Days Gone By: The Ancient Kingdoms Campaign

A Band of Thieves

Amy picked at her fingernails and swallowed the bile that tried to come up. Her chest felt tight. She refused to look at the brick building that waited at the edge of the parking lot.

"You okay, baby girl?" Justin asked and turned off the truck.

"I can't do this," Amy mumbled. "Let's just go."

"You can do this," Justin stated. "You are the strongest, fiercest warrior I have ever met. You can do this."

"But... Chad and Cindy are going to be there," Amy whispered.

"And, if you don't go in there, they win," Justin stated as he took her hand in his. "You go in there and show them that they can't break you."

"But they did," Amy tried not to let her fear show, but her chest was tightening further with each passing moment and her breathing was picking up in speed.

"Don't show them that," Justin squeezed her hand. "You have earned the right to walk down that aisle and get your diploma just like everyone else. So, you hold your head high and you tell every last one of those assholes to go fuck themselves."

Amy tried to keep her emotions in check as she dropped her gaze to the floor again. A knock on the window made her look up, however. When she did, she saw Eric, Jane, Mervin, and Yu waiting for her.

"Your escort has arrived," Eric called through the window.

"We're here for you, Ames," Jane waved as she spoke loud enough to be heard.

Yu simply nodded and kept his expression stern.

Amy let out her breath and then glanced back at Justin. "I have to go in there, don't I?"

"You don't have to," Justin shook his head before adding, "But I think you need to."

Amy took another shaky breath and then put her hand on the door handle. It took her at least a full minute, maybe longer, to actually open the door. When she did, Jane pulled her into a hug and smiled.

"We'll get through this together," Jane whispered before taking one of Amy's hands in hers. "All of us."

"Our little band of thieves," Amy mumbled with a forced laugh.

"Our band of warriors," Eric stated and clapped her on the shoulder. "Sapphira."

Amy glanced at him for a moment before taking a deep breath. She straightened her spine and put her shoulders back. Closing her eyes for a moment, she did her best to put herself in the mindset of a terrifying, battle-hardened fighter.

"My scars are proof of battles won," Amy stated quietly before opening her eyes again.

"That they are," Justin agreed from where he leaned against his truck. "Any fight you walk away from is a win. It's a chance to try again."

"Exactly," Jane nodded.

Justin came over to wrap an arm around her shoulders. "You're not alone in this, Ames. We're all here for you. Skeeter and the Inter-planar campaign guys are going to be here soon, too."

"Really?" Amy looked up in surprise.

"Yeah, they're all coming," Justin nodded.

"Even... Toni?" Amy asked quietly.

"No, she got herself permabanned from everything," Justin shook his head while grimacing. With a bit of smirk, he added, "Hear that, Eric?"

"Yeah, yeah, funny," his little brother rolled his eyes. "Right now, we've got bigger things to worry about."