Seamus furrowed his brow as he tied up the last knot, looking at Dahlia for approval. She rubbed her chin, examining the snare he had made. Seamus hoped it was good enough, knowing well enough that he tried more times than he counted. Meanwhile, in the background, he could hear Harald teach James how to fight. This meant that Seamus was currently hearing James get his ass handed to him multiple times.
He turned to watch the two fight, James swinging his branch like a child while Harald dodged and countered his attacks.
Seamus felt a sense of nostalgia watching the two spar, remembering his own childhood. He remembered how his father had done his best to train Seamus, trying to make him a worthy heir to the clan’s role as Jarl. Seamus didn’t know what was worse: his father’s legacy ending with him or that he would never become the man his father was.
‘Probably both.’
Dahlia finished looking over the snare, her head slightly nodding in approval. “It’s a little sloppy, but I think you’re getting the hang of it.” She looked at the sparring match that was currently happening, frowning a bit.
“You really think his plan is going to work?” Seamus asked.
Dahlia shrugged. “Either it does… or it doesn’t,” she said simply, unsettling Seamus. Those definitely weren’t words of encouragement.
‘Then again, what choice do we have? We don’t have a better plan.’
Seamus had some faith in James, as they truly had nothing better to put it in.
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James panted heavily as he landed on his ass, his ‘training sword’ now broken into two.
“How did you survive back on Earth?” Harald asked, passing James his own training sword, which was just a branch like the previous one.
“To be fair, we sort of evolved out of the ‘kill or be killed’ stage of life fairly recently,” James explained as he slowly stood back up. He brandished his new sword at Harald, who had grabbed another branch from nearby.
“Really? This Earth of yours sounds interesting. You should tell me more about it another time… if we get through this.” Without warning, Harald charged at James, his branch already in full swing. James barely blocked it, his arm vibrating from the two swords' sudden impact.
“Your stance is off again,” Harald pointed out, his foot kicking James’, causing the young man to stumble back. He tried to regain his balance just as Harald advanced. James’ body tensed up, his feet moving into the right position as he blocked the incoming attack. Harald grinned as the ‘swords’ clashed again.
“There it is,” the veteran muttered.
‘What happened?’
‘I happened,’ Faust remarked. ‘I took control for a bit. Fixed your stance and footwork.’
‘The hell, man?’
James remembered how it had felt when Faust had tried to take over his body. This was different, but it felt so damn similar that James felt uncomfortable with the idea of Faust controlling his body, even if it was temporary.
‘Still, I guess it could be useful.’
James blocked another attack from Harald. James allowed Faust to temporarily take control, letting him control his footwork for a solid second. Unlike last time, however, Faust messed it up, causing James to stumble back and fall like he had so many times before.
‘What happened?’ James asked the spirit, who shrugged his metaphorical shoulders.
‘Still not used to this body, remember?’ Faust reminded him, causing James to groan silently as Harald’s branch poked his side.
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“At this rate, the marauders will destroy Yorktown and burn this island to the ground by the time you learn the basics,” the old man commented.
James got up, gritting his teeth as frustration set in. “You can’t seriously expect me to learn so much in less than a day, right?” He complained before he raised his ‘sword’ at Harald.
They went at it again, this time with James managing a counter-attack at the veteran, hitting him finally. James’ victory was cut short when Harald swept him off his feet again, making the young man land on his ass for the hundredth time.
“I expect you not to get yourself killed in the next twenty-four hours,” Harald growled. “You won’t need to fight them face to face if your plan goes well. But if it doesn’t…” He pointed the end of his branch at James’ nose, barely touching it. “You’re going to need all the fighting experience you can get.”
James nodded, swallowing as he got back up. He took a deep breath as he raised his ‘sword’ again. He could understand what Harald was trying to do, even if it barely raised his chances of surviving.
“All right, let’s not waste any more time,” James panted out before lunging at Harald.
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The day was almost done, the sky turning darker as Seamus watched Dahlia spar with Harald. James was next to the young man, snoring lightly as he rested against a tree, with red marks on his pale skin, all from Harald’s training. Dahlia had left Seamus with James to teach him how to set up traps, but James had fallen asleep while setting up his snare. Seamus let him rest, knowing full well how much energy training can take out of someone. He didn’t have to train, as Harald knew the young man could fight.
Seamus sighed as he rested against the same tree, watching Dahlia get up from the ground and swing her ‘sword’ at Harald, who easily parried her attacks. Seamus could tell she knew how to fight but didn’t know how to pick her moments.
The young man sighed, shuddering at the thought of being in an actual fight with someone else. It was a terrifying thought, reinforced by the fact that he might face marauders the next day.
‘I doubt I can face those monsters. Let alone win a fight.’
Seamus shuddered again, hoping that James’ plan would work. He looked at the blond man, who had done more in two days than he had in his entire life.
‘He’s braver than me or stupider… or both, actually.’
Seamus remembered how James had protected him and how he had stepped in during that bar confrontation to make sure Seamus didn’t get beaten to a pulp. He had faced the marauders without hesitation, paid the price for it, and still wasn’t terrified to face them again.
‘What kind of place is ‘Earth’?’
Seamus knew that there was no person in all of Valenfrost who would do the same things James had done. It was something he would hear about in those old children's stories, the ones about brave knights and selfless kings. Seamus laughed a bit, knowing he was getting carried away with his thoughts again.
‘No, James is simply strange. With a bit of stupidity in him.’
Seamus wondered if James was the exception in his world or if everyone else on ‘Earth’ was just as strange as him. Just as Seamus was about to wake up James to ask him about this very question, Dahlia collapsed to the ground, reaching her limit for the day.
“Seamus! James!” Harald shouted to the two, waking James from his brief nap. Seamus watched James wake up, momentarily confused, before realizing that Harald was calling them over.
“Let’s get going,” Seamus said as he stood, helping James up on his feet. James sleepily mumbled his thanks as they walked, rubbing his exhausted eyes. Once they had reached Harald, he gave them both a nod, his eyes scanning the three. Dahlia and James looked exhausted and definitely in no shape to continue training. The old man sighed, stroking his beard as he looked at the darkening sky.
“This will have to do. For now,” he said simply. “You all are going to sleep in my home for the night. Before dawn, we’ll head to Yorktown. I know a faster route there, so hopefully, we’ll get there before the marauders do.”
“Are you sure it’s alright if we sleep?” James asked, stepping forward. It’s barely dusk. I’m sure we can—" Harald’s hand interrupted James.
“Sleep. You’ll need it.” The old man was adamant, which James seemed to realize right away. Seamus wondered if this faster route would be enough and if they could get to Yorktown in time. Before he could ask, however, Dahlia spoke up.
“How long will this new route take? The one we used to get here took us a day.”
The old man shrugged. “About four to six hours. Which is why we’ll need to leave early. Before dawn. So I suggest you three get to sleep now. We’re gonna have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.” James and Dahlia seemed to want to protest but stopped short at the veteran’s gaze. “Now, let’s get inside. You can set your sleeping rolls by the fire.” The old man turned without saying another word, heading to the fence surrounding his shack.
Seamus watched as the man opened his gate, leaving it open as he headed inside. He looked over at James, who yawned tiredly.
“I guess we could use the rest. We’re going to have to be as alert as we can tomorrow if we’re going to pull it off,” James muttered.
Dahlia stood up, yawning, too. “Can you go over the plan again?” she asked, brushing some of her black hair away.
“Ugh… it took James a solid hour to explain it all. Harald said to rest, so rest. We can go over the plan tomorrow,” Seamus muttered. He was exaggerating about James taking an hour to explain the plan since most of that hour he had to go over it with Faust to make sure they got it right. Still, it got the point across to the two. They both nodded, agreeing with Seamus, before heading to the shack, where their rucksacks were waiting to be unpacked. Seamus followed close behind, closing the gate behind them.