The Ranger and the Rat

Hat-Trick

Do you truly think that you can escape your fate?

No, not just your fate, but your destiny.

You can try to run all you like, but you will only be cornered and trapped by your failures.

Come forth, and be reclaimed. Complete your destiny, for the glory of your kind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thump

Zol's eyes shoot open, and his breathing becomes frantic. Another nightmare. This one causing him to fall halfway out of his bed, which at least woke him up when his head hit the floorboards.

He grumbles quietly, not bothering to correct his position and just letting the rest of his body slide off the bed and onto the ground. He stares at the ceiling for a while... An unfamiliar ceiling...

"Home..." Zol curls up on the floor. "I want to go home..."

He knows he cannot... He knows that there is no home he can return to. He shuts his eyes tight, trying to will it back into existence, as if this whole scenario is just a bad dream.

But when he opens his eyes again, he's met with the same empty room, only having the basic furniture to be classed as a bedroom.

Seeing as wishing and lamenting is getting nowhere, Zol gets up onto his feet, stretching out to his full height. It's quiet. He figures that Felix must be out, which means he has the hideout to himself for now.

He steps out into the main room, sitting down at the table in the centre. It's not as spacious as his last home, and he can't go outside without a disguise on. He almost feels as though he's a prisoner.

He sighs, and decides to get his disguise on, slipping on his boots, pulling up his mask and affixing his hood. No sense just laying about inside, perhaps a walk would do him well.

Heading up the stairs and out the door, Zol manages to sneak through the Inn without drawing attention to himself. He heads outside without hesitation, and makes sure that the coast is absolutely clear before he starts to relax himself.

Bilbali isn't too different to the cities that Zol is used to. The architecture is roughly the same, leaving room for a tight network of secluded streets and desolate alleyways. However, Zol had never been to Bilbali before, he's never really been further from home than anywhere past the River Talabec. This is all new to him.

Wandering the near-empty streets, Zol's mind begins to wander... The streets begin to blur together as he loses focus on where he's going.

"You think they're going to come all the way down here?"

Zol is snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of a voice up ahead. He quickly dips into an alcove to avoid whoever is coming.

"Don't see why not. Witch Hunters would probably chase an enemy of the state into the Chaos Wastes."

"What did he even do?"

"Don't know. But our place isn't to ask questions of our betters."

The pair pass the alcove, now revealed to be Estalian soldiers. Specifically the kind that wear funny hats.