#botgd 2

Previous: Boots on the Ground 1

Jugen sat up in his bed, papers clasped to his chest, and a sense of new found peace washing over him. It would come here and there. Doubtless at some point near the evening, when hope felt lost all over again, he was sure he'd feel less enlightened. But for now, his mind was taking the words of his friend Fiendal to heart. He accepted the value of himself as just a man. Accepted his value as someone seeking to do what was good in the here and now, unfettered from the past.

He turned to gaze across the hallway, and caught sight of the cell across from him...

...

The good feeling was gone.

There was just one problem with making sure Jugen's arrest wasn't announced to official records yet. And that was he was marked as a generic 'low flight risk' detainee. Which meant that another generically marked 'low flight risk' detainee would be posted in the neighboring cell by the guards who didn't know the wiser.

The Indigo Phantom was a mere handful of meters away, and the sight hit Jugen with sour memories and present feelings like an ice wave.

He was sure his short, but growing hair, extra facial scruff, rawhide clothes, and tanned, wilderness worn, skin would only conceal his identity for a precious few moments before he was recognized. And Jugen had to admit...he was not ready for it.

December 20th. It was a day Lila had been dreading for weeks. Ever since their final battle she had worked tirelessly. Searching for survivors, organizing rebuilding efforts, recovering remains, communicating with their neighbors. All of that was easy compared to what she had to do today.

She had ordered there to be no celebrations of their victory until they had found every survivor and recovered the remains of those who didn't make it. It's been two months now, and while they had found most everyone according to her head count they were still a ways off from a full count. Those still missing had to be presumed dead.

Lila let out a sigh as she arranged herself to look a touch more put together.

"You didn't fail them."

Lila glanced at her sister in the mirror as she spoke. "Well, I certainly didn't find them." She replies.

"Lila, there was no way for you, or anyone else to find everyone. The city was coming down before the explosion vaporized everything else."

Lila lets out another sigh. "It's easy to say when you're not the one that needs to explain that to their families."

Jari places a hand on her shoulder with a sympathetic smile.

Lila takes a deep breath. "I'll be out in five minutes."

Jari nods and gives her sister one last hug from behind before heading out and closing the door behind her. Snow crunches under her feet as she heads down to the beach where a crowd gathers around several braziers that have been set up on the beach, several large ships sitting at the water's edge as a light snow falls.

"How's she doing?" Kettil asks as Jari approaches, a mug of hot cider in his hand, draped in heavy cloaks and furs.

"About as well as you would expect." Jari replies. Kettil gives her a worried look. "She'll be fine. She's tough."

Continued from this

Dagny and Kari ran through the medic tents looking among the rebels and their allies for any signs of the Arnason men. Dagny briefly considered also finding Nio and Sav, but Liam was the one, who Kezia was after. They had to make sure he was okay first.

"Where can they be?" Kari asked with exasperation.

"Relax," Dagny said, "we'll find them. They can't be too far from here."

"But...w-what if they didn't make it?" Kari asked.

Dagny couldn't help but feel her blood run cold at that thought. What if Kari was right? What if Liam and Vox didn't make it? Kezia wanted Liam for some reason...and there was no sign of them during the final battle. No...she shook her head. No...he had to be okay. They both had to be okay. "We can't think like that, Kari," she said after a moment. "Come on, I bet if we find Daybreak or Kendra or Aunt Tree, we'll find Liam and Uncle Vox."

(Takes place after Opie is caught and before the pirate attack)

Malak's head buzzed as the wood of Sven's training sword knocked into his head. The spider had momentarily lost himself in thoughts over his son that he had exposed an opening despite having a plethora of arms to protect himself.

Since the boy had caused Darien to lose his leg, he had been sent to the reformation camp. He still hadn't been one for the outdoors, so the rebellion authorities had decided learning indoor based crafts and trade still would be best for him. Malak knew his son was too dangerous to be allowed in society at large, at least for now. And frankly...he knew the same ought to apply to himself.

Malak had just started to plot out in his mind how to handle what he knew would be inevitable when Sven bonked him in the head, and he scrambled back a few paces with a bark of surprise.

Part 1

Two months had passed since the two survivors of the Morning Star had washed up on Haligan’s shores, and yet not much more was known about either of them than was known when they arrived. Meranym, the silver-haired child, had essentially locked herself away from everyone upon hearing of the Captain’s survival. In the few instances she had appeared outside she hid inside her cloak and spoke to no one. To Deoridh, it was clear that the lapses in the girl’s control were getting worse. Objects around the house would shake at odd hours, and strange flashes of light would shine from under her door as the girl whispered and pleaded to herself.

The Captain, on the other hand, had been bedridden since his arrival, unable to speak from his ordeal. He had become a constant fixture in the healer’s hut, and his eyes had opened perhaps twice in the time he had lain there.

His silence, however, was about to break.

Light from the rising sun was just hitting the windows when he woke, and his confusion was immediate. This wasn’t what he expected to wake to - in fact, he had thought he wasn’t going to wake ever again. The room he was in was strange, but judging by the ache in his bones, he had been here for some time.

He swung his legs off of the bed stiffly, and took a few weak steps towards the door. Cor, he was starving. Maybe he could find something to eat outside. With a tremendous amount of effort, he finally made it to the door and opened it. The warm morning sun felt good on his skin, even if the accompanying breeze made his sweat-soaked body shiver. As he walked further away from the house, he ran into a guard, who looked at him with... bewilderment or amusement? His brain couldn’t tell.

“Can ye tell me where I am? I don’t remember how I got here...” The guard nodded. “You’re on Haligan Island, sir - you’ve been unconscious for months. I need to take you to our Cheif - the Lady Grey. She’s been wanting to ask you a few things.”

The Captain paused. “Months? Well... I s’pose it’d be fine... mind if I lean on you? Looks like I lost my sea legs.”

The guard takes one of the Captain’s arms around his shoulders, and begins leading him to a path into the nearby trees. “The Lady Grey is just in here, sir...”

[x]

Egil glanced behind him, taking a good, straight look at the man who just walked into the tavern. If he recognized Stonegit, he showed no sign of it. His eyes passed over him as easily as he passed over the rest of the room.