The Camp

Well. This was supposed to be a simple battle, really. That is, until you heard that blaring horn sound off from over the hill.

The Knights were going to put up a fight, no doubt. King Reimer had stationed them here to be separated and deployed elsewhere deeper into Woodveil. It’s still fairly far into the Dominion’s territory within the Worldseam, but it’s just enough of an overextension that, with a well-executed assault, it would be a truly opportune moment to strike.

Seems someone else thought so, too.

What was supposed to be an ambush, launched on half-ready knights in the dead of the night, ends up being a mad dash by dusk to try and catch whoever’s just done your job for you. Seeing no one in the watchtowers and blood splattering the ramparts, you and your team of four other War-Bearers traipse up to the gate and find it ajar, slightly…

You slip through, your compatriots just behind you, into an empty warzone.

The scene before you is… grizzly. In the very center of the camp, an armorless knight lay half-burned and strewn over a smoldering campfire, surrounded by four others who met similar fates, sliced to ribbons. From there, the rest of the camp only looks worse; bodies festoon the ramparts and blood stains the insides of tents that have been cut open.

White-knuckle clutching your Odachi, you ease into the camp, looking around. “Is anyone still here…?” you call out. “We are with the Lantern-Bearers. If you’re still here… we just want to talk. Clearly, we have a mutual enemy.”

“Ah. You are late,” replies a voice from across the camp. A figure emerges from one of the rampart towers, and you quickly recognize them…

“Pallavi…?” Your grip on your weapon relaxes just a bit, your battle-ready posture easing. The other Bearers, upon recognizing the figure, promptly kneel. “Why are you… all the way out here?”

“Surely, we had the same thought. If you are still seeking blood, their reinforcements will be here soon—one of them managed to sound their alarm, as you doubtless heard.” Pallavi sheathes their katana, looking around at the scene almost as if this is the first time they’ve seen it themselves…

“Pallavi… I haven’t seen you in so long! I thought you just—disappeared. Please, we need to speak for a moment—” You begin to step forward, but they shake their head.

“I have no interest in revisiting my past, Kenzō. If I allow myself to be tangled in family ties again…”

“You never even told me why you left—you never even told me you were leaving! You were there one day and gone the next! Now I run into you here and you want to just run away again?”

“… Perhaps I owe you as much as an explanation,” they sigh. “I do not need the Lantern. I do not need a Council. I do not need these pointless limitations. Is that not understandable? Have you never felt the frustration of being bound in red tape when you knew that the time was right?”

“I’ve felt the frustration of being alone when I needed someone. I have friends, family, and I have people who will be by my side in battle. Do you?”

That appears to give them pause, as they look down for a moment, leaning on their scabbard. “Clearly, I am doing fine without. I value my family, but their fate is forever entwined with that of the Lantern. I cannot waste my skill by its scouring light. The Lantern’s unwillingness to act until now is why we now border on chaos.”

“Some value you have for us, when you didn’t even say goodbye to me!” Anger starts to rise like bile crawling up your throat, your teeth clenching. “How dare you try to tell me that you ‘value’ us, whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean! Clearly, you value your own inane sense of heroism far above us!”

Pallavi winces, looking at you for a moment with a sharp, hurt expression. They heft their blade and turn. “If that is how you feel. The reinforcements will be here soon. I will not keep you any longer; I advise you leave.” They leap, carrying themselves on a current of wind up and over the rampart.

“Wait-! Gods damn you! If I ever see you again, so help me—!” You try your best to call after them, taking a few steps out that just end in you falling to your knees, hands clasped to your mask as you just… shout.

Not knowing when you’ll see them again… you drag yourself to your feet again, and wordlessly begin to leave the camp, worried but respectfully silent Bearers behind you.