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"On the shore. He'd just come from the island, I think, and I offered to escort him to the town, but he turned down the offer." Tina rested one hand on his leg cautiously.
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Gold's hands clenched and shook. So close. He had been so close to Baelfire, and now his son could be anywhere. After a moment, he got up and picked up his cane.
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"Gold?" Tina asked quietly, looking at him but not making a move to go after him just yet.
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"I need to find him," Gold replied. "And I'm going to. I just need to prepare some things."
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"Let me help," Tina said quietly, getting to her feet. "He was heading off through the woods, and I can run after him for you."
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"He ran from you once," Gold pointed out as he limped towards his workshop.
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Tina paused at that. "I know," she said quietly. "I didn't realize... I mean, I thought, I was pretty sure, but he seemed like he didn't want to see you, and I had Rachel to think of too."
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Gold couldn't smother the flicker of pain that crossed his face at those words.
"I still need to find him," he said. |
Tina frowned. "I can help," she said quietly, though she tried not to push. She liked to think she knew better by now.
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"Tina, I--" Gold looked at her, as if unsure what to do. He hesitated, and then turned and went into his workshop.
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Tina sighed and took that as a 'no'. She'd half-expected that, so she just prodded the fire back to life and curled up on the couch again.
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A while later, Gold came back out of the workshop with a sturdy walking stick and a traveling cloak.
"Are you coming?" he asked, looking at her. |
Tina blinked, opening her mouth to question, before she shook herself and nodded.
"Yeah, just give me half a minute." She got up and went to grab proper shoes. |
Gold nodded and waited for her.
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Tina moved over next to him once she was ready to go.
"So how are we going to track him?" she asked quietly. |
"How else?" Gold asked, looking at her. "Magic."
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"I gathered as much." Tina smiled faintly, amused. "It was more are we going to be walking the whole way in the general direction of him, or what?"
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"Something like that," Gold replied. Reaching into a pocket, he pulled out a small potion vial and a rough carving of a raven. He looked at the carving for a moment. "This belonged to him. To Baelfire. He carved it himself."
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Tina nodded. "Well, last I saw, he was headed in that general direction." She nodded the appropriate direction before looking askance at him.
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"It doesn't matter when last you saw him," Gold said. He uncorked the little vial and poured the potion on the little carving. The carving shimmered and then stretched its rough little wings, taking flight. "The raven was made by Bae, it will find him."
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Tina nodded and started after the little raven, keeping track of it while still trying to pick the easiest path for them. Because she was still a little tired from her misadventures, and she had the feeling they'd be traveling for at least a few more days.
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Gold followed, making good use of his sturdy walking stick. He hadn't even bothered with his cane, this time; it was definitely not suited for this kind of work.
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Tina finally stopped just before sunset. It was getting hard to see the little raven.
"Will it stop for the night?" she asked, looking back at Gold. |
Gold held out a hand, and the raven landed on it, turning back into a normal carving.
"We can stop," he said, nodding. |
Tina nodded and quickly picked out a clearing, gathering up firewood before she sat next to him with a little groan, stretching out.
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