Lantern in the Snow [closed]

[Treijim]

Darinian watched carefully as Aidan went for the door. The moment the door closed behind the boy, the old man looked at Colin.

"Something bad, yes. He murdered a man. However, I do know the sort of people he was dealing with, and I am positive he was left with no other choice. I doubt the Guards will see it that way, so we have to find your father before anyone else does. If I can convince your father to act as a witness to those men, then I can clear his and my own name." He paused and turned away from Colin. "Your friend is handy with a blade. I will allow him to come." He then took on a more thoughtful appearance and gripped his chin. "Would your father trust a stranger? You may have to come, too."

Then Aidan came back inside and Darinian immediately stood, knocking over the box he was sitting on. For a moment, he stared at nothing, but it was visible through his eyes that his mind was working hard, as though he had just discovered the solution to a difficult problem. He moved to the bed, discovered a few coats, and tossed them toward the middle of the room.

"Get as warm as you can. We're going outside the town. I think I know where the boy's father would be hiding. You are both my students. I am an ordinary teacher. We are headed outside of town to collect cold water." He looked from Aidan to Colin slowly, giving them a sort of do-you-understand look. Then he went to the window and surveyed the cold darkness, waiting for the boys to ready themselves.

[laurabeth]

Colin looked up to Aidan after Darinian's speech, slightly confused though his face was set with determination. He had little else to prepare himself with, so he took the coat and pulled into the sleeves, his arms slipping deep into the over-large holes. his fingers barely slipped out the edge of the hem, and the coat fell down nearly to his knees, his cape peeping out underneath shyly.

He tipped his head to the left and right, his neck popping once to the right within the stretch. he looked down at his soggy shoes and then moved his hands, pulling out a small stream of water from them. He let it puddle on the floor. He smiled satisfactorily before straitening up and taking a few steps closer to the door to show that he was ready to depart.

[Ethereal Panda]

Aidan walked to the coats. He leaned over and rummaged through the pile until he spotted a black one that seemed out of place. He stood up straight holding it out in front of him. He eyed the velvet lining curiously before swinging it over his back and slipping his arms into the sleeves with one fluid motion. The prior owner must've quite a bit taller than him judging from the way the fabric dragged at his heels, but this would serve his purpose.

He glanced to Colin and then to Darinian before making his way to the door. At the door frame, he turned his head as though to look over his shoulder but stopped halfway staring into space. He addressed no one in particular, "Where are we headed?"

[Treijim]

Darinian stood like a statue for the few minutes the boys took.

"A dangerous place," he said, and he turned and looked Aidan in the eyes for the first time. "A very dangerous place. Now, you must both follow me. Do not stray from my footsteps. If anything happens, do not make noise. Tug at my coat instead. Now, come quickly."

He plunged back into the coldness of the yard and took a moment to survey it, though he had been staring outside for at least five minutes prior. He headed a different way from the way he entered: through the north gate of the yard, he walked around the back of tall buildings and entered the street from an alley much further up than the one he had gone down. Assuming the boys were right behind him, he walked calmly down the street. Though the snow had mostly settled, the wind was bitter cold and the snow was thick enough that the cobblestones went unfelt.

Outside of the town, it was darker, but no colder. Instead of going over the bridge that led over the river, he followed the wall westward along a small rocky path. He paused at some of the trickier parts, ensuring he had his balance before he stepped down. As the path turned away from the wall, it curved down a little hill and formed a small bank between sheer stone faces. The river came from his right and was flowing towards his left. He raised his right hand and pointed upstream. He spoke over his shoulder: "We need to walk upstream on the frozen river. Be careful. Are you both ready?"

[laurabeth]

He stifled a cough, the cold air was slowly making his throat sore. An annoying itch lingered a while after, until his breathing evened out and the tickling stopped. He walked right between Darinian and Aidan, walking inside the older man's large steps. Though paying attention to his actions physically, mentally Colin's mind was in a far away land like his own.

Memory lane, now pictured with a fuzzy white glow about it, was a happy place for Colin. In moments of fear he would slip into the near imaginary world to become oblivious to the sights and sounds around him. The world inside his mind lay in mid-autumn. The skies were golden and the leaves were musky and brown, layind dead and cold on the forest floor. Colin carried a fallen stick, running it in the soft ground behind him which left a trail for him to use to find his way home. His dad was humming softly, wearing a smile on his face: a smile, Colin knew, which he only wore when thinking about his mother. They were going hunting, just for fun, to bring home a nice piece of meat for mother to serve for dinner.

He jumped a little to get his father's attention, resulting only with a face-full of snow as he tripped in real life. He got up quickly, looking before and behind him to see if anyone had noticed. Darinan didn't seem to care, for the snow cushioned any noise made from the fall, and Aidan, well, his face was too dimly lit to see any expressions.

He wiggled his cold, red nose while he regained composure and began to walk as if nothing had happened. Everything around him was dark, the sky was dark, the trees were dark, and the snow was a deep blue color. He turned his head to the other side and saw nothing new. Suddenly, a brick wall seemed to have jumped out in front of him as Darinian stopped walking.

"Y--Yes sir." He answered, Colin's voice cracking from lack of use. He sounded like a squeaky little kid.

( Hai. The awkward conversation with Ben spurred me to write :3 )

[Ethereal Panda]

Aidan found himself periodically looking over his shoulder, half expecting someone to be creeping up behind them in the shadows. But, time after time he found nothing but the night's looming darkness behind them. His vision in the dark left much to be desired, and consequentially he couldn't shake the feeling that some unknown malevolent force was treading in their wake.

The sound of Colin's trip snapped his attention back to the front. Seeing that the boy found no harm, he tried to ease himself. The evening's excitement had left him jittery, and he knew all to well that he's of no use in this overly paranoid state. He closed his eyes for a while listening to the wind, and followed the faint sound of Colin's breathing. He nearly tripped over the boy when the party halted.

Walking around Colin, Aidan stood to Darinian's side awaiting his next command. He studied the man's calculating face, attempting to make some sense of his seemingly erratic motivations. Although he unknowingly found himself beginning to trust the man, Aidan couldn't shake the feeling they were walking into a trap.

[Treijim]

So the old man led the two boys upstream on the frozen waters of the Kapua River. For the most part, the river was level, but at the points where there would have been a trickling waterfall, there was instead an interesting frozen splurge of ice with fingers of water running down small holes that had broken through. These frozen cascades were no trouble, though: Darinian walked up them with ease, though the boys would possibly have to scramble up the larger ones. They walked for what seemed like an unreasonable amount of time before they came to anything interesting.

The stone walls rose sharply up on either side for the length of the river, but there finally came a point where the face on the right curved away and revealed what could be could a very small lake or a very substantial puddle. At this time, standing on the icy surface, Darinian held up his hand to stop the two boys, and he also ceased. Set within the far cliff was a giant jumble of rocks and among them was a hole -- a man-sized cave entrance to be precise.

It was at that moment that anybody would have first noticed two men standing on top of the cliff. They appeared to be holding small bows or something similar, and were dressed very darkly. They were staring down at the three on the ice. The wind had started to pick up and it was visible because the ends of their clothes flapped, but there was almost no movement down below.

Darinian gave the two boys a cautionary look and muttered, "These men are dangerous. Say nothing to them."

Another figure emerged swiftly from the cave and approached Darinian with frightening speed and confidence, but he stopped just an arm's length away. Darinian took the man aside and had quiet words with him, and eventually the three of them were granted access to the cave with no raising of voices.

Inside, it was mostly darkness until they came to a more open area, lit by lanterns. There were crates, canvas partitions, racks of crude weapons, and many outlandish-looking men.

"Look for your father," Darinian whispered to Colin. "The Guards have no reach here. It's the best hiding place for any man running from the law."

[Whether or not he's here is up to you, Lorasticles This is your section of the plot]

[laurabeth]

Nodding, Colin bundled up his will to search through the crowd of men. None of the faces seemed familiar to him at first, but he knew something was chirping remembrance near the back of his mind. He snugged his coat tighter around his shoulders, trying to make them appear even a hint broad. He started to walk into the crowd, his scrawny build being teased by every voice that touched his ear. Colin raised his chin defiantly, staring into the eye of each man he passed by. The chirping got louder, more like a swarm of birds pecking at his brain. Why was this scene so intensely familiar?

"Hey, ain't him that water mage's son?" A fellow belted out, sticking a dirty, mangled finger in his direction. The other hand held a bottle of rum, nearly gone and smelling of animal waste.

Another fellow, who seemed even more rough around the edges, nodded and said, "Looks like the one." He turned around and shouted in some weird tongue, either it was just a mangled version of Colin's own language or a web of code words. A few warrior-looking persons smiled and walked down a dark passage behind them.

Colin looked back at Aidan to pull a response from his facial expression, but found he could no longer see Aidan or Darinian. Panic struck him like a form of leprosy, eating him from the inside out. He was in the midst of a pack of violent-looking men, yet among them, some knew of his father. Torn between personal safety and the want to save his father, he did what any boy of his age, wits, bravery, and strength would do. He passed out--but not really, only well enough to fool those around him.

Laughter filled the cave, echoing off every crevice and pocket in the cavern. Colin, limp as a wet leaf, was lying still on the ground. The guffawing did not disturb his facial expression: his guise was working perfectly. If only he could keep it up.

The man with the mangled finger kicked him in the ribs softly, "Just like his father, a wimp of a man." A new chorus of mocking rang out, before slowing down to a hum.

"Yet this one is still alive for now," said a man walking out of a deeper passage, looking down at the boy. It began excruciatingly hard not to react to any noise or movements now. Colin's chest tightened, waiting for the unexpected to happen.

[Sorry Benjifulness, I'm passing some of this on your shoulder XD But now we know the fate of Colin's dad ]

[Ethereal Panda]

To Aidan, these brutish men seemed like the type that would be easily provoked. Restraining the abrasive side of his personality, he closed his coat hiding his weapon and looked towards the ground in an effort to seem more docile. Colin slipped through the crowd with ease, and although Aidan attempted to follow, it didn't take long for Colin to slip out of his sight. In hopes of avoiding confrontation, he tried to navigate his way through the crowd without bumping into the rougher looking men. However once the crowd livened up, he aggressively pushed his way to the source of the commotion.

Colin laid collapsed at his feet with men laughing and jeering all around him. Aidan winced as the man laid the kicked into the boy's ribs. Suppressing his rage, Aidan crouched down over the boy and scooped him into his arms. "You're mistaken," he announced in as formal a voice as he could muster, "This boy is a servant. His father was a gardener and has been dead for many years now." Aidan stood and began to retreat from the crowd, hoping no one would stop him. "I'll be sure he doesn't pester you again."

Although Aidan heard what the men said, it wasn't until he was carrying Colin away that the gravity of situation hit him. He moved the boy to a poorly lit area along the outside wall. Setting him down, he untied a small water bag from his belt. The liquid was frigid, but it had managed to not yet freeze. About the time he began to pour it into Colin's mouth, Aidan realized the boy was faking sleep.

When Colin looked at Aidan with questioning eyes, Aidan couldn't help but look away. Allowing Colin to sit up on his own, he positioned himself next to the boy with his back to the wall. In silence, they waited what felt like an eternity.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

His words weren't just an act of sympathy; Aidan felt he had lied to Colin, and to himself. He placed an arm over Colin's shoulder and waited, thinking about what to do next.

[Treijim]

The two boys were quickly swallowed by the rough shadows. He first thought to follow them, but then thought he should stay and ensure that their way out was kept clear. It wasn't long, however, before the boys had created some sort of joke and the men were all laughing. Darinian tried to distinguish what was being said in the crowd, but he couldn't tell. Growing worried about the state of his witness, he went to force himself into the crowd. But he was met with one of the boys carrying the other. Had the men hurt him?

"What happened?" Darinian asked.

His face showed anger and annoyance at the outlaws but he was focussed on Colin. Aidan simply pushed past him, possibly mistaking him for one of the other men. Darinian followed them and sighed in relief when he saw Colin was all right. Then he got his answer. Colin's tears and Aidan's hug told quite clearly what Colin had found out. Darinian's large body slumped and he stood before them and glanced from one to the other.

The old man was now swimming in thoughts. His witness was dead. Did that mean he would now have to hide? Would the Guards have found out anything he had done? Could he risk going back to his place in the Institute where he would be surrounded by clever and inquisitive people? His eyes showed worry and fear. He got to his knees and addressed the children.

"Boys, I need your help. I need to get out of here and you need to witness for me to The Guards. You need to tell them of the assassination attempt that happened in the backstreet in Ellecil tonight. They came in and tried to kill me after I took you in from the snow. They tried to rob you both earlier in the night. Remember? Come on, we have to get out of here now." He began to head for the exit, urging them to follow.

"Hey, they're squeakers!" yelled someone from the crowd. "They came in here to see if we're here and now they're gonna tell the town creeps where we are!"

The whole cave seemed to move in towards the three. Darinian waved an arm over his head and the tunnel exploded with wind. All the torches were extinguished and most of the men were knocked down. Darinian grabbed Aidan and Colin and pulled them up. The only light came from the exit; soft, dim, blue moonlight from outside. It clearly marked their only escape route.

"Run!"

[The chase :3]

[laurabeth]

Colin's knees seemed on the edge of giving out with every lunge. He struggled to keep up with the only two men on his side. Running with this heavy burden on his chest was painful and difficult. He couldn't help but wonder what was the point of running. Oh yes, he thought, Darinian had given him a reason: to be a witness. But couldn't Aidan do that successfully by himself? He was being pursued by the same men who had killed his father.... Killed his father? They killed his father! Colin's emotion's shifted from sorrow to hate as fast as a lighting match. A burning hatred that seemed to fuel him, to charge him and push him ahead.

They were out of the cavern and back into the icy air, but everything around him seemed to evaporate. The snow slipped past his feet with every step, as if his burning passion and anger was melting the snow away. His father was gone, but what was he but an heir. He could take his father's place. He could defend his father's name. It was up to him to live out what his father could no longer do. The tears were slipping off his face quickly, the rushing air pushing them off his rosy cheeks.

He looked to his sides and saw no one. A trickle of anxiety filled him, causing him to slow down. As he slowed down, he heard the thud of boots, and Aidan and Darinian soon joined him in the race. A sense of pride filled him, and a hunger to please his father, even though he wasn't present bodily. Colin knew his dad was right there with him.

[ :') I hope it will do. I don't really know where to take the story from here. I'll see y'all on the other side ]

[Ethereal Panda]

As Aidan burst from the cave, one of the thugs firmly grabbed his right shoulder. With a grunt, he lunged foreword tearing his coat free. His stumble turned into a clumsy roll, but he saw something above them. The thug fell behind them momentarily blocking the path of their pursuers. Slightly dazed, Aidan regained his footing and pushed forward into the cold with all his strength. Now running in stride with Darinian, he shouted, "Archers!" He gasped for air, "Cliff!" Just as he pointed behind them, the first arrow whizzed by.

As the icy air rushed down the now torn sleeve of his coat, all the thoughts and worries of the moment seemed to fade into a blur. He could hear the voice of his mother, complaining about repairing another hole in his coat. For the first time in his life, he thought he was going to die. The fiery look in Colin's eyes brought him back. He had time to worry about dieing later.

He varied his path and strayed slightly from the others in hopes of spreading out the archers targets. "Do something!" he shouted helplessly at Darinian.

[Had to slip Cliff in there once ;D]

[Treijim]

Darinian saw Colin speed ahead and went to call out when Aidan pointed out the archers somewhere behind them. He swore under his breath, though the wind and snow would have suffocated any normal conversation. They met with Colin again, but then Aidan began to put some distance between them all. Frustrated that the boys were so disorganised, he skidded to a halt, spun round, and pointed toward the tops of the cliffs. He couldn't see archers at that moment, but he saw another arrow come from the vicinity. For a moment, nothing happened. Then there was a thunderous boom and the cliffs began to crumble like an unstable chocolate cake. He pulled his cloak around him as he turned back.

"Keep running!" he yelled at the boys.

They ran for an unknown length of time back along the frozen river. Luckily, the ice was very thick as it was the middle of winter, and it supported the pounding of their running across it. Finally, Darinian stopped, and grabbed the coats of the boys to stop them, too. He stared ahead, breathing like a steam engine, listening and waiting. Satisfied that they weren't being followed, he began to trudge forward at a normal pace. The snow had died off a little but there was still a chilling wind hissing past them. They came to the point where they were able to climb up the snow-covered shore, up a slope, and see the wall of Ellecil. After the previous ordeal, such a sight was welcoming to Darinian, and he expressed this as he let out a long sigh. He stopped to check the boys.

"We need to find the guards now. Remember what you are to tell them? Is it clear? Do you understand what I said earlier?"