Alright, time to go already ...

[Marnark’tranarprol]

It was a nice day, really. And more than just in the ways of the weather, too. A warm sun to warm the back, a cool breeze to dry the brow, and best of all! A belly full of warm food, and brand new shoes on his feet. Honam wiggled his toes inside his new boots, and grinned to himself impishly. They fit - and really well, too. Roomy, but not too roomy. Even though they were brand new and still needing broken in, they were the comfiest shoes he'd worn in ... gosh. Turns. They were also of the variety that he anticipated would actually last him a few turns, too. Of course, it helped that his feet weren't going to be trying to bust the seams every time he took a step - infinitely helpful, that.

Hoisting his pack upon his shoulder again, he whistled a light tune happily. It was time to get out of this place - especially before they realized what all he'd wandered off with other than what he'd been given!! With a jaunty step to his stride, the happy go lucky wanderer took off on the next leg of his journey to nowhere. It was his natural assumption that this road led somewhere, likely to another hold. Where he could inquire about the Uncle whom he had no name for, and maybe lift a few supplies as well. Holds weren't as easy to knock over as Weyrs, but ah well. One must do what one must do.

Running a hand through his hair, sweeping it back out of his face, Honam squinted at the sky before leveling his gaze upon the woods ahead. Nice and shady, that. Somewhere in there he expected to come across a nice brook or three between here and the Hold. His long stride ate the ground quickly, carrying him forward to his destination of nowhere.

An idle thought roamed between his ears ... how long before he'd seen the whole of Pern?

[Drgnwlf71]

Tiaholt and Quynn. A vicious pair you wouldn't want to mess with. With his youth and stamina and her experience and knowledge, the two made a great team. Tia sighted their prey, a boy about the age of her. He looked like he didn't knew where he going. Tia was assigned leader of the two. Tia whistled like an avian to Quynn. She point upwards toward the trees. Quynn nodded and sliently climbed the nearby tree. She put her hand out and lowered it meaning to keep down and keep quiet.

Quynn was excited. This was his first actual attack. He wanted to make a move now but knew that Tia was the brain behind it all and did what she said to the tee. His muscles tensed as he waited for her signal. Quynn jumped from tree to tree sliently until he was over by Tia. Tiaholt was impressed and she looked at him, her eyes told him of her praise. She patted his back as if to say, 'Good job.' Her approval meant everything to him and he puffed out his chest. She slapped him in the chest, playfully. He chuckled, softly.

They were going to attack as a team but not yet. She had to wait for just the right moment and that was coming real soon.

[Marnark’tranarprol]

One did not travel the world alone, getting by on the skin of your teeth, without developing some sense for the world around you. Honam's whistling stopped abruptly, as he seemed to pick a chill off the air despite the warm rays coming off Rukbat. Suddenly wary, he glanced quickly around himself, though he did make the mistake most people made of only searching around himself two-dimensionally. Only dragons were in the air, and dragons didn't hurt people, after all. Whers, however, were another story. But it was broad daylight, so it wasn't a wild wher.

On edge, he kept a steady pace as he walked along the road, glancing to side to side on occasion, trying to figure out what was bothering him. He shifted the bag to his other shoulder, and wrinkled his nose a bit, fighting off the urge to itch it. Something for sure wasn't right. The concept of renegades never entered his mind, however, as he'd never encountered such a thing before.

What he thought he was sensing was maybe a pack of feral canines. Or wild felines. Those roamed the south, he'd heard. Big, viscous cats. There was no doubt, he was edgy. But yet he kept walking, staying on the road. No sense in panicking and running amok through the countryside after all. Might just be his imagination!

[Drgnwlf71]

Tiaholt chuckled to herself. She had heard wild felines a while back but knew to keep a them a widebirth but sometimes things don't go exactly go as planned and you have to go freestyle. Quynn spotted the pack on the horizon and they were headed straight for the boy, growling and snarling. He pointed them out to Tiaholt.

Tia jumped down from the tree.

"Where do you think your going?" she said in low, threatening voice. Quynn hung from another tree behind the boy and flip upside down while holding on to a branch and smiled a twisted smile. He had his knife up to poised to strike his neck. Tia looked at him and shook her head slightly. "Hold, little one. Now, I want you to turn around and see just how big our felines are." She smiled. "Now those felines are hungry and do you -know- what they would do to a boy of your stature?" Quynn snapped at Honam and hissed. He chuckled. "It would seem my boy here would a piece of you as well....quite literaly. Now, it decision time. Either you run back where ever you come from or I'll let loose my boy and hmmmm....what about those wild felines that coming for you? They call my boy 'The Beast.' He isn't named that for nothing" Tia jumped up the tree and disappeared from sight.

A few moments later, knife drawn Quynn let go and flipped over so his feet and hands touched the ground. His smile and eyes had a dangerous look to them. The wild felines were closing in. Tia attacked! She jumped on Honam's neck from above and stabbed him in both shoulders. She consider twisting them but that would scare off the wild felines.

The felines were moving quickly.

"Maybe I should leave you to those sharding felines!" Tia growled. "Tell me, what business do you have in our forest? Talk or I twist these knives. Believe me, you think being stabbed is bad, twisting the blades only makes it that much more painful! The pain I give you is not compared to a mauling of wild felines."

[Marnark’tranarprol]

A chuckle. From up high. What in Faranth's name? Honam twirled around, and looked up, to see someone up in a tree. He was about to ask what a girl was doing in a tree when she started talking instead. Where was he going? "Down the road." He answered, simply enough with a grin. It was true, too. Down the road was his destination ... likely would be for some time, too.

The grin faded, though, as the sheer hostility of the two became quite apparent. The comment about felines, though, had him worrying ... maybe that's why they were in the tree and acting so oddly. Felines ... not that a tree would help much. Felines were big, and were just as much at home in a tree as on the ground. Though how she said that was a little disconcerting. 'Our' felines? Honam had not been aware they were controllable.

He turned around again, though, to face Quynn when the lad landed on the ground. "Uhh ..." he backed up a few paces, not liking where this was going. Dropping the pack from his shoulder to just hang onto it with one hand, Honam was not sure exactly what to do ... to stay with these crazies was a bad idea ... to run anywhere at all was a bad idea. Especially with felines in the area. They were faster than any man ever born.

Getting landed on was not part of the plan, at any rate, and the pain of twin blades sinking into his body was more than enough to make him yell loudly. "Shards, girl, what is wrong with you?!" Honam asked, dropping to his knees to try and get away from the pain and the knives. He didn't stay there long, though, lauching backward to impact her in the gut with one of his bleeding shoulders. Knocking her down, he flung his pack at the boy. The weight of it was not insubstantial, and would knock the lad clean over on his rump if it managed to get him in the chest - where Honam had thrown it at.

Twisting around, shoulders hurting by far too much to try and use his arms for anything more - throwing that pack had been excruciating, he launched a sturdy kick at Tia, too upset to be pleased at the solid connection it made with her ribs. Hopefully, that would knock the air out of her for a bit. Stumbling, he made it a few tens of feet up the road, before somehow managing to pull the knife out of his boot. It was a pretty good knife, all things considered ... getting good stuff was fairly easy when all he had to do was pilfer it from someone not paying attention.

Faranth, his shoulders hurt ... a lot ... but it was quickly becoming apparent to him that if he intended to stay alive very long at all, he was going to have to use his arms anyway ... regardless of what his shoulders thought of that. "Stay away from me!" Honam told them both, still yelling at the top of his lungs... maybe the racket they were making would scare the felines off. He did know they were not prone to attacking anything that seemed overly excited, alert, or healthy. Unfortunately, he also knew they were attracted to the scent of blood ... and he was covered in it.

It wasn't an idle warning, though ... a body didn't travel the world without any connections and not pick up some self defense skills. They'd only gotten him that badly because he hadn't truly been expecting to get jumped. Now, the surprise factor was over with. He didn't want to hurt or kill anyone, but he would, if it meant his own life.

[Drgnwlf71]

"What's wrong with me?!" Tiaholt laughed and she smiled. "Nothing. It's seems to me that you need some help dealing with your feline problem. They can smell blood they are attracted to it. By the looks of things, you will not live that long. 'Course if you allow us to help you...." Quynn was sniffed Homan and grinned. He licked off the boy's blood.

"Mmmm...tasty!" He exclaimed. "I want him." He said. "I want to maul him."

"Down, Beast...down boy." Tia chuckled and Quynn glared at the boy and swiped at him with his knife as he went to her side. "The felines aren't ours, just that their in our home. I'm sorry....your a fool to think we could control wild felines. No one controls what they do." Tiaholt sighed. She disliked doing a good deed but....those felines were closing in. If they didn't do anything, their home was too going to be at risk.

"Beast, take care of the felines. Do NOT hurt them." she looked at Quynn, sternly. Quynn ran to scare them off. She took of his tunic and dropped on the ground and was very still. As the leader passed him, he opened his eyes, he grabbed his hind leg and threw him backward. The feline went flying into the others, raising all kinds of cane. It didn't hurt them just surprised them so that they ran off.

"Now, that settles that. Now. On to the business of being here in our home?" Quynn asked as he approached him. He had his knife drawn as he walked, omniously toward Honam.

[Marnark’tranarprol]

Honam's generally east-going features twisted into a snarl as he continued to back way from them slowly, one step at a time. "You stick me with your sharding knives, and you expect me to trust you? Hah! Fat chance of that! For all I know, you're trying to kill me for my boots!" Metaphorical that, but yeah ... he was kinda proud of his new boots. They fit, for one. "I am not invading your home! There's not a building here at all! Just a sharding road, that goes from the Weyr, to the Hold! Just what is your problem, huh?!"

That kid had to be completely out of his mind ... other than wanting to eat people ... what insanity it had to take to go lay down in front of an advancing pride of felines. What a way to get eaten, yay. Honam was pretty sure he didn't want anything to do with this pair, regardless of the circumstances. What nutjobs!

It was sad that he'd thrown the pack at them ... but not a big deal. He could get new stuff easily enough. Getting his shoulders to heal properly - that might be a trick. Getting his life back once they took it was nigh on impossible. So, he opted to just leave the bag with them, and keep backing away. He wasn't far enough to be able to just turn and run yet, but Honam planned on getting there. Violence, while he was completely capable of it, and was regrettably fairly experienced with it ... it just wasn't his thing. Nooooo sir.

[Drgnwlf71]

She smiled and Quynn and laughed. "I am crazy, so is he. We are ALL insane. Beast, get the bag. He is leaving. Aren't you?" Quynn could hold it anymore, he HAD to make contact. He punched Honam in the stomach, then kicked him in the face. He was on him like a wher to a fresh kill. He was driving punches into him.

"BEAST! DOWN!" Tia yelled sternly. The boy refused to listen. Tia kicked Quynn in the arse. "I siad NO!!" she gave him a look of death. The boy still did not listen. Getting more angry and annoyed, she put her hand on his shoulder and pushed back hard. "No kill, Beast. No kill! Get back! He's impossible to deal with when he is like this!" She got in front of the 18 Turn old once she got Quynn off of him. Quynn saw that Tia was protecting Honam. "NO! He is not ours to toy with. Calm down, Beast." Quynn quieted down and whimpered at Tia. "This IS our home and everything in it, except the wildlife. We are Renegades. We have our goodies, Beast. Let's let this arrogant fool make his own fate, alone." Beast picked up his bag. "Good luck. You'll need it. There's a pack of wild whers about this forest as well. Watch for them. Oh, and....without a weapon?" she held his knife, shook her head and laughed and left.

[Marnark’tranarprol]

Honam was just far enough away to see the kid coming before the gap was completely closed. With a snarl, Honam twisted to one side, trying to dodge the incoming blow before he slashed at the kid with his knife, despite the agony that caused to bloom in his shoulder. It missed a true stab, but Honam knew that he'd hit the kid on someway, likely sliced him somehow. It didn't really matter. Acting completely feral - or worse - rabid, the kid wasn't earning any positive points in Honam's eye.

It was awfully hard to turn some of those punches, and he was too late for others, with his shoulders tore up like they were. But the wanderer was not at all completely ineffective, doing his best to unbalance the kid launching so many blows at him, before returning a few blows aimed high at face and throat. All it would take was one good, solid blow to the throat to render his opponent completely limp... if only his shoulders weren't running bloody vats all over the place and screaming in agony at him fit to make him half blind.

Nary a sound really escaped him, really, other than the occasional grunt from impact. Honam realized he was fighting for his life when it came to this nut job, and that reflected in his efforts. Every blow was as hard as he could make it, though less than it would have been had his shoulders been sound. And every movement was fast to try and turn incoming blows, though again slowed by injuries already sustained. Many times, Honam licked out with his knife, trying to do enough damage to discourage any further attacks, without actually trying to kill the youngster that was attacking him. No, he wasn't trying to kill, that would have been too easy, too many times, to sink his knife right through Quynn's chest to kiss his heart. Or to punch the solar plexus, and equally stop the kid's heart.

It seemed almost completely without warning when Tia interfered and managed to get between them. Honam was of quite a mind to slam his knife down into her shoulder. See how she liked that kind of greeting. He didn't, however, as he'd been raised better than that ... not to strike at a turned back, much less at a girl. Much as that might be the death of him, someday. Looking to be sooner rather than later.

Honam just hissed at her, passed clenched teeth, not really paying any attention to what she actually said. He was just glad when the both of them left ... albeit with his pack and his knife. Honam staggered back up the road again, for a few hundred feet, before collapsing onto the roadway. Feeling rather dizzy from bloodloss, and completely in pain from the stab wounds and all the blows he'd taken, Honam was pretty sure that this was the end of him.

Nobody even knew where he was... except those two rats back there, who undoubtedly would sooner kill him and eat him than help.

At least his feet didn't hurt.

[Drgnwlf71]

Ranim was wandering through the forest and he across a boy, face down. He rolled him over and sighed.

"Beast, was it? Are you okay? My name is Nym. What's yours? Do you know there is a wher pack coming this way, right? It's getting dark. Come, boy. Let's get you inside. Shall we? In the morning, you may return hoom after a good nights rest and I'll take care of youre wounds, if you let me. You must be careful who who deal with, especially around these parts."

Ranim picked him up and took him inside a small house. He laid the boy down on a bed and began tending to his wounds. "Have you had anything to eat?"

[Marnark’tranarprol]

All Honam heard was a string of continuous, incoherent babble. It didn't make any sense, and the face it was pouring out of refused to come into focus at all. "Yeuuunnnnghhh." He groaned in protest when he was grabbed and man-handled. Any kind of handling at all, really, was going to cause pain, and feel rougher than it really was. He grasped at nothing, at anything, but couldn't seem to get a hold on the world again.

All he knew was a blurr, and pain. That was it. Nothing else made sense, nothing wanted to make sense. The darkness beckoned, but Honam was completely terrified of it. He didn't want to die...!

[Drgnwlf71]

Ranim sighed.

"He shouldn't have come with her. I should have. Please don't die on me. I have enough trouble staying away from those blasted dragonriders. I have medicine you should take." He reached in his bag and took out some fellis. He smashed it up into bits, spinkled it in some tea and stirred with a spoon. He poured some for his foundling.

"Here." He helped him drink the fellis riddened Klah. "Drink. It will help the pain go away. Come on, now. Don't you die on me." He had a bit of numbweed left. He sighed as he hoped it was enough. He made it into a salve and smeared it on the boy's face and shoulders.

"They should be punished for this! Don't worry, boy. I'll make sure this won't happen again! We never greet a visitor as a hostile until it's evident. You'll get your knife back and your stuff back by morning, I promise you that." He sighed in disappointment. "I will stay up with you as long as I can. You will be safe here. Rest now. Rest. I will fix something for you to eat in the morning."

[Marnark’tranarprol]

There was stuff in his mouth. Liquid stuff. Ack! They were trying to drown him!!! There was little the journeyman could do besides swallow in reflex in an attempt to not drown in the klah. Gag, ack. That was the worst tasting pond water he'd ever run across!! Honam choked on it, and flailed a bit before that very motion caused more pain than he really knew how to deal with. He passed out from it, but did not die. The klah did him well, though the fellis did not help in knocking him out. Energy rushed into his system, helping with the bloodloss issue.

As the numbweed took effect, Honam finished succumbing to the darkness of sleep, his beaten body relaxing under the release of pain. What he was going to do when he woke up was debatable. But for the moment, he was completely out of it.

[Drgnwlf71]

"Careful, boy. I am not trying to kill you, I'm trying to help. Please, allow me to. Now, I am going to get your stuff back. I'm going to be be shortly. "I have dealt with them before."

Ranim left in search for the two that ran off with the boy's stuff. He was a tracker. It was one of the skills he picked up from other people along the way. Ranim was always eager to learn anything, although he was basically a good person he didn't always choose wisely. He tracked them both, it wasn't hard.

Ranim saw them by a campfire, eating what rations the boy had in his pack. Just by chance, a wher was behind him. He had fed them on occasion so it was his friend. It nudged him. He smiled.

"Hey, girl. Sorry no food right now." she snorted a playful blast of air through her nostrils. "Got no time to play right now, girl. I'm on duty." He didn't touch her because she was wild. He secretly wished that he had his own that he could play with. Being a Renegade was such lonely work. Yes, there were females about but he needed something more than deal with these immature fellow in front of him. The wher went away, feeling disappointed. it was a young one. That much he could tell.

"So, you decide to attack?" Ranim asked, sternly. "Not only that,you allowed that boy almost kill an innocent!" Ranim asked. "I thought you two would understand what the human race stood for. Oh and eating another man's rations?"

"Why not? He's not going to eat them! He's too much of a dimwit to notice."Quynn hissed he drew his knife.

"Do you think that such a wise idea? Seeing as how I outweight that boy in the road by half and have more experience than you two put together! I have seen the way you were trained. Attacking innocents without provocation, without the knowledge if they were hostile or not. I am an innocent, would you like to attack me?" Quynn started to but when Tia saw the whers behind him she said..

"Stand down." Tia commanded. Ranim also saw the whers but wasn't afriad. "You see, the big thing with these fellas is fear. You show no fear, they leave you alone. You come in their territory and show no harm will be done, they will leave you alone. Eventually they begin you know your scent, get used you. That's why they don't attack me. You on the other hand is a different story. All pack animals have a stradegy to attacking. They plan it out before doing it. I watched how feline groups and canine pack hunt and observed there moves and body languages." he said. "You have nothing planned. I suggest you scram of leave the goodies here and the knife as well."

Not wanting to mess with whers and a more possible experienced fighter than they, they left. They did leave the boys' pack and knife there.

Ranim picked them up and took it back to the small house. He found the boy still sleeping. He put down his stuff, replacing his rations they ate and stood watch.

[Kandarra]

T'rin put on his good boots and mounted up on Amparath. "This whole hunting outside the weyr thing is going to drive me nuts," he said to no one in particular. Since they were short on supplies, Christae and Uslanee had decreed that dragons must take to the forests outside of the weyr to eat.

I do not mind, Amparath said, turning his whirling eyes toward his rider. It is nice to get out and hunt. It is more challenging.

"And it's more challenging for me as well. Have to make sure I always have my knife in case those felines decide I'm choice meat." He patted his belt knife again, checking that it was secured properly. "Alright, let's go."

Amparath dropped off the ledge of their weyr and glided up and out till they reached the forest. They flew straight until the bronze said, I smell food. I will drop you here.

Depositing his rider in a clearing, the bronze launched again to hunt. T'rin looked around him, seeing no signs of any felines or wherries. Bored, he decided to look around. As he walked a bit into the trees, he noticed a disturbance in the branches, and... blood? Alarmed, he looked around for more tracks, and noticed that something had been dragged off. Drawing his knife cautiously, he followed the tracks until he reached a small hovel.

Perplexed at its presence, he nevertheless crept up to it and listened at the door. Voices? How should he proceed?

You could always knock.

T'rin rolled his eyes, but decided that he might as well. Holding his blade down at his side, he raised a fist and knocked on the door.

[Drgnwlf71]

"Doors open! Vistors are always welcome!" Ranim said. He looked up to see who it was.

[Kandarra]

When he heard someone nonchalantly call to come on in, T'rin blinked. That was definitely not the reply he was expecting, what with a blood trail practically leading to the door. He debated for a second whether to keep his knife out, but after a moment's thought he put it away. This person-- a man, from the sound of it-- was inviting him into his home, and it would be rude. Still, he kept the hilt free of his tunic, just in case. Cautiously, he opened the door.

Stepping in, he looked around, and when he saw the bloodied man lying on the floor, his eyes widened. He searched for the source of the voice, because that man was far too injured to be calling out. There was another man there. T'rin nodded to him.

"My name is T'rin. I'm sorry if I'm butting into your business, but I saw blood on the ground and followed it here, to see if I could assist. Is there anything I can do to help?" He looked down at the injured man, then back up at the other. "He looks in a very bad way."

[Drgnwlf71]

"Ah, Bronzerider T'rin..a most honored visit. Please come in and rest yourself! I am Nym, Tracker among other things. I found this poor soul in the forest last night while hunting. I was on my way back and found this poor boy. He was barely alive. He was apparently jumped by Renegades, sir. See, look." Ranim show him the two knife punctures in the shoulders. "That was no wher attack, sir. Wher claws aren't that deep, plus look....they are no claw mark on him anywhere. Felines or Canine dont attack until provoked. From what I gathered from ground this morning.....no struggle was made so it must been above. The animals in any forest attack either from the front or the back. They never attack from the trees. Wherries don't attack people."

"I gave him some fellis in some Klah, and made some salve out of numbweed and smeared it all over his face after I cleaned him up of course. I don't get very many vistors out here. Be careful when you move him. Do you want me to help?"

[Kandarra]

T'rin inspected the wounds Nym pointed out, agreeing that they were most definitely not the result of a wild wher or feline. I'd forgotten about the renegades here, he thought grimly, making a mental note to guard himself any time he left the weyr.

"He's very lucky you found him. Very lucky, indeed. You did well. But he'll need a healer.. a whole team of them, it looks like." He shook his head angrily, looking down at the man. "What is the world coming to? Men should never attack other men with such brutality." He took a deep breath, controlling his bitterness.

You attacked a man once, Amparath said.

That was in defense of what I thought was an innocent person, he replied. This is different. I did not seek to kill, only to restrain.

To Nym, he said, "We should get him to someplace with healers. Do you have any idea who he is? I could always have Amparath fly him to the weyr but if he belongs somewhere else we ought to take him home."

[Drgnwlf71]

"No, no idea who he is, sir. " Ranim sighed as he started to dish up some breakfast. "Have you eaten?"