Rane: The Trail

"Aaah..." Rane sighed as he soaked his feet in the cool waters of the stream. It hadn't been a particularly hard day, but it had been long, and the entirety of it had been spent on his feet. The sun hadn't set yet, and it probably wouldn't for a while yet. That was one of the things about this province - the days just seemed long in general, like the sun was watching and, like a child, it wanted to stay up as long as possible to see what was going to happen next.

"Well, I suppose I'd better get back, then," Rane said to himself, as he grabbed his shoes in one hand and raised himself to a stand. The water sliding off his feet formed splotches of mud in the dusty soil as he headed back down the trail that led back to the village. It wasn't much of a path - likely just a deer trail that had found some extra travelers in its day - but Rane had taken an immediate liking to it when he'd stumbled upon it. There were shorter routes to fresh water from the village, but the water seemed to sparkle more here, it tasted better. And it was quiet, which was always welcome after a full day of work.

Rane's mind was allowed to wander only for a moment as his path was suddenly blocked by a pair of imposing figures. Rane stopped, looked up into the eyes of the two, and arched a brow. The two men were at least a full head taller than Rane, though that wasn't saying much; at best, Rane stood just under five-foot-six. Normally this was fine, and about average for most local folks, but these men looked as though their mother had fed them a little something extra for breakfast every day. Rane had seen them about a couple times in the past few weeks - these were two of the hired "help" the local lord used to ensure his people were getting enough work done every day.

Each man wore the frilly accoutrements that were often associated with those of higher class: billowy shirts and pants held close by gilded breastplates and guards on the forearms and shins. They each wore a helmet styled similarly, and it actually surprised Rane that neither was adorned with a large, colored feather. The first man held a large, slightly curved sword with a single edge, like an oversized katana; the second had a stick in his hand that seemed to small for a man of his build, though a large club hung at his side. Rane's eyes narrowed momentarily. While their armor was mostly for show, and bore no signs of wear or damage, the weapons were another matter entirely. Judging by the grips and the wear alone, these men knew how to swing their weapons more than just mindlessly.

"Ah-ha!" Rane's face suddenly split in a smile. "I get it now. You guys were afraid I was going to leave now that the job's done, and came to bring me my walking stick and payment!" Rane's figure relaxed visibly, and he slung his shoes over his shoulder. "That's awfully kind of you, but there's really no need, as I'm-"

"Shut up," the swordsman's voice rumbled lower than expected, cutting Rane off. Rane looked taken aback. "We're here 'cause rumor has it you're tryin' to start a coup to overthrow Lord Shu." The man cracked a grin as the words came out, obviously enjoying the situation already.

Rane, for his part, simply looked confused. He took a second to look himself over, as if to glean what could possibly have tipped these men off. It certainly wasn't his build, for these men, and many more in the village, were obviously larger han he was. For that matter, he'd never so much as taken off the kung fu outfit he wore everyday, a faded navy and wearing its makeshift stitches like scars, at least not while on the job. He didn't look obviously foreign, though he did have lighter skin than the natives, and his hair shone a reddish-brown in the sun, unlike the jet black also found here. The eyes? Surely blue eyes were phenomenally rare, but that shouldn't set a Lord off, should it?

Rane's mock reflections were interrupted by the swordsman gripping his sword and making a heavy swing at Rane, as though chopping wood. Dust flew into the air as the sword collided with the ground, but nothing else. Rane had managed to roll to the side quick enough to avoid being split, and was just finishing putting his shoes on when the swordsman hauled his weapon out of the ground stared, wide-eyed and angry at Rane.

"You dare to defy Lord Shu?!" His voice boomed as spittle trickled down the corner of his mouth. The stick-holder just laughed out loud.

"Look, I'm sure this is all just a big misunderstanding," Rane began to plea, despite the smile that was tugging at his lips. "Let's just go back and talk to Lord Shu, and-"

"Impertinent little whelp!" The man's sword swung out again, in what would have been a decapitating blow had Rane stayed put. The bully's eyes widened again as he tried to halt his weapon, but the force he'd used to move such a weapon so fast made it impossible to change direction easily. Rane's figure had shrank and darted forward with surprising speed, delivering a quick triplet of jabs to the man's unprotected gut before twirling to the side so as to avoid a large body doubling over onto him. The swordsman bent over, one hand on his stomach, but managed to keep one hand on his weapon, which he swung again without grace.

"Tsk." Rane gave a little half-sigh and swung his arm up. The back of his forearm connected with the underside of the blade, arcing the blade harmlessly upward and throwing the attacker even more off balance. Rane took the opportunity to step into the man once more, this time to swing a fist at his wrist. There was a brief crackling noise and the large man's sword dropped from his hand as he dropped to his knees began uttering pained gibberish.

Ah, so that's how it is, thought Rane. These men had been on the top of the food chain for so long that they had never experienced real pain before. He turned in time to see the second man, no longer laughing, charging him and wielding the too-short staff in a similar manner to the previous man's sword. Rane once again stepped inside of his assaulter's attack zone, gripped the staff in one hand, the man's wrist in another, and, grunting, heaved the man over his shoulder, wrenching the stick away in the process. Rane was on top of him before he'd settled from his landing and he swung the staff, perfect in his hands, into a kneecap.

A few minutes later, after he'd rifled through the men's pockets a bit, Rane was back on his way down the deer path towards the village. He wouldn't be able to sleep with a comfortable blanket and pillow like he'd hope this night, but he'd at least get his warm meal before he had to leave. Rane stuck a finger through the new hole that man's sword had cut in his sleeve and sighed. Hopefully the wonderful elderly woman he'd been staying with would be more skilled with a needle than he, and could patch this up. The coins now jangling in his pocket meant he could at least offer her compensation for the hospitality he'd shown her (never mind the town fortifications he'd just spent weeks helping build.)

"It's gotta be the name," Rane mused as he neared his destination. Probably just another Lord overly touchy about the fact that he couldn't pronounce "Rane" correctly, or somesuch. The young man gave an abrupt laugh. "Yeah, or something like that."