I thought I should mention that I'm changing up my footnote style. Instead of * you'll see (1) so you can match up the footnote with it's placement easier. Because this is a story and not a textbook, there aren't that many this chapter, and not all of them are Did You Knows.

Also, this chapter is a lot... calmer than usual. It's fluffier and to be honest, a bit of a filler. There's two sexy times in this chapter, back to back. To set the mood, I suggest the song Naked by X-Ambassadors, and Olivia Holt's How You Want It for the second. It's the calm before the storm, as the end eludes to.

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"Captain Brewer," Julie shook the sleeping warrior till he woke.

He caught her arm and twisted it, her jostling startled him from his nightmare. "Sorry," he apologized once he saw it was Julie the Ranger. "What's going on?"

"Ranger Claire has spotted a Thosean patrol quickly approaching." Jack rushed to prepare at Julie's news. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since the last fight, but he had a job to do.

"Should I wake Lady Kim?" Julie whispered, seeing that Jack hadn't.

"Let her sleep," Jack shook his head. He grabbed his sword and kissed her eyelids before following Julie out. He followed her down to the farthest catwalk where Brody, Rudy, Milton, Jerry, Est, Claire and Phil were already gathered. All the people that mattered.

As Jack arrived the first Thosean torch came into view, it's flame illuminating the men behind it. There couldn't have been more than a hundred of them. This would have given a deal of pause to the Wandering Company and the assortment of Wardens that usually accompanied them.

Est raised her hand, and three hundred boys answered back. Est's outpost had a population of two thousand warriors. Two thousand was the required amount of troops for every Warden's standing army. At a single call from Brody, a mixed force of 10,000 stood at his back.

Once the Thoseans were in range, Est dropped her arm and that telltale, beautiful thwip reverberated the tree tops, no arrow missing it's mark. The Vakker Rangers were only the strongest and fittest woman from all over the kingdom. They were picked from the age of twelve to begin training. At the age of sixteen they were sent to the trees.

Jack looked down in astonishment at all the fighting he didn't have to do.

"Captain Brewer!" Claire said with a mile wide smile as she approached the young man. "I understand you were with the rescue party sent to find me. Allow me to thank you." She shook his and Jerry's hands but hugged Milton.

Milton was confused and Julie stared at Milton with a glare that said they would both be dead if he hugged her back. Milton didn't raise his arms.

"What happened out there, anyway?" Jack asked.

"I was on the catwalk, and I saw only two figures, but they were out of range. I followed them, and before I knew it, I was miles into the Void. I realized it was a trap, so I began to stalk them instead of follow. They lead me to their camp and there were far too many for only I. I doubled back with the location in my memory, where I ran into five of my Rangers who had come to save me.

"We set camp, but the Voidlings had discovered our camp. We were barely able to evade confrontation. We tried to lose them before we reached the outpost, and then the Warden and the Wandering Company appeared and it became a fight!" Claire regaled her tale with excitement. "It is the substance of songs!"

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Jack and the rest of the house returned to find a pissed off Kim sitting up in the bed, playing with an arrow and staring menacingly at everyone as they entered.

"So, where did everyone go that I wasn't invited?" Kim's voice and smile seemed pleasant, but her eyes screamed 'I will cut all of you.'

"Well, Julie woke us up and said that there was a Thosean patrol," Jack informed the now wide eyed blonde. "There was only a hundred of them!" Jack said like it would calm her down.

"Only a hundred?!" Kim snapped the arrow in her hands.

"None of us even left the catwalk! The archers did the work. I didn't kill anybody, I swear!" Jack paused and tilted his head to the side. "Wow. It's really weird to have that be a normal statement now."

"I'm glad you didn't do anything dangerous, but why didn't you wake me up, Jack?" Kim sounded a little hurt.

"You have no idea how peaceful you are when you're sleeping. Waking you up for something that came to be relatively nothing seems like a sin."

"Aww!"

"Shut up, Est!" Jack shouted at the Warden. "I wanted to come back to you looking that way, too. You're always adorable, but in different forms," Jack smiled lightly. His wording seemed awkward because he wasn't good at this mushy stuff, but the warm smile on Kim's precious face said he was doing alright.

Kim dropped the arrow pieces and held her arms out. "Come here," she said quietly and Jack obeyed, falling into her arms.

Jerry watched the Captain Jack Brewer, undisputed leader of the fame growing Wandering Company nuzzle into the neck of a woman that had him in her arms. "Jack Brewer. Calling the shots on the field, whipped as hell in camp," Jerry said as he spread his arm like it was some marketing revelation.

Est punched Jerry's arm for Jack. "Look at those two and tell me they're not perfect," Est growled. "You can learn a lot from Jack," Est put her foot down and crossed her arms.

"Learn from Jack? Please! You know what these hips do." Jerry whooed then slapped her ass. Est took his shirt collar in her hand and pushed him hard against the wall. They began kissing passionately and Est ground her hips into Jerry.

"We're going to Auntie Julie's," Kim declared as she and the two boys got their stuff. Jerry gave them a thumbs up and they left.

"Can you believe that? Twice! And it's always Est that starts it!" Kim whined as they got closer to Julie's tree house.

"She wouldn't like it if we did that to her," Jack growled.

"I don't know Jack, she might pull up a seat and watch," Milton weighed in. "She stares at your ass enough." Kim scoffed at that.

"Yeah, she stares at Kim's, too." Kim's look of indignation grew. "It is a great ass," Jack shrugged.

"Yeah," Milton concurred but sprinted for his life when the couple glared at him.

Milton knocked on Julie's door when Jack and Kim casually walked up behind him, his last comment apparently forgiven. Julie opened the door, her hair was a mess and she wore a think cotton robe that she left open, her undergarments and lithe body on display. The Americans forgot about the laze fare view of the human body in Weite.

"Can we spend the night?" Milton asked bluntly. Julie opened the door wider and stepped to the side, ushering them in.

"Is Est satiating her 'appetites?'" Julie worded carefully, shaking her head. "The Warden can be... blunt sometimes."

"But you aren't?" Milton asked curiously.

"No... well, I mean, I'll probably not so subtly make it known to you I'm not courting anyone, but I won't try to make you take me in front of your friends," Julie was still quite forthcoming. Milton's cheeks surpassed his hair in color "Why is Est so... open?" Jack asked.

Julie ran a hand through her hair, trying to tame it. "Life here can be really short. Shorter even if you have our line of work. Shorter than that if you're as bad the Voidlings. Jack, look how close you came."

"Live every day like it's your last," Kim said quietly, her eyes focused on Jack's puckered, stitched ridge of flesh that ran from bicep to tricep.

"Now you're learning," Julie nodded. "I would lay with Milton tonight without a regret because I like him and that's all it takes. If I ask questions, an arrow or a sword could stop me from learning the answer. Take warmth and pleasure where and when you can, because this life can be cold and painful (2)."

"Hey Julie, you know who else isn't courting right now?" Kim smiled as she and Jack shared a look. "Milton isn't."

Julie's face brightened considerably at the prospect.

Milton rolled his eyes, knowing what he had to do now, what he wanted to do but was still terrified by. "Uh... Julie?" Milton fought to get out her name.

"Yes Milton?" Julie knew what was coming and her ecstatic eyes betrayed her calm voice.

"Would... would you consider, perhaps, if you can find the time, maybe ponder the possibility..."

"MILTON!" Jack and Kim shouted.

"Would you be willing to court me?" Milton shot out so fast they almost missed it.

"Yes! By the gods, yes!"

"Alright, now that that's settled..." Milton trailed off before feinting.

"He doesn't always do that, I swear," Kim said, pointing at the collapsed redhead.

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"Kim, hey Kim," Jack's voice awoke the sleeping girl that was nuzzled into his chest.

"Hmm?" Kim asked in a dreamy tone, her eyes still closed.

"I hate to wake you up for something so small, but it's driving me crazy," Jack's voice sounded shaken and broken.

Kim's eyes snapped open, her brown orbs filled with worry. "Jack, are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?" Had he dreamt about how much worse the last battle could have been? If she had nightmares just about seeing Jack hit, how much worse must his be?

"No, well yeah, but I can't scratch this spot on my back..." Jack trailed off as he demonstrated his inability to reach said spot.

"Urgh..." Kim groaned and started at his shoulder blades and worked her way down. She ignored him and kept going after he said she got it. She could have stopped, but the layout of Jack's muscle under her fingers made her hot. Was it bad that just giving Jack a back rub could get her going? Anyway...

"I caught that 'well yeah' in there. Spill." Kim had been there for him not just through this, but through everything so far. He hasn't lied or hidden a thing from her why start now?

Jack sighed and began, "I lost the whole arm, Kim. That's worse than death. I'm a warrior and a martial artist. There's a lot of things I couldn't do for you. I would be so hindered in protecting you or anyone else. 'There goes Captain Jack Brewer, the fabled leader of the Wandering Company that lost his fucking arm,'" Jack said with a scowl. "You were right, Kim. I know I still have my arm, but the what ifs are only something I could pretend I could shake off."

Kim took his hands, both of them facing each other and lying on their sides. She sidled up closer so their bodies were flushed and she kissed him hard and with passion. "I would never think of you as anything but whole, Jack. No one could see you as anything less than heroic and charismatic. Brody said he's waiting for you to be ready before we make a move. A king is waiting on you!"

Kim paused and then a mischievous smile spread over her pink lips. "And as far as you not being able to do some things for me, what happened to only needing three fingers?"

"Kim, that's not what I..." before Jack could finish his sentence, Kim grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled back, making him gasp. As soon as he opened his mouth, Kim's tongue darted in and caressed his before drawing him into action.

Jack sighed and fought back, their tongues rolling and dueling. His hips bucked when Kim stuck her hand down his soft buckskin pants and grabbed his quickly hardening cock with a twist.

Jack pulled her hand away and looked at her with shock. "Here, Kim?"

"We'll be quiet, they're asleep. They'll never know," Kim argued (1). "Live every night like it's your last," Kim stated what seemed to be Vakker's slogan.

Jack didn't fight her when she slipped her hand back into his pants and fished out his now fully erect member that remained hidden under the blanket they shared. Her soft hand worked slowly over Jack's hot shaft, her eyes never leaving his.

She opened her fist and slid her smooth palm down his veined dick until she cupped and then lightly squeezed his balls. She smiled victoriously when Jack screwed his eyes shut and panted out a nearly silent "fuck."

Kim pushed on his shoulder to roll him over before she climbed on top of him, their chests pressed together, her hand never stopping it's repetitive trail from balls to tip.

Jack held onto her arms as the speed of her hand quickened and the friction grew. Jack was panting heavily now as Kim kissed her way down his neck and her free hand slid under his night shirt to run over his hard chest, little fingers brushing over his nipples.

Her hand left long enough to roll his shirt up to where he could take it off without either of them sitting up. As soon as it was discarded, her lips walked down his neck, down his chest and kissing ever individual muscle of his solid abs.

Jack gasped and took handfuls of her hair as her tongue swirled just above his straining cock, her head out of sight below the blanket.

Kim liked the idea of Jack's view being hindered. She could do whatever she wanted, and he wouldn't know till it was happening. Her first experiment was to spit on her palm just a little and begin working him again.

She figured it was a go when he jolted and tugged just a little on her hair, her mouth so close he could feel hot breath on the head. Kim then decided to go hands free and rest on her forearms as she licked one big flat line from the base and up over the tip and then back down.

Jack wanted to moan, wanted to curse and egg Kim on in her playing but they both knew he couldn't. Kim told him she understood with a gentle kiss to his head.

She changed it up by skipping more shaft play and curled her tongue around one nut and he jolted again. This time she sucked it right into her hot mouth and he had to try not to jump. Kim was torturing him with this, knowing they had to stay low and quiet.

She decided it was time to end him. She squeezed him not too lightly and without warning took him as deep as she could into her throat. It took all she had to not gag, she couldn't. It'd be too much noise.

Jack let go of her hair and grabbed the blanket. Making her deep throat would make noise and risk detection. Kim decided to sacrifice speed for depth, using her warm velvety tongue to make him deliciously shudder. She could feel his balls tightening in her hand, he was so close.

Kim risked a bit of noise by taking him in all the way and wrapping her lips around him. She twisted and turned her whole head, her tongue never ceasing in it's curling over his throbbing, pulsing cock. Finally she felt his legs tighten and mentally commended Jack for not completely thrashing as his powerful orgasm raced through him and into her waiting mouth.

She licked and sucked him clean, and rose up to him, sticking her tongue out to show him it was all gone.

"You're going to be the death of me, not the Voidlings or Thoseans."

Kim smiled at his odd wording of compliment and tucked his spent dick back into his pants. "That should keep the nightmares away for the rest of the night."

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What was that? Something was slowly inching up Kim's inner thighs, the lightest touch. If it was a bug, so help her...

This was no bug. They were fingers, fingers that were currently working their way into her pants' waistband. Kim ever so slowly lifted the blanket to see a full head of long brown hair. Cautiously, her fingers ran through it and the feathery lightness alone told her it was Jack's. That explains why his face wasn't the first thing she saw when she woke up. As his fingers dragged her underwear down with her pants, she knew exactly what he had in mind.

Just as she expected, she felt the tip of his tongue flick out at her clit. She tried not to shudder as she looked out over the blanket, but then realized they were alone, Milton and Julie were nowhere in sight. That being said, Kim allowed herself the tiniest of shameless moans.

Jack's tongue picked up speed over her sensitive nub and his rough, calloused hands rubbed her thighs causing her to squirm.

"Morning, Jack," Kim exhaled with a smile.

"Good morning to you, too," Jack said with his lips pressed to soft folds, earning him another shiver. This was a hell of a way to wake up, Kim thought. "I seem to have found my breakfast," Jack's voice came off as smug before he lapped one long line from end to end of Kim's waiting lips.

"Damn, Jack," Kim's hands were in her hair already. This was going to be a long ride.

Another lick, and another and another, Kim's hips bucking for more each time. She couldn't ignore Jack's hands that were massaging and spreading Kim's athletic ass. One hand left and she wondered where it went until she felt a finger tracing the entirety of her core's entrance.

"Come on Jack, enough teasing," Kim's voice was firm. She wanted Jack to give her full speed and power. He started with only one finger monotonously moving in and out, giving her only a fraction of what she wanted, and his tongue had stopped all attention to her clit.

She was about to yell at him until he fully suckled her nerve bundle and three fingers drove into her at once. Her back shot off of the blankets that separated them from the floor. Her eyes widened in shock and she was breathless, stopping her from screaming at the sudden entrance. If Jack hadn't made sure she was good and wet first, it would have been just cruel.

There was no warm up, only raw pistoning fingers that rocked Kim's entire being. "I'm really sorry you can't scream right now," Jack lamented thorough gritted teeth, focusing on the task at hand.

Kim was convulsing and grunting, whining even as Jack hammered his fingers in her trembling, roasting hot center. "Fuck Jack, oh Fuck!" Kim tried to pull away, it was so intense. The hand on her ass was strong enough to keep her in place. "Ooohhh!" She had to be close.

"Come on damn it, come!" Jack said as his at arm actually got tired. Her juices literally ran down his forearm. Jack nipped her clit and even dared to press his thumb against her asshole and the new combination of feelings was enough to make her explode.

The force of her orgasm was near atomic, so much so that she shot up into a sitting position and Jack could feel her thrashing as she came.

It must have been a full minute before she could even open her beautiful brown eyes again. "Am I dead?" Kim asked with only one eye open.

"I really hope not. That means I only got to do that once," Jack's voice dripped in earned confidence. "So what's the verdict on only needing three fingers?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Guilty, guilty as all hell."

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Three Days Later

"Jack, Kim, you may want to get up for this," King Brody said from the doorway to their house. Milton and Julie shared a house, as did Jerry and Est. Est had ordered a house to be built for Jack and Kim the morning after Milton, Jack and Kim went to Julie's. The house was done by noon.

The construction of the house was solid but easy to be dismantled, as the Rangers never knew when their location could be compromised. Surprise was the most valuable element to the Ranger.

"What's going on?" Jack asked as he got out of bed and stretched. His stitches had been taken out yesterday and he couldn't be happier.

Kim blushed when she realized Brody had caught her staring at the rippling of Jack's muscular back as he twisted this way and that, and as he reached his fingertips to the ceiling.

"I have a surprise for you, but you need to leave the outpost to get there," Brody's evasiveness made Jack and Kim a little nervous. They'd taken to not even carrying their weapons while up in the outpost because it was probably the safest place in Weite. This time however, they armed up.

The couple followed Brody out of the house after they had donned their armor for the first time since the battle with the Voidlings. They took down the ropes that ran through wheel cranked pulleys to reach the ground. Once down, Rangers at the top retracted the ropes.

They followed Brody a short distance back behind the outpost to a sizeable glen where at least a hundred tents were set up in neat rows.

"What is this?" Jack asked, seeing as how the tent formation seemed empty. Brody only chuckled as they continued through the rows of tents. They crested a hill and once at the top, Jack and Kim's jaws simultaneously dropped.

"Your Wandering Company," Brody said with a smile. "In front of you are fifty Rangers, fifty Epineians, fifty Cynerics and fifty Magnons. The best warriors in Vakker next to my own guard." The men Brody spoke of stood at attention in perfect rows, fully armed and ready for the march as it was.

Jack and Kim were speechless. "We have two hundred men and women," Jack said, feeling quite numb.

"What do we do with them?" Kim asked, feeling the same as Jack.

"This isn't any company, you two. This is the elite, most powerful company in Vakker. I must warn you," Brody turned to them, his hand resting under his chin and his elbow on his hip, you aren't some kind of deserve, nor a fodder. The Wandering Company will be the spearhead of my army. You are the advance, the center."

"We're the hammers," Jack summed it up.

"Precisely," Brody nodded. "Can you handle this, Captain?"

Jack chuckled and ran a hand through his long brunette hair. "We'll find out."

Jack's eyes scanned the formation of men, split into four groups of fifty. The Epineians were in the center, the great spearmen that would serve as the rock in the river, the backbone. The Cynerics and Magnons sat at the flanks, heavy and effective infantry to quickly turn a tide. At the back were the Rangers, the deadly archers to support with overhead arrow fire or reserve melee if things got crazy.

They caught Fedelmid among the Magnons and Julie and Claire in with the Rangers. The best indeed.

"How's your arm?" Brody lightly punched Jack's shoulder. This was the attitude of a friend, not of a king. Brody understood that Jack fought with him, not for him. Jack wasn't a subject and wouldn't be treated like one.

"I can fight," Jack nodded and Kim glared at him. He caught it from the corner of his eye and he knew he was going to get a talking to.

"Good. The Voidlings are organizing. They know now that we are as well. There's going to be a real fight in the next couple days. When my army is ready, I'll need you, Jack."

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"What was that?" Kim spat once they were back in their tree house.

"I can fight, Kim!" Jack shot back. "I almost have full use of my arm. Okay, it hurts a little, I'll give you that, but I can still get it done."

"You couldn't even scratch your own back last night, Jack!" Kim threw her hands up, then dropped them to her hips as she waited for his response.

"A sword takes one arm," Jack countered. "I still have karate too, which these guys have never seen, let alone paired with a sword. I understand you're scared. I am, too. With or without both arms, this is war and it's going to be dangerous."

"I know, and I hate that this is our life, Jack! Every night I fall asleep in your arms terrified that it'll be the last time, and you have that same fear. We all do. It's not fair!" Kim shouted and was in near hysterics.

Jack took her and wrapped her in a tight hug, not letting her go when she pushed against his chest. "Shhh..." Jack tried to shush her.

Kim gave in and held him back as sobs escaped her petite body, hot tears rolling down Jack's black leather shirt. "I don't want to lose you, Jack," Kim forced out, but it was little more than a whisper.

"I know Kim, I know. They'll try to take me from you and you from me, but we're not going to let them do that, are we (3)?" Jack kissed her head and rested his cheek on her golden silky hair.

"No, we're not," Kim said forcefully as she got herself together, picking up on Jack's strength and determination that he had said she was the source of. "We're stronger and better. We're warriors, damn it. We're fearless (4)." Kim forcefully pushed off from Jack's chest and her eyes were a picture of stone, relentless and merciless.

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(1) In cultures such as Norse or Native American where there were one or more families living in cramped dwellings, discrete intercourse after everyone was thought to be asleep was common practice.

(2) That's why I've been relatively quick to shack characters together. There's going to be quite a bit of sensual activity, but I promise you now that it will be in taste... meaning I don't touch nonconsent. The characters will always be both ininvested

(3) Jack's little pep talk here is paraphrased from We Were Soldiers. I highly recommend the book and or movie.

(4) Not a fact, just a suggestion to look up Olivia Holt's song Fearless.