Food for Thought

DD Slowly dipped his bread into the soup. His mind drifted to Ipsin from years ago. The bread was a little stale. He knew this was a sign that food was already starting to become a little scarce. Most would not notice yet, but this was one of the first signs. His mind went into raid mode. Maybe they could go take some from the enemy just across the river. The broth helped with the taste. 

Years Earlier

The fire splashed oranges and reds over Ispin’s face. He was cooking his famous camp soup and field bread. The flat bread was cooking on a big rock next to the fire. Ispin had this way of making a rock like oven next to a fire pit. A pot of mostly water had foraged vegetables and a rabbit boiling in it. Even after a day of hiking through the foothills Ispin had the biggest smile on his face as he made soup. He took in a huge sniff, “umm that smells so good.”

He dished out a bowl of soup, handing it and a chunk of bread to DD. DD sniffed the soup not smiling at all. He took a bite of the bread. It smoky, slightly burned flavor was not good. Ispin was gleefully dipping the bread into the soup and munching it. With is mouth partially full, “dip it in the soup.  The flavors come together. Ummm, I love found food.” DD slowly dipped it and put it in his mouth. It was better but still not great. Ispin giggled a little, “you will be in the field a lot my friend. You need to learn to love this. Plus, the food available can tell you a lot about the locals and their welfare.” Ispin went into one of his story/education tales giving DD a lot of details on what to look for in food availably. He went into great detail about staleness and weevils. This turned into war theory. DD looked up as he talked about what it means when horse meat is the main dish.

Lyric's voice came through his mind fog, “what do we do next.  We can’t do it all.” Ipsin came to his mind again. He said the same thing all the time. You cannot do it all and must just do what is right. “We have this dragon cult thing, Darrett's fortress thing and Jeven”, Lyric’s voice woke him up. He did not like interrupting people, but his bread laden hand slammed to the table and his mouth moved faster than his mind could slow him down.

Days Earlier

“To Ispin,” Cudgel said as her mug clanged into DD’s mug. The sound from the chipped surface scratched as much as clanged. DD shared both a few drinks and stories. Ispin had been a friend and mentor for so many. As Cudgel told her stories DD thought about how different he was to different people. As if he was giving them the specific training that they needed. For DD it was always about field work. How to survive in the wilds and not just survive but thrive in the wild. He would almost always skip all martial training. For Cudgel, it was about martial skills. 

Cudgel went into a tale of sparring. She told the same story multiple times over the night. As they drank DD could not always tell if they were the same story or different ones with the same theme. His clouded thoughts decided it was multiple events. Many of them ended with some dirty trick. It was almost as if he was training her for a betrayal. DD’s training was about a long campaign and to understand how to keep a small group of people alive. For fighting he was on his own and the knights. 

He blurted out before thinking, “We need to find out if Jeyev is a traitor. End of story.” His voice was a little loud. He took a drink to calm a little, and the entire group was staring at him now. He looked at Deux'Dal as he started, “if Jeyev is a coward, that is fine. In honor of Cudgel we will give him some supplies and send him on his way. If he is a traitor though….. His life is forfeit.” He scanned his now friends who looked at him with a little surprise. Cudgel was Ispin’s friend and any betrayal of her is a betrayal of him. “Nothing can be taken from these people, no matter what.”, he continued. 

Years Earlier

Voices could be heard ahead. DD was exhausted. They had been in the field for eight days. Ispin looked as fresh as the first day they left to go camping.  DD was the one carrying all the supplies they foraged, but Ispin still looked very fresh. “Give the eggs and cheese.” Ispin gave a quick hand signal. Both of them moved instinctually, quiet and quick. Ispin moved up to the forest edge. DD slide off his pack and moved up to the forest edge off to the left of him. They had worked these tactics a lot and Ispin preferred DD on his left. 

Just beyond the forest edge were two men shaking down a small farm family. “We will take your pig as well.” Ispin looked over to DD with a rage he had never seen. He stood up and walked out onto the road. He had a look of both prey and predator. He walked up behind the two men. They only noticed as the farm family looked past them. Ispin moved smoothly and had both men unconscious before DD could even join his flank, “next time move a little faster.” Ispin smiled as he handed the family back their supplies, even giving them a couple of coins, “DD tie them up.” He turned to family, “Now please take your family into your home.”

Ispin grabbed one man dragging him into the woods, “grab the other one.” He proceeded to tie them to a tree. He through a little water at them. As they woke, Ispin turned dark. “Which one of you is in charge?” he commanded. One of the two said something like tell him nothing, but before he could finish Ispin slit his throat. The man’s dead body drooped from the tree. He looked over to the over man with a creepy smile. “if you answer my questions and I like the answers, you will live.” Ispin started to ask. When he was finished, he cut the man loose telling him, “do not go back to the bandits.”

DD stood in shock. He pulled on Ispin’s arm. His smile changed to the instructive charming smile he generally had, “It is not okay to take from those that can least provide, even for themselves. … Not sure what they teach you as a knight, but that can not stand. Now, you can head back now, or come with me to kill a few more bandits.”  He looked around cleaning his dagger, “Your choice, but it will be fun.” Without waiting he started to walk off in the direction of the bandit camp. 

Deep in thought for a moment, he looked up. He was pondering the other problems. “I guess I do not care a lot what we do next, but I think Darrets keep is the better choice.” The conversation moved on as they drank and ate into the night.