Discussion Amongst the Desperate

[Ceredir(#1394)] Three days have now passed since a small party was sent to the river to catch fish and boil bandages for the wounded. The handful of fish that they brought back -did- help, but now, despite careful rationing, that food is gone and the group is back to surviving on the little supply that remains. And so, on this late morning that has finally dawned clear, the Scout Ceredir sits by the supplies in the center of camp, measuring out what they have left of hard tack, harder bread, and hard cheese and sausage that remains. The day has dawned chilly, yet no fires are lit. And with the coming of day, many of the patrols have returned to the makeshift hidden camp and men are catching what sleep they can while the sun shines.

Hanomir winced as he shifted slightly, the slight movement even causing his stomach wound irritance. He slowly sat up, feeling no less tired despite the short rest he has just awoken from. He glances around at the other wounded scouts, a miserable sight. His eyes then lingered on Ceredir. He slowly stood up, standing still a moment to rid of the slight dizziness. He slowly walks towards the other scout, and when he gets closer, says quietly, \"Good morning, Ceredir..\" This was the first time he has had chance to speak with the scout since before the battle.

[Ceredir(#1394)] \"Hanomir,\" Ceredir answers quietly as he looks up from the supplies. \"You look like crap this morning.\" A brief grin, though on the young man\'s pale and thinning face, it is not presently a merry sight. \"How are you feeling?\"

Hanomir manages a grin at the young man\'s words, \"Thanks. I don\'t particularly feel the best either.\" He groaned slightly as he recalled his fight with the orc that led the attack, before adding, \"And I doubt I would have survived that fight if not for you helping. So thank you.. And I\'m assuming my... Poorly aimed shot didn\'t cause you too much damage?\" Hanomir had not touched his bow once since that incident.

[Ceredir(#1394)] Ceredir has turned to start putting away the meager rations--everything fits into one rucksack at this point--but now he turns back sharply. \"I did _not_ fight, Hanomir. You understand that? That orc attacked me while I was gutting the fish we caught, and I just defended myself. Right?\" Ceredir fixes a stare at the other man. \"After all, I am banned from fighting. I just defended myself. That is all.\"

\"My arm\'s all right,\" he then continues as he starts to close up the sack. \"Just scratched and bruised. I\'m told these things happen in battle. Too chaotic.\"

A frown appears on Hanomir\'s face at Ceredir\'s response, he had not meant any harm with the comment. \"Yes I do understand that, Ceredir. I know it was only for your defense, but still that action probably saved my life, no matter that it wasn\'t intended to.\" He sighs, feeling that he can never say anything to Ceredir without somehow offending him.

\"Good.\" He simply responded to his last comment, not bothering to apologise again, it would do more damage to the conversation than good, instead he says, \"I will make sure that I get some more training before using the bow again..\"

[Ceredir(#1394)] \"And I will stay out of your way when you are shooting,\" Ceredir says, looking up and grinning tiredly again. \"Look, Hanomir...you are welcome. In fact, I\'m glad I could help--it made me feel useful for a change, being able to cut down some orcs instead of digging latrines and counting rations day after day while everyone else fights and dies around me. Just....keep it to yourself now, yes?\"

\"Plus, you weren\'t bad, yourself. I watched you fight that orc. You nearly had him.\"

Hanomir laughs weakly, but stops when the action hurts his stomach. \"Probably a good idea...\" He responds, grinning back just as tiredly. \"Of course I will keep it to myself. Besides, it is no business of mine to tell others of what another did in battle, whether good or bad. And I know how hard that must be, and I am sure I would feel the same. Not being able to fight for our homes and those that can are getting killed... That\'s why I want to recover from this wound as soon as possible, in case we are attacked.\"

He looks to the city, as if expecting to see a massive orc army suddenly charge out. At Ceredir\'s comment, he grins slightly, \"I\'d call that luck. And he was already weakened greatly by the time I fought him properly, so that helped. But I\'m just forcing myself to not expect the same luck to shine on me again.\"

[Ceredir(#1394)] With the remaining rations all in the rucksack, Ceredir now tucks a small leather-bound ledger on top of it all, then tugs the strings of the sack closed tightly.

\"Luck? There is always some luck involved in it, but talent and practice, too. Though I will say that my \'luck,\' if you want to call it that, is better with a knife than a sword. Am more used to it,\" he grimaces.

\"And yes..thank you for understanding the other part.\"

Hanomir glances at Ceredir as he continues his work, and quickly asks, \"Do you need any help? I probably can\'t do much in this condition but it should at least provide some assistance.\" Though he secretly wonders if it would cause more of a hinderance.

He listens to what Ceredir then says about luck, and shrugs lightly, \"True.. That does obviously play a big part, unless that orc was simply having a bad day.\" He grins slightly and adds, \"And my luck is better with the sword than the bow. That much is obvious.\" He nods simply in answer to his last comment.

[Ceredir(#1394)] \"Perhaps you practice more with the sword than bow,\" Ceredir shrugs. \"And the orc may have been wounded to begin with. But yes..luck..and the two of us attacking him.\"

He looks up now, frowning at Hanomir and considering. \"I suppose you could help me with keeping damp cloths on Sir Bor\'s forehead. The Ranger Gurtir said to do that if the Knight has a fever, and last I checked, he was still doing poorly.\"

Hanomir shrugs slightly, replying, \"Probably. Well, anyway, I\'ll try and avoid you next time.\" He nods in agreement to what he said about the orc maybe already being wounded.

At his request, he glances at Ceredir, \"Of course... Just tell me what exactly I need to do and when..\"

[Ceredir(#1394)] \"Just find Sir Bor, see if he feels feverish, I suppose. Get a fairly clean piece of cloth and get it damp and put it on his forehead to try to keep the fever down. Only you also want to make sure that he doesn\'t get chilled either, without a fire to warm him. So you have to...\" Ceredir stops and sighs at this point, shaking his head. \"I will do it, Hanomir. You just need to rest and heal so you can fight.\"

Hanomir relays the instructions through his head, before frowning as Ceredir stops. He sighs slightly, \"Seriously.. It\'s no trouble... But I guess you\'re right.. Well, thanks.\" He slowly sits down on the ground, not saying anything for a while. He then quietly asks, \"What do you think is going to happen to us? Do you think anyone will come to help soon?\"

[Ceredir(#1394)] \"Am just used to what to do and what to look for by now. Bor is not the only one with a fever,\" Ceredir says in a tired voice. \"What you -should- do is sleep while the sun is up and the enemy is less likely to attack. Or if you cannot sleep, then sit somewhere and watch the perimeter of the camp. I\'d say dig latrines, but that\'s my job.\" The Scout grimaces in an attempt at some humor, then falls silent again before he answers Hanomir\'s last question.

\"I think that help will come. And if help does not come, then we will die, to a man, and soon.\"

Hanomir nods slightly, too weary to try and insist on helping. At his suggestions, he replies, \"I doubt my eyes will provide much use watching the perimeter, so I will go with your first suggestion... And I\'ll at least leave -THAT- job to you.\" He mutters in response to his third job. He slowly gets up, and listens to his answer to the question, and nods slightly, \"I see... Thank you. Well, farewell for now.\" He waves briefly before heading back to his camping spot, and tries to get back to sleep.