward the horizon and the rider, whose name was Sibley, stopped the horse and took another look back over her shoulder. "Don't be silly," she told herself, "there's no way he could catch up this quick." She dismounted and led the horse off the road, walking until it was difficult, but not impossible, to see the road through the trees. "Looks like as good a place to spend the night as any," she said. Leaving the tired animal saddled should she need to make a quick escape, Sibley unrolled a thin blanket for her bed. "But, I think, no fire tonight."

[Pacifista]

After several hours more of walking, the sun finally set too low for Roan to consider walking any farther. They still had some light, but they only needed enough to set up camp and a fire. This wasn’t his first time camping on the road, and it certainly would not be his last.

Shifting his gears, he stopped their trekking to go off the path, looking around for some suitable clearings. He was quite lucky: he found one that looked like it had been used as a campsite in the past, though probably not recently. There was plenty of room and even a fire pit, still containing some remnants of ash and charred wood. Glad to have an extra hand, he sent Glenn to get plenty of firewood, putting his muscle to good use while Roan tided up the camp a bit, removing some loose stones around the two comfiest looking patches of grass. Bedrolls had been out of their budget, so they had to make do with what they had. The thought of the brigand hadn’t even crossed his mind, so focused was he on setting up camp.

[Kelewen]

Glenn, accustomed to working hard on Ms. Dotta's homestead, didn't seem to mind chopping and gathering wood for their campfire. He found some that was suitably dry, chopping and splitting it into nice sized pieces to last through the night. "Your head feelin' any better, Roan?" he asked as he dropped an armload of wood next to the firepit and began gathering some dry leaves, tree bark, and small twigs to use for tinder. It wasn't long before he had small flames cracking and popping cheerily.

"You think Peyton and Dax might be after the treasure too," he asked, perhaps finally realizing the reason the cousins had started trouble with them earlier.

[Pacifista]

As Glenn brought out enough firewood for the night, Roan gladly started the fire just as the sun started to sink. Starting to get hungry, he pulled out some of the food given to them by Ms. Dotta passing a cut of cheese and some bread to Glenn, before putting his own slice on the bread, sticking it on the knife, and warming it with the fire. At Glenn’s question about his health, Roan answered, “It stopped hurting a while back, I’ll check it again tomorrow morning.

As Glenn asked the question about the two cousins, Roan took a bit of the melty cheese on his bread, chewing and swallowing before answering, “Well, they saw that we have the map, but as long as they don’t see it, we shouldn’t have to worry. They’ve got relatives though, right? Not like they would follow us.” As Roan took another bite, he remembered Glenn mention the father of one of them. But then again, Dotta had let Glenn go off...