================================== Bree Time ==================================
Real time: Wed Jul 21 21:24:37 2004
Bree time: Late Afternoon 5:13 PM on Monday of Autumn - September 26,1432
Moon Phase: First Quarter Moon
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Breelands Weather
The late afternoon autumn air is cool but pleasant around you. The sky above is
a glorious pale blue.
Outside the South Gate
To the west and the north lies the village of Bree, chief seat of the
Bree-lands. The town is nestled under the western flank of Bree-hill, a sizable
mass against the skyline. The Great East Road crosses by a causeway into Bree,
which is surrounding by a large hedge. Where the road pierces the hedge, a
large wall, thirty feet wide and fifteen high has been erected. The stones are
set well, with little mortar, but obvious care. Inset in the middle of the
wall, under an arching row of stones, is a sturdy wooden door with two windows:
one high, one low.
Behind the gate and hedge, the higher slopes of Bree-hill rise up. The Road
runs south from the gate, in a straight line, before bending southeast around
one of Bree-hill's 'feet'.
Toby, barefoot, shirt off, spars with his shadow. Sweat trickles down his
intent face, plastering brown curls to his forehead; and snakes down his bare
back. His feet thump softly on the ground as he dances back and forth, raising
a puff of dust each time.
Sitting under the shade of a nearby oak, Elias is intent on stiching another
patch on to a already well patched shirt. His face is pinched with
concentration and his tounge is sticking out of his mouth.
"Hey Toby, does this look right?" As he asks he lifts up the shirt to show the
other boy, the new bright green patch glaring brightly on the somewhat dirty
shirt. Either he has not noticed that he has sown it to his pant-leg as well,
or he does not care.
Toby makes several more passes with his knife, then comes to a halt, breathing
heavily. His brown eyes turn towards Elias and begin to twinkle. "It looks ...
great," he calls, in between gasps. "Maybe you ... should try it on!" He shifts
his feet and lifts his dagger again, then lowers it with a muffled groan. Soft
footsteps pad over towards Elias and the elder boy drops to the ground in the
shade beside him. "M'arm still hurts," he says ruefully, rubbing his shoulder.
Sticking the needle between his lips, Elias speaks around it, "Maybe if you
did' try to kill your shadow all the time i'd heal faster." Seeming to think
that Toby's idea is a good one, the lad goes to pull on the shirt, which raises
the pants, and his leg. It is a testament to his flexability that he manages to
get his head within the shirt, and a testement to his stiching skills that the
patch doesn't tear off. Sadly, this does leave Elias in a bit of a fix. It is
perhaps for the best that between the fabric and the needle in his mouth his
next words are incomprehensiable.
Toby snickers, and reaches over to yank at the material in an effort to
disentangle the other boy. But then the humor drops out of his expression.
"Can't," he says. "I ain't fast enough yet."
With Toby's help, Elias manages to get his head through the neck of the shirt.
His hands still entangled, he spits out the needle. "You ain't as fast as that
Ranger yet? He has some years on us, to my thinking."
Fingers return to knead stiff muscles. Toby stretches his neck and hisses
painfully. "So I got to get started. Ain't going to run into too many folks
that haven't got years on me. I wonder how he did that..." he muses.
Elias sighs with exaspiration, and rolls on to his back to better try to
untangle himself. While this does not immediatly solve his problem, at least
all of his limbs are available to move. "Sure, knife fights happen all the time
here, you can' be too ready."
"I said I would try not to kill that guy when I find him," Toby explains
seriously. "That don't mean he ain't gonna fight back. I got to be good enough.
Besides..." he eyes the other boy, then shrugs. A yellow leaf releases its
summerhold on a limb above and floats lazily downward.
With a series of bizare contortions, Elias manages to get an arm and his head
free. The leaf lands on the stout boy's head, shaking it, he stops struggling
and looks at the older boy. "But-" pausing, he sticks his lip in his mouth and
squints, thinking better of whatever it was he was going to say, he asks,
"Besides?".
"You ain't never going to get that on," Toby observes idly. He falls silent,
poking at the fallen leaf with a twig. Elias's question brings a sharp hard
glance. "Bree ain't full of only nice people," he says at last, slowly. "I tol'
you lots of folks would tell you t'stay away from me 'cause I ain't no good,
but I ain't really bad. Not like some."
"An' I told you I don' care what people think." Elias tries to blow the leaf
off of his face, but meets with no success. "And I know there's bad folks
around, I can see 'em too. I'm not dumb, but your still better with a dagger
then anyone I know, other then, you know."
"I didn't even scratch 'im." Toby shakes his head in awe. "You know," he says
suddenly, flicking the leaf off Elias's head with the tip of the twig. "What I
don't get is why he didn't kill me. He sure could've and nobody'd have blamed
him. An' that other one." His voice is very low but easily heard in the still
air. "He were mad, anyone could see it. I tell you true, 'Lias, I din't want to
tell 'im 'cause I was sure I'd be dead soon's I did."
"'Course he didn'. Anyone can see that they ain't bad folks." The boy struggles
some more. "Just, you know, different." He begins to try and break the tread by
arching his back and pulling away from his pants. His face red from effort, he
looks at Toby and grins, "Kinda touched, you know?"
Toby just shakes his head, mostly ignoring Elias's efforts. "I dunno," he says
dubiously. "They ain't from around here and anyone else I ever knew from away
would've kilt me straight off. Wouldn't even have said why nor wherefore. He
/talked/ t'me." He gives a humorless snort. "Face down in the road with a knee
in my back and my arm practically broke off and he wants to talk. Touched is
right." He spins his dagger absently on one knee and glances at his friend.
"Want me to cut them threads for you?"
"Try and leave the patch on, I've been working on it for the last hour." Elias
looks pleadingly at Toby.
The sharp-edged blade slides between the layers of fabric and snicks through
one thread after another. "I dunno," he repeats slowly, then changes the
subject. "You ever been away from Bree?"
Finally free, Elias stretches and smiles. He tugs at the new patch as he
anwsers, "Aye, I went to The Shire at the beginning of summer. Meet lots of
folks. Little ones, mostly. Well, littler, anyway." He leans against the tree
and streches out, running his fingers through the grass.
Toby nods, still fiddling with his dagger, then asks abruptly, "Help me figure
something out?" A rising tide of red heads towards the lad's ears, the words
are gruff; he is obviously not accustomed to asking for favors.
Elias shrugs, oblivious to Toby's embarressment. "'Course."
"I want to figure out how he done that, caught me, I mean." Toby stumbles over
the words, turning redder by the minute. "If'n you come at me, slowlike...?"
Standing up, Elias nods, "Aye." He stops and looks at Toby, "Am I him, or am I
you? An' do I need to take my shirt off again?"
Toby uncoils, standing up too. "You be me," he directs. "Naw, leave yer shirt
on, we're gonna do this slow." He turns his back towards Elias. "So, walk
toward me with your hand out, like you got a knife in it."
Elias slowly starts to walk towards the other boy, his hand out. "Tell me when
ya want me to try to stab ya."
Toby frowns intently, listening to Elias come up behind him. "Now," he says and
turns around with his arm up and crooked, sweeping it slowly across in front of
him. "He knocked the dagger out of my hand, and then grabbed my wrist," he says
to himself, suiting actions to words.
Letting Toby do as he wishes, Elias adds, "Do I have to tell folks what a bad
person I am while I do this?"
"Then, I think he pulled..." Toby yanks on Elias's arm, side-stepping out from
in front of the other boy. "And I end up on my face.. what?" He pauses and
stares at Elias.
"Can ya drop me or let go, Toby?" The boy asks, strain evident on his face.
"Oh." Toby looks down at where his hand still grips Elias's wrist. "Lay down.."
He loosens his hold, so that the other boy's wrist twists easily, and crouches
to make it easier for his friend to follow orders.
The boy drops to the ground with evident relief from being freed from an
awkward posistion. "I didn' do nothin'", he says.
"Then.." Toby sets his knee in the middle of the other's back, balancing most
all of his weight on his other leg, and pulls gently at the arm he still holds.
"You're dead. Only," he lets go and scrambles to his feet, to stand there
frowning at Elias. "You're not."
Rolling over, Elias looks up. "No, not at all. Still alive, an' he coulda
killed ya easy, I see that now." Sitting up, he rubs his elbow. "Guess he didn'
want to kill ya."
"Yeah." Toby turns away abruptly and picks up his shirt, pulling it awkwardly
over his head with a grunt. The dagger is tucked back into its ill-made sheath
and he stands in the shadow of the large tree rubbing the back of his neck. His
face is dark and frowning, eyebrows pinched tightly together and eyes lost in
memories.
Elias picks up an acorn, and looks at it carefully. He smiles and waits until
Toby is in to deep brood. Then, with a bark of "Toby!" he throws it at the
older boy with remarkiable accuracy for one as nearsighted as Elias is.
Toby whirls around at the sound of his name, crouching a little and ducking his
head to avoid the acorn; which would have smacked straight into the middle of
his forehead. The glower on his face breaks up into a half-laugh. "All right,"
he says, stooping to snatch up an acorn of his own and tossing it back. "I
won't bug you about it no more."
Elias goes to catch the acorn, but sadly, misses and it hits the boy between
the eyes. "Hey, no fair, ya know I can' see!" While protesting, he palms
another one and waits for his moment.
Toby shrugs. "I threw it soft," he says. The afternoon has worn on and the sun
now slants thick and golden, lighting up the yellow leaves of the oak until
they seem to glow from within. He picks up another and tosses it towards Elias,
this time aiming towards the boy's stomach instead of his face.
"I know ya did." The boy misses the acorn again, and laughs, tossing his own
back, aiming for the blur that is Toby. His cap slips off his head as he stands
to make throwing easier.
For a moment, a happy care-free lad of prior days slips through the wary and
untrusting crust, and Toby looks like the boy he hasn't been for years. He
stands deliberately still, allowing the acorn to thwack against his upper arm.
Stopping stock still, Elias stares, "I hit ya, I really hit ya didn' I?" He
leans down and picks another acorn, and the two friends play into the evening,
forgetting birds, rangers and dark deeds, if only for a day.