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Post by Jax Nova on Jan 16, 2022 22:01:05 GMT
(Alrighty  ) Duinn took a while to fall asleep, the adrenaline from their late night encounter still trickling out of his body little by little. At last he drifted off and was soon awakened by the rising sun. It had just sent the first few pinpricks of light spilling over the horizon when the clip clop of hooves began to sound in the distance. Duinn rolled over, having laid awake for a few minutes already. He sat up at the sound and looked to the south. Not far away was the slender man from the night before. Behind the man was a mule loaded down with supplies. “He’s here bright and early,” Duinn mumbled to himself. |
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Post by Galadareth on Jan 17, 2022 6:56:44 GMT
Kestra stirred as the sun rose. She let out a soft moan as she stretched out her joints and stared up at the gradually lightening sky. She was alerted to someone’s presence with the sound of hooves. She sat up and saw Duinn was awake. “He’s prompt at the least,” more to herself than Duinn. She gave him a sleepy smile. The left side of her hair had been affected by bed head and the strands were sticking up in all directions. She got to her feet in order to greet the man.
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Post by Jax Nova on Jan 18, 2022 1:28:50 GMT
Duinn looked over to Kestra as she woke, returning the smile and then turning his attention back to the approaching individual. The man brought the mule to a stop beside the bedrolls and dead fire pit. “I think you’ll find everything off your list.” He unpacked the mule and started setting the leather satchels and bas down beside the campsite. “I’ll have to take the mule back with me,” he continued. “She wasn’t covered in the price.”
Duinn stood at a short distance, watching the man unload. The courtesy of his upbringing urged him to help a fellow unload, but something inside of him held him back at arms reach.
“I’m sure we can fit it on our two horses,” Duinn responded to the comment about the mule, then looked to Kestra as if to verify that his assumption was correct.
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Post by Galadareth on Jan 18, 2022 1:35:53 GMT
Kestra nodded at Duinn’s words. “Thank you for picking up the supplies. We shall see you in several days time.” She told him, grabbing the bags he left on the ground and beginning to go through them so she could organize and split the weight between the two horses. She ignored the man for the most part, just wanting him to leave already.
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Post by Jax Nova on Jan 19, 2022 3:09:30 GMT
“We’ll be waiting,” the man replied. He milled about the area for a moment, then jumped up on the mule to ride back. “Just make sure you ask for Rand and make sure you don’t tell anyone what your business with him is. Wouldn’t want those thugs finding out.”
“I think we can handle it,” Duinn assured. Noticing Kestra’s attitude towards the man, he added, “We can manage from here.”
“Hm...” the man hummed and bit down on his toothpick. A gave them both a hard look, then turned and rode away.
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Post by Galadareth on Jan 19, 2022 3:32:03 GMT
As soon as he would be out of earshot, she stood up from her packing and exhaled. “I don’t like them. But at least we don’t have to deal with them directly.” She turned to smile at Duinn. Then she bent down and finished packing her saddle bag. She picked up her saddle and carried it over to her horse, saddling him up for the trip. Aerin turned to stare at her as she packed half of the bags onto the saddle.
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Post by Jax Nova on Jan 20, 2022 0:06:01 GMT
“They are pretty strange,” Duinn admitted. “And shifty.”
He walked over and helped her pack the supplies and load them on the horses. Once the supplies were loaded, he saddled Holly and secured his share of the cargo. He jumped up on the mare and walked her over beside Aerin.
“I guess as long as we get the gold it should be worth our time,” he commented.
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Post by Galadareth on Jan 20, 2022 3:54:13 GMT
She untied Aerin and lifted the reins over his head. “The gold is always worth my time. That’s why I do this.” She smiled up at him before placing her foot in the saddle and swinging up and over, settling into her saddle. Kestra gathered the reins in her hands and turned her horse around.
“I was thinking we would go through Bree, rather than Evendim. That way we can avoid Fornost. It can get a little dicey.” She started off at a walk. “We can also stop at the Prancing Pony for some food and sleep tonight. I think it’s new.”
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Post by Jax Nova on Jan 20, 2022 22:52:54 GMT
Duinn felt a child-like excitement bubble inside him as she spoke of the path they would take. All the years he had dreamed of an adventure, and now here he was, setting out as they spoke. “Sounds like a plan,” he agreed hastily, a smile spreading across his face. He walked his horse along side Kestra’s as they started out. “Maybe in the evenings, if we have time, you could teach me how to use my sword.”
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Post by Galadareth on Jan 20, 2022 23:15:13 GMT
Kestra smiled at him. “I could certainly show you a little bit. Maybe you can refresh me with archery. I’m a little rusty there. What kind of sword training do you have?” He had a sword, which meant he had at least a little bit of training. Maybe behind the Pony. Or even outside of the walls. She would need to see his technique to see what they needed to work on.
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Post by Jax Nova on Jan 21, 2022 5:18:13 GMT
“I’m decent with a bow,” he replied, thankful that he at least had something to offer in return. “We grew up hunting a lot. As far as my sword goes, I’ve just been taught the basics.” He shrugged and continued. “At least what I think were the basics. There was an old man near our village that swore he had fought with the Rohirim. Nobody believed him, but he knew how to handle a sword. I convinced him to teach me a little bit, but our training sessions came to a halt after harvest set on and I was too busy in the field to continue. Shortly after that was when my parents made the decision to sell most of the livestock. After signing on with the lumberjack crew, I never got a chance to pick up my lessons again.”
He rode along contemplating the old man from back home. He had been an odd sort, but the man could fight, there were no doubts there.
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Post by Galadareth on Jan 21, 2022 14:22:56 GMT
Kestra listened intently. When he mentioned Rohan, her ears perked up. “Rohan? I was born there. When I reached my fifth winter, my father moved us to Bree. Ten years later, he moved back to Rohan but I decided to stay in Bree. I haven’t seen him since.” She fell quiet, wondering what her father was up to. She never received letters or anything from him.
“It’s good you trained with a real soldier,” she spoke again after a moment of quiet. “My trainers were dwarves so I had the height advantage.” She laughed softly.
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Post by Jax Nova on Jan 23, 2022 2:23:42 GMT
Duinn raised a brow. “You’ve been on your own since you were fifteen?” He felt rather inadequate in comparison, having been at his family home until just that year. It was rather impressive, he thought, that she had been taking care of herself for all those years.
When she mentioned her father, though, she seemed sad. She chuckled as she mentioned the dwarves, though. He let a moment of silence pass, then asked gently, “Do you still get along with your father?”
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Post by Galadareth on Jan 23, 2022 3:14:25 GMT
“Not entirely alone. I had the dwarves who took me in for a couple of years and taught me a lot of how to survive. Tough crowd but they were still kind.” She missed the dwarves. She hadn’t been back to the Blue Mountains for a couple of years. She wondered how Thorin was doing.
“I did get along with him when I was young. It’s been several years since I’ve heard from him. I wrote letters but haven’t heard anything. At some point, I’d like to go back to Rohan and check on him but that’s a long journey. I haven’t gone that far alone before.”
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Post by Jax Nova on Jan 23, 2022 3:17:24 GMT
Duinn mused, considering her words. “Perhaps after this job we could visit the dwarves,” he suggested. “They sound interesting. I’d love to meet a dwarf.” Hesitantly he added, “And maybe.... after that, maybe we could make a trip to Rohan. You wouldn’t have to go alone.”
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) 
