Chapter 16

They made their way back into the camp at twilight. Second twilight? Big Blue and Pale were waiting on them with spears as they walked into the clearing. This time, Oskar was able to feel Pale hiding over the top of the dune nearby as they passed. He wasn’t sure why, if it was water sense or something else, but he felt Pale try to sneak up behind them to watch in case they stopped or slowed. Oskar ignored him completely, not wanting to let on what he was capable of.

Penny made her way under the sand a few hundred yards back, and he felt her catch one of those spiders she loved, and then she grew too distant for him to sense. He could sense her further away than anything else, though.

She’s smart and tough. She’ll be alright.

He realized as they separated that he could sense things around her as well. She was like a conduit, or maybe an extension of himself, which was how he knew she’d caught her favorite treat. It seemed the shared awareness worked both ways, so long as he wasn’t too far away from her.

Big Blue took all of their waterskins and then, almost as an afterthought, tossed one back to the three of them after splashing some of it into his mouth.

Luckily, he didn’t ask how the search went. He also made no mention of the Sky Whale, but there was no way even Big Blue would have missed it unless all three of them had been asleep.

Although, maybe they do sleep all day. I doubt even one of those huge snakes would stand a chance against all three, healthy or not.

Oskar was trying to stay out of the way as Touwon set up their tent and overheard Big Blue asking Fox about Oskar.

She replied, “He digs well. He is strong. Drinks a lot of water, though. I believe he can earn his keep, though, sir.”

Big Blue looked skeptical when she said he could earn his keep, but the “sir” perked him right back up. He puffed up his chest and looked down at her over his long dark blue snout and simply said, “Good job, useless. Go sleep. Short night, long day for one, two, three useless.”

He wondered if that last statement was going to be an ongoing thing, like the Dread Pirate Roberts saying, “Good night, Westley. Good work. Sleep Well. I shall most likely kill you in the morning.”

Oskar turned his face away as he smiled at the image of Big Blue being so articulate. It would probably be more like, “Go sleep, stupid pink. Short sleep. You die tomorrow. Prolly.”

Fox gave him a cautious glare when she came back over and saw his smirk. Valla and Pale were both busy drinking the water the trio had gathered and were paying them no mind.

Were they relying totally on the water we provided? How long can they go without?

He noticed Valla pause and look up at the sky uncertainly, though. So, at least she had seen it. Surely she had shared that information with the other Crocs.

Oskar looked over his stats and realized his Body rank had risen to F from F-, which tracked with how he felt.

I'm getting stronger. Healthier. I can't quite nail it down, but something is happening. Maybe the magic is doing something.

As soon as he could manage, he planned to end his tenure as an indentured servant for the Vulk Collective. He now feared how much he stood out, clearly not from this world. he feared Valla would pick up on something any time and act before he'd have a chance to react.

He'd been so careful to do nothing but sit there, eat, drink, and sleep while in the camp. If she even suspected anything, she might not let him go out with the Kobolds the next day, which might as well be a death sentence.

Big Blue was not the smartest fork in the toaster, and Oskar was glad it was him instead of Valla that got a close look at his prosthetic that morning. He suspected the Crocs didn't have the best vision during the daylight, and at a glance, the prosthetic didn't look like much with the boot on. All you could really see was the old leather boot and the socket.

The liner itself looked like cloth unless you turned it inside out. He worried his clothes stood out, but pretty much everything he was wearing was well worn. Faded and, by now, dirty. More importantly, it was useless to the Crocs, which was probably the most effective camouflage he could have used.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

He settled in, removing and cleaning his liner and prosthetic. Distressingly, he used a splash of water to clean the inside and wipe off his leg. He should have thought to thoroughly clean it while they were at the Wayspring, but he would do better tomorrow. He couldn't escape the thought that he might not have tomorrow.

I need to talk to the Kobolds about making a move as soon as possible before that creepy Croc picks up on something.

A terrifyingly familiar feeling hit him at that exact moment, and he stiffened.

// Gambit Accepted: Freedom! Escape or defeat the Vulk Collective!

Difficulty: Hard

Consequences of Failure: Death

Rewards: Insight, Freedom

Hey, lol, watch this. I’m gonna send it to them. They’re gonna freeeaak. //

No, wait, what the hell are you doing? Can you even do that?

Oskar’s eyes were wide, and a panicked moment later, both Fox and Touwon sat up and stared at him. Fear and consideration was clear on their faces.

Eyes wide and apologetic, he stared back, trying to mouth to Fox that it wasn’t on purpose. He hadn't intended to draw them into his plans without talking to them first, but it looked like that ship had sailed. That ship had sailed? So many sayings seemed out of place in the middle of a desert. This ship was probably about to sink, anyhow.

There’s no way they’re gonna trust me after this.

He thought for sure he’d damaged his budding camaraderie with the two Kobolds, but a minute after he laid his head down on his pack -prosthetic wrapped inside- three notifications popped up a few seconds apart that left him feeling both relieved and nervous.

// Gambit Accepted: Fox: Freedom!

Gambit Accepted: Touwon: Freedom!

Secret Collective Created: Useless Collective… Just kidding.

Dorn Collective

Members:

Oskar Dorn

Fox

Touwon //

Oskar watched Big Blue’s tent for almost an hour, afraid that Big Blue would receive a notification or message, but either he wasn’t wearing his PUB or the Kobolds were not officially a part of the Vulk Collective. Maybe the Collective being secret kept any notifications from pinging the other PUBs. Either way, sleep was light and fleeting.

He felt Touwon and Fox’s restless movement behind him. Fox had earlier explained that Kobolds needed little sleep, but Crocodilian rested often throughout the day, preferring twilight and night, but rarely went into a deep sleep. The night here was mostly a deep blue, and the Crocs could apparently see well enough to hunt. Unless something happened, only one or two of the Crocs were ever fully awake, and only one was usually up and about during the afternoon. That was usually Pale.

Initially, it felt like the ability to sense living things was a separate skill that, much like his Sense Water ability, would develop over time, but it occurred to him that he could be sensing the water or blood in their bodies. It was much harder to detect intelligent beings, so maybe they had a defense for it after all. It was impossible, with his limited information, to know if it was natural and passive, or some active thing everyone knew how to do but him. He didn't think so, though. If the ability was a druid ability, the chances people had developed a defense for it was unlikely.

Perhaps people- a term he was now learning applied to more than just humans, since thinking of what he now knew were sentients as "creatures" felt wrong- but maybe all people had natural defenses to some abilities. Perhaps all classes provided them some measure of defensive ability.

He was going to have to ask Fox about all that tomorrow… after he apologized.

He was awake when Big Blue initially tried to sneak up and take his prosthetic foot, but Blue would have made a piss poor tooth fairy, because after trying unsuccessfully to get the foot out from under Oskar’s head without “waking” him, Blue settled for stepping back and throwing the empty waterskins at Oskar’s head to wake the three of them up.

Oskar had been awake for almost twenty minutes at that point, and the Kobolds were already awake. Fox mentioned yesterday, though, that Big Blue liked his morning wake-up calls, and he would pout all day if he didn’t get his opportunity to start his day off right by being a complete tool, so Oskar laid there patiently, eyes closed. Big Blue pouting might have disastrous consequences.

When Oskar had first woken up, it had been difficult to keep his face slack as Big Blue lifted his head up a few inches and then dropped it. The Croc grunted and muttered under his breath as he tried to maneuver the prosthetic out of the jacket under Oskar’s head, but Oskar knew how important this was to Big Blue, and so he sat still and played along like a dad playing hide and seek with a two-year-old who was hiding with a bucket on their head.

“Oh, what’s happening?!” Oskar sputtered dramatically as he sat up, looking around in every direction, including straight up, which seemed to amuse Blue further.

The Kobolds stood, Touwon rolling out of the tent to do so, and Fox stood wide eyed as if looking for a way out. This tickled Big Blue to no end, who laughed a haughty graveled laugh and said, “Useless try sleep all day. Time to get water. I been up hours.”

Big Blue had actually been up only long enough to loudly eat and drink a few sloppy sips of water, but it would serve no purpose to argue, so Oskar stayed silent and nodded solemnly.

He'd been up much later than he'd planned, worried that his little Collective would be found out, but he wasn't idle all night. He was tired, but adrenaline wasn't letting him feel it yet. They gathered up the waterskins and began packing the tent, which was put on Oskar’s back this time. He didn't mind doing his part. The Kobolds led the way out of camp.

And we're off. Hopefully, Penny stayed safe and did her part.