Chapter 3: A Lesson Learned in Blood

///

The rest of the night was uneventful. Robin’s presence seemed to inspire thoughts of the next day’s mission in the minds of the… soldiers? She didn’t know whether this was an unofficial militia or sponsored by whatever entity was opposing the “Imperials”, as the boss called them.

Regardless, their moods were spoiled, and most retired to their sleeping quarters not long after. Robin decided to follow suit.

Well, she would have, if she knew where her sleeping quarters were. No one directed her to them, so she discreetly snatched a blanket from an unwatched tent and wrapped herself in it at the base of a tree. The reason was twofold: it was breezy, and she also did not want a stray piece of falling condensation to fall through her head and render her comatose. She shuddered remembering the ease with which her arm was severed by a simple splash of water.

Robin drifted off into a fitful sleep. No dreams came to her that night.

///

She awoke groggily to the sounds of barked orders. A wave of panic washed over her as she took in the unfamiliar surroundings; she relaxed as she realized she was still fine and in the Nightmare.

Then, she panicked again. The voice barking orders belonged to none other than the boss, and here she was, with a stolen blanket still wrapped around her. She struggled in a mess of limbs to disentangle herself and hide it. She got a few looks from some of the people just leaving their tents, but the boss had not seen her. Sighing in relief, she tossed the blanket up in the branches of the tree.

Mission accomplished.

Breakfast that morning was somber. Hardly a word was spoken besides a few, “could you pass that,” and, “thanks.” A gruff looking young man did grumble about losing their blanket, though. The woman next to him whispered in his ear, and he shot Robin a dirty look.

Robin stood outside of the circle of people eating, content to leave them be. She couldn’t eat the gruel, anyways — it was water based and would just fall straight through her. Made sense why no one offered her any yesterday.

She took the opportunity to inspect the attributes she hadn’t the day before.

[Thief] - You are adept at thievery: the setup, the act, and the getaway. A useful skill, if a bit lowly.

[Tenacious] - You are hard to bring down.

She winced at the [Thief] attribute. It seemed like her school wasn’t lying when it said the Spell chose fitting things for Awakened. It was one of the few things she remembered from her school before she began to skip class.

[Tenacious], however, was a great gift. In conjunction with the dagger the tattooed woman gave her, she felt that her chances of surviving the Nightmare was much greater. With the other soldiers taking the attention, whatever the object was would be relatively unguarded. A classic tactic that she had employed before.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

///

Once everyone finished eating breakfast, the boss gathered everyone before launching into his idea of a rousing speech. There looked to be about 70 people total.

“Listen well, all of you. I have come to know the old guard here well. They are comrades I would trust with my life. In time, new recruits, you too will be seasoned veterans. It is my wish that we all live to tell the tale and continue to push back the Empire from our border. However, I won’t pretend that we’ll all survive. I won’t pretend that I know this mission will succeed. I won’t pretend to know all the variables. I won’t pretend that we have strength in numbers, either. What we do have, however, is grit. What have we seen those soldiers doing every night on guard watch? Sleeping. Drinking. Playing cards. We are fueled by more than just a pittance of money. We are fueled by our desire to get these fucking vermin out of our homes. This fortress is our stepping point to a full blown counter-push. When you get there, fight like not just your life is on the line. Their occupation and conquest will not be peaceful. They will massacre everyone who does not immediately bow down. Your families’ lives are on the line. They worship the War God? They will get war, and in spades. Give them hell.”

A few shouts and whoops broke out before he shushed them. “Don’t give away our position before we even begin, dumbasses.” He stalked off to his tent, seemingly content with his speech.

It had worked a tad; the new recruits were a little more invigorated, passionately talking amongst each other. The veterans, however, merely gave one another jaded looks or went about their business.

Robin tried figuring out how many ordinary versus Awakened fighters there were. The ordinary fighters oiled and sharpened their weapons that they carried on them. They seemed to be the vast majority. She counted at least 6 Awakened, who were either meditating, or had actually summoned Memories. The tattooed woman from before was one of them. As she was ruminating on whether the woman was Dormant or Awakened, a rough hand clasped her shoulder, catching her unawares.

It was the boss. Fuck, how was he so quiet in the underbrush?

“Mist rat, everything I said applies double to you. I’d really rather not leave the most important job to a damned kid, but you clearly have the talent when it comes to stealing things right under people’s noses. Here. Take this.”

He provided a bottle filled with a clear liquid, along with a pair of oversized leather gloves.

Robin stared at the bottle. It certainly looked like water. Wouldn’t hurt to ask.

“Water?”

“Yes. And gloves, too, so you can use your hands to cut off any part of your body. Dip a finger in the bottle and swipe if someone grabs a hold of you. Your limbs are expendable on this mission.”

“But I… How do you expect me to just... Remove my own limb? I can't make myself do that."

“Sure you can.” His blade flashed before she could even react, the dagger nearly severing her forearm. Her vision went blank, and her shrill scream resounded through the forest before he covered her mouth.

“Quiet. You’ll see that water is better than anything the Imperials would do to you.” With that, he took some water on his hand and swiped both edges of the flesh. The bleeding immediately stopped, leaving only red muscle and white bone. The pain, however, was still there.

Robin failed to stifle her sobs as he uncovered her mouth. This man was evil. Fucking evil! Who would sever a little girl’s forearm just because she could regenerate it, all to prove a point?

“Losing a limb without pain and blood loss is much more preferable to the alternative, isn’t it? Now fully sever it and hold it so it’ll reattach properly." He scoffed before adding, "Can’t believe I’m teaching a Mistborn their own powers.”

Robin only glared hatefully at him in response. How she wanted to punch him in his emaciated looking face. Rip his thinning blonde hair out of his scalp. She knew that she’d never land a hit on him right now. If she got the chance to hurt him, however… She would certainly take it.