Chapter Jiguro

I ran.

We raced through the damp lightless caves that separated the city from the mountain range. I could feel the girl's clammy hand clenching my own, as if letting go would spell certain death. In my other hand I held my spear at the ready, fingers furiously working the grooves in the shaft like a map, guiding our way through the twisted labyrinth. My body was putting in extra effort to drag the girl along as I struggled to ensure we both reached the exit without one of us dying.

I heard the girl's small gasp of relief when we stepped out into sunlight once more. I allowed her to take in a few deep breaths of fresh air before we were on the move once again. I didn't dare stop now, didn't dare believe we were out of danger. Rogsam's men would be after us and if we had even a shred of hope of surviving, everything I knew would be put to the test.

We weaved through the dense forest surrounding the base of the mountain. The branches whipped my face and arms but I pushed on, the girl's hand still clasped in mine. If I was on my own I would have slipped into the forest like a ghost, leaving no sign of my presence. But time was of the essence so we plundered through the woods like a pair of elephants.

When we reached a small creek I quickly stepped into it. The water would hide our tracks but the icy temperature quickly numbed any feeling I had in my legs. I wondered how the girl was holding up, the water reached just below her waist—but she showed no signs of slowing down, and neither did I.

By the time we were a good long distance away from Kanbal I deemed a small dry cave suitable to rest for the night. I didn't dare light a fire for although the light would dissuade animals it would instantly attract the attention of our pursuers.

Finally able to rest properly I settled down to sleep. The girl let out a sigh of relief once she sat down. I caught sight of her cut and bruised feet. In my haste I had not thought to see if she was prepared. It was amazing she had made it this far. If anything the girl was resilient. I rolled over letting go of her hand, but she immediately grasped it again, holding it tightly and bringing it closer to her chest.

She fell asleep like that, curled into my chest, hands gripped into mine, and fresh tears marking silent trails down her cheeks.

Two weeks went by. Each day I moved us to a different home. Another cave, an abandoned hut, sometimes just a simple clearing I stumbled upon accidentally. The girl was tired. I could see it in the way she moved. Her actions were sluggish and uncoordinated. We had traveled a significant ways away from Kanbal, now bordering on the New-Yogo empire, but I was still a bit paranoid.

Talk about paranoia. Whenever we had a surplus of food I would save it. Neither of us knew when we had to leave. At least this way if we left abruptly we wouldn't have to worry about hunting for a day or two. The girl was using my coat for a blanket at night, but sooner or later we would have to get her one of her own. And maybe new clothes for the both of us. And find a blacksmith. And a more permanent housing situation. And a lot of other things. Spirits, there was so much to do.

As the girl tended to the fire I went down to the stream we had camped near and began setting up a few traps. Catching fish requires patience and is a slow and methodical art. Even with the traps I had set up, the water was relatively empty. I thought about teaching the girl how to forage for food. She already knew a surprising amount of knowledge on various plants no doubt due to her father.

Karuna.

I closed my eyes in grief. He was a good man. He didn't deserve to die, hunted like an animal. "Please take my daughter and leave Kanbal!" His desperate plea echoed in my head.

It was twilight by the time I was done reminiscing about what I had lost.

After I finished gutting the few fish I had caught I headed back to the clearing. The girl wasn't around and the fire had burnt out. I scolded her inwardly but set about getting the flames going again. Once the fish were nice and cooked I began eating. It was incredibly rude to start a meal without all parties present, but we were beyond pleasantries at this point. I wondered where the girl was. She always hung around the fire, waited for me to bring her dinner, and we ate together. I had thought this was normal routine by now.

She had probably found something interesting while poking around in the forest and got a little side tracked. Children did that didn't they?

I was beginning to get a bit angry. I had spent all day getting this meal, had it prepared and cooked, ready to eat, and the thoughtless girl couldn't even show up on time? I wasn't going to let this fire burn all night to keep this fish warm for her! I resolved to give her a few more minutes. If she didn't show up in that time, I would eat her share, douse the fire and go to sleep.

More than just a few minutes went by. I stalked over to our 'sleeping' area and immediately noticed it had been cleared out. There was no sign of a struggle. But my coat was gone. The meager amount of food I had been storing for emergencies was gone. Even those stupid little rocks the girl had been collecting were gone.

I cursed.

She had gotten farther than I thought she would have. She was resourceful, I'll give her that. But she was far from a seasoned professional and had left tracks everywhere. She hadn't said anything when I hauled her back to our camp but as soon as I laid down to sleep she started bawling.

I was not prepared for this. I was trapped between sympathy and indifference and in my hesitation I watched her cry her eyes out. Alone.

"I want to—I want to go home!" She wailed, her sentences broken up by sniffles and hiccups. "I don't—don't want to—to—to—" The rest of the sentence was cut off by a loud cry followed by another river of tears.

What had happened? She was fine when we left. She didn't cry one bit when we left Kanbal. She hadn't cried once in the two weeks we had been on the run. Why now? I didn't understand. I didn't know what to do.

"I want my daddy!" She cried and my heart wrenched itself in two. She didn't know about Karuna? I scolded myself. Of course she didn't know about his death! How could she know? She wouldn't have been privy to palace politics and with the way we had left Kanbal… In such a rush… And I didn't tell her, didn't explain…

"I want—daddy! Daddy! I want daddy!" She started screaming, repeating the phrase like some deranged mantra. I had to do something. I couldn't let her keep screaming, she'd give away our location… But something told me she needed this. She needed to cry. Okay. I would let her, and we would move in the morning.

After what seemed like hours she finally stopped wailing. I walked around camp gathering her tiny rock collection from where she had flung them, dropping them into her shaking hands, then scooped up her small, limp, sobbing form and laid her down next to me.

When she woke the next morning, I told her everything.

"Teach me how to fight."

I knew this was coming. She wasn't the first to ask that of me. I honestly wondered why she hadn't asked sooner. The young boys back in Kanbal were always fighting over who could train with me, sometimes they were content to just sit and watch me go through my morning routine.

It was a little unnerving.

Everyone wanted to spar with the great Jiguro. I didn't want the attention and I avoided it as much as possible, but I wasn't blind. I knew the kid was going to ask me eventually.

Everyone always does.

"No."

"What?" Her voice pleaded. "Why?"

I didn't want to train someone just so they could go on to wreck more havoc on the world, more killing. I didn't want that for her. I didn't want the kid to put herself in danger, to kill someone knowing you had created one more orphan in this world, and making enemies all across the continent.

But she wouldn't understand that. So I went with an answer she would.

"Because you're a girl. And girls will never be as strong as boys no matter how hard they train."

She scowled disbelieving, but didn't press the issue further.

I was grateful.

I don't know how it happened. She says she was trying to reach some animal or another when the branch she was standing on snapped, she tried to stop the fall, and landed on her ankle. We had been on the run for almost four months and she had to go and get herself injured. Great. Now we had to see a doctor.

She saw the frustration in my eyes and began to protest. "I know some plants that can heal people! I saw daddy do it once! We don't have to go to the doctor!"

I glanced at the gash on her arm, starting at her elbow and leading all the way up to the middle of her palm. It would get infected within days if we didn't have a professional take a look at it. On top of that she had a sprained ankle. She wouldn't be able to run if our pursuers caught up to us. That ankle needed a week's worth of rest and the arm would need the same amount of time if not more.

"We could wear hats! Then no one will know who we are! Or I can chop off all my hair and pretend I'm a boy!"

I began to dismantle our campsite in silence while I thought this through. We would need new clothes first. I washed the ones we had regularly, but we would need Yogoan clothing if we were to blend in. We needed new clothes anyway. But we needed money to buy clothes… We needed money… Where were we going to get the money…

"Jigur—o! I'm sorry! I'm really really really sorry! I won't climb another tree in my life! I swear! Really!"

How would we get the money? I could always take a few odd jobs. Preferably on the edge of town. Courier, bodyguard, construction worker maybe… If we found a traveling merchant I could barter with some food. If we were lucky they could direct us to a discreet local doctor who wouldn't mind being paid with an IOU. But that means I'd have to bring down something bigger than fish… A bear? Deer?

"But it wasn't actually my fault, I mean yeah, if the branch hadn't broke—I didn't know it was going to break! If I knew it was going to break I wouldn't have stepped on it!"

Okay it was decided. I would wrap her wounds and leave her somewhere secure. Then I would bring down a deer. There were lots of deer in the forest, at least according to the tracks. I hadn't actually seen one since arriving in New Yogo, but I was certain I could find one. Yes, I could do this. I knew a little about wild dog and wolf traps. Farmers in Kanbal used them frequently on the outskirts of their pasture.

"…Are you mad at me?"

I could rig a couple up… But that would take time and patience… It would be better to just go after it with my spear. It would be quicker that way.

"Pack your things." I finally looked her in the eyes. "And we're not wearing hats."

She said her name was Torogai. Master Torogai. She was very adamant we don't forget the 'Master.' I was extremely grateful we found her. I would never tell her that of course—her ego was big enough.

"Since you're dirt poor, you might as well pay me back in a foot massage. Or cook dinner. Don't just stand there looking confused."

For a woman approaching fifty, she sure didn't act like it.

And I didn't look confused!

She stuck a pipe in her mouth and inhaled slowly. "I can tell you're thinking of running off tomorrow, and while medically little Balsa's out of harm's way, you can't raise that girl in seclusion. Look at her, she's a social butterfly!"

I glanced at the kid who was playing with a few other children around her age. They were running around screaming and squealing as they tried to catch dragonflies.

"A social what?"

"Social butterfly. She's a people person—unlike you."

I growled. "If you hadn't saved the kid's life, I wouldn't allow you to speak to me like that."

"Oh wow! Did you finally pull that stick out of your ass? Is that how you got your spear?"

I resisted the urge to punch her.

This was the worst idea ever. The kid convinced me to stay another night in the small farming town on the border of New Yogo… And that one night turned into two, and then three, and then suddenly half a year had gone by. We hadn't moved residences in months! We were making a life here! As fugitives! The remaining Spears would find us! It was a bad idea to stay here.

I sighed heavily to myself while peeling the potatoes Torogai would use for dinner later.

The kid's voice floated through the small hut. "I'm telling you they eat children!"

A young boy's voice answered her. "No they don't, otherwise we'd be eaten!"

"But she knows spells right? And makes magic potions, so that makes her a witch!"

A few months after our integration into the community, Torogai had mentioned traveling to some far away village where she would be picking up her new apprentice. She didn't give me any more details, but a few weeks later she had returned and was introducing her apprentice, Tanda, to us. He was a year younger than the kid and extremely polite, obedient, and very considerate. But he was also short, gangly, and more than a little shy. That didn't stop the kid from quickly become friends with him, just like she had done with practically the whole town.

I worried they would get into mischief together, but Tanda was surprisingly level-headed and afraid to break rules. A welcome change from the kid's overflowing energy, general craziness, and sometimes obnoxious behavior.

"What about me? I know some potions and master said she's going to start teaching me spells tomorrow!"

"Then you're a wizard!"

"No! I don't want to be a wizard! …Do wizards eat children?"

"No… I don't think so."

"Oh. Okay, then I can be a wizard."

The potatoes and carrots were both peeled and ready to be diced. But that was the kid's job. "Girl!" I said loudly. "Cut!"

She appeared in the tiny kitchen a few moments later followed by Tanda. I retreated to the main room once she started dicing the vegetables. It was a small hut and I could still hear them talking.

"How come he always calls you 'girl'?"

"I don't know." A pause, the rhythmic thuds of the knife as it hit the wood filling the silence. "Maybe he forgot my name… Or maybe he doesn't want to forget what gender I am."

I rolled my eyes and stuck the pot over the fire.

Torogai watched the group of children impassively. After a while she returned her attention back to my broken arm, dabbing medicine onto the swollen skin. It was a careless wound I had received while guarding a small caravan.

She broke the silence. "Have you decided what you're going to do about Balsa's education?"

The kid's education? Children in Kanbal were normally schooled by their parents or sent to be tutored by a specialist if the child showed talent in a particular area. Similar to the boy, Tanda's, predicament. In Kanbal, it was rare but not unheard of for a parent to send their child to another tribe altogether to be taught certain skills.

"I can teach her everything she needs to know." She was already spending all her free time playing with the other kids in the community, she didn't need to start going to school with them too. Not if she wanted to remain detached. Forming any sort of connection with anyone could be bad if the Spears ever caught up to us. It had been months since our hasty flight from Kanbal… There might not be any threat to worry about… But I was still cautious—and worried that the kid had already formed an attachment to Torogai and her apprentice.

The magicweaver snorted. "Yeah I'm sure you'll be a great teacher because you're so good with kids and don't kill people for money."

I frowned at her. "I don't—"

"I know I already spoil you, but I'd hate to see Balsa end up a simple farmer what with all her talents..."

Talents? What talents? The kid wasn't talented! Quite the opposite in fact really. She wasn't a genius, wasn't super strong, or fast… Had no eye for agriculture, business, or medicine…

"You think too highly of her." I said slowly. "She's just a kid… Average in every way."

Torogai began to wrap my arm in gauze that reeked of medicinal herbs. "That may be so but Balsa is incredibly stubborn. That girl has survived too much to let it all go to waste." I said nothing, deciding that silence was better than arguing with the old woman. "A few star readers from the palace come out this way every other week to teach the children rudimentary math, science, history… Just some basics so they don't grow up dimwitted fools. It's past time you let Balsa join them."

"I can teach her everything she needs to know."

"Fine. If you say so. But in case you change your mind, I'm offering to bring Balsa with me whenever I take Tanda down there."

The next day I began teaching the kid math, science, and even some history. And after much screaming, yelling, and another failed attempt at running away I reluctantly took Torogai's offer. The old magicweaver wore a smug smile on her face for the rest of the week.

"Congratulations!"

I glance at Torogai, my brows furrowed. "For what?" I ask warily.

She smiled cheekily. "For surviving a whole year without getting captured, tortured, and beaten to death by the crazy maniacs who are relentlessly hunting you!"

I sigh heavily.

I was more than surprised and shocked when the kid showed aptitude in wielding a spear. Though lacking in technique and power her form was flawless. It was unheard of for someone to get this far without proper instruction. I had thought hanging around Tanda would spark a renewed interest in learning medicine, but she had been watching me the whole time. Watching, memorizing, practicing, learning… Torogai had been right. The kid had survived too much to let it all go to waste.

As I began to formally train her, I could see. She was talented. Extremely, unbelievably talented. But not in any of the areas I had initially thought—math, science, business, farming. Not even in my wildest dreams had I thought she would excel in the art of the spear. Each day she improved, she got a little stronger, a little faster, and always eager to learn. She had her delusions of revenge of course, but I was lucky to talk her out of it.

I taught her everything I knew. Each month, each year, I was amazed at how far we'd come—how far she'd come.

"I'm proud of you." Torogai says one day. I'm shocked at her words. It's the first time she's ever said anything even remotely bordering on praise.

I allow her to continue. "You've had to make a lot of hard choices in your life, and you've made the right ones." She inhales on her pipe. The silence stretches on. She exhales slowly. "You're a good father Jiguro."

I don't know how long it's been anymore.

Too long.

Yesterday she was a regular Kanbalan kid with an unhealthy obsession with rocks.

Now she's a woman with the skills of a Spear… Strength to rival any man… A drive that will push her until she dies.

I remember all the things we went through together and I feel sorry for Karuna. He would have been so proud to meet his daughter, see her as she is now… He might even be a little intimidated.

Balsa holds my hand gently and swears her oath. I advise her against it, but does she listen? No. I see that fire in her eyes, ever since we ran from our mountains that is Kanbal, she'll fulfill this oath that she thinks she owes me.

This time I won't be there to catch her when she falls.

My body is too weak to even move my head, only my eyes move as I look to the young man standing in the doorway. Tanda. He has become a fine young man, a good doctor, a good magicweaver. I want to tell him to look after Balsa. She'll need someone to keep her wandering soul grounded. I want to tell him to always be there for her. She'll need someone to tell her it's okay if she fails in this damned crazy oath. I want to tell him to be the man she'll need when this is all over. Spirits know, she'll need someone as equally stubborn as she is.

I want to tell him all these things before I pass on… But his eyes are elsewhere.

I follow his line of sight.

I smile, one last time.

There is no need to tell him.

He already knows.