POV: Colonel Matthew Johnson
"Greetings! Might I inquire as to where the nearest stables are? We must tend to our horses, you see we have been-" began the lieutenant at my side, Lt. Arquette. Arquette is the best pupil any aspiring mentor could ever want, he does not simply take every order without thought, so not a fool and certainly not naïve. Like many of us he knows full well the evil that his fellow person can bring.
The wind in your face as you and your horse rise and fall together while galloping is a very thrilling and treasured experience, why wouldn't it be? For a good Cavalry soldier to not would be foolish at best and deadly at worst! My men and I are the best mounted units in all the Army we are to be respected and to be feared, because we are in tune with our steads and are born to ride! Without either we would end up either bucked off our saddles and trampled by our own beautiful beasts or cut down swiftly by an enemy by disregarding our horses and letting them die to leave us tactically neutered!
These are the reasons we ride into battle un-wavered in courage, and always ride out victorious! All true and well, of course.
"We don't give a Shit about your damn horses!"
But these damned city dwellers and dungeon-divers should be taught to be respectful! If that little wolf shit is any indication as the rest of this city, better to abandon them or maybe even burn them and free the people from these false gods of theirs!
POV: no-one
"We don't give a shit about your damn horses!" Bete snapped at the pallum that sat atop a black stallion.
Bete was cocky, everyone already knew this. But nobody really expected him to be his usual level of dickishness in the face of at least 80 mounted and armed soldiers.
The Captain of the Loki Familia, on the other hand, decided to try and get past the actions of his werewolf comrade.
"Please state your intentions truthfully and we can avoid any unnecessary bloodshed, I am the Captain of the Loki Familia Finn Deimne." Finn spoke with authority and still polite as was needed.
'I haven't gotten any indication of danger yet, Better not let that show just yet.' He thought to himself, hoping to keep his cards close to his chest.
The one to speak up this time was not the pallum, but instead the rather swarthy human that rode a silver horse and wore clothes of a distinctly different color. Blue and red instead of the Green and yellow of the rest of these horse-soldiers.
"I – " The venom in just his first word was striking. Finn and Rivera both could only compare it to what would be expected if someone had just burst into his son's funeral and began pissing on the deceased corpse in front of the man.
"- would STRONGLY suggest that you lot teach that" he angrily gestured his head towards the rather grumpy Werewolf "flee-riddled mutt what respect is. I don't expect any of you to treat me like one of your false deities or even an acquaintance, but I DO expect the proper respect deserving of such men as my own!" The human berated Bete through his barred teeth when speaking.
'you may insult me, but I will be damned if you insult my men. ESPECIALLY Arquette!' Thought the seething Colonel Johnson
"Just who the Hell are calling flee-riddled you weak bast- Hrmmpf" Bete was silenced by Riviera when she clasped her hand over his mouth and a very scary glare at the Wiley wolf.
Finn was thanking the gods for the motherly elf's presence.
Finn brought up a hand in a gesture of clam and to be at ease, his expression somewhat apologetic, "I can assure you that he is not going to be a problem, I am responsible for my comrades, but as of right now-" Finn's expression turned serious and stern "- You stand in front of the gates to Orario, the most powerful city in the world, unannounced, armed, and while some of your friends approach from the north as well. I must inform you that if you are intending anything against us or our city, you will not live to see tomorrow. I must implore you to please state your business and your suspicious circumstances."
Colonel Matthew gave a single grunt to himself before opening his mouth.
"I am Colonel Matthew Johnson of the Army of the Free. Our business in Orario is to seek audience with your city's rulers about events that which will very much concern the fate of your city should it go unchecked." The man reached into his saddlebag and retrieved a folded sheet of parchment and held it eye level to his right, presenting it clearly to the three members of the Loki familia.
"I myself have a mission to deliver this correspondence to a certain person within your walls as well-" he placed the parchment back in the bag "- But if what you are really asking is if we intend to attack your city, the answer is no." the Colonel finished.
'hmm, why would someone in such a position of command as this Johnson be playing messenger boy? Not my place to ask but might as well try' was Riviera's thought before inquiring.
"If I may ask, who is it that letter is intended for?"
The man looked down from his horse with a glint of suspicion in his eyes before he decided to himself that it was not the face of whom the letter was intended that he was told to keep secret, it was the person's hair and eyes of all things 'the founder sure does like his weird ways of doing simple tasks' Johnson mentally gripped before responding.
"I guess it is not at all unreasonable you should be able to know that. This letter is intended for a young boy, I was not told the name, but I do know he is a rookie adventurer and that, quote: 'his face is that of a naïve rodent that hides a fire within'. I don't suppose any of you might know anyone that description fits?"
After a few minutes of speaking, Finn and the Colonel decided to agree to order their comrades to wait until the rulers of the city gave further word on this rather stressful morning.
Soon the imposing captain of the Freya Familia cam on the scene and informed all the adventurers defending this gate that there is no threat as of this moment, and to allow the colonel and his cavalry to enter the city and guide them to the stables.
Location: Eastern Orario stable houses
POV: Colonel Matthew Johnson
I had expected the stables for such a large city to be quite large, but this is still very impressive, I must say.
After such a long jaunt to get here these horses sure do deserve the rest, even with the hustle and bustle of this city, I think the horses are just a bit too tired to care right now. Hah, I am sure old Pa would like to see this place after all the years he said he had been away from it.
"What do you think, Palace?" I ask my loyal friend as I pat the side of his neck
"- you think that Pa would want to come back here?" He gave a light sputter of his lips at me and went right back to the feed bag, so I went right back to brushing his silver hair.
Lightly Chuckling at the almost comical awareness of Palace.
"Alright, I get it. Too hungry to care. Be sure to stuff your gourd well boy, you earned it." Yeah, him and every other man and horse among us.
I had not expected to be ambushed by some wayfaring heathen yesterday morning. Bastards got what they needed after we put a few holes in them.
I had made the decision to double time it here for fear of further delay, but I am starting to regret it. But we made it here alright, one man got a twisted ankle during the ambush, but no losses or serious wounds was certainly a Godsend for us.
I the Brighter side of things, these locals seem to have mostly cut it with their staring by now. It was very irritating to have countless eyes on you with all of them in either judgement or resentment of some sort, but as a Colonel and as a man These things are par for the course.
Still in thought, I had failed to notice the approach of Lt. Arquette.
With a crisp and hearty salute, the boy spoke "Colonel sir."
"At east Lieutenant, what is it you need?"
The boy's arm returned to rest as he began, "General McClellan is in the city, sir. He arrived right before we did and has requested that you meet him at his camp outside the northern gates at twilight, sir." Arquette's stiffness was apparent and a little bit unusually more obvious than normal.
"For the sake of yourself boy, relax. I thank you for bringing this to my attention, but I must ask you to tell me what has you so spooked?"
"uh. Well, it's just that Old Abe's stories about this place's nature and history have me concerned for the potential actions of the many familias, more-so the Freya familia. She will without a doubt try something on us, will she not?" the Lieutenant was being honest, and he did have a point. But risk is not this man's strong suit and he needs to learn to accept and work with risk, dammit.
"Shut it with all this constant anxiety Lieutenant. You are 28 years old for God's sake, you should not be worrying like a damn preteen. You have a point about Freya, yes, BUT that is a much smaller threat compared to what those damned traitors might do. If you worry about everything risky that could happen then you would have never even made it out of that cell!" old wounds, I know, but he needs to be reminded of where he was and WHY he is where he is NOW is he is ever going to improve.
With his countenance now more crestfallen I knew he had not fully grasped just what I meant. "Sir? I am sorry but I can't help it, I feel her eyes on us, even though we were all told of Freya's usual antics, and we are prepared for it to what degree we can be, It just won't-" I decided to stop him right there, raising my hand to do so.
"It is because you survived that hell, we pulled you out of that you are a lieutenant today. Yes, it is scary, but I think I have a much better way to get you to calm the hell down." I smirked a bit, as I knew the boy noticed and grew a wide-eyed concern
"what do you mean sir?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"Time, we have ourselves a little song for the company, and you are going to join us" Embarrassed was all he felt when it came to him singing specifically. It is quite funny; I am not joking.
A well-known secret among this division of mine is that Lieutenant Arquette has a natural talent for singing. That would not be of note, IF it was not also, he case that he basically turned into a human-shaped mass of embarrassment whenever asked. It is only funny because he frequently commands and speaks and orates in front of the men he commands without issue. He has by no means any form of stage fright, but he will always refuse to sing when asked. I need to pull rank on him to get him to sing. This is now going to be one of those times.
"Please sir, I don't want to-" He pleaded.
I slammed a small flask of ale, that I had grabbed from my saddlebag, into his hands and ordered him to down the whole thing.
"Listen here Arquette. We all know that most of these men can't hold a damn melody on there own and they only sound passable when nearly all of them join in. You are the only one I know of that can honest to God sing mighty fine and you need to drop the embarrassment and think of our morale"
'Okay, it is time for an ass-pull' I thought as I prepared for this bullshit, I would need to give him if I was going to get him to play along.
"Morale, sir?" came his confusion.
"Of course! We just yesterday had a close call with those band of fools and subsequently needed to hoof it the rest of the way without the rest we should have gotten. The men and the horses are tired and need a pick-me-up."
"So, let the men sleep and rest like usual" he came back
"No no no, Horses and men are very different in this regard. The horses just need food, sleep, and some brushing. But Soldiers, Soldiers need something more."
"something More?"
"They need some merry-making before they hit the sack! It is your duty to your men to keep them is fighting shape and good spirits, so do your duty and drink the damn alcohol and sing us a damn ballad!" I hope to God this short boy can't see past this.
He pondered my words for a moment before downing the flask and within 30-minutes he was buzzed enough for the song.
I swear to God that this boy will be the end of me. Be it on the battlefield, or on my ass laughing so hard I die from lack of air.
He sang us one of the many ballads and songs that Pa had handed down and taught many of us, and we in-turn taught each other.
Dixie's Land.
We had gathered the men together and when we told them that Arquette of all people was going to sing Dixie, they all cheered and when Arquette was ready we started to howl the melody with three fifers leading us (Give us a break we can't all carry instruments, and much less of us can even play any. We are thankful we could get those three men at all and they weren't virtuosos, but they could play those fifes well enough for the Cavalry).
We got through the prelude and then the Boy began.
"Well, I wish I was in the land of cotton.
"My old Times there, I've not forgotten.
"Look Away! Look Away! Look Away! Dixie Land!
"In Dixie's land, where I was born in.
"Early on one frosty mornin'
"Look Away Look Away Look Away! Dixie Land!"
We all joined in on the chorus and it was its usually brand of 'not bad'.
"We wish we were in Dixie,
"Hooray! Hooray!
"In Dixie's Land we'll take our stand!
"Live and Die for Dixie!
"Away, Away, Way back home in Dixie!"
As we sang with merry and alcohol flowing like a river, I can help but think to myself that this is the kind of comradery that whole kingdoms and entire peoples have fallen and died searching for. Some succeeded, many failed. And all of this is because of Pa, the founder of this army. We have him to thank for this army and he always says that he has God to thank for his victories.
I would late find out after my meeting with General McClellan that evening, that we had apparently violated a city sound ordinance about the singing and cheering of the men… I was then reminded one of my reasons for hating cities.
The fucking extensive regulations and the cranky populace. It is not my fault that they have to live so close together that they never get much privacy. So what right to do these fuckers have for getting on us for singing a little bit?! It was not even night-time; it was mid-day! I hope we can get done with our business here sooner rather than later.
After the men had their fun, I set off to find this boy that Pa wrote this letter for.
White hair and red eyes, oh and the whole rodent face riddle.
"I will never understand that man, and I sadly think I never will" I quietly huffed to myself as I pocketed the folded letter and soon found myself walking to the north Gates for this meeting, with plenty of time I took it slow and took in the sights the city had to offer.
I have to say this about traversing without Palace and his saddle carrying me.
'Why would anyone not want to be in the cavalry?'
