A good soak....

[Paks]

Sinking into the deep bath, Paks let out a sigh of contentment as the hot water began to soak her travel weary bones. This bath had been a long time coming, it had been quite a journey from the Swan Maidens Island to Tinville Forge, the location of her current soaking, and the ranger was glad to spending the night at the Dinted Hammer Inn. Submerging her head to wet her longish brown hair she let her thoughts wonder briefly at the new turn her life had taken. One word in particular sprung to her mind.

Swanmay.

Surfacing, the ranger reached over the side of the bath and picked up the lavender scented soap she had placed there. Rubbing it into her hair, making sure to get a good lather, she considered how her existence had begun to change. Of course they had wanted her to remain on the Island with them, she belonged there now, but she had not been able to put aside her old life that easily. She had begged for time, to settle her affairs and farewell her friends but the maidens society had denied the request. So she had stayed, but she had suffered for it. Finally when she could take no more, she had stowed away and made it to mainland without being dragged back. For sure she believed they had followed her, but so far they had let her journey on without showing their presence. The ranger rinsed the soap from her hair as she tried to calculate how long she thought it would take her to get back to Leserd Forest but quickly gave up when she realised that she really had no idea of the country between here and Tuth, afterall, she had traveled to Khardfee on Xxian's ship, not by going over land. She would have to work on that.

After giving the rest of her body a good hard scrubbing, the ranger lay back in the bath and enjoyed the warmth the water still gave, her eyes closed, thinking of her old companions, one in particular, Joe. Where was he now?

[Zee]

As the ranger lay in the tub enjoying her time of rest and relaxation her ears detect the faint sounds of little rodent feet skittering about outside the door. A pause, 10 or 15 seconds before the clacking of the little varmints nails against the wooden floor resumes. A furry little head pokes into the crack between the door and jamb. Shaking its head from side to side it squeezes the rest of its little body into the room sniffing and glancing about quickly. Scurrying up the leg of the chair near the door where the woman had lain her belongings the rat disappears under the clothing.

A lump can be seen under the clothes as the rat hustles about underneath them. Poking its head out from under the clothes the rat watches the ranger for a moment and she could swear she saw a devious little smile sneak across the whiskered little vermin's face. Sneaking back into the clothes it rummages around for a few more quick moments before reappearing at the edge of the chair with a small bauble in its mouth.

A pin, a trinket, perhaps a necklace, something shiny was all the woman could determine before the rat leaped from the chair making a beeline for the door. Springing up in the tub and leaning against the edge the ranger sees the rat sit the trinket to wide to fit through the hole on the ground and manipulate it with its little paws until it was long ways against the hole. As close to a snicker as could be made from the mouth precedes the rodents exit as it nudges the item through the crack with its nose before following through itself.

The clattering quickly resumes on the other side of the door as the ranger feels strangely that the stolen item was something dear to her. Something of great sentimental value to her; now gone. No indication for the thievery and no signs of the rats passing or direction remain on the other side of the door.

[Paks]

"Hey, hey, hey" the ranger calls out to the rat as it squeezes back out the door. Springing out of the tub, Paks rushes to the door intending to pull it wide open in chase of the rat when she realises she's naked. "Damn" she mutters to herself as she grabs a towel and quickly wraps it around herself before pulling the door open in search of the rodent. "Bloody rats" she cursed as she looked down the passage, "I better get that necklace back and if that means turning this rat infested Inn upside down then I won't hesitate in doing it!" she exclaimed, loud enough for anyone to hear her. Why had she taken the necklace off anyway? She never took it off if she could help it. But she had felt so grimy after the journey that she had taken it off intending to give it a good clean. What a bright idea that had been!

Running her hand across her throat where the necklace normally sat, she continued looking for evidence of the thief, wrapped only in a towel, dripping water onto the Inn's cold floor.

[Zee]

Stepping out into the hall outside the bathing room the ranger hears somebody whistling softly to themselves. Not a cat-call but a familiar tune that bards often recite in both poem and song, the tune about a woman who lived in a lake. The ranger can't help but recall the story behind the tune.

The woman lived in a lake alone with the animals. She lived amongst them they were her friend as much as she was theirs. One day the woman grew lonely of living without the comfort of another human so she went to land, leaving the animals behind her. A squirrel which the woman had nurtured when she found it alone and freshly born followed her. The woman made it to a town unwary of her being followed by the squirrel. She met a young man there, a hunter who was kind and generous. Loved by the town for providing the left overs of his kills with those less fortunate. The woman so long removed from culture had an untamed feeling about her. The hunter who spent so much time in the woods found that air fascinating, the hunter and the woman courted for a while until one day the hunter found out the woman was living in the woods. He took her home and struck up a fire and a bath for her.

While the woman was bathing the hunter went out and did what he did best. When the woman was done with her bath she found the hunter having prepared a fine meal. "His specialty" he called it. The house so warm, the bath so pleasurable, the company so delightful and the food so much more tasty than the wild food she used to forage for; the woman stayed with the man. They lived happily together until the end of their days remembering to eat the hunters specialty on the anniversary of the day their lives became one. The specialty: Squirrel basted with white wine over potatoes and carrots. The moral of the story, as the bards always like to say: "You never know who you hurt to achieve your own personal happiness."

Pin-pointing the source of the whistling the woman sees a man at the end of the hall as he turns to look at her over his shoulder the whistling stops. Softly, as though the voice was directly in her mind she hears "Come and get me." She sees the man wink at her before light reflecting off the necklace spinning round his finger catches her eye only an instant before he turns and disappears around the corner of the hall.

Mere moments having passed since she stepped out into the hall the near by proprietor of the establishment begins shouting at her. A short balding bearded man wearing an apron and holding a rolling-pin waves his arms "We've no infestation of any sort here missy! And i'll not have you sully the good name of this fine establishment! What's more you're dripping all over my floor!"

[Paks]

Having become engrossed in the tune, the ranger blinks when it suddenly stops and let's out a gasp as she hears the "come and get me" taunt. Just as she is about to do just that, the balding man gives her a scalding.

Placing her hands on her hips she faces whom she assumes is the Inn Keeper, "Well I certainly wasn't seeing things a few moments ago when one scrambled through my clothing and stole a piece of my jewelery" she states rather irritably. "Explain that if you can!" she adds as she reaches for the bathroom door, "Sorry about the water though, I'll clean that up. Perhaps you should get a cat to help with the rat problem, in the mean time, you don't mind if I have a look about do you? I won't be impressed if I don't get that necklace back" she calls out as she slips into the bathroom and hurriedly dresses. Grabbing the towel she heads back out into the hall and mops up the water she had dripped onto the floor before throwing the towel back onto the bathroom floor.

"And if you don't mind, I'll get started now" she says with her sweetest smile as she heads off in search of the strange whistler.

[Zee]

The bearded man with apron and rolling pin shakes his head at the woman. "Aye, do what you will missy. Canna say i've heard 'bout a rat that be stealin' shinies right in front of some one. Right strange behavior that." The man turns around heading on down the hall mumbling something about her being crazy and his establishment not having any rat problems.

Heading around the corner into the common area the ranger finds that the inn has become much more populated than it was when she arrived. The day having grown further into the evening with dusk very near, workers, towns folk, and travelers finding a place to stop for the night have wandered in and struck up many a conversation amongst themselves. As the ranger works her way into the crowd whilst she sees no signs of the strange whistler and nothing out of the ordinary. Well, nothing out of the ordinary except for the man sitting at a table by himself in a corner of the inn. But things such as that tend to be somewhat regular as shady dealings, private meets on neutral ground and several other things of that sort tend be held at a table where some one sits alone.

[Paks]

Entering the common room the ranger looks around in frustration. This was going to be harder than she first thought. Flagging down a serving wench, Paks orders herself an ale. "You wouldn't happen to know of a man around here that likes to whistle a tune? In particular that tune about the squirrel? You know the one I mean right? He may be sporting a new necklace at this particular time, a leather cord with a silver shaped leaf hanging from it. It was stolen from me by a rat, a big hairy rat, (she adds this bit loud enough for other patrons to hear her) yet I think that this man may have had something to do with it. Does he sound familiar at all?" she asks, holding out a silver coin firmly in her finger tips towards the serving wench.

[Zee]

The serving wench looks at the ranger and impatiently waits for her to finish talking until she sees the shiny piece of silver. "Oh yes ma'am. Well I can't say that I know him, but I did see a man who was whistling that tune... sad tale that, but he had a necklace with him that had a silver charm on the end. Didn't really get to good of a look at it. But he headed out the door there just a moment ago." She says pointing towards the entrance of the establishment. Looking in that direction the ranger sees the familiar hint of a man who casts her quick sideways glance before winking at her and disappearing from behind the swinging doors.

[Paks]

Thanking the wench quickly, the ranger sets off to follow the man through the swinging doors when she remembers that she's unarmed. Hesitating for a moment, Paks silently debates whether or not she should seek out this man without at least her staff and decides to head back to her room and grab it. With the staff in hand, she curses again and moves quickly through the Inn and out the swinging doors in hope that the lost time won't have caused too much damage in her search for the thief.

Once outside, the ranger begins looking around for the strange man that had stolen her heirloom.

[Zee]

Stepping out of the inn the ranger sees the relatively empty streets outside. No one or anything out of the ordinary seems to be around. Taking a moment to scan the ground she does however notice that a single set of tracks heads off in the direction of the woods on the southern side of the town. Curious as to what that could imply the ranger follows the exceptionally easy to follow tracks to the edge of the woods. When she arrives at forests edge she sees the tracks head into the forest. Looking out into the forest the ranger sees the broken leather cord her heirloom used to hang from is now dancing in the wind tied to a tree branch.

The ranger sees the tracks heading further into the forest, so new and so deeply imprinted the tracks would be extremely easy to follow, even a fledgling would have no trouble. Thinking to her self though she knows that a man so capable of disappearing around corners and slipping out of sight would surely come to a point where he would no longer feel like being followed and his tracks would end...

[Paks]

Once outside the Inn, the ranger looks around in hope but soon let's out sigh, "Of course he couldn't just be waiting out here for me could he, oh no" she says as looks at the tracks heading into the woods, "Of course he wants to take a stroll in the forest, who wouldn't?" she adds sarcastically.

Following the tracks, Paks put her woodcraft skills into use and walks as quietly as she can, that is until she reaches the tree where her now broken necklace hangs. "Dammit" she yells as she pulls it off the tree, waving it at the forest, "What did you have to go doing that for! If you wanted my attention all you had to do was buy me a drink, not destroy my property!"

Seriously annoyed now, the ranger continues to follow the tracks, not bothering to be quiet at all, glad she had bought her staff along, if only to teach the man what happens to thieves when they mess with her.

[Zee]

The ranger stamps her way through the forest following the tracks with ease. Many animals scurry away from her, both those that would have been in her path and those that are a distance off but hear her fuming as she moves through the woods. Coming to the end of the tracks the ranger stops and looks around for a moment seeing what appears to be a natural clearing ahead of her. Stepping into the clearing the ranger sees a creek running through the woods.

On the near side of the creek she sees something white in the corner of her eye. Turning her head she sees a woman clad in a robe of white. Taken by surprise by the sight of her the ranger needs a second before she realizes that the woman is a swanmay, one of her friends. About ready to speak she soon stops, cut off when from behind the tree the woman is in front of the strange whistler appears, knife in hand.

Leaning in next to the swanmay the man rests his knife up against the swanmays throat. Only now does the ranger realize the swanmay has her hands tied behind the tree. A sinister smile crosses the mans face "Saw this pretty little thing. Thought she might be coming to get you." Chuckling to himself "Not quite a drink at the tavern there, but I assume i've your attention."

[Paks]

Stopping dead in her tracks, Paks grips her staff tightly, her eyebrows raised. Tilting her head slightly to the side she appraises the situation.

"Yes, one could say you have my attention" she says, quite calmly for her. "How about you move away from the girl and tell me what you want."

Looking around the clearing the ranger spots a large enough rock not too far from her and no closer to the man holding the swanmay hostage. She moves slowly towards it, taking a seat in a casual manner but ready to spring to her feet in an instant, her staff firmly held at all times. "You don't mind me taking a seat do you? My feet are a little sore," she says, her eyes never leaving the man. "I assume this may take a while."

[Zee]

As the ranger makes her way to her seat she notices some of the trees and brushes moving about. There isn't even wind to cause the movement, the only conclusion the ranger can take is that she is not out here alone with this man and his hostage. It remains to be seen though, who these likely hidden beings are with.

Chuckling the man moves around from behind the tree keeping the knife resting at the captives throat. "Oh, less time than you would think. I should imagine." The swanmay struggles against her bonds before casting a glance at the ranger.

"Run."

That is all the woman can get out before the man with the knife hits her with his elbow. "I didn't tell you to speak." The man says as he turns his eye to the ranger before quickly replacing his knife at the swanmays throat to check the ranger in her place. "Ah ah ah... no hasty movements now." Turning back to the swanmay the man moves the thumb of his free hand to the ladies lip and wipes away the blood before moving it up to his face and inspecting a moment before licking it off. "Pity that." He says indicating the bloodied lip. "Now, where were we."

[Paks]

The ranger was on her feet in an instant the moment the man elbowed her friend, her staff ready to start swinging. Of course she wasn't going to run, what was Red thinking in saying that, the swanmay ought to know that she was more loyal than that. Although, the way things were playing out, it may just be the end of her given that they weren't alone and with no way to tell whose side the others were on.

"You really are getting on my nerves" she says arrogantly to the man. "Most people that achieve that generally find out how hard I can hit. Start talking, my patience is wearing thin" she says in effort to get him speaking as she tries to come up with some sort of game plan. As she waits for the man to explain, she lets her eyes wonder over to the bushes in effort to see what else she is up against.