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Sondo said nothing for a moment as he watched them leave. In the end, he was not surprised, and the disappointment he felt was tempered with triumph. He knew he had won the argument, and Sondo now figured that Falco had had in mind all along to leave, though preferably with a larger following. Far more hobbits than had left with Falco had sided with him, some with quiet loyalty and others with bold exclamations. Ultimately, leadership still belonged to him, and he drew from that.
"Well," he said. "I guess that's that. We've got to be heading on as well, but I don't think we need to be in much of a hurry. If they don't reach Sarn Ford soon, they may decide to come back after us." He doubted it, but as long as there was that hope, Sondo thought that he would have an easier time keeping up the morale. Tricky as that may be, Sondo had set high importance on it, especially in these coming days.
"But before we get going, I want to take a quick inventory of supplies. All that I have left is my knife. Do any of you have any food? Rope? Anything?" They pooled their resources, and, as Sondo expected there was not much to be had. About half had some kind of weapon, and among all of them there was only enough food for each of them to have a meal, and most of that came from the pack Sassy had managed to keep. Other than that, there were only a few odds and ends: fishhooks without line (though there were some short pieces of string), a spare button, an unusually colored stone, and the like.
"Maybe we'll catch some fish for dinner," said Sondo in an attempt to be positive. "We have some stuff here; we'll get by." Everything disappeared back into pockets, and without further deliberation they headed north. If any had regrets about the path they'd chosen they kept quiet; for better or for worse, their loyalties and desires had been evaluated, their choices made, and their lots cast.
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