Drifters

Inti's Watcher

After eating, Marie knocked on Razan's door, half-wondering what she'd find him doing. Something clattered against the door, and it slid open.

She raised an eyebrow at the paintbrush rolling away from her, then looked in. "You've found a way to open a door without getting up, how clever."

He bowed slightly from where he was sitting on the floor. "There is a philosophy which says men have a finite amount of energy to spend in our lifetimes."

"If it's true, you'll live to be well over a hundred," Marie said, stepping into his room for the first time.

He'd replaced his bed with a thick roll of something which was currently propped in a corner. At the moment, the center of the room was taken up with a low, square table neatly covered in papers and brushes. His swords sat proudly on an elaborate stand against one wall, while his clothes were hung on and over the only chair. A set of painted boxes was neatly stacked in a corner.

Razan was sitting at the table, his notebook in front of him as he patiently waited for Marie to say something.

She motioned to the notebook. "Writing down our experiences?"

"No. I like to watch how other groups overcame the challenges in each competition," he said, motioning to the blank wall.

There was a faint flash, then a recording began playing of the Wasps trying to unlock a door.

"You do this every week?" Marie asked.

"Yes, Captain."

"And you never thought to mention it?"

He bowed slightly. "You did name me information gatherer. I have been gathering information. None of it has become relevant, but I have it gathered."

She smiled. "Well done, samurai." She watched the Wasps unlock the door, then turned back to him. "What did that comment about being brave mean to Sophie?"

He almost smiled, writing something in his book. "I've told her there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity. And I wasn't sure which she was."

"I see. Did you tell her that before or after you kissed her?"

His brush slipped. He quickly wiped away the stray ink, careful to not glance Marie's way. "After, Captain."

"Out of curiosity, have you mentioned that to anyone?"

"I have not." He kept his eyes on his book, his head down.

"I do wonder… You've chided Peter for not trusting Sophie's abilities. But why do you have so much confidence in her?"

"She is strong and fast," Razan said slowly, writing again. "Mostly, though, she believes nothing bad will ever happen to her. Agreeing with her and nudging her in the right direction would take far less energy than getting her to believe she's wrong."

"Ah, and being a firm believer in conservation of energy…"

"Precisely."

Marie smiled, then shook her head. "I'd be careful. If Innoka stays, she might notice Sophie is spending more and more time in your company. Through no fault of either of yours, and for no real reason, of course. But you are growing closer."

He was silent for a few seconds, carefully setting his brush aside. Finally he sighed. "I know Innoka is going to leave. Eventually. If not, I'll be asked to leave. Something will happen that will result in us being separated. It always does."

There was nothing Marie could say to refute that, so she said nothing.

"I do not mind," he said unconvincingly. "I will enjoy the time I have with her, but when she goes I won't mourn her long. Longing for someone I'll never see again is- It would be a waste of energy."

"Child, how many places have you lived?" Marie asked, suddenly realizing why he acted cold and formal, but went out of his way to help others. Why it seemed like he hated interacting with people but kept looking for reasons to interact.

Razan turned towards her, thinking the question over. "Sixteen. Although if you count every time we left Edo then went back as a new place, nineteen."

"And you're twenty-five?"

He bowed in response.

"Good Lord."

"It's not uncommon," he said with a shrug. "There were people who moved more-"

"Razan, just because something is common doesn't make it good," Marie interrupted. "Just because other people suffered more than you doesn't mean you haven't suffered."

He glared at the floor. "What precisely am I supposed to do about it?"

"Make friends and form connections anyway. If the universe demands you close yourself off, stand tall and show it you will not be controlled."

"That… would require effort."

"Aye, but not as much as you'd think. Things like that carry momentum."

Razan looked up at her again. "If you were in Japan, you could open a school of philosophy. You'd do quite well."

"Only if I were allowed to hit students over the head for being idiots."

"Make it a philosophy itself. 'Idiots ought to be hit over the head.' Perfectly acceptable."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Marie raised an eyebrow. "When the time comes for me to retire from this place, I'll consider it."

He bowed again.

"But for now, I need to hit you over the head. Why would you kiss Sophie? She didn't explain that part, only that she asked you to." She paused. "Come to think of it, she didn't say why she asked you to, either."

"She wanted an unbiased opinion on her talents in that area," Razan said, his face and tone perfectly neutral. "I agreed in an attempt to insult and scare her into never coming to my room again."

Marie rubbed her face, cursing softly. "It didn't work, did it?"

"It did not."

"You should tell Innoka."

"I should, yes."

"You're not going to."

"If she asks, I will not lie."

Marie stepped over and gently thumped her fist into his skull. "You are an idiot."

"Yes, Captain."

Peter waited in the common area for Seabirds to get back. They'd been assigned a slot late Saturday morning, which meant they'd get done just before the review.

Sophie sat down across from him at the small, square table. Frankly, she looked terrible. The bats had completely torn up her arms and legs. A thing which wouldn't have happened if she'd been wearing proper clothes.

When he didn't say anything, she pulled a small cribbage board out of her pocket along with a deck of cards. She put them on the table and lifted half the deck, showing an eight.

"I thought you didn't know how to play," he said, lifting the next card. It was a three; he went first.

"I learned," she shrugged. "What shall we play for?"

"For?" Peter echoed.

"A wager. If I win, I'd like us to have at least one conversation a day," she decided. "And it can't devolve into an argument, or it doesn't count."

He slowly shuffled the cards. "I just have nothing to say to you."

"Yes, and that's the problem," she snapped. "I never had anything to say to you, either. So let's force ourselves to talk until we at least become friends."

"Why?" he asked, dealing. "What will we gain by being friends?"

"I don't know, I just want things to be comfortable. I don't need you to be thrilled when I walk into a room, but I'd at least like you to say hello."

Peter flinched slightly, lifting his cards. "All right. No bets. I'll agree to talk to you."

"No," Sophie said stubbornly, slapping two cards onto the table. "State your terms."

He looked at her arms again and placed two cards over hers. "If I win, you'll wear proper clothes in contests. Full, sleeved shirts. Pants down to your ankles."

She rolled her eyes, lifting half the deck. "Honestly…"

"Yes, honestly," he snapped, flipping the top card. "Captain Marie got bit by the bats because she had to take her jacket off. She had to take it off because you had no protection on your arms or legs. Walk around the ship naked for all I care, but you need to wear protective clothing when in contests."

"Fine," she grumbled, arranging her cards.

Before she could put one on the table, a hat was slapped down on Peter's head and screwed firmly on.

"Room for one more?" Grace asked, sliding into the seat between them.

"Is it possible to play with three people?" Sophie asked.

Peter finally got his hat arranged. "Of course. Just deal five and put one from the deck into the crib."

"Yeah, you've never played three-handed?" Grace asked Sophie.

"I have not," she answered primly, collecting the cards for a reshuffle.

Grace smirked at Peter, flicking his hat. "Took us a good five minutes to get this damn thing off that bloody rock, Poncho, but I wasn't about to leave it there all sad and alone."

He smiled back at her, touching the brim. "Why thank you kindly, ma'am."

"What are friends for?"

"Well, Nop said they'd get it back to me when the last group was done and they were doing cleanup, but having it back early is nice," Peter admitted.

"Shut up, there was no way of getting it back," Grace said cheerfully.

"Yes, ma'am."

Sophie rolled her eyes, but was smiling. "So, who deals first?"

Razan stood with his group as the review began. He already knew they'd come in twelfth, and that the Wasps had won just ahead of the Caterpillars, but being present was important.

Innoka's group had done well. They'd gone slowly in certain places, but hadn't ever stalled completely. And for Innoka's sake, they'd avoided all areas with pits and bridges.

It seemed more likely now that Innoka would stay. This had been a good week for her. Razan… felt like it was just delaying the inevitable. Even Marie had said "if Innoka stays", and he wasn't sure the two had said anything more than greetings since the Sahara contest.

He watched Innoka as the review continued on, wishing she'd decide for certain if she was going to stay or leave. There were many reasons why the decision she'd made was logical, why waiting to see what fate held in store was a reasonable idea, but he hated it. Razan liked schedules. Firm dates. A minute and hour, if possible. Not knowing how much longer she'd be in his life made planning difficult.

Suddenly, Marie turned and walked away. Razan blinked out of his musings, caught Peter's eye, and they followed her. Sophie trailed behind, asking why they were leaving.

Marie got to an empty section of the wall and stopped, shaking her head as she watched them form up around her.

"Crew, we lost. We know where we stand, and it ain't impressive. There's no need for us to be together for this one. Peter, you're delirious, go stand with the Seabirds. Sophie, join Rani and keep all that excessive energy in one general area. Razan, if you must spend this whole review staring at Innoka, it would be polite if she were aware of it. I'm going to stand at my husband's side. Farewell." With that, she walked off again, heading for where the Windwards stood.

The rest of the group watched her go, then glanced at each other awkwardly. Peter rubbed the back of his neck, muttering something about orders before practically running to join Grace's group. Sophie snickered, then shrugged at Razan.

"I… suppose I'll join the Stars, then," she said, turning to leave him alone.

In a sudden panic, Razan grabbed her hand. "Wait."

She stopped, surprised, looking first at his hand and then into his eyes. "Yes?"

He momentarily froze, realizing what he'd just done. Cursing himself, he dropped her hand and bowed, giving himself a few seconds to think of something to say which wouldn't sound weak or pathetic. "While I would enjoy nothing more than following Captain Marie's advice, I fear Antoni would attempt to murder me if I joined their group. May I join you instead?"

"Certainly," she said magnanimously. "As long as you aren't afraid of our 'excessive energy'."

"Comparatively? Not at all."

Sophie giggled and turned away again. Razan followed her in the direction of the Stars, annoyed at himself for that. For showing weakness. For needing a soul to follow. For wanting… safety. Someone who wouldn't leave him by himself.

They reached Rani's group, and Sophie was instantly deep in a whispered conversation with her. The other members of the group nodded politely to Razan, a gesture he returned, and then went back to watching the review.

Before his attention turned to the review again, he spotted Marie watching him with a concerned look. She was holding Louis' hand, but Ebba's arm was around her shoulders. Razan knew his curiosity over that whole situation was about to overpower his reluctance to be extremely rude by asking.

"Oh, Razan can do that," Sophie said. She spun to face him as he brought his attention back to the group he was in. "Razan, tomorrow can you help us set up a hanging bridge type thing in the climbing room?"

"Assuming you receive proper permission, certainly," he said bowing slightly.

"Please, I own that room," Rani said dismissively. "They'd let me put anything in there."

"If you insist."

Sophie beamed, grabbing his hand in both of hers. "Thanks!" She dropped it and turned back to Rani, their voices going to a whisper again.

Razan returned his attention to the review, which was halfway done at this point, but his eyes drifted back down to Sophie.

Someone who wasn't going to leave…