It has been several months since the gates were cast open and the freedom of the open grasslands was granted to me and how I took to that offer. I fled the city without looking back, that stone cage, crawling with misery. I could not wait to break free, and when I did, I reveled in the open sky and the endless grass and the clean smell of the sea as the west winds dance over the plains.
I slept beneath the stars, and I was calm. Calm...is good. I felt so aggressive in that confined space. Always having to be careful, always watching my back, hiding my face, moving at night. I am not trusted in the city, I have not harmed a single one among them, and yet they look upon me and hatred and mistrust is what I am greeting with. It is a shame, but it is nothing I am not entirely used to. So now that I am not crated up with them, I can breathe again, and feel the tension in my mind, ease back and slumber.
I must admit though, I miss that lunatic that usually kept me company there. He came to visit me a few weeks back. It was unexpected and it confused me at first, but by the time he left, I was glad he had come. Somehow he is always able to find a way to distract me from the intensity of own thoughts, and get me to laugh. I can not explain how grateful I am for that small gift. The fact I can laugh in his presence, though I will confess, I am just as likely to want to smack him up side is boggled little head, he can so easily frustrate me.
When he tracked me down the second time, it was a warning he brought. Seems someone knows about me, which is funny, because the one thing they THINK they know, they got wrong. Typical. However, this does nothing to change the danger my friend, and his are now facing. But of course when it came down to it, my predictable little enabler had his own motivations for involving me in this nonsense. I owe him, I can not deny that, and so I help him. Much to my dismay, we begin our little adventure by breaking into the Militia Stockade. Yeah, I know, that's what I thought too. Still, we did it, and what I needed was right where he said it would be. Apparently the man spends a lot of time here. I don't even want to know.
"Where are we going?" he pesters me after we had escaped the stockade undetected. I had turned north and then cut west, heading towards the western residential area. "This way" I reply back, wringing an exasperated sigh from my companion. I enjoyed it, him being out of the loop. He does it to everyone else for fun and profit, having it done back to him, just amuses the hell out of me. "What are the gloves for?" he pesters, "I just like the way they smell" I smirked, "In case you didn't notice, I have a weird thing for leather" I added and it was true, nearly everything I wear is made of the stuff. As if to make my point, I drew the pair of leather gloves I had knicked from the stockade and brings them to my nose, sniffing deeply, "Aww ya, that's the stuff" I announce dramatically. The look on his face was almost enough to crack me up. Almost.
We wandered northwards, walking slowly through the slums, my pace unhurried, and my steps light. We were both cloaked and moving through the shadows, the night, deep and still. The patrols were heavy, and it took us quite a bit of detouring and backtracking to work our way slowly through the streets. Every now and then I would draw out the gloves dip them beneath my nose, which just seem to drive my companion to distraction, and I would chuckle and tuck them back into my belt. "How far is it now?" he would ask, "No idea." I would reply and we would keep on walking, turning down street after street until finally, after walking nearly all night, just before dawn...I stop.
To the left, a small unassuming stone cottage, barred by a wooden door. I draw in a deep breath and move forward, and lingering before the door. Turning towards my companion I nod, "This is the place" I finally confirm to him, and wait for him to approach. "Really?" he replies back, "You sure?" he presses incessantly. I put my ear to the door, and wait for a long, silent moment and then nod to him again, "She's here, there are at least three others in there as well" I add, then turn away from the door. Moving back to a safer, less conspicuous location "So now what?" I ask him, and for a time he just stands there looking at the small house. When no answer comes, I turn and begin to move off, not willing to linger. "I'm out, leave word with Sully if you need me"
I find my way out of the stone cage and return to the plains and draw in the clear air through my nose and sigh, "I hate the stink of that place" I complain to the warm breeze just as the sun crests up over the forest behind me. I decide to not wander too far from the city, and make camp just out of sight of the walls, waiting for signs of trouble. I have no idea how trouble is going to find me. I just have a feeling it will come hot on the heels of the man I just led to his prize.
