Norbert followed Martitia towards the tent she indicated before, opening it up and hearing the cacophony of sounds inside. As the two of them passed the rows of tables, most filled, they made their way to the back, finding buffet-style food all there. Picking up a plate from the pile, Norbert followed and looked at the food served.
Some vegetable-looking items were there, as well as some meat of some kind, still attached to the bone. Further down the line, Norbert saw slices of bread and something he assumed was potatoes though he could not be entirely sure due to the slight green tinge to their colour.
Looking and not knowing what to get, Norbert took a tiny bit of everything, making sure not to go too greedy on one item in case he hated it. Coming back with his small plate of food, the smells coming off it conflicting with one another, Norbert looked at the tables around.
Most of them were within their own groups of job types, as indicated by the similar uniform each wore. They saw a rectangular table and still a couple of empty seats on one end; Norbert headed for it, seeing Martitia was also heading over there.
"Ah, looks like the last one finally made it," someone said from the table's other end. Norbert looked towards them, smiling and sitting down, looking at the plate of food before him and gulping and not knowing where to start.
From his shoulder off jumped Obsius, landing on the table and digging his way through the food. The bird picked up a piece of meat and nibbled at it before eating some vegetables. Copying Obsius with the food choice, Norbert took a piece of the same meat, looking white; Norbert a bit in, his mouth awash with juices and the sauce filling his mouth.
As Norbert chewed the meat, getting another fork full with some of the vegetables, Norbert also spooned into his mouth when he started listening to the conversation when a shout broke his concentration. "YES, no double duty for me then", Norbert looked up, seeing that one of them had exclaimed, thoughts sinking even more.
"What's so bad about double duty besides the assumed lack of sleep?" Norbert asked the group. All heads turned towards him.
"The lucky one has spoken, it seems, Dobert; seems you woke him from his attention on the food," someone else said to the first person Norbert heard, assuming his name was Dobert.
Dobert shook his head. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now the bad thing about double duty is two things; the first, as you said, is the complete lack of sleep we receive; the second reason is the lack of free time," stopping as he placed a fork full of food in his mouth before swallowing. Others at the table are talking among themselves in a bubble of sound.
"Depending on the timing and the place, you won't have any time to go looking in the towns or cities that we stop in, so what's the point of having all that extra coin," Dobert said before looking down and eating again.
Norbert looked around the table. "So who is the other unlucky one then, and how are these people decided," Norbert asked, taking some of the potato stuff and putting it in his mouth; having the same texture as potato and breaking apart but having a bit of tang to it. He placed another one into his mouth, looking up at Dobert to continue.
"You're going to be with Nancy over there", Dobert pointed with his thumb to a female two spots to his left. Norbert looked, and Nancy waved her hand before continuing the conversation.
"How well the elixirs have integrated into your system decides it. Naturally, like everything else, you don't get a base improvement; we all need to work on our things. Some people get more juice in certain areas and nothing in others." He said, waving his hand around. "And as you can see, far enough in the dark and your endurance is enough that you need a small amount of sleep, then you choose to go running out there." He finished, pointing outside the tent flap.
"You must have great compatibility in your perception if you can outlast me," Dobert said as he continued eating. Norbert just looked, waiting for a response; the first person talking to him on his right spoke up, "He's just a little sour that his second perception elixir didn't allow him to see through items. We all told him it was just someone getting rid of normal stock."
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Nodding, Norbert continued to think, wondering how many elixirs he could get his hands on and how many different types there were. While eating again, Norbert looked at his hands, remembering Lily's topic about buying some gloves.
"Where can I buy clothes and the like from, and when do we get paid?" Norbert asked the table. Dobert spoke up as everyone else was quiet. "Most items we can access will be found in the town or village we are working in. You can ask the gatekeepers to buy one from a city for high-level items, though there is a fee for their service." Pointing up the table to Martitia, continuing, "We get coin every five days; normally, we have a day off to do our items, but that won't be at the start of these expeditions as all scouts are needed."
Nodding his approval and understanding, Norbert looked, having to wait another four more days before getting his thirty coppers to spend, thinking of the coins he already had and wanting to buy some gloves with them.
Eating the meal in silence, Norbert listened to the people talking to each other, trying to remember the names of the people to their faces. With that, Norbert finished the meal, looking down and seeing Obsius sleeping on the table. Shaking his head, the bird must have had a busy day going out and about as Norbert placed him safely again in his backpack.
Standing up with Nancy, Norbert followed her as Norbert heard the conversation from the table increase again. He walked over and whipped the plates before placing them in a bucket to wash and dry the dishes. Norbert, following suit, left the tent with her.
Feeling the cool breeze blowing through the camp hit him, Norbert turned his attention to Nancy. A woman the same height as him with short-cut brown hair and freckles dotted her cheeks.
"So, what now?" Norbert asked her.
"Now, we do our job. Don't go too far; look out for any creatures, especially anything in the air. Stories are told of scouts being picked up and never returning," she said before darting off into the direction of the town and the forest behind it.
Swallowing the ominous warning, hoping that it would not be him, Norbert looked up at the sky, only able to see a few stars, mostly covered by clouds. Norbert looked out towards the land that was now his to look after.
Breathing in deeply, Norbert started jogging off into the night, the light on his back fading. Stopping at each hill, he climbed on top of Norbert and looked around, ensuring nothing was around. Norbert carefully made his way across.
Stopping on the next hill, Norbert fell flat, having seen movement on the edge. Norbert just sat still and looked, not wanting to startle anything that could be out there,
Norbert saw a herd of deer creatures that he had once taken between two of the hills in the valley. Unable to determine if they had any unusual markings, Norbert just sat and waited, watching over the beasts grazing in the field.
I did not understand why there would be herbivores out at night when predators were mostly around, especially when there was nothing during the day. Watching Norbert slowly follow the herd, going between the valleys heading left, out of his area of this morning.
Norbert slinked along with them, not getting any closer. They needed to back off a few times as one turned their head towards him. After some time, they all went past. Norbert continued his patrol, trying to remember the location he saw them at first for the day.
Looking around, Norbert headed towards the river he had seen, wondering if there was any difference in the night. As he made his way closer, Norbert could hear sounds coming from in front of him.
Crawling up the last hill, looking down at the river, his eyes brightened up. What was just an ordinary river during the day was a light show at night. The fishes he had assumed were standard glowing brightly, all different colours. Looking around, Norbert saw creatures all lining up the side.
Bears of small size and having rainbow fur like the fish they were eating. Looking further along, Norbert saw on the other side wolves lining the other bank.
Gulping, Norbert thought grass and hill thoughts, trying to blend in with them. Seeing a group of about twenty lining the bank, just staring down at the bears on the same side as him, the bears looking to not care about the wolves and swiping the easy-to-pick fish.
Norbert watched the two groups, wondering if anything else would appear. Crossing his fingers that he had not just jinxed himself, Norbert held his breath, but nothing else came. Spending the night near the side of the river, Norbert looked around.
Going up the river this time, Norbert tried to see if there was anything else around or more groups of beasts. Only seeing the occasional wolf or bear here and there, Norbert carried on until, looking up at the sky for the last time, it started to brighten.
Thankful for the night to be over and the ease of the day, Norbert opened his backpack, rousing Obsius from its slumber.
The bird looked at Norbert angrily for having woken up, ruffling its feathers before taking off. Norbert breathed in deeply, the stress of the night finally catching up to him. Norbert headed and followed Obsius, heading back to camp to sleep the small amount of time he would need, or more accurately, get.