Takal went upstairs to Master Tazmaine's quarters and knocked on his door. Timberly opened the door and squealed, "Takal" she jumped up into his arms, almost knocking him over. He tried not to drop her with his one arm. Timberly and Kyolly were like little sisters to him, and he hugged her and gave her a noogie. "Eww you're all sticky and you stink," she said plugging her nose.
"I know, I just ran here, is your dad in?"
"Right here Takal. Is everything okay?" he said worried as he took in his ragged state and waved him inside his quarters.
"Yeah, fine." He put Timberly down. "But I wanted to ask you if you could send some guards to watch the town, The Demons will be looking for the girl, and I kind of doubt she'll stay in the center of town, she'll wander and"- he paused realizing how he sounded and finished with a reasonable concern to spend men on. "She'll put her whole town at risk. It's a small town as it is. Mostly new settlers, they will be more vulnerable to attack and the demons could easily decimate the place." He realized as he said it how true it was and wondered if he should have stayed and just sent Torn back. But what could he have done to help in his current state?
Instead of answering his question he just asked "What happened to you?" Takal wasn't sure if he meant his attitude or his ragged state after running so far.
He decided to answer it as having to do with his looks, not understanding what he felt. "I ah ran here from Newport, the town built over Oceanside city. I couldn't leave Torn without a partner and Shadow was injured anyways."
"Torn's still there?"
"Well yeah, just until some backup can replace him." Realizing how presumptuous that sounded he quickly added "or someone tells him to come back. But there was already one attack and I don't know if they will try again."
"That's a good idea, our job is to protect the people after all. I'll send some men first thing tomorrow. But you could have taken Torn's horseback and still left him with Shadow's help, or stayed and had him return with the news, so why the long run? What's on your mind boy?" Master Tazmaine said like the father he practically was.
"I'm not sure if Master Robin thought to mention it, but the girl wanted to stay and learn to fight; and though we thought bringing her home would be best, well now I'm not so sure, I think she should have the choice to work here with us."
"I'm not sure if that would be best, I heard about what those things did to her, she'd never feel or be safe here. And it's more complicated than that."
"I know, and that's why I don't want you to decide, I'm requesting we hold a council meeting and vote her in. I don't want the responsibility to be laid on just you."
"It sounds like you've thought this through, pretty quick change of heart. Wasn't it just two days ago you wanted her out of here because you thought she might be a spy."
"Not of her own free will, and I don't believe that anymore. She's got more brass than half our soldiers. She'd die before helping them. And they wouldn't risk setting her free to get to us, she's more important to them than we are. And there's no way they would trust her. I now believe she killed her guards and escaped on her own because she's skilled and smart and reckless enough to do it. I've seen her in action."
"Ok, you can eat, clean, and sleep here tonight and tell me all the details from the beginning when you wake up. By then, the meeting should be scheduled." Takal visibly relaxed and was happy to do exactly as he was told.
~Chapter 8: Preparations – Nieka~
Nieka wandered through town wondering how this was going to work. Girls were not allowed to fight, and it would really worry her mother if she were to find out she was training. Then she got an idea and put it into action immediately. First, she stopped and got some rain sticks and bells to aid in the allusion of dance and grabbed a drum for Sky Dragon.
When she spotted the older man heading for the fields she stopped him and explained about the horse and her fear her mother would try to stop her. then she explained her idea to make her fighting form appear more like dance, it looked enough like it that that's what her sister had always called in anyways. She wore bells around her ankles to disguise her footwork and a rain stick for sword or staff work, clappers for dagger work, and pop pods for throwing. She wasn't sure if this would actually work, but if it allowed her to practice freely then it was worth a try.
She got quite a few odd stares from passer-byes and was slipped up several times by her long skirts and noisy instruments. This would sometimes cause snickers, raised eyebrows, and whispers that she had lost her mind, but no one questioned that she was attempting to dance.
As foreign as the style was to them, so was she and her chosen teacher playing the drums. She ignored them knowing they would laugh harder if they knew she was learning to fight. They wouldn't be laughing though if they knew what she did about the demons that crept just beyond the woods. Sky Dragon helped her with her form as much as possible but could not make out what her feet were doing because of the flowing skirts of her dress.
That evening she returned home determined and focused on how to solve the day's problems. In other words, she was distracted and detached from all the chatter at dinner. Her father had mentioned something about her stealing one of his sailors as a 'dance' teacher; there was a pretty good chance he knew exactly what Sky Dragon was teaching her, but he probably wouldn't worry her mother about it.
A glance at her father confirmed her suspicions. They knew each other well. They exchanged a knowing smirk as her mother fretted over her choice of teacher while encouraging her sudden interest in dance; After all, there were many others well versed in more mainstream dancing than a foreign sailor. She brushed it off without trying to defend her choices. After dinner, she quickly excused herself and rushed off to her room to get back to work.