Chapter 49: Careers, Crying, and Snippets
When: From then until now.
Where: Around and about.
Who: Theresa ‘Tess’ Armstrong.
“Follow my lead, Book.”
We’d been wandering the elven city, whose name we’d learned was Oakheart, for several hours, aimless and shell-shocked. As we passed a small park filled with small carts and stalls selling food, the medieval equivalent of a food truck parking lot, the enticing smells set off audible rumblings in our guts. We could probably afford something, hot and delicious versus the dried and flavorless meat bars we’d been subsiding on, but had no means to replace whatever we spent. Still, the temptation was almost too much. That’s when I made the decision to be proactive.
After reluctantly leaving the prospect of a hot meal behind us, we trudged on until I saw an elven woman washing the outside window of a shop, with “J&T [Courier]s” neatly painted on the glass. On the other side of the soapy window hung a handwritten sign; “Help Wanted: Runners needed, training to become [Class]ed [Courier]s! (Room & Board included until [Class]ed.)”
Running? Oh, hell yes.
“Oh yeah! (Chi chicka chickaaa)…”
“Ha!” Book cried as I sang it loud. “I told you that you’d like that movie.”
I grinned and gave him a wink. He did have good taste in old flicks, I have to admit.
“Excuse me,” I said to the washing woman. We already knew that we could understand the locals, thanks to the [translation; superior] program and listening to the hubbub surrounding us. Also, I could obviously read the language, but this was the first time I’d tried to speak it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Or, as I liked to say; Fuck it!
“Yes?” The woman turned to face me, a sudsy sponge dripping from her hand. Score one, she understood me.
“Just got into town,”—what an understatement—“and we’re looking for some work. I noticed the sign…?” I let the question trail off, waiting for her to fill the rest in.
She looked the two of us up and down, judging our fitness. Luckily, we were both lean and trim, which was normal for me, of course. Book, however, was in the best shape of life, the poor guy. A strict—lack of—diet and what Book called genetic jiggering and he could pass for mildly athletic. I think this purely out of the goodness of my heart, obviously (//snort//). Did I just snort at myself? Never mind.
“You look in decent enough shape. My name is Terrin,” the woman dried a hand off on her tunic, then held it out. I shook first, followed by a hesitant Book. The elf, Terrin, gathered her cleaning supplies and waved at us to follow her. “Come on in and I’ll introduce you to my wife, Jezzica. We just started this little [Courier] business; you two could be our latest hires if Jez thinks she can train you.”
Train? Yeah, I did physical training all the time, for both high school and then college track. This seemed different, somehow. Formal. We followed Terrin through the door, an annoyingly cheerful little bell over it announcing us.
“Jez,” she called out. “I have your next victims!” She smiled at us, enjoying her played-out joke. We needed this, so I kept the eye-rolling in my thoughts.
A tall, striking woman brushed through a beaded curtain separating this front space from a back room. Cradled gently in her muscled arms was a small animal resembling a rabbit. I say resembling because the creature had Halloween-orange fur, giant paws with ten toes—or so it seemed—and budding antlers sprouting from its head. Trailing on her heel was a rather normal-looking dog. ‘Finally, a proper animal…’, the “pup” panted, revealing a foot-long, forked tongue. I looked in the corners of the ceiling, checking for a lemba’oat about to pounce.
”More strays, Terrin?”
“Be nice, Jez. These two young ones…”
“Tess,” I supplied
“Book, ma’am.”
“Snert, don’t ‘ma’am me, boy.”
Book looked abashed at the reprimand, delivered in such a firm tone. I wasn’t bothered, knowing her type. And, ‘snert’? The fuck kind of noise was that?
“They are new in town, and looking for some work. They are interested in becoming [Courier]s.”
“Are they now?” Jez took us in at a glance, noting the over-filled duffel bags we were toting. “And they just show up with all their worldly possessions in tow? No plans?”
“Sure, why not?” I gave as good as I got. “We made the decision to leave our hometown, packed up, headed out. We have been on the road for a while, thought we’d give your town a try. So, here we are.”
“Bold, girl.” Jez kept up a steady stroking of the rabbit’s—jackalope?—ears.”Where are you from?”
I…didn’t know what to say.
“Boulder, Jezzica. It’s a small place, you probably haven’t heard of it, though.”
Score one for Book, with the quick answer. I’d a never thought to tell the truth, even if misleading.
“It is Jez.”
Oops, Book’s second strike with the stern-acting woman.
“You want to be [Courier]s then? I don’t have the time to train wanderers, only to have them slink off in the night.”
“Yeah, sure thing,” not unless this gig sucks. “I have always been a runner, never feeling more alive than losing myself in the rhythm of feet pounding the ground.” And it was true, I did feel that way. The only time I’ve felt better was when I took down that lemba’oat, but that wasn’t a viable career. Was it?
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
“OK, then. You might be worth my time, after all. And you?” She jutted her chin at Book, and I hoped he’d play along like I said.
“Uhm…yes?” way to sell it, dude.
“Good! That is settled, then.” Terrin was obviously the chipper half of the couple, for sure. “I’m thinking the room and board would be welcome, am I right? Come with me, and I’ll settle you in the runners' bunkroom. You can stay there until you are [Class]ed; for now, you will have the room mostly to yourselves. Our newly [Class]ed [Courier], Kolin, just moved out last Seven-day, finding a place for himself.”
What the hell is a ‘Seven-day’?
“Come on, this way.”
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“Sure you’re ready to move out, girlie?” Jez always called me that, and I’d given up trying to talk her out of it.
“You betcha. I’m [Class]ed now, and Book and I have an apartment lined up.” Receiving the option of becoming a full-fledged [Courier] while in the middle of a run had about caused a face-pant in the gravel, for fuck’s sake.
As it was, I’d stumbled to a stop, barely keeping from a total collapse as pain seared my head. I had to crawl into a nearby alley, huddle in the dirt and weep until it passed. For a brief moment, I’d thought I was going to go the way Ricki had, with my melon bursting and painting the ground. It passed, though it was close.
“Thanks, too, Jez, for letting Book keep crashing in the bunks after leaving.”
“Snert, his leaving was payment enough!”
I shared a laugh with the woman, feeling guilty for not defending my friend. It passed, too.
“You earn more than enough for both of you, Tess. As long as you don’t leave…”
“Doubt it.”
“…it’s all good.” Jez had picked up that bit of slang from me.
‘Later Jez. I’ll be back for the morning runs. They’re my best earners.”
“A true professional. Mornings are the best business, at least for upstanding workers.”
I ignored the jab at Book, who was known for sleeping in. If she made a third one, however, I’d have to do something about it.
“Take care of your freaky, orange terror.”
“You love Norby, girl, so don’t give me that. Besides, she is Terrin’s, not mine.”
Sure, keep telling everybody that.
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Life had become pretty routine; dare I say normal? Yes, I missed Earth, and my family—Steve—but I’d always known I would move away, just not this far. Eh, it’s fine.
Speaking of Steve, I needed to move on. I may have found someone to fill that void—not Book, he just didn’t do it for me, nothing against him. No, one of the other [Courier]s, Kolin, has caught my eye. Athletic, handsome, and sweet. The guy keeps saying he’s going to change [Class]es, join an adventuring team, so I’m not sure how long he is going to be around, at least here at “J&T”. He keeps hinting, going on about what a good adventurer I would make, too. Can’t say it’s not tempting, extremely so.
A couple of days later, Kolin made the jump. He’d been accepted by a Guild Team and was officially working on getting a new [Class]. No idea how that even works, but if—when—I’m ready to make the jump myself, at least I know someone to help guide me. We had a rocky start, as a couple, but it had smoothed out. Book seemed to like him, too, and that was important.
Today’s [Courier] run was a big one, the heavy, [mana] sealed pack bouncing on back more weighty than mere kilos, or pounds. I preferred the metric. I was cruising, legs pumping like pistons, blood coursing my veins, glorious sweat flowing out my pores; I loved it! It was better than any corporate job could ever hope to be.
I was in my happy place when the big shadow jumped out in front of me.
“Gimme the bag, or I’ll…!”
Nope. And god bless my enhanced reaction speed. I ain’t gonna slow for this shit! I lashed out with my foot, the heel catching the would-be thug square in the balls. I could feel the soft resistance giving way; I hope I popped at least one of the fuckers.
I didn’t feel like wasting time, my running high, or the possibility of a huge tip—that one’s for you, Steve!—so I spun around the hopefully newly impotent shit-bag, thanking all those years of martial arts. Once I had space, I kicked in [sprint; common] and took off, my heart rate as steady as before.
*Ding!*
Fuck, now?!
The headache came crashing down, thankfully not bad enough to cause more than a slight hic-up to my overcharged stride. Was I getting used to it? Book thought our [Mark .07]’s were integrating better, or learning, or blah-bla-blah. I wondered if the [mana] coursing alongside my blood thanks to [Spurt]—my customization was cooler, and not as clunky, as the original—alleviated the harshness.
[Powered Front Kick; common]: Execute a front-facing kick, enhanced by the user’s [mana]. This spell can be upgraded. The next evolution will enable [variable] strength levels.
I am going to call you…[PFK].
The tip was HUGE.
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Is that Book? What is he doing here, at Team Brawn’s little shit shack? Right! Kolin was brokering a deal for him, selling some scrolls to Rolf. Cool. I should get him to stock me up on scrolls, maybe in place of some of the money he owed. I didn’t care, money was no big deal, easy come and easy go, but it seemed to bother him. he mainly had utility scrolls, but if he would get his ass in gear, make some combat scrolls I could use, then I’d be in good.
It was sweet, getting free training from Kolin and his cronies, and I was drinking in everything I could. I knew going this route was inevitable, ever since the lemba’oat and the ball-busted thug, and I guess Book did, too. He seemed to be accepting it better, now that he had some new friends. My real fear was telling Jez and Terrin. I hated the thought of disappointing them, but I'm pretty sure they already had an inkling of my new direction.
Anyway, back to training. These imaginary goblins weren’t going to pummel themselves, so what’s a girl to do? HA!
[PFK]!
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Damn me, that had been fun! Taking down those Nightshade dweebs; smash!, thwack!, ka-pow! Oh, this was the life for me. Nothing else compared…
Vitor was gorgeous! Not to say Kolin was cut and chiseled, but god—or goddess, if I wanted to fit in better—the weapon smith could have been a Greek God. And, he understood what I needed in the sai’s and flexible, melee armor. Of course, Book had to step in and offer to pay with his scrolls, the dope. For a guy always complaining about being broke, he sure offers up an awful lot. He’d been so cute, though. Walking out the shop, his ity-bity mace in one hand and a bouquet of purple roses in the other. So adorable…
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Fuck me, I can’t believe that idiot! Yeah, yeah, adventuring is dangerous, as Book lets me know every chance he gets. I still wasn’t official, waiting for my [Class] to change, but I was spending less and less time with Terrin and Jez, taking on fewer [Courier] jobs. They could see the writing on the walls. I only did enough to keep a little nest egg in reserve.
But now, Kolin was headed to the Barrier Strait while I had to stay behind. I wasn’t an idiot, I’d heard the rumors; battles where Team’s were decimated and their remains desecrated. If that jack-ass gets himself killed, I’ll…I’ll…