"Come on, on your feet!" Ana said, offering her hand to the girl who lay panting in the dust. She then repeated herself in French; Jisha's Inter-guild was limited to single words here and there, and Ana had thrown her pretty hard.
"Do I have to?" the teenager groaned, squinting miserably in the noon-day sun.
"Of course not. You can quit whenever you like."
"Really?"
"Sure. You can just stay an Apprentice Scholar until you get to Evolve it, and then spend your life… I don't even know. Cataloguing bugs, or something? But if you're serious about learning to fight…" Ana let her voice trail off.
Jisha sighed, but took Ana's hand and let herself be hauled to her feet.
"Good!" Ana took her position, a few feet away from Jisha. "Again!"
Jisha wasn't particularly strong or fast, but she had grit; Ana would never deny that. Ever since their camp had been attacked by Changelings in the night, the girl had wanted to learn to defend herself; with the crisis over, Ana finally had the time to teach her, along with several others. Today, though, wasn't one of the classes she regularly held; today was one-on-one, at Jisha's own request. Not even Messy was there; Messy was working.
It had been easy, the last few weeks, to forget that Messy had a job and a life separate from Ana. Between the siege, nearly getting killed twice, and then leading the entire population of the Splinter on the warpath, Ana had gotten used to always having her nearby, reminding her of things, helping smooth conversations along, or just being silently or vocally supportive. But they'd been back in the outpost for four days now, and the first group, nearly four hundred strong, had returned eight days before Ana and the rest of them did. By the time Ana and her group had returned, the outpost was already alive and bustling again. Master Renvi had needed his assistant back, and Messy was a loyal employee and loved jewellery. She'd gone to work the first morning after they returned as though nothing had happened.
Ana hadn't protested, but she'd wanted to. Getting further than sixteen feet from Messy was uncomfortable. Not in any physical sense, but whenever they were apart she frequently checked through Devotion to make sure that Messy was where she should be, and that she was unthreatened and unharmed. She was pretty sure that wasn't healthy. If she was to be honest with herself, it looked like some kind of proto-stalker behavior. But when you had exactly one person who was important to you as anything more than a potential source of dopamine, well… Ana had to cut herself some slack.
Speaking of dopamine, Ana really enjoyed seeing Jisha's progress. You probably weren't supposed to have favorites as a teacher, but when Messy didn't join them, Jisha and Deni were definitely Ana's favorites. And of the two, since Deni still helped in her parents' shop, Jisha simply had a lot more time to train.
It had been a little over two weeks now since Ana started teaching her, and the girl was improving quickly. Not that she could land so much as a finger on Ana if Ana didn't allow it, but she was doing well in spars against the other students and had picked up three Levels in the Unarmed Combat Skill.
"You need to dye your hair again," Jisha said conversationally, then led with a low kick at Ana's knee. Her attempt at a distraction was transparent, but she didn't telegraph her attack — there was no tell-tale twist of the hips or shoulders, and her eyes didn't drop below Ana's collarbone. She over-committed, though, and Ana pulled her leg back rather than blocking the kick with her sole. Jisha tried to stop her rotation by planting her forward foot rather than rolling with it, but it was too late. She was out of line, and Ana hooked her heel, lifted, then pulled her down with a hand on her shoulder.
"You started really well, " Ana said as she helped her up again. "Good body, good eyes. But putting your foot down like that was probably the worst thing you could have done. What would have been better?"
"Spin?"
"Switching your stance could work, depending on the opponent, yeah. But that would put your back to me for a moment, and I'd be out of sight while you turn your head. Better would have been to pull your knee in and kick. Here, watch."
Ana demonstrated a missed low kick, exaggerating the rotation then turning it into a side kick, then had Jisha do the same on both sides until the girl could barely raise her legs.
"So how is your other training going?" Ana asked as Jisha sat, slumped like a sack of potatoes against the wall of the guard house.
"Long Blades at 2," the girl said, panting. "Shields, Defense, and Axes all at 1."
"Well done! So, why aren't you a Fighter yet? You've got the prerequisites."
"Money," Jisha said with a shrug. "My Ability lets me take notes very well, even if I don't understand what's being said. You know Dilmek's been getting me some work?"
"Not really, no. Been kind of busy."
"Oh, d'accord. Well, I've been helping the clerks. Don't think they need it, but it's made me some silver to live on. I… Okay, I've accepted some charity, but I don't like it."
"Right. Money." Ever since she'd been made a temporary officer, and then marshal, Ana had been living off kindness, respect, and the gold she'd made before everything went to shit. She still had plenty left. Jisha, though, had the clothes she'd been given after she was first healed, and a dagger Ana lent her and never asked her to return. That was it. Her phone, useless with no battery and no network, had been among those found in Karti's tent, but that was her only Earthly possession.
Ana had been so worried about money her first days in the Splinter, and then it just hadn't been an issue as they'd turned into some kind of military commune for several weeks. Now she'd need to start thinking about it again. Of course, she was sitting on over 14000 Experience Points worth of Growth Crystals, which should theoretically sell for — she quickly did the math in her head, her 39 points of Acuity making it easy — at least 44 gold. Money wasn't an issue if she was willing to part with those. But she was also only 200 Points away from being able to reach Class Level 17, which would set her back to no Crystals and whatever was in her pocket.
Ana had only been back in the outpost for four days, and already the itch was there to go back out — to improve her Skills, kill some demons, and maybe clear a Delve or two. In three months the Cycle would end. The Waystone would open, making travel and transport between the Splinter and the Core Cities practically free. When it did, Ana intended to leave, and she wanted to reach Level 20 before then.
When Ana didn't say anything else, Jisha continued. "So, as I said, I've accepted some charity. And while I don't like it, I was hoping you might offer some more. Not money," she added quickly. "I don't want people giving me money. But I hoped you might help me earn some."
"Uh-huh," Ana said. Not dismissive, but not exactly encouraging, either.
Jisha wasn't deterred. "I hoped you might take me out. Into the forest, I mean. To kill demons."
Ana considered the girl. She was anxious and embarrassed, but entirely earnest. There may have been a bit of hero worship there, too — body language wasn't great for anything beyond the basic emotions, but Ana had seen the way the girl looked at her over the past few weeks. "Go on," she said.
"Listen, Ana, I'm hoping to use you to get stronger, and to make some money. It's as simple as that. You're strong, and you have an Ability that makes it so people in your Party don't get hurt. I guess having you around would mean that I'd get much lesser rewards—"
"I'm not so sure of that," Ana interrupted. "It's a contribution thing. If I'm not fighting, I shouldn't hurt your gains more than anyone else just for being there."
"Oh," Jisha said. Her confidence grew as Ana kept not telling her no. "I didn't know that. But anyway, with you around I could handle almost anything, yes? And I… Ana, I want to learn to fight, but I'm scared to go out until I'm stronger. And I don't know how long it would take before I'm ready to go out otherwise."
"There's Kaira's Casuals group. She's starting that back up pretty soon."
"I know. She says it'll be a while, though. Not until the 'ambient mana' goes down and the nearby demons get cleared out. Apparently they're too strong for Casuals right now."
"And you don't want to wait."
"No."
"And you're okay with the risk of taking on demons that Kaira thinks are too strong for someone like Petra?"
"With you, I am."
Ana looked at the girl, and she got a strong feeling that no matter what Jisha said now, one day soon she'd talk herself into going out there, with or without her. Maybe with some other newbies who didn't want to wait. That, along with the fact that Ana enjoyed how Jisha looked up to her, decided things. She didn't want Jisha to die. It was as simple as that.
"Alright," Ana said, and Jisha's face lit up. "Wait," she continued. "I'm not against taking you out, but I have two conditions. First, you need to get us a tracker. And ideally a mage, too. Just the two of us, or us and Messy, is pointless. I can fight, and I have some survival skills, but I have no real experience finding targets. Second, you need to figure out a way to really make it worth my while. I could go out with pretty much any experienced team in the outpost. I got four offers last night alone. So why should I go with you?"
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"I—" Jisha started, but Ana cut her off.
"Don't answer now. Take some time and answer me tomorrow evening. Even if it's the same answer you wanted to give me now, leave it until then. We can have dinner together at Petra's, alright?"
Jisha deflated, but only slightly. "Alright."
"Good." Ana paused, then ran her fingers through her hair. "Were you serious before?"
"Quoi?"
"My hair. How bad is it?"
"It's…" Jisha hissed then said, "I'm guessing it was white?"
"Platinum, yeah."
"It's dirty white now, really uneven, with three centimeters of brown at the roots."
"Shit." Ana had expected it to be bad, but not that bad. She hadn't seen her own reflection for a while, and asking Messy how she looked only worked if she wanted to be flattered shamelessly.
She'd have to see Bessir the barber soon and just have him cut everything that wasn't her natural chestnut brown. Or just have him shave it. Messy wouldn't mind. She'd probably think it was hot.
But that was a problem for another day. "Thanks, I guess," she told Jisha. "I appreciate the honesty. Will I see you this afternoon?"
"Of course," the girl said tiredly. Not that Ana expected her to miss a class; she hadn't yet.
"In that case, lunch is on me. Come on! I can smell the food stalls already."
"Listen, Ana, you're going to be focused on melee combat for the foreseeable future, right?"
"Pretty sure we both know that's always going to be true, yeah," Ana answered Tor. They'd just finished having dinner at Petra's, along with Messy, Kaira, and Omda. Now they were just polishing off their drinks before separating for the night. "Shooting a crossbow is fun, but we all know I can do the most good at the front. Why?"
Tor smiled ruefully. "Well, do you want some advice, from one frontliner to another? I know you somehow out-Leveled me already, but I think I've still got the edge, theory-wise."
"Sure. Lay it on me."
"You should focus on combining your melee weapon Skills. Your current weapon can use either the Axes or Blunt Weapons Skills, right? We know you're good with a short blade, even if you don't like them, and you did well with a sword as well from what I heard. Add Polearms to the mix, get them all to Skill Level 10, and combine them!"
"I'll consider it, sure. Doesn't sound like a bad idea, at least. But why the urgency?"
"Because I'm selfish. It's about the Perks. That's about it. The Perks are so much better, and I want you to be the best Party-mate you can be. I'm guessing whatever Perks you have right now are pretty specific in when they give you bonuses?"
"They are, yeah."
"Well, the Perks for Melee Weapon Combat aren't. How does a bonus to your Strength Mult whenever you're using a melee weapon sound?"
"Pretty damn nice, to be honest."
"Effective and efficient," Omda added, keeping himself characteristically brief. "Easy to Level."
"I have to get all the Skills there first," Ana objected.
"Like that's a problem for you," Kaira scoffed theatrically. "You got to Class Level 16 in two months."
"Sure. Still going to take a while."
"Which is why we're proposing you come out with us," Tor said. "Finally go on that outing we started talking about before everything went to shit."
Ana sighed. She hadn't exactly expected this, but neither was she surprised. "A recruitment pitch? Really, Tor? I get enough of those. Besides, do we even know that the Delves are safe? What if the Sentinel fucked them all up, like he did with the Trap Delve?"
"Wandak and his Party did one on the way back," Kaira said with a smug grin. "They came in today and didn't report seeing anything odd. Not even a changeling on the way. Delves are clear, and people are excited!"
Ana felt a touch on her shoulder. "I think you should do it," Messy said.
Ana turned to regard her. "Really? Could you take time off so soon after getting back?"
"No, Ana. I think you should do it. I've had enough excitement for a while. Not swearing off Delving, not by a long shot, but I'm not ready yet. But you should do it. You love it. I know you do. Flying and fighting, those are the times I've seen you most in your element. Maybe not the most happy, exactly, but most yourself." Messy smiled softly and squeezed Ana's shoulder. "Please, Angel. You should go."
Ana looked at her girlfriend, and she barely saw her. The smile and her open body language meant nothing. She couldn't easily put a name to the painful, sucking feeling in her gut as she leaned in close and whispered, "Mess, did I do something wrong?"
Messy face fell, and she looked at Ana like she'd just accused her of being a cultist. "What? Ana, no!"
"Then why are you asking me to leave you?"
"Ana, I'm not! You must know that. That's…" Messy lowered her voice so much that no one but Ana and the Wayfarer could possibly hear her. "That's your Ability talking, telling you to stay close and protect me. But I don't need protecting now, okay? I'm safe behind the walls, the traitors are all locked up, and I've been learning self-defence from you. And I'm not asking you to leave. I'm asking you to take some time for yourself, without worrying about me, to go out and do something you enjoy with your friends. And then come back to me, stronger than ever. I love you, okay? I just don't want you to stagnate because I need some time to get my own shit in order. So, please, Ana. Go with them."
"But—"
"Ana." Messy reached out and took Ana's hand between both of her own. "I swear that I'll be right here, whole and happy and waiting for you when you get back."
Ana still wanted to refuse. But when she took a moment to look at Messy, to really look and see the love and the confidence there, and to feel those same emotions pulsing through Messy's aura, she relented.
She still felt uncomfortable. Now, though, a large part of the discomfort was about how effective Messy's reassurances were. It was one thing to accept intellectually that someone was emotionally significant; it was a first for Ana, but she could rationalize it based on how the System was affecting her and what she got out of her relationship with Messy. It was another thing entirely to feel the sickness in her gut recede when Messy told her that this didn't mean that their bond was any weaker, or that she loved Ana any less. That was going to take a lot of getting used to.
"Okay," Ana said softly. Then she turned to the others, who'd been watching with feigned or, in Omda's case, politely genuine disinterest, and said it again. "Okay. Sure. I'm in. Is there a plan?"
"Great!" Kaira exclaimed, clapping her hands together loud enough to make the inn's other patrons turn and stare. Kaira paid them no mind. "So, we were planning to head out in two days, maybe three. We want to take advantage of the stronger demons that will have built up with all the Delvers away and the higher ambient mana. Should still be some left, even after the rush." She lowered her voice before she continued. "There's an area we've gone before. It's like a Delve hot-spot; they keep popping up, and demons love it. Not anywhere I'd take a group of Casuals—"
Messy shrugged at the apologetic look Kaira gave her.
"—but it's been great for both Crystals and general harvesting. Sometimes the Delves have been too hard for us to risk it, but with you along… anyway, that's where we're going."
"I don't know if I can go in two or three days," Ana said. "I promised Jisha to give her a chance to put something together." She turned to Messy and said, "I was going to ask you about that tonight, actually, but I guess it's a no either way?"
Messy gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Angel."
Kaira, on her part, just said, "Oh, I know. She came straight to me for help after you finished beating her up. She's coming with us! Well, she is if you are. I'm not risking a Level 1 kid's life unless we've got you keeping her safe."
Ana blinked, then said, "You're taking Jisha somewhere you wouldn't take Petra?"
"With you in the Party? Any day."
"And you two?" Ana looked at Omda and Tor. "You're just going along with this?"
Omda shrugged. "Yep."
"Listen," Tor said, "Irry may be a few feathers short of a pillow—"
"Hey!"
"—but she's got a good sense for people. Delvers, at least. If she says this girl can hack it, at least with you along, then I believe her."
Kaira went from outraged to smiling in a heartbeat. "Aw! Thank you, Tor!"
"Besides," Tor finished. "You try talking her out of it."
Kaira looked like she considered protesting, then said, "Yeah, fair."
Ana considered. She didn't like people planning around her like this, but it would almost certainly be more profitable than whatever she or Jisha could have pulled together. And it was unlikely that the girl would get killed, unless she got too far from Ana — what she might do was to get Ana hurt, but that wasn't likely to be too severe compared to what Ana herself managed on a regular basis. And if Messy wasn't coming along, then at least she'd have Kaira, who kind of understood her.
"You'll take responsibility for her?" Ana asked. "Get her kitted out and everything?"
"That's the plan," Kaira said cheerfully.
"And you'll cover the potions, if she gets me or herself hurt?"
"Won't happen, but sure."
Ana sighed. "Alright. I'll bow to your experience. Two or three days, huh? Why the uncertainty?"
"Ray's not back yet."
"Ray? Rayni? She's coming, too?"
"Sure!"
"Not that I mind, but do we need her? We've got Om."
"Different skill sets," Omda said simply.
Kaira leaned back in her chair. "What the big guy said. Ray's good at teaching Survival Skills, too. None of us is. Figured we'd make this as profitable as possible for the kid."
"Alright," Ana said again, deciding she'd just leave it all to Kaira and see who and what she had to work with the morning they were leaving. She drained her ale, and Messy did the same before they both stood. "Now I've got some tutoring with Tellak to get to. Evening, all."
"Hey, speaking of," Kaira said. "So… Tellak's basically living with Touanne now, isn't she?"
"Yeah," Ana said. "Looks like."
"Are they…?"
Ana honestly had no idea, but Messy answered for her. "Nah," she said with the air of an expert. "They're kind of emotionally dependent on each other, but nothing romantic. Touanne might figure herself out some day, but Telly's as straight as you are."
"That's great!" Kaira said, then turned to poke Omda. "See, Om? Shoot your shot, man!"
Omda blushed slightly, smiled wryly, and said nothing.
"Do you mind me coming with?" Messy asked as they exited Petra's.
"When have I ever—?" Ana started, then stopped and listened carefully. There was the background patter of a crowd in the air, coming from the center of the outpost.
"Angel? What's going on?" Messy asked curiously.
"Lots of people in the square. Angry," Ana said. She listened for a few seconds more, and then a few words hit home. "Aw, shit," she sighed. "They're going to lynch the cultists."
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