Rannok rolled the dice in his fingers. The smooth surface played across the surface of his fingers. Light from the lanterns around them bounced off the surface and scattered onto the board below.

"Throw it!" Gabriel said, and Rannok let the dice slide out of his fingers. They clattered across the table and spun to a stop. Two skull and crossbones. Rannok swore under his breath. So much for buying anything nice tonight. He handed a couple silver coins to Tava, who gave him a wide grin. They jangled against the coins already there as he pocketed them.

"Not lucky tonight, I see," Tava said as he picked the dice up himself and shook them in his hands. They bounced across the board and skittered off the table. Somebody dived for them and threw them back across the board.

"Skulls!" Rannok shouted with a laugh.

"That's not fair!" Tava argued. Voices went back and forth across the table regarding who owed money to whom. Rannok shook his head and looked up at Gabriel, who nodded.

"I'm out of money," he said. Everyone stopped and looked at him.

"Come on, we just started!"

"Nah, I need to catch some sleep," Rannok responded. His eyes were heavy. It wasn't easy to get used to this sort of life. Sleeping some nights and not others, and other time sleeping during the day meant he was tired nearly all the time. At least tonight he had some time for extra.

He leaned on the edge of the table and stood up. His ribcage ached in protest but not nearly so bad as it had the previous week or so. He let out a deep breath and started walking toward the center of the guard tents. His stomach grumbled. They'd been playing so long he forgot dinner, he realized. Hopefully there would be food out still.

Tents sprung up every few hundred yards like plants around a river. Rannok slid past them, lit only by the faint glow of lanterns, and lifted the flap to the cavernous dinner tent. Everything was eerily quiet as he stepped inside. Even at this hour there was usually at least someone around. The cauldron holding today's portion of stew still sat over a slowly dying fire.

Rannok grabbed a wooden bowl and ladled some of the broth into it. He inhaled the steam across the top. It definitely smelled better than he knew it would taste, but for now it would do. He grabbed a cushion near the corner of the tent and dipped a spoon into the bowl. The scum congealed across the surface wrinkled to admit it and Rannok wrinkled his nose.

Muffled voices came from the other side of the tent wall and Rannok turned his head. Someone was arguing. He leaned his head into the canvas and Aegan's voice reached his ear.

"I thought I told you keep an eye on him," it said. Rannok looked around to make sure there was no one around to see him. There would be hell to pay if someone caught him listening in on one of Aegan's conversations.

"I did," another voice came from the other end of the tent. "He won't do it again. He'll find something to make up for it."

"That's not good enough, Griffon. First he goes kicking people and now he's disappearing when he's supposed to be keeping watch. You need to get control of him yesterday. If there's any more issues I'll dump him right where we are."

"No!" The voice sounded panicked. Rannok's eyes widened. If Armand was wandering, where was he wandering off to? Finally, after days of trying to find something, he had his chance. Armand was going to pay for what he did.

"No what?" Aegan said.

"I'll take care of it. I'll make sure he does watch. Just please, don't--"

"That's what you said last time. This is your last chance, Griffon! No more night watch and no more screwups. We can't afford to lose any more supplies. Do you understand me?"

There was a long, protracted sigh.

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Now get out of my tent."

Footsteps made their way away and around the side of the tent. Rannok leaned his head forward into his bowl and pretended not to have heard. He spooned the soup into his mouth and swallowed rapidly. Griffon flipped the tent flap open and ducked inside.

"No flight training tonight. We'll push off to tomorrow," he said. Rannok looked up from his bowl and tried to look like he hadn't been paying any attention.

"Oh, yeah," Rannok replied. He'd actually forgotten about that anyway. He stirred the soup with the spoon and looked over at Griffon. He tried not to show off his glee at the news. Armand was on watch. He doubted anything Griffon said to him was going to have any effect. Now was his chance to follow him to wherever it was he snuck off to. His ribcage still hurt anyway.

"Go get some sleep," Griffon said, and he jerked his head toward the tent flap. The blood vessles of his eyes stood out against a yellow backdrop. Rannok worried he might punch a wall at any moment. He nearly fell over himself scrambling to get out of the way. 

Rannok fell into step toward his tent. Outside people were starting to turn in for the night. The fires burned low and the smell of soot and burned wood filled the air. Gabriel was nowhere to be seen. He wasn't sure why Armand taking off was such a big deal, anyway. He didn't do anything. Mostly he just watched the supply wagon overnight to make sure nothing got stolen. No one went near them even with no guards posted. Everyone knew it was busy work meant to keep new recruits and people who were too old to still perform well. And Armand. 

Speaking of, now that the sun was down, he'd be out here soon. Rannok ducked behind a supply box, curled his wings up, and waited. Soon enough Armand arrived. He paced around the supplies a few times, sighed, and flopped down beside a box. He took a whetstone out of his pocket and started running it down his sword.

It must have been awfully boring watching the supplies all night. It served him right though, for being such an asshole. Rannok still wasn't sure what exactly he'd done to draw Armand's ire, although he wasn't about to ask, either.

Another hour went by and Rannok felt his eyelids getting heavy. He'd just about drifted off when Armand shuffled to his feet and said 'Hey' to someone Rannok couldn't see. He turned to peek over the edge of the boxes to see who was coming.

The figure pulled the cloak off her head and smiled at him. Rannok's eyes widened. What was Wren doing out here? She took a seat beside him and he handed her a whetstone. She pulled a dagger out of her cloak and began to sharpen it. Rannok shook his head. Wren didn't know how to use a dagger, only those cheap throwing knives her parents gave her as a kid. He doubted they would have let her have one anyway.

"So how much trouble did you get in for giving me this?" Wren asked. Armand reached over and took the whetstone and dagger from her.

"Like this," he said. He worked the stone down the blade a few times to show her. "You're going to ruin the blade if you do it like that."

Wren folded her arms at him. "You didn't answer my question."

"Not a lot," he said quickly. Rannok smirked. Not a lot just like the caravan had not a lot of guardsmen. Aegan was going to love this. He wasn't leaving the stuff unsupervised. He was stealing it. Stealing it and giving it to Wren. But then again...

If he busted Armand, Wren was going to get into trouble. He didn't want that. All he could ever think about was the way she looked at him when he'd left her there that day. He let out a sigh and shook his head. He'd have to find another way to use this information.

"You're lying," she said.

"Actually, no one's noticed it's missing," Armand responded. "They probably won't."

"Right. Just like you said you wouldn't the last time," Wren replied.

"Just sharpen the dagger," Armand said. She pushed his shoulder and he laughed but there was no more conversation for Rannok to listen in on. 

After a while the warmth of his night cloak and the late hour started to make his eyelids feel heavy. He inhaled the warm scent of wood and leather and settled into a position where he'd be a little more comfortable.

He blinked, and the next thing he knew light streamed in from a crack in the canvas of the supply tent. Rannok's heart jumped into his throat. He pulled himself to his feet and peeked through the canvas. A deep sigh escaped his lungs. No one was around. He ducked out and walked toward breakfast while praying no one saw which direction he came from. 

Breakfast was still quiet when he arrived. Only Gabriel and a few other people milled around when he stepped into the tent. Someone fried chunks of meat over an open fire and Rannok's mouth watered.

"Where were you last night?" Gabriel asked as Rannok ducked into the tent. He had a wide grin plastered across his face.

"Nowhere," Rannok answered quickly. His palms started to sweat and he fumbled with a skewer trying to get his share of meat out of the pan. 

Gabriel slapped a hand on his back which caused him to yelp. "Just don't wander off if you're on duty."

Rannok's face flushed. He turned toward Gabriel, who laughed in his face and loaded up his own bowl with chunks of meat.

"What? Everyone gets lucky occasionally. Seriously, it's fine."

Rannok mumbled something under his breath and walked with his bowl back toward his sleeping tent. Maybe if he tried he could get some extra shuteye before anyone came looking for him.  

    ---

Rannok's being awfully sneaky. Do you think he should confront Armand? What should he say to him if he does?