following orders
Reporting the Unexpected
Alynore sighed and ran a hand through her hair, fallen out of its customary ponytail by this hour. The papers spread out before her were filled with annotated schematics of her initial plans to fix the robot she'd found in the ruins of the Old Barracks—now Kaewynn. Long lines of code on yet more pages blurred and danced in her vision as she yawned and the bells of the Cathedral struck three times across the city.
She tossed the formal report on top of the rest, banding them together under a cover page. She'd get a couple hours sleep before dropping the notes and paperwork on the Commander's desk. He wouldn't understand a quarter of the two inch thick binder, but fel, he had a lieutenant that could now.
For the Sake of a Smile
The hunter comes awake with a violent startle, sitting bolt upright and meeting the timber wall with his shoulder. He rebounds to his feet and stands bristling and panting. His eyes make slow sense of the shapes in the dark. At the far end of the room a small hearth glows softly with burned down coals. His breath fogs the air in front of his face and he shudders, clammy and sweated from sleeping under furs.
