Summer Break

Chapter 26

"Tess, Kathyln, Theo, with me. The rest of you get these guys back to the outpost," Arthur said. He started to turn around to start leaving, but had an idea. "Actually, let's get some free labor out of them before we turn them in. Get them to fix the other wagon, and find the skitter. It ran off when the wagon flipped."

"No problem, Grawder and I will make sure they work," Curtis stated as Grawder looked over at the prisoners and growled.

"Can I borrow Theo before you guys go?" Claire asked.

"Sure, I need to secure this prisoner anyway." Arthur replied and walked over to their prisoner with a length of rope.

Claire stepped away from everyone, with Theo following behind nervously. Once far enough away Claire spun around while drawing her sword, striking Theo in the right thigh with the broad side.

Thwack

"Ow, what was that for?" Theo practically yelled as he grabbed his thigh.

Claire then hit him near his upper arm. "That's for not replying to all the letters I sent." Thwack. "That's for not coming back to school and ghosting everyone." Thwack! Claire then hit him on the side of his head. "And that's for making me worry." Claire then returned her sword to its scabbard and walked away, leaving Theo limping back to Arthur as he rubbed his head.

Claire made no effort to hide what she did, only to hide her words, so everyone saw her actions. She was known to care greatly for her team, to the extent of checking on Arthur daily when he was injured in the medical ward after his first day of school, even though they had only met a few days prior. It was also known that she put a great deal of effort in trying to contact Theo after he was hurt during the attack, but received no response. She went as far as to leave Xyrus one weekend to visit Theo's home, only to be turned away, being told Theo wasn't talking visitors. So it was understandable that she would be angry at him after seeing him finally. But everyone would agree, hitting him with her sword like that may have been a little much.

"Umm, are you going to be ok?" Arthur asked Theo as he rejoined him.

Theo looked over at Claire as he began barking orders to the prisoners in a threatening manner, no doubt her releasing some anger. "Yeah, I'll be ok." Theo replied.

Arthur shrugged, not really understanding what was going on with them right now. "Alright then, our new friend here said their camp is about an hour walk from here." Arthur forced the prisoner to his feet. "Start walking."

They didn't walk for long before Arthur decided to get Theo talking.

"So Theo. As happy as I am to see you alive and well, what happened to you? I heard you got hurt really bad, but why didn't you come back to school?" Arthur asked.

"That guy left me barely alive. After the adventurer guild emitters saved my life, my family was told I had so many bones shattered, and with so much of my body burned, it was a miracle I was still alive. I was told walking would take time, and there was a good chance I wouldn't be able to use my hands again. My father is the type that refuses to accept defeat until all options are exhausted, so my parents got the best emitters and doctors in Sapin to work on me. It took months, but I was eventually able to walk normally, and get almost a full range of motion in my hands. After that it was back to training," Theo replied.

"Ok, that explains what happened, but why not come back? Even if you couldn't use a pencil I'm sure there are artifacts that could help somehow, or someone else who could take notes and write for you," Arthur asked, trying to understand, but also not wanting to bring up the burn scars, since he knew even the best emitters had limits.