Alwyn merely nodded back to his cousin, glad that he and Caden were able to choose this path, this time. Daniil had been shielded from the more nefarious acts of the family due to the trauma in his kithood, or, perhaps, he had avoided confronting them, so consumed was he by his own internal problems. The Fyadoran warriors of old and those still on the continent talked about honor and ideals, but as Alexei had taught him, the nature of that ‘honor’ was far more complex and nuanced in practice. For example, your loyalty to your sworn lord, your Master, was critical, and in this particular mission his master was Dusk, and by extension, the Empress herself. Yet, that had not stopped many in Fyad from murdering their own emperor and most of his family in the end, claiming to be upholding the similarly valued virtue of “justice” as he was “mad”. When one swore oaths and they conflicted things became...difficult...as it had been in this situation. He would have to begin educating Daniil on their warrior code, it seemed...better him, say, than Anastasia, or, even more laughingly, his father or Dusk.
The trio of them limped their way through the Slups and into the Trenches in the darkness of the night, stared at, but thankfully not accosted, by any beast, although once in the more respectable district, they had to duck into a few alleys to avoid the occasional Fogey patrol. Finally, the walls of Pyrostoat, illuminated by numerous lamps, showed up in the distance, and Alwyn took the lead, using his free arm to fish out the Misanthropy badge that his mother had gifted him for the mission. When they reached the security desk at the outside, manned by members of the Army given that it was essentially a military hospital first and a civilian hospital second, they began to get up, paws drifting towards their weapons. A simple flash of the Misanthropy badge paused that, though they did not fully relax until he handed it over for them to verify. One of the soldiers checked the number inscribed on the back of it with a ledger, while the other looked like he was trying his best to not laugh or throw up at their smell in that order. Finally, the first soldier gave them a nod and simple directions without any questions, returning the badge.
“Emergency’s down the hall to the left from the foyer. The nurses will help you reach it.”
Taking back the badge, Alwyn nodded thankfully, and the trio continued inside to the first nurses station, where he managed to show the badge and make out the word emergency before the mostly Woodlander team on standby burst into action. A female badger picked up Daniil with ease, cradling him carefully as if he were a precious kit. Two squirrels, one red and one gray, carefully removed the elderly fox and Veltra from the backs of Caden and Alwyn, shouldering them instead. Finally, two rather large mice assisted both he and Caden, and, although he could move on his own power, he allowed them to. He was tired, wounded, frustrated, and relieved, all at once. The shift leader, a small, short, hardened weasel femme, likely there to supervise the Woodlanders as was often the case still, talked to him on the way.
“I do not mean to pry into Misanthropy’s business, but for the care…” she began.
Alwyn merely nodded tiredly as he began to explain, fighting to stay awake and coherent as the adrenaline began to wear off and the sword wound on his left shoulder began to seriously hurt him.
“The vixen and the elderly todd, make sure they will live and then toss them in separate, single psychiatric holding cells, the ones with the padded walls. No blankets. No other residents. No clothing even. Nothing they can use to harm themselves. Two of the security staff, none vulpine, outside each door. No one is to get to them without the express authorization of the Ministress of Misanthropy herself.”
“The other two...full...decontamination...if you have not already guessed. They are much more dirty than the rest of us. The clothes and armor are so corrupted they will likely have to be burned. Keep them together if you can. When they are done, send them to my room to recover...as for me…”
He winced, gesturing to his wound.
“Someone will need to look at this...clean out out the pieces of cloth and armor...stymie the corruption...stitch it up…and...send a Misertrosse Gull to Misanthropy with the message ‘the fox has finally gotten his grapes’. They will know what to do.”
With that, he had finally fulfilled his duty, and, as the various staff raced to carry out his instructions, he allowed himself to zone out, for the most part, only snapping back to it when he needed to safeguard the ledger from anyone else. Eventually, his wound smarting, but closed after being cleaned, doused in alcohol, and stitched up, he found himself in one of the larger, more luxurious suites the hospital had to offer, shared with no one else, and in a long, flowing, soft white hospital gown. His armor, sword, and poleaxe were near the door, and a few guards had been posted outside. He leaned back against the comfortable bed, taking the opportunity to shut his eyes for a few moments and prepare for the mental battle.
Mother is not going to be happy at all with the way this went down, even if I did achieve what I was supposed to do at the end. The question is, do I take full responsibility, or do I have Daniil and Caden fall on their swords for me? After all, if they had not been there and especially if Daniil had not done what he had done to Veltra...
He sighed. No, he was likely going to have to take his mother’s scolding and likely worse. They were, after all, in his squad and even if he had not ordered them there, his mother would likely not believe that, after all, what were the chances that they would just happen to be there alone with him just happening to walk in on a mission in a Vulpine Supremacist bar? There is no way his mother would believe that. No, he would be the one falling on his blade today-the other two would just have to owe him.
No good deed EVER goes unpunished it seems...and all I wanted to do was help out the Imperium and maybe get a few drinks and have some fun with a vixen or three to distract me from...no, best not to get into that hole…
