On the Rocky Road to Ostagar
She had a suspicion that Duncan was taking the trip slower than normal. At the end of the day, she had just enough energy left to let Daveth try to teach her some of the finer arts of being a rogue. The man had a way with the bow, but wasn't all that good with the thievery. He'd said so himself.
"I can teach you the principles of lock-picking and pick-pocketing, but I'm really balls at them myself. It's how I ended up here. Duncan caught me trying to cut his purse."
On the other side of the camp, Edana was having a somewhat more difficult time.
"Look, Ser Jory. I understand that I'm kind of underweight compared to the kind of bruisers that normally sling a shield around, but I really do think this might be the best style for me. Muscle and strength can only come with time and work. I've got a lower center of gravity than a man my height, which will help me keep my feet set, iand I like the idea of having a wall between me and the bad guys. And between Shai and the bad guys. If she's going to be shooting, I need to do my part."
Jory still looked unconvinced. "Well what about a two-sword style? You're fairly quick, you could be good at that. I'm sure Duncan would be willing to show you."
Edana's smile went a little bit plastic, and the shoulder closest to Duncan turned slightly away from him. Only someone who knew her well and was paying attention was likely to notice. "No, that's okay. I'd really prefer to learn this, please."
Her arrows were all over the target, except for two, which quivered nearly one on top of the other in the exact center. Daveth rubbed the back of his neck and looked doubtful. "Looks like you might have some potential, but maybe I should teach you the basics of some two-handed moves?"
Shai glared angrily at the target, as if it were at fault for her erratic aim. She sighed heavily and nodded. "I suppose that's a good idea."
There was a crash a few feet away, followed immediately by a solid thud as Edana landed at Shai's feet. She forced herself to draw a deep breath to replace the one that Jory had knocked out of her, and opened her eyes to look up.
"You know that quote, I think it was Edison, about 'I haven't failed, I've just found a hundred ways that don't work'?" she asked, not so much as twitching from her prone position. "I think this is number seven." Wow, the ground was so much more comfortable suddenly, than it had been the night before when she'd tried to sleep. Just one more breath to get her diaphragm working again, and then she'd get up. Really.
Shai reached down to haul her friend to her feet. "So work on eight. I have you beat by.." She looked over to count the arrows that had completely missed the target. "One. So catch up."
Edana rose with a grunt. "That's okay. I'm pretty sure the next one will be stupid enough for three or four." A wry smile. "Once more into the breech, I guess."
She took a breath to start some therapeutic bitching about how sore her arms were, and how hard it was going to be to raise them over her head the next day, but caught a glimpse of Duncan, silently watching from the campfire, out of the corner of her eye. The breath turned into a sigh, and she clenched her jaw, swallowing. Maybe not.
Rolling her shoulder to settle her shield a little better, she trudged back to Jory. "Okay. Let's try this again. ...maybe it would help if I put rocks in my pockets?"
Shai watched her friend, the crease between her eyebrows deepening until Daveth reached out to tap her with a short sword. She batted it away, but followed his lead.
It wasn't until the darkest part of night that she sat straight up in their tent. "Edana, what is wrong with you?"
"Mrph? Whuzzut?" Edana pawed at her face, trying to wipe the sleep-gunk away from her eyes. "Huh? Wuz sleepin. ...ish."
Shai blinked down at her friend, wide awake but completely puzzled. "Why'd you wake me up?"
"I didn't!" Edana protested plaintively. "You asked me something. 'Edana something something wrong something' was all I caught." She laid back down, tugging the blanket up around her shoulders. It wasn't cold, really. But blankets are always good.
"Stew." A pause. "What, sleep-deprived word-association isn't the game? What is it, then?" She made a quietly cranky noise, trying to burrow back into the (in her opinion quite inadequate) bedroll.
Shai poked her friend harder. "No, you! You've been acting like a scared little rabbit since we got here!"
There's a long silence. "...I'm usually a scared little rabbit. At least, inside," came the quiet reply. "I'm just mouthy enough to hide it, usually. This is just... a lot bigger and a lot scarier than usual, so it's... harder." True enough, if not the whole story. She was too tired to monitor her tone very well, though.
Shai flipped her blankets over so they were covering both women. She pulled her friend close and just held on.
"We can do this," she whispered, not entirely sure which of them needed the words more.
Edana twitched a tiny, uncomfortable shrug. "It's not even can. We have to. Since we have to, we will. I'm not even having a Yoda moment. It's just... When you don't have a choice, you buck up and do it." She flung and arm over Shai and snuggled close. "And this is about as choice-free a situation as has ever been." She shivered a little, not from cold.
"Watch your bruises, hon." Shai carefully cuddled her friend. "We have to do this all again tomorrow." She yawned and settled in to try to get more sleep.
