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Arden · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 720 Location: Oklahoma

Sliding the card away into its case, Rebecca moves back over to Demon and the others and makes a face at the stench. The barn never smelt this bad. "Ganleon, I'm thinking we should get on with it as soon as this is done. Unless we got wounded ta tend."

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 4:16 pm Post subject:

Ganelon shakes his head and says, "No wounded we can't deal with when we set-up camp. Be ready to move out in about five minutes."

Wyatt looks pale and somewhat sickly. Demon even comments on it.

...

It is still morning and now that they have crossed the Black Road, the remainder of their approach should be somewhat trouble-free. Ganelon's force is quickly gathered uphill, and the Royal Guard, including Sergeant Ormes, now sporting a bandaged left hand, is congregating where Rebecca and Wyatt are.

Ormes takes a look at the dead burning thing and spits.
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Arden · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 720 Location: Oklahoma

Rebecca puts an arm around Wyatt and pulls him with her apart from the others. "Darlin'?" she asks quietly. "You gonna be alright? What do ya need?"

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 6:41 pm Post subject:

"Oh, I'm... fine, ya know. Those damn'd thangs... I just got the urge ta get in touch with Peter at tha' moment. Just got a bad feelin' cause of tha things they made me see, I guess." Wyatt shakes his head and continues, "That's a cowardly way ta deal with warfare... And I realize now how everythin' is probably gonna get tougher than this..." Wyatt squeezes her hand. His expression is that of deep worry and depression. The Black Road seems to have had a very nefarious effect on him.
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Arden · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 720 Location: Oklahoma

She sighs and leans in to kiss his cheek. "I'm sorry. If I could protect ya from all this, I would. But I can't even protect myself from all of it." Reaching into an inner pocket, she pulls out and offers him a silver flask. "Have a stiff drink for now. I'm sure Peter's fine. Maggie would've called if anything happened. With any luck, we won't have ta cross the Road again, and that will have been the worse part of our ride."

Her hand went to the pocket the stones were in and she fingered them through the fabric they were wrapped in. She is tempted to give them to him now, but she wants a chance to study them more closely if possible. Protecting Wyatt was high on her list of Important Things and she just doesn't know enough about these to risk anything yet.

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 3:59 am Post subject:

Wyatt takes a long swig of the stuff and hands it back, wiping his mouth with his other hand. He smiles at Rebecca, his scar emphasized and reminding her of her own visions across the mist of the Black Road.

"I know, yer right. It'll pass, I'm sure. I jus' need ta find somethin' ta occupy my mind til we get ta Greymoor... I 'ad my best harmonica in that saddlebag, dammit!" he jokes.

...

Ganelon's men begin moving out, Wyatt, Rebecca, Demon and the Royal Guards follow. Behind them, the carcass continues to burn, the smoke rising like a steady signal in the mountains of Cimarron.
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Arden · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 720 Location: Oklahoma

With Wyatt riding behind her, Rebecca lets Demon direct himself while she checks over her pistols. After loading the silver one again, she tucks it in her belt and turns to look at Wyatt over her shoulder. She ignores the scar best she can. Wyatt is more then a scar. She leans back and kisses him.

"I still got some books," she grins. "Reckon that'd kill two birds with one stone, so ta say."

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 7:52 am Post subject:

Wyatt grins back a bit, and jokes, "That's what I get fer worryin' too much, huh?" He squeezes her hip. "I think I'd rather hear a story 'bout yer exploits at tha court of Amber, dear..." he adds.

...

Their trek continues and the landscape and climates change around them from time to time as they pass into other Shadows, moving toward their goal without the Black Road and its nefarious effects interfering. Wyatt dozes off on her shoulder after a long while, probably due to the slow, drawn out pace of their force. They are moving through forested areas and uneven terrain and Rebecca can tell that Ganelon is looking for a place to set up a camp for the day.

Eventually, they find a suitable areas, a small clearing with a creek a few hundred yards away, and of course, several defensible positions they may retreat to as well as several well placed rock formations and foliage for spotting movement from afar. The whole area is organized in such a way that Rebecca almost questions if someone used the trick of finding the right thing in Shadow or not. Hard to tell though, since coincidences happen and Ganelon had made the trip out to Greymoor before.
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Arden · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 720 Location: Oklahoma

Rebecca regales Wyatt and the riders nearby with some of the more amusing tales from Court. She is careful, of course, to only tell that which sets her father in a favorable light. Not that he's done anything in her presence in Court that doesn't. When Wyatt dozes, she continues speaking quietly if it seems appropriate. Otherwise, she's happy enough to pull out the silver pistol and examine it again. She hasn't heard from McCoy, but those bullets acted as if they were guided-something they didn't do before. It occurs to her that he has gone back into the gun. It also occurs to her she has read to many ghost stories and heard more around campfires.

-------

She's not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and lacking the imprint herself, Rebecca's pretty sure she probably wouldn't know if someone was doing something subtle with it.

She nudges Wyatt awake so they can dismount. Once she has collected the possessions off Demon, she sends Wyatt down to the creek to water the horse and deal with the saddle and tack. After depositing the bags and blanket roll in a pile in a spot that looks good for resting, she goes over to Ganleon.

"Good spot," she says after lighting a smoke. "I'm gonna check the horses over. Make sure adrenaline didn't hide any damage from the Road. We bunking down here for the night?"

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 12:48 am Post subject:

The gun still has the unnatural coolness about it and while Rebecca's suspicion of McCoy's return to the object he associates with isn't confirmed, it remains a possibility.

-----

Ganelon gets off his mount and says, "Yes, this is a good spot for that. If you don't mind delaying our trip by several hours, I'd like to stay camping here for most of the night. If we leave a few hours before sunrise and make good pace, we should reach Greymoor next dusk..."
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Arden · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 720 Location: Oklahoma

"That's fine," she says agreeably. "Men to rest and re-center after that dust up."

She pushes her hat back with one finger and becomes somber. "How many'd we lose?"

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 1:09 am Post subject:

"Nine men fell down while crossing the Road, another four attacked each other, killing one another and wounded several others... And those specters killed six and wounded another three pretty badly. We lost fifteen horses in all, including your husband's and most of the other horses are still a bit skittish." Ganelon sighs, "All in all, we did fair better than the first time around."

He looks around at the camp, his eyes narrowing. "I've got a good feeling about the way ahead though. We'll be fine, your majesty."
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Arden · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 720 Location: Oklahoma

"Aw, don't go calling me that now," Rebecca sighs. "At least among ourselves, please just call me Rebecca."

"Any rate, Wyatt a' I can deal with calmin' the horses. Somethin' of a gift we have with 'em. If there's a doc among tha men, I'll leave any healin' to them. Otherwise, I can help there too." She gives him an assessing look. "And when ya work out a guard rotation, put me on it for tonight, but leave Wyatt out of it if ya can. Amber's soldier's had some idea of what they were facin'; Wyatt only thought he did and I can't promise ya how effective he'd be tonight. Reckon he just needs a quiet night and a coupla shots ta be all right in the morning."

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 1:32 am Post subject:

Ganelon chuckles, looking at the activity of the camp. "Sorry, Rebecca... Bad habit ingrained in me long ago."

"If you would see to the horses that would be a great help. We are all fine horsemen but I've heard stories of a few men who had visited the royal stables when you were there and I have to admit that I'm curious to see what you can offer our horses. We'll handle the nightwatch and medical needs, but if you want to tag along one of the shifts, I'm all for it. Just let me know when you feel like starting."
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Arden · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 720 Location: Oklahoma

She flashes him a smile and tips her hat. "You got it. Tell the fellas that they get their horses down to tha stream as soon as they're unsaddled. We'll take it from there."

Rebecca leaves him to go collect her vet kit from her supplies. She pulls a few things out of her duster before shrugging out of it and laying it with the rest of their stuff. On her way back to Demon, she collects a couple of horses that are ready and leads them down. She walks between them, speaking lowly to the them to calm them and asking about their injuries if any.