You spot them first, flower-like stalks rising from the sand dunes on the caravan's path. For anyone not native The Great Desert, it is an easy mistake to make.

But not for you. You have patrolled this fucking desert countless times. And you can recognize what those flower-like stalks actually are.

Sand Skimmers burrowed in the sand, waiting to ambush any unsuspecting passerby. Five of them from what looks like it.

You quickly take off from where you were standing next to your employer, quickly making your way to the front of the caravan. Thankfully you spotted those long ways before and the caravan has yet to enter their ambush range. You reach the pathfinders just in time to bring the whole caravan to a halt and point out at the Skimmer ambush.

"Bloody Hell. Didn't even see those fuckers. Would have walked right into their ambush. Good eyes Wolf. My boys and I owe you a beer." Markov swears.

You nod to Markov in reply before returning back to the side of your employer.

"Already earning your pay I see."

"You should have hired more competent pathfinders. Missing Sand Skimmers is a mistake any pathfinder worth their salt wouldn't make."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. After all avoiding danger will keep you safe far better than any steel sword."

Your employer nods, her blue eyes shining under the shadow of their hood.

You converse with your employer, trying to learn more about this mysterious girl.

"So, since we are going to be companions for the foreseeable future, how about we get to know each other a little bit better?" you offer.

"Are you this chatty with all your employers?"

"Only the ones that fund expeditions into cannibal lands."

"Huh. I was expecting you to say "Only the ones beautiful as you" or something like that."

"While I am sure you are very beautiful, I can't really comment on that since I haven't seen what is under your hood or cloak."

"Can spot Sand Skimmers from miles away but can't see under a simple hood."

"I was being courteous since you obviously want your face and identity to remain secret."

"And I was wondering why you haven't asked about who I am yet."

"I can tell when someone is trying to keep a low profile."

"What gave it away? The hood or the cloak?"

"Wow, if I knew you were going to be this sassy, I would have asked for higher pay."

"Considering I was ready to pay you 2 million cats, you really should have."

"Wait. What? Seriously?"

"Too late for that now, unfortunately. You already signed the contract."

This girl...

Your first day of travel passes with no other incident. You make good time though there are still five days worth of travel between you and Stoat.

Night comes and the caravan quickly makes camp. You watch in appreciation as caravan hands quickly set up tents for while the mercenaries establish a perimeter and set up lookouts.

You on the other hand...

You decide to take a turn in the watch rotation, helping out the mercenaries a little which gains you some appreciation though you keep one eye constantly on your employers tent. You get paired up with a female scorchlander and a hive.

After a short conservation, you learn that Hive merc's name is Nines and the Scorchlander is called Ezra.

Ezra and Nines spot them first. Figures moving among the sands dunes just out of the range of your torches. Nines quickly raises his crossbow while Ezra points them out to you.

"See those."

"Barely."

You don't know what Ezra or Nines see but all you can see is dark silhouettes. But you know that Hive Princes and Scorchlanders posses better sigh then other races. So you don't doubt it when Ezra starts describing them.

"Half-naked. Wearing gas masks. Mostly scrap weaponry but there are some chain weapons mixed in. I count around 9 to 11."

"13" Nines correct.

The description sounds an awful lot like Psycho Bandits.

You turn to Ezra.

"Go! Raise the alarm!" you order.

She starts running back to camp. Bandits seem to realize that they are spotted for they abandon all attempts at stealth and rush towards the camp with insane battlecries.

You draw...

You draw your Katana and step forward to guard Nines. Hive shows no emotion, aiming his crossbow with mechanical precision and...

'THWİP!'

He fires and a painfilled cry informs you both of his success. He starts deftly reloading his crossbow, showing no sign of stress or panic.

You draw three throwing stars from the holster just as the first of the enemies come into the torchlight.

"HERE COMES THE SHINIEST MEAT BICYCLE!"

Your first two stars go wildly off course. Third one misses your enemy by hair's breadth. Regardless all three are a miss. You feel the judging stare of Nines at your back.

You watch as a crossbow bolt flies high into the sky, one place where Psychos aren't. Good job Nines. The Psycho charging us literally laughing at how pathetic we are.

You stand between nines and the charging Psycho, your weapon held at the ready, like coiled snake ready to strike, waiting for that right instance. That right moment.

"Get ready for bad tou-HRGK!"

You swing your weapon, slashing open Psycho's chest from hip to shoulder.

"Pleasure in pain!"

Psycho screams as a torrent of blood pours out from the wound your carved into his chest. Some of the blood gets into your eyes and as a result, your return swing is much less precise, mostly catching on the armor.

"You're gonna be my new meat bicycle!"

You spot the chain-axe coming for your head barely in time to raise your sword and parry it aside, leaving you with an opening to counter but you let it pass, deciding to be conservative.

More shouts come from the darkness as 5 more of the psychos enter the torchlight. All screaming insanities. Thankfully you hear the sounds of boots as 5 of your own comes out to reinforce you and Nines.

You strike once again, carving another wound into your opponent's chest.

"But the cakes we were going to bake...!"

Psycho chokes out before falling to the ground. You look around and see that each merc fighting against a Psycho. Far ahead is the main group Psycho running down from the sand dunes.

You decide to...

You quickly rush to help of another merc, striking his opponent from behind and severing its spine.

"Thanks, man. I owe you-"

It is then a scream, a roar really, much louder than any other fills the night, drowning all other noise with its volume.

"WHY ARE YOU YELLING?!"

You turn and your blood runs cold as you witness a horde of psycho led by a towering pile muscle and insanity. It wields an industrial size steel cutter like child's toy, swinging it around like a kid on the playground.

From its neck hangs a chain, from which hangs severed heads on hooks.

Silence descends. For one moment which feels like an eternity, no one makes a noise. Not the psychos nor the mercs.

You can see it, fear. It is clearly visible in every merc. Some take a step back. Others begin shaking. And you...

You hand is clenched around the handle of your sword, your knuckles having turned white from the force. Faced with the grisly form of the chieftain, your mind goes back, back to a time when you were still a conscript.

There were thirty-six of you in that patrol. Thirty-six conscripts and a sergeant. Only five returned.

You remember the screams, the blood.

You remember Marz and what they had done to her.

You remember James and his pleading cries.

You remember Tonsou, crawling away, painting the sand red with his entrails.

You remember Jin, looking through you, uncomprehending.

You remember everything.

You are outnumbered, 8 to 17 but you hear the sounds of reinforcements coming from the camp. You can try to hold out until they arrive or you can retreat back towards the camp.

Retreating would mean the Psychos would get a free reign on a portion of the camp which might result in casualties among caravan hands, loss of resources and even chaos.

Standing your ground would mean facing dangerous odds until help arrives but it would spare the camp from any damage.

You draw your Nodachi and step forward, your eyes on the towering chieftain. In the silence, your movements are as loud as the beat of drums. You feel the eyes of everyone on you, but you only pay attention to one. Two baleful orbs glowing red peer at you from behind a mask. Through those eyes you glimpse a sea of insanity and bloodlust, the only forces driving this animal you are facing for you cannot call what is behind that mask 'human' in any shape or form.

"Another walking meat puppet!"

It bellows, before charging you.

Despite its lumbering size, your opponent proves far faster than you expected, eating the distance between you in a moment. You dodge under a wild swing, the whirring teeth of its weapon sailing far above you, then turn around and bringing your nodachi to bear. Before the beast can recover, you strike, dealing a devastating blow that carves through ramshackle armor and the flesh underneath.

"Look into my eyes when I stare at you!"

You barely dodge its retaliation strike as your opponent manages to catch you off-guard with its speed yet again, serrated teeth of its weapon scraping against your right shoulder plate. Pivoting around your left foot, you swing again, this time upwards. You sword tastes flesh yet again though this time the wound your carve is much shallower. You dodge its retaliation with far more ease, having expected it.

"Just a drop! On my tongue!"

You hear the sounds of reinforcements, rushing out of the camp but you don't pay it any mind, focused on the battle before you. All that matters is right now is you and your opponent.

Momentum is at your side. You press your advantage, stepping towards your foe and carving out another chunk of its flesh. Its return strike almost catches you on your side but you step aside at the last minute, getting only a couple more scratches on your armor. Your next swing cuts even deeper, slicing through muscles and reaching internal organs.

"It's inside me! IT'S INSIDE ME!"

You dance away from its next two swings and once again take your stance, your sword at the ready. Before you your opponent stands, barely hanging to life. Most of his armor is gone, torn apart by your merciless strikes leaving only shorn strips of chain. There are chunks of his flesh missing, one of them even deep enough to expose bone.

Yet, despite all the punishment and injuries, it still stands. You would commend it for its bravery but you know it just a mindless animal, little more than a rabid dog. It can't comprehend fear or bravery, life or death. Its only purpose is to inflict pain and shed blood, until the day it dies.

"I'll never stop, until they flop!"

Which is today. You can already hear the sounds of battle dying down behind you, insane voices of the psycho falling silent as the mercenaries cheer. The beast before you is on its last legs. It is aware of that fact just as you are but it will not stop, it can't stop. So it falls to you to make him stop.

You don't know whether it is power born out of desperation or some kind of second wind but the psycho chief explodes into motion with a speed you thought not possible from it. You find your weapon locked against his, first in this entire fight.

"Gimme my hit points back!"

Then you find yourself on the backfoot as your foe bats aside your weapon. You try to dodge out of the way but your enemy moves too fast and catches you off balances. The only thing you are able to do is to raise your right arm before the strike hits.

Whirring teeth tear through the metal and sink into flesh, all the way down to the bone. You bite down a painfilled scream as you feel your right arm tear apart from wrist to elbow, only your pain filled reaction saving from your bone being split by the serrated teeth.

But this is not the first time you tasted pain nor it is the first time you are injured. Despite the shifting momentum, you recover, determined to not give the beast a chance an opportunity to the exploit. Your grit your teeth, bring your sword up, despite pain filled protests of your right arm and strike.

Your sword strikes through, opening another deep wound on the beast's arm. It tries to retaliate but whatever source of power he has been drawing his second wind from desert him and it finally stumbles, allowing you enough time to reassume your stance.

The beast is tenacious. It does not give in and go gently. Even on the edge of death, perhaps especially because of it, it fights all the more ferociously. You found more and more of your attacks turned away by its weapon even as you weave between its retaliatory strikes.

"I AM IMMORTAL!"

But it is only delaying the end. You have its measure now. No more surprises, no more second winds. Its death approaches at the edge of your sword and there is nothing it can do to stop it.

You move, ducking under a swing before slicing off a foot aimed at your head. Your next swing takes off its right arm from the elbow. Off-balance, the beast falls to the ground.

It is exhausted, injured and dying. Yet even still, with its good hand, it reaches for you.

"Gotta get my hands...around...your throat."

You stab, thrusting your sword into its heart. For a moment your eyes meet and you really don't know what you see there. Peace? Acceptance? Relief?

Then the chieftain's body goes slack as death finally takes him. You withdraw your sword and step back from the corpse before turning around and returning to the camp.

SAT, JUN 15, 2019 AT 03:15 PMNEW COMMENT2 CHAT

All in all, losses were light. The expedition lost only three mercenaries in return for around nineteen psychos, including the chieftain you killed.

Which seems to have earned you some kind of respect from the mercenaries though whether that is a good or bad thing you don't know.

The biggest surprise comes from your employer.

"What you did there was utterly stupid."

"This is what you pay me for isn't it?"

"I pay you to protect me. Dealing with everything else is what I pay these mercenaries for."

You can see her point. You are supposed to be her last line of defense and only trusted companion. After all, every other mercenary in this camp can become an enemy the very next day unlike you. On the other hand, staying away from combat and letting others die is not something that sits well with you.

But in the end, she is your boss and you are bound by your honor to obey her. And unlike all others, you care about yours.

"As you wish. Next time I will wait for some more people to die before stepping in.

"Thank you. Now, go and get your arm treated."

"As the princess commands."

Finding the doctor's tent proves to be easy. You just need to follow where all the wounded mercenaries are going. Though there have only been two deaths, there seem to be a plethora of injuries and wounds though only few are serious enough to require a surgeon's skills.

You find the medical team hard at work, medics applying stitches and bandages. Taking notice of your arrival, one of the medics, call out.

"We have a VIP over here!"

Well, it seems you have VIP status. Neat.

"Send them inside!" comes the reply and you make your way into the tent.

Inside feels cramped, most of the space occupied by gurneys, tables, portable cupboards and all sorts of medical equipment. One of the gurneys is occupied by a merc who is being tended by a medic. He seems to have just come out surgery. Bandages around his abdominal area suggest a gut-wound which makes you wince in sympathy. Those are a bitch to deal with, especially when caused by a chain-weapon.

"My, my. If it isn't the hero."

You turn your attention to the last person in the test.

Well, that is a very suggestive outfit though something about it tickles your memory. Her name tag reads Valentine with the title "Chief Medical Expert/Surgeon" tacked above.

Her uniform. You recognize the color scheme and the design style. She must be a member of The Last Hope. A team of medical experts/mercenaries. You don't know much about the group, only a few gossips, and bar-rumours. What you know is that are supposed to be just as good dismantling people as they are good at putting them back together.

"Take a seat and take off your armguard. I will be with you in just a moment."

You comply, seating yourself in a nearby chair and pull off your right vambrace, baring your injury to fresh air. Armor piece itself will probably require some repair work, chain-axe of the psycho chief having carved a pretty deep furrow in it. While your forearm...

It looks like a mess. Pain is not bad actually, at least when you keep your arm still but any kind of arm movement sends fresh pain up your nerves. The wound itself is pretty, starting below from your wrist and going all the way to your elbow and it bleeds, like a lot.

It is at that moment Valentine returns with a medical kit in hand. She gently grabs your arm and drags it onto the table standing next to you.

"Now be a good patient and don't move."

Valentine starts cleaning and inspecting your wound. You meanwhile focusing remaining still and forcing down the pain.

"Hmm. It is deep but surprisingly clean for a chain-weapon wound. Muscle tissue is mostly intact and bone is undamaged. The biggest problem is the sliced veins but nothing a good stitchwork can't solve."

She nods to herself before taking out a suturing needle and a roll of thread from the kit.

Valentine starts stitching your wound, starting from the veins, then the muscle tissue followed by the skin. It is painful but you force yourself to remain still and relax, focusing on the deft movements of her fingers as she swiftly mends your flesh instead of the pain itself. When she finishes the stitching, she wraps your forearm with a bandage before giving you a smile you can barely make out from under her mask.

"There all done. And you have been such a good boy as well. Would you like some candy?"

"Do you offer everyone candy or just the VIPs?"

"I only give candy to good boys who don't scream, thrash and whine at every little injury."

"Then I would like one."

She takes a step closer and leans over, giving you a very good look down her cleavage. Her face stops a finger's length away from yours and she gives you another, far more seductive smile.

Then she hands you a red lollipop.

"Here you go. Enjoy."

And then she is gone, leaving you with your lollipop and a great deal of disappointment.

You pop it into your mouth and leave the tent. It tastes sweet and sour with a hint of strawberry. Not bad.

Now that your injury is handled, you have some free time to spend as you wish since it will take some time for everyone else to get patched up and expedition to get back in order.

You decide to spend your free time on maintenance. After acquiring an armor repair kit from the quartermaster you start working on your armor. First, you fix the damaged vambrace before moving onto rest of your armor, checking the straps and the plates.

It takes an hour and a half to finish after which you go to sleep.

You wake up at the sunrise. Camp has started packing up with caravan hands running around and dismantling stuff while some people are eating their morning rations.

You grab one for yourself and scarf it down, the taste of cardboard filling your mouth. Afterward, you set out in search of your employer whom you find in her tent eating her own breakfast, which consists of actual food like crepes, waffles, milk and fruits.

Your employer nods as you enter.

"Good morning Wolf."

"Good morning princess. Mind if I join you?"

"Suit yourself."

You take seat opposite of your employer and pour yourself a fresh cup of coffee and mix it with milk.

"So, ready for a new and exciting day?"

"Not really."

"Not a morning person then?"

"I am just not looking forward to any more excitement like the last night."

"Well, I can understand that though there lots of stuff even worse than psychos wandering the Great Desert."

"Don't remind me."

You keep her company until she finishes her breakfast. Afterward, she goes around with you by her side, overseeing the work of caravan hands until the time comes for the expedition to start moving again.

It seems someone up above heard your employer's wish for the expedition does not encounter any problems during the whole day. As such you are able to make good time and travel some extra distance.

(3 days of travel left for Stoat.)

You spend most of the journey by your employer's side, standing guard until the night comes and the expedition decides to set up camp once more. Your employer gives you two hours of freedom which you spend...

...looking for Valentine.

That blue-haired bombshell of a doctor left an impression on you and you find your mind keeps wandering back to her. Even though you do not normally leave the thinking to Wolf Jr. in this case you find yourself following him more than your brain.

She is not at the medical tent and other medics only shrug when you ask about her. You keep searching and end up finding near the pack beasts among a group of unloaded boxes, taking inventory with a clipboard in her hand.

She turns to you as you approach. You notice that she is still wearing her medical mask.

"Well, well. Didn't expect to see you so soon, I must admit. Is your injury giving you trouble? Or are you here for some other reason?"

"No particular reason. Just saw a familiar and a pretty face."

"Is that so?"

"That and maybe get another candy from you."

"You need to earn it first."

"And how can I earn one?"

She hands you the clipboard.

"Here. Check the numbers on the boxes and make sure everything is accounted for."

You look at the clipboard, it is a list of box numbers and their contents.

"What about you?"

"I will be in the medical tent. Come see me when you are finished."

With that, she leaves you alone. You look at boxes, there aren't that many of them though will have to check inside of each one. You let out a sigh and start working, going through each box. It is dull work but again you brought this upon yourself.

You really need to brush up on your flirting.

When everything is done you make your way back to the medical tent to inform Valentine. You find her at the back, seated behind a desk and reading some kind of science journal while a record player fills the background with the soft tunes of a piano.

"Hey, I am done with the inventory. Every box is accounted for."

"And I guess you want your reward."

You watch as she opens a drawer and pulls out another candy.

"Actually, what I really want is you."

"I know."

Valentine pulls her mask under her chin, revealing dark red lips with a small scar crossing the left side of her mouth. You watch as she puts the candy in her mouth, loudly crushing it into pieces with her teeth before throwing away the stick. You open your mouth to say something only for her to suddenly grab hold of the collar of your breastplate and pull you in over the table for a deep kiss.

You feel her tongue forcing its way past your lips. Shattered pieces of candy fill your mouth along with her saliva, Valentine's tongue wrestling with yours for one long moment before she releases you from the kiss.

You leave the medical tent in a daze.

Not too long after, you decide to turn in for the night. Your tent is set up right next to your employer's as you requested. Once inside you take off your armor, perform some maintenance on your gear before going to sleep on your futon.

You fall asleep with the taste of strawberry on your tongue.