A/N: WARNING, THIS CHAPTER HAS MORE MATURE CONTENT THEN USUAL. 



GEACOB

   It had been two weeks since Loryn went missing. We'd split up again, this time spending several hours in towns, asking questions and sometimes demanding them. Alie and I had taken the northern towns this time while Ritch and Venny went south. Hark stayed in the inn with our remaining coin in case she managed to find her way back to Leafinton.
   But there was no sign of her anywhere. Not a single person had seen a girl of Loryn's description, alone or otherwise. I had even asked a small group of Rangers we'd come across and they assured us that the only females they'd seen on the road in Averton were much too old to be called girls, and none had the richly tanned skin of Florn that did not seem to leave her face anyway. They did assure us, however, that if they came across the girl, they would leave her be and send word back to myself of her whereabouts.
   I was beginning to believe, however, that she was either dead or long out of our reach. Secretly, I had been hoping for a vision, but I should have known better than to hope for such a miracle. The gods had remained silent in this matter and the depressing meeting in the shelter once we all had returned was not a meeting at all but a joining of silent peoples.
   We fell asleep quietly after sup and a winter storm raged outside, moaning desperately though the trees.

ALIE

   "I suppose we'll just have to hope we find her on our travels." Ritch said, breaking the silence we'd all had hanging over us since we'd met at the fire.
   "What's it? We're givin' up?" Hark asked and winced at the pain in his stomach. It seemed to be a bad one and I hoped he had been drinking the tea while I had been out searching.
   "Not givin' up." Venny said. "We'll head t'ward Florn. Maybe we'll find her along the road somewhere." He sounded desperate and I knew it was guilt driving him now and nothing more.
   "We need to travel somewhere." Ritch agreed with a shrug. "And seeing as we don't know where we're supposed to go, Florn sounds as good as any place."
   "Leaving Leafinton seems wrong." Geac said. "Like we are giving up."
   I agreed. "What if she comes back?"
   "We cannae juss stay here forever." Venny reminded us all. "We have lives we need to return to at some point. We should head toward Florn."
   Hark nodded. "There's no other direction I can think of t'go. And I thinks you need Loryn."
   I still felt like leaving was wrong, but decided to look to Geac. Even in the two weeks of travelling, I'd come to notice that though I knew more about surviving, he was better at it. Anything from hunting to finding north, he could do faster or better than I. Though I told him new ways he hadn't known before, he learned those new ways immediately and became better at them than I could. Except using a bow and crossbow. I seemed to have slightly better aim than he, though he had more practice over the years.
   Still, I'd come to turn to him for advice after I'd stated my share, giving him the final decision when I was unsure. So I turned to him now.
   But he was looking at me as if waiting for the very same thing I was. It seemed we were both undecided.
   "Leaving makes sense." I said slowly. "But feels wrong."
   He nodded slightly and sighed, rubbing his hands through his hair --- as greasy as my own from two weeks on the road. "Let's have a day to bathe and resupply ourselves and get a hearty meal. We'll leave on the morrow."
   It was done then. That was our new plan. I stood to go and check on the horses and be sure they would be ready for the next day and Geac came with me to be the first to bathe. We walked through the trees toward the town silently but I knew he was thinking the same as I was --- this was wrong. If we left town, we'd never see Loryn again.
   "Did he hurt you, Miss?"
   I had been so lost in my own thoughts, I had not even been aware of my surroundings. I now saw that I was at the inn and Geacob had left to bathe already. I was, in fact, brushing down my horse with curry though I could not remember beginning such a task.
   At the sound of the sudden voice, my eyes shot up and my hand reached for the throwing knife I'd acquired from Ranger Darci. Luckily, I stopped myself from pulling it from my belt in time as I noticed the owner of the voice was a fairly familiar face --- a large man I had often seen around town with his equally large and cheerful wife.
   I smiled at him but was confused by the question. "Whom do you ask of, sir?"
   "The Ranger boy, Miss." He said. "I saw you was walking with him, but didn't look much happy. If he hurt you, there be a good many happy to run him out of town for you."
   Now my smile was genuine. "Thank you, but he's never hurt me even in the slightest, I assure you. My lack of joy is due to the worry of my friend."
   "The florian girl that came with the Ranger." He understood, his frown deepening. "I thought it t'was the Ranger searching for the girl?"
   "He is as well." I agreed. "But she is my friend, too. I am very concerned for her. You haven't heard anything as of late have you?"
   "I was at home with my wife when your friends says she went missing, but Trick and Archrit was out and about." He scratched his belly and looked around, his eyes catching on a man which he pointed to. "If you're sure it isn't the Ranger looking for the girl, I can speak to them for you."
   "My friends have already spoken to them."
   "But they figured you were workin' for the Ranger boy. We're not too fond of him around here."
   My heart sped up a bit. "You think they may have lied before?"
   "I don't be knowing, Miss, but I wouldn't blame them if they did." He scratched at his belly again. "You just wait right here and I'll talk to them, see if they says anything to me."
   I reached out and took his thick hand in mine and squeezed his fingers. "Thank you." I said with sincerity. "Even if you hear nothing, thank you so much."
   "Ach." He said, his face blushing with pride and embarrassment. "It be nothing, Miss. Really." He patted my hand. "You just wait right here." He tightened his hood around his head and went out into the street. I heard him call out to Archrit as he went on across the street. I hung up the curry brush and by the time I looked again, the two men were speaking close together to hide from the wind. They chatted, motioning toward me. Archrit looked over at me and I was able to see his face.
   And able to clearly see the bright red marks across his cheek. As if someone scratched him.
   That alone would not have made the chill crawl up my spine --- he could have received it from branches, a bar fight, another woman --- but the sudden alarm on his face that flashed there before it was covered up quickly by anger as he turned from me to face the fat man, plus his swift escape afterwards...
   "Alie?" Geacob came over, hugging the fur against his wet hair. "What are you doing out here still?"
   "I'm sure that you're better than I at keeping yourself hidden." I said and pointed at the man retreating from the larger mans confused figure. "Follow him and find out where he lives."
   "Archrit?" He questioned, apparently recognizing him. "Why?"
   "Because he knows something." I said and glanced at him, feeling my own eyes were wide and slightly fearful. "I think he may have Loryn."

GEACOB

   I spent most of the day flitting from shadow to shadow, watching the muscled man carry wood from his cart to the doorsteps of elderly women and sick men. He seemed to be one who made a very small profit by helping those too weak to help themselves keep warm. At first, I was sure Alie had him wrong; it had simply been a small and desperate hope. Seeing the marks on his face made her assume the worst, that was all.
   But then he stopped at a home where the old woman couldn't pay him the tiny sum he had asked form and I watched in horror as Archrit lifted the old woman's skirts and shoved himself roughly between her legs. The freezing woman cried but quietly, her wrinkled face pressed against the side of the frozen home. When he was done, only a couple of minutes later, he carried wood into the house with an amiable smile, pushed the crying woman in after it, then went on his merry way.
   I felt a deep sickness as I saw this man in such a sudden and terrible new light. He didn't touch another, but now that I had seen past the kind outward shell of him, I noticed the way the women handed him coin. Not in thanks and gratitude, but quickly and with tense, frightful shoulders as if expecting him to turn on them anyway. Even the few men seemed aftraid and unthankful for the wood that would keep them alive.
   When his cart was empty, it was late in the eve and I expected him to go home, but he headed to an inn and cheerfully grinned among his friends who greeted him warmly. They settled in, calling for a picture of ale.
   I decided not to wait to follow him home. I was sure plenty of people knew his whereabouts in such a small town. I left him to find Alie and tell her I believed that her wild and random assumption had been correct.
   I should have known not to doubt her.

ALIE

   "I don't like this idea."
   "I know." I said. "But I'll be fine. You two will be right outside."
   Ritch rubbed at his hair. "What if we can't get to you in time?"
   "Then I'll kill him myself." I said simply, but patted his cheek. "I'll be fine. You should head to the back now, we'll give you a few minutes to get into place then I'm going in."
   With a final worried look, he squeezed my fingers then started making a wide circle around the tiny house that was set right at the edge of the woods on the furthest end of town. Somewhere back there, in the trees, were our horses, there in case we needed a quick getaway.
   Geacob took my arm in his hand. "I still believe I should be the one knockin at that door."
   "He'd never let you in, guilty or not."
   "I'd just kill him before he could deny my entry."
   My eyes flitted to his but they were hard on the flickering light shining dully between the cracks of the shudders. The coolness in them reminded me that he was very much a Ranger. Odd how sometimes I actually forgot it.
   "You have no right to kill him on my assumption that he has Loryn. The scratches could have been from another woman."
   "Yes. Another he raped."
   "Another he took as payment. Rape or not, it's not any of our business. It's town business."
   "And if he tires to rape you?" He questioned roughly, his hand tightening on my arm.
   "Then it will become our business.:" I said. "And you can come in and save the day."
   "But how will I know?"
   "I'll scream."
   "What if he stops you from screaming."
   "Then I'll bite him and make him scream." I said with a grin but he never showed a flicker of amusement. "I don't like this." Was all he said.
   "I'll be fine, Geac. I'm armed, and two of the largest most frightening looking friends I have will be just outside."
   At that he looked at me. "Ritch is frightening?" He questioned, a touch of amusement in those dark eyes.
   I chuckled. "He looks frightening." I clarified, doubting Ritch could hurt a bed bug even if it made him sleep in the snow. I patted Geac's hand then pulled my arm from his grip gently and removed my fur. The wind bit through the thin under-layer of wool that was slightly soaked in my sweat and I grimaced, tugging off my gloves. I handed it all to Geacob and dug my hands into the snow, lifting some to press against my cheeks to give them redness. When my little finger burned from the cold, I wiped my hands on my pants and clutched the wool to myself.
   "Time to go." I said.
   "I don't like this." He repeated quietly and I started away.
   I didn't either, if I were being honest. In fact, I was terrified that he was home as the bright fire had us believe. Still, I knew Geac would save me if I needed saving and if Loryn was in there, I had to know.
   I was shivering in earnest when I knocked on the door with my fist. I took several deep breaths to keep myself calm and prepared to lie. This would be new to me --- making myself look more venerable is not something that I have ever done. In fact, I have only done the very opposite before. I hoped that my acting was a good both ways.
   The sound of a latch made my heart pound against my chest. The door opened just a crack, then a little further when it was seen that it was only I who was on the step. Archrik's massive bulk of muscle prevented me from seeing indie.
   "What do you want, girl child?"
   "I was attacked." I said through chattering teeth.. "B-by Rangers, there in the trees. They t-took my furs." I clutched the wool tightly, little good the wet cloth did me. "It's so c-cold out her and I saw this house..."
   He eyes me up and down. "Thought you were friends with that Ranger boy?"
   "H-he was the one who attacked me, sir."
   "You should have known not to trust a Ranger."
   "I know now. I was a fool. P-please... I have no where to go. Could you spare a cloak or perhaps a bed for the night, sir? Just until the wind passes?"
   "No place to go, eh?" He looked around outside briefly and his face changed from suspicious to kind concern. "You poor girl." He said. "Of course you can rest. Come in now." He told me but didn't open the door any wider, simply stepped aside so I had to squeeze sideways through the crack. The warmth on my cheeks was a grateful thing but I didn't relax in the slightest, instead I smiled at him in thanks as he closed the door and latched it.
   The house was a single room with both bed and kitchen. It was small, but that worked to his advantage as the single hearth warmed the whole room nicely. It would have been a cozy home if not for the thin, naked woman tied to the bed, gagged and clearly beaten.
   Loryn.
   I opened my mouth to let out a scream but a hand slapped over my mouth from behind and I was yanked back into a mass of muscle.
   "It be alright, girl child. I'll keep you warm."
   I smelled whisky on his breath and though I was a secret lover of whiskey, I nearly gagged at the scent of it and struggled. All I could see was Loryn's wide, terrified eyes that surly matched my own.
   "Calm yourself now." He was saying, moving me toward the bed. "It won't hurt if you're calm."
   I had always considered myself strong, but though I fought with all my strength, my efforts seemed to be useless against this man. With one hand over my mouth, he had the other wrapped around my chest, pinning both my arms there as easily as a spider held a fly in its web.
   All I needed was to scream. Just a single scream and Geac would come running. There's no way this man could strip and rape me without me being able to let out a single scream. This man would not take me.
   But even knowing this for a fact was very little comfort when I was pushed down face first over the edge of the bed. I tried kicking but he caught my leg with his and the other leg kicked uselessly in the air. I heard him curse something about why a woman would wear pants and he shook me roughly. "Quit fighting, girl child! You'll only hurt yourself!"
   I realized I'd never be able to fight him off by strength alone and stilled under his hands, though it went against every single instinct in me to do so. He was surprised at my sudden compliance.
   "You gonna be a good girl now?"
   Unable to speak again his hand, I nodded best I could.
   "That's a good girl. I'll be gentle."
   Muffled by the cloth, I could hear Loryn crying. I focused on her sounds and not my own in order to clear my head and calm myself.
   I remained absolutely still when he removed his hand slowly from my arms and moved down toward the strings of my pants. I waited until he was distracted by the knots before I whipped my head to the side and screamed as loud as I could.
   The scream was cut short when a fist his the side of my head and I found myself suddenly on the floor, blinking stars from my eyes.
   "Stupid whore!" Came Archrit's angry shout and my hair was grasped and pull and I was yanked to my feet and slammed into the wall. His face was red with fury now, oh yes it was, but I was angry too.
   There was a sudden pounding on the door as Geac tried to break the latch. This made Archrik's eyes widen and they shot toward the noise.
   This distraction was enough. With both my arms free and out from under me, I reached for the throwing knife strapped under my arm as Geacob had showed me and then slammed it into his gut
   He let out a pained sound of surprise as his eyes came to mine but I yanked the knife out and stabbed him again, and again. That's when the small knife got stuck on a bone (a rib? a hip?) and it didn't come free when I pulled. My hand slipped across the thin handle instead and stumbled.
   He fell to the floor, his eyes opened in shock as he tried to keep his guts from sliding out onto the wood. After a moment though, he stilled and his eyes went vacant.
   I had killed him.

GEACOB

   The latch finally gave and both Ritch and I nearly stumbled inside, my dagger already raised in one hand, a throwing knife in the other ready to throw.
   The sight we walked into though was one I knew would be burned into my memory forever. Loyrn, naked with blood on the sheets under her, tied to the bed with eyes wide in fear.
   And Alie, standing over the body of Archrik, his blood on her hand and her own dripping from her hairline over her temple.
   Ritch ran to Loryn, already taking off his cloak to cover her up. He took the gag from her mouth and started cutting the ropes around her ankles and wrists as she sobbed.
   But my eyes were drawn to Alie who was staring at her hands and shaking violently. I quickly went to her and took her hands in mine, covering the blood with my gloves.
   "I killed someone." She whispered. "I killed someone. I killed him."
   "You're in shock." I told her gently. "Take deep breaths."
   "But I killed him. Oh, Mother, I killed him. I'm a murderer."
   "Shh." I took the fur coat and returned it to her shoulders then rubbed her arms to try and get some warmth into her. "Deep breaths, Alie."
   Ritch approached carrying Loryn in his arms. Loryn was already a small girl, but in his arms now she looked as if she was a very, very small child. Alie quickly put her hood up and turned away but Ritch barely noticed, and Loryn's bruised face was pressed into his shoulders, still sobbing.
   "I'm taking her straight to the inn." He said.
   "Do it. We're right behind you." I told him and Ritch didn't hesitate in going, leaving Alie and I alone with the body and the blood.
   She turned when Ritch left. "I can't let them see me like this." She said, her silver eyes still held in panic and fear. "Don't take me back yet. I'm the strong one. They can't see me like this, Geac. I'm supposed to be the strong one." She let out a single sob though there were no tears and then a violent shudder. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I can't stop shaking."
   "You're in shock." I told her again and decided I'd better get her away from here. I swiftly picked her up.
   She gasped. "Where are we going?"
   "Somewhere that isn't here." Was all I said in answer when in reality, I was shifting through my mind for a place she might feel safe to her than the shelter. I closed the door behind us and headed toward where we'd put our horses but then decided a tree was well enough once I saw the large oak tree among the silverwood. I helped her up and she went without comment, but shivered and shook in the wind. Helping her, I maneuvered us around in the darkness so that we were settled in the tree, the wide trunk blocking most of the wind and myself block the rest from her when I tucked her into me and rubbed at her arms again, trying to add more warmth.
   She huddled into my chest but rubbed viciously at her eyes as she did; she was appalled at herself.
   "I can't believe I'm acting this way. I thought it would be easy, like gutting a deer, but I'm panicking. I'm actually panicking. What's wrong with me?"
   "Shh." I whispered and abandoned her arms to wipe my hand across her hair, feeling the icy blood on her head. I pulled her hood up over it. "You'll be fine, Alie, you're just in shock. It's normal."
   "I'm stronger than this."
   "You're the strongest person I know." I told her honestly.
   "I shouldn't have gone in. You were right."
   "Shh." I said again but quietly agreed. I'd ream her out later for it, but now wasn't the time. I just sat there for a while, rubbing her arms again as her shaking turned slowly less violent and she began to relax in my arms.
   "Have you ever killed anyone?" She asked me after a while, her head against my shoulder.
   I nodded. "Two people. It's how I saved Loryn at The T."
   "You broke your laws to save her?"
   That surprised me. "You know about Ranger Law?"
   She nodded, her icy nose skimming my neck as she did. "The Ranger way of life fascinated me most of my like. You're all supposed to be murderers and thieves and so on, men with no loyalty, yet your laws and the Hunt and the way you live.. relying on each other... helping each other. Free information and protection... it speaks of loyalty and honor even more so than most common folk. I have always wondered who the Rangers truly were beneath the cloaks you wear so proudly."
   I wished that I could see her face in the dark. "I've never heard anyone thinking of us that way." I felt the need to explain myself to her, not wanting her to be disappointed in me for breaking the laws we follow. "Breaking those laws was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but not because I killed them. I've seen so much death that the murder itself was nothing to me, but those laws meant everything to me. The only thing that comforts me is knowing that it was necessary." I paused. "But Loryn has proven more trouble than helpful. I wonder if it was for nothing after all."
   "It wasn't for nothing." She said. "It can't be. If that's true, I killed someone for nothing, too." She shuddered a little and wiggled closer. I held her tighter and tugged her hood over her head again as it had at some point fallen back.
   "Tell me something." She whispered. "Something unrelated to death. I need to distract myself but I can't seem to think of anything."
   I spat out the first thing that came to mind. "It's the day of my sixteenth year today."
   She paused, then let out a startling laugh. "Happy birthing day."
   My lips twitched against her hair. "Thank you, Alie."
   "You're welcome, Geacob."

RITCH

   I had to leave Loryn in the room to fetch some clothing from the shelter and by the time I retuned, I expected her to be bathed, but she sat by the fire, still in my fur. The bath was cooling behind the screen.
   "Loryn?" I whispered gently as I approached slowly, fearing she'd run like a startled deer at any sudden movement. "I thought you'd like a bath?"
   "I hurt." She said. "All over."
   "The bath wont hurt you, Loryn. It'll make you feel a little better." I wasn't sure if this was true, but I knew it wouldn't cause any pain at the very least. When she still didn't move though, I put the cloths down and pulled the sheet off the bed. "There." I held it out. "Wrap yourself in this and get in the bath. I'll wash your hair."
   She finally looked at me. "You'd do that? For me?"
   "Of course."
   "But I've always been so horrible to you." She looked back at the fire. "Why did you all come for me? Why didn't you just leave me there? I'm not a nice person. I'm just like my mother and no one liked her either."
   I frowned at her words. "I like you."
   "Don't lie. You pity me, that's all." She huddled closer to the fire. "Leave me alone. I don't want pity. Not anymore."
   I didn't even debate it. I was not leaving her like this. "Come on, Loryn, just stand up. I'm not going anywhere."
   "You're not?" She looked at me again, her eyes wide and venerable. "Really?"
   I knelt down and took her hand. "Really." I promised, rubbing her icy fingers. "I vow it. I'm staying right here."
   Tears welled over her eyes and flowed down her cheeks.