Private Tales Something Amiss

[Saul Talith]

Lia looked as though she were about to say something, but Saul cut her off before she could even get a word out. "We do this or she loses the arm."

Saul glanced down at Kaska, then tore off a strip of his cloth and bundled it up into a ball.

"Bite down on this." The Commander told her. "It'll save your teeth."

Half of him wished that Ana was here. She wasn't a medic, but...well she was certainly better than him at this sort of thing. His hands grasped Kaska's arm, fingers gently pressing her skin as he prepared to pop the joint back into place.

There was no room for hesitation here, it had to be quick and....pop.

 

[Kaska]

She felt Saul over her, but at such an angle she couldn't see his response to her in this state. Something she was glad of, a small thing to be grateful for as she slowly opened her mouth and allowed the cloth to be slid in. She bit down, finding comfort in Lia's own unsureness. If Lia wasn't composed ... then it was alright if she couldn't be.

She whimpered as she felt Saul move back in, her eyes shimmering with moisture as she te-

Pain flashed and cracked, feeling abruptly flaring to life through her arm in a raging inferno. It would have been kind to pass out again, but she did not. And many within the cave stirred or startled up at the sounds that fell unbridled from her. She held no awareness to this, dwindling down to hoarse exhales as the moment cooled to cold sweats across her body.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul flexed his fingers on Kaska's arm one more time, moving the arm for a moment to check whether or not it would allow for a full range of motion. When she did not scream out in pain at the movement but instead took short deep breaths he nodded his head slightly.

"Well." He began quietly, looking at Lia. "I'll add this to the bill."

The Lieutenant flashed him a disapproving frown, but he could have sworn the Elf cracked a small smile at his little joke. Pleased with himself, Saul gently let go of Kaska's arm. "You'll need a sling. At least until we return to Alliria."

Longer, he would guess, but he was no doctor.

"Get her some water."
​

Lia said, motioning to the other Ranger that had been awake...who was now of course joined by almost every single person inside of the cavern.

 

[Kaska]

Any notion of drinking or moving was unwelcome to her at that moment. The cave floor was cool against her face and she saw no need to part from such a comfortable position. But hands helped her up, draping a blanket over her shoulders.

Leane watched from her place by their fires as Kaska numbly rejected all waterskins as leaned against Lia, her face that of a solider in shock.

"I'm fine," Kaska murmured hoarsely. "I'm fine."

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul patted Kaska's head. "Better than a sword in your belly."

The Templar assured the woman as he stood from the cave floor and cast a glance towards Leane. The other woman shook her head slightly, stifling a small smile on her lips.

A moment later the other Ranger returned with a water skin, Lia grabbing it from him and kneeling down besides Kaska to at least attempt to feed her the drink.

"Drink."​

The Ranger Sergeant ordered sternly.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska drank, the water soothing down her throat. She drank heavier at that, reaching up with her good hand to do it herself and drain the flask dry. She panted there on the floor, a sense of clarity falling upon her. Her shoulder no longer seared, the intense pressure she had woken up to relieved. She could feel that movement was possible again, merely aching now instead of turning into raw agony.

A massive sigh of relief fell from her, her head slowly shaking.

"Thank you," she croaked at the three.

 

[Lia]

Lia looked down at Kaska with no small amount of concern on her face, features shrouded in the darkness of the cave. Her fingers fluttered over her clothing for a moment, fretting quietly until finally she spoke. "Tell us sooner next time."

She admonished.

Sarah didn't say anything, her expression as neutral as could be. The Templar Commander for his part simply offered the Rangers a nod and then moved to go back to his part of the Cavern. Lia watched him for a few seconds, then regarded Kaska again.

"They've certainly come in handy." Lia mused quietly to her fellow Rangers.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska grimaced, her ears tinged red.

"You can go back to sleep," she grumbled, almost at the state of humiliation.

 

[Lia]

Lia shook her head. "No I think we're all awake now."

The Lieutenant glanced around the room of woken Templars and Rangers. Some of them smirked, others looked as grumpy as could be. Most were already returning to their bedrolls, having decided that this was not worth staying up over and it was best to just get some sleep.

She couldn't blame them.

"I'll be taking next watch." She announced loudly to the others, eyeing the Templar Commander who simply shrugged his shoulders at her. "You get some rest, Kaska."

They would have to move in the morning.

 

[Kaska]

Is she could melt away in that moment, she would. Instead she let herself melt into Lia's bed roll, the woman apparently not needing it and hers frankly too far away.

She had just tried to be strong like the others. To not grumble over an ache and inact attention where everyone else had not last night. Instead, she did the opposite. She didn't know it had been misaligned. She had fallen on it when she had jumped from the castle wall, and then she had fought with it for the rest of the night.

She had tried to be a strong solider, but instead she had just made herself foolish. She stewed in frustration, her aches keeping her awake for some time. But eventually her mind recovered from the event. Her heart slowed. She drifted off.

 

[Lia]

Lia stayed awake.

She watched carefully, keeping an eye on the entrance of the cave. In truth she did not know what she was watching for, bandits perhaps.

There was always the possibility of attack, she knew that, but with the Lich did she did not foresee anyone coming after them. Bandits would not be fool enough to attack this many armored men, and anything else...anything else would be scared off by the fire.

It seemed silly to keep watch, but the Templar had done it.

Thus so would she.

Somehow she kept herself awake through the rest of the night, an anonymous Templar keeping her company and chatting with her every now and again until the sun began to rise.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska stirred as people rose around her, everyone moving slowly as they nursed sore muscles and injuries alike. She took her time in particular, her thoughts drifting over events and mulling. Finally, she sat up with a grunt, expression haggard as she looked to Lia.

"Can I borrow a shirt?" She asked, her voice rough.

 

[Lia]

A frown touched her lips for a moment, though eventually she nodded. "In my bag."

The Lieutenant pointed to a small canvas sack that she had been carrying with her for most of this time. The clothing she'd brought was anything but fancy, mostly undershirts that went beneath her armor. Comfortable, but about as scraggly as they could get.

"Wash it before you return it." She told Kaska with a smile.

Briefly she wondered what had happened to all her friends extra clothing

 

[Kaska]

Kaska grunted in acknowledgement, pulling it over and getting it on herself quietly. With her teeth and hand she fashioned a sling with her dissembled shirt. Some sense of pride was found through the tending of herself, but the moment was quickly lost when it came to the rest of her tasks. Her bedding needed to be rolled, her armor tied up, even her long locks sat snarled with guck around her. She looked on in silent defeat, watching as they Templar moved like ants over each other, many hands helping with menial tasks... no one working along.

Her brows furrowed. She glanced up to Lia. "...Can you..." Her ears tinged red, the request for aid cutting short.

 

[Lia]

Lia glanced down over at Kaska, frowning for a moment and then letting out an amused sigh.

"Here." The Lieutenant said as she leaned down and began to help Kaska with her things. It took some time, but eventually she managed to pull it all together. She smiled at her friend, shaking her head again and motioning for her to turn around.

"I'll try not to hurt your shoulder." Lia said as she put the pack on Kaska. "But I have a feeling at the end of the day you're not gonna be enjoying yourself."

Probably an understatement.

 

[Kaska]

"So glad we took a boat," she grimaced. Of course, it would be near another day's walk to reach it. Kaska shuddered in dread.

"...Thanks," she grumbled, for the second time within a day. The last of the fires were smothered out, bodies slowly trailing out as everyone prepared for departure.

"...I really didn't think anything was wrong." She felt the need to explain, Lia's expression last night... "I wasn't trying to- look at them, none of them even seem to know how to complain. It's like they do this all the time." And she was just trying to be as good as them.

"I would have come to you." Would she have? Probably not, but this whole experience was changing her perspective on things, and she would like to think she would work better with Lia in the future. They weren't functioning like a unit. They needed to.

"Next time I'll be more careful." And stick with Lia. Perhaps a lot of their injuries could have been prevented if she hadn't just run off like that.

 

[Lia]

"I know." She said quietly, carefully patting Kaska on her uninjured shoulder.

A frown touched her lips though, her voice lowering.

"I think they do do this all the time." The Lieutenant said quietly, obviously referring to the Templar. "We've forgotten how to work like them..."

Her lips thinned. "Ranger's have come to operate more as individuals. We go out into the Reach, tend to our mission and do our own things...we're not soldiers, not really."

Once they had been. They'd fought in wars, moved in units and carefully picked apart the enemy piece by piece. Now they were individuals. Strong fighters, good archers, but not a cohesive company. Perhaps that was why they needed help in the first place. Lia couldn't help but feel that way.

"We seem to move around like headless chickens." Even on this missions, with how they'd practically had to force the command structure to allow them to go after the Lich.

 

[Kaska]

"They're remarkable," Kaska confided under her breath, a comment given in great confidence. She gave Lia a side glance, almost nervous it would be ill received.

 

[Lia]

Lia made a shushing motion. "Some of them have good ears."

Kaska was right though.

The Sergeant couldn't help but agree in truth. She didn't want to, and there was no way she would ever say it out loud, but there was a part of her that admired the Templar for their discipline. The skills were different than those of a Ranger, but she could still see benefit of them.

"They are..." She paused for a moment. "Disciplined."

From her, that was a complement.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska snorted, turning away from it all with a dismissive flair.

"Lesgo, don't wanna give him the chance to lead the way out. He doesn't even know the way."

She marched on forward with bravido forced into the movement. She was about 98 percent sure they hurt just as much as she did. Which meant they were just actors, and good ones. Well guess what, she was one too. And a better one at that.

 

[Lia]

Lia smiled, then quietly followed after Kaska.

The other Rangers quickly followed behind without a word, knowing when it was time to fall back into line. Saul, to his credit, didn't say anything either and simply mustered his Templar to fall into line.

It was a quiet thing, their journey.

The Templar talked among one another, and some even spoke to the Rangers. Still, most everyone stayed quiet, preferring instead to watch the trees as they walked.

Lia for her part walked alongside Kaska, watching her friend out of the corner of her eye to make sure she didn't fall on her face.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska did her own side glances in turn, the fact that Lia had been overcome by dark magic just yesterday not forgotten to her.

She might fall on her face too.

The day passed slow yet uneventful, their arrival to the ship met by welcomed groaned and a sudden joyous air. Kaska, for her part, abruptly wanted to toss herself into the water. What she wouldn't give in the moment for the bite of whisky to make her forget about her shoulder. The cheerful atmosphere only grew as camp was pitched and fire set. She coulda sworn she say a flask flash through the air.

She casted Lia a glance, then jerked her chin, offering a chance for her friend to escape and possibly, er, bath with her?

Help, she was stuck in the shirt.

 

[Lia]

For a moment Lia stood in thought, then a smile formed on her face. "Sarah."

Her voice sang out in almost a song, amusement playing across her lips as her eyes caught Kaska's.

There was a moment between her next words and when the elf went darting over to her. The woman was lithe and quick, even after a whole day of marching through the forest. Lia couldn't help but feel a spike of envy for skill like that, wishing she had the ability to move in such a manner.

Still watching Kaska Lia began to speak.

"I need you to help..." She paused. "The Templar Commander while I assist our fellow Ranger."

Sarah blinked, and then slowly nodded, clearly not understanding why Lia had been so odd about this.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska’s brows furrowed... and then all at once her face pinched and ears grew red in understanding. She dropped her pack to the ground and grabbed Lias arm in a huff.

“Never mind her, Sarah, Go back to... whatever it is you do.” And she dragged Lia away with her good arm, putting some distance in for privacy for releasing her, albeit roughly.

“Well that was unnecessary.” She chastised.

 

[Lia]

"You mean funny." Lia retorted with a smirk, glancing back towards the camp.

The young Elf woman was shaking her head, apparently having already decided that it wasn't worth the effort devoting thought to what had just happened. Instead Sarah decided to make her way over towards Saul, apparently having taken Lia at her word to cooperate with the Templar.

At the same time Lia followed along with Kaska.

"We'll get you to a doctor when we get back." She commented. "I doubt that Templar is a medical professional."

Or anything close to it.