All in all, Mikayla took the news rather well.
She was astonished, confused, and everything in between. She had a million and one questions, and she asked them out loud. Boz could only provide so many answers, and she was happy with the information she did receive.
In the end, Mikayla promised to keep the secret, even from her father. She did not like his decision to travel back in time – you never really knew what you got yourself into and the fallout could be huge – but Boz was here now, so they were going to try their best to keep that secret under wraps.
When they went their separate ways, Boz reflected on the conversation. He did not think about the future, the past, or the present. He thought about his own actions, and the reality of the situation started to settle in. even with limited information, Mikayla was right. You didn't know what you would get yourself into when you travel to the past. You can never know how much you will change things, how different the future will be, even if the decision was between polishing the machete or not.
Boz realized a couple of months too late how big of a risk he'd taken. But he was having so much fun, and he wasn't sure the Do-Over watch could travel to the future – its name implied it could only go back. Either way, whether he wanted to go home or not, it was still impossible to do so.
Unless he wished for it with the pirate wishing coin – but this was not something he wanted to waste his wish on.
Boz had hidden his coin in the bedroom he got when he arrived. It was still a small closet, but he was certain that the kings would not come here. Only Mikayla really knew where his room was, and she wasn't going to look through his stuff. For now, the coin was safely out of sight, and Boz could easily find it, if need be.
He then studied. The exams were coming up, after all, and he wasn't planning on failing even a single subject. Being a trained fighter was something different from being a guard, who was supposed to know basic diplomatic skills, general knowledge of the island's fauna, flora and tribes, interisland relations, and several protocols, including how to deal with Tarantulas marching on the castle and what to do when they were attacked from the ocean. Each of these courses was just as important as the others, and Boz studied like his life depended on it. One night, Mikayla even came in and helped him with some of the things he struggled with – she had passed these courses, after all, and knew how these exams were going to be structured.
Her help was immense. Without her help, Boz would have still passed some of these courses – definitely not diplomacy – but he would not have been as confident in his capabilities as he was. He was grateful when he finally took the last test and left the room with a smile on his face.
Two hours later, he visited the Shaman. He took the cast off of the leg. That feeling was unrivaled. His muscles were stiff and it was going to take a little while before he would walk as smoothly as before he got the cast, but at least it wasn't encased anymore. At least he could scratch his legs where it itched, and it didn't seem the piranhas had left too much scarring on his legs.
Boz thanked the Shaman and returned to the fight school – not for more exams, but for a first sparring session with his trainer Jeangu since the Junga ball incident. Boz was itching to get back into the arena, to feel the weight of the training machete in his hand as well as the thrill of being back into a fight.
It was a training fight. A small sparring match to get back into it. Still, with the way Boz threw himself into this, it might have seemed a life-or-death situation. He gave his all – which made him all the more frustrated when he noticed that Jeangu wasn't giving it his all.
This fight took a minute max. Boz was aggressive, Jeangu parried all the blows. As Boz's frustration with Jeangu grew, the trainer knocked the training machete from Boz' hand and made him fall on the sand.
Boz landed with a thud; His eyes on the sky, he took a moment to take some breaths. He should have won this. He knew he probably shouldn't have let his frustration get the better of him, but he was better than what he'd showed today. He should have won this.
Jeangu cast a shadow over Boz and extended his hand. Boz took it and pulled himself up with Jeangu's help. They walked away from the fighting grounds, to sit on some stools and take a drink in the warm beating sun of a hot Kinkowian summer.
"Don't be frustrated," Jeangu told Boz. "You're doing well, all things considered."
Boz shook his head. "You're holding back."
If Jeangu hadn't held back, Boz might have still ended on the ground, maybe a lot quicker, but the fight would have been a lot fairer in the end. He might even forgive Jeangu for not exploiting the fact that his leg wasn't quite what it used to be.
"Because you're not up to speed yet." Jeangu took a sip from his water. He quickly glanced at Boz's pale leg, a sharp contrast to the tanned one. "It'll be better, but take it easy. I've seen newcomers get hurt and come back into the arena too quickly. It never ended well."
Boz groaned. "I hate that you're right."
Jeangu smiled at that and even Boz showed off a small snicker. In the following silence, they rehydrated and Boz checked the leg, to make sure nothing had inadvertently happened during the fight. But everything seemed okay, so it probably was.
But this quick break wasn't staying quiet for long, as Jeangu still wanted to discuss something with Boz.
"Have you been thinking about the future?" he asked.
Boz stayed quiet for a little longer – he hadn't expected the question and as he thought about it, he realized he had no idea what Jeangu wanted to hear from him.
"What do you mean?"
"I've heard you're around the kings a lot."
Boz shook his head – of course the kings were going to come up in this conversation. He took another sip before he answered.
"It's not hard. They call me over every other moment."
"They are the kings. You're going to be a guard," Jeangu told him. He shifted his body more towards Boz. "I don't want to criticize you or the way you act, and I don't fault the kings for taking a liking to you… but they are going to be your employers. Not your friends. Once you've passed the course, you will have significantly less time to spend around them, based on your roster."
Yes. The roster. Boz would be assigned guard hours, might even be able to negotiate some specific slots. His days would most likely be filled with many hours of staring in the distance, looking for enemies, only interrupted by the excitement of battle with the Tarantulas, friendly Junga ball games, and the kings' elaborate plans.
"They're still gonna call me over either way," Boz said. If they already were reliant on Boz to help them with some of their more stupid, short-lived ideas, they weren't going to stop once he fully was sworn in as one of the palace guards.
Jeangu nodded – he knew that would probably happen, but stuck to his opinion.
"I'm just saying, your life doesn't need to revolve around the kings," the trainer said. "When I look at you, I see everything I wanted to be at that age. You have so much potential. Don't waste that potential on the kings'… passion projects."
Boz huffed, grinning. "Passion projects."
"Would you rather I call it misadventures?" Jeangu asked.
"Sometimes, they're just disasters." Junga ball could have ended disastrously, and if Boomer hadn't snatched the bat medallion, Kaita would be walking around and the Dark side would cover the island.
But Boz stood up, still a little wonky on his leg, and looked at his trainer. He picked up the training machete. "Up for another round?"
"Depends." Jeangu glanced at the leg. "Is your leg good?"
"I can take one more," Boz said. One more for today, and then more tomorrow. He wasn't going to overexert his leg, even though he loved being back in the arena.
Jeangu stood up and took the machete in his hand. Boz smiled.
"Then you're going," Jeangu told him. Boz nodded.
"Then I'm going."
Jeangu grinned. "Alright then."
The two walked back to the center of the arena, machetes in hand, and looked at one another. This time, Boz was sure he was going to win this sparring match.