Fable - Ask Scouting

[Felix Nevarre]

Big Joe? Must have been a good man to bother teaching some kid how to cook. Especially a kid as mischievous as Owain was now. Well, either way, the man would have Felix's gratitude. Felix dug into the gumbo once more letting a long exhale escape his nose, before he nearly dropped the bowl altogether when the scream pierced the night.

Quickly putting the bowl down, Felix scrambled for his shield. His sword was a little ways away, but his shield was the bigger priority. His skills with the sword were certainly below par, but he knew how to take a hit.

Pushing himself to his feet, as he jostled with the shield to fit it comfortably on his arm, his mind could only think of one thing to say as he looked out into the darkness that surrounded the camp.

He glanced at his companions for the briefest moments, "What the hell was that?"

His stomach which was now partially full felt more like a lead ball at this moment, as the night now only greeted them with silence, a stark contract to the scream moments before.

Owain Rhory Grimmere Arn

 

[Owain]

"An inn?" His words were a bit obscured by the mouthful of gumbo he'd been chewing on. "Yeah, like a tavern, I guess." Owain definitely 'worked the room' at more than one Vel Odren tavern during tourist season.

He nodded along as Arn made a comment about his made-up friend too.

"Me and Big Joe hung out a lot, learned a ton from him and I think I taught him a thing or two along the way as well." The overeager Guard wore a devilish grin as he scooped up another large serving of the dinner and plunged it into his mouth.

Then there was the scream. Owain just barely twisted his head in time to spew his dinner away from the rest of his comrades from the shock of it.

Felix scrambled for his shield and Owain leapt to his feet, only to remember he'd left his blade several paces away from their campfire. He froze, debating if he should go retrieve it or just make due with whatever was within arm's reach.

"Uh, I don't think I like Cortos very much."

 

[Rhory Grimmere]

Rhory was on her feet immediately, her meal forgotten on the ground beside her. For a scouting mission, she had brought along with her sword, but also her quarterstaff. It was the latter she had in hand, gripped tightly and readily as her eyes trained on the location she believed the scream originated. They were not alone, not truly. Her eyes were more adjusted to the dark, and she swore she could see the shadows moving in the dark.

"Arm yourselves." She said calmly. "Now."

Whether animal or not, they needed to investigate. It was better than sitting still at this camp, the rain the only sound they could hear. Anything could have snuck up on them, but Rhory was convinced something was watching them.

"Arn?" Rhory dared not move her eyes from the trees. "Should we leave or should we investigate?"

 

[Arn]

Arn gaped when Rho questioned him, balking at once again taking on any sort of role of authority. "I...errr..."

He frowned for a brief moment, glancing at the other two boys before something struck him.

"Both." The Farmboy said as he quickly leaned over and grabbed one of the burning logs from the fire. "'Pa showed me this trick, helps ward off the wolves."

The Farmboy explained as he took the burning log by it's as-of-yet unscorched end and quickly hurled it out into the darkness. The flame flickered slightly as it rushed through the wind and rain, it's light casting out as Arn's impressive throw sent it by pure luck directly to where one of sets of eyes stood.

Instantly the light revealed the creature there. It stood on four legs, resembling a dog with heinously manged fur, it's face a twisted mix of dog and human. As the log landed, sparks flew against the creature, and yip sounded out as it took three steps back. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?"

Arn demanded of no one in particular.

The two sets of eyes, becoming six.

 

[Felix Nevarre]

The fear of the unknown was scary enough as he looked out into the darkness. However, as Arn's torch revealed the monster before them, Felix wished the darkness would come back. Still, as the threat was revealed, Felix took a single step forward to stand at the front.

His free hand reached for his belt and pulled his dagger free, but then he tossed it towards Owain's feet. They needed to make sure that everyone was armed.

"I-If we try to leave now, they may just stalk us through the night." That did not sound fun.

Unfortunately for them, while Arn's quick thinking brought them a few minutes, these things were not like any wolves he had seen so they might not have much time.

Owain Arn Rhory Grimmere

 

[Owain]

This was bad. Real, real, bad. "Uhhhh, that's either six really bad things or one absolutely terrible thing with six eyes."

For a few seconds everything went still and Owain found himself utterly frozen in place. There was no chance in hell he was going to go grab his blade. No chance. If that thing lunged forward he was going to turn heel and run like the damn wind.

Then a thud as the dagger from Felix's belt landed before his toes. He quickly scrambled to pluck the thing up in his dueling hand, grabbing another of the flaming logs in his free hand. At least if they ran they'd have a torch to light the way.

"Maybe," his voice had become a whisper, "m-maybe it doesn't see us?" There was always time for blind, stupid, desperate, hope.

 

[Rhory Grimmere]

Six canine creatures began to give the torch a wide berth as they stepped away from the darkness. Rhory stilled, gripping her quarterstaff before moving it to a defensive position. With Arn's shout of surprise, she had taken a step back.

"They will most likely attack altogether." She murmured to her fellow guardsmen. "Even though I am the closest thing to them, some will ignore me. To them, we are a pack too."

Rhory had been trained in defending against the infestation that surrounded Vel Cirak. She had seen her fair share of attacks, not as a guard member, but as a civilian. The closest she had been to seeing a werewolf was when one gotten into the city and tore up the fruit merchant that begged her to help him.

It was unnerving to stare at the creature's head. The grotesque mixture of human and animal made her want to empty her stomach of the meal Owain had cooked them.

"Aim for the neck." Was the last bit of information she could part with them.

 

[Arn]

Arn hadn't spent a long time in the guard, and so far he'd seen a lot of things he didn't like. Goblins, murder, a Cortosi Inquisitor, and of course the Dreadlords.

But it was easy to say that these things were the worst of them all.

”Right, aim for the ne-” Before Arn could get the words out, he suddenly felt a great weight crashing into his side. Teeth gnashing against the heavy leather bracer on his arm as his bow went flying a dozen feet away from him. An uncontrolled and panicked screech echoing from his lips.

The Guardsmen having been so caught up in front of them, they'd hardly noticed one of the creatures skulking out from the river behind them.

As soon as the creature attacking lurched forward, so did the six others which had been biding their time. They moved in unison as a pack, hurling themselves at the Guardsmen in quick teams two. A strange hyena-human like cackling escaping their throats as they began their attacks.

Arn scrambled on the floor, the creature biting down on his vambrace as his other free hand began to slam Into the creatures side. The farmboys strength showing as he heard the animal and tossed it to the side, throwing the creature against the cliff wall. A loud thud and whimper of pain ringing out as it crumbled for a moment, the panicked guardsmen quickly scrambling for one of his arrows in an attempt to grab a weapon.

 

[Felix Nevarre]

Aim for the neck? "With wha-" Felix never finished the sentence as one of the creatures snuck up on Arn. He instinctually went to move to help his squad mate before he realized the other creatures were taking the chance to attack.

Felix gulped, only now wishing he had not tossed that knife to Owain. Still, rather than taking a step back, a cry escaped his lips as he charged forward putting all of his weight behind the shield.

When the impact finally came, he thought he heard the creature whimper from pain, but the large mass still bounced off of his shield and pushed Felix back.

Scrambling for anything, his free hand wrapped around a jagged rock. Not taking the makeshift weapon for granted, he swung the blunt open with all the force he could muster.

 

[Owain]

Owain hoped Rhory was wrong. If they all went after her it'd be way easier to deal with 'em.

But the wolfish bastards had other ideas as one of the things snuck up on Arn and threw him to the ground, rabid teeth trying to chomp at his wristguard. "Holy shit," he stood there, looking dumb at the thing that had subdued Arn.

His attention was quickly dragged elsewhere as more beats plunged from the woods and ran towards the Guardsmen.

This was insanity. Owain waved the log, one end coated in flames, hoping to dissuade the beasts but they didn't seem to care about the heat or light of the fire at all. They just kept coming until one of them was so close he could feel its hot breath as the dog-coyote-wolf-hyena-thing snarled and let loose a blood curdling cackle.

Owain ducked to the side as the thing lunged and managed to sink its teeth into the firewood that he'd been holding. Instinct took over and he drove Felix's dagger straight into the thing's neck, a whimper of pain eeked out and Owain retrieved the blade only to ram it into the same general area three more times in rapid succession.

The first creature slumped to the ground, its chest no longer rising, and he tried to catch his breath as his comrades struggled dealing with the other six.

 

[Rhory Grimmere]

Perhaps she was glad to have her staff on her.

Since she was young, she had trained in sporting with the weapon, to the point she could end up putting her brothers down. It was no devastating cut, nor a well shot arrow, but she twirled and whipped the sturdy wooden staff with such force, she could put the hybrid hounds in a daze.

But it didn't do too much when she had three mutts on her. Bites and scratches upon her flesh, she did her best to ignore the searing pain, to fend them off until they were a distance away. Her boot stood on the sheath to her sword, knocking the blade from where she had leaned it up against their gear.

Rhory stooped to get it, lowering herself and effectively made the dogs think she was weak and an easy kill. With a resounding whip, she smacked the end of her staff into the face of one mutt before going to do the same to the other.

"I can't get to my sword." She called out, fending off the mutts by dropping her blade and returned to wielding the quarterstaff by building a great distance between them and her. Rhory glanced at her peripherals, seeing Owain put down one with a pained howl. The third stalked around the group and waited for an opening.

 

[Arn]

The creature Arn had thrown against the wall shook it's head, a bark escaping it's throat as it shifted and suddenly lunged back towards the Farmboy.

A small yelp of panic escaped the young man's throat as the beast came again, but this time he was prepared. His left hand immediately shot up, catching the creatures jaws in place as the arrow-head he had seized was suddenly thrust upward.

The sound of his make-shift blade sinking into the monsters throat echoed out. His hand suddenly feeling hot blood spill over it as he twisted and wrenched the arrow to the side. Pushing the beast off of him and sending it to the ground with a thud.

Panic consumed Arn as the creature fell, but some mechanism in the back of his brain called back to the training he'd received just a few short months ago. He dove forward, scrambling to where his ax lay on the ground and claiming the weapon before any of the other creatures could reach him.

Fingers wrapping around the haft of the half-moon blade as he rolled and stood up in a surprisingly lithe showing. "Fight together!"

He called, knowing that it was the only way they would win. The creatures were fighting as a pack, and they had to as well. Without another word Arn charged forward, his ax shifting and then chopping down hard upon one of the creatures going after Rho. It's blade carving a thick gash within the monsters flank.

 

[Felix Nevarre]

The rock that was now Felix's chosen weapon smashed into one of the creature's ribs and it cried out in pain, but it kept coming. The only thing keeping the beast from Felix's throat was his shield. Although fear threatened to overcome him, he wildly smashed the roch repeatedly against the creature's skull before finally he noticed it was no longer moving.

Felix scrambled to his feet now, and at first, went to widely attack the next foe, but Arn's words brought him back to the moment.

He looked around before charging back to Owain's side throwing his body into a creature to push him back. Owain had the knife, so he would be the shield.

Felix scrambled to catch his breath for the moment as two of their assailants drew closer to them.

"I'll take the hit and you finish it off?"

Arn Owain Rhory Grimmere

 

[Owain]

"Uh," Owain tried to figure out what the hell was even going on as Rho cried out about her blade and Arn suggested they stick together. It wasn't until Felix drew nearer that a plan emerged he could get behind.

With a curt nod he answered his fellow Guard quickly, "sounds good."

Letting someone else take the hit? This was the best plan they'd had all day. Another of the dog-wolf-things charged forward with that creepy half human, half hyena, growl thing it did. The beast lunged and jumped up at Felix who's shield was raised.

Owain, a bit too eager, ducked under a bit too early felt himself get off balance. The knife he had plunged into the creatures shoulder and while it howled in pain the blow was hardly fatal but at least the thing was limping around whilst blood leaked generously.

"We gotta tighten up," he said as he placed a hand on Felix's shoulder and tried to move his companion closer towards Arn and Rhory. Maybe if the four stuck close enough together the attacking pack would retreat.

 

[Rhory Grimmere]

There was a moment free for her to retrieve her sword, pulling it free from it's sheath and tossing it aside as she brought her blade to cut into one of the canines coming for her. With Arn, Owain, and Felix closing in with her, they stood a better chance at fending them off. Rhory watched as the creatures began to circle them, trying to determine where to strike and find any other weak points, but the four kept a good defensive stance.

They were wary now of Rhory and her sword, one of them still bleeding and panting. It was now the weakest of their pack, and bringing it down would mean one less for them to deal with... but it hung back, waiting. The other dogs taking a protective stance.

A canine sprung forward, and Rhory stepped out to meet it. Blade sunk into it's side, deeply wounding it and she worked her strength in to slice on her way out from it's body and deal a greater damage. It whimpered, staggering on it's feet before falling before them.

 

[Arn]

The Guardsmen did as they had been trained, moving back to back and defending one another as the hounds kept coming. One by one they felled them. The bite of an ax, the swift hack of a sword, the bodies of the strange beasts began to stack.

Until finally they broke.

Three of the creatures remained still alive, but as the tide turned clear against them they began to yip loudly. A pathetic whine escaped the beasts throats, and they quickly rushed away from the Guardsmen.

Sweat poured from Arn's brow, his chest heaved up and down. Fingers clutched the haft of his ax so tightly that he could hardly feel his knuckles. Hazel eyes did not move away from the darkness, searching, wondering if there was anything else out there. "What...the..."

He took a breath. "Fuck."

The Guardsmen said, turning to the others as he finally allowed his hands to relax. Muscles still tense and veins still pumping with adrenaline. A gash of one of the creatures claws running the length of his now bare torso.

 

[Felix Nevarre]

Once they managed to all gather up, the fighting went a bit better. Even so, as soon as it was clear the beasts had fled, for the moment, Felix sank to one knee. His left arm that wielded his shield felt like it was tied down with weights. Felix wanted nothing more than to rest, but there was still no guarantee that they were safe.

"Agreed", Felix groaned as he pushed himself to his feet and shuffled his way toward his bag. His first aid kit was in there, before they started moving again, he needed to look over any wounds and make sure everyone was still good to fight.

As he searched through his bag, he started to examine himself. He was tired, and he had one or two shallow cuts along his legs, but they would not stop him from fighting. Finally, he had a lot of bruises, most of those would likely only start hurting tomorrow morning.

"Let me take a look at everyone by the fire. Can't be fighting off wolves with one arm or something." Well, those things were definitely not wolves, but Felix did not know what else to call them.

Owain Rhory Grimmere Arn

 

[Owain]

At first Owain was numb. Still in shock at the sudden chaos and terror of the attacking beasts. But seeing the three surviving creatures literally turn tail and run filled him with another emotion.

Thrill. Excitement.

"That's right you fucking hounds!" He yelled as loud as his lungs would carry. "That's what happens when you mess with the Guard!" Courage and the rare camaraderie he'd read about in books filled his heart with meaning even as Felix talked about assessing everyone for injuries.

They returned towards the light of the campfire and Owain noticed the reason why Arn wasn't quite as stoked as he. "Gods, that looks ghastly." A small creek of crimson ran down from the gash in Arn's torso.

"B-bandages," was all he managed to utter as his face went pale and the thrill of a successful fight was ruined by the reality of a friend being injured. "Do either of you have bandages!?"

Owain quickly dug through his sack, filled primarily with spices he'd smuggled in and parchment for the survey of Cortos. He figured that, in a jam, they could use the parchment instead of proper bandaging.

 

[Rhory Grimmere]

"I have some!"

Only when she was sure they wouldn't need to keep watch for a few minutes, she crossed the camp to her bag, rifling to the bottom where bandages and a kit wefe kept. She tossed the bandages to Felix, remembering he said he had some training... Rhory knew little, perhaps the basics.

"I have some cuts and bites..." Nothing too serious to treat. Suddenly, she felt so weary, but anxiety kept her awake out of spite. What else was lurking in the dark? Just what did Cortos have in store for them?

 

[Arn]

"I feel a bit woozy." Arn said, tumbling down onto his behind with a loud thud.

His vision began to swim slightly, and he swore his breath was shorter than it usually was. Fingers slowly unfurled from around the haft of his ax, the weapon tumbling to the ground with another thud as he put a hand over the wound in his side.

"Ow." He said as he felt pain lance up his side, hand furling away. Eyebrows raising as he saw his palm covered in crimson. "That's not good."

Arn said woozily, listening to Owain suddenly panic as he realized just how badly the farmboy had been hurt. The wounded Guardsmen's mind already slipping, struggling to follow along with events as momentous blood loss took his cognition.

"Those things were weird, huh?" He asked his friends with a frown.

"There was something weirdly..." His hand returned to the wound in his side as his head lulled to the side. "Human...about their faces. I didn't like it."

 

[Felix Nevarre]

Felix moved quickly, far more confident here than in battle. Catching the bandages out of the air, before pulled a small container from his own bag before moving back over to Arn. He quickly knelt down and steadied his squad mate before taking a closer look at the wound, followed by a nod of confirmation of his own thoughts.

"First, Owain calm down. He'll be fine. Second, Arn, you've lost some blood so try not to move too much. I'll patch this up, but when have more time to rest, you may have to get some stitches...The next part may sting a little bit."

Felix opened the small container he held to reveal a green ointment that smelled of mint. A healing salve that he always kept nearby, it was one of the first things his father had taught him to make.

Working quickly, but being careful not to aggravate the wound, Felix applied to salve along the wound. The salve was cool to the touch and did provide a small sting before a light numbing sensation. It would help with the healing process but was also thick enough that it would slow down the bleeding as well.

"Alright, now I'm going to wrap this up so tight that it feels like someones hugging you and won't stop. You'll just have to put up with that, ok?"

Owain Arn Rhory Grimmere

 

[Owain]

Calm down!? The farmboy and goldilocks were practically on death's door! How was he supposed to calm down?! If one, or gods above forbid both, of them died he'd have to carry all that gear back to the camp. Then explain to the captain why he let 'em die! Maybe Felix just wasn't getting how inconvenient it'd be if they let their pals die out here.

But, then Owain really did steady his breathing a bit as he watched Felix put the mend on Arn.

The guard from Vel Odren nodded and grabbed some of the bandages himself, offering them over to Rhory. "You'll wanna keep those covered up," bloodloss was a real concern, "and rub this in too."

He offered her up the same salve he saw Felix used but Owain's motions were far more clumsy than his more experienced guardsman.

"Those things were weird as hell," Owain agreed with the weary farmer, "do you think they're like... Cortosi war experiments?"

He looked out into the wilds once more and a shiver came over him after they made sure their injured were patched up. This place sucked, he wasn't sure why Vel Anir even wanted Cortos. "Maybe you guys should get some rest. Felix and I can keep watch until sunrise." They'd trade off, a night of half sleep was fine if it meant the other two were able to rest up.

 

[Rhory Grimmere]

She certainly did not want to risk not cleaning the wounds, and accepted the help Owain gave her in the things she needed to do just that. As she sat down, beginning to clean her cuts and bites, she listened to the thinking out loud Owain was doing. That and her task at cleaning her wounds and wrapping them lightly in bandages was enough to keep her calm and not stare at Arn's wound being tended to by Felix.

"Let Arn rest... I can set some traps to alert us if anyone or anything comes near us again." An alarm rig was easily replicated to what she knew from back home, and at least it would give them proper time to prepare themselves again. "I can sleep for a couple of hours and swap with someone." After all, could she really sleep after the turn of this night?

 

[Arn]

"Ow." Arn said as Felix slowly began to tend his wounds, finding the other Guardsmen's touch to be surprisingly tender. Not that the wound in his side cared much at all, the spikes of pain came from soft or hard touch. "Ow-ooo, no that's actually not too bad."

The Farmoby said as he let out a breath, the salve his fellow Guardsmen had put upon his wound suddenly beginning to cool. The pains tilled pulsed, but less so, and Arn found that he could actually move his arm some without lancing agony in his side.

He shifted as the Guardsmen wrapped him in bandages, giving a nod of his head in confirmation of his words. "Thanks Felix."

Arn said.

"Did you learn this stuff in Bootcamp?" He asked quietly as the Owain offered the salve to Rho, though frowned as the Odren boy asked his question about the creatures.

Dark Hazel eyes flickered to one of the dead beasts, and Arn couldn't help the goosebumps which crept up his spine. Lips pressed to a thin line, and he dragged his gaze away from the strange creature before he found himself emptying his stomach.

"I-I don't know." He admitted to Owain as Felix finished tying the bandage. Arn standing to quickly move away from the creatures and towards where he had left his Bedroll. Sitting himself down as he asked the others another very important question. "But uh...do you think we've scouted enough?"

It'd only been a day, and they were supposed to head further into Cortos tomorrow. A prospect that now seemed utterly terrifying.

 

[Felix Nevarre]

As soon as Felix was satisfied with his work, he focused on cleaning up himself and his supplies. His father had engrained to him that the most important thing a surgeon could be was clean. Thankfully, Owain had sorted out Rhory so it would save them time.

"No, my dad is a surgeon, so I've been around this all my whole life. In fact, at Bootcamp Sergeant Scruggs actually had to unteach me things to make them more applicable to the battlefield. She was ready to ring my neck during training a couple of times."

Owain's questions made Felix pause followed by a shiver. If those things were war beasts then they would only be used by a madman. If some just unleashed them, then surely they would attack anything and everything.

"I'll take the first watch then with Owain."

In truth, their last battle had rattled him. He could not go to sleep even if he wanted to, so better to let the others get some rest.

Owain Arn Rhory Grimmere