Hale could barely contain a smile as he followed his old friend into Breezehome, wiping his dirtied boots as requested. Nodding his head in affirmation that he understood the situation, the ranger quietly removed his sword belt, draping it over one of the chairs near the hearth.
As Simus started upstairs, Hale almost tip-toed to the pantry, carefully opening some cupboards until he found what he was looking for: a fresh, glazed sweetroll! Putting it on one of the nearby plates, Loneshadow moved towards the hearth, and quickly built a small fire, thinking it would make for a decent touch when Alice (who would undoubtedly be very cross with him!) came downstairs. Hale sat down near his fire, stretching his legs out until his toes were nearly in the fire themselves!
Staring into the flames, Hale was suddenly and inexplicably wracked with torturous memories: memories of his suffering at the hands of pit fiends, devils, and demons, all of whom had killed him many times over, only to revive him so that they may have their fun again....
*Waking Nightmare*
--- He was back in the Hells, Oblivion, whatever one wants to call it: it was simply a living nightmare for Hale and his faithful Astral grey-wolf companion Mael. Countless years in Hell Time he had been here, escaping every few years or so, only to be hunted down like the food he was, fighting for his life until he was brought back...into the flaming home of the archdevil Baalzeamaltich, one of the Lords of Hell itself.
As the archdevil came forth from his lair, the imps and devils in service to him strapped Hale down on a spiked rack, their sharp points piercing his skin. This was only the beginning.
Baalzeamaltich made a demonic noise that would be equivilant to laughter, extending his longest digit, a wicked barbed claw dripping with poisons that those in the realm of men could only dare dream to imagine. With a smile that could only be constituted as pure malice, Baalzeamaltich drove the point home, into the goodly ranger's sternum, ripping downwards as slowly as possible ---
Jolting himself from his nightmarish memories with a sudden arching, Hale unintentionally flung himself out of his chair, himself and the chair hitting the wooden floor with a loud THUD! Cursing silently to himself for allowing this to happen, Hale winced, hoping the noise did not wake Alice.