You can find more of this on by Subscribe/Star (dot adult slash KajaWilder), it's posted past Ch. 20 there. You can find the same on my new (via Discord per their ToS), under /WildErotica. The DISCORD is at h-t_t-p_s-:_/-/_discord-._g-g_/-N9yDASt6Cw (taking out hyphens and underscores, 'cause FFnet). If you prefer direct links, go to my Discord and follow the 'links in general' section to find the ones you want. All of my fics are well ahead of what I post here, often 10-30 chapters ahead.

You can also read my original fiction on Kindle, or Kindle Unlimited for free. My author page: www ._amazon ._com / stores / Kaja-Wilder/ (this time taking out underscores and spaces, but leave the one hyphen).

Enjoy!

Chap. 12

Lin winced as Mai, still playing as the dutiful Sergeant Eina, held open the door for him. After her admitting that they could work on being friends, the remainder of the walk into the village proper, a full li, was spent in awkward, strained silence. He was not upset. Far from it, in fact, Lin was elated, as his mind worked feverishly to understand how he'd been so lucky.

To be alive. To have, somehow, caught what might be an inkling of almost-respect from someone like Mai. To maybe, just maybe, having a chance to earn her real, actual friendship.

If, of course, he lived through the next two weeks. If his family didn't kill him for lying. Or fraternize with people who most of the village thought of as little better than bandits themselves. Or the Dai Li didn't get to him. Or the... well, Mai or Ty Lee themselves.

I'm so dead. Still, with the tall woman staring at him expectantly, there was little Lin could do except to step through and into the crowded general store, the center of the village's commerce.

Jo's Trading Post was a simple store compared to the fancy, if small, boutique that Yugao had taken Lin to to get his new uniform tailored, and even next to the general stores- five of them!- in Qiquan. Learning that the city was small, actually small, (Qiquan, capital city of their province, once a whole kingdom before the Earth King had united the various smaller kingdoms into the Earth Kingdom of today centuries ago!) had blown his mind. He'd never understood until he had seen Pingjin City from another side, and thus far more than the brief stop at an outskirts market their family twice a year to sell goods.

It wasn't small, not really. One of two entire buildings in the village with a second floor and thus above-ground stairs (cellars did not count in Lin's estimation, since they were not livable generally), it had a wider base than most larger houses and most of that space was set up with shelves, counters, and tables covered with goods. Crates and barrels of grains, barley, rice, even some exotic beans from as far away as Gaoling occasionally made their way through, and were treated as prized commodities until they were, eventually, all sold away a bit at a time.

Everything from tack and bridles for the oxen, both wooden and actual iron nails for fencing and home repair, and even a few pieces of furniture that could be easily assembled later using those same nails and a mallet or hammer were present. Clothing, wooden toys (a few, anyway, as children were taught from a young age that everyone had to work, or no one ate), canvas sacks of charcoal, and the rarest of the rare, at least to Lin, a small selection of reading books (actual books) some of the women of the village read at night, and two different types of candy in glass jars kept behind the counter where enterprising children couldn't just walk off with a handful.

It took several seconds for his eyes to adjust, because while the interior of the shop was lit by candle and one expensive, Fire Nation lamp that had been imported somehow during the war, the shutters were closed, and the day outside was bright and warm. While they did, he heard more than saw Mai come inside, shut the door, and stand beside and behind him just like the junior officer should. It was... intimidating, knowing she was watching him carefully for any slip-up, and so much better at this duplicity and deception, this spy-work, than he was.

Lin was no spy, he was a farmer pretending to be a soldier.

"Are you familiar with this shop, Sir?" 'Sergeant Eina' asked politely as she began to peer about with either completely genuine, or completely feigned interest. Lin wished he knew which it was. "I've got the Captain's list ready, but I'm afraid it will take longer if we have to search for things..."

"I-" Lin coughed, "I am somewhat familiar, yes. I'm sure things have changed a little since I was here last. It's been a few years."

"I see. We should begin, then. The first item on the list is bedding. Some was damaged in the rain, and..."

The next forty minutes passed in something of a blur. Mai's 'shopping' was quick and efficient, and she seemed to spot things before he could even remember where they had been. Before too long, there was a small pile developing on the wooden planked floor of the shop in front of the small counter where the actual trading and bartering took place. Upstairs, Lin could hear Jo talking quietly to his family, no doubt still preparing for the day. He was usually not in the shop, the soldier remembered, until midmorning because the farming village rarely needed goods until at least the mid-day break for lunch. At least, they didn't send a family member to get things until then.

Thus, old Jo, the chubbiest person in the village as he ate rather more than two or three of Lin's family put together, seemed quite surprised to see them and then the pile of goods that reached higher than his counter when he finally stepped into the shop. "S- Soldiers? Lin? Little Lin? Wait... you're- you're the new Zhōngwèi? Hah! It's good to see you, boy! And who's this pretty young lady... a Jūnshì? What can I help you wi- oh. Oh."

His eyes went from overjoyed to lusty and hungry to outright astonished in seconds as he recognized Lin, noticed Mai, and then the stack of goods.

Mai, of course, wasted no time. "Jo? Are you Jo? We're looking to restock and resupply, but I couldn't find a few things. We need some tack for horses, bridles and a saddle buckle that broke on the way. A trio of baldrics for spears. Some candles, I didn't see any here, we need ah... thirty six hours-long tapers, and twenty-two three-hour candles. Nine bars of soap, and two drying linens. Oh, and a traveling cookware kit if you have them."

Jo coughed. "W- We don't... er, we don't have most of that... we're a small village, Jūnshì..."

"Eina," Lin supplied.

"Yes, Jūnshì Eina. We don't have much need for extra saddle supplies, as there isn't a single horse in the village. If ox tack will do, I can help you, but-"

"I've already checked that," 'Eina' interrupted, "it isn't the right size or shape. But if you don't have it, there's nothing we can do, I suppose. What about the candles, linen, and soap?"
Jo coughed, "I- I believe I have some more soap in the back... the candles are all out front, however. You didn't show her where they are, Lin?"

Mai huffed again, frowning, "We already have those. I still need the remainder."

Jo coughed, looking embarrassed, "W- Well... I can speak with the local candle-maker, he can probably have some ready in a few days..."

Mai sighed next, looking much put-upon. "Fine... if that's the best we can do, I'm sure the Captain will be... understanding. And this supply should at least last that few days. What about the linens? Oh, we could use some bandage linens too, even just traveling can cause some soldiers to injure themselves. The clumsier ones, at least."

Lin was sure that was a none-to-subtle jab at himself for falling off of the roof of this very building the night before, but he could hardly say that. So Lin settled for glaring at Mai, or at least trying to (it was hard when she scared him so very much), "Sergeant... be nice. We aren't here to make enemies, remember?"

To her credit, Mai actually blinked a few times, then nodded. She seemed genuinely apologetic when she turned and bowed to the heavyset shop-owner, "My apologies, Jo. I do not mean to belittle your business and livelihood. I am sure there isn't a more well-stocked trading post for a hundred li."

That, Lin knew, was an exaggeration a dozen times over, as Pingjin was only about sixty li away, but the apology still had the older man preening with a sudden abundance of kindness, "Oh, think nothing of it, Sergeant, nothing at all. I do apologize that our humble trading post can't meet all the needs of such fine, upstanding soldiers as yourself and our dear Zhōngwèi Lin, or your illustrious Captain. I'll do all I can, of course, the whole village will. But we are, in the end, a humble place with little to offer as far as resupply for good fighting men and women like yourselves."

"Of course," Mai agreed at once, smiling as she rose from her bow. Once again, Lin couldn't tell if it was genuine or fake, and that thought still scared him.

The thought of being her friend was thrilling, tantalizing... but would he ever truly know her? She was such a good actress...

All too soon, or definitely, absolutely not soon enough for his liking, the bartering was done. Lin and Jo, and Jo's wife and older son now, were flabbergasted by the amount of coin Mai placed out, carefully counting and accounting for each tiny Zhu, all the way up to four gold Wang, each one larger than the entire sum he'd handed his brother just that morning... and more than he could expect to make in a few months.

"Th- This is- this is too much," Jo eventually sputtered, "I can't... I can't trade this."

Mai looked up at him flatly, "I am afraid I do not have smaller denominations in that amount. Captain Taijin was very specific about what I was allowed to draw from the Company Quartermaster. I can't return without as much as possible, and I also cannot cheat you, Mr. Jo. I'm afraid that paying a little extra is the only course."

"But- But I-"

Lin took pity on his father's friend, a man he'd known since he was a young boy, "It's alright, Jo. If the Company is paying for it, this isn't coming out of our money or anything, the whole Earth Kingdom pays for it. Think of any extra as... repaying what other, less scrupulous, soldiers might have underpaid for."

"You can check my accounting, if you like," Mai offered as well, turning her scroll over. But Lin already knew she hadn't made a mistake. He knew his own numbers well enough, having been taught by Jo himself, to have kept up with what the Kyoshi Warrior spy had written down. Each tally mark had been flawless, there was no error in either the merchandise being paid for, or what she had assigned to each... aside from the fact that each item had been paid for individually with a single coin, the smallest available to pay for each of them, rather than tallying the total and paying for it that way.

The net result was that Trader Jo's store was making about nine Wángzi, almost a full gold Wang, in profit over and above what they would normally charge. It was, at least for the small village, a king's ransom: hence, local tales had it, the name of the near-mythical coin as a 'gold king'.

He did look over the scroll, his face screwing up in consternation further and further as he went, the frown getting worse. Once he reached the bottom of the page and looked at the numbers again, he looked up to meet Mai's gaze, which was level and flat, as always. Only, at least to Lin's increasingly practiced eye, more-so somehow.

"Your sums are correct," he admitted eventually, "of course... but this is... it's not the right..."

"I, and Captain Taijin, will appreciate your honesty," Mai said flatly, "but I must insist. We are not here to cheat you or to make enemies. The Earth Kingdom Mustered Soldiery are meant to support the people they protect as well as be supported by them. Your resupply will help us out a great deal. Thus, the Captain intends to help you out in return."

Jo swallowed, cast a last look at Lin, no doubt hoping for aid, then nodded when Lin did the same. "I... Very well. I'll... I just don't want you or your Captain to come back later and claim we've, er, cheated you, Miss- er, Jūnshì Eina."

"We won't."

That was Lin, and Mai nodded along with him.

Jo seemed to believe them, for he swallowed again, and started scooping the piles of coins into a bag, before he thought better of it and handed that duty to his wife. "Come, Bo, we should help them load... have you brought a cart, Lin?"

"We haven't, I was hoping we could borrow yours," he lied quickly, "I wasn't aware the Captain's list was quite so long."

"Of course, of course. Bo, go get Min to hitch up the ox... use Bonto, he always got on better with Lin, here, if I recall. Then come help me, alright?"

"Of course, father," the older son, a few years older than Lin himself, said quickly before hurrying back up the stairs.

"You know," Jo said with a grin and a sidelong look at Mai as he hefted two bedrolls in each hand, his entire stock (and a third of what Mai had requested), "My son, Bo, he's still unmarried... but there's nothing wrong with him, I swear. He's strong, handsome, kind, smart... it's just that none of the local women ever caught his eye, and our matchmaker turned down every request since he turned her daughter down, and..."

"I'm not interested," Mai interrupted, "I'm married to my job."

The first part of that, for some strange reason, turned the mild amusement Lin felt at Jo's attempt into complete elation. The second... well, it made the farmer-turned-soldier frown, but still left him overall feeling far more positive. He just couldn't figure out the reason why.

Some hour later, he was walking beside Mai again, leading the docile ox Bonto as the large, smelly animal hauled the two-wheeled cart up the scant road into the hills where Birdfox Company had bivouacked. A sneaking suspicion that they were being watched, despite most of the village being out of sight behind the first of the hills, had Lin constantly glancing about, but he couldn't see anyone.

Still, after at least ten minutes of that, 'Sergeant Eina' spoke up for the first time since leaving the village, "You're getting more perceptive, at least. Have you spotted them yet?"

"Wh- What?"

"The Kyoshi Warriors," Mai actually laughed quietly, "they've been shadowing us since the last house. Four of them. Maybe five, Yugao really is quite sneaky when she wants to be."

He looked around again, but saw nothing. Only the same familiar scrub desert he was used to seeing from his youth, and the distant mountains. "No... I just keep feeling like we're being watched."

"As I said, more perceptive. Tell me when you spot one, though. Keep your eyes open. They're out there, though, I've seen at least four."

He nodded. "I'll do that. Um... if you don't mind me asking, did... did Captain Taijin really tell you to give Jo so much money?"

She snorted, "Taijin's a good man, and a good Captain, but of course not. He rattled off about how that would be taking advantage of his generosity. I paid for all of that, just to teach him a lesson. Well, and to bribe Jo, of course. Now he'll be more receptive to questions and conversation later. At least, if I didn't shut him down by turning down his ridiculous offer of his son."

"What's wrong with Bo? He's a decent guy," Lin shrugged. "Not the best looking, I know, but..."

Mai only rolled her eyes, "If you knew more about me you wouldn't ask that. Nothing's wrong with him, but I'm not interested. Ancestors, you'd have a better shot with me than he does. At least I know a bit about you, and you about me. I'm not interested in some random man I'll only see once or twice. I never have been."

Lin swallowed, then did something truly stupid: he asked a personal question. "You never struck me as the romantic type. You would... actually settle down?"

Her glare was enough to make his heart skip a beat, but eventually, the Kyoshi Warrior dressed in an adjutant officer's uniform nodded, "Eventually. Maybe. If I met the right person. I thought about it, once. Almost did. I'm glad I didn't, now. My life is... not what I expected it to be, but it's far more fulfilling than I had ever dared hope."

That made Lin pause in his tracks, so quickly the ox and cart almost ran him over. "You... you find this... fulfilling? What do you mean? Hunting bandits? Or D- whoever is controlling them?"

"Yes," Mai replied simply, "It's far more than the dreary, boring life I expected myself to have. I get to fight sometimes, to meet interesting people, travel... what's not to love? Oh, there's Ty Lee."

He saw the woman, dressed in her actual Kyoshi Warrior clothing, and felt his face heat. She was sitting casually on a boulder at the side of the road a half-li ahead.

Mai chuckled quietly, then leaned in, just a little, to whisper, "I don't care that she sucked your dick, Lin, I really don't. As long as you can keep working together, have fun. Just remember what I said before: keep your emotions out of it. For her, it's just playing around and having fun, nothing more deep than that. If she's not using you, anyway, which she might be."

That conversation didn't help his blush.

Still, when they eventually reached Ty Lee and he guided the ox to stop, a half-dozen Kyoshi Warriors melted out of the bright sunlight somehow, seeming to materialize from the very ground, or behind every other bush or stone until they were surrounded. "What did you learn?"

Mai shrugged at Ty Lee's question, glanced at Lin, then replied, "Not much. Jo's not involved. He seemed more shocked than anything about the money. If he was more used to seeing Dai Li funding, he'd at least have seen a gold Wang before."

"Hm," Ty Lee frowned thoughtfully, "That does seem pretty convincing. Did they have what we asked for?"

"Only about two-thirds. It'll do, but some of the girls will have to share bedrolls a bit longer."

"I'm sure they'll complain, horny bitches," Ty Lee giggled, rolling her eyes, "I heard them going at it half the night."

Lin blinked, the casual talk of the Kyoshi Warriors having sex together had his face burning already, and more than a little tightness growing in his lower uniform. Then, of course, the acrobat turned to him, "How's it going, big guy? Feeling a bit more relaxed after last night?"

"I- I-"

"Relax, just teasing," she grinned, then looked back to her friend, "He's really well-hung, though. Anyway, between Gonju and Jo, we might have an in, yeah?"

"Maybe... if we can trust them. I'm not sure, yet. I'll need to see the old man myself first, maybe talk to him. I can do that tomorrow, while Lin reads the scrolls. Which he's going to do, all day if necessary."

"R- Right," he agreed quietly, sending a few rounds of titters around the circling Kyoshis, who hadn't so much as batted an eye (though he saw a few knowing grins sent around) at the mention of their activities the night before.

"Well, alright. I'll divvy these up, then... and the rest is going to our project?"

"No, send a little to Taijin. He'll need some resupply himself, liaison with him and find out what he needs. There won't be much left here, and it'll be a while before we head back to a real city. Supply will be scant for a few weeks."

"Alright, sounds good. Have fun, Mai. By, lover-boy!"

Then, as a final tease, Ty Lee blew him a kiss, then licked her lips before snatching the reigns from his hands, "Yip, yip! Come on, big guy, let's get going!"

He had to nearly jump out of the way as the cart lurched into motion without him, though Mai stepped more smoothly back, grinning. She still called, "Have one of the Birdfoxes bring the cart back once it's unloaded. We've got a bit more work to do. I'll be staying at Lin's place this evening."

He blushed again... but that was far worse a thing to say than he had thought at first, because the entire group of women around him, led by Ty Lee herself, suddenly went, "Woo-Woo!"

"It's not like that," Mai muttered sullenly, but grinned a moment later, "At least, not that you'll ever know. Get going, ladies, there's work to do. Stick with the plan, stay out of sight until it's time. Oh, and Ty Lee?"

"Yeah?"

Mai's look was far too even as she looked up the road at her friend and co-commander, "Turnabout's fair play, but I'll let you keep the lead for now. I owe you, though... you'd better get that paint ready."

"Looking forward to it," Ty Lee laughed, "We'll get it done in time. Bye!"

This time, the women didn't bother hiding as they moved away, following after or around the cart. Eventually, even the feeling of being watched like a piece of prey faded to next-to-nothing. Then, just as Mai turned to him again, he asked quietly, "Just one left?"

She nodded. "Always. Do you know where?"

He shook his head, but pointed vaguely northwest, back toward the village, "That's where my head is itching from."

Mai grinned, "Well, she's over in 'that general direction', so keep focusing on that. You've honestly come a long way, there might be hope for you yet. Now, about that noisy, clumsiness... Try walking like this..."

Never in his entire life would Lin have imagined he would be getting a lesson on how to 'walk like a lady' (as some of the soldiers would call it). But he couldn't deny that, two hours later, he was making less noise as they finally started making their way back to the village. He was still far louder than Mai, and knew it, but her lesson was at least partially successful.

Thumping his feet was out of the question, though, if the next night's plan was to go off without a hitch. He would have to practice constantly, aside from when he wasn't reading and studying the scrolls. He'd even promised Mai that he would. That didn't stop her from nagging on him constantly, offering small bits of advice or criticism as he misstepped here, or turned his foot a bit awkwardly there.

Even if the thought of being literally hounded by a woman teaching him to be more stealthy should have made him uncomfortable as a man (maybe, anyway, Lin wasn't sure that was even a 'should have' thing, because he could definitely think of a few uses for being more stealthy if they were really after the Dai Li), he really only had two observations to make as they returned to the village. One, Mai was a surprisingly patient, and good, teacher. And two... He could listen to her talk forever, no matter what she was saying.