Found:
Another one.
Where do all these Ranger-types come from? Are they hatched in a communal pool brimming with superiority complexes and reared on delusions of grandeur? When they're not appearing out of nowhere trying to kill me in an effort to "protect" the discarded relics of their long since abandoned piles of rubble, they're trying to lecture me on how truly amazing they are.
I think Aeruthuil is the only one who has never attempted to present me with either brand of annoyance, but then given his life choices I sincerely doubt that he has a leg to stand on when it comes to looking down upon others.
This newest one, Hutin, I met along the border between Eregion and Enedwaith. He was kind enough to take me back to his camp, rebind the splint on my arm and clean my foot up, but not before he shoved his bow in my face and made the usual demands of name, origin and purpose. They may be the self-appointed protectors of roads, but they most certainly don't own them or have any damned right to be making a nuisance of themselves in places such as this.
He claims to be a Dunedain messenger, as if that makes him special. If what I've researched over the years is in any way correct, then all that means is that he's older than he looks. Well, good for him. So am I. There is some suggestion that some amongst the men of Khand are descended from Numenoren refugees turned slaves of Mordor, so maybe I can start crowing about how some of my ancestors are survivors of a sunken island, too. It'd likely explain the colour of my eyes anyway.
Hah! Probably not. I'll just stick to the notion that my varied hues are the product of an unintended mixed heritage.
Now he wants to accompany me further south. I'll admit that in my present state it might be a good plan to have someone at my side, but I'm still not convinced that it's a good idea. I got my last companion killed after all. I've always been better off alone, safer alone, secure in my solitude. He's right that everyone needs some company sometimes. I'm certainly not immune to the need for contact and conversation, but I usually find that during my brief stays in the towns and villages that I pass through before returning to the road alone.
From what he's admitted, it sounds like he needs me as much as I need him. Oh, of course, there was boasting about how stealthy and experienced his kind are, but he also said that he hadn't been able to get far past the border without discovery this time.
We'll see how I feel in the morning. After Yarassi, I'm wary and hesitant to allow another to accompany me. Yet I'm also aware that I am injured and perhaps in need of some protection until decently healed.
