The Long Road Home (closed)

[heartofcourage]

Sarah set up a team of men that knew their way around the lands without the need of markers. It would be the only way to find the family in the middle of the blinding snow. She also sent Shia out with his incredible sense of smell to try and find those missing people.

She paced up and down her parent's room, listening to the wind howling outside as she thought about the missing family and Ian. She hadn't heard from him and she knew that if he were out there in the middle of the wind and snow, he would be in serious danger. It was all she could do to not hurry to the stables and saddle her own charger, going off into the snow herself to find him.

 

[KieranSoares]

It was a couple hours before a man came riding back, hurrying inside to find her. His clothes were nearly frozen to his body and his hair and beard were white with ice. "Lady Monaghan!" He called, and when she came into view, he gave her a proud smile, "We found th'family, yer ladyship. All safe an' sound in a snowpack shelter. They're 'ome now an' not a bit worse fer wear."

 

[heartofcourage]

"That is most welcome news." Sarah said with a sigh of relief. "Please do me a favor and check on all the families in Monaghan before your men disband. I want to make sure that everyone is doing alright in this storm. If anything is needed, please get it from the keep's store room."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Yes m'lady. An' there's men on the lookout fer Sir Ian too," he added softly, knowing she would be worried. It was no secret that Sarah and Ian loved each other in Monaghan. The man made his way out. The blizzard raged two days and finally ended on the third morning, and still Ian hadn't returned. Men headed to Eryvale to find him, but returned in three days having seen no sign of the man.

 

[heartofcourage]

Sarah was tired of waiting for news. She was prepared to look for Ian herself. Shia found her saddling her horse with supplies, dressed in a traveling outfit with a warm woolen coat.

"You can try and stop me, Shia, but I promise that I'll just slip away when you least expect." She commented as she pulled herself into the saddle.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm not trying to stop you, but I'm certainly not letting you go off alone, just as I shouldn't have let Ian go alone." Shia brought out his own horse then, climbing on its back. "And if you find him hurt, you'll need help."

They took off onto the snow-covered road, only visible by how the edges were sunken where the ditches were dug on either side. Shia trusted her to guide him with her eyes while he would direct them with his acute hearing and sense of smell if Ian was hidden from sight on the way.

 

[heartofcourage]

Sarah guided them both through the thick snow, her eyes peeled for any signs of Ian along the way. She was tense, afraid that he might have died in the horrible storm.

 

[KieranSoares]

They were nearly halfway to Eryvale when Shia called ahead for her to stop. The wind had picked up again, but no more than that. Shia's ears were perked forward, trying to listen over the wail of the wind. He slipped from his saddle and let his nose guide him because his ears could not. "... I can smell a familiar horse." He knew the horses well in Monaghan's royal stables, so that was a good sign. He made his way through the knee-deep snow, his strong body making it little trouble and leaving a trail for Sarah. He was just within the treeline and nearly out of sight when he called out, "I found Ian's horse!" That meant Ian was surely nearby.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Ian!" Sarah called out immediately as Shia announced that he had found his horse. "Ian! Please answer me!"

She waited for a call, a cry, anything to let her know that he was alive. Please be alive, she thought to herself.

 

[KieranSoares]

Shia looked over the horse, finding that it looked like someone had cut into it for meat. Ian was a survivalist if there ever was one, so it was clear he'd known enough to give up the horse's life before his own just in case he was trapped out in the cold long enough for his supplies to run out. By now, they surely had if not for the horse.

Shia tried to detect the traces of smoke from a cooking fire, and he ended up finding Ian's knife at the foot of a tree near the remains of a fire. "This isn't right..." He told Sarah as he returned to her. "He left his knife. He'd never do that. Something must've run him off. Maybe wild animals smelled the cooking meat and chased him away, but the snow covered up any tracks. I think he probably retreated further into the forest."

 

[heartofcourage]

"The horses won't make it through the snow in the forest." Sarah said softly as she looked around for any sign of her lover. "I want you to put out a call to any other wolves that might be in the area. See if they have seen him."

 

[KieranSoares]

Shia nodded, lifting his head to the sky. The howls of wolves always had a sad and lonely quality about them, and Shia was no different. His lone howl was soon met by the answer of a whole group, but Shia seemed a bit caught off-guard. "... The wild wolves have seen him." So the local wolf packs, but not the Lunars had answered. Then, another distinctly louder single howl answered and Shia's ears flicked. "Their alpha male says Ian's near the river just north of us." It was handy for certain that werewolves could speak to their wild counterparts and their wild brothers were often willing to help thanks to the mutual respect that the two species shared. Shia climbed back on his horse and led the way, listening to the howls of their new helpers, guiding him to exactly where Ian was by sound. They had to leave the horses on the road and Shia had Sarah take the lead along the half-frozen riverbank until they came upon what was clearly a snowpack shelter with a fire burning just alongside it. Many green branches and even what seemed to be a piece of hide from the horse they'd seen were burning there, giving off black smoke. Ian was trying to signal his location. Shia had smelled it long before Sarah could see it.

Ian heard the crunching of Sarah's boots in the snow as Shia's footpaws were silent, and, shivering with cold but trying to pretend he was perfectly fine, he rose from the shelter and faced them. Immediately, Sarah saw why he hadn't simply walked home; his leg, currently splinted crudely, was broken. "Hiya, love," he spoke calmly with a smile.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Ian." Sarah said as she rushed towards her lover, her arms wrapping around his chest as she held him tightly.

She would never admit to him that she was scared. She would never admit to anyone that she had feelings. He simply knew all of what she had to offer.

"You are in so much trouble." She growled as she pulled away from him and slapped him across the face. "How dare you make me worry so much."

 

[KieranSoares]

Ian held her tightly until she suddenly stepped back and slapped him. He half-stumbled, but didn't let the grimace of pain from his broken leg show to her. He took it in stride with his usual good humor and the kind of social grace that only a good-natured man could have. He gave her a soft, though slightly wounded smile, "I guess I deserved tha'."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Oh, don't worry...you deserve so much more." Sarah said, a scowl on her face as he smiled at her. "How long have you been out here like this, Ian?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"Well, I made it t' Eryvale an' told them what we needed, but on m' way back, I got caught in th' blizzard. My horse spooked an' I fell off, he ended up stompin' on my leg. Been here since then," he answered with a sigh. "I'm alrigh'. I promise."

 

[heartofcourage]

"You stubborn fool." Sarah muttered as she looked over at Shia.

"Shia, help me set up camp for the night. We'll start out for home in the morning." She said as she turned from Ian to help Shia expand his snow packed hut.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Love, I can make it back-" But then Shia stopped Ian with a raised hand before laying it on his shoulder.

"Ian, my friend. This is the wrong time to argue with her. You've already got your head under the axe as it is. Don't pull it down on yourself." He then turned and went into the little shelter, digging with the strength and skill that seemed to come naturally to canines, and packing in the walls until it was plenty large enough for two. Shia would not stay- he had to get back and let the others know Ian was alright and Sarah was with him.

 

[heartofcourage]

Sarah said nothing more to Ian as Shia dug out more room in the snow pack. When he was finished, she unloaded some supplies from her saddlebags and hugged Shia tightly.

"Thank you for your help." She murmured softly to her constant friend and companion.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'll return in the morning to help you two get back safely. Ian doesn't need to be doing any more walking or riding with that broken leg if it's been left untreated for so long." Shia kissed Sarah's cheek and rode off home while Ian quietly set a fire in a small pit he'd made with a ring of stones. When Sarah finally got a good look at him, she'd see his fingers were frostbitten and he was shivering ever so slightly, but he seemed content to take care of himself and let her ignore him while she was still angry.

 

[heartofcourage]

Sarah saw her lover shivering in the cold and she let out a sigh. Moving to the saddlebags, she pulled out a thick wool blanket and placed it around his shoulders.

"We need to get you warm, Ian." She said softly, letting him see just how worried she was about him.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm alrigh'. Jus' have t'get the fire going." He leaned down to arrange the tiny flame under the rest of the wood, but he was shaking badly enough to the point that the ember fell and went out. "Fuckin' 'ell..." he muttered to himself, and tried his best to get another ember going. He was clearly stressed by his time surviving alone with a broken leg. If Sarah hadn't found him in a couple more days, he likely would've dragged himself home and died of hypothermia or pneumonia after they'd gotten him inside.

"I'd bloody kill fer a match 'r a flint," he growled as he failed yet again.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Ian!" Sarah said firmly, looking him in the eye as he struggled to light a fire. "Stop being so bloody stubborn. I will take care of all of this. I want you in the shelter getting warm."

 

[KieranSoares]

"But y' love my bullheaded ways," Ian gave her a smile that told her he wasn't really in his right mind any more. Still, he did as she said and retreated into his shelter. He was completely dead asleep in a moment which let her on to the fact that he probably hadn't slept properly since he'd been stranded.

 

[heartofcourage]

Sarah watched him finally retreat and she set about making a fire and getting a camp together. When the fire was going strong, she put some dried meat to cook in some melted snow to hydrate it. As it popped and sizzled on the pan, she moved back into the shelter and watched Ian slumbering. She tucked him in more securely, kissing his brow gently.