Weary Traveller (Open)

There was a slight breeze in the air and barely any clouds, very pleasnt indeed. Or it would have been if Lock hadnt have been on the road for three weeks and was begining to seriously doubt the reliability of the directions he had been given The nearest town is just down that road, turn left at the forked tree and its plain sailing yeah right. He had only wanted to find somewhere to top up on supplies, if he ever meet that courier again he was going to give him a piece of his mind.

He sat heavily on the side of the road with a deep sigh "might as well rest then, dont seem to be getting anywhere anyway". At least it was a nice day, besides, it didnt really matter where he ended up just as long as it had food and he got there soon. He was even considering eating some apples off a tree near by, he was that hungry. He hated apples.

A tree nymph named Melanie stared at him tiredly. It was almost dark outside. She watched the person in silence but then she accidently snapped a tree branch and gasped.

Lock jumped to his feet, his hand moving instictivly to the pistol at the back of his belt under his jacket. Upon seeing that a tree nymph had made the noise he relaxed his grip on the gun, in his experience nymphs wernt very hostile and he didnt wish to startle her.
"its not nice to spy on people you know" but there wasnt any force behind his words, he kept all emotion from his voice and face.

"I wasn't really spying..." Melanie said. It was true Melanie was only really to get some water from the creek and now that she knew this person had a weapon whether he was nice or not she was frightenend.

Seeing that she was uneasy, and even scared of him, Lock moved his hands away from his sides with his palms open, trying to show her that he had no intention of hurting her "I apologise for scaring you, certain events have made me a little parinoid latlely" he let his concern show in his tone, he was a bit ashamed of himself for frightening an innocent bystander
"If you dont mind me asking, what was it you were doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"This is my home... I should be asking what your doing out here..." Melanie said backing away a little and standing behind a tree.

He also took a few steps back, trying to be as unthreatening as possible "Sorry, I didnt know, I was only passing though and..." he was interupted by a large growl from his stomach. He looked down with a slightly baffled expression on his face "yes thank you for your input" he said to his belly, completely forgeting that the nymph could hear him.

Are you hungry Melanie said. She handed him a huge loaf of bread then went back to hiding behind the Laurel tree.

"Thank you" he said as he accepted it gratefully, "you dont have to be scared of me, Im not going to hurt you" he sat down and started eating slowly "There are few enough people in this world kind enough to give a hungry stranger some bread, Im not about to make an enemy of one them" he broke off half of the bread and held it out "are you hungry too?"

Melanie shook her head. She was sorta hungry but she was still frightened for two reasons. One who was crazy enough to come all the way out here and two... she had a very frightening past with an ex that led to him killing her family now she lived alone and defenseless. "So what are you doing out here?" she asked.

"Im looking for something" he said, eyes downcast "but I dont really know where to look, so I just wander. I was running out of supplies so I asked for directions, by following them I wound up here, someones idea of a joke I guess"
By now the sun was setting and the wind was picking up, it was looking to be a chilly night
"If its not to personal a question, how did you end up living out here?"

Melanie's heart stopped and she stopped breathing and stared at him in shock. How was she gonna tell him that? Instead she ignored him. Her ex's voice ran in her head. If anyone finds you, if you talk to anyone, if they come near you or touch you I'll kill them and then kill you like I did your family.....
Melanie backed away. "Uhhh I have to go I hope you find what your looking for.... if you go down that road you'll find an inn....bye..." Melanie started to walk away hoping he didn't stop her.

Lock could see that something had her very scared, he stood slowly, keeping his distance so that he wasnt threatening
"hold up a second, its fairly obvious that something is wrong. I dont like it when good people are hurt, why dont you tell me whats happening and i'll fix it for you, consider it payment for the bread"
he gave a reassuring smile, hoping that she would accept his help

I'm a good person? Melanie thought. A boy never said that to her. She was drilled to know she was ugly and useless. (which she totally was not ugly...she had long blonde hair and bright blue eyes and looked like a model. she just never saw herself that way)
"No everything is fine," she lied and walked away.

"I know lies when I see them you know"
He took a few steps in the same direction she was going
"I can help you, you just need to tell me whats going on"
The wind began in earnest now, but Lock hardly noticed it, when you lived as long as he had the weather stopped bothering you

Melanie was prepared to run and frightened that he knew too much. she started to hyperventilate. "Please go..."

He sighed in exasperation
"If that is your wish, then I will leave. Its not my intention to just make things worse. But think about it, do you want to live the rest of your life in fear? I can help if you let me"
His expression softened
"Breath slowly, it'll help"
What has happened to this girl to make her so scared? If I ever find who did this they will suffer before they die

"How do you know so much!!! Are you a witch!" Melanie started to cry.
It was worse if he was one. If he knew too much it could get worse he could get hurt badly.
Melanie sat on a tree stump curled up into a ball sobbing. Her ex would be home soon and if he noticed she was gone she didnt know what he would do. she had to scare this guy away as fast as possible if he knew wat was good for him.

"I know so much because I am very old, I have seen sadness and I have experienced it. When you have seen as much as me you learn to read people. And as for me being a witch? I suppose that is one way of looking at it. To be honest I dont know what I am"
As he talked he walked slowly up to her and took off his jacket to put over her. He sat down next to her
"But I do know that I cannot abide seeing someone as beautiful and kind as you crying"

"Please don't do this you'll get hurt...I can't have anyone else hurt...pleaase...please...go find what your looking for and leave this place and forget me!" She begged.

"I do not fear pain, and you'll find Im a very hard man to kill. Besides, the person Im looking for wouldnt forgive me if I just left you hurting"
He wiped a tear off her face
He turned her head so that she was looking directly into his eyes, he wanted her to see that he meant what he said
"so will you allow me to help?"

Melanie shook her head her loop earings jingling as she shook her head. she wiped her eyes. "You can't its impossible to kill him..." she gasped realizing she said to much.

Lock looked at her curiously
"What makes it impossible? Everyone has a weakness, I will find his"
He paused as he realised something, he let out a soft chuckle
"I just realised I havent even told you my name, I am Mister Lock. Now with your permission I will escort you home or to that inn you were talking about if you prefer. A log in the middle of the night is no place to hold a conversation"

"It don't matter you should go... He'll be home anytime soon... I'll be fine." She smiled softly trying her hardest to make it look like she was'nt lying... "By the way my name is melanie."

"That was a better try Melanie, but not quite, I can still see that youre lying. If you let me come with you I can protect you, if you wont let me do that, then can you promise me that you will meet me here tomorrow, I will need you to tell me everything about him, the more I know the better my chances are"
He was going to find this guy, even if she didnt want him too, there was no chance that he would let something evil live if he could do something about it.