Part VII - AN ASSIGNMENT, A DISTRACTION
Sitting on the doorsteps to Reynard's little cottage, Master Trainer Thorn couldn’t help but smile, and actually sigh a little in relief. Through the open window, he could hear his friend in upbeat conversation with Callie and the Beastmaster, Jesca. This was rather a shock, considering how depressed Reynard had been for the past several days, and it was good to hear his laughter again.
Rather than interrupt, Thorn simply waited, eavesdropping as the Ranger trainer finished telling the story of how he met his wife all those years ago, before getting Callie to relay the events from the Elemental fight, The Gnome must have already told the story to Jesca, as she constantly interrupted with some missing detail, despite not even being there. Finally, the retelling ended with Pixyl flying down and kissing Callie, and he could actually hear Callie blushing at the telling. Jesca labeled the whole thing 'adorable', and Thorn had to admit it really was.
The two girls finished up, each wishing Reynard well and Callie encouraging him to get out of the cabin for the bunkerball game. The Foxkin grumbled a non-commitment, and Callie didn't press the issue, save to make a bit of a backhanded challenge on who's team would win. That got more grumbles and a solid 'I said I'd think about it' in response.
Thorn stood, backing away from the door a few steps before the two recruits opened it to leave.
"Master Trainer!" Jesca said as she walked out.
"Recruit."
"Hi there!" Callie added cheerfully, following and peeking out from behind the Catkin. "Here to see Trainer Reynard?"
"I am, yes."
"Cool. We were just chatting, and I filled him in on the details of the Elemental fight that Olin hadn't shared, so he's all caught up there. We also brought fresh jellycakes from Pama. There's plenty left."
"Sounds delicious," Thorn said with a smile.
As the two girls bounded off, Thorn walked up the three steps, clearing his throat through the open doorway. He peeked in, seeing his friend sitting in the rocking chair, slightly scowling, although not much more than usual of late. "Good morning, Reynard."
"Morning," was the simple response. "I knew you were outside, listening through the window, by the way. You should have knocked."
"I didn't want to interrupt and I was content to wait my turn. The three of you were having a splendid conversation."
Sighing, Reynard waved Thorn forward. "Well, come on in and close the door. Have a jellycake."
Sitting, Thorn picked up one of the treats and bit into it. "This is so good. I don't know what we'd do without Pama here to keep us all fed."
"Probably mutiny," Reynard grumbled, then looked up from the floor. "What do you want, by the way?"
"Nothing, I just happened to be on my way back to my cabin and thought I'd check in on you."
"Your cabin is in the opposite direction."
"I took a scenic route," Thorn said casually. Gesturing towards the Snapdragons, he added, "Lovely flowers."
"I'll probably kill them dead in three days. I've never been good with plants." Reynard sighed. "Now seriously, what the hell do you actually want?"
"Maybe I just wanted to come and cheer you up? I know Midsummer is a reminder for you, and the longer ones are extra difficult. How are you doing?"
"Still stuck here. Still missing my leg."
"Reynard. How are you doing?" Thorn asked again, making clear the sincerity of the question.
The Ranger trainer's tone softened. "I hate this time of year, and this leg is just making it worse. She looks at me all day long, and I feel like I'm disappointing her." He nodded to the painting on the wall.
"Are you?"
"Probably. This happened because I lost my focus for a moment. At the Bogwump nest, that is. I turned my back to where I knew there could be danger. And now I’m just sitting here in the dark pouting about it, which just makes me more of a disappointment."
"I'm sure there are far more interesting ways you've disappointed her, my friend. Like showing up hours late for your own wedding?"
Reynard couldn’t help but laugh at the memory. "I was sure she was going to murder me right then and there. I still don't know how I wound up in that stable the night before. And I have no idea how she put up with me after we were married. Or why, for that matter."
"Because you can be occasionally charming. Not on a lot of occasions, but a few."
"I miss her."
"I heard you tell the two girls that. I miss her too, from time to time. She meant a lot to me."
Reynard looked hard at Thorn. "You slept with her."
"Oh, not this again," Thorn groaned, rolling his eyes.
"I should probably hate you for that," Reynard said coldly, but his face breaking into a smirk.
Thorn laughed as well. "It was before she even met you, you silly drimling!" They had this fake argument often; Talania had been a close friend of Thorn’s since childhood.
"Doesn't matter. Friends don't sleep with their friend's wife," Reynard fake-scowled.
"You know that makes absolutely no sense in this case. Besides, I'm the one that talked her into asking you for Midsummer. I knew you'd be a good match."
"Thanks for that, by the way. You're a good friend,” Reynard said with an acknowledging nod. Then he added, “Despite sleeping with my wife."
Thorn chuckled, holding the half-empty plate of summoned cookies out. Reynard held up a paw, apparently having had enough, while Thorn took another of his own.
“So, what really brought you here?” Reynard asked. “You could have visited me any time in the last few days and didn’t, so I’m assuming you actually have something on your mind. Is it work-related or personal?”
Thorn studied Reynard’s face, sighed and finally nodded. “A bit of both actually. Two separate issues. Where would you like to start?”
“Well, we're already deep in my own personal problems, so let's put yours out there, too.”
“Ravina is coming,” Thorn said flatly.
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The long, awkward silence was only finally broken by one of the snapdragon flowers snagging something that had ventured too close, the snapping sound jolting both Beastkin from their introspection.
“Damn,” was all Reynard had to say. “When?”
“I suspect she’ll get here on Fifthday, possibly the next, with some of the other spouses and others that are visiting for the Midsummer celebrations.”
“So you have about four days to run, then?” Reynard suggested. Then he added, “No, that won’t work. She’ll still find you.”
“I can’t leave, remember? This party is in honor of me, despite my protestations.”
“You’re right. So much for running. Damn. Why did you ever marry her again?”
“Momentary insanity?” Thorn said with a questioning sigh. “And honestly, I did love her once.”
“I never liked her. She’s walking evil.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“She has Ohler’s; it’s not her fault,” Thorn said firmly. “And she isn’t that bad, as long as she takes her medications.”
Reynard glared at Thorn in disbelief. “My friend, she set a pile of your clothes on fire because you didn’t take the trash out. She once publicly accused you of colluding with Dwarves to have her kidnapped and sold as a pleasure slave. Colluding with all of the Dwarves in the world, I might add. And then there was that time she was sure that blue-steel dagger was possessed!”
Thorn chuckled at the reminders. “Maybe she is a little crazy. Just a little.” He held up a thumb and finger, a tiny space between them.
“Thorn, she’s not entirely stable. On top of all that, I’m sure she’s sleeping around.”
“Why do you say that? Have you heard something?”
“No. But she strikes me as the type that would be sleeping around, since you aren’t there, especially when the moon is high. Why the stars are you still married to her?”
“For the boy, of course. As long as we’re married, at my rank they get enough of a stipend to pay for everything they need, and even save a little bit. Assuming she’s saved anything, I suppose. He’s my responsibility, Reynard.”
“Ah yes, the boy. How old is he now?”
“I saw him for a couple days about six weeks ago when we were on term break. He’s good. He’s nine, so, you know, not very interesting. Well, he turned ten yesterday. I had that bow made for him. The one that Callie used when she first arrived. Endless Arrows enchantment and a rune to help with draw strength. I have no idea if he liked it, but he mentioned on the previous break wanting a bow. Lately he wants to be a Ranger like his Uncle Reynard.”
For a moment, Reynard beamed with pride. “Nevikk seems like a good kid. Hopefully the war ends and you can get re-involved with his upbringing. We can only hope he didn’t inherit Ohler’s.”
“Time will tell. But speaking of Nevikk, that’s the strange thing,” Thorn said. “She’s bringing him with her, for some reason. The Network message had no more information, and Ravina hasn’t responded to my question of why.”
“She’s bringing him here? What game is she playing? This isn’t the place for a ten year old to visit. He could get hurt, or worse. Was she just too lazy to find a caretaker for the holiday?”
“I have no idea. My mind has been spinning to make sense of why she’s coming, and has come up with no rational scenarios. I have a bad feeling, though. The moon doesn’t rise for another month, so I’m sure she’s going to make some kind of a scene, either directed at me, or in general. Nevikk may get caught in the middle.”
Reynard frowned, a little worried. “She must be up to something. I’d recommend you warn Xera and the rest, so that if she tries to make trouble they can step in. Celeste could throw her in the brig if need be. Maybe she should do that immediately, just to eliminate the risk to everyone else.”
“I doubt the brig could even hold her.”
“True, she’d just ooze her way back out through the bars somehow. Promise me that as soon as this war concludes, you’ll end this ridiculous marriage and get that kid far, far away from her.”
“That’s my plan, Reynard. I should have listened to all of you all, but I didn’t. I’ll never regret Nevikk, though.” Thorn sighed. “I’m probably not going to be the best of fathers, am I? I haven’t been a very good one so far.”
“You’ve been a great father, and you know you’d raise him better than she would. With you, Nevikk would be much less likely to grow up to be a midnight stalker, or set buildings on fire for simple joy, or break into homes and steal things, or torture animals, or …”
Thorn held up a paw with a sigh, cutting his friend off before he could really get going on that list. “You’ve made your point. Let’s move on.”
“We’ll just need to be on our toes while she’s here,” Reynard added with a chuckle. “This place may not be standing when she leaves, if we aren’t.”
Having nothing more to say on the topic, Thorn cleared his throat. “Let’s talk about this other thing. This one is work-related.”
“What’s that?”
“The Beastmaster, Jesca. She’s going to hit Bronze with that class this next week, on Secondday or Thirdday, most likely. She’s thus far done most of the work essentially on her own. She received a little assistance and guidance from Rowani on the Druid skills, and I worked with her around the Enhanced Senses perk, since I have the same. But whips? Animal companions? That’s far outside my expertise, and everyone else here. She's even already exceeded the skill level of the Herdmaster with her whip skills.”
“What’s the question?” Reynard asked. “I don’t know what to do for her, especially since we have no idea what skills she’ll receive for Bronze. I’m sure they will be animal or companion related, but beyond that?” The Foxkin shrugged.
“My intention is to keep her for the extended session, just to give her some more time to learn the class, and maybe even reach Silver. But my worry is that not only do we not know anything about this class, but we don’t know the best training techniques. Plus, honestly, we have a unique opportunity to try to synergize the two classes together with the training. How best do we do that?”
Reynard shrugged again. “I haven’t thought about it much, honestly. I’ve been … otherwise distracted with my own … things. It’s still so strange that she has two classes now, and we have no references for what to expect for the new one at Bronze and higher, outside of the few oral histories of other Beastkin here, and we all know how reliable they are.”
Thorn nodded. “I had many of the same thoughts. This is where you come in, though.”
“Damn, I feel like you’re about to give me an assignment.”
“I’d like you to use some of your healing time to help develop her formal training regimen for the extended session, at least three weeks’ worth, with a focus on using her Ranger class in synergy. She’ll reach Gold with Ranger by the end of the eight-weeks, so outside of any melded skills she may receive, you know better than anyone what she’ll have available to her. Come up with a plan to weave her Beastmaster into that, somehow. In a couple days you’ll know her new Bronze skills and perks for that class, so you should have everything you need.”
“You’re assigning me this to keep me occupied, aren’t you,” Reynard said, looking right through his friend.
“Not specifically, but partially, yes. You need something to do, but I also really do want to make sure we can maximize her potential. Neither I nor Vonn have the appropriate time available to design a training regimen. Whatever you need, I’ll make sure you get it. Come extended term, you’ll largely … pardon the joke … be back on your feet to implement your plan.”
Sitting back in the chair slightly, Reynard mulled over the request. It actually was an interesting assignment. Thorn was right, too. He was the best-qualified in the camp to develop Jesca’s training, especially in regard to making sure the new second class blended well with the Ranger one. Of course, it was also a distraction from feeling sorry for himself, and he had honestly been pretty content with doing that for a while longer. “Is this an order?”
“No, it’s not an order!” Thorn snapped in irritation. “But it is a request, one friend to another, and one trainer to another. We need to do what we can for this girl. I feel this Beastmaster class is important. Not just for the war effort, but for the ‘Kin people, too. I just lack the time to develop something proper before she needs to go.”
Reynard put on his thinking face, giving some thought quickly on where to even start. Like a flood, ideas came at him from all directions and he quickly began to form them into something organized.
“Fine,” Reynard finally said, his voice projecting a tiny amount of authority. “Then the first thing I want, as quickly as possible, is for a Scholar or someone else in The Nexus to find everything they can in The Library about the Beastmaster from back during the time of The Escape. Especially, I want to know anything about the skills and powers that they may have demonstrated, even if it is only anecdotal reports. They can relay it back via Network Scryer, or if they are willing to part with it, send the materials here, although that will take a couple weeks to travel.”
Nodding contemplatively, Thorn sat back in his seat, unconsciously picking up another jellycake. “I can make that happen. I’ll ask Scryer Yulayla to come by so you two can work on the language of the request, and then you can both work together for ongoing exchanges. Do you know her? She’s a little busy since they’ve been down a Scryer, but a third one is supposed to be arriving with this incoming group, too, so that will put them at full staffing.”
“I don't know her, no. We’ve exchanged pleasantries, but that’s been about it.”
“She’s an interesting person, actually. Former Army, but was kicked out for responding to foolish orders by punching the officers. You’d like her.”
“There’s a reason why I am a civilian here, Thorn. I’d gladly punch stupidity, too. I’m happy to do my part, but me and a uniform do not go well together.
“Exactly! I’ll ask her to find you when she has a moment, and let her know that we’ll be working up a request for the Network to relay to The Nexus. What else do you need?”
“Writing materials and paper. I’m going to want to talk to Rowani and Maugra, since they were adventurers, too. They might have some ideas since they’ve seen a lot in their journeys. Plus, it appears the Beastmaster is Nature-based, so Rowani would be a big help there, especially since a couple of the girl’s skills have overlapped with Druids.”
“Excellent! I’ll see to those things as well. If you have a need for anything more, simply send a Sprite. You know, depending on what the research finds and what you develop, you might have the basis for an academic tome to be placed in the Great Library.”
Reynard laughed. “That’s what this is about! You want your name on something in The Nexus! You’ve wanted that for as long as I’ve known you.”
“Don’t worry,” Thorn replied with a wink. “I’ll let your name be first.”
Inwardly, Thorn smiled. All signs of the previously glum and depressed Reynard seemed to have faded. Between the conversation he’d had with Callie and Jesca about Talania and then the Elemental fight, added to Thorn’s own problems with his wife, the Ranger had been engaged and even happy for something to talk about. Now with the idea of this assignment to keep his head occupied while he continued healing, Reynard was actually a little excited. This was good! It was a diversion, of course, but maybe a helpful one, and would be ultimately useful to the Beastmaster girl.
Standing, the Master Trainer offered his paw to Reynard. “My friend.”
Reaching back, Reynard clasped Thorn’s wrist. “My friend.” Then, after a pause, he added, “and thank you.”
Walking to the door, Thorn called back, “You really should come up to the bunkerball game. If you don’t, I believe it will be quite one-sided. Rumor is that Callie and the Pixie have been working on something special. Send a Sprite when you need someone to help you up the hill.”
Forcing down a string of expletives in response, Reynard simply growled, “I’ll think about it.”
“See you then,” came the voice from the closing door.
Sighing to himself, Reynard reviewed everything that had happened in the last hour or so. He first found himself wondering how Callie had been able to get him to open up like that. She did it so casually, and he found he’d wanted to share. To talk about Talania to anyone was surprising to himself, especially to a pair of his own recruits, but it actually felt good to do so.
“Damn I miss you, Tal,” he said quietly, looking up at the portrait. The gaze seemed to look back on him in a different way this time, though. Where before it was simply a reminder of the wonderful times together, and his routine ability to be a disappointment, now it seemed to be encouraging him somehow. To do what? Thorn’s task for the Beastmaster? Maybe something else?
Shaking his head from his own internal monologue, Reynard refocused on his new assignment. He knew he needed to talk with Rowani and Maugra, and whatever the research turned up in The Nexus would be invaluable, too. But there had to be more he could do than just catalog notes and ideas in the hope they would be helpful. Somewhere out there, someone knew something about this class, or maybe even was this class.
With a jolt, Reynard sat up in his chair as something from years ago finally began to leak into his head. “Simba? Kimba? Think, dammit! Kotimba! That was it. Kotimba!” Placing two fingers into his mouth, he excitedly let off a sharp whistle, then yelled, “Sprite!”
The tiny Fae zipped in through the window two seconds later, excited. She floated in midair and mockingly saluted. “Hello!”
“I need you to find the Prince; recruit Vanis that is. I must speak with him personally, and before his Captain returns to Imor. Find them both, in fact! It’s critical.”
With another salute and a quick, ‘Goodbye!’, the Sprite spun and flew off the way she had entered, leaving a streak of blue mist in the air behind her.