War Camp, Glacia, Autumn,

[glacial_witch]

Between what Dinah and Momoko had found and the fact that winter was very, very close now, it was time to take serious action. There had been skirmishes up and down Glacia ever since they had fled the capitol, but nothing definitive. Karla still held the north, Hobart the south. And with winter practically breathing down their necks, things were

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[not_a_parakeet]

Warren was a little later for the meeting than most, yes, and he looked a little on the tired side as he finally made his way into the tent.

He could think of ways he'd rather have spent his day than trying to reason with landen farmers talking about deserting in the hope of helping their families get through the long winter ahead. He'd seen more than he'd care to admit off with a severance pay of sorts. They wouldn't get any use out of soldiers who didn't want to be there in the first place, after all.

"Any good news on this side of the tent walls? Anybody?"

[glacial_witch]

Karla kissed his cheek. "I love you?"

Did that count?

[not_a_parakeet]

"Actually, that's some news that I can get behind," Warren murmured, offering her a ghost of a smile as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "My best guess is that I've managed to convince about a quarter of those talking about deserting to stick around. None of them made that decision lightly in the first place, and their families take top priority, right now."

[glacial_witch]

"I understand," Karla replied, clinging to his arms. "I know you did the best you could. And, well, I can't blame them. It's not like they knew what it could entail, not really. Even with Jono and Julian trying to explain."

How to comprehend war after fifty thousand years of peace?

"Thank you for trying, love."

[not_a_parakeet]

"I did what I could, anyhow," Warren replied, folding his wings around her, next. "I guess there's nothing to be done except keep going forward from here. We're down a few men, but that's where the extra numbers we gathered up North are really going to come in handy."

[glacial_witch]

"If we had something to fight, rather than just running around, chasing attacks," Karla grumbled. "I liked it much better when I was the guerrilla force, not the other way around."

[not_a_parakeet]

"We'll find some way to turn this around," Warren murmured, combing his fingers through her hair. "It's still early, yet. They'll have harder luck coming after our forces in the winter, especially up in the mountains. Right?"

That was the hope?

[glacial_witch]

"True, but that just gives him more time to consolidate his power in the south."

Karla was a cheerful ball of sunshine today.

"Not that he needs the help, really."

See?

[not_a_parakeet]

Oh, she was the happiest, true.

"No, he doesn't," Warren agreed softly, "but another few months to consolidate his power probably isn't going to make that much of a difference. He's known you were alive all along. He's had years to consolidate. I hate to be the one to say it, my love, but it's already good and consolidated. If anyone needs that time, it's us."

[glacial_witch]

"Yeah, but now he has a common enemy he can point to," Karla argued for no other reason than because she was feeling argumentative like always today. "If there's anything that can bring a group together, it's an outsider to face. If anything, we've probably helped him win supporters."

[not_a_parakeet]

"And at the same time, word has gotten out by now about the vote. The province Queens that voted in your favor will have seen to that. There are people all across the Territory who are well aware now that Hobart and Ludmilla are illegally holding control of Glacia. That'll be earning you support, too, from those who still care to see their home governed by the old ways."

He gave his shoulders a shrug.

"I'm not saying it's not dire. But we haven't lost the war yet, either."

[glacial_witch]

"Not lost, yet, but we are losing."

There. The painful truth she hadn't wanted to admit.

"We're losing people, supplies, morale...we're the ones that have to do something. Hobart can win just by sitting pretty and outlasting us. We have to win, he just doesn't have to lose."

A subtle distinction, but a crucial one.

[not_a_parakeet]

One that Warren appreciated, all the same.

"We have to win," Warren added. "We don't have the luxury of losing. And right now... Yeah. Yeah, we are. But we haven't lost. I'm not trying to be a ray of sunshine here, but it's important to keep that distinction in mind, Karla. Especially since we are losing morale. We haven't lost."

[glacial_witch]

"And thus, our cozy little meeting," Karla said, gesturing to the tent full of Court and Fandom folk. "What we're doing isn't working. It's time to move onto something else. Unfortunately, we don't have a something else, so it's time to figure out what that something else should be."

And if he really loved her, Warren would get Karla a workable plan for a very-pre-Winsol gift?

[not_a_parakeet]

Hey, he was working on it. If he had any say in the matter, he'd manage to deliver, too.

It might be slightly belated, though. Would that do?

"Well... Here's hoping whatever we come up with can account for a handful fewer soldiers than we were working with yesterday," he sighed. "If anyone can come up with something, it's this crew, though."

Right? Right.