Tricks and Treats

6 - Time And Time Again

Tommy was 12. The war had hit a low point. Morale was at an all time low while the mortality rate was higher than anyone felt comfortable with. Tommy was at the river with a basket of muddy and bloody uniforms, all his own, washing away the stains with his hands and a basin board. His hands were a raw pink from the labor and freezing cold water, but Tommy didn't allow himself to stop. Sitting in the tall reeds by the river, he was wearing a tank top and undershorts. Tommy shivered in the fall wind, debating whether or not the clothes he hung up on a tree earlier were dry or still damp. How damp did they have to be for Tommy to get a fever later?

There was a ruffling behind Tommy. He instinctively reached for his sword, not drawing it until he saw the man. He looked normal enough. He had brown hair and eyes with light skin, and wore a multi-colored hoodie with a green swirl, black pants, and purple shoes. It was a colorful out, but the colors were more suppressed and slightly faded. Tommy didn't know the man- he wasn't an important figure on either side. Tommy wondered if he was a spy for Dream.

"Oh my, you must be freezing," The man said, pulling off his hoodie to reveal a plain white shirt. The man offered Tommy the hoodie, but Tommy could do nothing but stare. He tried to think of ways this could be bad. Maybe the hoodie was wired or coated in poison?

"I'm Karl Jacobs. I come from a village pretty far away from here called El Rapids. I came to find a good friend of mine, but I don't know where he is," The man explained with a kind smile, settling beside Tommy. He kept the hoodie in between them, telling Tommy that whenever he wanted the hoodie, it was his.

"I'm Tommyinnit, lieutenant of the L'Manberg army underneath General Wilbur Soot," Tommy responded, pulling his shirt from the water when his hand began to sting. He released the grip on his sword to tuck the shirt on a branch, the wind blowing the fabric around. Tommy sat back down. He pulled out another shirt that had a nasty tear in the front. Mostly likely a stab or arrow wound, Tommy thought, hand lightly touching his chest to feel the bandages underneath his shirt.

"Tommy?" Karl seemed surprised before looking at the shirt and everything around him. "Lieutenant? Aren't you 13? How are you the lieutenant?"

"I've been lieutenant since I was 9. That's when the war begun. Before that, it was just me and my older brother making drugs in a van. Now, I'm 12, sir," Tommy explained with a grim smile. He moved on to cleaning a muddy pair of pants. Tommy remembered crawling through the underground with Eret and Fundy to mine for supplies. Tommy had gotten stuck in a low hanging shaft, and had to army crawl his way out to get back to the base on time. Tommy hated that. It was dark, wet, and the space was small. It was almost all of Tommy's fears in one place.

"12... 9..." Karl muttered the numbers, sinking further into the ground as the thought came over his mind. Tommy nodded, hand catching on a rock under the water. The jagged edge cut into his skin, creating a thin line from the tip of his finger to his palm. Tommy brought the finger out of the water as blood began dripping out. Thankfully, his hand was pretty much numb from all his washing. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Tommy replied quietly. He stared at his hand, waiting patiently for his body to close up the wound so he could finish washing. Karl took Tommy's hand, holding it in both of his own. Karl brought his hand over the would, a purple swirl spiraling from his palm to the cut. In a second, the wound was gone. Tommy checked his hand thoroughly, but no trace of the cut remained. "What was that?"

Karl didn't answer. Tommy stared at him. The blonde reasoned that Karl had a potion on his hand and that's what cured him.

"Why don't we do something?" Karl said softly, looking around the forest with sharp eyes. "Something fun. Maybe something inside near a fireplace."