Report - W.Caravan - ... WIC edition

Chapter 8 The Quiet Days

[Day 11]
Some mood improvements and the weather is warmer. Forests have dissipated in scale so we get to forage and hunt.
We keep moving past noon until we reach a hilly plain.
"Alright, listen up. We set up camp, but this one is gonna have some additional defenses. The river over there has more than enough water to clean everyone's clothes and to fish. Scouts and shields, you will remain here to set up camp and scavenge the surrounding area, but before that gather sticks and stones. Rangers you will make arrows out of those and then we will go and hunt. Any questions?" There are none.
The camp established here will have to remain until next morning if not even longer so extra precautions are made to the defenses. The palisades are ever higher and some makeshift flammable boulders and other materials are acquired in case anything decides to come up the hill. The scouts are given new throwing spears along with more stone throwing knives. The tents remain, we shouldn't be here long enough to require any digging or wooden structures. Additional dugouts will be made around the surrounding area and in the forests for additional sight.
First up will be the archers. First is an inspection of the arrow quality
"This isn't sharp enough"
"How much sharper does it have to be? It pierces hides pretty well"
"Which hide? The degraded one from the dead thing or the even more so dead one which has been sitting in the elements for how long before ending up on top of the cart?"
"I'm just asking, how much more do they need?"
"A lot. The string is too flimsy, the adhesive is a bit flimsy, here," I lightly nudge the arrowhead "not stable. And some of these sticks are a bit too thin or too short"
"Well I'm not just gonna restart all over," I pick out the arrows that are too late to fix and snap them in front of him.
"Everyone else, show me your arrows," A couple more stacks of tinder were acquired on that day.

"Alright, show me what you learnt in training," Now to see if these victors of the previous engagement can catch something not charging towards them in a straight line.
Shooting birds is... ok. They miss 2 seperate rabbits and rely on luck alone to find prey. None search any holes for moles or rats the search only looks for deers and boars, unfortunately they don't use lures and lack the patience of an adept hunter.
After a disappointing 2 hours they are right about to give up out of frustration. No groups have found anything more than birds and mice and a single rabbit. Statistically speaking, we would be catching bigger hauls with traps alone. Before my rage takes over and they turn to blaming each other and me for their failures I give off a final hint.
"There's a wild horse over there"
"What th-"
"Be quick, but be quiet. We've spent too much time and too many arrows"
Following a trail we find it. A single great bag of muscles and tissue gathering its final meals before the onset of winter.
"V, you're up"
"Why me sir?"
"Because you've been the most disappointing one of this group," Some chuckle at that
"Shut it or your up. Better if yet if you alert it then I will force you to bring back 10x the lost food on your own, on a time limit," Everyone goes quiet.
"Now then V, show me how to bring down a wild animal that you can't simply squeeze to death"
The panic in his body is immense. The eyes buzz around nearly as much as his arms. The breathing is difficult to contain and the sweat in a cold environment doesn't help. I gave him 5 minutes to prepare the shot, 5 FUCKING MINUTES.
Then the moment happens. He removes a random arrow and places it in the string. I don't see the tips of the other arrows but just from the quiver alone I could tell that he didn't pick the best arrow. He takes a deep breath and pulls the arrow. The bow is raised to around the creatures chest level, at this distance it would work, but he would have to run after it and trail the blood to loot the kill. Then he stops. He ran out of breath.
"You make us wait another minute and your on latrine duty for a week," With how much time he's costed us that's a minor punishment.
Again he raises the bow and breathes. Slightly shaking he lets go.
The arrow flies majestically. The hand-crafted stone tip flows through the white air trails in its wavy dance. It sees the goal and before the creature has had time to hear and raise its head, turn towards the threat, and react............ the arrow misses by a fair bit and falls way behind it.
The creature runs away. I smack V on the back of the head, knocking him down from his shaking legs.
"Keep hunting. I'll inspect the others"
Others haven't fared much better. The days catch is pitiful although I don't wish to send them into the forest so it'll either be a minor incursion or they'll have to run further away from here.
I return to camp.
"Scouts, please tell me you've had some success with the fish"
"A little bit. We've got like 2 buckets full," So not even enough for 2 meals.
"Spears?"
"The walls are up and soon we will go to dig out those holes you wanted for the scouts. Then we'll start the fire n set up the tents," I take a look at the palisades and I notice some problems.
"That part isn't stable nor even"
"Which one," I point it out for him.
"Oh, that little part? Is that so bad?"
"Even the ground and replace it"
"wait, REPLACE?! SIR THA-"
I stopped listening after that. I slowly walked over to the 1 section I noticed. With a ferocious kick I knock down a single stick and the 2 on the side lean forwards.
"Measure it. Even the ground and replace them"
So far everything has been a failure. The archers have failed to provide enough food together with the scouts.
"Report on the harvest"
"Minimal. We have around 40% of our bags filled"
Now the other scouts fail to either bring in enough food or the herbs which are vital for replacing the industrial grade medication we can't acquire. Now the shields are pissed with me because their lazines could have cost us several lives if we were to have been attacked. 
My rage and disappointment is indescribable.
"CL!"
"Yes, sir!" At least he responds the way he should.
"Await the rangers and the foragers. I'll be back at some point"
Combined the haul isn't bad, but I'm the only one who knows just how much we might face on the road so I know that this haul is bad. If the cargo wasn't so precious and if we weren't so close to home then I would have left and simply sat in the forest and let them go a day without their daily caloric intake. This time no fortune awaits me.
I set out into the fields. Tomorrow I will set out for the herbs I seek, but for now meat must be brought onto the table.
I head back towards the spot where I found the horse. If lucky I'll get him and the rangers won't argue with me anymore, if I'm really lucky then he will have fled to where the others are.

The search takes me some time, but I find him or a separate one out there. I scare him with some twig cracks and some impersonated growls. Eventually, after enough time stalking, the creatures fear forces it to inspect upon its kin. It leads nearby the river in a small puddle of tall grass where some extra prey gathers. Sadly there are some kids, but meat is meat. As long as I manage to down them nearby the river I may be able to tie some small logs together and float them back, that would be easier than carrying them one by one and I would prefer to hunt and deliver it all by myself. So I leave them. I search for more wild animals or some predators that I could also tie down.
Success I found some foxes. I conjure a sharp enough axe for myself to gather the logs and twigs needed. I float down the rather shoddy, but stable, raft and dock it nearby. Slowly I approach the horses. I can easily shoot down one of them with a single arrow, but I'm not a foreigner to using 2 arrows at once, although a split shot is... difficult. Despite the challenge I wait until they fall asleep.
There are a total of 4 adults and 5 children. 2 remain to watch guard and the rest sleep. It wasn't difficult to kill the 2 on watch since they were on separate sides of their little grass splot. I only got 1 down before they ran out of the grass. I got another before he left my range and I missed another one, I didn't even see where the final one went. I decided that hunting them down was too much of a hassle for I'm not the one risking starvation so I settled with what I got. I tied down the beasts and I sailed forward. The river was pretty wide and the winds were mostly in my favor so I got to simply sit and make sure we didn't collide with the coast.
Victorious I arrive to where the scouts were catching their meager fish haul and I approach the camp. Didn't seem like the guards noticed me so now I was forced make an unanounced inspection.
"How much longer we gonna be burning these lights?"
"We still need B2 to come back so... a while"
"If he's still alive"
"I think he has a higher chance of survival than all of us put together"
"Even with the 40th time he just ups and fucks off?"
"Gotta be something there"
"Ye, bitching at us because a stick is a few mm higher than the others"
"And then kicking it down"
"Ye like what the fuck bro! You can just tell us we fucked up without kicking down all of our hard work?"
"And what was with the rage towards the scouts and rangers? Everyone just said he was shouting and punching them for mistakes which they had no control over"
"Except the guy that missed"
"Pretty sure everyone missed and everyone's saying that everyone else missed even more"
"Ye, probably"
"...................Wanna leave?"
"And what if he comes back now?"
"Without any announcements he leaves and without any announcements we have to wait for him? Ye, I don't think so"
"It's still our job"
"As far as I'm concerned we only have to lose sleep while everyone naps so gently"
"We can also do that up here"
"Ah fuck this, if anyone nee-" I got tired of waiting and I didn't want to pop a vein listening to these assholes anymore.
"SHIT"
"WHAT, WHERE, WH-"
"Don't worry, I'm back"
"*huff* Sir, please don't do that again"
"I could ask you to do your job in that same order and we both know you wouldn't comply so I guess we're even. Now I heard that someone here got bored of the walls? Good! I need someone to carry the food up here so get to it"
"Sir, I me-"
"Do you want me to show what it's actually like to go a day without sleep and then still march the same way as the rest?"
Soon the rest come out.
"Where were you?"
"Busy doing the shit that you were too impotent to do. Now then, where's my tent?"
"Make it yourself," One of the guards seems a bit too brave.
"... Repeat," I'll give him a second chance in case I misheard it.
"If you're gonna keep on leaving without any announcements and making us wait, since you decide what we eat, then we don't have to waste time and energy making shit for someone who makes no promises of returning," The snarky tone alone would be enough for me to break his nose, but I attempt to not show any signs of frustration.
"You were on fishing duty. The fish acquired would not be enough for the plan"
"Oh so now your keeping even more from us"
"If you'd like a several page book of what is expected from us and in which quadrant and the timetables associated with each objective then be my guest. Although I do have to warn you, that is sensitive information whose acquisition could land you with a fine at best since that is not meant for your rank. All you have to know is that I know what is to happen and what preparations must be made. So far we've failed in the preparation department and we will spend tomorrow to finish up with whatever we missed today. Any other questions? Besides complaints about my tactics or are you gonna get to the fucking tent"
"If it's so easy then why don't you do it?"
"I could ask the same of your lazy ass and then I could throw in that little gift I brought, AND that whole, you know, rank, respect and age thing"
"Oh no, not the cripple that can walk better than all of us. Whatever shall we do?"
"*sigh* Then tell me what you've accomplished in this time"
"Followed YOUR orders"
"Show me the catch"
"Here," He leads over to where the crates and barrels were placed, sadly no salt in them, but half a day of spoilage isn't all that bad.
"Hmm......"
"So then mr.notaweaklingandnothidinganythingmorefromus whats your contribution," I still want to break his face, but he's made a fatal error.
"Tell me your name and who you were with"
"What?"
"You heard me"
"...R, I was with E, U, T [blah] [blah] [blah]"
Thankfully he doesn't know. I keep a list of everyone and every group, every task and every spot in which the results must be showcased. That's why there were multiple hunting parties along with multiple fishing parties. It covers ground, but it also ensures that no dumbass tries to pretend another groups work is his.
"Tell me," I ask those who were with him.
"You caught all this?"
"Yes"
"....................Alright, but only because you were the only succesfull party today"
Oh the rejoice and 'in your face' exclamations and whatever else that happened the moment I left. They became kings for a day. The talks were... grandiose, the 3 bards started making lyrics in their honor and it seems that in one day, in one fell swoop, all of this crews factionalism problems would be solved by the new commander. Such a shame that he doesn't know what's coming tomorrow.
Tomorrow we will remain for several more hours. We will replenish what we can in the few hours I will provide although this time I will have a far more direct hand in the operations. Also those guards who thought of skipping on duty and the disloyal shield, along with those who supported him and what appears to be a de facto new faction, will have runs, push ups and additional duties right before going off to also partake in these exercises. 

The faces when I told them of their punishments were a perfect blend of shock, confusion, fear and anger. Sure some yelled and threatened to rebel, but after I tripped one over without even looking at him they all unwillingly collaborated. That morning and following day was fun. This will set an example for anyone else with any funny ideas although next time the punishment will most likely be more severe, not saying instantaneous starvation rations and no sleep, but these guys are lucky I got good sleep, because they weren't talking about rebelling since they were too busy making up legends about the 'brave men who stood up to the evil commander', and just in general I woke up in a pretty good mood. Also the food was good. Additionally I hadn't had meat in a very, very long time so it was a nice refresher. Although if those who suffered today don't learn from their mistakes then I will most likely flog them without trial.