Spirit of the Woods

Old Times

Old Times

Chernobog Underground

"I was born in a village in the wilderness surrounding Kazimierz by the name of Greisha. My father was chief and the central figure of the guerilla movement in the forest." Firewatch explained.

"Guerilla movement? Against Kazimierz?" Jacob questioned. Weren't the knights far from bullying the weak?

She shook her head. "No, Ursus. We were bordering the outer territories in which the Empire owned. Local Ursine forces have been trying to expand their control over Kazimierz's border."

"Why doesn't Kazimierz do anything about it?"

Firewatch sighed, "Because they don't want to spill their own knights' blood over a forest. They couldn't give a damn about us. We had to make it work out on our own. Creating alliances, establishing trades routes, supplying weapons, the whole nine yards. The knights even had the audacity to command us to fight their border conflicts."

"I'm guessing Frostnova was part of one group you allied with?"

"Yep, we often cooperated with each other and were pretty close. Patriot, their leader, was a comrade of my father before all of this. As soon as I turned 15, my father deemed me old enough to fight, so he started training me. He taught swordsmanship and marksmanship to me as well as tactics we used in the woods." She pulled her kukri from its sheath and displayed the hilt to Jacob. Etched into it was the silhouette of a tree engulfed in flames. "When he finished teaching me the basics, they immediately sent me to fight. They put me into a team that specialized in destroying enemy supplies, Firewatch being its name and this being its emblem."

Frostnova finally spoke up, "Whatever happened to the sarkaz bodyguard of yours? We found everyone but you and her in the ruins."

"She survived, and we parted ways after we left Kazimierz. Remember the sarkaz you fought up above?"

The cautus put the pieces together immediately. "Oh. Oops."

"Meteorite? Your history goes farther than I thought," Jacob muttered as he leaned back, "Learning to use a sword and crossbow at 15. Wait. A sword? Don't you use a knife?" He stared at the blade in Firewatch's hands. Even though it looked akin to a machete, it was still a knife.

"I wondered about that too, Sofia. I could barely recognize you during our first fight without it."

"I left Kaze in storage. I haven't touched it in years." Firewatch muttered as she looked at the ceiling. The sword brought too many memories.

Jacob looked at her in confusion. "Kaze?"

"It was her sword. It means wind in Higashi. Is it because of..." Firewatch nodded before Frostnova finished. "What actually happened?"

She couldn't bear to wield the blade again after the events of that day. "8 years ago..."

Near the Kazimierz and Ursus border

Firewatch stepped on the back of a crawling Ursus soldier. Before they could beg for mercy, she stabbed straight down, ending a life. Flicking the blood off her blade, she observed her team slowly entering the camp they were attacking. "That looks like everything. Kyle and Sarah torch everything. Thomas, give us security for the surrounding area." She looked at the sarkaz woman walking towards her. "Help me search for any intelligence, Grace."

The sarkaz nodded, "Alright. Are we looking for the usual?"

Firewatch picked through the pockets of the fallen soldiers. "Anything would do at this point. Ursus has been getting more bold by the moment. We have no idea what they're planning." Ursus incursions into the forest have been growing in the past couple of months. Everyone in the forest has been getting restless.