Chapter 86 - Chapter 86

"Stupid, Cascel!" Hutch swung his sword wide, scrapping the tip through the thick straw of the target dummy before him. "Always right! He always had to be right!" he shouted, thrusting the sword forward to impale the dummy, but barely sinking in his sword. Yelling out in shear frustration, he jerked his sword free, and threw it to the ground.

"Easy there, Deadman," Ensaso's raspy voice echoed from behind him. "You just got back on your legs. Val might get upset if you ruin all his hard work by damaging yourself in here. And trust me, you don't want to see that one when he gets emotional."

Hutch didn't respond as he turned, and using his crutches, hopped his way over to where his sword landed.

"Proving my point for me. You can't even walk on your own yet. Swinging that sword around isn't going to make you better either. The last thing you need is to rack up more debt with Val'Bragah by screwing around and injuring yourself further. Especially with that stunning xalgar of yours walking around this place."

"Debt?" Hutch muttered, giving a slight shake of his head as he looked up at him. "What are you talking about, Ensaso?"

He grinned and threw up his hands. "What? You didn't think a man like Val'Bragah was going to save your life for nothing, did you?" He huffed, and lowered his hands, grabbing the flask from his belt. "Sadly, his services don't come cheap either. And Kahlala, now she's just the type of payment he tends to like, when the coin isn't available."

"You keep him away from her!" Hutch bellowed, swiftly scooping up his sword from the dust of the floor, before ferociously hopping towards him, dropping one of his crutches and nearly falling over in the process. "I don't care how much he wants! He can take back my life, but I swear, if he touches a single hair on her head, I'll…"

"You'll what?!" Ensaso snapped back, interrupting him. "In your condition you can't even take out your frustrations. Val would chop you up into so many pieces even the wind couldn't find all of them. Now calm down," he remarked, as he leaned down and picked up Hutch's crutch, handing it back to him. "I didn't come here looking for a fight. Surprisingly." He shrugged and motioned to the bench at the side of the training room they were in.

Hutch glanced at the bench and sheathed his sword, before taking the crutch from Ensaso. Setting it back beneath his arm, he hobbled his way over to the bench, and sat down. He didn't care that Ensaso was right. He was alive, but he wasn't in good shape. Val'Bragah had managed to save his life after he fell from a cliff, but even with his questionable expertise, and the aid of his magic, he'd still spent several days asleep and three times as many on his back in a bed. He was weak. His muscles and joints ached, and he was still nursing several broken bones, including multiple ribs, and the femur in his right leg. He wasn't even familiar with all his new scars, and knew it was stupid of him to risk getting more while Kahlala was still fuming mad over the accident.

Flopping back against the wall, he propped his crutches up beside him, and stared down at the mud caked cast on his leg. It was nothing pretty, made of clay, fabric strips, reeds, and sticks for strength, but it was working, and that was all that mattered.

"Here, drink up," Ensaso remarked, pressing the flask into Hutch's chest, before sitting down beside him. "Looks like you need it more than me."

"What do you want, Ensaso? I've already promised to finish the job once my leg heals up, if your crew hasn't figured it out by then. Otherwise, there's not much else I can do for the time being."

"Hutch, that flask isn't going to empty itself, and you can't speak while you're drinking. See how that works out nice for the both of us?" Ensaso side-eyed him until he lifted the flask to his mouth. "There's a good kid." He grinned and shifted his eyes forward as he crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back against the wall. "Now, I happen to like you, Hutch. You're like an arrow. Which is oddly fitting since you're an archer. You find your target and you fly towards it, no meandering around, going off on some side quest. And you're honest too. It's a smart, simple, way to be, and with me, it keeps you alive and 'mostly' in one piece. Val's services are a small, shall we say, perk, of working with me, and my crew, and as such, I'm not going to let him lay a hand on Kahlala or you." He lowered his hands to the bench, his grin fading as he stared off into space. His voice lowering as he spoke. "She didn't want to leave your side the entire time you were unconscious. I had to have Shail drag her out of your room after three days, and even then, she only agreed to take a bath and change before she was right back with you. I only managed to scare her into eating. Don't think she likes me very much if I'm being honest. I know what it's like to be on the other side of a gaze like hers. I'm not going to let Val take that from you. You can lose it all on your own, if you're stupid enough. But that's why I'm here. I want to make you a deal, so you can keep her safer than she is now. Because even with the pay I promised, you need the coin to make it through the winter, and what's left won't dent what you owe Val for your life. So, I'm going to pay your debt for you, and in return, you're going to work for me to pay me back what you owe. I know you might not think it ideal, but being indebted to me, is far better than being indebted to him."

"I only have your word on that," Hutch replied, setting the flask down between them.

"Fair enough, but for as insane as people claim I am, I promise you, Val'Bragah is completely deranged. Don't let his mild-mannered disposition, or his calm and quiet persona fool you as it does so many others. He didn't learn how to put people back together by chance or whim, or by reading it from a book someone else wrote. No, he learned all of it with his own hands. Years of practice, while he was the one writing the books. If you don't believe me, find a way down into his cellar. See for yourself what becomes of anyone who catches his eye, Yuhari being the exception, but then again, she's just as messed up as he is."

"If he's as deranged as you say, why keep him around?" Hutch questioned, skeptical of Ensaso's claims.

"That's easy," he exclaimed with a broad grin as he straightened his back, "I don't give a shit about how he gains his knowledge, as long as it serves me in the end. Plus, as long as I keep paying him the way he wants, he's happy. Well, as happy as someone like him can be. He's also the most trustworthy and loyal man I've ever had at my side. I don't judge him, and he certainly doesn't judge me. Heck, I don't even trust Shail as much as I trust him, and she shares my bed. My point is, he's like you, simple, and honest to a fault. I don't think he'd lie, even if he could. If he doesn't want to say something, he simply stays silent. I know where his focus is, and I never have to question his motivations, because they never change. He works, he earns his payment, he gets time off to enjoy his hobby, and the cycle continues. Thirteen…" he hummed and rubbed at his chin in thought, "maybe it's more like sixteen. Meh, doesn't matter. All these years and it's never changed."

"Is there a point to all of this?"

"Right, my point. Compromises, Hutch. This world is all about compromises. How many you're willing to make, and how far you're willing to take them. You follow so far?"

"Sure. You give up one thing to gain another."

"Precisely," he remarked as he picked up the flask and gave it a shake. "Huh, you actually drank all of it."

"You're the one who told me to," Hutch replied, watching as Ensaso popped the cork back into place.

"True, but I didn't think you'd actually do it. But you see, compromise. You compromised your sobriety, and I compromised my drink. I'm going to pay Val on your behalf, and in return, I acquire your debt. In return, I need you to turn a blind eye to what you don't like and work for me."

"In other words, you want me to compromise my integrity and become one of your outlaws."

"Exactly. But here's the compromise. Not only does your debt get paid, but you get one step closer to what you've been dreaming of all along: a clear target, right in the center of Salvador's chest. And with me holding the bow, little arrow, I've no doubt you'll fly true."