Glass Memorial
Chapter 4
The first few times the Spirit had attempted to help Redda with her work around her father's house, the young brunette had been rather reluctant, though she hadn't outright refused. The two settled into a sort of routine by the second day, with Redda doing most of the work initially, until the Spirit seemed to pick up on what the girl was doing and all but took over the menial tasks. Though the girl grinned a little, as she thought back to the day before when she'd told her father who'd been helping her make dinner. The look on his normally stern face was priceless.
On the fourth day since she'd found her guest in the abandoned ruins, Redda found herself woken up much earlier than usual by a rhythmic thudding coming from outside her bedroom window. Pushing aside the curtain, she found the morning fog had rolled in from the meadows outside town, and the morning sun had yet to poke up over the top of the village walls. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she glanced down into the yard below, to the source of the incessant noise.
To say she was surprised would've been an understatement, for the Spirit was out near the bathhouse, dancing across the grass, kicking up sprays of morning dew as it moved rapidly across the earth, sometimes seeming to fly through the air, and almost appeared to float free of nature's hold. It was mesmerizing, and Redda was unsure of how long she leaned on the sill, looking out down below. Between bursts of flight, the Spirit would seem to pause as it passed by an upturned log that look to sprout from the ground, and its hands and feet thundered against the wood, echoing the impacts in the sound that had first woken her. She'd never seen anything like it her whole life, not even in the stories of her grandmother.
Again and again, I hammered my fists against the makeshift post, denting the wood with the force of my blows. It'd been a little problem trying to drag the log all the way back from the forest and over the wall last night, so I kept my strikes light, not wanting to break my new training board. Back and forth, I worked the kinks out of my system, throwing myself through the paces of forms I'd learned inside and out as a kid. It was all easy stuff, but I'd been cooped up for a long time, and the last thing I wanted was to hurt myself trying to get back inta fighting shape.
Pushing off the ground, I let my body arc through the air, pushing myself faster and higher with each rebound, til I'd somersaulted up to land onta the top of the log. Centerin my breath, I let go of all the excitement of getting back to the roots of the Art and made myself calm down, pulling myself into a slow headstand, I dropped into a new meditatin' stance I'd come up with durin my stay behind that mirror. If I'd learned one thing for sure, it was how ta get a good handle on feelin out my ki. Course, I'd also started bein able to pick up on other people's too. Even stuck behind that wall, I'd started reaching out as far as I could, a little more each day, until I was sorta seein the livin things around where I'd been stuck. Lemme tell ya, it woulda been a pretty handy little trick ta have back home. I bet I woulda got ambushed a whole lot less, that's for sure.
Redda clapped quietly to herself once the Spirit settled atop the giant log. His strange dance had been the most amazing thing she'd seen. She'd decided it was even better than the travelling plays and fairs that sometimes visited the village before harvest.
Just as she moved away from the window to go wash her face, the harsh peal bells startled her, and she fell backward, plopping onto her bed, her head missing the wooden frame by a hairsbreadth.
It was a sound she knew well this time; the guards on watch were ringing the great bell. Someone was attacking the village!
Outside in the yard, the Spirit nearly toppled from his perch when the first harsh tones of the warning bell rang out across the rooftops.
Turning my accidental tumble into a crouched landing, I hit the ground feet first and looked up ta the window where my audience had been just a second before. I hadn't noticed her at first, so I wasn't sure how long she'd been watching, but I'd picked up on her presence immediately once I'd started to meditate. It'd been kinda jarring at first, probably cuz she'd been focused on me so intently. And now that I knew what to look for, I found that I could kinda tell about where she was in the house, and that she was worried about somethin' too. Then again, with those bells goin' crazy and all, there was prob'ly a good reason.
Grabbing my shirt from the ground by the bathhouse, I hurried inside to see if I could find out what was goin' on. Halfway to the back door, I sensed another, stronger ki in the house. It had to be the big guy wakin up. Spurred on, I dashed into the house, and made my way to the room with the fireplace. You couldn't go anywhere in the house without going through there first, so I guessed it was the best place ta wait.
I didn't have ta sit around long, before the brown-haired girl and the big guy were all but bowlin' each other over to get outta the hallway by the stairs. Judgin' by the scowl on his face, and the huge axe he was brandishin, I could make a pretty sure guess on what those bells meant. And it suited me just fine. If there was a fight around the corner, they could count me in for sure.
I think they recognized the look on my face as well, cuz the girl's dad disappeared around the corner for a moment, and when he came back he was carryin' a sheathed sword in his other hand, which he tossed at me, then said something to his daughter. Whatever it was, she obviously didn't like it, since she started jabberin at him and got a look in her eye that reminded me of Akane in one of her insisting moods. I looked down at the weighty scabbard in my hands, and then over at the girl who was starting to fume. Yeah, this was kinda familiar ground after all. Lucky me.
Redda glared at her father. It wasn't that she didn't see his point, or even that she disagreed with him. After all, she'd already seen firsthand what ignoring the warnings of her elders got her, not a week past. But, for him to tell her that it was best if she went and hid with the rest of the women and children down at the shrine...the girl may have inherited her mother's looks, but she'd sure gotten her fire from her bull-headed father.
Neither father nor daughter would budge an inch in the matter, and the gray bearded head of the village decided to change tactics when he realized the strange being her daughter had dragged home was tensed and just as eager to deal with intruders to the village as his wayward child. So he'd gone and fished his old blade out from the trunk by his bed and lent it to the Spirit in the shape of a boy.
The sword was something of an heirloom, or rather, it was meant to be. Redda's father, Cygnus had intended to hand it down to his son when he came of age, but the fates had seen fit to grant him a daughter instead, so the sword had remained stored away. But now, perhaps it could be put back through its paces, for it was surely hungry after all these years, and he'd kept it well oiled and clean, so there was no danger of it becoming just another piece of useless metal.
"Spirit, boy...you'll get the chance to do your part, but for now, watch over my Redda. If it's those filthy slavers that attack us, they'll be after the women first. Now, hurry, we've wasted enough time!" The mayor thumped the flat of the axe to his barrel of a chest and hardened his eyes. He'd thought for sure the bandits and their ilk would have learned their lesson after last harvest. If they hadn't, well he'd beat in back into them with his own two hands!
Redda's momentary indignation dissolved into something akin to worry as she watched her father gather himself to defend the villagers. Already, the three of them could hear shouts and the rapid passing of footsteps from outside. The peal of the bells continued unabated, and there came a sharp series of knocks at the door, which Cygnus answered with a bellow of affirmation.
As her father threw open the door and made to join the village defenders, he turned a stony eye back on his daughter and the Spirit; "You'll do well to watch over the others at the shrine, Redda. That's the job I have for you."
The brunette didn't look all that happy about her father's order, but she wasn't fool enough to countermand him with no real reason other than her meager pride. "I'll see to it. I promise."
"That's my girl," Cygnus grinned for her, but it faded as he turned his broad back, he had a job to do, and hopefully, there would be time for family bonding later. All but leaping out the door, the towering mayor joined up with the throng of farmers and store owners of the village as the men ran to the gate to head off any entry into the village proper. It would be a long morning for them all.