#its like. you will ask an old sailor for a story and then he'll tell you a story from his past

[jonny-b-meowborn]

Not to be a fucked up little freak but recently I started writing a short story in second person in future tense and it's about a lighthouse and her keeper

[iviarellereads]

The Eye of the World, Chapter 26 - Whitebridge

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(Harp icon) In which a hasty retreat must be made.

Mat finishes playing a barely recognizable song on Thom's flute, and Thom laments that he thought shepherds spent all their time playing pipes and flute, and now he knows better than to trust such tales. Mat points out that Rand's the shepherd, he's just a village boy. Rand asks Thom quietly why he's trying so hard, they're not really going to be gleemen, it's just cover until they find the others. Thom counters, what if you don't find them? You don't even know they're still alive.

Rand thinks they have to be, but Mat voices the same fear, what if they're all dead, right before one of the sailors calls out that he's sighted Whitebridge. The sailors prep the boat for docking, bringing their goods up to unload, and Rand watches the city approach, to keep from thinking about his friends.

The White Bridge from which the town takes its name shines, almost looking like glass, but Domon says no amount of rain can make it slippery, and no chisel or weapon can make a mark on it. Thom thinks it's a remnant from the Age of Legends. Domon says it doesn't have to be that old, or Aes Sedai work, to be great.(1)

Some merchants approach the ship with false smiles, but before he deals with them, Domon orders Gelb off the boat. Gelb retrieves his things from crew quarters, then angrily goes off into town. Domon catches Thom as they're disembarking, and offers to take them down to Illian, where there are great competitions for gleemen. Thom says he couldn't afford fare at Domon's rates, and Domon guiltily repays them their original fare, and some more besides. They've worked their fares and more with the stories, the songs, and the amusement of watching the boys train.

Rand has no idea where to start, but says they need to try to find the others. Thom says the right innkeepers will have the information they need, and leads the way. They go to an inn and ask for a little privacy. The innkeeper offers them a bit off room and board if he'll stay. After the innkeeper goes to get Thom some spiced wine, Thom grumbles that any decent innkeeper pays a gleeman in room and board and some besides, not a bit off.

When the innkeeper comes back, Thom asks him what the news is. Logain's been captured, on his way to fulfil the prophecies. The Aes Sedai who had captured him were parading him at every town on the road, to show off that the world is safe again. If they want to see him, they ought to go to Caemlyn.(2) It'll be a tale to tell one's children and grandchildren, even though false dragons are fairly common these days.

There was also a man through a few days before, from Illian, with a proclamation all done up in ribbons. He'd said there were messengers sent out to all corners of the world, to bring people to Illian to swear their lives to hunt for the Horn of Valere, something that hasn't happened in four hundred years.(3)

Thom starts daydreaming after this, so Rand tells the innkeeper they're looking for friends who may have passed through. Thom glares at Rand, coming back from his fancies, but gives the innkeeper short descriptions of their missing party members. The innkeeper tells Thom to forget about performing, and they'd best leave his inn as soon as the wine's done, and leave Whitebridge if they're smart. A weaselly man, always talking to himself and prone to rapid mood and behaviour changes, has been asking after those five, and others.(4) Then another man, all in black with his cloak pulled up so you can't see his face, came with the same questions as the first man.

A Fade, a Myrddraal, and Thom says he'll be back to look for them again. They should go take up Domon on his offer of passage to Illian. Rand gets stubborn, they either wait in Whitebridge or go on to Caemlyn, that's what they agreed on. Thom says the best way to evade the Fade is to go to Illian, the opposite way to what he expects them to do. Rand won't abandon his friends so easily, though. Nor will Mat, who tells Thom to go back to Domon, then. They'll make their own way. He's gripping the dagger, Rand notices, and might even be prepared to use it on the old gleeman.

Suddenly laughter breaks out on the other side of the low dividing wall of the inn. Someone making fun of another who mentioned Trollocs. Floran Gelb has found his way to this inn, but not noticed them yet. Thom quickly divides the money Domon gave them, in case they get separated. They sneak out to an alley, and Mat asks why Thom is helping them.

Thom stared at him for a long moment. “I had a nephew, Owyn,” he said wearily, shrugging out of his cloak. He made a pile with his blanketroll as he talked, carefully setting his cased instruments on top. “My brother’s only son, my only living kin. He got in trouble with the Aes Sedai, but I was too busy with . . . other things. I don’t know what I could have done, but when I finally tried, it was too late. Owyn died a few years later. You could say Aes Sedai killed him.”(5) He straightened up, not looking at them. His voice was still level, but Rand glimpsed tears in his eyes as he turned his head away. “If I can keep you two free of Tar Valon, maybe I can stop thinking about Owyn."

Thom goes to check things out and confirm the route, the boys wait what feels like an hour before they notice a strange man approaching the alley. It's not until he gets very close that they realize it's Thom in a new cloak. He tells them to leave one at a time, not so close people think they're together, just close enough to keep each other in sight.

Before they can leave, though, the Myrddraal appears. Thom bundles up his gleeman's cloak and instruments, shoves them into Rand's arms, and tells him to take care of his things and run when he tells them. He says don't stop until they get to Caemlyn, and the Queen's Blessing inn. As soon as Rand and Mat both affirm they've heard the directions, Thom draws his daggers and charges at the Myrddraal, shouting at them to run.

And run they do. They run until Whitebridge is entirely out of sight behind them. When they finally stop to catch their breath, Rand's only thought is worry for Thom, while Mat's sure he's dead, charging the Fade like that. Rand says Mat thinks everyone else is dead too, but the Fade was still hunting them, so they can't be, and if they're not dead, maybe Thom isn't either.(6)

Rand looks behind him, half hoping to see Thom behind them, running to catch up. When he doesn't, he gathers up their things, and suggests they start walking.

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(1) Domon has a point, but a material that fancy can't just be something everyday to this society, from everyone's reactions, right? If this were normal work and material, it wouldn't be so novel as to make Thom think it's ancient. (2) How interestingly convenient that this is where we're headed anyway. (3) Calling a hunt for the Horn of Valere (an easy corruption of "valour"), the first time in hundreds of years, an item so legendary there are competitions just for gleemen telling the story. Fascinating. Totally unrelated to our story, I'm sure. (Well, it seems to be unrelated for now, at least.) (4) Do we know anyone who's weaselly and unpredictable? Well, Padan Fain was a little of both in Baerlon, but surely he couldn't have beaten them here. (5) Well, and that's how Thom came to hate Aes Sedai so, and likely why he reacted to Moiraine so hostilely back in Emond's Field. (6) Exit Thom, pursued by a Fade. Do you think he's dead?