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It was freezing again.
Caleb turned his head on the moth-eaten wool blanket that served as his pillow and tried to wrap his singed coat a bit tighter around his body. It had been three nights since he'd been captured. The prison was a dismal, dank place, and his cell stunk of human waste and mildew. Every breath felt poisoned. At night there was no heat, and this far north it was sorely needed. However, during the day the sun beat through the barred window and baked Caleb to a fiery crisp.
Fire. He would love to have access to fire right now. Not just for his own comfort, but so he could free himself. But the prison also had a couple of mages on hand, and Caleb found himself under an antimagic field. The spell was refreshed every so often, just often enough that Caleb could not use his fire or any of his other abilities. Frumpkin was a no go. Message as well. If the Mighty Nein were looking for him, Caleb had no way of reaching out to them.
So Caleb tossed and turned in his cell and tried to think of other things. His past kept creeping up, as it often did.
For years and years after escaping the asylum, Caleb had been focused on mostly one thing: survival. Obviously he'd had a vague goal in mind, but it was easier to think about getting through one day and then the next. Find food. Find shelter. The absolute basics. The mundanity helped. It stabilized his newly mended mind. So what if hygiene fell by the wayside? One did not expect a drowning man to look his best.
After meeting Nott things got better. Caleb could focus less on survival, but Nott's presence muffled any other thoughts. Focusing on Nott kept Caleb from combing too much through his past.
Now everything was shaken up. First the Nein had rattled everything, and Caleb had to confront his past in a way he hadn't really gotten around to before. Now...now Caleb had no one and nothing to muffle his thoughts; the second he'd been thrown in chains they had thrown theirs off, and now they whizzed through his head.
Caleb cried a little. The screams. It always came back to the screams. The flames themselves were bad enough, but the screaming? The screaming would haunt him until the day he died.
He rolled over again. His side hurt, where he'd been kicked by a guard on his first day. He'd tried to scramble towards freedom when the door had been opened to give him food. The guards kicked him back like he was a dog. Thankfully his ribs were not broken, but there was a nasty bruise. He cried a little more from the pain.
Cheeks stained with tears, eyes burning with salt, Caleb finally felt himself drift towards sleep.
He felt like he'd barely closed his eyes before an explosion rocked the building. The bars of his cell rattled in place. Shrieks pierced the night, and Caleb bolted upright, heart pounding.
"Caleb! Caleb!! Where are you?" Nott's shrill voice came down the hall. Prisoners in their cells yelled back in return. Caleb could not find his voice. Was he dreaming?
"Nott. Nott! I'm in here!" he finally called, trying not to choke on his relief.
A small green face with a too large smile peered between his bars. "Caleb! We found you! Jester! Jester, come quick!"
Jester rushed over, looking uncharacteristically worried. "Caleb! Thank the Traveler we found you! Nott, can you pick the lock?"
Nott, who already had thieves tools out, made an affirmative noise. Jester busied herself reassuring Caleb.
"Molly, Fjord, Beau, and Yasha are outside fighting guards! We were going to sneak in with Molly as our distraction, but Fjord tripped over a rock!"
"A rock!" chimed in Kiri, who had been hiding behind Jester.
Caleb tried summoning flames to his hands. There was a spark, a puff of smoke, but nothing. Verdammt! The spell still suppressed his magic.
Nott finally unlocked his cell, and swiftly opened the door and ran into his arms. Caleb made a little "oof" sound on impact, but quickly began petting her hair. He felt small hands on his back. Soothing him even as he fell to soothing her.
Nott and Jester pulled him from the cell, Nott's crossbow twitching every direction at any noise. Prisoners clamored to be noticed, to be set free as well, but Jester and Nott only seemed to care about their dirty wizard, each protectively clutching Caleb's arms, with Kiri grasping at the tail of his coat.
In a few moments Caleb was breathing the clean outdoor air once more, only to witness Yasha slashing through a guard, the last one upright on the field. Molly was bleeding, but when was he not, and he smiled over at Caleb. Beau was kicking a man while he was making pained noises on the ground. Fjord gave a shout of joy.
"Nice retrieval, Jester!"
"It was all me!" cried Nott, childishly. Fjord only laughed.
"Well then, nice retrieval Nott! Good to have you with us again, Caleb."
Caleb only nodded, fighting back a fresh wave of tears. His friends had come back for him.
Yasha wandered over, blade still dripping with blood. She laid a heavy hand on Caleb's shoulder, and gently squeezed.
"You are going to be okay," she softly intoned, and her dark gaze seemed both serious and reassuring. Caleb nodded and offered up a watery smile.
"Ja, ja, I will be. Thank you. Thank you all." He spoke the last sentence loudly enough for the group to hear, and heard Molly's relieved laugh.
"Oh, 'twas only a spot of light murder. Anything to get our wizard back."
The group spent a moment recovering, Jester casting a quick Mass Healing Word, before retreating into the woods. They moved far enough away from the prison before making a small encampment in some desolate clearing. According to Molly, the group had "taken care of" the guards on duty, so there were none that weren't grievously wounded or dead, but they didn't know if there were more or if one or two hadn't escaped in the heat of battle. Better safe than sorry. By the time they had begun to make camp it was very late indeed, almost getting near dawn.
Jester had made enough faces at Caleb to let him know that he truly reeked, so, accompanied by Molly and Fjord, Caleb made his way to a small stream just south of the camp. Fjord had procured soap in the last town they'd visited, and Caleb was actually pleased to use it. Dirt was one thing, human waste was another, and he didn't fancy carrying any stray fleas or lice he may have picked up either. After washing himself and his hair (which, oddly enough, itched) Caleb set to work on his clothes. When those had also been scrubbed, he set them aside to dry. Fjord and Molly made a show of washing as well, but Caleb had the curious feeling that they were only here to watch him. Not in a creepy sense...Caleb had only just been rescued. He didn't want to be alone, any more than they wanted to let him be alone.
Caleb scrubbed until his skin was pink, and then laid back in the stream bed for just a moment, processing everything.
There was a splash of water on his face. Sputtering he sat up, only to see Mollymauk send another wave his way. Laughing, he sent one back. There was a brief splash fight between the two of them.
"Really, y'all? Is this really the time?"
"Shut up, Da'," teased Molly, sticking his tongue out at Fjord, but ceasing his splashing.
The three walked back to the campfire, and if Fjord lightly pushed Caleb's shoulder with his own while walking next to him Caleb wasn't going to say anything about it. When they returned, most of the group was asleep, save Beau, keeping watch.
"I'll stay up," Caleb volunteered. "I got a bit of sleep earlier. Go on." Caleb nudged Molly, who was nearest, who only sighed and kissed Caleb's forehead. Caleb felt his ears burning, and he knew they'd turned slightly pink.
"I'm glad we got you back." Molly brushed a bit of hair that had fallen into Caleb's face behind one ear, and then moved away to find his bedroll. Fjord made a show of not looking at Molly and Caleb as he also found his bedding, and both quickly dropped off to sleep.
Beau sat quietly, looking at the embers. She hadn't spoken to Caleb much that evening, preferring to keep her distance. Caleb wondered if she was remembering their last fight, which had been right before he'd found himself separated from the group, before being thrown in chains.
Caleb sat next to her, just outside the range of the errant sparks of flame, and looked up at the stars, which were fading slightly in the pre-dawn light.
"You ever wonder if we're out of our depth a bit?" Beau spoke, a soft murmur, quite different from her usual growl.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, we're just two regular humans rolling with this bunch, poking our noses where they don't need to go. Maybe we should settle down."
Caleb traced a constellation in his mind, imagining a faint line between one star and the next, as he contemplated what Beau said.
"Yes and no. We're both definitely in danger every day. We're both likely to be hurt and torn in different ways. But, at least for me, settling down would be much worse. It would hurt me in many more ways. I'd still be as much at risk in a farm in the countryside." Caleb looked up and gave Beau a crooked grin. "At least with you lot I'm a bit more socialized. And having a bit more fun."
Beau's face crumpled a bit. "Caleb. I hate saying it, but I'm sorry."
"No, Beau, don't be. I don't need your sorrow, your apologies. We fight, yes, but it is the way siblings do. I love you. You're my friend, ja?"
"Yeah, Caleb, I am."
"So we will fight. I will storm off, you will sulk, and at the end of the day we will come back to each other and help each other. Like you helped me today." Caleb felt emotion welling up, and looked back to earth, to the dirt beneath him.
Beau slung an arm around his shoulders. It grounded him. Once, not very long ago, he would have hated having these weirdos touching him so much, as they had today, but now...it was nice. Caleb felt alive and cared for. These people wanted him around, badly enough to risk their own skins for him.
As dawn broke, Caleb leaned a bit on Beau, feeling her warm side against his. She sat silently with him as the sky burst into flames, bright red, and Caleb sighed at the wonder of the uncaged sky.