Gods and Men

Jocasta sighed.

"Okay, we've listened to the sob story. Personally, I say we tie him to the nearest tree and let him work himself loose when we're long gone, but I'm open to input on this one."

Ashera shook her head at Jocasta in disagreement.

"Please..." the man said, "no...my brother..."

Jocasta was somewhat annoyed at the others' silence.

"Well, don't jump up all at once to tell me what you think."

"I think we don't want to say the wrong thing, with the possible exception of Mr. Stoic over there." Myrddin observed, pointing at Axel "personally, I believe at least investigating his problem mightn't be a bad idea, as we do have someone who could help, and currently possess no particular direction, however, I get the distinct impression you don't agree, and well, quite frankly, you're more than a titch scary."

Jocasta smiled sardonically, raising an eyebrow.

"What, never met a mercenary before? Do you think I'm going to chop your head off the second you disagree with me?"

Axel remained silent for the exact reason Myrddin had mentioned. He hated situations like this, as they quickly left him completely lost. Axel's original plan had been for the death of this man, but the others' actions had seemed to rank that plan as a bad one. And now there were opinions for his death yet again. This was why he loved solitude so much. No clamor, no confusing opinions and emotions. Just the clockwork patterns of the natural world. He stayed back with Asher at his side, simply observing and trying to appear as unbiased as possible. Let the people who actually knew something about "common values and morality" do the decision making. He was a hunter and survivor, not a leader of men.

Ashera looked around at the others, unsure what she wanted to happen, and not willing to speak up if she did. A wave of exhaustion swept over her and she leaned back against a nearby log, closing her eyes.
"Too tired..." she began to say before passing out.

"No, I don't think you're that impulsive or wrathful, but you're still an undefined variable." Myrddin replied, not noticing Ashera pass out "Generally, I try to not piss off people who could disembowel me in a heartbeat that I don't know thoroughly. Now, I can tell you won't do that to me, but anger is still scary, you're the most experienced adventurer here, and the fourth member of our party would probably have trouble disagreeing with even me, so you're right out." As he said this, Myrddin looked over at Ashera. "And, unless I'm mistaken, she has just passed out, making it even harder for her to voice her opinion. Now, what should I do with her?"

"Spirits above, did she just faint again? I can tell this trip is going to be just great."

Jocasta paused for a moment, trying to mull over the last few minutes.

"Okay. Here's what we're going to do. We'll help this man out, as you suggested, mostly from a lack of anything else to do. Anyways, there's two votes to my one, and forest-man isn't giving us his two cents. Not to suggest that I'll listen to a vote in the future, but I like starting out on a good note. As for future plans... Well, I'm short-term tactics, not campaign strategy. This really isn't my kind of thing."

"Well then, we have a short-term plan for that." Myrddin said, "now for another short-term plan: what should we do about her?" He gestured at Ashera.

"Did she bring a bedroll? If not, we're all going to have to snuggle up close tonight. Just toss her in the tent and we'll check on her in an hour."

Myrddin did as he was instructed, dragging Ashera as carefully as he could into the tent. "So..." he asked, "What now?"

"Well, as the healer's out for the night, I'm thinking any trip to this man's village is going to have to wait until tomorrow. In the mean time, I think we'll have to tie him up and keep someone who can handle him on watch. I wouldn't mind the wolf taking a turn, if it understands the idea well enough. I'm bushed, and the wolf is almost as scary as I am."

"Sounds good to me, I could do with some sleep." Myrddin said, "and hey, she got the hierarchy of terror correct" he added under his breath.

"Then I'll take care of the tying and the first watch. Forest-man can take the next one. I'd schedule you in to sit on our friend here holding a knife, but I doubt you'd be able to use it, even if you had to. So, everyone get to bed and I'll wake our resident forest-dweller after a few hours."

This being settled, Jocasta set to work on binding the man's hands and feet. Once she was satisfied that the bonds were tight enough to keep him down but loose enough to allow blood flow, she grabbed a blanket out of her bedroll and tossed it over him.

"It won't be a comfortable night," she informed him, "But you're not going to freeze to death."

She threw another log on the fire and started the first watch.

The man said thanks for the blanket, and eventually went to sleep. At some point during Jocasta's watch, Ashera woke up and, still feeling weak, crawled out of the tent to her bedroll to grab her canteen. She took one tiny sip, then looked over at Jocasta.
"How long..." she asked, her voice sounding a bit ragged.

Axel confirmed thet yes, Asher was fully capable of taking a watch shift, offered to take the second shift himself, and then moved off to get some sleep. He spread a ground sheet out underneath him after finding a suitable piece of brush to lay in; fairly comfortable, along with being slightly secluded from everyone else. It was a lie to say he was at ease, but at least he could sleep.

Jocasta glanced over her shoulder at Ashera, "'Bout three hours now. Is it because you healed the two of them, or does this happen every time?"

"depends on the severity..." Ashera said, seeming to get a bit better as she talked, "if I try too much I can get hurt myself..."

"Too bad. The bad stuff's what you need a healer for--a simple medic can patch up the scratches."

Jocasta stood up and stretched.

"At any rate, you should go get some more sleep. Don't know what's going to happen in the morning. But don't kill yourself over him."

She gestured to the bound man, sleeping soundly in spite of everything, before heading off to walk a circuit of the camp.

Myrddin was out like a light, sleeping as soundly as only one feeling the effects of adrenaline withdrawal for the first time can.

"But I can heal the bad stuff..." Ashera said, then looked up and saw that Jocasta had walked away, seeing this she muttered to herself, "did she hear me?"

After another hour, Jocasta walked over to Axel. Standing a respectful few feet away, she said, "Hey. Your turn for a watch. I'm going to go snuggle in with the kiddies. Wake me if you need me."

As Jocasta entered the tent, Ashera made her way out, needing some fresh air. She wrapped her blanket and cloak around herself and sat down leaning against a tree. She looked up at the night sky, and was disappointed that the moon was hidden behind the only cloud in the sky. With a sigh she settled back against the tree, and eventually fell asleep.

Axel stood up and moved over by the fire, Asher doing the same. He let his mind relax as much as he could and tuned into the din of the night-time forest, listening in on various snippets of consciousness from the animals. Though he could not understand their exact thoughts, he had kind of a two way empathic link that he could establish. His watch passed with not a thing out of the ordinary happening, whereas he moved back to his spot and resumed his sleeping. Asher stayed by the fire, occasionally dropping some wood onto it to keep the soft glow going. His ears twitched to and fro, scanning for the sound of anything or anyone approaching, but as with his master's watch, nothing came or went. There was just the sound of the night-time animals going about their business. When the morning came, Asher went over to nuzzle Axel awake, and once done with that task, went back to sit by the fire. Axel sat up feeling refreshed from the emotional conflict of the previous day. Sleeping outdoors always left him well rested. He went over to check the man who had attacked them in the night and found him sleeping soundly. Figuring the others were probably not rise with the sun type people as he was, Axel decided to pass the time by taking out the various knives and tools he kept on his person and went about sharpening them and maintaining them. He went methodically through them from the smallest needle to the few leather working tools he carried, then befan the work of making sure his combat equipment; a couple of longer knives and his short sword, were good and sharp and clean.