"Aright everyone, listen up." [Shin]
Now that everyone's attention is on me, I begin to give out my orders.
"I hope that you are all ready for a sleepless night. I don't want to see people falling asleep on patrol. If you absolutely cannot stay awake any longer, you may sleep in shifts with your partners. If that happens, there will always be two people awake and 1 person asleep. If I catch any group asleep, be prepared to get a swift kick in the rear." [Shin]
"That aside, Group #1 and 3 will be responsible for patrolling the ward. Group #2 and 4 will be responsible for patrolling the keep. Your responsibilities are to round up any stragglers and tell them politely to return to their bedroom. If you notice any fighting, 2 people are permitted to try to stop it. If that doesn't work, come back here at the gate for support. Oh, for the people patrolling the ward, make sure to swing by here every hour or so as a precaution." [Shin]
"One more thing, inside the guardhouse is a large bell. When you hear the bell ring, that means we need your assistance right away. Even if you have to ignore a fight, you need to come here right away. Is that understood? Any questions?" [Shin]
I look around the crowd for a couple seconds, but no one seems to have any questions.
"Alright then, let's meet back here at dawn." [Shin]
The groups each take off in their respective direction, leaving behind the people who went to fetch the weapons and me.
"Um…Shin? So, what are supposed to be doing?" [Laura]
"Right, everyone else, we will be responsible for safeguarding the gate. Lets split up the groups here. Laura, you take Miss Kati and… what's your name?" [Shin]
Nodding towards the shield user, he steps forward and states his name.
"The name's Bode, sir." [Bode]
"Drop the "sir", we're the same age." [Shin]
"Understood, Captain." [Bode]
{ARE YOU BEING INTENTIONALLY STUBBORN?}
"Okay, I'll bite. Why are you treating me like an actual superior?" [Shin]
"I planned on joining the military after I left school do to a major influence of mine. I figured that since we are kind of a military unit, I would practice with you, sir, since you have connections within the military." [Bode]
"Fine… Do as you wish." [Shin]
{What is wrong with these people, I'm literally one of the last people you should show respect too.}
"Okay, Miss Kati and Bode, you will be in Laura's group. You will be stationed in/near the guardhouse to make sure that the gate stays closed. You are to protect the opening mechanism from anyone who shows up. You are permitted to use force if anyone tries to force their way inside." [Shin]
"Okay got it." [Laura]
"Y-Yeah, sure." [Kati]
"Understood." [Bode]
Confirming their orders, they head towards the guardhouse. After remembering something, I jog after them and call out.
"Laura, can you wait for a bit? I want to talk with you." [Shin]
Hearing my request, Laura gives me a confused look and walks back towards me.
"What do you want to talk about?" [Laura]
"When I said I'm leaving the guardhouse to your group, I really meant leave it to you. Although those two seem to have it together, I'm not familiar enough with them to gauge them perfectly. I need you in there to watch over the opening mechanism. There is no one I trust more within these walls." [Shin]
"O-Okay. Hehehe I'm glad you trust me so much." [Laura]
"Yes, I do. That's why I need to ask you a difficult question." [Shin]
"What question is that?" [Laura]
"Have you killed before?" [Shin]
{I really don't want to force Laura into doing anything she will regret later on, but when it comes to protecting yourself, you have to be prepared.}
"I went hunting deer with my mom. She always said I needed to "learn the family pastime. She taught me to gut and skin it. I found it really gross the first time, but I got used to it after a while…but you're not talking about animals, are you?" [Laura]
"No, I'm not. I'm worried that some people will do something stupid, and I want to make sure that you're prepared to defend yourself. You can escape with your stealth in most scenarios, but when it comes to defending the gate, you can't escape. That's why I want to make sure that you understand that you might have to use violence to defend yourself." [Shin]
"I kind of felt like that time would come sometime when I woke up in the field, but I'm not sure that I could really kill someone." [Laura]
"Don't worry, no one expects you to be fine with killing people. I just want you to be aware that you might have to hurt someone to avoid being hurt." [Shin]
"Don't worry, if someone tries to hurt me, I'll be sure to defend myself using whatever method available." [Laura]
"Okay good, watch your back for threats. Both outside and inside the gate." [Shin]
"I'll make sure to be careful." [Laura]
With that being said, I head back to the remaining patrol members who seem to be impatiently waiting for me.
{I guess that just leaves the two spear users.}
Approaching the last people still standing by the gate, I begin to explain their role in the night watch.
"You two will be with me. We will be camping out near the gate so we can react to anything that gets too close. Using our long weapons, we will try to kill anything that touches the gate. Understood?" [Shin]
"Yes." [???]
"Right, I forgot to ask your names." [Shin]
"I'm Alex, this is Gabby." [Alex]
"Right, nice to meet you. Have you eaten anything yet?" [Shin]
"Yeah, they opened up the kitchen while we were there, and we grabbed some bread that was in there. I have half of it left if you want some" says Alex while pointing at the burlap bag at their feet.
"No thanks, I have some food with me as well. I was just making sure that you had some food with you." [Shin]
"By the way, which one of you wants to take first rest? [Shin]
"Umm... didn't you just try to convince people not to sleep?" [Gabby]
"Gabby, right? Well yes, you're right. I don't really want people asleep because it will affect our ability to function as a unit. However, being too tired to function is much worse. Being tired, your eyes lose focus, and your mind begins to wander, making you see things that aren't there as well as paranoid. That's why I want one of you to sleep first. You've both been yawning and barely holding your eyes open since you went to fetch the weapons. You have both been through a lot today, go take a rest." [Shin]
"You say that like it doesn't apply to you as well." [Alex]
"Although I am tired, I've done something similar to this before, so I know when I'm at my limit. When that time comes, I'll be relying on you to watch my back while I sleep. That's why I want to make sure that you are well rested for when that happens." [Shin]
"Oh, okay then, makes sense." [Gabby]
"Yeah, you mind if I go first Gabby? I'm half asleep here." [Alex]
"Yeah sure. I don't mind." [Gabby]
"Alright, now that that is settled, you should get some sleep. I'll wake you up in 3 hours." [Shin]
Alex stretches out and lies down, using the sweater they were wearing as a makeshift pillow. Turning to Gabby, I say,
"Since you know Alex, I'll leave you on this side of the gate. I would assume that someone would be more comfortable with someone they know around them when they're sleeping rather than someone you just met. I only be on the other side of the gate so let me know if you hear or see anything." [Shin]
"Why aren't we staying together? Didn't you say earlier that we should always be together in case anything happens. I'm starting to believe that you don't think the rules you applied to the group don't apply to you." [Gabby]
{No, they don't…not that I can tell them that though.}
"I'll only be on the opposite side of the gate. It's 10 meters (~33 ft) at most which is within your range of vision. I didn't mean to imply that you had to stay glued to your group members. Otherwise, I would have to snuggle up next to you and Alex while you sleep. I'm quite sure not one of us would enjoy that." [Shin]
"Ha. Ha. Funny." [Gabby]
"Yes, now I'll be over there so keep your eyes open." [Shin]
"Yeah, yeah." Gabby
Crossing to the opposite side of the gate, I take off my backpack and sit down with my back against the wall. The cool stone although making me lurch in surprise at first, becomes quite soothing in the heat of the night.
{Now we wait.}
I decide to do a quick look around to make sure everything is normal. Doing a simple perimeter sweep, I can only see Alex and Gabby across the way and Laura's group in the guardhouse. Off in the distance, I can see smoke filter out of one of the chimneys on the roof of the keep, meaning that people are cooking a nice warm meal about right about now. I bet some people are getting into a nice warm soft bed right around now as well.
{You luck little… if only Ms. Garcia didn't ask me to do this. Then I would have probably been asleep right about now.}
Putting away those negative thoughts, I do a quick once over of the courtyard before us. Confirming that nothing is happening around me, I glance up at the night sky. Although it is not yet the middle of night, The lack of LED lights and other light sources makes a significant difference on the night sky. Splattered across the night sky is an ocean of countless stars. Even the nighttime view of my old mountain home couldn't hold a candle to the sheer number of stars dotting the sky.
{Looking at night sky and the mountains in the west, I can almost convince myself that I'm back home laying down on the roof enjoying the view.}
Moving my gaze from the west to the east, I'm hit with an incredible sight. Over the smaller mountains to the east, three moons appear in the sky.
{I guess I'm really not back home.}