Dehlsaev & Night's 1X1

By the silence that followed her question, she could guess the answer even before he nodded. "I'm sorry," she murmured. Her words would do nothing to bring back the things he lost to the war, but she offered it anyway. If there was a way to keep the casualties to just the two armies fighting, then she would make it so. However, that was not something she had the power to do. "Are you hungry? I was just going to get myself something to eat, so, if you would like, I can bring you something as well."

"I know you won't be going anywhere for a good five days," Túel pipped up. She wasn't eavesdropping, but there wasn't much privacy in the large tent.

Thayer tilted her head in the physician's direction. "She's right, so I hope you won't lose your sanity while here," she commented as she rose to her feet. "I'll be back shortly. Until then, I would advise not pushing Túel's patience. She can make your time here miserable if she thinks you deserve it."

Thayer nodded in approval. "I will be back shortly then," she told him. With that, she turned to leave the tent. From there, it was a straight shot to the camp's cook fires. With the amount of people living in the camp, the space reserved for eating and cooking took up a third of the actual space. Several tents were set up side by side, half regular tents while the others were open air structures. The open air structures were the places where the food was severed and animals. The regular tens housed the ingredients and supplies the cooks needed, as well as severed as their chambers. Because it was so late in the morning, there was no line to wait in. The woman simply walked up to the man in charge of rations and requested two: one for herself and one for their newest guest. Five minutes later, she was heading back to the infirmary with breakfast.

"Is there any pain in your leg?" Túel asked, finishing her rounds with the other patients before walking back to Destrian. "Any fever? It's a bad sign if there is." A bad sign, but curable. She could have checked his temperature herself, but since the man seemed to be in his right mind, she figured he'd be able to tell her what was going wrong. Of course, if she noticed anything wrong, she'd be the first one to notice. The Elf had spent the majority of her life studying medicine after all.

///sorry for vanishing X.x I was caught up with somethings yesterday. But I've finally got my new PC together up and running so yeah! Also sorry that I always tend to reply at weird times. My sleep schedule is roughly aligned to US Pacific timezone (maybe even further west, even though I live on the East coast lol) so I go to sleep at around 21:30 EST and wake up at 5:00 xD///

Sitting up once again, Destrian smiled when Thayer returned. "Thanks," he said, taking his food. Figuring he'd take this opportunity to find out more, seeing as their previous conversation had faded off at a bad time, he decided to ask some questions of his own.

"So, how big is this camp? I wasn't really paying attention last night, but it can't be too big, right? We have to still be somewhat close to land controlled by the King. How much does he still control anyways? How many people do you find who want to fight, and how big is the rebel force?" He cut off, realizing he wasn't pausing for her to answer, and dropped his eyes, grinning sheepishly.

Destrian listened quietly, and then was silent for a moment, thinking. He ate a few bites of bread before speaking again. "And what of people like me, who wish only to escape all the fighting?" he asked quietly, "Where can I go?" He tried to word it carefully so that he wasn't degrading the beliefs and spirit of the rebels; he had seen what was probably a slight glimmer of hope in her eyes when she mentioned people joining the cause. Whatever had happened, he still couldn't bring himself to active involvement in the war. Besides, he couldn't really fight well anyways. A small thought nagged at the back of his mind...But could they teach me?

Destrian nodded in agreement. "I guess I still have time to decide if I'm staying, while I heal. I'll pull my weight though, I promise." He would focus on getting a feel for the camp while he healed, and could decide at a later time what to after that.

///An idea: I think that even right now, he still just wants away from the whole thing. However, if say there was a skirmish with some of the King's soldiers in some way, maybe a 'diplomatic' group visit the camp but it ends in fighting, then I know that Destrian would at least want to be trained to fight, so that he can defend himself properly if he runs into conflict. We can have it be in a few days RP time I guess, so that maybe he's not quite fully healed. What do you think?///

"Thanks," Destrian responded, and then focused on his food. She was right, it was good food, at least for rations in a camp like this. He was glad to be welcomed. As he ate, his thoughts wandered a bit, mostly to memories of Maerwynn. He tried to push it away, to not focus on that part of him that felt cold and empty now, but it was hard. War was inconsiderate and unforgiving...

"I'm from a small village in the mountains east of here, in the White Woods. It... It was called Whitewater, named after the spring that feeds the river in that forest. I was... fleeing, from the remains of my village, and was heading towards where the few people I met said there was a refugee camp. I camped in a grove not far from here, but some bandits approached my camp. I don't know why they didn't just attack stealthily, but while I was trying to talk them down, a pack of wolves rushed in, and I managed to escape in the chaos. I guess one of the bandits saw me running and tried to stop me." Destrian gestured to his leg, grimacing. "I left my pack with some food when I ran, but I guess the bandits would have taken it after they took care of the wolves."

Destrian shrugged, not replying. From what memory he had of last night, amid pain and fear, he wasn't sure what had really led him to the camp. He thought he recalled seeing light in the distance, but at what point that was, and how far he had already ran when he saw it... He only knew that he was here now. Memories of his village seeped back into his mind, happy memories, and then came the memories from that day... When almost the entire village had been razed to ash and the people had either fled, or been taken by the soldiers. Anyone who had resisted was killed, and more than few had tried to fight back. He realized that he was muttering under his breath, recounting what had happened, and looked up at Thayer, speaking aloud. "Nothing there now, so it won't be worth it to send anyone that way anymore."

Destrian nodded slowly. "Two others fled that I know, before I made it out. I couldn't find which way they went, but knowing them, they'd prefer staying in the surrounding woods. They grew up there like me, so not only would they feel the need to stay close to the remnants of their home, but they also know the woods well enough to survive, and to hide. I only made it out because of a friend who..." A lump formed in his throat, but he pushed on. "A friend of mine caused a distraction, kept the soldiers from following me, but I couldn't risk going into the nearby woods, for fear of leading them to the two others who'd escaped. So I headed this way, and barely managed to cover my trail enough to avoid getting caught." He shook his head slowly. "If you plan to try and find those two in the woods... You'll need to be careful, and you'll have to make sure they don't think they're being hunted. One wrong step and any men you send in short of an army will find themselves at the mercy of those two and the forests." He didn't add that they would also probably need someone like him who knew the woods; depending on if and when they decided to search, Destrian may not be healed enough to travel.

Destrain gave a sly grin. "They'll survive fine in those woods. They'll survive the same or better than if they were elsewhere." He chuckled softly, then finished his food before laying back down with a sigh. "Thanks again, Thayer," Destrian said, glancing over at her. He smiled, maybe the first bit of sincere happiness he'd had since before the attack on his village. "Thank you."

Destrian simply nodded and closed his eyes. Resting meant healing. His leg still hurt, even if he had managed to push the thought of the pain aside for some time, whenever the wound came to mind, the pain returned. Torn muscle and flesh like that could heal, but it still hurt until it truly did. He wasn't looking forward to staying cooped up for so long. Hopefully the Elf's skills were better than she let on.

///I'll let you have control of time for a bit if you'd like; there isn't much Destrian can do now anyways, so you can decide what you'd like to happen for today or the next couple days. Let me know if you'd like to discuss/plan anything for it ^.^///