Bruce Intro

Bruce Trumble had always been an outcast, a child born of two noble families yet not fully recognised by either and as a Half-elf not fully accept in either human or elven society. For years he was scorned by the elves of mosswood, where his father lived, and constantly bullied & taunted by his peers among the humans. Not long after his 12th 
birthday he was accosted by a group of local thugs and on that day their insults turned to injury, his leg was badly broken and could not be healed so for over a decade afterwards he languised in his room, unable to walk any distance without enduring severe pain, with only books and house servants for company. But he would never know this...
Bruce awoke with a start, the light streaming through his window rudely stirring him from a deep slumber, His eye's sprung open and he leapt out of bed hastily donning his blouse & trousers, almost tripping as he pulled on his boot and expertly slipping into his leather jerkin then shouldering his bow, he bound down the stairs into the kitchen and toward the back door, almost knocking over the maid as he went 
"sorry, Nanny" he called behind himself, 
'I'll pay for that later' he thought 'but not so dearly than if I'm any later to meet Osman'
he barely stopped to graze his mother's cheek with a kiss and he was out the servants entrance and running down the road towards the forest, where he was well overdue to met Osman.
The two women looked at each other and smiled, life had not dealt Bruce a fair hand, he was trapped between the world of mortals and immortals and the politics of two noble houses who refused to recognise his lineage, but he had managed to play it well and both women were proud of the boy. No, the man. But they both knew they had another to thank, for at the age of twelve after being an outcast his whole life he had met a kindred spirit in an older boy named Osman O'foley, who had defended him from a group of local boys with just enough force to convince them to steer clear in future. Osman saw potential in Bruce and took him under his wings, over the years he taught bruce of the woodlands and the forces of nature, then finally when he was sure he could be trusted, he taught him the teachings of the old ways and so they were bound to each other until death & even beyond, by secret rituals and pacts older than civilisation itself. Bruce had used this knowledge to protect his community and in time he was accepted and even respected by them. 
Even his father had begun to accept him, seeing his reverance of the natural world as a reflection of himself and evidence of the strong elven bloodline to which he belonged and this was why he was headed to the forest to meet Osman and then onward to the Mosswoods, his father had sent him a letter informing him it was time for his only child to learn the ways of his ancestors, this was the first time his father had ever acknowledged him as a son and bruce was bursting with excitment and pride, after years of struggle it seemed he was finally going to be accepted by both of the cultures that had shunned him for so long. But he was running very late and had no doubt that Osman would make his displeasure known for, while they were friends, Osman was the master and Bruce the apprentice.
Bruce hit the outskirts of the woods just before noon, picking his way through as well as any woodsman twice his age even with the ground being soaked from the storm the night before towards the clearing they had agreed to meet in. As he jogged through the woods he noticed the headless body of a woodfowl laying a few yards from a covert and as he passed it he smiled inwardly upon seeing the smallest creatures of the forest beginning the process of renewal. He slowed his pace as he approached the clearing, the last time he was this late for a meeting he never even saw Osman and woke up on the outskirts of the forest with a lump for his trouble, but as he entered he noticed that Osman was sat upright next to a stump, wiping sleep from his eyes. 
"Should have washed that heather" mumbled Osman then, shaking his head clear, he turned to Bruce "you're late"