Legend of Ransera

Ash 39
Morning always came early for Myles.Even when he slept in he still rose before the sun could color the sky. Be it from routine or the waking nightmares that often made his rest fitful Myles was used to being awake in the odd hours before most others rose. He’d grown to cherish the quiet and calm that it allowed him. Having returned from his venture with Brenner only a few short days ago this morning would mark his return to active duty. Having gotten with Jonah the day prior he’d heard from his second that Terra had been taking extra shifts in hopes of encountering the mages they had fought with at the forge district burglary. Myles regretted that he’d allowed her escape but recent events hadn’t allowed him to dwell on it like they had the young markswoman had been. Deciding that her predicament was in several ways his responsibility. Still he didn’t think that she was the sort to respond well to admonishment on the subject.

Pondering what to do he dressed himself for the day in the moonlight that cracked through his windows. Myles still refrained from lighting flames where he could avoid them. Leaving the barracks in the wee hours of the morning Myles made his way to one of the few places that opened as early as he woke, the bakery. Down from the barracks a small bakery that specializes in pastries and breakfasts had flourished. Night watchmen coming off shift found it open just in time for their “dinner” shortly followed by the rest of the populace’s breakfast. It was one of those places you could smell before you saw it. In the still dim light of the moon the glass face of the bakery grinned with warm light illuminating the street in front of lit like a beacon to the tired and hungry. The scents of baked goods and coffee wafted through the air making the hungry famished and helping the full find room for desert.

Myles stepped into the bakery and was greeted by all the sensory pleasure the establishment had to offer carried tenfold by a warm puff of air. Stepping into the line of those who’d been awake all night and those who’d just risen to order Myles pondered just what he was desiring for breakfast. A new dish caught his eye and his stomach in a single glance. Apparently they’d made a sweet roll that had chunks of caramelized bacon worked into the batter. Swallowing the saliva that threatened to drown him Myles stepped forward as his time to order came forth.
“How many of those Bacoramel rolls do you make at a time” the woman hearing his question instead of an order blinked a couple times not entirely sure of what he was asking. Blushing as he realized he’d possible said something stupid he rephrased. However as he opened his mouth to speak the woman turned and shouted his question to the back. A muffled “two dozen” made its way from the back of the shop. Nodding thankfully Myles let his explanation go with a short sigh. “I’d like to buy the entire next fresh batch” Myles spoke with some authority even as he made what he hoped wasn’t too ridiculous a request. Thankfully the woman shrugged and said “you’ll have to wait a hot minute or two.” Shrugging Myles counted out the coins wishing the social part of his brain would wake up with the rest of him and start filtering his phrasing.


Enjoying the age old hobby of people watching as he waited on his order Myles found himself marveling at the periodic fat watchmen he saw. Those who were too connected to be removed from the military but too useless to do anything useful found themselves on nightwatch in cushy spots with few crimes. It was hard not to resent those who coasted on their names for Myles but he’d be a hypocrite as his name had no small part in his own career placement. As he pondered his order was finished and a steaming hot box was given to him waited with sweets that smelled of caramel and salty bacon. Resisting the urge to eat one now he made his way back to the barracks. He’d bought far more than he alone would be able to eat but with his return to the barracks he figured he could shower his men and friends with the extras. Making his way to the bunk room that Terra slept in Myles crept into the room only Terra and a few other heavy sleepers remained most others already having gone to the training fields or to their duties. Standing over her for a moment he debated waking her then and their but decided to briefly appreciate her sleeping visage. He chuckled inwardly thinking on how rare it was to see Terra in any form that wasn’t emitting bloodlust. Deciding the smell of breakfast would be enough Myles sat at the foot of her bunk and opened his box of rolls and grabbed one for himself relishing in the still sticky soft coating the warm treat had. It’s taste matching it’s maddening smell Myles was immediately lost as his sense of taste briefly told all his other senses to be silent as something amazing had happened.

Tired and soundly asleep the young soldier was accosted by a smell that was both savory and sweet. Sniffling in the pastry’s alluring aroma the cadet slowly sifted and fidgeted enough to perch herself up as she used her free hand to gently rub her eyes as she was in a groggy haze. All she saw was the blurr of a man and a blink or two later her cheeks were flushed bright red.

Terra hadn’t seen Myles in what might have been what was it a months time now. And here he was stuffing his face in her shared quarters, at first she thought she was dreaming and when she came to the slow realization she wasn’t. It dawned on her that the corporal was snorkeling down his pastry like a ravenous beast. Her awakening had gone unnoticed and she saw her superior officer in rare form.

Free hand over her mouth having to hold back a chuckle. Awoken tranquil blue hues danced on his form like gentle water as her expression was one of delighted amusement. Her mind had gone adrift as he saw the man in a state of jubilation. Her rosey cheeks still flush as her garments collar draped over her shoulder exposing what remained of her third degree burns. A reminiscent reminder of there last adventure together.

”Myles !
What are you doing?
You shouldn’t eat that fast, savor those buns.”

The private had realized how hungry she’d been as her stomach growled in defiance. Terra has been taking extra shifts and by that she was working round the clock sometimes night shift morning shift and afternoon shift. She’d been putting in extra work trying to find that bitch, but she wasn’t going to bring that up.

”So tell me did you come to feed me breakfast in bed?”

Shaken from his tastebuds revelry by Terra waking up, her exclamation and admonishment. Stuffing the remainder of the pastry he was working on into his maw and swallowing Myles looked to Terra with a sheepish if unapologetic grin. Looking over the disheveled soldier Myles first noted the deep bags under her eyes. Her eyes where a far more shocking blue when compared to his own steely grey blue eyes, and the bellied a high level of exhaustion, mildly bloodshot even tho she had just woke. He wondered if she’d even been asleep for more than a few hours. Setting the box of pastries between them Myles opened the lid to the box as if he was presenting her with a chest of treasure.

When asked as to if he had brought her breakfast in bed he shrugged. “I guess I’ve been found out. Rose early and I figured I’d try and start the day off on the right foot. My apologies if I am being presumptuous in showing up unannounced. Oh and I was going to let you feed yourself in bed unless you need me too.” Ending his quip with a sarcastic half smile he winked good naturedly. Looking over the groggy markswoman Myles tried to avoid leering but her burned shoulder troubled him. His stomach and legs were covered in similar scars but seeing them didn’t bother him as much as seeing those on his subordinate. As much as he would have liked to lament his part in her wound his responsibilities drove him to be stronger to prevent such things happening again.

“Take a minute to eat and get woken up, we have a big day coming down. I hope you don’t mind, but given your part in one of my active cases I have requested command clear your schedule for today and potentially the coming weeks depending on the results of today. I again hope I am not being presumptuous in my requests but I am of the opinion that you both have the skills to aid me, and a personal stake to drive you forward in my current work, but enough about all that for now. Apparently the bakery down the street has invented a bacon sweet bread, and I am already enamored with the results.” With what he wanted to say put forth Myles helped himself to another pastry.

Terra was quick to take what was on offer in the form of a bacon encrusted sweet roll, it was still warm and ooey gooey the formidable combination of frosting and bacon was even the aroma was devilishly tempting as her pearly whites took no time sinking into the delicate morsel.

”Mmmmhmmmmmrmmmmm” was muttered as she was chewing and attempting to speak at the same time as she found herself blissfully lost in flavor country. A brief pause before she swallowed to breath and talk.
”Uh huh well I’m sure if you keep these coming you could get whatever you wanted out of me. But I’d definitely be happy to join you BUT we need to get to the grundge works I’ve been working on something important to meShe moved the box of treats aside as she used her mouth to hold onto one of Myles salty sweet buns as she crawled to the edge of her bed to start messing around with the contents of her foot locker her free hands submerged into her personal affects before emerging with the apple of her eye which was a spy glass. One hand on the toy the other on her pastry “So this is it, I want to break it open and reassemble it in its fully extended form and make a spyglass for my musket.”

The object was held out to Myles if he wanted to pick it up and play around with it while she finished her morning snack.

”Not to sound ungrateful or anything but I was wondering is there any reason you don’t use a gun? I don’t think I’ve seen you at the range, and now that I mentioned it you never used my pistol either. I could always try and teach you how to shoot, I’m not much of a teacher but I am qualified to let you watch and learn a thing or two if that’s what your into.”

This time as she was speaking she was getting her gear together and putting it on the bed, as she was doing her best to stay focused and calm about the prospect of becoming part of the corporals squad.

Myles smirked at his soon to be companion, she wasn’t one to filter her mouth or behavior around authority, something Myles found simultaneously refreshing and vexing. She ate with gusto before informing Myles that his offer was all well and good but she had more important things to be doing. The cheek of her thinking she could override his requests amused him, not that he liked ordering people around but he was used to people falling in line. She was significantly more free spirited than his lieutenant Jonah.

As she went on explaining her goals and rummaging through her locker Myles resisted the impulse to swat her rear that she’d turned on him while he was talking to her. Still he’d come to her barracks and woken her so he was willing to forgive the lack of discipline. Taking the spyglass she proffered he turned the fine tuned piece of equipment in his hands appreciating the effort the objects took to make. As he peered through it he heard her ask him why he himself didn’t make use of the guns Zaichaer was so known for.

“A simple answer would be, that in a time where our foes are still often geared for melee we have lost many soldiers to the second waves of charges, caught and killed while reloading. As time marches less and less of our soldiers know how to wield a blade when all of our foes wield spell and blade against us. It may be a failing of mine to be as uneducated as I am in their use but I’ve dedicated myself to the ideals of the defense core, this sword and shield need no ammunition to protect the things I hold dear other than my strength.” Pausing the soldier thought briefly. “I hope that’s a simple enough explanation of my reasoning, I will accept any tutelage you have to offer on the topic as time allows should you be under my command. I will also endorse your tinkering over your recent extra patrols, I’ll expect you to work more reasonably under me.”

Standing from the bed Myles made to leave. “I’ll be waiting for you outside, get yourself presentable before we head out.”

It seemed like Terra was taking in Myles reasoning she’d never really thought about it like that before. She only recently acquired a military saber and had zero clue what she was doing with it. In fact it might as well have been just an ornamental fashion accessory at that point. It was cool in a way that it defined everything she was not, like an archer wishing to be a warrior. She cherished the romanticized flare of the sword but couldn’t fully appreciate the depth of what it meant to be a swordsman.

”Well maybe you can train me to be a sword wielding badass.”

She had a mental image of herself built up like some kind of amazonian warlord with muscle ontop of muscle for armor. Kinda something that escaped her lips like talking and not thinking or thinking and talking before realizing that she may have signed her own death warrant. The consequence of such a verbal contract of dedication and commitment would inevitably be a path of pain and torment and far worse then the above early mornings to train. It was to late to take back, but she carried on casually hoping that it might have been missed.

It still didn’t dawn on Terra that she was on the clock so to speak, usually there was a contrast of character between being on duty and off duty. But underneath her tough guy facade she was still pretty vulnerable, she still hadn’t forgotten who saved her either; maybe in more ways then one as she nodded in agreement to take up a tinkering hobby rather then go out on so many patrols.

When he made his leave she started getting dressed, the load out was different her black cloak a bayonet off her belt her cavalry pistol then she took her smoothbore musket and this fine thing her recently acquired saber. Made sure her powder horn and satchel were tucked away under her cloak and fetched her trusty hat oh and her spyglass.

It was better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it, the incident definitely impacted her and part of that was distilling a certain value in preparation.

She was ready for anything as her blue eyes fixated on the menacing bronze hand guard of her saber that she wore outside her cloak.

When she made it outside her form seemed to change it was the nature of the business as her posture was different and how she carried herself along with it. Something about that hat as she’d become a completely different person.

Myles smirked at Terra’s request to be trained with the sword amused at her gusto. Declining to say anymore for the moment Myles excused himself. As he waited for Terra, he still had a hard time believing the was his elder. Between her diminutive frame and way of speaking they seemed far greener. Still he enjoyed the enthusiasm she brought to the table with her skill set. Between his sword and shield, Jonah’s spear and Terra’s range he had the tools for the beginnings of the strike team he was trying to form. Tapping his foot Myles pondered how competent a tinkerer she was, this was the first he was hearing of any other hobbies or skills the soldier had.

When Terra exited the barracks Myles nodded approvingly at her now sorted appearance, when one wasn’t at war appearance was everything. “Alright then we’re off to the grunge works if you don’t mind me asking are you self taught or have you taken classes with the military” as he led the way to the grunge works and the siege pits within Myles on served the city, the climate continued to change for the worse. The children of Zaichaer were thinner more subdued, women wore daggers and eyed those around them with suspicion, between the recent illnesses and mages plaguing Zaichaer people had become guarded and nervous, faith in their protectors waned in the face of recent adversities and Myles could think of few ways to to repair the forming rift easily other than the eradication of the cult of mending.

As they drew closest to the grunge works the air began to fill with the smell of burning coal and industry began to perfume the air. While he hadn’t been one to employ ranged arms he did respect the craftsmen that labored to make the precise weapons. “If you don’t mind I have a question for you as well, mind you there isn’t a wrong answer, why do you Fight Terra?”