"Captain!" a young man's voice rang out in the small tent "Captain if you don't hurry there won't be any meat or alcohol left!"
The captain sat up on his cover, he was inside a small tent, a lantern hang in the ceiling providing a light in the darkness. From the tent cover he could see a flickering light and several shadows moving around. "I'll be right there Pete" he responded jovially in a dark timbre, as he he slowly moved his large body out of the tent.
The light from the bonfire shone brightly in the starlit night, making the man's large body cast a long shadow. He was in a camp, that was no more than a small collection of tents. He moved over to one of the tree trunk stumps that the soldiers had placed around the bonfire as a temporary seating arrangement, and sat down. The burning wood was releasing small flakes of wood that curled into grey ash together with the embers that blew softly away in the wind. There wasn't more than five people seated around the fire, Pete, John, Norry, Lisa and Aria. They were the best soldiers he knew and even finer friends, there was nobody else that he would want to be out on a mission with...what was the mission again?..
"Here you go captain" John said with a bright smile, his blue eyes glimmer in the light of the fire, his black hair hanging loosely, as he handed a leather pouch to the captain "enjoy" he winked playfully.
The pouch released a strong whiff of Forest Plum wine, it had a very sweet and sour flavour, and the amount of alcohol it contained was sure to halt most men in their tracks. The captain laughed deeply as he took a big swig from the pouch "thanks John!" he then tossed the pouch over the fire, the woman Aria caught it in a skilled motion, fluidly bringing it to her lips. When she finally finished she threw it back to John who realised that it was now empty, his smile cracking slightly.
"Last man drinking have to get more!" she laughed, her shoulder-long red hair moving along with her, she was a petite woman, yet she could drink like a seasoned alcoholic, well most of the men thought that she might be one!
"Sure sure, it is always John!" he said in a fake droopy voice as he got up; while everyone laughed at him and continued their banter, the captain smiling and joking with everyone.
When he returned shortly afterwards he could hear drumming and the sound of a mandolin playing, it was Norry on the drums, and Pete on the mandolin. He clapped the captain on the shoulder as he returned to his seat next to the man, the clap was returned with a big grin.
Aria was the first to begin singing, but the rest quickly joined in, it was a mid-tempo optimistic song that invited dancing, and so they were all soon dancing and singing, drinking and eating, under the starlit night - the fire keeping them warm.
♫...Big and small
they all!
-clap clap-
Came to the meadow
-clap clap-
Because the maiden there
she was fair
-clap clap-
too bad!
-clap clap-
that she was cow!♫
The song continued with equally terrible lyrics, and at some point it changed to something faster, and then something slow. The night kept going, on and on. The captain had never been happier, this was joy! This was life! He thought loudly as he sang and danced. At some point some of the guys decided to go and try and find a cow on some meadow, who knew, maybe they could tip it, or if there were more, then stack some? The captain simply shook his head slowly at the notion and sat back down by the fire.
Lisa had stayed behind as well, she was a tall woman from the outlands her head bald, and yet she still looked stunning, there was a fresh quality to her. The best way the captain could describe it was that she smelled of grasslands and the wild.
They were both staring into the fire complacently. Eventually she spoke with a saddened smile "You took your time captain".
He looked at her with a slightly confused face "I was just resting in the tent for a while, nothing to worry about" his voice calm and gentle, he liked Lisa, she was good people, and like most of the men, she had suffered from the tyranny of the Mage's since the uprising.
"That is hardly what I meant" she laughed lightly.
"Then what did you...!" in the fire he saw a face staring back at him, the face was that of a man with a strange looking beard.
"Take care captain" Lisa said as she gave his large shoulders a squeeze.
Before he could comment on the strange sight his mind shook, his body became hazy, and a flood of memories entered his mind all at once, and then he was gone. Leaving Lisa alone at the fire; she took a sip of alcohol before she continued speaking "will we see you again, captain?"