Content warnings for: Non-consent, manipulation, drug use, oral sex, voyeurism.
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Finn Wilson groaned. Typical of Sister Adara to put him on 'backup' duty when there's actual trouble to be dealt with. It was a friendly rivalry they had, but it was a rivalry nonetheless, and he resented that she might get to show off to the apprentices instead of him. He scratched absentmindedly at his right wrist, where the small loops of vines still reached up from his javelin. Another guard had just got back to the gate, and seemed to be hugging the other person on watch. He rolled his eyes and muttered to himself, "well at least someone's having fun out here." Wilson checked his position again, the concealment from the camp and the trail were both good, the distance was close enough that he could reach the guards with a good throw, far enough that he could move around without them hearing. The canopy overhead was thick enough to obscure the first hints of moonlight starting to fall on the woods, and he could see a clear enough route to the trail if he needed to leave in a hurry. He was nothing if not professional when it came to military affairs.
Despite that Wilson thought to himself... sometimes you had to know when a bum assignment is just a bum assignment. The camp seemed quiet enough, there were no fights, no shouting, and the gate guards obviously had so little going on that they had time to make out. Wilson pulled a small pipe and some tobacco from a hip pouch, and sat on a low branch where he could see the camp. It was a surprisingly mild night, supposedly one of the side effects of proximity to the Rift. He took a few moments to look at his surroundings, the usual perversions of plant life were still present here in small clumps, but being under a thicker canopy, not much was growing at ground level.
Wilson finished packing his pipe, checked that the guards were still distracted (they were, one seemed to be held against the palisade wall by the other), and lit the tobacco, covering it with his hand until the flame dulled to an ember.
He smiled privately to himself, "Not a bad life, all things considered."
A masculine voice replied from a few paces away, "right?"
Wilson jumped to his feet, grabbing his shield and holding it up towards the voice, "Who goes there!" he called, trying to keep his voice quiet enough to not disturb the guards.
A shorter, thin figure stepped out from behind a tree, with their hands raised, "Whoah, sorry to startle you, I was keeping an eye on the camp when I saw your light! You're not from the camp are you?"
Wilson set his squareshield on the ground, still planting his feet firmly behind it, "No, and you?"
The figure took a step forward into a shaft of moonlight, Wilson could see now he was a younger man, maybe 23 or 24, in a dark green cloak with the hood pulled back. There was a longbow strung over his shoulder, but otherwise he didn't seem to be holding a weapon. They answered him "No, ranger's guild, out doing the usual, saw something strange and decided to keep an eye on it."
"Ranger's guild?" Wilson queried, "You lot don't normally travel this far inside the Towers do you?"
"Strictly speaking, no, but there's always good fortunes to be made from the game around here, and the restrictions are looser than they used to be. What are you out here for?"
Wilson shrugged, "Just the usual too, checking on the camp. So, you find anything good?"
The younger man leaned against a nearby tree trunk, "Besides a camp full of city-state soldiers deserting their posts?"
"Obviously." Wilson laughed.
"Well, not this time around, everything I've encountered so far seemed sentient, or too close to it, and on that point, the guild rules are as strict as ever. I've had better luck with herbs as it happens, which brings me to that..." The newcomer was pointing at the Javelin in Wilson's right hand, "Where did you find the null vine? I could make a pretty penny from some of that!"
"What vine?" Wilson asked, sitting down again, satisfied that the young man wasn't a threat.
"Null vine, the one wrapped halfway up your arm, with the tiny white flowers."
Wilson looked down at his arm, he hadn't noticed that it had reached that far up, "Oh... uh, maybe two hours back towards Inner Tower 6, it's on the trail. It's valuable you say?"
The young man bounded over to him, his tuft of short hair bouncing slightly as he moved, "Very! It's got some wonderful medicinal uses, it can be used to dull the skin's senses during surgery, but it works better when concentrated and mixed into a paste."
"Is that so?" Wilson chuckled, "Doesn't seem particularly effective to me."
The young man was next to him now, standing by his side as they watched the two guards falling to the ground with one on top. Wilson hadn't quite realised how much shorter and thinner than him this Ranger was, his head only just reached Wilson's shoulders, "You don't think it's effective huh?" the newcomer asked with barely disguised amusement.
"No, my arm feels fine."
"Look at your arm Trooper."
Wilson looked down, to see the Ranger had a sheathed knife pressed against Wilson's forearm, visibly denting the skin. Wilson recoiled his arm away "What the fuck man?"
"The name's Luc, and take it easy, I'm just messing with you."
"I prefer jokes that don't involve knives, Luc."
"Fine fine, what's your name anyway, unless you're the big strong silent type, huh?"
"Wilson, trooper Wilson."
"Nice to meet you Trooper Wilson, is your first name Trooper or don't you have one?"
"First name's for friends, and you... aren't a friend."
"Well... maybe not yet, but if you're waiting for those three friends of yours to come out again, we might be together a while."
Wilson shrugged, "can't stop you waiting here if that's what you want to do".
The newcomer, Luc, sat down on the branch where Wilson was sitting before, and started chewing on something he pulled from a pouch. "Hey, Wilson, you know the other cool thing about that Null Vine?"
"What?" Wilson grunted, setting his shield down and taking a seat next to Luc.
