Chapter 3- Deja Vu

Riley yawned, her eyes fluttering open as she felt Tobias finish his sword practice, drawing her out of her meditation.

“He’s better than a timer,” she remarked to herself with a stretch that pulled out all of the kinks from her back.

A cold autumnal wind teased at the edges of her fear as she cocked her head in a scan, looking out from the small balcony over Ranger Central.

It would have been considered an obscene hour for most places, but for Ranger Central, it was the start of the morning. Below, some were stumbling out of the tavern, finishing a late night before finding their bunks, while others, cleaned and pressed, filed in searching for breakfast.

As if in credence to her thoughts, a cry rang out in the night, “Three bells and all is well!”

“Wow, he is as good as a timer; we’ve been up since a quarter past two,” Riley affirmed, while the cry echoed in a dozen varying voices before surrendering again to the peace of the night.

Setting paws to floor, she turned, nosing back through the cracked door into their palatial apartment.

A massive living room took up most of the available space, with sumptuous couches and chairs currently crowded against one wall like it was moving day. A fine woven rug, possessing an intricate pattern that dazzled her eyes, was rolled up and pushed to its own wall, leaving a flat open space of wood floor polished to a high shine.

Opposite the rolled-up rug were two doors, one leading to a washroom and the other to their sleeping quarters, with a small kitchenette-like space between them.

A large round table was next to her, with five chairs set around it.

Tobias stood at the center, his grey blade pointed towards the floor like it was a natural extension of his right hand.

His jerkin and undershirt were off, set neatly on a chair pulled out from the table, showing clearly his athletic but to skinny chest and ribs. Sweat glistened as he drew in heavy but metered breaths, pausing to wipe the sweat from his brow.

“How’d it go?” He asked, looking towards her.

His sword vanished away into their shared inventory, only to be replaced by a towel. Not waiting for an answer, he strode into the washroom but left the door open.

The sound of water running in the shower percolated out a moment later as Riley hopped towards the door, keeping him out of sight, respecting every boundary they had left.

“It’s getting easier to tune you out, but you’re right; I can still kind of hear you through the walls. I knew the instant you were done with your sword meditation.”

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“Is that what we’re calling it now?” He asked, as Riley’s ears picked up the unmistakable sound of a shower curtain drawing closed.

“It fits. You find it centering, just like I do,” She countered, as her vision flicked up towards the helix.

“Just checking the map,” he replied.

“So today...” Riley began as she felt Tobias grab onto the thought.

“Caedmon and Eastmund will be by around six bells, and then we conference in with Sabine. After that, they’re off on the morning dragon. We’re out of here on the Noon express back to Ashenvale,” Tobias replied.

“I know,” Riley grumbled.

“But you were still going to ask,” Tobias countered, as the sound of water ceased, leaving only the smell of soap-scented steam behind, “look, I know this might be hard for you, but...”

“I just want more time before dealing with all of this. We’ve barely been first tiers a week. We were supposed to get a month, but it ended up being days. If we’re big damn heroes, they should let us rest, give us some time to process,” Riley complained.

“We both knew it wasn’t going to last with the coup and the death of the king; waiting would be stupid,” Tobias countered.

“I know...it’s... just...” Riley fidgeted, flicking her front paws, feeling a distant call to run.

“It’s not about that,” Tobias said, walking out, wearing his pants, “it’s about your prompts.”

The hare stomped the ground.

“And the fact that it talks, kind of?” Riley added.

“You can’t ignore it any more than you can ignore me. I understand what you mean about it being odd, but it’s just a part of you, and it’s an edge. I think one of the reasons you were able to cast so easily was because of it,” he replied.

“How so?” She challenged, cocking her head with curiosity.

“I’ve got a few new spells, flare, flash, incinerate, entropic flame...” Tobias began.

“You looked!” Riley interrupted.

“I did, a little, while you were napping. The point is magic isn’t that instinctual for literally everyone else. Most of us don’t have a window floating in front of our eyes telling us what to reach for. Trust me, if everyone had this, it would change training forever,” Tobias said, pausing to survey the room before striding over to don his undershirt.

“Huh,” Riley pondered.

“Here, help me with the rug,” he asked as Riley hopped after him.

Lining up on the right side, Tobias took the left.

With a grunting push, it began to unfurl effortlessly out across the floor.

“It’s not schizophrenia. You aren’t losing your mind; it’s just a part of you being you. Trust me to know if you can’t trust yourself,” Tobias squatted down, getting closer to her height.

Riley crossed the distance and pressed up against his chest.

“Alright, nerd boy. I’ll try,” She replied.

“Adapt!” Tobias affirmed, petting her ears back, “Let’s set this place back up, and then we’ll get to work.”

“I’ll supervise,” Riley replied, having no inkling of how she’d move a couch.

“It’s amazing how light some of this is,” Tobias said, carrying a heavily padded chair across the room.

“Your strength has increased,” Riley cited.

“But I look the same; it feels the same, but I suppose you’re right. My sword feels lighter,” Tobias agreed.

“Maybe that’s what our evaluation is about? You don’t think it’s like the trials, do you?”

The human ranger lifted a couch, carrying it back to its original place, “First Tiers are shadowy. They’re like myths in Calaria. Everyone knows about the greyblades, but no one ever sees them.”

“I’ve been wondering about that. I’ve only ever seen a few first-tiers... I guess if they look like normal people, it would be hard to know,” Riley agreed.

“The bishops and the royals are the most visible, followed by the nobles. Other than that, it’s all legends and stories. The first tiers issue their edicts, the second tier sees they are done, and the common do the work. That’s how we were taught. Everyone has their role and their place,” Tobias replied, setting the last end table back in place.

“Where do we fit in now? I don’t see us in that paradigm?” Riley wondered.

Tobias’ hand drifted to his torc, “We’ll always be blackblades, and I’ll always be the son of a commoner.”

“But we’re first-tiers now. Nobles. How does that work?” Riley countered.

“It doesn’t. It’s a whole new world, Riley,” Tobias looked out toward the window.

“Deja vu,” Riley replied.