Chapter Four: Rousing the Bear

Tom awoke to a strip of clear blue sky running like a road between embankments of radiant green. Sesame’s bulk next to him made a landmark boulder next to the thoroughfare. Phantasmal blots hovered above him, like the faeries come to trick travellers in old stories.

He blinked, and they resolved into the worried faces of Rosa and Tanya. Tom winced and sat up, mentally checking his body for injuries. Tanya sighed in relief. Sesame gave a happy chuff and sniffed at his face. Rosa smiled, then turned a furious glance to Darius.

The healer was standing a short distance off. Eli, Markus, Meri, and him formed a ring around them, watching the woods, weapons drawn and ready.

Tom’s hand gently pawed at his neck as his memory caught up with him. He found smooth, unblemished skin. Two daggers, simple and straight, lay to his side on the road.

“How long was I out?” he coughed. Tanya furnished him with a flask of water. He gratefully accepted, wetting his parched throat.

“It’s been half an hour or so,” Tanya replied. “Goddess, but that was close, Tom. What were those skills? You’ve kept them close to your chest.”

Tom winced. He’d told Rosa about his first three uplifts, including his one for Grit, but not his most recent one. On his last night in Wayrest, he had contemplated his life since the Reaping, becoming a Hunter and stalking through the Deep, learning about the natural world. Most normal citizens would never leave their fortress cities, and most Idealists would do so only when necessary. It was simply too dangerous.

Tom had grown to appreciate that danger, but to a certain extent, he also revelled in it. He enjoyed the challenge of surviving, and outside you saw and encountered beauty unlike anything on offer in a safe, comfortable, fortress.

He had thought about his journey to come, and found himself excited. He had always wanted to travel, to see far off places, and now he was strong enough to do so. He had the means and the purpose to see him to far off Horizon, and he was eager to see more than just the seemingly unending Deep Green.

The musings had pushed Survival of the Fittest to Consummate. It was one of his oldest skills, and one of his favourites too. It had gifted him with Sesame, his most trusted and steadfast friend.

The options he had gotten were interesting. The first had been a straight increase to the summoning requirements with a commensurate increase in damage and toughness for Sesame. It was Tom’s first choice.

The second option was an increase to the buffs he gained while subsumed, increasing his own toughness and strength, and slightly increasing the bleed damage for physical attacks. It was Sesame’s first choice.

The third option was strange. It added an extra effect giving both Tom and Sesame an extreme buff to health regeneration while they were sleeping. It was unusual, to say the least. Tom assumed it was related to natural bears’ ability to hibernate.

He and Sesame had gone around in circles arguing for each other to take the uplift that would boost the other’s strength and toughness. Neither wanted to see the other hurt. They were both afraid of losing each other. They came to a stalemate, and that was when Tom noticed an odd synergy.

Hush allowed him to put himself to sleep if self-targeted. He had never used the ability, as he never had any trouble falling asleep, but coupled with the uplift offered by Survival of the Fittest, it would allow him to put himself to sleep for healing. It would also allow Sesame to heal without Tom subbing him and pouring mana into him.

They eventually agreed on the third option as a compromise. It allowed both of them a little extra security. Though it was not ideal as a healing method, as proven by the dagger wound Tom had just taken to the neck. Putting yourself to sleep in the middle of a fight was very risky. This time, luckily, he had allies, not to mention an uninjured Sesame watching over him.

Tom explained the uplifts to the women. Tanya merely looked a bit nonplussed, but Rosa replied in her usual acerbic manner.

“Why the fuck would you choose that over a straight toughness upgrade? By Goddess, Tom, I swear..!”

Sesame let out a plaintive groan at her. Her expression softened.

“I guess you are right, you big lump. It did save him. And it is nice to know you can heal too, now. Fuck! It’s not fair to have you two can bully me! I cannot be mad at that face!”

Sesame let his tongue hang out the side of his mouth, cocking his round face to one side. Rosa sighed, and scratched under the strapping for the helmet-plate the bear wore. His back leg beat upon the dusty road.

Got her… Sesame sent him, giving Tom a mental thumbs up. Tom returned the mental gesture, along with a mental grin. He stood, and dusted himself off.

He had not necessarily been wanting to test his newest uplifts, but it was good to know their limits. Tanya explained that it likely would have taken several hours for his wounds to heal under the regeneration without her Triage skills to help it along.

The sleep regeneration was great for recovering after a battle, and washing away any niggling injuries each night, but not something he could rely upon with any regularity in battle, then. Luckily, Grit covered some of that weakness now.

Still, it was a good lesson in being careful. Even the strongest of Flawless idealists were never invincible, and he had a long way to go until then.

Once Tanya had finished checking him over, she turned serious. Rosa stopped scratching Sesame and stood up. Tom glanced at the rest of the party, still ready and alert, and asked the obvious question.

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“There was an Idealist with them, wasn’t there? Those throws were far too accurate.”

Rosa and Tanya nodded.

“Looked like one of their Shadow fuckers,” Rosa said. “Whipped that knife at you and melted back into the woods when it was obvious the attack had failed.”

“Might still be around,” Tanya added nervously.

“I’ll get the birds on it,” he said. “Meri, have you picked anything up?”

Meri jumped slightly. Her attention had probably been on her familiars.

“No, nothing,” she said. “I don’t have the volume you do, though. Be nice to have some assurance.”

Tom agreed. He immediately set Sere, Sus and Sol to methodically searching around them. Sere was excellent for ensuring every inch of ground was covered, and the owls were perfect for picking out details in the gloom and using their incredible hearing to pick up any oddities. After some tense minutes, he indicated the immediate area was clear. The rest of the party put up their weapons and gathered up again.

“Probably has run away, no? I should like to see it try again,” Darius drawled.

“Shut the fuck up!” Rosa yelled at him. “If anything, it knows our capabilities now, and there are still thousands of orcs it can round up for another try! I don’t want to fight thousands of orcs with seven of us, no?!”

Darius’ eyes flared. “We beat it once, and we will beat it again. It is no problem!”

The Guards shared a glance. Eli, as the oldest among them, stepped in. “There’s no sense in us fighting. We’ve still a long way to go. Rosa is right, though. That thing was far too accurate; it was like a true assassin. It will try again, and they aren’t stupid. We’ll need to be on guard.”

Darius and Rosa stared at each other. Darius’ jaw was set defiantly, and Rosa’s hands were balled into fists.

“Guys?” Eli pressed.

“Alright! But this one needs to learn not to charge in like some kind of fucking bull! Tom almost died!”

“A bull?!” Darius cried, all indignation. “I will not be some coddled healer, waiting for all the killing to be done and dealing with scraped knees!”

“He got a fucking knife through his neck because he was trying to save you!” Rosa screamed. She stepped forwards, pointing a finger at him. Fire burst into being around it, quickly shaped into a blade-like protrusion.

Darius did not back down. “Save me!” he scoffed. “I was in no trouble! I had it all under control! Tell me who needed saving?!” The muscles on his neck were standing out now. He didn’t even look at the fiery blade mere feet from him.

Tom cleared his throat. “Darius, you’re a fucking idiot,” he said simply.

Rosa’s eyes flickered to Tom, and he was gratified to see her expression flick through a complicated mixture of emotions: shock, satisfaction, pride. Darius turned to him, opening his mouth. Tom didn’t let him speak.

“But Rosa, you’re being foolish now. We can’t be fighting amongst ourselves. We have a long way to go to see your family still.” He chided, gently.

The fire immediately went out, both of her stance and around her hand. The small reminder of her family was all she needed. She took a few moments to collect herself.

“Fuck… sorry,” she said, sounding genuine. “I’m just run so thin lately…”

“It’s alright, we all make mistakes,” Tom said. He patted Rosa on the shoulder, but he clearly intended the comment for Darius, too. The man was still posturing, though he had no focus for his anger, now.

“Darius, I understand being saddled with an Ideal you didn’t want. It sucks. But you need to play to your role. You’re brave, we get it. But charging in recklessly is putting us in danger, too.”

“I do not want to be a fucking healer,” Darius said, nostrils flaring.

“Tough; you are one,” Tom said. “If you weren’t a healer, would you endanger your brothers and sisters by charging in and forcing them to overextend?”

That finally seemed to get through to the man. Tom could see the acknowledgement of the point in his eyes. He nodded, a small, tight action.

“No,” he said. “That would be foolish. But I will not be babied! I am trained for fighting. I am wasted sitting at the back. I want to fight!”

“You can fight,” Tom said. “That’s not what I’m saying. You said yourself that the Monastery sometimes creates battle-healers. You’re good with your sword. Excellent, really. But you need to work as a team, still, you dumbass.”

Tom meant it. Darius was passing good with his straight blade. He definitely needed to adapt to his new Ideals, though Tom wisely left that unsaid.

“Perhaps. I will not be put in swaddling though!”

Tom sighed internally. It was a start.

“I don’t think anyone would complain about having a healer right there with them in the front line. You can hold your own, obviously, and it makes it easier to get help if things go to shit. But you’ve got to do your job, still, and your Ideals are for Healing. When Tom went down, you kept fighting. There still would have been orcs to kill if you’d taken the time to stabilise him. Do you see?” This from Eli.

The veteran Guard’s measured tone seemed to carry weight with the healer. Tom noted Darius eyeing the man’s copious amount of scars and blades. It obviously granted him respect in the fiery Horizoner’s eyes. Darius looked down, finally seeming a little chagrined.

“Why can’t you return and ask to be one of these battle-healers?” Markus asked. “Seems like it would solve your problems.”

“It is not possible for me now,” Darius sighed. “Maybe if my second Ideal had not been Healing. Battle-healers are those with, perhaps, two or four healing skills. Any more and you are Infirmerer. It is the way things have always been.”

An awkwardness fell over the group. No one could gainsay him.

“Well, we’ve got time to think of something. Perhaps if you train with us, on the journey back, show that you can operate as a team, that you can handle yourself too, they will make an exception?” Meri offered.

Tom was impressed by the scout’s quick thinking. Already he could see the gears turning in Darius’ mind.

“Perhaps,” he said slowly, though he didn’t sound entirely convinced. “It is better than doing nothing, or dishonouring myself by running away.”

Tom felt the group heave a collective, internal sigh of relief. Hopefully future fights wouldn’t be so messy.

“Come,” Rosa said. “We have daylight left still, and we are almost free of the Deep. Let’s go.”

They mounted up and moved out. Tom was glad to see Darius deep in thought atop Granny’s shell.