“Let me get this straight,” Ana said, moving her and Kane’s mugs of beer aside to clear some space in front of her.

What for? Jay didn’t know, but she liked to gesture a lot when she got worked up.

“The city holds a meeting - consultation, whatever - for all the guilds so they can complain about Pono, but instead, they spend the whole time fighting and insulting each other.” The summary was accompanied by a lot of drawing on the rough wood. Mostly of basic shapes, but Ana could have been writing words in some atrocious style.

“...Yes. There were some interesting points raised, but it all came down to that.”

Kane hummed and reached forward to snatch his mug away from Ana’s invisible designs. Thankfully, she’d had the sense not to Cut her musing into the table.

“Wow.” Ana slumped back in her seat. Her eyebrows nearly reached her hairline. “I’ve never felt so concerned and surprised this city is still standing.”

“It has very large walls,” Kane answered sagely. The glint of teeth as his mouth failed to maintain a blank look spoke to his amusement.

Ana rolled her eyes at him, brushing her hand across her sketch area to wipe out the invisible constructs and replacing her mug. “This was all the leaders too, yeah? Aside from the big three acting all sketchy.”

Jay nodded. “Brayden from Brayden’s Bri- Bakti’s guild was there. He’s a grandmaster rank. I’ve been trying to decide if I should mention it to Bakti. Warn him or something.”

“No.” Kane shook his head. “Never speak to a commander’s subordinates about how they act without them around.”

The tall and dark man recited the phrase more than said it. It made Jay curious, and reminded him that Kane grew up with a guard captain, who was friends with all the other captains. Captains who ran the training in Kavakar, and were sometimes a bit too liberal with punishment or obvious with their enjoyment of other’s suffering by exercise.

“I agree,” Ana said. “Worse case you piss the guy off, he’s apparently childish enough for that, and we have another guild bumping our tasks.”

It was a fair point, but Jay’s interest had shifted already.

“Kane, would you have some stories about Kavakar’s captains?” He focused on his stoic teammate’s face. Diving into the minute movements, the numbers. “Perhaps when they were drunk?”

“Ooh,” Ana called, drumming against her mug. “I always wanted to know what happened between Blanka and Tobith.”

Immediate tension as Kane flattened his face. The ‘games’ they played to train Jay’s word were helpful for him, but they also let the others practice defending against it. If you couldn’t hide, it was best to present a blank wall. Normally, Jay would have left it here, but he was a little tipsy and curious. He shifted in his seat to meet Kane’s eyes and pushed. Or let go? It was hard to tell. Details fell away, numbers appeared. They all moved, but not in a way he could make sense of. Or?

Embarrassment. Reticence. Amusement. Shock.

Jay blinked, leaning back in surprise of his own.

Across from him, Kane stared wide-eyed but unfocused with his mouth open. His hands twitched, opening and closing. Grasping for something.

“...Kane? Kane!” Ana cupped her hands by her mouth to get some volume, which was needed in the busy tavern, but got no reaction. She sighed and turned to Jay. “Remind me of this tomorrow. I always wanted to know what happened with those two. He can’t go into a doze every time something like this happens.”

Jay nodded as he tried to figure out if he’d done something or just had too much alcohol. “Sure.”

The table fell silent and gave him time to do that. And finish his beer.

“We’re probably going to have to leave, aren’t we?”

“Huh?” Jay twitched and looked at Ana.

She fiddled with her hands on the table. “The Pono thing. It’s not going to get any better and the guilds are only getting worse. We’ll have to leave the city.”

Oh. Jay’s shoulders sank. “No-Maybe. I don’t know. It’d cost us a lot to leave, but if we stay too long, we might not be able to leave and then... I don’t know.”

Ana chewed her upper lip and didn’t respond. After a minute, she reached for her mug and finished it off. “Well, I’m going to meet some friends in Peak then. Maybe they’ll know more about this thing. At the least, they can’t be less helpful.”

Jay nodded. “Let Peter know I want to talk to him if you see him.”

Ana grunted, which Jay optimistically took as acceptance, and turned to disappear behind a crowd of men and women covered in soot.

He was left with Kane in another fugue that he might have caused? Carefully, Jay reached forward and waved a hand in front of his teammate’s face. There was no reaction. His pupil grew no smaller, his hands still twitched, but nothing-

Two hands came down on his shoulders and Jay jumped. His mug tipped, spilling the last few drops on the table.

“Wilds!”

“Easy,” Miles snorted, moving to the side so Jay could see his face. “Didn’t mean to freak you out.”

“You did,” Jay complained, trying to shake off the adrenaline needles in his limbs.

“Look, not my fault you weren’t paying attention.” Miles said, shrugging. He reached up and scratched the scraggly hair on his chin. “Is your friend alright?”

“Oh him,” Jay looked at Kane, whose movements had slowed to his usual Word induced daze. “Yeah, he’s fine.”

“And your other teammate? Did I just see them leave?”

“Yes...” Jay said slowly. “Why?”

Miles raised a dark eyebrow surrounded by pale skin. “It’s a busy night.” He gestured at the table which could sit six, and then behind him, at a mousey man with curly red hair. “We need seats.”

“Oh. Sure, sit.” Jay doubted that Kane would mind when he came back to himself. “Weren’t you at Peak tonight?”

Miles’ friend winced at the question, but smiled at Jay and took a seat.

“Not anymore.” Miles sat down next to the redhead. “Got replaced yesterday. It’s now a task for the most trained of guild newbies.”

Jay winced. “Sorry to hear it.” Weird as the task was, and as much as Miles seemed not to care about it, Jay knew it paid well and that Miles would be feeling the loss.

The redhead reached across the table and offered a hand. Saving them all from the awkwardness. “I’m Henry. Teammate and generally better version.”

“Jay,” He shook it, and met... one of Henry’s eyes. Both were a woody green, but his right was fixed on the roof above the table. It threw Jay off for a second. “My teammate is Kane, but he’s in the middle of some Word blowback for a moment.”

“The hand waving?” Miles asked.

Jay nodded.

Henry tried it himself, then sat back down. He faced Jay.

“You can ask, you know,” Henry said with a sly grin. His left eye looked to the bar, while his right remained tilted slightly up.

“Don’t,” Miles groaned.

Henry shushed him. “You have to ask, it’s very important.” he cleared his throat and began to speak in a grand voice. “Someday, when they cast us in legends, it will be part of our lineage.”

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They both looked at Jay. Miles, dour and threatening. Henry excited, humorous and eager.

Jay made a face, but gave in. His curiosity could not be reined in tonight. “Is your eye okay?”

“Nope!” Henry announced as Miles buried his face in his hands. “Doesn’t work, never has. It’s been like this since I was born. But without it-” he gestured at himself and Miles. “-we wouldn’t be here today.”

“It is Word related?” Kane asked, apparently coming out of his stupor in the last minute or two.

Jay tried to catch his teammate’s eye, but Kane was focused on the newcomers to the table.

“The guilds wouldn’t take me,” Henry explained. “Or Miles, but that was for a stupid reason, while they could see straight with me. Still, we loved the adventuring life and signed up anyway. Together. Never thought of anything else.”

“Until recently,” Miles grumbled.

Henry rolled his eye. It was a weird experience to watch. “They don’t make armor in baby size, or anything tough enough to save me from Popia if she caught me. Besides, what can I do? You were just telling me that Tasks are drying up. Will there be any left for us to take when I get back?”

“It’s not going to improve soon,” Kane agreed. “The council and guilds seem to be ineffective and at odds.”

“How’d you figure?” Miles asked.

Jay saw it coming in advance, but seconds too late to do anything about it. “Ka-”

“Jay was at the consultation meeting yesterday.”

“What?” Miles asked, voice more confused than gruff for once.

“Huh...” Henry sat back and reached for his mug. “That’s not good news then.”

Miles stood and faced Jay. “Is that true?”

Jay wiped at his face and nodded. It wasn’t like his presence was a secret, not with how many people had been at the meeting, but he would rather let people know what happened without revealing his participation or his links to the Pono embassy. The second of which was far more important.

Miles stewed in the knowledge for a moment, knocking his knuckles against the table.

“Oh, here we go,” Henry muttered. “Relaxing night over. I should have stayed and cleaned tailclouts.”

When Miles reached a decision, it was obvious. His first action was to grab one of the chairs and stand on it.

“EVERYONE. SHUT IT.”

All that practice as a guard paid off, as the noise in the tavern died quickly at the authoritative shout.

“Jay here was at the Pono-Guild meeting.”

Silence. Then it clicked in people’s minds.

And there’s all that noise again. Jay thought bitterly. Is there a way to not get banned from a second tavern in this city?

In the next five minutes, Jay found himself escorted to a table closer to the center of the room, where he could be heard by all while standing on it. He was alone. Kane, the filthy traitor, escaped in the chaos.

It wasn’t a very comfortable position to be in. Eager crowd aside, his balance wasn’t the best at the moment and- Jay ducked as a bundle of dried flowers and a glaring orange fruit the shape of a hammer swung around his head.

“Well?” someone shouted in a hoarse voice. “What did those cocklofts decide?”

“Er...” Jay tried to locate the voice in the crowd, but failed for all his turning. The room was packed aside from the quiet corner where only one shape sat. “Not much.”

There was a lot of angry grumbling at that. Far too much for his comfort.

I make a very nice target up here, Jay realized. I need to say something else.

“Bumping was discussed!” he said quickly, which quieted the noise. He could nearly see people leaning forward. “There was no support for banning the practice-”

“Figures,” a woman yelled. “The bureau is the only way those idiots get any friction on their uglies these days!”

More jeers rang out.

Jay smiled at the interruption and seized the time to think.

It had a rhythm to it, the crowd. A back and forth, a haggle. Maybe he could treat it that way. His shoulders relaxed. He reached up and tucked one of the hanging bundles over an eave. It’s just a deal. You need to sell it.

“They wanted to restrict it to city contributions or guild size, but the high ranks shot that down quickly.” Jay’s confidence grew as that statement received the grumbling and laughter he’d expected. “Honestly, the guilds spent more time fighting each other than they did Pono in the meeting. Ikali the Lever was thrown out in the end.”

More smirks from the crowd. He might even survive this.

“And Pono?”

“They... aren’t leaving anytime soon.” Jay said hesitantly. “Marching Orders, Bedrock and Heritage seem to have supported their arrival.”

The crowd took on a dark turn again. He was losing the deal. He was losing them.

“But! There’s a trial period. The city is re-evaluating the decree at the next solstice. They’re...” He trailed off. How was he to translate the uncertain description of the terms that Remus had given at the meeting? “Task count. There won’t be a need for Pono if adventurers complete more tasks. If Lauchia can outperform them.”

There. That’s as best he could manage at short notice.

A few more questions were called and there were more grumbles, but most of the crowd seemed thoughtful more than anything else. Jay thought he was in the clear. Then came a difficult question.

“How can the city beat Pono if the guilds are all fighting?“ The woman who shouted stood towards the back of the crowd. Her eyes were less clouded than most in the bar. There was nothing but skepticism on her face.

“Well... We don’t rely on the guilds.“ The words came before he realized what he was saying. They continued to spill out, thoughts coalescing from the meeting and all his time in Lauchia. “They’re part of the problem. Pono was brought in to deal with them. They aren’t going to fix this.“

A murmur traveled across the bar. The moment hung in the balance.

“He’s right!“ Someone shouted hoarsely. “Those cocklofts can’t do anything right. If we want to fix this, we’ll have to do it ourselves.“

“Yeah!“

“Bury the guilds!“

“March them back to their beds!“

“If they won’t, we will!“

The calls continued to come. Jay didn’t know if he should hide or shout them down. He certainly wasn’t going to let his disbelief and confused horror at how this had gone show on his face.

Eventually, a lull in the cheering came, and a shout came from the bar.

“Give the lad a rest, get him a drink and OFF MY TABLE!”

That received loud laughter, and Jay was offered several hands down. The crowd shuffled him through until he was at the bar where a drink was thrust into his hands by someone who wanted to talk more. Then another as they left. And another.

Most people wanted to ask more about the meeting, who attended, if there was to be another and so on. They asked him what his plans were. They asked for advice. Jay didn’t have answers, but he tried not to saying anything too stupid as the beer kept coming. Some people were easier than others, and just wanted to talk.

“I thought the speech was great,” the man, much drunker than Jay himself, said. He placed a hand on Jay’s shoulder to steady himself.

“Thanks,” Jay said, toasting his mug and trying not to brush the hand off.

“I’m not an adventurer. I’m a blacksmith,” he announced proudly.

Well, that explained the soot on his face and clothes. The man was a couple of years older than Jay. He was likely still doing grunt tasks around the forge.

“Oh?”

“Yes! They wouldn’t take me, you know? I was like you guys. Indie-Indepents. No guild would touch me. Amorous or not!” He laughed, his hand on Jay’s shoulder massaging him?

It was weirdly comfortable and incredibly uncomfortable because of that.

“Half a year, I tried to get hired. Hammering nails straight in my backyard to try to learn something.” The man lost focus, sloshing some of their drink to the floor as they stared off at something unseen. “Then the orders came in, and the forges were hot night and day. Suddenly they all want work.”

His eyes blazed. “And I worked harder than any of them. I can make twice as many blades as they can. Three times as many spearheads. Armor plating by the dinner set. Sloppy pricks, relying on the Three for everything they are.” the alcohol daze returns. “It was all that knocking nails, I tell ya. You think it’s a eu-euphe-euphemism, but I tell ya.”

Was it that bad? Jay thought. Was this me if I didn’t find a team, complaining away in taverns about my time in the guards?

“It’s not the same,” the man explained, his hand finally leaving Jay’s shoulder. “Now they just tell jokes about building muscles for the lasses and how they all like scars.” He lifted both hands up, more beer sloshing from his mug as he hooked it on a thumb and made air quotes. “Nobody hammers a blacksmith, they say. Like I’m a mascot.”

Jay stepped back to avoid the falling liquid. “I think you need to sit down.”

They nodded, already looking away. He left with one final comment on “Hammer rhythm.”

The next adventurer stepped up, thankfully not with another full mug of beer for Jay.

It went on. By the time Jay managed to extricate himself, the room was as unsteady as his stomach. He knew the night was over for him. No one stopped him as he walked carefully to the door with only a few stumbles. The smell and cold outside helped sober him up a little, but he was still merry walking home.

It was a quiet night outside of Rock Bottom. The streets around the sewage system were empty, and even those at the edge of the district where there was more housing and no stench were-

Is that Kane?

Jay squinted, his focus not coming easily. It was, but who’s he with?

The two figures leant together, heads bumping, and they stumbled up against the wall-

Oh.

Has Taylor gotten taller? It was a cold night, but he’d never seen her in a hooded cloak before. She usually wore clothes that tended on the tighter side.

The hood fell back as a searching hand dug into hair - not bundling it or gathering into a tail as instructed, Jay’s absent mind noted. It was too short for that. And black, not grayish blond.

That’s not Taylor.

The thought sobered him up enough to be able to look properly. The other figure beside Kane was taller and broader, with a hooded cloak and messy black hair that was being disturbed further.

It was Mark. Taylor’s teammate.

“No. No. Not dealing with tonight.” Jay muttered. He set off again.

Thankfully, he was pleasantly drunk enough it didn’t matter by the time he reached the dorms.