Pacifista

It begins with a map....

As Glenn rolled over and tried to sleep, Roan threw one last piece of wood on the fire before lingering; keeping his eyes and ears out for any trouble. As he waited, he had nothing but himself for company. He began thinking about the tale he was planning on sharing in exchange for Glenn’s, he wondered what might happen if he gave the unaltered version. Glenn seemed to think Roan was a good person, sure, but Roan knew that opinion didn’t hold for everyone he’d known. However, at the end of the day, Roan wasn’t the type of person to let things like that bother him, so at the end of this day, he fell asleep, just like any other. The thought of waking Glenn for watch had fled from Roan’s mind completely.

---

The next morning, the light sleeper Roan woke to a shuffling in the bushes near his side of their campsite. Rolling over, he looked around, seeing the morning dew reflecting what little daylight there was, the sun’s light not going very far early in the morning. Realizing what woke him up, he crept to his feet, reaching for his knife. Of course, his fears were alleviated as a squirrel darted out of the bush, scampering away. Returning his knife, he looked around, seeing that the fire had burned out and that Glenn still slept. It was only then that he recalled that he was supposed to have woken Glenn up. Oh well, no harm done, Roan figured. Taking his knife, he figured he’d do some gathering for breakfast, heading into the woods, eyes peeled for some food to roast or little animals. He decided against the last one in the end though: too much work to clean out...

It begins with a map....

As Glenn told Calhoun’s tale, Roan listened patiently, occasionally becoming a little frustrated at the mistakes, but doing his best to hide it. Calhoun had been full of tales apparently, perhaps Roan would have had trouble keeping them straight himself. He got the gist of it at least, just enough detail to put it together. He was becoming more interested in what Calhoun had been like, but admittedly, Roan wasn’t going to be asking Glenn for another story any time soon.

Answering his question, Roan replied, “Course we’ll have adventures like that! Thing is, you don’t hear about all the boring parts in between, like now. There’s always the stuff like ‘I spent a week traveling, then...’ or ‘a few days later...’. Give it some time.”

Thinking for a second, Roan considered telling a story of his own, but he wanted to work out the more...questionable bits. That would require a bit of thinking. Glad that Glenn had stopped whining about food, he decided now would be as good a time as any to start resting. He told Glenn, “You go ahead and get some rest, I’ll keep watch. Don’t want anything to sneak up on us, you know?”

It begins with a map....

Roan took another bite as Glenn said what he knew about the two cousins. It seemed they wouldn’t have to worry unless they ran away from home and being younger than Roan and Glenn, that would probably be unwise. Especially for Peyton, it didn’t sound like he’d be in the mood when the time came to come back home.

At Glenn’s whining for food, Roan said, “Fine, fine.” He’d wanted to stretch it out a bit, but he figured that for breakfast tomorrow he’d see if there were any good roots or berries around. Pulling out a bit more bread, he passed it to Glenn, thinking he’d save the jerky, since it’d last longer than the bread and cheese. Roan was actually surprisingly good at ‘saving the best for last’. He thought about how he reacted when he heard the rider approaching, remembering a story he’d heard.

Looking over to Glenn, he asked, “So, got any good stories?” There were few things Roan liked better than a well told story. He even feels like he learned to read so he could check out more stories when he had the chance.

It begins with a map....

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...

It begins with a map....

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.

It begins with a map....

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.

It begins with a map....

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...”

It begins with a map....

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...”

It begins with a map....

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.

It begins with a map....

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.