It was bright.
So bright. In fact, Baoba was floating in an endless expanse of nothing but white-yellow light.
It was a strange situation to be in, without any equipment or clothes, but he knew it didn't matter.
This was a dream, after all.
Granted, a strange one, but he had learned the difference between dream and reality back at the training grounds. Who knew which abomination would end up throwing you in an illusion, or invade your thoughts.
One had to be ready for these things.
Regardless, he was currently sleeping, and was not about to let his strange subconscious ruin his night. It was his favourite part of the day.
"Remember..."
'Oh, something's happening."
"It will be tough... More than you think... Remember... More than you think..."
A hazy, somewhat androgynous voice was coming from somewhere..
Was it ? Or was it just in his mind?
Or was he the one talking ?
'Wow, this one is incredibly blurry.'
Baoba would often experience lucid dreams, and very clear ones at that. As a child, he used to train in them, or play board games with himself. Sometimes he would let the narrative play out, or summon a sword to fight the monsters in his nightmares. It was a great deal of fun.
But this one seemed strange, as if it went even deeper than subconscious, in a place not entirely belonging to himself...
For starters, no matter how hard he tried, the damn chess board refused to come forth !
"Be careful... Please..."
This voice, too.. it did not seem to come from him, but instead from very deep within him, of a place familiar yet unknown...
"He's watching..!."
Suddenly, Baoba noticed a dark spot in the blazing void, just a black point that he seemed to have missed until now, against all logic.
And then he woke up.
'..Well that was ominous.'
He didn't pay too much mind to it. He had a bit of a paranoid nature, and this was far from the strangest dream he had. He was fully aware of the way dreams seemed to toy with your perceptions, making you sure of things that could never be true.
He once had a nightmare where he was deathly scared of a regular, plain looking staircase.
Still, he was a bit paranoid, and knew he would have a bit of trouble getting such a bad omen out of his head. Besides, there was nothing wrong with being careful, and he already knew this expedition would be harder than he could imagine.
Yawning, he looked around.
He was in a cave. It was a bit chilly and humid, you could hear the sound of the rain from the entrance not too far from where they were sleeping. Outside, it was still dark. The three girls were laying around the fire in sleeping bags made from fur.
'Sleeping bag' might be a bit of an undersell. They were really fancy looking makeshift beds.
' I'm so glad my blessing is so useful. If not for me, we'd barely have a blanket to keep us warm..
Ah, but if I couldn't do those things, maybe I wouldn't even have been selected. And would be sleeping in my actual bed in my actual house !'
He looked at his wool mattress and frowned a little.
Urtica was standing guard close to the entrance. His neutral face was focused on the outside, but his gloved hands were tinkering with a complicated looking object. It was hard to discern in the darkness, but it seemed like some medallion without a chain.
Urtica was clearly lost in his thoughts. The team leader couldn't help but wonder what was happening behind that stoic face..
Baoba smiled, then went back to bed.
This was his favourite time for a reason, after all.
....
Morning had come. This time, Baoba woke up as a leader.
All the squad woke up at around the same time, except for Venus, whose turn it was to stand guard at the end, and Capcsium, who overslept. She was in a weird pose, her forever-disheveld red hair looking outright savage.
Venus chuckled." How does she even sleep like that?" She turned to look at Baoba." You're great, captain, but there's not enough bed for these antics."
"Well to be fair, I made them for camping. She wasn't supposed to act like she's still in royal-grade chambers."
"Ugh, don't even remind me of those" Urtica thew his head back and closed his eyes. " I think I can still taste the dinner we had before departure if I try hard enough.."
"Hey, you still get some pretty great beef, okay? I'd just like to cook it before sundown, so..."
Baoba kicked her a little.
"Hey. Get up. We need fire to eat then we're leaving."
Slowly coming to, she saw the stern face of her captain and everyone else staring at her.
"Oh, hi, good morning." She blinked a couple times and yawned." Everyone sleep well?"
"No one beat you to it, don't worry. Can you start the fire, please ?"
"Aye, sir.."
She stopped stretching, got up and made some fruitless attempts at styling her hair. Crouching by the fireplace, she picked up a relatively intact piece of wood.
Her mouth curled into a joyous smile as her hand started to glow a deep red. She watched closely as the plank suddenly caught fire, and stared at the flames getting closer and closer to her fingers..
She then dropped the wood into the stone circle, and stood by as the fire began to spread again.
'Did her face really need to be so close?'
Baoba, looking from afar, was making breakfast. Using his blessing to pull beef pieces out of nowhere, he skewered them onto sharp sticks and started distributing them. He also took the opportunity to refill everyone's water flask.
Pando was eyeing her bottle in a strange way, clearly perplexed. After a few moments of reflection, she asked : " By the way, captain, I've been meaning to ask.. your blessing lets you create anything that came out of a previous hunt, right ?"
"Coming from the animal, correct." He completed.
She hesitated a little." Then... How can you make water ?"
Baoba looked up, inquisitively." Water ? What water ?"
A horrified look revealed itself on the face of every member of the squad. That idea had always bothered them, but they brushed it off. Then, had they been dinrinking..
He chuckled, and quickly said with a smile : "I'm joking, relax. I did hunt a beast that produces clear water."
The relief was instantly palpable in the cave.
Amused, he started grilling his meat over the now powerful fire." South of Medio, our town, you eventually encounter a desert. In it, there is a kind of tortoise living symbiotically with moss. It grows on its back, absorbing the heat, and in exchange, the tortoise seeks water to drink and keep in little bubbles under its shell."
As his steaks were browning and starting to gently leak grease and juice, he bit the first piece and enjoyed it.
"Out there, it's one of the best sources of water, because they're easy targets and constantly move."
Pando had recovered from her shock, and instead was listening attentively.
"I see.. That ability is indeed very useful. It's not ony unlimited food, but also every material that could be found on animals."
"How'd you make the beds, though ?" Venus stepped in." In know the wool comes from a sheep, and the blanket is a fur, but it's worked and already usable. Did you find a sheep that makes pillows for fun ?"
"Over the years, I've learned to refine that ability. If it comes straight from the animal and there isn't too many changes made, then I can copy it. It works better if I'm there to watch the process or do it myself."
"For example, my bone sword. " Said sword suddenly materialised in his free hand. The curved edge seemed sharp enough to cut through stone, and some fine details were even carved into the handle." It's made from a single mammoth defense, and I never left it during its crafting. I can still visualise clearly how every imperfection matches the battle scars of its original owner, so it's clearly a result of the hunt."
He paused, looking at the still messy beds, and the meat that was now nearing perfect cooking, and sighed.
" I think you hold me in too high regard, though. We might have already died without Pando's scouting and exploring, and my gift doesn't let me fight like you three. All I'm here for is convenience."
The four listeners, who had started roasting their meal too, looked at each other, perplexed.
Venus voiced their doubts. "That's weird. Have you forgotten why you won the title of captain ? I mean, there wasn't even a vote, you just blew all of us out of the water with stats alone ! Pando ?"
The scout's impressive memory had been summoned.
She responded : "First in tactics, first in survival, third in self defense, beating both Urtica and Capcsium, second in geography, first in communication by a long shot.. Not to mention exemplar discipline and character."
"Exactly !" Venus was getting excited for an unknown reason. It seemed pride-adjacent, but the conversation had little to do with her." I don't think anyone had a single complaint about your selection !"
Baoba looked at them with a resigned expression.
'Oh man.. I really can't tell them I did all this for food and citizenship, can I ?'
"That desert..." Urtica jumped in." Is it where your birthtown is ?"
Baoba's expression darkened a bit.
"Ah, that. Well, not exactly, but you have to cross it to get there. In fact, I was going to visit when I encountered that water turtle."
Capcsium had finished chewing a piece of meat."Visiting your parents ?" She asked.
"God, no. I barely know where they are, let alone their name." He let his hand down and looked pensively outside the cave. "I just wanted to see... If I would feel nostalgic, or if.. I would awaken some memories."
After a short silence, Capcsium inquired : "..Did you ?"
He redirected his gaze at the fire, and after a few breaths, bit another piece and said: "No. It was completely alien."
The words hung in the air. The rain had stopped since that night, and light rays could be seen going through the canopiea of the forest. The light was a bright orange. If one saw that dawn, they would undoubtedly stop for a while to admire.
The atmosphere, in this instant, was nice.
Venus smiled and said : "Hey, remember how-"
"Incoming !" Pando interrupted while sitting up abruptly. "We have two to three minutes before they get here."
The breakfast was finished already. Baoba sighed and got up.
"Ok team, the first day has started. Leave everything I made, pack up everything else. We leave in one."
Everyone sprung into action, getting their metal weapons, survival equipment and backpacks, extinguishing the fire for good measure.
In fifty seconds, they were good to go.
Baoba made a pile of meat to serve as a diversion and took the lead.
Leaving their shelter rapidly, they traveled North, snapping into formation.
'Down with the Lord.'
As always, determination followed that chant.