Chapter 8 - Strongfang

I didn't feel much better when I woke up the next morning. I was tired, disheveled, and not in the mood to get up and start the day. Add the fact that my emotional breakdown last night did little to stave off the guilt that was slowly eating away at me, and it was clear to me that I was in for a rough day. With my mind feeling as heavy as it ever had, I sighed softly to myself and tried to set a different tone by setting a goal for myself.

"Not today. I'm not going to think about her today."

With this strong resolution to have temporary peace, I did everything I could to focus on something else, anything else. Today I would be meeting Strongfang, and that was the first step towards Warfang, which could eventually lead me home. I got out of bed, put on the same clothes from yesterday, and made my way out into the living room where I found Leah sitting in her chair. Before I could say good morning, she looked me over and shook her head while making a few "tsks".

"I was assuming that you would have cleaned up before you went to sleep, but I can see that isn't the case. You're not going anywhere until you've cleaned up and put on fresh clothes."

I looked over myself briefly and nodded with a bit of shame. She wasn't wrong, I smelled awful, and I was covered in a combination of sweat and dirt that had mixed together and given me a strange earthly smell. I ran a hand through my hair and apologized.

"Sorry about that, I was out later than I expected."

She slowly smiled and gave me a wink.

"I understand, just don't do it again because I don't want to have to keep cleaning the blankets and sheets on your bed. It grows tiring for an older cheetah like myself."

I flushed red with embarrassment, avoiding eye contact while she set down her tea and lifted up a pair of clothes for me.

"I finished fixing these yesterday, let me know what you think."

I looked up, catching a glimpse of the clothes, and noticed that she was giving me back my original set.

"You fixed them already?"

"Yes, I did. I patched them up and made them a bit more suitable for the weather by adding some insulating material on the inside."

"Oh wow… Thank you Leah. Is there any way I can-"

She interrupted me by tossing the clothes at my face. I managed to catch them right before they hit me and Leah once again asked me to leave, looking exasperated.

"Go wash up please, you smell terrible. We can talk after."

"Yes ma'am."

I was about to move but realized I had no idea where to go or what to do. I stood in place awkwardly for a few seconds before Leah realized why I hadn't left and pointed to a small door near the back of the kitchen. I thanked her and headed over to the door, where I found a small closet with a faucet and a bucket, along with a few clean rags. Nothing fancy, but I would be able to clean off the dirt and sweat from yesterday.

After I had finished washing, I slipped into my original clothes. There were cozy, and a welcome sense of familiarity washed over me, making me smile. Curious to see how they fit, I took a moment to look myself over in a mirror on the back of the door. The mottled grey and green outfit blended in well with the dark room, and my dark green eyes stared back at me with an analytical stare. I grimaced at my messy brown hair which was almost long enough to reach my eyes, noting that I should get it cut soon. My tanned skin was fine, but I did have heavy bags under my eyes, and there was a general sense of tension on my face that I couldn't quite get rid of. Aside from that though, I appeared much like I normally would.

With a small sigh, I slipped my tanto and pouch onto my waist and put on a fresh pair of socks that Leah had given me. I could worry about how I looked later because the important thing right now was that I was comfortable and clean. I went back to the living room feeling physically refreshed and gave a small wave to Leah. She stared at me nonchalantly and motioned to the bags under my eyes.

"Not sleeping well?"

I groaned internally, hoping that she wouldn't press too hard on it. I didn't want to talk about my issues right now.

"I'm fine, no need to worry."

"So I shouldn't worry about the things you say in your sleep?"

I froze and felt a shiver run down my back as she said that and responded with a bit more steel in my voice than I should have.

"What did you hear?"

"Oh, nothing important. Just some mumbling, crying, tossing, turning, and various things that would make anyone concerned. Something has you upset, and you should talk about it."

That's the last thing that I need right now.

"Leah, I appreciate that you've helped me, but my demons are something that I can take care of myself. No one else needs to listen to me complain about my problems, let alone become involved with them."

She let out a small scoff in response to that.

"I actually thought you were somewhat level-headed, but I suppose most children your age would think the same. If you're so upset by something that it's manifesting in your dreams or preventing you from sleeping properly, then you should be discussing and resolving it rather than ignoring it. Doing so will only cause it to worsen."

I crossed my arms indignantly and bit back a sharp retort at her comment. I had gone through my entire life using the mental techniques and exercises that I had been trained with, so to compare me with a normal kid was more than irritating.

"Miss Leah, I can handle it. I've dealt with things like this before and I've been trained to manage, alright? I understand if you're concerned, but you don't need to be. I'll be fine."

She pressed her lips into a firm line and sighed.

"Alright, I won't bother you anymore. All I ask is that you consider my words because they might prove more prevalent than you think."

"Of course."

She just shook her head in defeat while I sat down in a chair across from her.

"Is there anything else you'd like to talk about? I don't want to take too long, I'm supposed to be meeting someone with Shimmer today."

She took a long sip from her tea before responding.

"Nothing in particular, aside from hearing that you managed to finish Shimmer's list of chores yesterday. You didn't do all of them for her, did you?"

I slowly smiled at that.

"No, we did them all together. Don't get me wrong, it took most of the day and she complained a lot, but we worked as a team. We would have gotten done soon if she wasn't such a curious pers- er, dragon. She asked me more questions yesterday than I would normally hear in a week."

Leah's face slowly softened and she smiled again.

"That's good, it sounds like you had a good day then."

Leah then glanced at me with a mischievous grin.

"If we could somehow harness that curiosity for her schoolwork, Shimmer would be one of the best students in Warfang. She's a smart dragon that just needs a bit of guidance to truly excel, and I find it curious that you draw it out of her."

I perked up a the mention of Warfang. From what I could gather, it seemed like an important and influential city.

"Shimmer mentioned that she has classes in Warfang. Does every kid in Farleigh go there for their education?"

"Not everyone, but many of the younger students do. There's a large academy in Warfang that is free for all of the children that live in the Dragon Realms."

"Really? How can the city afford that?"

"It's founded by the council, but also by the personal wealth of Spyro and Cynder. They wanted every child to be educated and taught how to take care of themselves, regardless of race or background. I'm thankful that they created it because it's become a home to many orphans that would otherwise not have a home."

I felt a sting at the word orphan and thought about how many of the kids in my village lost their parents to the war.

"Are there so many because of the war you mentioned?"

Leah scowled.

"Yes, but thankfully the world is healing and there aren't as many as there used to be."

Leah hadn't mentioned anything about the world healing before. If it had anything to do with the war though, I was assuming that she wasn't keen on talking about it. I wanted to know more, but I didn't want to bother her, so I stifled my curiosity and shifted my focus back to Shimmer.

"If Shimmer's in school, why is she back here in Farleigh?"

"Students have some time off every few months. Many of the students help their families with work, and the curriculum has built-in breaks for that reason. Besides, many would agree that it's hard to study continuously and be away from family for too long."

"Yeah, I can agree with that. I wouldn't have minded more time with my parents when I was younger too."

"Ah, so you have family back home?"

"Sort of. I consider my village my family."

"What about your parents?"

My hands tightened a bit and I didn't want to answer. I also didn't want to be rude, and not answering would give her more of a reason to worry about me. With that in mind, I tried to give her a reassuring response.

"My mom died in service to the village and my dad couldn't handle her passing. When I decided to follow her career path, he… left because he didn't approve of it. I was younger when it happened, so it's not something that I think about too much."

"I'm so sorry to hear that Kiran. If you ever need to-"

I snapped at her before I could stop myself.

"I don't."

She looked at me with heavy eyes but didn't reply. I felt guilty for cutting her off like that, but I didn't want to deal with her giving me any sympathy. I didn't need any. Silence grew as neither of us dared to speak, but a loud knock on the door interrupted the tension that gave me a chance to escape.

"Thanks again for my clothes, Leah. I'll see you later."

"Mhm."

I hurried over to the door and opened it. Shimmer was tapping one of her claws against the ground impatiently but stopped when she saw my clothes.

"Hey, you got your clothes back! Nice!"

"What are you doing here so early?"

She smiled sheepishly.

"I was too excited to sleep in, so I decided to head over here as soon as I could. Good morning!"

I wasn't going to argue with that and was thankful she showed up when she did. Shimmer leaned to the side to look behind me, but I closed the door, quickly started walking, and called back to her.

"C'mon, let's get going!"

She looked between me and the door before chasing after me.

"Hey! What's the rush? It's not like we have to hurry."

I held back a groan and kept up my pace.

"There's no rush, it just feels good to be on my feet. And besides, the sooner we talk to Strongfang, the sooner we can do other things, right?"

"Pfft, we have all day to find him. Besides, I wanted to say hi to Leah before we left! I haven't seen her since yesterday."

"That's not a very long time to be away from someone. Isn't that a bit… clingy?"

"No! It's not! I'm going back to Warfang soon and I won't be here for a few months, so I want to spend as much time as I can with my friends."

"Oh… right. I forgot about that, sorry."

"It's ok, just don't bail when I'm trying to talk to someone."

I gave a small "mhm" and slowed down my pace. Now that I wasn't in a rush to get away, I noticed that a few small stores had been set up near town hall and the owners were scurrying about as they prepared their wares with the help of apes. Along with that, a few wagons loaded with various supplies were passing through town, congregating near the town hall, creating a makeshift maze of wood and cloth. As we passed by some of the stalls, I got a mixture of curious and disdainful looks from the moles and cheetahs.

"What's up with all of this stuff, Shimmer? Where'd everyone come from?"

"Oh, it's just some of the merchants and suppliers from Warfang. They'll be showing up in groups over the next few days before they head back. It's usually pretty fun, you can find all sorts of cool things to buy when they're here. Well, cool if you don't live in Warfang. I see stuff like this all the time when I'm there."

"So will we be traveling back with one of them?"

"Yep. I've never gone with the same merchant twice though, so we'll have a chance to meet someone new!"

I wasn't too keen on talking to new people, but wasn't going to let Shimmer know that. Based on what I had seen, she would probably drag me along to talk in an attempt to help me change.

"So… what do you know about Strongfang? Is there anything I should be aware of before we talk?"

Shimmer scrunched up her face into a thinking pose for a few seconds before she replied.

"Mmmm…. nope! Nothing that I can think of. Why do you ask?"

Before I could respond Shimmer gave me a sly grin.

"Are you nervous?"

I rolled my eyes and scoffed.

"I'm not nervous. I do want to make a good first impression though. Things tend to be smoother when someone likes you from the start."

"Mhm, suuuuuure. Don't worry Kiran, with your trusty friend here, you have nothing to worry about! I'll back you up!"

I sighed and let my shoulders sag a bit. Did she really think I was scared, or that we were friends?

"Seriously Shimmer, I'm not scared. Some old ape isn't going to-"

I grunted as I walked straight into something hard and sturdy. I let out a small "oof" and almost fell backward, but caught myself in time.

"What in the…"

When I looked back in front of me, I found myself staring at some kind of darkened metal. I was confused at first, but then realized it was armor. I looked up slowly and came face to face with a very large ape that made me feel tiny in comparison. He stood well over nine feet tall and had arms and shoulders that were as thick as my torso. His dark face was adorned with various scars and he had two large fangs jutting from his bottom lip. On his back was a massive two-handed battle axe and he wore various pieces of thick metal armor on his arms and legs. He looked over at me slowly, leaning forward ever so slightly to get a better view, and raised an eyebrow curiously before he noticed Shimmer standing by me. When he spoke, his voice was rough and gravelly.

"Ah, Shimmer. It's good t' see ya'."

Shimmer beamed and waved up at him.

"Hey, Strongfang! How was the trip here?"

Strongfang got down onto one knee and leaned in close to Shimmer, overshadowing her with his massive body.

"Nothin' t' tell really, it was borin'. I almost fell asleep as I was walkin' along the trail. T' tell ya the truth, I am startin' t' wonder why we're even hired anymore. Haven't had any trouble with rogue apes for a few months now, and there are fewer shadow apes roamin' around. It looks like things are finally gettin' more peaceful."

"It's not a surprise that the apes aren't attacking anymore, you've kicked their butts so many times that they're probably too scared to try!"

Strongfang let out a short chuckle at that comment and stood back up.

"I hear what yer sayin', but I know my own kind. They're too stubborn t' give up. Somethin' else must be happenin' t' them if they're not messin' with traders. I'm sure of it."

He took a moment to look over at me and raised his eyebrow again.

"Anyway, sorry for runnin' into ya. I was hurryin' t' town hall t' turn in some paperwork and wasn't quite payin' attention. I've got a few things on my mind at the moment."

That was something that I could relate to. I opened my mouth to reply, but Shimmer interjected with an enthusiastic flurry of words.

"Strongfang, this is my new friend Kiran! He's going to tag along with us to Warfang, and we were actually just about to start looking for you!"

I shot an annoyed glare at Shimmer before giving a small bow.

"As Shimmer said, my name is Kiran, and it's nice to meet you Strongfang. Sorry for bumping into you, I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going either."

I sheepishly rubbed the back of my neck, slightly embarrassed that I got so absorbed in my conversation before.

"It's fine, but if ya don't mind, I'd like t' get a good look at ya."

Strongfang rubbed his chin and gave me a long, hard look-over while he mumbled to himself. I stood up straight as he inspected me, and his gaze went down until it eventually rested on my sword.

"Ya look a bit strange, but that's not something t' fuss over. How old are ya?"

"I'm fifteen, the same as Shimmer."

"About the same height too... Yer a bit small, but ya look strong… I don't suppose ya know how t' use yer sword, do ya?"

"I do."

"Then do ya think ya'd be up for joinin' the guard? I could always use an extra set of hands and I'd even pay ya for the help."

I didn't expect him to ask me something like that and I couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.

"Uhm, well, I thought I was just tagging along as a… guest?"

Strongfang chuckled and slapped me on the back with one of his massive hands. He was strong, and the friendly pat almost knocked me off of my feet. I winced and chuckled along with him nervously. Shimmer was enjoying the spectacle and just watched as I fumbled with what to say, abandoning me in my time of need.

"Some friend you are, Shimmer."

"Don't worry, ya are. I just figured ya might want a chance t' make some money."

"I'll consider it."

Strongfang nodded and then clasped his hands together tightly.

"Great. I look forward t' hearin' yer answer. In the meantime, would ya mind tellin' me why yer headin' t' Warfang?"

"Well, I'm just trying to get back home. If I can, I'll be talking to the council once I'm in Warfang. Leah said that they should be able to help me.

When I mentioned the council, I saw Strongfang's face twist into a very slight scowl.

"Ah. Well, ya might want t' take me up on my offer if yer gonna talk t' the council."

"What? Why?"

"Last time I checked ya had t' pay a fee before ya could talk with them. I don't know how much it is, but it might be a tad expensive for ya."

"Well… damn. Leah didn't say anything about that."

Sharpfang shook his head.

"It doesn't surprise me, a lot has changed in the city recently."

I felt like I didn't have much choice at this point and resigned myself to working for Strongfang. I put my hands behind my head and sighed.

"I guess I can't say no then, I accept your job offer."

He smiled and looked me over again, putting a hand up to his face as he stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Before I hire ya, do ya mind showing me yer skills with the blade? I'd like t' see what yer capable of. That'll help me determine what I have ya doin' for me.

Shimmer perked up at his suggestion and turned towards me with wide eyes.

"Ooh, you should totally do that Kiran! You keep talking about your ninja stuff, you could finally show me!"

I hesitated, unsure if that would be a good idea. I was technically supposed to be resting right now, and I didn't really see the benefit of showing my skills to anyone, let alone a stranger. Besides, a simple spar with someone so large could end in disaster for me.

"You're a lot bigger than me, so I don't know if that would be the best idea."

Shimmer interjected with an indignant huff.

"What!? C'mon Kiran, you can't back out just because he's bigger than you! That's lame!"

Strongfang just gave me a shrug.

"We won't do anythin' drastic, if that's what yer worried about. I have a way t' challenge ya that will let me test yer skills."

I tried to ignore Shimmer's protests and crossed my arms. It… might be a good idea to move around and get some practice in, if only to make sure that being stationary for a few days hadn't affected my ability to fight. As long as we were careful, then I guess it would be fine. I sighed, realizing with annoyance that I was giving into Shimmer's begging, but I agreed anyway.

"...Fine, let's do this. What do you have in mind?"

Strongfang grinned devilishly and I was suddenly dreadfully aware of the excited glint in his eyes.

Shimmer and I followed Strongfang to a small clearing outside of the village. Shimmer hopped along beside me with uncontained glee, and she couldn't stop telling me how excited she was to watch us fight.

"Kiran, this is so exciting! I'm never able to make it to the arena, so I tend to miss out on a lot of action! We have combat classes and stuff at school, but that's not the same. Speaking of that, I've heard some crazy stories about Strongfang! One time-"

I tried to get a word in before she continued.

"Arena? What are you talking about?"

Shimmer didn't even register what I was saying because she was too preoccupied with the story that she had started. I sighed and let it slide. She was excited and I couldn't fault her for wanting to share, so I tried to catch up to what she was saying.

"-some dreadwings tried to mess with a merchant, so he knocked it out of the sky by throwing a boulder at it! A BOULDER! The other dreadwings were so caught off guard by that, they scattered and didn't bother them again. Isn't that awesome!?"

Yeah, awesome… Wait, what? He threw a boulder?! And what the hell is a dreadwing?!

"Uhhh… yeah, super cool."

I looked at Strongfang's back and wondered just how strong he was. Was he the only ape that was that big?

"Hey Shimmer, are most apes… as big as him?"

She shook her head no.

"Nah, most apes are actually just a bit taller than you. There's a few apes that are his size, but he's the only ape commander that decided to defect from the main army and vie for peace before Malefor was resurrected. The rest tried to fight and were either cursed or banished to Dante's Freezer."

"So the war affected every race, not just-"

I once again ran right into Sharpfang. He had stopped walking at some point and I hadn't been looking in front of me. I rubbed the side of my face and stifled a curse, frustrated that I had stopped paying attention to my surroundings again. I was supposed to be better than this! I was trained to always keep tabs on what was happening around me!

"If ya keep runnin' into people, I might start t' think yer doin' it on purpose'."

I didn't have to see his face to know that he was grinning from ear to ear. I sighed and quickly changed the subjects, hoping that Shimmer wouldn't start teasing me too.

"So what do you want to do out here?"

"Let's have a friendly spar, but instead of attackin' me, yer goal will be to cut these."

Strongfang pulled out some type of small sacs from a pouch on his waist. He handed one to me and kept three for himself.

"I'll put them somewhere on my person. The goal will be for ya t' strike and break them while I try t' stop ya. Simple enough?"

I nodded and waited while Strongfang put a bag on each wrist and one on his ankle.

"Yeah, I get it. And you want me to use my sword?"

He almost looked offended when I asked the question.

"Of course! What kind of spar would it be if ya didn't use a weapon?!"

"A safe one."

Strongfang burst out laughing at my comment and held his gut as he kept himself from falling over.

"That… that was a good one! Ya almost had me there for a second Kiran! Ahahaha!"

He caught my serious look and slowly stopped laughing as he realized I wasn't joking.

"No need t' be so serious! We'll be fine. Ya don't need t' worry about a thing."

He gave me a wink and I agreed hesitantly.

"Alright, alright, I get it. Just as a warning though, I've been out of it for a few days, so don't blame me if I make a mistake."

"Of course."

Shimmer sat down at the edge of the clearing and laid down in a comfortable position to watch. She gave me a small wave with her wing as I took a few steps away from Strongfang. I turned to face him and placed my hand on the hilt of my sword. As soon as I had a hold of it though, I felt a wave of nausea creep up my back. The moments before Luna's death ran through my mind like a battering ram, shattering my composure and I froze in place, unable to draw the sword. Strongfang called out to me in concern.

"Is everything alright?"

I ground my teeth, frustrated with how weak I was being. I forced away the thoughts and drew my sword with a slightly shaking hand before responding.

"Everything is fine. Let's go."

I sprinted towards Strongfang and closed the gap between us in a split second. He took a defensive stance and swung a fist out to stop my approach. I was a bit surprised at how fast he was but managed to duck underneath the swipe and slice the bag that was dangling from his wrist. I had to retreat after that because he tried to grab me with the same hand, so I moved out of his reach with a quick jump backward. Strongfang looked at the sliced bag with a devilish grin.

"Ohoho! I didn't think ya would be so quick! I may have t' change my strategy!"

I didn't know what he meant by that until he raised his fists above his head. I realized what he was doing a bit too late and attempted to jump back further as he slammed both fists into the ground, shattering the earth around him with a loud crack. I landed a few feet further back, my feet catching on the now uneven dirt, and found myself on the defensive as Strongfang began attacking from a distance. He was now throwing large chunks of dirt and rocks at me that I had to sidestep, duck, and jump over. As they whizzed by, they impacted the ground and trees with loud thumps and then exploded into large showers of dirt. I found myself struggling to keep my footing steady due to the ground being uneven and couldn't find an opportunity to switch to the offensive. Strongfang laughed as he chucked the dirt and began taunting me as I almost tripped over my own feet.

"Is that all? Ya might be quick, but that won't help ya if you can't get t' me!"

Oh hell no! You're not going to make fun of me like that!

Without responding, I rolled underneath his next attack and grabbed my own handful of dirt. I molded a bit of wind chakra in my hand with the dirt and waited for his next toss before I jumped over it and threw my handful right at his face. It traveled much faster than he must have expected, and it hit him directly between the eyes.

He reeled back, sputtering, and took a few steps backward as he tried to clear his eyes and I used this opening as my opportunity to close the distance. He heard me approach and blindly swung his other arm, allowing me to dodge it while cutting the second bag. He finished wiping his eyes right as I swung towards the final bag on his ankle and his eyes widened in surprise. He couldn't quite move his leg out of the way fast enough and the third bag spilled sand onto the ground. With the last bag cut, Strongfang grumbled to himself as he relaxed his stance and nodded in approval.

"Well, ya caught me off guard. Yer a lot faster than I expected and ya did somethin' strange t' the dirt ya threw at me. Care t' explain?"

I smiled cheekily and crossed my arms.

"I think I'll keep that to myself. I can't go around giving out all of my secrets, right?"

Strongfang gave me an annoyed stare before shrugging with his own smile.

"Aye, aye. If ya did that, you wouldn't have much of a chance, would ya?"

Shimmer rushed up to us both and began gushing out compliments, her tail waving back and forth excitedly.

"That was so cool! Strongfang, I can't believe you turned the whole ground into a trap for Kiran! And Kiran, you were so fast that Strongfang couldn't even hit you!"

"I could've hit him if I wanted t'! I was goin' easy on him, Shimmer!"

Shimmer scoffed and shook her head.

"Yeah, sure, I don't buy it!"

Shimmer and Strongfang started to bicker a bit and couldn't help but smile. I felt myself swell up with a bit of pride at her compliment. It wasn't too often that I received them at home and I relished it every time someone gave me one. I made sure not to let it distract me from my own weaknesses or faults though, and reminded myself that Strongfang was just caught off guard. He'd be tougher if we ever had to spar again.

They eventually stopped arguing and Shimmer looked over at me expectantly.

"Kiran, do you think we could spar sometime? I don't get very much practice outside of class and even then, they don't have us do anything fun! The training dummies don't fight back and they don't actually let us spar. It's all theory and elemental practice and blah blah blah."

She was looking at me with her pleading eyes and I couldn't help but want to say yes.

"Maybe if we're careful and your dad approves. I don't want to get in trouble because one of us got hurt or did something stupid."

"Alright! I'll go ask him right now, meet me at town hall after you figure out work, ok?"

"Ok, ok, sheesh."

She waved and then jumped into the air as she made a mad dash home. Strongfang sighed before he gave me his own approval and put the remains of the bags away.

"I can see that ya were tellin' the truth, ya seem t' handle yer blade well. You might consider a career in the arena if yer interested in fightin'.

I shook my head.

"I'm not. I use my skills to protect my village, and I don't see the point in fighting for sport."

"Aye, fair enough, although it's not always a sport. Regardless, I know exactly what ya can do for me, startin' today if you'd like. Well, as long as Shimmer approves that is, she seems t' have ya by the ear."

He gave me a wink and laughed as I facepalmed.

"She's not in charge of me, so she can wait. In terms of work, what do you have in mind?"

Strongfang pulled some paperwork out of a satchel that he had and cleared his throat.

"Well, t' start, we need t' take care of the necessary documents..."

1/17/2020 - Grammar and spelling fixes as well as a lot of dialogue cleanup.

11/22/2020 - Grammar and Spelling fixes, as well as several fixes to sentence structure.