𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝, 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲!<br/><br/>𝐖𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐞𝐮𝐟𝐞𝐧, 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝟏𝟒𝟎𝟎. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 - 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐆𝟏𝟑 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞; 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞, 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟. 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 - 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞!<br/><br/>𝐌𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝟐𝟒-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬-𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝟔'𝟐", 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫, 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐜𝐲𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥, 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧-𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞, 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐞𝐮𝐟𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐲𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐒𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐞, 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫. 𝐃𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭, 𝐑𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝. 𝐒𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲. 𝐇𝐞 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞.<br/><br/>𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐧𝐃 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐡. 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬, 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐍𝐞𝐮𝐟𝐞𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝. :) 𝐈'𝐦 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫!<br/><br/>---------------------------<br/><br/>The town of New Orchard was a quaint town. It resembled the life Sebastian Thatcher had been born into. His family were carpenters who made a modest wage. They never asked for more than they received; to Ian, it was their lack of ambition that drove him from their village. He sought more than what they could give. It was due to his own hubris that he was on the run now. Rather than relaxing in the arms of his estranged lover, he was trudging through the forests and wetlands of the country in a desperate search of an escape from the king's hounds. The bounty hunters, no matter where he went, always seemed to follow. However, this town was far in the mountain's valleys, away from the immediate vicinity of his sovereign's reign. Surely, the gods would grant him reprieve. Sebastian was tired. He was hungry. He had not seen an inn in weeks. The one that existed in New Orchard was comical, but for now it would be his saving grace.<br/><br/>Luckily, he now longer clanked when he walked. He ditched the metal of his guard uniform long ago. Blending in with his surroundings was his best bet. He was caked in mud and sweat, like the farmers who sat drinking in pods around the building. Still, he had the habit of checking each face as he walked in. He was on constant alert for danger. What if they got here first? Sebastian plopped in a seat at the bar. As he waited, his fingers tapped against the rough wood of the counter. All he wanted was a shower and a drink.