Drawn Blades

Chapter 4

The sun is reaching the top of the treelines once we pull up next to my shack. I hop off and Jackson carefully hands the jug down to me, barely able to even hold it up himself. I place it down by my feet, making sure that no liquid pours out through the small opening in the top as I reach for my backpack. I didn't get all of the supplies that I was hoping to get, but I still managed to get the more valuable stuff. Though it's a little surprising that they didn't bother to gather some more rungin plants for themselves, they could most likely make a lot of money off of that stuff, as long as they can manage to keep it alive long enough to sell it.

"Can you promise me that you won't say anything about us and the Night Soldiers to Jeffrey or anyone please?" Jackson asks as I toss my bag over my shoulder and lift up the jug with a pained grunt.

"As long as you guys are no longer part of that gang by the time that I have to leave, then sure," I answer with a threatening tone, spinning on my heels and heading back into my shack.

"Wait! So you're actually going to do that job in Vakmite?" Jackson shouts with concern and I don't bother to stop and respond.

"Yes, I am!" I shout back, then walk into my shack, slamming the door behind me with my feet. Going there will help me take in information on the current levels of prosperity as well as the activities of their government. The Vakmite government is an oligarchy, so I'd assume that it would be easy to overhear conversations of their citizens on their opinions of it all. Our government is the dark brown party, the premier being Jamson Patsy. We use democracy.

Setting down my bag, I rush to grab a shovel and carry both it and the jug to my backyard. I'm probably going to have to ask for a favour from either Jeffrey or one of the townspeople for them to make sure the plant remains watered while I'm gone. How long should this trip take anyway? I'd assume more than a month. Especially since I sincerely doubt it'd just be to arrive at Vakmite, give the people the supplies, then head back onto the boat and go back home.

Setting the jug down, I begin digging at the dirt. It's not that ideal of a condition for a rungin, but as long as myself and others keep it hydrated then it should survive long enough for me to use it for potions, both medicinal and poison. Both will be helpful for me. I can put the poisonous ones on my weapons which will give me even more of a favour in terms of combat and the medicinal ones can help both myself and anyone that shows me no threat, like that boy and his mother.

The shovel's damaged wooden handle digs into my palms as I dig deeper, dumping the extra soil slightly off to the side. The jar is about a fifth full now, just long enough for me to dump it all into the hole and properly pack the mud around the rungin. The water splatters and the rungin drops into the hole, the heart petals become bloated for a moment due to sucking the moisture out of the air. I drop to my knees and push the roots into the Earth, using my hands to slide the soil on the side back into the hole and packing it around the rungin. The petals and stem bulge for a few seconds as it filters through the moisture of the air and the moisture of the Earth. I kneel next to it, watching as the petals return to their original size and shape, and the soil around it quickly lowers in its levels of water. But it'll be fine, since there aren't any farms nearby I don't have to worry about any other plants sucking out the nutrients of the soil or my neighbours getting pissed off because all of their crops died.

Rising back up to my feet, I grab hold of the jug, almost slinging it into the air with its far lower weight now. Glancing up at the few clouds, the sun is about three quarters of the way to the middle of the sky. I have just enough time to clean myself up then be ready outside for Jeffrey to pick me up. I wonder if Jackson and Daniel are going to be with us today, surely they'll be extremely tired if they are.