Bandits Don't Cry (gritty dystopian fantasy rp with a dash of comedy-O/O-Closed, stalkers welcome)

He laughed a bit. "I think you'll settle in pretty quick. We may be mostly a bunch of idiots, but you'll never find a tribe more loyal to its own." A shout came from up ahead, and Renzi quickened his pace slightly. "Let's go, we're almost to camp."

Up ahead, the steep slope leveled out slightly, forming a large open shelf on the side of the hill. Most of the trees here had been cut down to make room for the bandit encampment. It was by no means the size of the village they'd just left behind, but it was definitely full of more people. Small ramshackle huts and tent-like structures dotted the clearing, all made from scraps of junk or old vegetation. The only two that could even remotely be called buildings were near the top of the clearing. One was a simple but sturdy shack made from rough-hewn wood with a door that had been stolen from a pre-war building. Renxi pointed it out as the belonging to the chief. The other was a sort of peaked roof on stilts with slanting walls made from salvaged tarp, sitting off to one side. It had a tiny side building and several large steel barrels alongside it.
"That's the medic's place," Renzi said, turning to avoid the large pack of dogs that had dashed over to welcome the raiding party. "You'll meet him pretty soon. Until then, follow me. Looks like the boss is calling a meeting."

"Uh, well, the medic does have a couple helpers, but–" Renzi muttered distractedly to himself, perhaps counting the heads of the bandits gathering around them. "Tools? Um….you can ask the scavengers after the meeting, they might have something for you. Muddybones is a scavenger, find him. But, first you have to come over here–" He ushered her to the front of the crowd, where Boar-back was silently waiting for everyone to settle down. "It's better if we introduce you to everyone, so they know not to stab you if they see you in camp."

Once the hubbub had died sufficiently, Boar-back cleared his throat and spoke so all could hear. "The raid was successful. Renzi will make sure everyone is given what they deserve from the loot. Any complaints will be brought to me, as usual. We've also managed to recruit some new members." He waved slightly, and a handful of villagers were pushed forward, all looking beat-up and frightened. "I expect everyone to keep a close eye on them. Make sure they know what happens to runaways, hm?"
The bandits growled and barked like dogs, causing the real dogs to join in a moment later. The captive villagers looked suitably intimidated.
"One more thing," Boar-back continued. "A worthy fighter has agreed to join our ranks today, and she will be treated with respect. Kali, come forward."

As one, the bandits grinned toothily back. "Kali! Kali!" they cheered loudly, raising their weapons.
"She is one of us now, a fighter," Boar-back said over the ruckus. "Show her around, help her get settled if she needs it. I want you all to show her the strength and unity of our tribe, is that clear?"
The bandits shouted their assent enthusiastically.
"Then that's all. Get some rest, and wash your hands before lunch."
As the crowd dispersed, Boar-back glanced at Taran. "Welp, welcome to the Hounds. Anything you need right off the bat?"

Boar-back raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. Talk to Muddybones, he's pretty aware of what's in the camp inventory. If you can't get what you need from him, come back to me."

Muddybones was busy bragging about his heroism during the raid to a couple of female bandits, who showed varying level of boredom and skepticism. When he noticed Taran approaching, he turned with a toss of his long brown hair. "Ah, hey there, Kali," he said in an obvious attempt to sound casual and charismatic. "I was just sayin' to these ladies how your village put up a pretty good fight. Wouldn't you agree they were a tough nut to crack?"
(I have to work all day today, so I probably won't be back until tomorrow)

Muddybones's cocky attitude wilted somewhat, and he huffed irritably. "Well we can't all be super-fighters, y'know. The villagers we kept were either mostly good at usin' a weapon, or they were useful some other way, like the blacksmith. I think one of the others was a weaver or somethin', and we definitely nabbed one who can cook. Anyway, there's strength in numbers, chief says." He noticed that the other two girls were staring at him pointedly and added. "And by the way, this is Shiv and Florida. Shiv's the doc's assistant, and Florida's a fighter like you."
Florida, a sharp-faced girl with wiry muscles and several missing fingers, waved at Taran with a half-smile, while Shiv, who was shorter and seemed to be hiding behind her long black hair, gave her a shy nod. "Hey."

Florida snorted. "Can't really avoid him, so it's best to just let him talk until he gets bored and wanders off."
"He's sorta my friend," Shiv muttered, but quietly, as if she worried she'd be teased for saying anything.
Muddybones gave Florida a baleful glare and pointedly turned his back on her. "Machinery? Uh…..well, the junk 'n tool shack is up the hill a bit. Want me to show you? I know most of what's in there, since I collected a lot of it myself."

Muddybones growled and tried to walk away, but Florida just followed them. "It's simple, honestly—dude has the attention span of a lightning bug and he gets distracted pretty quick. Don'tcha, Bones? You're so busy talking about how great you are, you don't care if anyone's listening or not."
"Very funny," Muddybones sniped back. "Why don't you take your own advice and….leave?"
"Ha, that's not my advice at all, though! Weren't you even listening, moron?"
"Shut up!" Muddybones stopped at a rickety lean-to and threw the door open angrily. "What did you even need with this stuff, Kali? I thought you were a prissy fighter girl like Florida, not a scavenger."

"Sure thing! Hit me up later." Florida backed off, giving Kali the finger guns. "Anyway, I gotta go get some food. Have fun hangin' with the Mudslinger!"
Muddybones called her an unpleasant name under his breath, picking his way through the miscellaneous objects on the shack floor. "So you need an arm huh? Well, we don't have any of those, but maybe you can build one outta this stuff. What exactly do you need?"

Muddybones proved to have a pretty good knowledge of what the shack contained, and quickly began collecting the items Taran had named. "I dunno if these wires are in good enough shape for ya….we mostly just use 'em like rope around here. But if they don't work, I know where to find more outside of camp. Everything else look good?"

"I mean….I don't think we're raiding anyone else today, and you probably won't have to help gather food since you're a fighter, so….nah you don't have to go anywhere, at least not while the sun's up. I dunno, does that answer your question?"

Muddybones shrugged. "Well, I guess we could find out where you're gonna be sleeping, and you could work there. Did anybody give you one of the shelters yet?"

"Hmph. Well, I guess I can help you out. Chief didn't say you needed a special place or anything, so you can have the shelter that used to belong to Shut-eye before he fell off a cliff. C'mon." He led Taran across camp to a hut that looked like it had been slapped together out of two-and-a-half tents plus some PVC pipe. "Might be a little messy in there, but you can do whatever you want with the place now that it's yours."