The bright afternoon sun shone down onto Hookworth as Arenborn strolled leisurely through the village, breathing in the warm summer scents. He made his way along the well-maintained paths to the Sizzling Turtle Tavern and strolled through the grass to sit at the base of one of the tall trees in the yard and settled between two large roots. Resting his back against the thick trunk of the tree Aren pulled his journal from his belt and opened the old leather-bound book to a fresh page to begin sketching the scene before him. He began with the quaint building that was the Tavern, then started work on the foreground and finally the back ground, the few wispy white clouds the floated leisurely through the sky accompanied by the many birds that were flittering around the village.
As he was adding the final details to the sketch he spotted Adriellyn walking up to the door of the building, and he tried to get her attention with a whistle. She looked round, not quite sure what she heard when she saw him waving and made her way over with a smile. The conversation was pleasant, and she even suggested he try something called ‘sign language.’ A skill apparently taught to her by the elves of Rivendell for Sindarin. While he knew Sindarin, only those who both knew the other language and knew the signs would be able understand it so what was the point in learning when he could already communicate well enough.
The conversation proceeded pleasantly, and Aren was enjoying the warm summer afternoon as Ramield and then Jonnathan came to sit down in the grass with them. It seemed strange to Aren that he no longer found this uncomfortable or awkward. Normally any more than one or two other people in a conversation and he would sink into his shell of silence, but he was becoming more comfortable, especially with the members of the Knights of Eriador and was able to participate with more ease.
It was when their conversation moved to the girl Talia and what her story might be that Aren realised what it was that gave him that comfort in these social situations. He had a purpose and a role within this group. He wasn’t a stranger who had nothing in common with them as he had, at times, seen himself in the past. One of the men from the gate came running up towards them as Aren was contemplating this realisation for he had spotted Ramield sat in the grass. “Someone at the gate!” He huffed, bending over and placing his hands on his knees as he tried to recover from the sprint. Aren recognised him as one of the more senior guards, a little grumpier than the others though not mean spirited by any means. Everyone looked to Ramield to see what she would do, and she pushed herself to her feet. “Has he some business here?” She asked of the guard.
“Aye. Lookin’ fer that girl.” He said quietly between heavy pants, looking around for potential unfriendly ears. Arenborn pushed himself to his feet as he heard this, picking up his sword from where it rested against the tree trunk and slung the belt of his sheath over his shoulder.
They made their way through town to the gate where they found four of the town guards pointing their weapons at a stranger. The two on the wall with their bows, and the two either side of the gate with spears. As Ramield gestured for them to lower their weapons, Aren inspected the man with curiosity. He seemed to be middle aged, with dark, filthy matted hair that was beginning to turn grey. His teeth were equally disgusting, a dark yellow with a few missing, and his face pockmarked and filthy. He wore a mail hauberk, with old steel pauldrons and bracers and at his hips were a sword and a large dagger and across his back a quiver with an unstrung bow. “Am I talkin’ t’ the leader o’ this village ‘ere?” He asked, looking at Ramield as she stood ahead of the other three. It seemed to Aren that he could smell the man’s foul stench, even though he was quite a distance from them. Perhaps it was just his mind adding what it felt was a suitable smell to such a foul image.
In the corner of his eye he caught Jonn resting his hand on the pommel of his sword and Adriellyn’s gaze going out to the area behind the stranger. Aren knew she was looking for hidden support and his gaze swept the tree line as well whilst Ramield nodded her answer and asked the man who he was and what he wanted. “Hercter.” Was the name he gave and explained how his daughter had gone missing and he was just searching for her. Aren could sense how the others there tensed a little at this, but Ramield kept calm and diplomatic. “We have many pass through our town, young and old. Perhaps you could be a bit more descriptive?”
Hercter describes Talia well and it only causes Aren to feel even more tense. He looked over the man. There was no way this squat, flat faced man could be Talia’s father, they looked almost nothing alike. Ramield made a note of how he hadn’t given a name, but he answered explaining she might have given a false name, or no name at all. Aren’s gut clenched when he told her the child he was looking for was named Talia. He clenched his fist and ground his teeth, he did not trust this man in the slightest, and now he was concerned for the welfare of their village. Who knew what organisation this man belonged to and what they might be willing and capable of doing.
There was a bit more back and forth between Ramield and Hercter, in which she explained that even if Talia had come to Hookworth she would be concerned to return her to him for fear of his incompetence to raise her well. The man began posturing, stepping closer to Ramield and getting up to her face as best he could for such a short man, and the more Ramield refused and denied the presence of Talia in Hookworth the angrier he got. Finally, he realised that even around him had begun to ready their weapons. Aren’s hand was on the hilt of his sword, Jonn was inches away from drawing his own and he once more had bows and spears pointed at him.
Taking a step back, Hercter spat on the ground before Ramield and stormed away from the gate, muttering foul curses beneath his breath. They waited there, until in the distance they heard the faint clip-clop of at least one horse cantering away to the West, though there may have been more. Waiting until they were certain he was gone, the knights eventually turned to head back into the village and discussed whether they should have him followed and if he was convinced. They doubted he was, and his tracks would be lost among the many that littered the Great East Road so there was little point trying to track him to his home.
They stopped just inside the gate when Adriellyn suggested asking Talia about it, but Ramield seemed to know something the others didn’t. “Perhaps it’s a touchy subject?” She says quietly, nodding in the direction behind Arenborn and he had to resist the urge to look over his shoulder towards the village though he could guess what she meant.
The four of them made their way down to the path where they drew level with the bush, and Ramield called out to Talia to summon her out. Aren’s best guess what she had spotted or heard her with her heightened senses. They talk to her a little bit, and Ramield convinces her to come with them back to the Sizzling Turtle where they sit outside on the grass again. Aren keeps his distance from this, as he is awkward with young children, particularly with his lack of voice so just lets the others do the talking for him.
From his observations of the three of them, Aren felt that Ramield probably had the most experience with children, making sure not to crowd Talia or be too overbearing whilst still making her feel welcome and included. Adriellyn behaved similarly, making sure that the girl was well fed, and he suspected this was due to her experiences with hunger from her own childhood. Jonn however, seemed to be too keen to make friends with the girl, perhaps making him a little over bearing. This culminated with him offering Talia a knitted stuffed kitten and asking her to name her and give her a home as though she were a real cat.
Talia seemed confused by this and Jonn elaborated, explaining that he has no idea how to look after a kitten and is sure that she would do a good job of it. The young girl elicited a chuckle from both Ramield and Aren when she answered him with “That’s a toy. It doesn’t need looking after.”
Aren was impressed with how intelligent the girl was, but it did make him worry about the sort of upbringing she might have had to not be interested the slightest bit in toys. This was only confirmed when Jonn admitted that while it was a toy, he still wanted her to have it. “Only little babies play with toys. The Boss said so.” Again, with the reference to the ‘Boss.’ As with the other day when she mentioned her ring. Whoever it was, this Boss clearly had an important role in Talia’s childhood and he wasn’t sure it had been a positive one.
Ramield tried to help Jonn by taking the stuffed toy and playing with it a little, trying to get Talia interested and involved but the girl was having none of it. “I’m going back to Katnya!” She declared. “She’s a proper adult.” She pushed herself to her feet and begins to head away from the tavern. There as was quick debate as to whether they should go after her and Aren volunteered, following her and making sure she was safe. Part of him wanted to smile at how grown up she was, the way she had reacted to being treated like a child, but he also felt sad as to how she had become this way. Hopefully one day soon they will be able to figure out her secrets. Hopefully before trouble finds it’s way to Hookworth.
