Penitent

Michael walked down the road heading south toward the Lake of Beasts with Davi, Tai, Finnegan, Clara, and a dozen or so others that he'd had yet to formally meet. They were headed for the remaining rift that the twins had been unable to seal. The group was small, but elite, having been chosen by the twins themselves.

It was a little after midday, and Michael had fallen into the quiet rhythm of walking mindlessly, listening to the clank of his armor as he moved. He frowned, realizing that his chestplate wasn't quite tight enough, he whispered "corto" to tighten it and rolled his shoulders a bit to make sure it was on properly. Gurndan had made a few more modifications that went a bit beyond the basic repair he'd initially requested. He felt like he had a bit more mobility, but it felt off. He probably just needed to get used to it.

"Did you just say corto to tighten your armor?" asked Alvarez, a taker scout with a bow slung over his shoulder.

"Uh, yeah."

"Why would you pick that word?" he asked.

"Uh, it means short right? So I picked it because I'm shortening the straps."

Alvarez frowned and put a head in his hand. "What, did you only take spanish one oh one in school?"

"I mean… I got to one oh two, but not much further than that. And that was maybe forty years ago."

Alvarez shook his head. "And this old cracker is who we're relying on for healing?"

"Hey, hey. He's a wonderful cracker," said Davi smiling. "And aren't you Guatemalan? Can you even call what you speak language?"

Alvarez snorted. "You have absolutely no room to talk."

Michael shook his head. This wasn't the first time Alvarez had critiqued his Spanish. Luckily, magic relied more on his interpretation of how it represented the spell rather than the meaning because, as Alvarez had now pointed out a dozen times, he had made some baffling choices in some cases.

They reached a small clearing with signs of previous camping.

"We'll take a rest here before we move on. We're going to start pivoting East after this."

They all nodded and found some places to sit. Michael wound up next to Trina.

"How're you holding up, kid?" he asked.

"It feels very weird hearing you call me kid when you look like you only have a few more years than me."

"Trust me, the situation is just as weird for me. I try not to think about it too much."

She nodded. "Fair enough. Any reason you've got that now?" she asked, pointing at the mace on his hip.

"Dwarven blacksmith strongarmed me into it," he'd just picked it up the previous afternoon. He'd spent a few hours practicing with it afterward, and just like the armor he was going to need some time to get used to it. It was a simple mace, with a long metal handle that ended in an angular head with particularly thick flanges. When he described it in his mind it made it sound ugly, but in truth it was a beautiful weapon. There was a savage simplicity to it that he found appealing, and whenever he swung it, he enjoyed that added momentum at the top of it, especially when he felt the shock in his arm when it struck something. He could also almost feel a kind of continuity to it. A kinship with the weapon itself. Maybe it was all in his head, or maybe the reforging of the metal from his other sword was what gave him that impression, but either way he liked it.

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"You didn't answer my question, how're you doing?" asked Michael.

"Still worn out from training yesterday."

Michael shrugged. "I told you we could take the day off."

"I know, but… I want to be better. If I'd been stronger at the first rift, more people would've lived."

Michael nodded. "It's possible that's true. I have the same motive. That said you won't always be able to save everyone. We can't heal a bullet to the brain or anything that kills people instantly. When that happens, and it will, you need to be ready to focus your attention on the next person. You can grieve when the fighting's done, but you can't let it get in the way of the fight."

She nodded, taking a sip from a waterskin.

Michael excused himself from her for a moment to relieve himself in the woods and passed Davi on the way back into the clearing.

"You really seem wise when you're talking to that girl. She's lucky to have a teacher like you."

"I come across as wise? That's good, because I'm really flying by the seat of my pants over here."

Davi laughed. "Well it doesn't seem it. If I didn't know any better I'd think you were a schoolteacher."

"I had a hard enough time trying to give my own kids sage advice, and in their case I had a lifetime of applicable experience to draw from. She's the native of this world, I really don't have that much experience compared to most of the others here."

"Eh, I think she is naive. Someone with your experience giving her advice should help."

"Lets hope so. If something I tell her gets her killed I'll be heading back to Stent and volunteering for a brand."

"And I will be dragging you back before you get too far, calling you an idiot the entire time along with everyone else you've ever met on this world."

Before Michael could respond, Tai hollered out to them.

"Alright, let's get a move on!"

They started back on the road south and made good time, deciding to stop to camp for the night a few hours later. Michael was starting to feel that slight twinge of anxiety that came from the rifts.

"Can you feel that?" he asked Trina. "That twinge of dread?"

"Is that not just me?" she asked.

"I mean, some of it might be, but it's also something the rifts seem to give off. Something that diviners pick up on. That sense of wrongness. You can use it to have a better sense of where they are… It's going to make sleeping a bit more difficult though."

"Michael! Davi! You two are going to be taking middle watch so don't fuck about too much before getting some rest," yelled Finnegan.

"Got it!" yelled Michael moving to finish setting up his tent. Once it was done he ate some of Alvarez's cooking, begrudgingly admitting it was quite good even though Alvarez made a number of concerned comments about his white taste buds not being able to handle the spice. It was particularly ridiculous because Alvarez was now also white, though admittedly a bit more tan than Michael. Still, that seemed like a gordian knot of complicated feelings and ideas that was not worth trying to cut through at that moment, so he just silently enjoyed the food and went to bed.

He awoke when his tent was shaken by Clara, who'd been part of first watch, and he helped drag Davi out as well. Once they were both keeping watch, Davi pulled out a piece of paper and started drawing. Michael looked to see that he was working on a sketch of the twins.

"Did they bully you into that?" he asked.

He chuckled. "They tried, but found that gold was more effective. Still wish they hadn't figured out I could draw in the first place. The moment anyone finds out it always snowballs into me having to draw a dozen portraits and even a few more… exciting images."

"Really? Even in a co-ed company like this?"

He nodded. "Not all of the men are as charming as others… and the same goes for the women as well. I do not like drawing those types of images as much, but coin is coin."

Michael shook his head. "You like this better than Stent? I mean, no brand makes it better by default, but things are looser here. I have some trouble with it sometimes."

Davi darkened part of his sketch with a few quick movements as he nodded, red hair bouncing a bit from the motion and his usual frown even deeper than usual as he focused on that part of the page. "I did not like it at first, but… I think it has more to do with me than Gemini. Even back in Rio I was probably too rigid with rules. If I'd been a bit looser, less strict, I may not have come here." He paused and darkened a shadow. "I think this is good for me. Probably good for you too. Plus… I really like fighting, and we get to do it a lot here."

"I kind of like it too. Can't say I expected that."

"You were just an evil old man waiting for an excuse to be violent I guess. I should make it a priority to stop you."

"Pretty sure you'll be right next to me engaging in the violence instead."

Davi offered a rare smile and looked up from his sketch at him. "Probably."