As the two talked, Boko caught the name of one of strangers, Lumi. He looked towards her, “Thank you, Lumi. But my burns are already old, I'm sure they can't really be treated” he didn’t want to take the spot that another injured could use, and besides, he needed to leave as quickly as possible. Boko's arm felt quite weak, and he started feeling tired. Maybe it was all the blood he lost from the grass field to the infirmary.
He decided to let them perform whatever was needed to fix his injury, and talking probably wasn’t going to help them. He isn’t much of a talker, but information would be very much appreciated as Boko has no idea how to leave Veilbrand.
Lumi sighed in trepidation, "No matter to either of you. What matters first and foremost is saving lives. It's what we've always done."
Lumi, digging into an oddly shaped ceramic jar of sorts, pulled out a gravelly textured, kelp-green ooze. Without warning, she began slathering it all over Boko's wounds. This wouldn't heal the wounds - not yet anyway - but it would help to reduce pain and calm the nerves.
Arden swallowed. Miss Lumi was kind of scary when she decided to take a more commanding attitude. Then again, this was the infirmary. Her and her parents' domain. She had to be in charge when in here.
Watching her taking out the oozy stuff and apply it to the wounds on this big guy wasn't too out of the ordinary. Still, he always marveled at doctors and nurses who could and would do whatever it took to help heal those in need.
Boko would quietly watch as Lumi applied a strange oozy substance to his wounds, it would make him flinch as it felt painful at first, but the pain was eased just as quick as it arrived. He felt calmer, and with a deep sigh he asked “I'd like to ask, are there any places..” he'd make a small pause, his arm was still injured and while it didn’t feel as bad as when he got hit by the arrow, the pain was still there. “..where I can buy a map, supplies.. perhaps ?” he asked those who were helping him. Just like him they were revolutionaries, maybe after they finished patching him up, he’d be able to tell them their plan.
For now, he just wanted them to finish it quickly, they looked experienced, aside from one of them who looked stressed, he was probably a fighter, just like Boko. He'd look at the man “Are you a fighter too ? Your group is alright ?” Boko was definitely interested in the mysterious man, maybe if he was able to convince him, the two could work together to recruit more people, and even Lumi. However he wasn’t sure, as she was responsible for taking care of the injured. They were revolutionaries, so he hoped they would listen, he needed all help he could get.
Arden tried not to pay too much attention to the tending of the wounds and focused on what the man was saying.
"Uh, yeah. There should be a trade outpost about half a day's walk to the Northwest. Egruus soldiers usually guard it, though. So we stay away as much as possible unless absolutely necessary, and only go in small groups of two or three to avoid suspicion. And yes. I'm a fighter. My group's doing okay. But we lost someone from our last mission." He said with a soft, low voice.
He then cleared his throat.
"But it's okay. We're supposed to get a few reinforcements in a few days if I heard the reports right. So our team will be back to full strength soon."
"So," Lumi said, casually dabbing a herbal treatment onto Boko's body, "I'm sure we can resupply you, though we are running a tad bit low on material. That said, maybe it'd do you some good to stay put for a bit. Maybe you can give us a mission report?"
“A friend ? Was it a friend you lost on battle ?” Boko asked, the outposts are full of Egruus units, how would he be able to walk around without raising any suspicion, he looks like an executioner of sorts. There wasn’t many options he could take to avoid being caught, walking peacefully among Egruus soldiers wasn’t an option for him. He'd look at Lumi as she offered supplies, but he knew the people inside the infirmary needed it way more than he did. “I appreciate it, but these people need more” low on supplies she said, Boko can't leave Veilbrand until he’s fully healed. But maybe he can help these people, this is the way of the revolution.
“You said you were low on supplies ?... then I shall help you. I could steal from an enemy camp, sneaking in is easier than attacking them all.. I wouldn’t be able to deal with an entire camp, but I could find a way to get inside without being noticed” he stopped once she talked about his mission report, she wanted to know about his loss ? He sighed. “My mission ? We were preparing to recapture a village from enemy forces, our troops didn’t even get to the village, we were torn apart on the way.. half of our warriors died and the other half got injured, I was lucky.. yet today I got hit by the arrow of a bandit, they were stealing from a young couple.. when I killed the two thiefs, it was too late.. they.. were already dead”
He looked at the man by Lumi’s side, the revolutionary warrior.. “You, I asked if you were a fighter but I didn’t ask your name. Do you mind sharing ?” Boko said, turning once again to Lumi “I’m far away from my camp, my mission is to recruit outside forces to fight with us. I'm not sure If anyone will agree to help our people, but I'm hopeful. This is my mission, and I will die fighting for our freedom"
Arden was on a bit of an emotional roller coaster.
First, he'd been disheartened by the Revolution's current circumstances and how easy it was for people like himself to get drawn in and die. Then miss Lumi gave him hope via her pep talk. Then he was disheartened again seeing the infirmary and what happened to the comrade from before. Then he was caught off guard when this man came in needing help. And now, hearing the man's story, his heart was sinking once again.
"I'm Arden. The one missing from my group may either have gotten lost, or was a traitor. It wasn't long after he vanished that my group was attacked... But anyway, we can deal with that later. I honestly wouldn't advise trying to sneak into enemy camps in this region. They've been fortifying their camps of late with new octagonal walls and a lookout stationed at each corner so there are almost no blind spots. It's not worth the risk."
He cleared his throat.
"I think it's better to focus on recruitment. Most of us are just simple folk like me. I was a farm boy before joining the Revolution. And I've only been part of it for two months which is... Admittedly longer than average for this area. So if you can find some people who know more about what war is like to join then I think we'll have a better chance of making it through all this." He urged.
That was probably true, their camps were fortified to the point were sneaking in was almost impossible.. Boko looked around, he knew what would happen with these people, death was inevitable for the people who tried to fight against Egruus.. at least at the moment fighting was almost useless, but he couldn’t let more people die “Arden, what happens when the supplies stop coming ? How will these people live to see another day if they almost don’t have food or water to live. They might be down, but we are still standing, and if we aren’t helping our people when they need us the most, then we are no more than cowards. I refuse to remain silent for another day, if we are to ever defeat Egruus.. then we shall do it together, our revolution won’t be complete if our comrades die, we are all fighting for the same thing. But we shouldn’t forget, we still fight for each other and to protect.. each other”
He turned, now facing Lumi. “Miss Lumi ? For how long do you believe your supplies will last ?” Boko wasn’t considering attacking a camp alone, no. But perhaps he could get a small team to set up a trap for an Egruus supply cart, if they could get hands in a supply route then it would be possible to steal supplies from a smaller yet easier place. It would be safer, and maybe the supplies would be enough to help everyone at the infirmary. “I-..” Boko stopped, maybe he was thinking about the impossible, how would they even get a map with the enemies supply routes.. that would certainly be a very hard mission, they couldn’t afford losing more members.. no, that was not acceptable.
He remained silent, struggling not to talk about a plan, he moves his head around, the bag following. Trying to distract himself it was almost impossible to do so, “Arden, what would you say about stealing from a supply cart, certainly they must exchange food and other things between camps. We just need to get hands on their routes and one cart is enough to help everyone here. It's less supplies but enough to help" Boko felt powerless knowing that their alternatives were little and dangerous. His only hope was to leave Veilbrand, but he couldn’t do so with an injured arm.
Lumi blinked in mild surprise, "Our supplies? They'd last a few weeks, I'm pretty sure. Of course, ideally we'd be getting shipments from some other cells, but those have been notoriously unreliable lately."
She frowned, "You want to steal a supply cart? From whom?"
Nice to know that I'm surrounded by those with hope and confidence... Gods only know that we need more of that these days. He thought.
He looked up as the conversation began taking a turn and was quick to chime in.
"I think I get where you're coming from. But I have to decline. Most of the supply carts that move through Veilbrand which aren't ours are just simple tradesfolk trying to make a living or everyday people trying to move what little they have from one slum to another where it might be a little safer. And they all get harassed by enough bandits and rogues to last a lifetime as it is. So we always leave them alone."
He sat back and sighed.
"If it weren't impossible, I'd say we could try going after a trade caravan for Egruus' forces. But the problem's that they're always really heavily guarded and well armed. The last time I caught a glimpse of an Egruus caravan there were about twelve or fifteen guards each with a full set of armor, and half of them had rifles... We'd need a small army to take one of those things. And about a third of our guys are in this infirmary right now dealing with injuries and sickness. So..."
He huffed and gave his chest a solid pat.
"But even so, we're not totally helpless out here. I heard that we received a battle plan from General Sol a few days ago outlining a plan to eradicate one of the nearest bandit dens. So providing we can get all our guys here back on their feet without anymore major setbacks, we can get some payback on them for always interfering and causing to much trouble. Most of the guys in here are here because of them more than because of any skirmishes with Egruus' guys. So I'm pretty sure they'll be wanting some payback once they're able to fight again."
“a few weeks ?..” he said, more than he thought. The conversation took a turn as Arden explained it was almost impossible to attack a caravan, Boko sighed in frustration, tapping the bed repeatedly, he was quite stressed knowing they couldn’t help, until, Arden talked about an attack against bandits. He almost forgot about them, aside from the Egruus forces the revolution also had to deal with bandits who constantly engaged in battle against them, and quite often their members would end up being injured.
“Bandits..” Boko sounded more interested, he was fairly new and wasn’t familiar with the revolution leaders.. but it's good to see that whoever is in charge actually seems to be doing something. “When exactly ? Do we already have an exact date for when we will attack ?” He was going to help, and he was certain about that. There was nothing that was going to stop him from eradicating bandits, his mission could wait. The revolution still needed him in Veilbrand.
“I will help, doesn’t mafter how many enemies we encounter, we will win that battle” the wounded warriors would have to get better soon, the group probably needed all their warriors for this, and if their plan succeeded then maybe they would find supplies, weapons and maybe even a new camp. “I wish to join you and your team for this battle, and maybe..” he looked at Lumi “We could have someone there to treat the wounded after the battle ends. Miss Lumi, you seem to be experienced, maybe you could help us, if you don’t know how to fight, then we shall protect you. However, if you can use a sword properly, then, that would be wonderful” His wound seemed to be stabilized, and he didn’t even notice. “If you prefer to stay here at the infirmary it Is also completely understandable”
Lumi sighed, "Well, let's try and keep a sense of ethics here. I'm sure we can locate some of Egruus's caravans in some time."
She turned to Boko, "I'm certainly not terrible with a sword. Though, I do feel apprehensive about letting you go onwards from here. You're not anywhere close to being in a healthy condition."
"I.. Don’t pretend to leave until my wounds are healed Miss Lumi, I’m not crazy to go out on battle like this, I know I'll end up dead before I’m even able to take down a couple thiefs” Boko waved briefly as Arden left the infirmary.
Another man entered, the two seemed to know each other as Arden and the stranger interacted for a couple moments before the man approached Boko, he introduced himself and Boko replied “Me ? I'm Boko” he shaked The man's hand. “I was part of a revolution group, around twenty to thirty men, we got attacked by Egruus soldiers as we went to a city we were supposed to take from them. Many died, others got injured. So I want to help the best I can to honor our fallen brothers and sisters"
Haldus was the name apparently, Arden's patrol commander. Boko knew this man was the one who would decide if he was in shape to help, but it is not like they have many people to fight, the infirmary is an example of how many of their own got taken down. Be it by thiefs of Egruus soldiers. He adjusted the bag covering his head “I got shot by a bandit, but Lumi here took care of it. I may not be good to fight now but whenever I heal I will certainly help you, I have an important mission to take care of, but I will always have time to help our fellow comrades”
He turned to Lumi, he probably had more to do and he was sure he was just taking more of her precious time “Miss Lumi, I imagine you have more patients to treat ?.. I wouldn't like to be taking your time and that of your patients. I'm sure we can talk later if you are free to do do" he unintentionally nodded before turning back to Haldus “I believe I may be a good addition to your team. I believe I just need to get my blade sharpened as it is in quite a bad shape, would that be possible ? It isn’t very reliable in battle”
Lumi nodded, "Unfortunately, there are quite a few that need my assistance. That said, I very much would like to touch back with you on whatever those bandits that attacked you were. Those could be.... a volatile force."
"Very well. Rest up and we'll keep you in the know as we learn more about any plans to take on the bandits. Until then, we're all on standby until General Sol sends something our way."
With that, he stood up and started to leave the infirmary, but stopped short at the entrance to look back.
"Oh, and before I forget. There's also the matter of dealing with some of the more unsavory people in this town. Evidently a few of them have really taken to thievery to the point that they're stealing literally everything from their neighbors, including the few clothing items that they have in the middle of the night so they wake up naked and even worse off than they were before. So we were going to put some night-patrols together to keep that at bay. If you'd prefer to join that effort instead, let us know the next time you're on your feet."
"You're one of those Shaharan women aren't you?" Ti'ava lifted her head from the table she was cleaning, a man standing before her with a sword dangling from his hip. He looked to be a soldier, which she was used to seeing at the tavern at this time of night. It annoyed her when people said 'Shaharan women' as if she were some sort of exotic animal. She didn't let that annoyance show on her face, instead, giving him a small smile. "I'm a Shaharan woman, yes." She stated matter of factly. Turning her attention back to cleaning the table then walking past him. He said something about her to the men that were standing behind him which was the reason he was going to be her target tonight. Over time, the tavern was full of more soldiers looking to find a place to relax and blow off steam. Ti'ava worked her best to get the man from earlier the strongest drinks possible while making sure she paid the rest the same amount of attention. She didn't want anyone to think she was targeting him even though for sure that's what she was doing. Somehow she had gotten everyone to join in on drinking and dancing around, filled with nothing but joy and blowing off some much-needed steam. It was easy to sneak away with what seemed to be a lieutenant from earlier to a back room under the guise she wanted to give him a 'Shaharan experience'. He was very eager to see what he meant as she continued to pour liquor down his throat to get him talking. Just pretending to be interested in his work and what he had to say was enough for him to start spilling things he probably should not have been talking about. When it was clear he had nothing more to give, he leaned in to try and take advantage of the situation, to which Ti'ava quickly pressed her fingers on the back of his neck causing him to fall asleep. She had to catch him before he fell, managing to do so and push him onto the bed. Now she had to stage the scene to make it look as if he'd had the greatest time of his life.
The next morning she sat up in her bed and stretched her arms over her head. She had new information to sell over and she needed to find her buyer. Although if she were, to be honest, hunting down buyers wasn't something she was in the market of doing. Normally her runners would inform her of anyone needing said information and no one had come yet. That meant she had plenty of time to herself, which she was going to spend doing her errands which included shopping for food and washing her clothes. With her hair in a high ponytail, she set out to do her work.
“Bandits here ?.. stealing from these poor people ?.. well if possible I will join the hunt, and maybe so, help put an end to their acts" he said before laying down on the bed once again, resting would be good for him. Later he could talk with Lumi. There's a lot of people that could use his help, but he is tired, and certainly he won’t be a good help like this. Boko closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
A burning sensation, it was all dark. Boko couldn’t find anything to grab or use as balance. Suddenly a bright light blinded him, warmth, he was burning, his body in flames. It didn’t hurt but there was a uncomfortable feeling. Boko was a light in the middle of pure darkness, and as he walked through said void, bodies appeared.. bodies of those who he once called comrades. As he stepped between their bodies he arrived at a small throne, a crown resting on top of it. As he grabbed the crown he heard cracking sounds behind him, and as he turned he saw the corpses of his allies walking towards him, and as they grabbed him he woke up, sweating.
He sat on the bed, puzzled by the dream he just had, what was it trying to communicate.. his dream started to slowly fade away as he forgot what happened in it. He sighed, his hands shaking a little as he stood up, how much time passed since he slept ? He looked around, his shirt loose, revealing his burned chest, Boko noticed it and quickly buttoned his shirt before walking around the infirmary and looking at the injured, his wounds weren’t as serious as theirs.
Was Lumi still at the infirmary ? Maybe, perhaps he should look for her. Boko continued to walk around, touching the shoulders of the other warriors, he could feel their pain, but knew there wasn’t much he could do but honor them and the revolution. Boko felt anxious knowing he’d soon be face to face with the bandits who were attacking his allies.
Samara thought for a moment. She scanned the grotto, looking for Sarge. He was leaned up against an empty cart having a long drag of a tobacco roll. "Hey Sarge, what's it looking like?" Samara shout from the opposite end of the cave. Sarge blew out a cloud of smoke and glanced over at Samara.
"I'd guess 4 more than the last." he replied after a few moments. The recruit that placed her bet on fives grinned with false confidence. Samara knew what he meant, even if it have been a grim way of saying it.
"Alright I'll take fifteen on three." She answered handing over fifteen copper to the bookie. The five gamblers waited for about thirty minutes idly bantering about who was going to get the pot. Samara already knew the answer, but her recruits didn't know that.
"At ease!" rang the booming voice of Sarge. Instantly the chatter among the dining area hush into silence as Lieutenant Lee stepping into the opening with three fresh recruits in tow. After a short pause Lee walked over to Samara and her trainees.
"Captain Kilan, these are your new recruits: Erik Winfield, Riley Beck, and Bernard Ostrin. I suggest you use your remaining leisure time to get to know them. Training will begin immediately at daylight." Samara saluted before the lieutenants attention gravitated toward the four recruits still sitting. "You four are to report to Captain Winters for your new assignment. You have ten minutes, finish your business here and get a move on." The recruits stood at attention and saluted before the lieutenant left the cave.
"That guy is something else," one recruit said. A couple of the old recruits chuckled as the new recruits found seat nearby Samara. Not long after the bookie handed over Samara's winnings and the old recruits said their goodbyes to Samara. She just routinely sent them off wondering is she was going to she them again. She took a moment to relax before turning toward her new trainees.
"The three of you is it?" Samara said plainly. "I see you had the displeasure of meeting Lieutenant Lee. The mans a bit of a killjoy, but he's alright. You can drop that military formal act with me,' she said noticing then posture and expressions on the trainees faces." I'm your combat instructor. My job is to makes sure that you three know how to fight. That's it, I just going to teach to how to defend yourself and how to kill. Any questions?"
"It's uh, a pleasure to meet you Lieuten-I-I mean, Captain!" Erik said with a salute.
"Sheesh, man. She just said you can drop the formalities. Lighten up, will you?" Bernard sighed with a soft backhand smack to Erik's shoulder.
"O-oh." Erik replied.
"Not to be that guy but Bernard's right, Erik. You're too wound up right now." Riley said as he extended a hand to Samara.
"I'm Riley. Used to be a butcher in Valoc before coming here. Quality of life in the capital was pretty shit despite "his holiness" hoarding the wealth there."
Erik rubbed his shoulder and did a double take before quickly moving to stand behind Riley and preparing to offer his hand.
"What are you, in primary school? Just wait till she shakes his hand and then offer yours from where you were." Bernard snapped, causing Erik to flinch.
"I-I-I'm sorry!"
"And stop apologizing for everything!" He snapped again.
Samara paused for a moment to listen to the trio's banter, which she found amusing. She accepted Riley's handshake with a firm grip. She stood from her shoddy stool, slightly disheartened when she she all three of the trainees where quite a bit taller than her. "Come, sit." she ushered toward the empty stools around a barrel which she had been using as a table.
"So tell me, do any of you fancy games of chance?" It was a bit of an odd introduction, but gambling was a great way to find what make someone tick. She pull two small dice from the pocket of her trousers. Each dice had two blue sides, three red, and one white. "Two rounds of betting, minimum bet is three copper, and raising in intervals of three. Win on red is your bet plus one third, blue is bet plus two thirds, and white is the whole pot. What do you say?" Samara examine the threes reactions closely.