[Sleepy Ranger]

"Wake up you nitwit." The words cut through the brisk air in the wilderness of Arnor. Ransley the Ranger sat up taking in a deep breath. There was nobody around. Ransley sat there alone, the only human around but not the only living being. There were a variety of creatures (both friendly and unfriendly) around. He brushed his hair off his forehead and stood up taking a look at himself. Brown breeches, brown boots, a gray shirt with a leather tunic on top. He lift a gray cloak up from the ground and wore it. His other pair of clothes, long gray flowing robes used mainly for special ocassions, were packed in his bag.

It would be a long day he sensed looking up at the sun. There was an adventure to set off on, money to be won. A bottle of wine was a rare thing in these parts and one bearing a secret message was even rarer. What it said was clear enough and Ransley had grown weary of guarding the ungrateful souls here. It was time for bigger things. He didn't require taking anyone's leave he was free to do as he would now. Hadn't always been that way though but things had changed since the death of his elder brother. He walked up to the edge of the hill he was on and looked around, quiet and peaceful. Things would not stay that way though, he knew that well enough. A quest would not be without danger but he was prepared for it. He took in a deep breath and walked back to where he had set camp.

He knelt down and inspected the ground, last night his weapons had been stolen by a group of goblins. It would not have been wise to have attacked them then not that it was wise now considering he was unarmed but he would have to none the less. Weaponless was no way to set off on a quest. He opened his bag and pulled out a thick and large metal sheet (Novelty Item). "Weaponless? Not quite." Though Ransley with a smirk. He lifted himself up and slung his bag over his shoulder. There was rope in his bag as well as food and water aplenty. This adventure would begin with a side-quest, how lovely.

He jogged along the path, tracking the goblins wouldn't be hard. They had taken no pains to keep their presence a secret.He found their lair easy enough. It was a cave which cut deep into the side of a hill near by. It would dark inside and he reckoned they wouldn't have left his weapons out in the open. He raised the metal sheet and began to move inside slowly and carefully.

It grew darker the deeper he ventured but there were no goblins so far. The cave ran on in a straight narrowing path until it came to a fork. He dropped to his knees to get a better look at the tracks. It was hard to tell which belonged to the goblins he was after and even if he could figure it out there was no telling whether or not they had handed his equipment to someone else. He sighed and examined the ground more closely... no, nothing... but wait! What was this? A bit ahead of where he was he noticed the ground pressed in a bit, one of his weapons had been placed here and then hurriedly picked up. It was not a goblin's hand impression there nor were those goblin footprints. Ransley raised to his feet quickly.

He began to run down the path as fast as his feet would carry him, the metal sheet held tight in his hand. It was a young boy, around seventeen he would guess, that had taken his equipment from here. A boy with goblins, that made no sense. The ranger came to a quick halt, partially aided by the fact that he had run straight into a solid rock wall. He shook his head and groggily got back to his feet. There didn't seem to be any harm done but he scolded himself for being so careless. What seemed to be a deadend, on closer inspection was revealed to be a door. He slid away the rock slab revealing a hole behind it. "Great." he thought. "More tunnels."

The ranger crawled through the tunnel, it wasn't too long. At the other end he had dropped out into what seemed to be a sort of make shift home. There was a bed, a stove, a couple of chairs and some other things that seemed to serve no real purpose. He walked in carefully, gripping the sheet in his gloved hands. There was movement, something cut through the air behind him. Something had tried to jump onto Ransley and whatever it was, was quick but the ranger was quicker. He spun around swiftly and raised the sheet as a figure smashed head first into it and dropped to the ground, out cold.

A young boy... in a goblin abode. Probably living off whatever scraps he could pick out from here. "Must be a tricky lad." Ransley mused as he placed the sheet back into his bag. He searched around the room till he found what he was looking for. It was a long sword with a black streak running through the middle fixed upon a black hilt. He seathed his sword, it was good to have it back. He then raised up a silver plated silver plated short sword.Still in perfect condition, he seathed that as well. He looked over at the boy before leaving and that moment he realized that this boy was destined for greater things. He couldn't leave him in this rat hole, there was only death to be found here.

So Ransley began to head towards the exit, his weapons reposessed and a young boy over his shoulder. All in all it would have gone well had a band of goblins not suddenly come out from the other end. The goblins snarled at the ranger, there were too many to fight and time was of the essence. He smirked at them as his hand creeped towards his sword. The goblins watched on, waiting till he drew his weapon before they attacked. Ransley had never drawn his sword though he had instead spun around and run leaving the goblins startled for a moment before they too followed after. He put two fingers into his mouth as he neared the way outside and whistled loudly, the sound piercing through the air like an arrow.

A neigh in the distance and the sound of approaching hooves told Ransley that his call had been answered. Arrows whistled past him but none hit and none would hit for it is fate. It has been written in the books of life that when faced with a main character the foe's accuracy drops to such a low number that they wouldn't be able to even shoot their own foot. However, a yelp from a goblin as his shot somehow dropped into his own foot broke that law.

Ransley tossed the boy onto the brown horse that waited outside before swiftly mounting it himself. He rode hard and fast to the first sanctuary on his way to begin his quest. He dropped the boy off there at the edge, he knew well enough that the boy would be found by those who would take care of him. As for himself though, it would be best to carry on. He had somewhere to be.

***

A horse trotted along to the destination designated in the note he had recieved. Ransley patted it on the neck and stopped it just before the meeting point, easing himself off. It would be best to go in alone as was mentioned in the note he reckoned. If he needed his horse later he could on him but for now he figured it would be best to go in alone. He rested a hand on his hilt as he walked towards where he was headed. He could sense he wasn't alone and he could also sense he would be in some strange company. It would be best to remain on guard.