Rebirth

Chapter 6: Dein's Chance (Lang)

Lang found himself in Hunter's Wood as was usual at this time of day. The woods were always a dangerous place to be. It was home to various carnivorous creatures that were so mutated that the townspeople referred to them as simply monsters. For as long as Lang could remember the woods had been this way so the circumstances hardly seemed strange or out of place.

He brandished his sword guardedly. A few minutes ago, he had sent the other three ahead of him and had instructed that they stayed together. Lang, of course, could take care of himself. His underlings together would hunt down at least three small game and he would be in charge of taking down two deer. That would be enough for dinner that night.

Despite the woods being a haven for dangerous creatures, they were also home to the normal variety of animals that inhabited such an environment like deer, raccoon, and possum.

/

"Dein, he said that we had to stay together," Marcus argued to Dein who was trying to keep his distance.

"I don't care what he said. I'm plenty strong enough to take care of myself."

"I'm tired of your crap, Dein," Boerto said finally getting frustrated with the other.

Dein glared angrily at the other two, "You saw me today. Lang said that I was progressing faster than he expected."

"Dein, his is title is Captain now. Stop calling him by his first name," Marcus reminded him.

"He's still Lang in my book. Just 'cus he decides to show up just when the real Captain dies doesn't mean he deserves the title."

"But that's exactly what he wanted to happen. Nancy was there when he said it minutes before he died."

"Puh! I wouldn't be surprised if Nancy was in on it. Everyone knows how taken she is with Lang."

"Dein!" Marcus exclaimed.

"No, I'm going solo. You two just make sure we meet back up at the same spot our illustrious Captain said to."

There was no stopping Dein as he trudged off in an entirely different direction. Marcus and Boerto continued down the well beaten path that led all the way to the end of the woods right before it blossomed into a full grown forest. Together they made quick progress through the woods collecting a total of two squirrels and two possum. They met no monster along the way and by this they were relieved. There were only two of them now and they were an easy target. Their swords remained unsheathed, however, as they crept all the way back to the beginning of the woods. Lang was already there. It was painfully evident that he had been there for a while as they found him dozing beside his freshly killed deer. Marcus and Boerto wondered if it was wise to fall asleep in such a dangerous place, but their Captain seemed completely at ease. Upon them approaching, Lang was interrupted from his rest. With a yawn he looked at the two Vigilance Corps members.

"Where's Dein?" Lang asked immediately upon seeing them, "Did his arrogance lead him astray once again?"

Marcus nodded, "He wanted to go it alone. There was nothing we could do."

"I see," Lang said with complete understanding as he stood, "We'll wait for him a bit, but if he doesn't come soon you two take the game back and let me worry about Dein's whereabouts."

"Alright, Captain," Marcus replied.

A few minutes came and went and Lang was forced to dismiss the other two. They couldn't bring the food back too late. Nancy still had to have the time to cook it and, of course, give half of it to the townspeople. The Vigilance Corps was in charge of feeding the entire population of the twenty people total of their town as well as keeping them safe from invaders should there be any. They were relatively isolated however, surrounded form the West, East, and South by Hunter's Woods and protected in the North by a large jutting mountain range called the Gale Mountains.

Lang strolled casually down the main path of Hunter's Woods. When he had walked a little ways, his origin Galea decided to show itself. Lang too was a Mystic and his element was fire. His fiery red origin floated confidently beside him. It's shape resembled that of a wrestler.

"That Dein—I swear he's going to get himself killed one day," Galea complained.

"If he is to die, I hope he gets it over with quickly so I can stop putting in extra time to look for him all the time."

Galea laughed then, "Well said."

This was Dein's third time pulling a stunt similar to this. Each time, Lang had been compelled to go out on a limb to rescue him from his own stupidity. Lang had hoped that giving him more compliments during training would raise his self-esteem thereby ceasing any of his attempts to prove himself. Instead he had merely given Dein more reason to. Lang supposed that now Dein's ego had grown to massive proportions causing him to seek out more trouble than usual.

"Of course, my little team won't be able to handle even one loss of its members. If that happens, more burdens will be put on me. Not that I can't handle it, only Galvan wouldn't want it to be that way."

"He wants the team members to grow stronger so that they'd be ready even if the Captain is incapacitated," Galea confirmed.

"Exactly, Galea. If only we had more members. There's strength too in numbers. But I guess that's impossible in a small town like this. Marcus and Boerto are doing exemplary and, believe it or not, so is Dein if not more so."

"We have to do something about his attitude, though," Galea said referring to Dein.

"Yes, we do, but I'm not entirely sure how to go about that."

"Perhaps you should ask Nancy."

"She would know," Lang agreed, "Though she has her own problems to deal with. Should I burden her with mine?"

"Something tells me she wouldn't mind it in the least. In the meantime, perhaps you should practice doing a little less worrying."

"What do you mean? Galvan was always concerned about Vigilance Corps and now, so should I."

"When's the last time you've been able to have a nice full uninterrupted sleep?"

"So I've been a bit restless."

"Worrying about Dein, Nancy, the Vigilance Corps as a whole and dwelling on Galvan's death."

"You forgot one thing."

"And the nightmares that you never seem to remember, but find yourself soaked in sweat as a result."

"Well, if Dein could stop acting up, that's one less thing off my plate."

"Perhaps, but there will always be something else."

Lang frowned at the other but did not dispute him—he knew Galea was not wrong.

"I sense him," Galea said suddenly.

"Dein?" Lang asked.

"No, Igohl."

"Igohl? Avalon's origin? Impossible. He should be rotting in Hell somewhere along with Avalon."

"Should we go to him?"

"Is he near?"

"Very close."

"Then, of course, we must protect the town from harm."

Galea glided forward quickly and Lang ran easily behind him.