Jaws that bite, claws that catch

Part 13

They spent the next week investigating the area. Wild used the word 'they' but in reality he did absolutely nothing. He slept, he ate, he made meals for the guys. He kept an eye on their camp grounds as the others came and left, doing their jobs as heroes.

Everyone told him he needed to lay low and recover. It sounded reasonable enough, except all Wild did every day was sit there at camp, twiddling his thumbs, waiting for everyone to come back with news.

Hyrule said, "Right now the locals don't wanna talk. They want to focus on burying their dead. They're treating this like it's a curse and talking about it will give it power."

"I see," was all Wild said.

Warriors was being run ragged. Announcing he was captain in front of the army was in hindsight not the smartest move. Now every low ranking solider came to him for guidance and orders. "The local enforcement around here are too stretched thin. It's taking too much time for information to get back to me. This morning someone reported a retired political figure hasn't been seen in days, and when friends did a welfare check, they were found slaughtered. I'm on my way to investigate."

"I see," was all Wild said.

Even Wind reported in with his findings. He'd been talking to local children, hearing what rumors were spread on the street. "Most of it is hogwash," he said. "They say it's a boogeyman, others say it's bokoblins, but if I ask if they've spotted any bokoblins or boogeymen recently, they say no."

"I see," was all Wild said.

Wild wondered if the gang was purposely slowing their progress for his' sake, giving him time to heal or whatever. It was obvious he wasn't 'fine' but he wasn't sure how he was going to get 'better.' The guys would realize that sooner or later. It would just be another marble in the bucket of Wild's issues to deal with.

While waiting in between news, Wild did his best to keep busy. Cooking meals only ate up a few hours of the day. He kept the camp clean by clearing out stick and leaves. He polished swords and restrung bows. He started offering to clean laundry because he got so bored. But when he brought the first load down to the river bank, the sound of water splashing against rock made the world tilt on its hinges. Wild ended up crawling back to camp on his elbows, keeping his face low to the ground.

(Later Time collected the forgotten bag of laundry and took it into town to get it washed. Wild was grateful and thanked him for it.)

Legend was the only one at the camp at the moment. He was busy eating lunch (beef stew) and as he ate, he watched Wild collecting his bag to forage for vegetables. Wild didn't need to forage, he could easily send one of the others to buy vegetables in town, but it was another reason to keep his hands moving.

"What are you looking to collect today?" Legend asked around a mouthful of potato. Sky and Time were the only heroes who had enough etiquette not to speak with their mouths full.

"Mushrooms," Wild said. "Shiitake, button tops. Hopefully some truffles if I'm lucky."

"Sounds like fun," Legend said. He licked his fingers and put aside his bowl. "Let me help."

"You should get back to your lunch," said Wild. He wanted to do the foraging by himself but was too polite to say so.

Legend said, "I was already finished with the majority of it. Besides, it'll be faster with the two of us."

Reasonable logic. Nothing Wild could argue against. "Alright," he said.

***

Despite his earlier protests, Wild was glad Legend came along. It was nice to finally have a conversation that wasn't about death and murder.