Captain Tes of the engineers had an open door policy, often actually leaving her door open. Her office, a smaller version of the foam houses, was very spartan. A soft blanket upon the floor with a few cushions and a chest for storage and desk work.

How she loathed it. Rank had taken away the fun of her occupation. But she kept an even mask as was expected.

She barely batted an eye when a soldier stepped in, two frightened fawns in his telekinetic grip.

"Found these two outside the wire without permission, ma'am," he said smartly.

The two fawns didn't say a word, just staring at the stiff jest ahead of then.

"Well? Whose idea was it?" Tes demanded sharply as she rose and approached them.

The male was quick to speak. "It was all my idea. I wanted to look for monsters and aliens and made her come with me."

"That's a lie," the female protested loudly. "I wanted to get some privacy with my friend, so I put those ideas in his head."

"No!" He shot back. "I grabbed the wire cutters, she had nothing to do with it."

"I found the space behind the bush where no one would see us leave," She insisted.

"ENOUGH!" Tes shouted, causing both fawns to shrink in on themselves. She cleared her throat. "It's obvious you both were feeding off each other's need to rebel against the martial authority."

She stuck her nose in each of their faces.

"Oh, I would have had a great day had one of you gotten hurt, or killed out there," She hissed at them. "Just what we would have needed. The village is tense enough as it is. I do not want to be forced to employ stricter measures to keep you all safe."

She let that hang in the air a moment. The two fawns seemed on the verge of tears.

"However," Tes said, straightening her posture. "As this is your first offense... I will let it slide with but a warning. To all the fawns within the camp. You had better tell them."

She nodded quickly.

"We have a roster your parents can sign if you wish to leave the camp, under escort of guardian," She continued. "Use that next time. Understood?"

"Y-yes ma'am," they said in unison.

"You may release them, corporal," She bid the soldier.

He gently set them upon the ground, where they bolted for the entrance.

"Take your leave as well," She told the bard then retur.ed to her makeshift desk. "Find that hole and have it fixed immediately. And clear all plants within two meters of it."

Once he was gone she let a smile play at her lips. Those two fawns had fought to take the blame from the other. Had they instead turned on one another, she'd have told their parents.

---

Molk was having the time of his life. He'd never been in this part of the woods before. The twisted roots, low hanging bows, mossy stones and ambient noises delighted his senses to no end.

He was totally going to tell his friends about this later. Then they could all come out and play.

He even found a group of poor stones.

The Mur carved from the stones stood beside a stack of more simple shapes topped with a circle that howled in the wind to let travelers know it was close by.

A small dish was set before the statues. You were meant to leave things there. Like food, money, or clothing, even tools. The poor could come and collect the items without people seeing them.

He had seen his parents take from the dish before. When they thought he or his sisters weren't looking. Were they really poor? He had asked once if they were poor, his mother dismissed it.

Which confirmed it in his mind.

He shook those thoughts from his head and looked at the dish. Empty.

"Well, not many are out this far," he chuckled. "Why would someone build these so far away from the nearest village?"

With a shrug he dug into his pack and found a single copper bead. That might buy a little bread. It fell into the dish with a tiny "clink".

With a smile at his good deed, he turned and carried on his journey. Unaware of the eyes watching him.

A shadow passed over the dish and the bead vanished.

---

Can you handle the suspense?

XD, hope your enjoying the story.