Andrew

“Go away.” Gracie shot them a blank glare from over a pile of wheat she’d gathered. With her bow off to one side, she crouched by the field of wheat as she cut them into piles all alone until he, Chase, and Flynn approached her. Although Chase convinced him to do this, he was starting to have second thoughts. His patients were waning, not like he’d rather be some place else. Not having anything good to say, Andrew guarded his tongue. Chase looked over at him expectantly, making Andrew sigh. Whether the boy was coaxed into doing this by his mother or not hardly mattered now, he had spunk. 

I can’t let the kid down now. Besides, he himself wanted to know what her deal was.

What was said between her and Natalie? With that in mind, Andrew put on his best smile. 

“I’m here to help you.” Dragging that line out felt like tearing a frightened cat off a carpet. Andrew thought he’d covered his displeasure with a convincing tone until he felt his lip twitch repeatedly. Gracie looked at him with disdain.

“Did you ask them to do this?” She turned to Chase.

“I offered myself, but thanks. Glad you asked us,” Andrew said. 

“We don’t need your pity,” Gracie said. 

“It’s not pity,” Andrew said. Gracie snapped around, pointing an accusatory finger at Flynn. 

“And you! You said to call if I needed any help! Well, I didn’t call!” 

“You may not have asked, but he did.” Flynn pointed his chin at Chase, just behind him. 

“And you just obey little kids now?” Gracie asked.

“I’d have you know that my client is a young man and he would like to be treated like one,“ Flynn said, giving a respectful wink at Chase. Although he did a good job at hiding it, Andrew could see Chase's eyes light up at being called a young man. Shaking her head, Gracie chuckled to herself.

“Oh, I bet he is,“ she mumbled as she got back to cutting wheat. Chase’s demeanour shrank at her dismissal. “Guess you can change the goalpost when you want to.“

“That request was not offered to only you. The young man wanted some help, and the mother agreed that I help him. Though if you want to get all technical, you could simply say that we are, in fact, still doing ‘this’ for ourselves,” Flynn said, all grins and raised eyebrows. There seems to be a deeper meaning to the words, but Andrew did not get it. 

“And I’m not a child,” Chase mumbled, although barely a whisper Andrew could sense his will in it, his fighting spirit. Grace turned her accusatory gaze at him. Chase seemed to melt under her glare at first, but then he straightened up in open defiance immediately. After a silent moment, Gracie bowed her head before turning back to her work. 

As Flynn took this as a silent assent to cut the wheat, Andrew took note of that last interaction between Chase and Gracie before following suit.

“So you, a scared knight of a Runesmith, are doing farm work because you want to?” she asked. Although Andrew couldn’t see her face, he knew she was watching him now from over her shoulder. 

“Don’t let these fancy clothes fool you. I may not look it, but I’ve done way less glamorous things for money…” Flynn said. 

“Besides, I promised that I’d train Chase for a while so I want to get this over with first,” Andrew said.

“So you do want to teach him…” Gracie mumbled. 

“What?” Before she could answer, six people emerged from the tall wheat fields drawing all their attention. Three women, two kids with a rather large man, lead the group toward the farmhouse. Carrying travel sacks, they marched with the gate of people not used to travelling the grasslands.

Refugees from Progmanfest, Andrew thought. As he was about to turn to Grace and ask if she knew, he saw the light of recognition in her features. And although she knew them. The man and women waved to her before Iris came out of the house to meet them. After some palaver among the grown up’s, Iris pointed over to him and Flynn before the large man gestured for them to come over. Andrew was about to oblige until Gracie took a hold of his arm, stopping him.

“Where busy! But we can talk after!“ she shouted. Andrew frowned.

“Is there a reason you rather not have us talk to them?“ Andrew asked.

“Too nosey, “ she mumbled, shaking her head. Andrew just looked at her sideways, to which she shared an amused smile. “Trust me when I say that I’m doing you a favour,“ as they were being led into the farmhouse, the big man stopped a moment to cup his hands and call out to them.

“These new recruits are not giving you any trouble, are they?“ he called.

“‘New recruits’?“ Andrew asked.

“I think he means us,“ Flynn said, an amused smile finding it’s way on his lips.

“What?!“

“Iris must have said something silly, honestly.“ Gracie sighed. Her face, however, seemed to be the opposite of annoyed.

“With everybody fighting the good fight, staying beside the reliable Gracie is the next best thing!“ he shouted before fanning himself with his hat. As she waved goodbye to him and his family, Andrew took stock of what had just happened. He sounded ernes enough, but Andrew got the feeling that he mostly just wanted a convenient place to rest, which he had to admit was kind of amusing. Gracie, however, seemed to shrink at the complaint, giving him pause.

“What is it?“ Andrew asked.

“It’s nothing, “ she said. Walking back to the wheat field, she picked up his sickle and handed it to him. “If you want to train him, then fine. Just don’t go spoiling all the progress I helped him make with your archaic methods. “Andrew just sniffed before snatching the sickle from her. Funny coming from the village bumpkin.

“Teach might be too strong a word, but I can at least see where he’s at and give pointers. Besides, sparring beginners gives me a chance to run over the basics,” Andrew said. Silence fell as Andrew continued working. When Andrew chanced a glance over to Gracie, he saw her already fully committing herself to the task at hand. Seeing her silently concede, Andrew smiled to himself. So what Chase told him was right. The young boy told them the likely reason Gracie was so cold to him before. Beyond her worry about the village and the burden of looking after the farm, Gracie was conflicted about whether the help they offered was done out of pity or not.

Thanks to the extra hands, work around the farm went by quickly. They cut through the crops nearest to the farmhouse and proceeded deeper. They formed up wrapped-up piles where the wheat field ended. Andrew lost himself in the work. Every once in a while, Chase would advise them on where to cut the wheat and how to move deeper through the field for better speed and consistency. If Andrew had any doubt that he was the son of a farm boy, they’d all vanished right there.

It didn’t take long before Andrew and Flynn found a system that worked between them. There is a lot you can learn about someone when you have to work with them. Flynn had this habit of injecting humorous jives at them, turning everything they did into a friendly contest. From how much they could cut down in one go to how fast they could pile it all together in preparation to move.

Andrew was not biting at first, too busy working on his own pile until every odd occasion when he turned to add more to his load, only to find the whole thing was gone. Flynn would turn to him with a big grin as he asked why he gathered so little. Flynn walked away after the fourth time, and Andrew found himself falling into his pace. Andrew told himself that he did it to stop him from stealing his pile at first, but even that reason faded away as time went on.

Not everything went smoothly, however. Gracie tried giving him demands on how to best stack his wheat pile, and when he mentioned how fussy she was being, Gracie began ranting on about the smallest things. Andrew’s first reflex was to just ignore her, but as time passed, he realised that Gracie’s words did not feel like they came from a place of disdain. It was only then that Andrew could start taking on some of her pointers. Things fell silent as the synergy between them improved. They all collectively found a rhythm of work. And although little was said thereafter, Andrew knew that the tension between him and Gracie had all but faded.

~#~

Andrew prepared to train Chase in the space they had just cut clear. As Chase ran back to the house to get his practice swords, he and Flynn marked a boundary for a makeshift arena by using some odd sticks lying around. Gracie sat in silence watching for a time, but unfortunately, that silence could not last. 

“Bit small, don’t you think?” she said. 

“What is?” Andrew said, tightening his eyes. 

“The arena. Chase won’t be able to go toe to toe with you in close quarters. Are you trying to bully him?” Chase approached them as Gracie finished. Looking between them, Andrew saw the markings of concern on the boy’s face. He knew what she was gunning for and, in a sense, she was right. 

“That’s one way to look at it, I guess,” Andrew began. "Growth is built under pressure, and limitations birth creativity," Andrew stated. “ Creating a scenario that forces a certain style of fighting is the best way to grow good habits and weed out the bad ones,” 

“Spoken like a true bully,” Gracie said. 

”Funny way of telling me you’re scared of close quarters combat,” Andrew said.

“I guess that a city boy like yourself doesn’t know the meaning of ‘personal space’.” Gracie said.

”I don’t come from a city,” Andrew said. 

“Could have fooled me,“ she mumbled.

“What did you say?“

“I said; I fail to see how that changes my point,”

“Andrew is teaching Chase the way of the blade. Though it is valid to know when to run or keep your distance, there are times you cannot simply run,” Flynn said.

“Oh, that makes sense,” Gracie nodded. “Proceed,”

Andrew’s blood boiled for a moment. There was no way that she’d only got that when Flynn explained it. He wanted to call her out on it, but Andrew willed himself to remain placid. He will not give her the pleasure. 

“When training for something as chaotic as battle, it is important to understand the fundamentals. Guess it’s a bit like putting together the parts needed to make a working fishing rod. Not only must you know what parts you need and how to connect them, but also what each part does and why combining them together helps you catch fish.” 

“I know what you mean! Parts like stabbing and cutting, right?!” Chase stepped up eagerly. 

“Those are a part of what’s needed to fight, but when is it best to cut or stab?” Andrew said. Chase put his hand up. 

“It’s when you come face to face with the enemy!” he said. Andrew nodded.  

”I guess that’s a start, but knowledge alone is only half the answer. But there is more to it than that,” he said.

“There is?“

“For example, what happens after the deed is done, when you have stabbed or cut someone? What are you left with?“ Chase went silent for a while, the childlike wonder dimming from his eyes a little as he looked down at his practice sword. He did not need to hear his answer to know what he was thinking. And as much as it sucked to think about, he needed him to think it. To understand that at the end of the day, what they taught them could easily kill someone if they were not careful. Unable to bear Chase’s crestfallen face for much longer, Andrew spoke up.

”That hesitation now is a good sign,” he said.

“It is?“ he looked up to him hopefully. Andrew nodded.

“It shows me that you are taking this seriously, that you won’t take these powers for granted.” he kneeled down and pointed to Chase’s chest as he looked him in the eye. “That came from your heart-your moral core. It screams out justice for everyone. No matter where your training takes you, try to hold on to that feeling.“

“I’ll try,“ Chase said. He gingerly placed a hand on his chest, his mind awash with thoughts.

“Good,” Andrew nodded. “One day, you will learn to swing that sword, knowing the full weight of its implications. But for now, only try to hold on to that weight after we are done here.“

Chase just looked up at him, confused. Andrew sighed. He only had himself to blame for this. He had to go and make the whole thing complicated.

Time to shift things a little.

“Before you can understand what’s going on down here,” he pointed to his heart. “We work out what is happening up here.“ he pointed to his head.

“We need knowledge! “Chase said, excited to put it back together himself. Andrew smiled.

“Once we gain the knowledge, we then need to work out the wisdom behind that knowledge?” Andrew continued. 

“Wisdom?” Chase said, baffled. He was losing him again.

“Wisdom comes from knowledge experienced. You may feel as though you understand a lot thanks to the knowledge you’ve gained. But only by testing the knowledge you know with practice can we hone in on the wisdom behind when to best use what you know. Only through experience can you turn knowledge into true wisdom. The overwhelming number of new experiences you gain over time weakens the amount of true wisdom you can gather incidentally. And if you try to understand everything and everyone all at once, then you will come away understanding nothing. Limiting those experiences down to a few will allow you to hone in on them, gain a better grasp of their utility, and cycles be willing. In time, you will gain their wisdom.” he looked over to Gracie as he finished his sentence. 

“I hate to admit it, but… that made a lot of sense,” Gracie said. 

“You’ve taught this before, haven’t you?” Flynn asked. Andrew shrugged.

“I helped my father out a little with training at the dojo. The stuff I said is mostly his speel. This is the first time I’ve said it out loud myself, but when you get something drilled into your head enough times, you don’t even need to have it remembered by heart to explain its essence.“

He recalled a time when he stood beside his father as he began class years ago. The look of incredulity on his peers’ faces as he stood before them, not as their equal but as a teacher. Some had accepted it as his right, being a father of a teacher. Why wouldn’t he be above them in skill? Others took it as a front. He’d got a lot of challenges that year. Although he beat them fair and square, how he proceeded to handle those thereafter was… he’d blinked back to the now only to realise that he blanked out as he was putting sticks into the ground. A quick glance around told him that he’d stayed still a bit too long. Stabbing in the last of the sticks that marked the arena, Andrew got to his feet and wiped his hands before he continued talking. 

“Anyway! My point is that I’ll be going over the basics with you kid, we don’t have much time so I can’t cover everything,” Picking up the other practice sword Andrew swirled it around as if to test the balance before nodding to himself. Far lighter than his own sword, but the balance was good. 

“I’m not a kid,” Chase sighed.

“Confident, ain’t we?” Andrew smiled. If he was going to do this, then he may as well use all that he’d gathered to get the outcome he wanted. “Well, I can’t fault you. It’s good to be confident. As we fight, try to keep in mind what I said about knowledge, wisdom and experience.”

“I will,” Chase smiled, confident and cheeky. Andrew could not help but see himself in the boy. Growing up with people older and wiser than him. Wanting so badly to be as capable as them. Knowing for sure that you’ve seen more than your peers, but being blinded by how far one could progress because of the lofty giants they had as inspiration. Feeling that you were only a few more steps away from becoming an adult with everything figured out. Oh, how foolish he was. The mistakes he made… if he could do it all over again, could meet his younger foolish self. What would he tell him? What lessons would he instil into him?

He is not me. This boy was nowhere near as messed up as him. For one, he has not abandoned his mother. Their similarities began and ended with that stern will of iron in his eyes. 

Wilful eyes… wilful… ‘will’. Andrew smiled as he got into his fighting stance. He felt slightly guilty for what he was about to do. Though he was not giddy to do it, he thought it was worth the drama. The boy was so close, closer than he’d realised. He just needed that one last push. Maybe the reward of awakening will overshadow his method. 

No, I’m getting way ahead of myself. He was placing too much faith in the boy because he wanted it to be true-needed it to be so for his own sake. He will play it by ear first, see if his instinct was truly correct about him. He will up the anti slowly and see how he fairs. And if that spark still remains, then…

“If you remember, then I guess this should be a cinch for you,” he said, before giving an amused grin. “Are you ready… kid?” Chase’s confident smile faded as he got into his fighting stance.

“I’m not a kid!”