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+ Reid +
Reid spat out a mouthful of sand.
He snarled, and rose to his feet. His anger hadn't been an issue in recent battles - they were all too easy to draw his rage. But this training was making him simmer and tested the limits of his self-control.
"I can't believe you're still so bad at this." James shook his head, and shot a hand out to catch his aviators as they slipped off his face. He folded them and put them into his shirt's breast pocket. "Weeks, Reid. Weeks without improvement."
Reid threw a fist forward at James. He had to actively try to slow himself down and not put his full weight behind the strike - after all, he didn't actually want to kill the man.
Probably.
The infuriating combat instructor turned the blow with his palm and kicked Reid again in the back of the knee. Reid was once more sent to the ground, where he spat out another mouthful of sand and rolled to his back. A grunt of frustration escaped his lips, followed by a long sigh. He needed to take a break before his anger got the best of him. Bits of sand were still falling away from his face.
"Why don't we practice in grass? There's so much grass."
James shook his head. "Because you were fine with getting knocked down in the grass. Hence this convenient little beach. Eat enough sand and you might actually try to improve."
"I am trying." Reid growled out the words.
James sat down cross-legged next to Reid and handed him a metal water bottle. "No, Reid, you're not. I shouldn't be able to beat you so easily."
Reid went up on one elbow. "You're only beating me because I have to hold myself back." He wiped his mouth clean, then took a long swig of water.
James looked at him in the same way Marlene sometimes did - like he was staring directly at Reid's soul.
"Reid, what happens when you can't kill someone?"
The question was so odd and simple, it felt obvious. "If I can't win a fight, I guess I'd have to retreat so I don't die."
James blinked. "No, no. What happens when you have to restrain someone, or fight them to a standstill. What happens when you run into a situation where you can't just pummel the problem to death?"
Reid put a hand on his chin, absentmindedly wiping away more grains of sand. "I'd figure something out, I'm sure."
"We've been at this for - what's today, Friday?" He looked down at his watch. "Friday. So we've been working at this for three weeks. And you're not using anything I've taught you properly. I know that you know how to do the moves. I know what you're like when we spar, and I know what you're actually capable of when you fight monsters. I know you have the potential to do so much more."
"Force and effort - they're a spectrum. You don't hold an egg with the same grip strength you'd use to open a stubborn jar. And you wouldn't hold a coffee cup as lightly as an egg or as strongly as the jar. Except when you fight, Reid - there's no middle ground. It's either egg, or it's jar. You're either going for the kill and fighting mostly on instinct, or you're entirely ineffective. You need to find your middle ground - your coffee cup. Something in between fighting like a maniac and trying to be so soft that you're missing hits." James nodded at his own words and sprang to his feet. He held out a hand and pulled Reid up as well.
"Now, show me your coffee cup."
Reid snorted. "My coffee cup. You are, without a doubt, the worst teacher ever. Like a cheap knock-off of some action movie's wise master."
"And you're a maniac." James retorted.
"You're a barista-themed sensei."
"Meathead."
"Grandmaster bastard."
"Barbarian."
"Fuck you, James. You're a dick."
"And you're an asshole. Now hit me."
Reid threw a punch. It connected.
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~ Marlene ~
Marlene arched an eyebrow at her husband. He had let out another loud groan, and was working his jaw back and forth with a wince.
"Who knew inciting our Champion to deck you in the face would be a bad idea." She said dryly. "You're lucky Susan had enough time to put your jaw back on and regrow your teeth."
A few chuckles sounded out from those around the table. Reid was blushing and rubbing the back of his head - both for the injury, and because of the nickname. Marlene loved it. Champion was a moniker that would solidify Reid's place in her hierarchy as a fighter, and not a leader. Reid was, without any shadow of a doubt, Sanctuary's strongest warrior. Marlene had seen enough to know that many people would naturally gravitate to strength of arms over strength of leadership. And she was not going to have people looking to Reid for any decision making. So the organic nickname had helped her stop that problem in its tracks. One of today's agenda items would cement it in place.
She waved a hand for silence. "That brings us into our first topic. Reid lacks an official title, and I'm keen on keeping the tradition of allowing you all to vote and bring up ideas for positions." Heads nodded around the table. Titles were mostly window dressing - but giving people a voice here, meant she had more leeway to wholly control other areas. People always loved the idea of having a real impact, after all. "So, while I know 'Champion' is the obvious choice, I'll open things up for anyone that wants to put forward an idea for Reid's official role."
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A few murmurs went up between people in the room. Their group was arrayed around a square of folding tables, sitting in folding chairs. She was the only one on her feet.
"Sleeping Beauty! Ya know, cause he slept for two weeks!" Mark called from the far corner of the square. The man's face was already red - Marlene made a mental note to hide the alcohol on their upcoming trip - and to give him enough work that he had to stay sober.
Mark's incredible humor got a single laugh. From Reid.
"What about head warrior?" Lowell had a hand in the air as he spoke. A few assenting murmurs spread. That couldn't be it. Head warrior implied that Reid would lead other defenders or warriors as part of his everyday role. She wanted him to be seen as a singular operative.
"That sounds a little primal to me." Marlene planted the seed of association to one of the many words that set Reid on edge. He balked at her comment. Good - now he should shoot that idea down himself if it started to gain traction.
There was a long silence. Marlene stopped herself from smiling. Holding her meetings and votes early in the morning made it so much easier to control the discussions - everyone was tired, subdued, and thankfully short on ideas.
"All right, sounds like those are our choices. Let's just do a show of hands for Champion... and now for Head Warrior... and for Sleeping Beauty." The vast majority voted for Champion. She stifled another smile. "There we have it. Reid, you are officially Sanctuary's Champion. Congratulations."
Some polite, enthusiastic applause went up in the room. James stopped rubbing his jaw long enough to slap Reid on the back. Marlene let everything play out until the energy subsided.
"Alright! Next up, a change to our next scavenger run." She rapped a finger against the chalkboard behind her. "Sara thinks she's onto something important, a ways East of here. To reach it, we've got to cross a river - one that we can't easily get over with just soil and rock manipulators. So - Mark" She made a show of pointing to the man. "Is going to accompany us on this trip, and he's going to do some bridge building. Between travel time and construction time, we expect to be gone for a minimum of 3 days. That means the defenders are going to have at least one wave where Mark will not be here to patch up the walls. It might end up being two or three waves before we're back, if we hit any snags."
She saw the unease drift around the room, and slapped a hand against the board to regain attention. "I'll be out with the scavengers while James stays here to lead the defenders. And don't forget, you have Sanctuary's Champion to repel the beasts off the walls. He's doing half the work, every time. I hope some of the other people in this room can step up while we're gone and give Reid a bit of a challenge." A few eyes seemed to light up at that. Good - she needed interest - but she could get more. She grabbed a wooden crate hidden behind the chalkboard and set it down on the table. Bottles rattled.
"And to add some real stakes - last scavenging trip netted us this lovely set of assorted bourbons. Anyone that gains a level while I'm gone gets to pick an entire bottle for themselves - BUT!" She held up a finger. It drew everyone's attention from the crate back to her. She slowly took two bottles out and put them on the table, then pointed to them and read off labels as she made her point. "Whoever earns the most experience gets to go first. And you'll continue in order of most experience after that. So putting in a bit of extra effort could be the difference between a bottle of Woodford Reserve or... James Earl's Rapid Aged Pepper Wood Batch." She made a face - it really sounded like it would be disgusting.
"So that's what's on the line. Plus, I'd like Reid to eventually be able to join us on scavenger runs - and that means the rest of you need to step it up anyway." She had James put the bottles and crate away as she walked back to the chalkboard. She brought everyone's attention to the "29" written out in block letters. "Our convoy will exit as soon as the 29th wave is cleared. Even if you are not going, pay attention to where we're headed. Everyone in this room should have an idea of where to find us, should they need to."
Marlene guided them through the details, calling their attention where she could, and arranging for a coffee cart when everyone really started to drag. When her overview was done, James stood to walk the group through the defensive plan for the coming waves. Marlene already knew everything he was saying, so she let her mind drift. Lately, all her spare time spent in consideration was spent on Sara.
She'd taken an early interest in the girl - then she'd sworn to her mother that she would protect Sara - and now she'd promised Reid that she would support Sara. Technically, her agreement to Reid was to help Sara if he died - but she wasn't interested in waiting for that. She had started to build Sara's skills even before those promises were made, and their recent scavenger runs were the girl's first real lessons. They were opportunities for Marlene to coach Sara's decision making, hone the girl's instincts, and get her to more heavily use her skill.
It had shown good results. On their first outing, Sara had passed all her navigation recommendations through Marlene. On the most recent one, she'd directly commanded the vehicle column. She'd also gotten bolder at thinking for herself - and showed an adept understanding of when to share information, and when to keep secrets.
Marlene had seen Sara approach her parents multiple times with a determined look on her face, only to change direction at the last moments. The girl was fighting with the decision to come clean about something, and Marlene wanted to know what that was. A simple identify gave her all she needed to know.
The only xp Sara had gotten was from the quest rewards - quest rewards that Marlene had distributed herself. She knew exactly how much she'd given the girl. But Sara's experience was much higher than it should've been. She'd come up with enough possible theories to fill two pages of a notebook, then logically eliminated all but one. That theory was Sara had a different contract than everyone else. Marlene added a guess that she would keep getting experience at an accelerated rate compared to her peers. The possibilities had kept Marlene up at night - and she rushed out the next day to test the theory.
Marlene had kept 1,000 bonus xp for an emergency reserve. She caught Sara alone, prompted her for answers, and awarded the girl a single experience point. Identify showed Sara's total rose by two. Marlene told the girl not to lie - that she'd watched it happen, and needed to know what was going on.
That had cracked the wall, and Sara broke down and told Marlene everything. Marlene listened like any good mentor and guardian would. And so she learned that Sara had experience doubling, in exchange for becoming royalty in a hundred years. That meant not only that Sara would amass power at a greater rate, but that she would likely live longer than a normal human, and be on the fast-track to leadership.
The thought of Sara's future sent jolts of excitement through Marlene, even now. Ideas flashed and faded in her mind - how to help Sara kill beasts. Where to have her invest her stat points for more efficient progression over time. How to get the girl xp from using her skill, like Mark could. Anything that might grow her power.
The Calderwall family were all exceptional. Susan was a force of nature. Reid was an absolute monster. But they both lacked the mindset to use their powers to become something grand.
Their daughter - with Marlene's coaching - had started to develop the mindset of a true leader. With her potential for power growth, Sara could be indomitable. The thoughts solidified into a singular goal.
Marlene would build Sara into a titan - a commander - a queen.