With a sneeze, Tahliz tredded his way to Captin Glacies hut. It was considered small for a man of his title but he refused to have it rebuilt, the old wood polished to survive longer than it should, a nice shine in the sun. The small garden had fallen from the blizzard, the once blooming flowers were wintered and the main flower beds were already torn out with what seems to be new seeds planted. "I thought his wife passed last winter, didn't know he knew to garden" Tahliz mused but a wave of sympathy flashed into his heart. As cold and unreadable as Captin Glacies is, his wife was the definition of a saint.
Tahliz knocked on the old door that was in need of replacing, a memory playing within his mind. It was when he and his sister had saw their mother return from the polar bear attack, the sight still haunting him. It was Captin Glacies wife who took the twins within her arms, she was sickly, even back then. It wasn't one disease but many, the smallest of colds was enough to cause her small body to fall into the trap of fever. Even when she pulled the grieving twins into her arms, her cheeks were flushed with yet another illness.
Tahliz remembers her soft voice, how her words cooed to the grieving kids who had barly began their teen years. Tahliz remembers spending the next hour curled in a ball, sobbing with the grief and the horrid image of gore. How twisted and mangled their mothers body had become, the blood was the main thing he remembers from that day. He also remembers how Bonum, Glacies wife, was able to calm the enraged twin, Tahliz had never seen his sister loose herself like that before. Ready to fight the polar bear herself. Even so, Bonum was able to console her, ease the pain and provide a comfort that Tahliz is forever grateful for.
There was a shuffle before Captin Glacies opened the door, his gaze narrowed slightly. "How was the patrol?" He spoke with his usual, right to the point, tone of voice.
"We were attacked" Tahliz explained, not bothering to sugar code it.
"You look unharmed" Captin Glacies had his head tilted slightly, confusion mixed with a surprise.
"Yes, it was only a couple of bandits" Tahliz explained, he wasn't entirely wrong, was he? Yes there was at least twenty but that's a couple of tens. "Me and Ventus was able to fight them off but they had a new weapon, one that thankfully miss fired on them" Tahliz went on. Captin Glacies stood up straighter, a look of concern and seriousness flashing onto his expression.
"A new weapon? What was it like?" He questioned, crossing his arms.
"It... exploded? All I know is that they tried to set it up at the end of the valley, it exploded before we could reach it. We assumed it they timed it wrong but they had names it dinomite" Tahliz explained the best he could, without mentioning the part where Tah had carried them to safety, injuring himself in the process.
"Exploded?" Captin Glacies muttered, frowning in thought before giving his order, "so bandits now have an exploding weapon. Tahliz thank you for the report but I don't want anyone leaving camp until I'm able to discuss this through with the cheif" he ordered, his tone laced with dread at the thought. "Alert the barracks of my new order that no-one is to leave the camp until further notice, you rest" he grabbed his coat made of the hide of a grizzly bear, a rare sight this far north, before heading towards the grate hall.
Tahliz nodded, marching his way to the other side of camp, the familiar sounds of the camps buissy ambiance roard into his ears. It was only disturbed but the concerning number of coughs and sneezes. "No dounting it now, we're going to need to prepare for an outbreak, especially if it's spreading this fast" Tahliz thought, making his was to the barracks. Inside was now a handful of fevered warriors, all shivering by the fire, coughing with a dry throat and snuggled into a blanket or two.
When he opened the door the sick and resting all turned their exhausted gaze to him. Tahliz let out a sigh before speaking up, "Captian Glacies has ordered for no-one to leave camp" he announced. The sick made grunting responses but the few who were just resting snapped their attention to him.
"Are you serious!?" A warrior, by the name of Bera snapped, her eyes furious. "How long, boy?!" She demanded, huffing a complain. Always a tricky one with her, always an issue.
"Until further notice, bandits have themselves a new and unstable weapon" Tahliz explained, making his was down to the armoury at the end of the room. Grumbles and complaints could be heard behind him, he didn't blame them, after all, the whole tribe had been stuck for days in the greate hall not even a week ago.
Once the heavy door slammed shut behind him he let out a long and deep sigh. His first patrol was supposed be fun or educational, instead he was almost killed and ended up with an injured and large friend. "Guess it isn't all too bad" Tahliz wondered, unstrapping his armour and taking off each piece with care. The heavy plates of his armour was crafted and forged with care and passion, it was only natural for him to treat it with the same passion and care.
"Tah is... interesting to say the least" he thought once again, unstrapping the shoulder plates and gently laying them on his armour stand. "Poor thing, he looked healthy the first time I saw him but he just got skinny in the matter of days! How is that even possible?" Tahliz thought with his brows frowned, gently putting the heavy boots into his shelf. With a huff he pulled the chainmail off of his shoulders, taking off the heavy set with a relieved sigh. The weight taken off of his shoulders always felt nice after a long shift. Now was no different as Tahliz unlocked his compartment, taking out his more comfortable clothing.
Once he buttoned his shirt he left the armoury, the barracks emptying. Minus the soldiers who were still resting by the fire to help ease their sickness. Tahliz thumped onto his bed, his legs aching, not used to walking so far in just one night. Yawning he folded his blankets over himself, one blanket made from the fur of his first hunted deer, the soft furs still appreciated. The warmth hugging onto his sore muscles and after such a long night, he could relax and sink into the blissful sleep his body was begging for.
Tahliz blinked and snapped up, having been startled from his sleep, though he thought he was startled. The barracks were dead silent, no movement other than the sleeping warriors turning or shifting in their sleep. Next to his bed was Qahaar's, his sister looking as if she had just gotten to bed. Tahliz rose an eyebrow before snapping his attention to the window, the light of the sun barly seen as night over took the camp.
"Did I sleep all day!? I wasn't that tired!" Tahliz shocked, thinking through how no-one would have woken him do attend hunting or even help in fixing up the camp. "Wait- Captian Glacies didn't want anyone to leave camp, only being an apprentice ment there wasn't much I could do?" He thought over, putting on a pair off boots and his coat. The snow in the camp had crunched under his feet, the thinner boots allowed the cold to sink in as he made his way down to the great hall.
The newer doors didn't creek like the older ones used to, it was a little unsettling to hear the smooth door in such a dead silent room. Being so used to hearing a loud creek of rusted hinges. Tahliz let out a sigh, making his way to the kitchens, all the cooks weren't present, meaning that Tahliz had quite literally slept the whole day away. "Wow- ugh, that means Captian Glacies is going to be on and on about how irresponsible I am!" he internally complained, grabbing a plate to take his share of the left over stew.
The gameir meet and richer flavours surprised Tahliz for a moment. Bison beef was used for this stew but last Tahliz heard, the herds had moved north, out of their hunting grounds. "Finally up?" A gruff voice sounded unpleased behind him. Captain Glacies walked over to the apprentice, the eye bags heavy under the olders eyes. "Your sister had to pick up on your duties when she couldn't wake you earlier, if I were you I'd be owing her an apology" the captain glared, then sighed, seemingly too tired to be bothered with him.
Tahliz quickly swallowed his food, "my apologies? I don't know why I wouldn't have woken". The apprentice looked over at the captain, Glacies had bussied himself in looking over the fresh foods that was stored here, a frown on his lips.
"Since your free you can head out and go hunting, the deer herd was last seen by the lake" Captian Glacies ordered, suppressing a yawn.
"Are we allowed back out of camp then?" Tahliz asked, quickly finishing his meal and putting the plate with the other dirty dishes. Glacies nodded.
"Cheif didn't see a need to hide away. Only that anyone heading out should be encourage to not engage with bandits until we can gain better understanding of what this new bandit gang wants. Or what their intentions are" Captian Glacies explained, heading out of the door, "and Tahliz, since you're heading alone my son had offered for you to use his hound, Blue".
"Thank you" Tahliz nodded, figuring to retrieve the hound now. The dogs have their own spot in camp, Tahliz used to love playing there, as a kid, since most of the pups just wanted to play when not working.
He made his way to other side of the grate hall, just infront of the wall is where all the dog huts could be seen. Each with its own name to each hound, "what did Ventus name his dog? Blue was it?" Tahliz then nodded, seeing the name tag on one of the small huts. With a whistle most dogs sniffed, even Canis-ferre limped over with a very happy tail. "Hey boy, how you holding up?" Tahliz smiled, petting his hound and quickly looking over his bandaged paw. The wrapping had been chewed off for the most part but it did keep his paw clean which is all he needed.
Tahliz then heard a whined yawn, the smaller dog came over sleepily to greet the elf. Blue was a fitting name as the rich greys of the dogs pelt did look blue, especially in moon light. Blue- and Lux's dog, Pawz- were clearly a very different breed from what Tahliz was used to.
The dogs of the tribe either being smaller but very agile, the wolf like patterns of their huskies had always been an aid in travel. Or the strong, larger hounds, wolf hounds, such as Canis-ferre, were always used in the tribe for hunting. But blue was slightly larger than the huskies but definitely smaller than the wolf hounds, he had the ears of a wolf hound but the build that is like a mix of the 2 breeds but at the same time his own thing. Ventus had nicknames this dog to be a pointer, since he had always pointed to where he was tracking. Either way, Blue would be a wonderful aid for Tahliz, especially since this hound is quite friendly to anyone who wants to give him a quick pet. "You want to go hunting, boy?" Tahliz asked, Blue's ears perked as he titled his head, making excited grunts, followed by Canis-ferre's happy whines, despite his injured paw.