Here's number 7. Took me a little longer, but I got it out. :P
-LurkingWolf
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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.
!DSPAM:4df1b336242341804284693!
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