Inch by Inch

Jay lay on the scratchy sheets of his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was thinking and not thinking about things.

After the fuss at the bureau, it was looking like another long day, and it wasn’t even lunch yet. There’d been a lot of those recently. Thirty-six days, a month and a third, of being an adventurer and every day different. It was exhausting.

So much had happened, and sometimes he wondered how he’d gone from tending a shop in Kavakar, training in his spare time, to leading a team of adventurers in Lauchia. He used to look up to adventurers. Now people looked up to him. Notably, many of them were young children at a birthday party, but not all. The residents of Slow Keeping came to mind. He’d saved lives. Fought monsters. Made friends. Every now and again, it was good to sit down and consider these things.

Jay wasn’t alone. Kane lay in his bunk too, staring off into the void again. Unfortunately, he’d chosen to do so in Jay’s direction. It was a little unnerving, but no more so than the rest of Jay’s thoughts today.

Ana sat with her knees to her chest and her back against the bathroom wall that intruded into their dorm. Her bed was the only one that you could sit or stand fully upright on. The wall beside it was angled, tilting her forward and preventing a bunk bed from being placed. It cost their dorm a bed, but saved them bronze every week. Ana seemed to enjoy the extra space.

The small stove in the center of the room was idle as always. They hadn’t been here long enough to need it. The days were warm and winter was far away yet. All it served as now was a gathering spot on the floor for all of their shoes. Would they make it long enough to use it?

“No,” Ana answered.

Jay blinked. Did I say that out loud? And what was that answer?

“I don’t want to be here in winter.” She jabbed a finger at him. “We’re getting a nicer place before then, you hear?”

Jay snorted, shifting to push his pillow beneath his ribs. He hadn’t returned to sleeping on it yet. The neck cricks had yet to return.

“And while we’re talking about it, when are we buying stuff for this place?” Ana re-sheathed that finger and used the same hand to gesture at her curtain. “All we have in this room is a plain curtain.”

Jay counted up their funds again. One silver and seventy-one bronze. Just under what they needed for two weeks of minimum expenses. Not much, but maybe they could get something on the same price point as the cloth Ana used to make that curtain. “What were you thinking of?”

“Chairs, cushions, a doormat and table. Pots, pans, plates and cutlery,” Ana began to list.

Jay got flashbacks of Suko packing and that still missing rolling pin.

“-rugs, paintings, our own sheets-“

“What’s wrong with the dorm sheets?” he interrupted to ask.

“They’re the dorm’s sheets,” Ana repeated, as one would with a six-year-old.

Jay grunted, not seeing any issue with the fabric under his head. It was plain sure, but the sheet was sufficient for its task. He decided not to argue the point, sensing it wouldn’t get him anything but ridicule. Ana continued to list items.

“Tools, candles, cleaning supplies — we need those yesterday, more medical supplies-“

“Why do we need cutlery and cooking bits?” Jay asked before she could get too far ahead in her list.

“We have a stove. We could use it to cook, but even just making cold lunches ourselves would save on bronze.” Ana unfolded herself, stretching out.

“Ah.”

She didn’t continue her list, and they rested in silence for a bit. It was unusual that they were all back in the room at this time. Usually they’d have broken up to enjoy their free midday by now.

Ana didn’t wait long. “How are things going to change? With Pono here? They’ll just be like another guild, right?”

Jay sat up. It was bothering him too. How could they plan for the future when it was so uncertain? “I don’t know. They’ll be another guild taking tasks, but they’ll also be the biggest one. What bothers me is that I can’t think of why they want this. Why does Pono want its soldiers to be adventurers in Lauchia?”

“Money?” Ana asked. “Soldiers could be an export like any other. Here they can pay for their own upkeep.”

He looked at her in surprise.

“What? I grew up in a shop too, you know. You aren’t the only one whose Mother taught them a trick or two,” Ana said with furrowed brows.

“I guess. I just didn’t think of it.” The idea made sense to Jay. Soldiers came in, stone was sent out. It just didn’t fit perfectly. Something niggled in his mind that the shape of it all was off.

“They came this morning.” Kane’s slow, formal voice threw Jay out of his thoughts.

He glanced over to find that his teammate was no longer staring into the void in his general direction.

“Huh?”

“The announcement was this morning. They arrived this morning.”

Oh.

“Pono is a long walk…” Ana agreed. “Maybe they used a miracle? Everyone’s still talking about that shell that was found. That could have worked.”

“I heard it’s only big enough to pass a baby through,” Jay mused.

“They could have another larger one. It’s Pono. They must have one of every kind of miracle by now.”

Kane spoke once more, showing a little more of the skills learned growing up in the house of a successful hunter and guard captain. “Their feet were muddy. That wasn’t from a short walk.”

“You think they knew what the council was going to do months in advance?” Ana questioned. “A miracle is far more likely.”

“If it was a similar miracle, they would have needed to move one half here months ago.” Jay countered.

Ana grumbled, but accepted the point. They all knew all the options were feasible. With the right combination of Words, time and miracles, the impossible could be made possible.

“You could ask,” Kane said, looking at Jay.

“Ask? Like walk into the embassy?”

Kane nodded. Ana made an encouraging noise.

“I couldn’t. The Envoy knows my dad, not me. He just wanted to talk about that,” Jay answered, putting an end to that line of enquiry as quickly as he could. It wasn’t fully honest, Manuwai had invited him back, but that was a polite gesture rather than anything else. A gesture that had been made before the army arrived, and before Manuwai knew anything about Jay and his choices.

It wasn’t worth the risk of going back. It wouldn’t be dangerous, but Jay had no desire to walk into another ‘political’ mess. Not when there was no need to risk it.

Silence took over once more.

“I want to do something,” Ana said, moving to the edge of her bed. She was quick to clarify. “Not more running! Never that, but I feel like I want to do more stretches. It’s like an itch.”

Jay looked at his team. All three of them were sitting aimlessly.

“We could start practise early? Grab lunch on the way to the training grounds, and finish up earlier. I think they shouldn’t be too busy with all the fuss earlier.”

They discussed the option a little further, paying extra attention to the specifics of lunch and where they might find it.

| i i i ¦ i i i | i i i ¦ i i i |

“Lift, turn and step. Brace. Twist and stab,” Jay murmured under his breath.

The moves were all completed fluidly and without direction. Jay was only murmuring the steps to keep track of the form as she completed it. Ana had learned the first two spear forms with a passable proficiency. There were many mistakes, but she had the basics down.

“Passable,” Kane announced, echoing his thoughts.

“Hah!” Ana said, the bead of sweat gathering on her forehead accomplishing nothing against the smug smile on her face. She let go of her spear, letting it rest in the crook of her neck, and wiped her hands. It was a bad habit, and upon seeing both of their glares, Ana picked her spear back up quickly.

She wore green today. It wasn’t a new outfit, but she had adjusted it recently. The fabric didn’t bunch up at the edge of her armor as much anymore. It was the difference between a neat bouquet and a field of wild grass.

The tailoring was enough to elevate her image. She’d overtaken Kane as the most professional looking adventurer on the team. Kane looked like an adventurer with his build and ever present plain training clothes. Ana looked like a successful adventurer. Jay’s own clothes put him soundly in the middle of both. His clothes were quality, but not fitted for adventuring. It marked him as new.

“Your footwork was good for step three and your posture for six and fifteen.” Kane complimented her with a certainty that boosted her smile to new heights.

It was similar to the way Kane’s father, Koa, would compliment someone, Jay mused, and undoubtedly picked up from him. Hearing the same tone brought a faint smile to his face, as he knew what followed those compliments.

“Your feet were out of place for steps one, two and eight to eighteen. You have a tendency to lean out of your center of balance, and thrust for the target, not past it.”

Ana deflated. The reaction brought back more of Jay’s memories.

“It’s like a punch,” Jay explained in sympathy. “If you punch for the hand, you lose force as you stop yourself before the touch. You need to punch beyond to bring your strength into it.”

“What if I punch for the face?” Ana groused, eyeing Kane with something obvious in mind.

“You be careful not to break your hand. Bones are hard,” Kane answered, missing the context.

That made it twice as funny for Jay.

Ana pouted. “What next?”

Jay and Kane shared a glance. It was obvious, and they’d talked about it before, but one of them was more reluctant than the other. However, there was nothing else to be done at the training grounds today. Its only inhabitants were them and the occasional chirping beetle.

“Sparring,” Kane answered.

Ana’s eyes lit up with glee and she rolled the spear in her hand.

That. That was why Jay was reluctant.

“Here,” He held out one of their staffs. They weren’t weapons as much as offcuts from the trees they helped cut down last week, but for this purpose, it was the same thing.

Ana grumbled, setting her spear down by Kane.

“No cutting,” Jay said.

She flicked the end of the wooden branch. It was very dull. “That would be hard with this.”

“I’m serious. Anything is a weapon in your hands. I don’t want to end up like that tree.”

Ana scowled at him. “Alright, Alright! How does this work?”

“Kane will call out start, and then we continue for three points. Do not hit me in the head. Getting close will earn you a point. Kane will referee.”

“The two of you didn’t need a referee before?”

“Jay and I have sparred many times before. We are used to sparring without one.”

“It’s how we did it in Kavakar. For matches, we would dip the tip of the staff in mud. You didn’t want to become the dirty loser.”

Ana looked as pleased by that idea as he expected.

Jay shot Kane one last pleading look, but Kane was unmoved. It made more sense for Jay to spar against Ana. Not only did Kane have twice her reach, he had triple her skill. Ana wouldn’t learn anything without Kane babying her, and babying her would make her angry and less likely to learn. There were no positive outcomes. In the end, they both agreed Jay was the better match.

He settled in place, taking a defensive stance with his hands low on the shaft, and held behind his head with the ‘point’ of the staff down towards Ana. Window on the Right. It was an awkward stance. Spears weren’t really suited for one-on-one duels.

Ana would have the initiative in this spar. It was the easier position for a beginner. Thankfully, that lack of experience would make her rush. The less time he needed to spend with his hands high and the spear held off center, the better.

She sprang forward, starting the spar. Ana went all in for speed, counting on the rush to make up where skill couldn’t. It was simple, effective. Placing her weight on her front leg, she slid her back leg out straight. Her spear stabbed forward.

Jay sidestepped, avoiding the imaginary spearhead. He leaned forward, tapping her undefended forearm with his staff. It was a little soon to be scoring a point on a student, it wasn’t good to discourage, but Ana was reckless enough already. Patience would help her more here.

She flinched, but her spear did not waver as she withdrew it and gathered herself. The next few exchanges went much the same, but with a hint of more caution in her probes. Jay scored no more points, hoping to encourage the behavior. Then Ana changed tactics.

“Why are you so against Words, anyway?” she asked, darting into the gap her words created, seeking to slip past his guard.

Jay fended her off without much trouble, but more than before. It had surprised him.

“I’m not against Words, I’m against being Cut in half.”

“I don’t mean that,” Ana said, trying to circle around him. It was a clear imitation of what he or Kane might attempt in their spars, but Ana was struggling to turn thought into action. Her circle was wobbly as she failed to maintain a distance and sidestep.

Jay reached forward and poked her in her stomach as her concentration slipped.

“Point,” Kane called.

“You need to focus,“ he chided, eager to end the conversation here.

“You’re reluctant about any training with our Words, and never do any with your own,” Ana snapped back, anger at the lost point filling her words.

“They’re less important than everything else we need to know,” Jay growled back. Some anger filled his voice too.

“That’s not what all the other adventurers seem to think,” Ana said, breathing heavily. She charged forwards.

Jay deflected the thrust off to the side. Her staff glanced over his fingers as he rebuffed it.

“Point.”

Jay stepped back and out of Ana’s range. He turned to Kane. “What? That was nowhere near the edge?”

“Ana does not need the edge to cut. That move would have taken your fingers. You can not ignore Words.”

Exhaling, Jay spun back to Ana. It was a biased call, and focused on what they were talking about, not the match. He didn’t know why Kane, of all people, would choose now to take a side, but if they were going to play it like that, so could he.

He didn’t have to wait long before Ana gave an opening. She stepped back on her left foot, 6.7 cm inside of her shoulder line. It put too much of her weight on a center line instead of spreading it out. To accommodate this, her hands dipped, and her spear with it.

Jay stepped forward, the aggressor for the first time in the match. In the time it took her to flinch, the tip of his staff rested by her neck.

“Match,” he called without waiting for Kane.

It was as hollow a victory as it felt.

The conversation was over for now, but he didn’t change their minds and he didn’t teach Ana anything with how the spar ended. All that had happened was a postponement, pushing the issue to a later date and adding more uncertainty to the future.

The empty training grounds, quieted from the echoes of marching feet, were proof enough that Lauchia had plenty of that already.