[Mkguild] First Impressions (7/?)

[Azariah Wolf]

Here's number 7.  Took me a little longer, but I got it out.  :P

-LurkingWolf

_____________________________

Lois found his new decorations before going very far in his run.In the 
interests of keeping good relations with his patrol partners he decided 
to postpone his revenge until they had returned safely to Metamor.A 
little fun was still well within what his conscience would allow, so he 
decided to drop in on them unexpectedly.He already knew from their 
equipment drop where they were going to be sleeping, so he stayed hidden 
for several minutes, watching the rest of his patrol as they moved 
around.Alex seemed an easy target; he sat near the middle of the room, 
sitting on a bench while playing a solitary game with the cards he had 
shown Lois earlier.As he worked on his game, Lois silently crept up to 
him until he was finally close enough to whisper in Alex's ear.

"Move the five onto the six."

Alex jumped noticeably, and managed to catch Lois' hand as he attempted 
to show his commander the move he had just described.After a few moments 
of silence, Alex finally managed to say something.

"I think I'll make it a requirement for you to announce yourself 
whenever you enter a room," he said, voice sounding more than a little 
hoarse.

"That shouldn't be a problem.By the way, thanks for the decorations."

Alex looked at him with a bit of a grin."Decorations?"Lois held up the 
bow that had been around his tail."That's one decoration," Alex noted.

"Well, yes.The other I noticed when I rubbed the back of my head a while 
ago.I know I didn't have any black dye in my fur before my un, and 
couldn't think of where I could have gotten it.I figured it out after 
finding the bow."

Alex watched as Lois circled back around the table where his cards were 
laid, and verified that most of the dye had been cleaned from the fur, 
and anything that was left was hardly recognizable as anything 
important.Lois wouldn't have to use dye in the field, since his natural 
coloring and the color of his equipment matched the terrain so closely 
as it was, so this would probably be the only time on this patrol that 
he would be dealing with the stuff.Well, perhaps until after the patrol; 
further pranks might be a good way to keep Lois off guard while Andywn 
planted some people on him.

A good bit of the evening was used familiarizing Lois with the card.They 
played a few hands of various card games, then Alex left to tend to some 
final arrangements for the patrol, leaving Lois to alternate between 
flipping through the cards randomly, and playing solitaire games on the 
low table.He moved quickly through the games, but obviously had little 
skill, and often gave up on an easily winnable game because of 
impatience.Alex didn't note this directly, but Gerard noted these 
tendencies and relayed them to his commander.It wasn't a major problem, 
but they had always been told to keep an eye on anything that might be 
an eventual weakness in the field.Impatience could be a problem; Alex 
would have to watch for any sign of it in the field.

For his part, Lois was beginning to get the feel of the cards.His 
impatience was based mostly on the fact that he didn't want to be 
staring at the same rows of cards for several minutes.Seeing a distinct 
pattern of the symbols for too long would associate the pattern with the 
symbols, instead of with their classification.By keeping the cards 
moving, he left the symbols and the suits as the only two constant 
things, and allowed him to associate them in his memory without 
interference.

Lucy was already sleeping hours before her partners.She completely and 
openly realized that it was because of her reduced age, and brushed off 
any jokes about it.It was the life she was forced to live, but she 
worked with it as well as she could, and that allowed her to keep up 
with her partners.

Lois slept without any trouble that night, and finally woke up when Alex 
gave him a firm shake.

"Rise and shine, we're out of here in ten.Up and ready, now."His words 
were somewhat harsh, but his voice was low and controlled, almost as 
though he was already on the patrol in the middle of lutin-infested 
woods.They would be in such a state before long; Lois supposed that 
practicing for that eventual occurrence was not a bad thing, and so he 
prepared in a similar manner, quickly and quietly.

He was not the only one.While Alex was already ready and speaking to 
some high-ranking member of Outpost just outside of the room, Gerard and 
Lucy were still in the room, preparing without making a sound beyond the 
unavoidable creaking of leather and ringing of settling mail.Gerard was 
the first one ready, finishing his preparation by strapping his massive 
sword across his back and checking it to make sure it was in good 
position for a rapid draw in the field.He left through the door, leaving 
Lucy and Lois to finish their preparation.

Alex had not been joking when he told Lois that they were going in ten 
minutes.It took him about five minutes to finish preparing, and the rest 
of the patrol was ready to move by the time he left the door.After ten 
minutes, they were already walking down the main road that led to their 
exit gate.They headed through the east gate, following the road for a 
few miles before they once again left the beaten path.

"This is probably the last time we'll be on an actual road for a while; 
what few good paths exist north of the Dike we will be religiously 
avoiding," Gerard noted quietly."Get used to the underbrush; it will be 
your path and your best friend for the next couple of weeks.Get ready; 
this is not friendly terrain."

The patrol cut through the forest, going more slowly now than they had 
traveled earlier.Alex was clearly being more cautious now that they were 
beyond the Keep's immediate vicinity.They were still technically within 
the Keep's sphere of influence, but Alex knew that lutins were pretty 
common in the area, and he had no desire to announce their presence 
before they had to.If they could avoid lutins on this side of the Dike 
completely, he would not be disappointed.

Early afternoon found the patrol within sight of the Dike.Every now and 
then, they could see glimpses of the ruins through the trees.The trees 
stopped short of the area by design, giving any defenders the advantage 
of a wide open area in which they could see an enemy advance.With the 
fall of the wall, however, there were no regular defenders about to take 
advantage of this fact.Still, Alex called a short while they were still 
well within the trees.

"We'll wait here for a little while; the Dike has plenty of places where 
someone could hide out and try to stop us, so we're going to wait for 
dark to make our crossing.For now we take some rest, get some food, and 
do a little bit of preliminary surveillance.Gerard and I will be doing 
most of the scouting when the time come; you'll be coming with us for 
part of the way so we can cross if the opportunity arises, or to 
reinforce if either of us are engaged."

Several hours were spent in their position.Everyone watched as the sun 
dropped in the sky, slowly dipping farther and farther.The trees on the 
other side of the main path began to cast long shadows, until much of 
the main path was obscured by their shade.Alex watched until he felt 
comfortable, then motioned for the rest of his patrol to follow as he 
finally moved out of the forest's cover.For the first few minutes after 
they left the tree line, it seemed as though the cover followed them.The 
long shadows fell, deep enough to give them satisfactory cover until a 
few feet short of the Dike itself.As they reached the border of this 
shadowed area, Alex motioned for Lois and Lucy to stay back in a slight 
decline in the terrain.He and Gerard moved up into the light silently, 
and soon had reached the wall.

For some time they both disappeared into the ruins, each exploring 
different passages.Alex disappeared first, checking the other side of 
the Dike, then Gerard stepped out of view.Lois stayed prone, watching to 
see if any flares were set off; beside him, Lucy kept her eyes just 
barely high enough to see the wall.To anyone on the walls, she would 
disappear into the terrain because of her posture.

As they waited, the long shadows lengthened even more until the 
surrounding terrain began to fall into similar shade as the sun fell out 
of sight a little bit at a time.Soon, the sun itself would be completely 
hidden, and they would have only a little while longer until the entire 
ridge was covered in darkness.Just before the sun disappeared, however, 
Gerard and Alex appeared beside the wall, their silhouettes signaling 
for the others to move up.Lois and Lucy wasted no time, and they had 
soon rejoined their commander at a breach in the wall.

"We're in the clear.Let's go," Alex whispered.

No one had any argument; before the fading light had disappeared, they 
were entering the forest on the opposite side of the Giant's Dike, ready 
to begin their mission in earnest.It took them about another hour before 
they found a good campsite, and everything was set up quickly and 
efficiently for the night.

"Lois."The ermine turned as he heard his commander's voice, and saw the 
lynx looking at him, with that peculiar fire that felines possessed at 
night."I want you to take first watch.Gerard will come and relieve you 
in a few hours.Good luck, and good night."

"Yes, sir," Lois responded, voice barely audible.He wasted no time 
finding a good post, and had settled in before the rest of the patrol 
was ready to rest.He spent the rest of his shift letting eyes and ears 
work together through the darkness.He found that it was very easy to 
carry out his responsibilities.His form had improved his vision in the 
dark, and his hearing was wonderful at picking up and interpreting 
sounds quickly.He had no doubt that anyone that tried to enter the camp 
would be caught.It was just another one of those odd things that came 
with the territory; one of the strange blessings of the Curse.


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