The Banditos

Breakfast

I took his hand in mine.

He smiles, pulling me up to my feet.

As I stand up, I'm suddenly aware of how close the two of us are in the small space. He smiles and takes my hand, pulling me  up to my feet.

He grins and looks down at my hands, still intertwined. We're standing really close to each other, and Clancy doesn't seem to be in any hurry to let go.

"You good?" he asks, still looking at my hands.

"Mhm! Let's go, yeah?"

He nods and lets go of my hand, zipping open the tent and holding a flap of it open for me to exit.

"After you," he says, making a mock sweeping gesture with his arm.

"Oh, why thank you."

I head out of the tent, into the cold morning air.

Clancy grins and follows me out of the tent, letting the flap fall closed behind him as he steps out into the morning air.

The camp is slowly stirring to life, with the sound of voices and movement coming from the other tents. Banditos are waking up and starting to get ready for the day.

I walk to my spot around the fire, sitting down.

The sun is just starting to rise, and the air is still a little cold. The fire burns in the center of the camp, casting a warm and cheerful glow over the area.

Clancy plops down next to me, stretching and yawning a little as he looks at the fire.

The Torchbearer appears from his tent, still looking half asleep but fully awake. He wanders over to the fire, greeting the others as he passes and exchanging sleepy nods with everyone.

As soon as he reaches the fire, he immediately starts discussing plans for the day.

"Okay, people," he says, "Morning. We've got a lot of ground to cover today. I need two teams on scout duties and one on gathering duties. Any volunteers?"

Torchbearer looks around at the group of sleepy faces for a moment, waiting to see if anyone will volunteer. After a few moments of silence, he sighs and shakes his head.

"Alright, then. I'll be picking the scout team, and you three..." he points to a small group of Banditos who seem a bit more awake than the others, "You'll be on gathering duty."

The Banditos that he gestured to nod and get up, starting to gather their weapons and supplies for the day. The rest of the Banditos seem relieved that they're not on scout duty this time.

The rest of the Banditos, those who are not part of the scout team OR the gathering team, groan a little at the thought of having to go out and ride. They reluctantly start to get up and start gathering their gear for the day.

Torchbearer looks around for a moment, scanning the group for suitable candidates for the scout team. He glances at the two of us and raises an eyebrow.

For a moment, Torchbearer considers us, but then he turns his gaze elsewhere. After a few moments of looking at the group, he makes a decision.

He calls out the names of a few of the Banditos, and they step forward to join him. Torchbearer looks at the small team he's selected and nods.

"Alright. You're on scout team. Get ready to move out."

I turn to Clancy.

"What are we going to do?"

Clancy looks at me for a moment, then shrugs.

"Not sure," he says, "Probably not much. The scout team is responsible for looking for supplies, scouting out possible threats, and keeping an eye out for signs of Dema. It's kind of just a waiting job."

"I'm going to grab a granola bar. I haven't eaten anything yet," I said.

Clancy nods.

"Yeah, good idea," he says, "We might be out for a while, it's good to eat a little beforehand."

I get up and head over to the food tent, weaving my way through the camp towards the small tent that serves as the storage place for food.

The food tent is small and cramped, with bags and packages of food lining the walls. As I enter, I see several Banditos rummaging through the food, taking supplies for the day.

I rummage through the breakfast box, looking over the different options. After a moment, I decide on a granola bar, an apple, and a water bottle.

The rest of the Banditos in the tent are doing the same, looking through the food and taking things they'll need in the coming day.

As I step back out of the food tent, I notice that Clancy is waiting for me by the fire. He's got his bag packed and is ready to go.

I walk over to him.

"I got some breakfast. I was gonna let you grab the lunch items.."

He grins and nods, looking at the food I'm holding.

"Great. I'll get lunch," he says, "Is there anything specific you want?"

"Mmm.. Not really. Whatever you want to grab is fine with me."

He nods and smiles.

"Alright, I'll get you a good lunch then," he says, "Better than those granola bars you always eat, anyway."

I didn't say anything back as Clancy heads into the food tent, leaving me by the fire alone. I have a couple of minutes to myself, the other Banditos around the camp are too busy getting ready for the day to pay any attention to me.