@Arnyn
Gladhron
At some point before the War of the Ring
Some point along the road to Bree
When Celumë reappeared from the forest, Gladhron glanced automatically toward the other side, where Gwestion should be emerging soon. But, there was still no sign of him. While he finished with tying the bandits, he noticed Celumë moving to unhitch her horse from the wagon. He would have done that next, but since he didn't need to now, he took the time to see to his own horse. Gaeroch was glad to get the saddle off, and he laughed lightly as she nuzzled his pocket hoping for another carrot. "Soon, don't worry," he muttered.
About that time, Celumë came up with her horse, with a report of absolute quiet on her side. "That's good," He answered, feeling quite positive about that news. He glanced again toward the left-hand side of the woods as she asked about Gwestion. "Not yet," He answered, a bit hesitant. "But then, he is... meticulous." He shrugged slightly. "Give it a few minutes. Didn't he mention he may trail a little further behind?"
Gwestion & a
random boy
After parting from Celumë, the trek through the woods was nice enough. On the first, anyway. For the first hour or so, he kept up with the wagon reasonably well, keeping a careful eye on his surroundings as he went. But not just his eye; his ears as well. He stopped now and then to listen for any sounds that didn't belong, watched for any motions or any disturbances in the wildlife, and other clues that he might not be alone in the woods. In the meanwhile, he was thinking about all that had happened in the last hour or so. The one bandit had named someone called 'Cliff' as if it was their leader. He couldn't prove it, but he strongly suspected that was the same man who had prevented Bel from reaching Bree, and the one who had escaped from Gwandhyra when he came to her rescue. That seemed like the one to catch, but he seemed to be a bit slippery. He'd like to capture him and put a stop to these murders and raids.
After a little while, the recently healed muscles in his leg began to feel achy and tight, just as he had feared would happen. He slowed his pace a little, taking shorter, but more frequent stops. He didn't want to push himself too hard, yet pressed onward so that he would not fall too far behind. The longer he traveled, the more he felt like he needed to rest and stretch the muscles that were no longer used to such strenuous walking. Inwardly, he grumbled at the months he'd had to spend lying around waiting on the bone to heal, although he was also well aware of how much worse it could have been. His thoughts flitted to his father, and felt a deeper understanding of how he must have felt when he was injured so that he never could walk properly again.
Taking in a deep breath of the pine-scented air around him, Gwestion thanked the Valar that he had recovered, and that he could walk. It was then, as he was taking a quick break from trekking through the underbrush while trying his best not to make any noise, that he heard footsteps crunching into the leaf fall of the forest. He froze, listening. That was no animal, he was certain, unless some animal had learned to walk on only two legs. He stepped behind a tree, concealed by its wide trunk, and waited with his bow in hand.
Not knowing who this might be, he remained very quiet while he listened to the approaching steps. It wasn't Gladhron, and he suspected it was not Celumë either, for he knew his brother would not have walked so noisily unless he didn't care who or what heard him. He wouldn't be so careless now, and he doubted Celumë would, either. And the family would stay near the road. But, it didn't necessarily mean that this was a bandit. And, without knowing whether it was a threat or not, there was no need to call for aid. So, he waited and listened.
At length, the person drew near to the tree. Gwestion's heart sped up, unsure whether it would be a foe, or.. he tried to think of other options. Were they near enough to any settlements for there to be people nearby? He had no idea, being somewhat unfamiliar with this area, but it felt as if they were rather far from civilization. Before he could think of any other possibilities, the person was practically upon him. In another step or two, he would see who it was...
And when he did see at last who was coming up behind him, Gwestion was nearly as surprised as the boy. He appeared roughly the same age as the boy from the wagon, but it was clearly not the same boy. He jumped in surprise when he saw the man hiding behind the tree, eyes wide in fright as he immediately turned to run.
Gwestion swiftly leaped forward and caught him by his upper arm. "Wait!" He exclaimed in a hushed tone as he turned the boy, frowning slightly. He had expected bandits, not a boy! "Who are you? What are you doing out here alone?" He asked, concerned to find a youngster out here. Had his family also been attacked? Perhaps he had somehow escaped...
"Let me go!" The boy struggled to get his arm free.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Gwestion spoke quietly and calmly, but did not let go. Despite that, he made sure his grip was firm but not so tight as to hurt. "I didn't mean to frighten you. But there may be bandits in these woods, and I don't think it's safe for you to be out here alone."
The boy stopped and stared at him for a moment. "Are.. you a ranger?" He asked, his eyes widening again.
Gwestion frowned, thinking he looked a little frightened, but did not give an answer to that. Most likely, he had been raised by folks who were suspicious of rangers and didn't trust them. "I asked you a question." He reminded the boy. "Who are you? Why are you out here?" He repeated, concerned for him. "Also, where are your parents?"
The boy regarded him warily for a moment, tried again in vain to pull his arm free, and hesitated. "My mother sent me," He answered at last. "um.. to gather berries." He explained. "Will you let me go?"
Gwestion tilted his head. He couldn't help observing that the boy had nothing with which to carry any berries, unless he meant to make a pouch out of his shirt. His quick glance also took in the hilt of a dagger, barely poking out from his waistband, mostly hidden by his clothes. "You've forgotten your basket, haven't you?" He asked. Something felt off, as if the boy were lying about something, but he wasn't really sure why. "No matter," Gwestion added as the boy squirmed slightly. "I don't think it is safe for you to linger around this area. Do you live nearby? Or, if you live as far as Bree, then you might be better off joining our company. We could see that you return home safely, and also warn your mother about these bandits." He added thoughtfully, wondering whether it would be better to have him join those in the wagon, or stay with him. The two boys might enjoy each other's company, he thought briefly.
Before he could get any further in his thoughts, the boy suddenly kicked out at his shin, bringing a stifled grunt of surprise and pain from Gwestion. The boy broke out of his grip and hastily shoved him, then turned to run deeper into the forest.
It was, of course, the right leg. The one which had been broken not long ago. Gwestion clenched his teeth in pain to prevent himself from making any cry of pain. The push had knocked him back a step, which caused him to put weight on the leg that had just been kicked. While there was no real damage done, it was throbbing now, and putting his weight on it made it hurt all the more. Having about the same effect as if he'd been tripped, he toppled to the ground, barely managing not to land on his bow, and looked after his assailant in confusion.
Sitting up slowly, he grimaced as he felt his shin, then pulled up his trouser leg to examine the spot. It might bruise, but otherwise, would hopefully be fine. He looked back toward where the boy had run, but he saw no sign of him. He sighed, then took a few slow, deep breaths as he waited for the pain to subside. Should he go after him? He hesitated, then looked toward the road, listening for any sign of the wagon or horses. He suspected that they were a bit further ahead now than he would be able to hear them, and frowned slightly as he debated whether to make that bird call. But he wasn't in danger, and he didn't believe he needed help. The boy would probably find his way home, and perhaps the talk of bandits had frightened him. He probably just didn't trust Gwestion, who was a stranger. He could hardly blame him for that, although that didn't make his leg hurt any less.
Sighing, he waited for a little while before carefully standing up again. It still hurt a bit, but he could go on. His pace was a bit slower now than before, but he continued onward, trying to look at the positive side of it; at least, moving slowly, and being further behind, he could watch for any sort of attack from the rear. Hopefully, there would be no trouble, and Celumë would be enough backup if they needed help. That led him to thinking about her. She had not said where she came from, but had implied she was familiar with 'Down South'. Logic would say Rohan, due to her light colored hair, yet she did not have any particular accent, which made him question that. Besides that, her eyes were dark, and that seemed less common for the Rohirrim. Either way, she had apparently come from 'South' and that seemed enough to make a few guesses, although he wasn't planning to assume anything without facts to back it up.
And all of that pondering had provided him with no actual answers, but rather, more questions. That made him smile faintly, realizing he was about the same way, in that he didn't like offering information about himself if it could be helped. Sighing softly, he continued to limp along, constantly scanning the forest around him while he went. Thankfully, for some distance the forest was mostly pines with very little undergrowth, so it was easier going and the ground was soft and padded with layers and layers of pine needles, but that also left him feeling more open and visible, and he wasn't sure he liked that. He pushed himself to go a little faster, but it felt like that only made his muscles ache more, and now he also had some pain in the shin where that boy had kicked him. So, he felt sure he was lagging further and further behind, and tried not to let that frustrate him too much.
