[Mkguild] Patrol VIII

[Jack Moore]

AN: Well my computer crashed and the entire thing had to be wiped.
Thankfully I had a backup copy on my flash drive. You must admit I have a
talent for bad luck.

Patrol VIII
Woods: March 31st
How long did it take us to reach the woods from Metamor Keep? I honestly
don't remember. I want to say it took a while, but I remember being in the
woods that evening. Maybe we left earlier than I remember, I don't know.
What I do remember was trying to talk to my traveling companions. Misha and
Nemo had gotten to discussing something early on. That left me with the
other three.
I had first tried talking to the older man. The only thing I got from him
was his name had been Marnie, he had hoped to be made young, and he didn't
want to talk to me. Fine enough, I doubt I'd want to talk to me.
Instead I decided to get to know my two anthro companions. I figured if I
was going to be on this cursed journey I might as well try to make some new
friends.
Bos and Shema...I miss both of you so much. Time has left me here while it
has swept my friends one by one away from me. Even my beloved has been
taken away while I remain an old man.
It's only as an old man with your memories as your only comfort that you
look towards the past. As I do I can see the mistakes I made and I
wonder...why did you two continue to associate with me?
I must preface this next section by stating none of this is altered. This
was one hour into the patrol from hell, exactly as I remembered it to be.
All of this was what happened, unaltered.
Trust me; I couldn't alter events to make my younger self look worse.
My dress carried with it every ounce of water in the air and every twig in
the damn forest. I couldn't move without catching on to something, but at
least I had a group I was with so I didn't get stuck. Nemo and Bos helped
me and Shema caught me when I almost fell over.
"Thank you." I said, brushing mud off my skirt as best I could. Our only
light was the dim torch light that somehow covered me more in shadow than
anything else.
"No problem." She said, giving a small bow. Her big ears framed against the
moon gave her an almost sinister look. It didn't help that the only part of
her in light was her smile and little fangs. "Just try to be careful future
lord James." I rolled my eyes.
"Did his dress get caught again?" Misha asked from the front of the group.
"It's not a dress!" I snarled. "It's a sarong and a top that I sewed
myself, I sewed myself!"
"Keep your voice down, they can hear you in the keep!" Misha snapped at me.
"Now let's get moving." Even without the light I could imagine his fur
bristling and his ears pinned against his head in irritation. I wanted to
respond but even I knew it would do no good so I got back to walking.
Each tree seemed like a pillar to me, with knives sticking out of it
waiting to cut me. As I passed by I could see some monsters waiting just
outside the corner of my eye, ready to eat me. My heart began to hammer
against my chest as I climbed over a soaked log.
'No fear James. You've shown them how scared you are, don't do it here.' I
bit my bottom lip. 'Don't show them fear? I've hid in my room for the past
month or cried a lot. I went out and vomited on a knight's hooves. Everyone
who sees me knows I'm a coward.'
Someone tapped on my shoulder, snapping me out of my self pity. I glanced
over to Bos, his eyes glinting in the dark. Shema beside him also looked at
me with an air of curiosity.
"Somethin' wrong? You almost walked into a tree for a sec' there" I shook
my head.
"I appreciate it but I'm...I don't want to be here." I sighed. "In Isenport
when we need soldiers, you can pay a fee to avoid being drafted. I want
that here in Metamor, it's so much more civilized."
"You guys bribe yur way out of that? Shit thas weird." Bos said. Shema gave
a nod at this. "Thas only nice when you got da gold to do it. Sucks to be a
poor guy like me."
"It doesn't seem very fair to poor merchants and the like." Shema said.
"Most unfortunate for them." Yes if only they could have been born rich and
noble like me. Except life is miserably unfair, something my younger self
was only learning.
"They just need to make more money." I said. This concept of unfairness was
one I had yet to internalize. "If they had more money, they'd not have to
go die in whatever war the Emperor sent them off to." My two companions
jaws dropped in unison. "What?"
"You really were a sheltered thing weren't you?" Shema said. "That's
interesting. Move faster, though, we're falling behind." I turned to the
other three, now far enough away that their torch was somewhere in the
background. We took off, my skirt and masculinity billowing in the night
breeze.
"I hate running." I panted as we rejoined the others. Misha glanced back at
me.
"Stop complaining. Everyone has to do this once." I mumbled a few curses
under my breath as we rejoined the death march.
"Les talk about somthin' else." Bos said to me. "Since ya don't know about
bein' poor n stuff." I shrugged. We moved into a clearing, free of both
trees and leaves. And grass, meaning the wet ground was one thing. Mud, mud
up to my ankles that pulled my dress down. I struggled with it with every
step.
"Are you distressed?" Shema asked.
"I'm fine." I growled, now pulling at least two pounds of mud. Even I
couldn't do that for long so I stumbled to a stop. "Hey, rage fox, give me
a hand?" Misha stopped.
"Excuse me?"
"You're the strong one here, you're much stronger than me and I'm stuck.
Pull me out." Misha ignored me and kept moving. "Hey!"
"James, you've told me twice now you don't want my help. So you're not
getting it. Either catch up or we're leaving you behind." That's exactly
how it went down in case you're curious dear reader.
So it wasn't just me being a petty jackass.
I mumbled more curses but did manage to pull my skirt from the quagmire.
Shema moved to help but I brushed her off. Up ahead I could see Nemo beside
Misha, in the torchlight I could see them talking.
'Why are you talking to that annoying fox?'' Nemo was gesturing to Misha's
oversized ax and pointing to Qual at the same time. 'Yeah you both got
runic weapons; I bet you both feel so special.' I fingered the hatchet
Aaryn had given me. 'Mine chops trees though.'
Finally through the mud our walk got a little easier. Now all I had to
worry about was the trees, branches, thorns, wild animals, invading armies
and possibly the evil spirits in this forest. But at least no mud!
"Why on Earth are we here?" I asked Bos. He had his bow out and kept
pulling its string and releasing it. No arrows but there was no need, thus
far no one had attacked us. "This forest is supposed to be haunted, why do
you want to go to a haunted forest?"
"Why'd ya wanna go to a cursed city?" Bos asked.
"I asked Father that question." I took my hatchet out and chopped it
against a tree trunk. Every few feet I repeated the process, leaving little
notches in the firs and birches. "I didn't want to go to Metamor, I said it
was stupid then. Now I say going into a haunted forest is stupid.
"Thas why they got a Long Scou' leadin' us, they got experience with this
sorta thing." Bos said. He scratched at his ears in a very meerkat manner.
"Sides, I ain't no slouch with a bow lizard man." He fell into an archer
stance to punctuate this. "I killed a lot as a hunta Jimmy."
"James, my name is James." I said, swinging my hatchet. "I'm not terrible
with this thing myself."
"Ya ever used it before?"
"Of course not." I said. "It's a little hand-ax thing, how hard can it be."
I twirled it in my hand and only succeeded in almost dropping it. "Uh, okay
maybe I need a little practice..."
"Took me ye-ahs to get good with tis." Bos said, twanging his bow. Shema
fingered her short sword with her free hand but didn't say anything. The
only weapon I had any experience with was my glaive but that was lying back
in my dwelling.
Behind us an owl hooted and twigs began to break. My stomach began to climb
into my throat. Every pinprick among the branches was an eye watching me.
Looking up at Misha at the head of our group, I compared his form and mine.
I was stiff, ready to flare at every noise. He was calm, his body looked
almost relaxed. Yet despite that I never doubted for a second he could
strike anything down if it attacked him. He was ready for this.
'I'm not ready; I want to get out of here. I want to go home, why can't I
just buy my way out of here?' Because things didn't work that way in
Metamor Keep. They actually expected you to honor commitments, not just
negotiate your way out of them.
"Bos, what the hell is your accent?" I asked. He snorted. "I've been
wondering, you sound...well like you're from everywhere. Foreign no matter
where you're from." Now he laughed.
"Well Jame, I wass from loss a places." Bos said. "I was born to traveling
mercinaries so I been everywhere." He strummed at his bow. "I hadda hunt
for our food usually, so I got good fast."
"Hunting with a bow?" I shuddered. "Not something I could do." No I only
made hawks hunt for me. "You ever killed someone?" Bos sighed.
"Once." He didn't elaborate and I didn't ask. "Mostly deer, nevah wanna eat
anotha one. Was you really a lord?"
"Yes I was a lord, or I would have been." I said. "Father had to die first.
Somehow he just kept on living."
"You seem bitter." Shema said, suddenly speaking up. I had actually
forgotten she was there. I rubbed the back of my head, trying to rub some
warmth back into it. The air was icy and damp and it felt like walking
through a wall of water.
"Bitter? Why would I be bitter?" I asked. "My father dumped me in a cursed
city that he stupidly went to for some reason, he never did tell me." I
snapped a stick in half in frustration.
"But on the plus side, I've grown a tail! That's the gift that fucking pays
for itself!" Now I was yelling but I didn't care. "My dad is going to tell
them I'm dead back at home, meaning I can't fucking return home."
"Keep your voice down!" Misha yelled at me. The group ground to a halt. "If
I have to stop again, I will force you to march back to Metamor."
"Is that a promise?" I snarked.
"It's a promise that you'll be alone in this forest with only your wits to
save you," Brightleaf said, "I can only imagine how long it will be before
those run dry." Jackass. We resumed walking again and I kept steaming.
"I like hav-en uh tail myself." Bos said. "I like being a meerkat, they so
cute. I can still use uh bow an' arrow."
"How'd you end up here?" I asked. Bos shrugged.
"Liked Metamor, wannad tah stay." There's a quaint notion, wanting to stay
in a city that is cursed. Personally I've always found that a foolish
desire. "Wanned ta be a fuzzy furry critter. Meerkat works."
"You turned into an animal man." I said.
"Yeah, mose people nah so lucky." Bos said. I started to say something but
the words couldn't escape my throat. "I get ta see wha its like to be par'
animal. Thas so awesome."
"You don't mind?" 'Patric was happy and living his life. Sir Egland was
proud, noble and not at all hindered by his antlers. They were kind to me
even when I yelled at them for being cursed...like I am...I want out of
here.'
This desire bubbled up again like a miasma from inside me. Even after a
month that desire for self pity hadn't gone away yet. But, Eli help me,
this damn patrol was going to help me deal with those feelings.
"I think you're crazy." I mumbled. "I think you're wrong."
"And you ah right?"
"Obviously." I said. "Being cursed is always a bad thing. It's not good and
if you do it to yourself willingly you're a damn idiot." Willingly being
cursed is the action of an idiot, I still believe that.
But being cursed isn't always a bad thing. I should have known that, it
helped me meet Bos. How odd, such an important event in my life came from
me being dragged kicking and screaming into the woods.
Bos and Shema both would affect me in different ways in the future. But
more on that later.


Berl's vision had improved enough at night to see in the dull moon light.
Saphir was just in front of him, gesturing when they stopped. The leader
directed how they moved and even set the tone for their steps. They moved
in such a way as to blend in with the background noise.
"We will never be hidden from the beasties of Metamor." Saphir had told
him. "They can hear better, smell better than we can. Best we can hope for
is sound like the woods. Get 'em thinking we're just a part of the
background."
'But what happens if they really do hear us?' Berl swallowed. 'They have
real knives and swords and axes and...oh gods please watch over me.' Berl
whispered prayers under his breath.

Time was bending in on itself here in the woods. Berl could see what had
brought him here, but he could also see every moment where he could have
escaped. He felt the warmth of his cabin with his mother, where she told
him of the Golden Circle.
Then a second time at the grave of his father. Then again and again,
constantly reassuring him of the nobility of the hunt. Filling him with
stories of the chase, the thrill of smiting evil. Wearing him down day by
day until Berl had agreed.
'And now I'm here in the woods.' Berl shook his head. 'Did she ever see me
as her son? Really did she? Was I just a tool for her glory?' He rubbed his
eyes. 'Don't think that, you can trust her and the Golden Circle. It's the
monsters of Metamor. You can't trust them.' Berl looked up into the woods.
'Are those lights?' His breath froze in his chest.
The hunt leader signaled for them to stop. The leader then approached just
close enough to see better, stopping against the bow of the hill. He
glanced back and nodded. Each man in the party tensed and gripped their
weapons of choice.
They had found Keepers.
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