Callie's Heroes

Chapter 10 Part 5.3 - MEET THE TRAINERS - THE RANGERS (III)

Reynard walked up to the tent, his emotions still swirling. He wanted to blame his old friend Thorn, but deep down he couldn’t. It started as a minor joke, Thorn thought it would be a fun surprise to not tell him about the Gnome. But Reynard had let it get out of hand. Even if the girl had been totally out of line talking back like that, it was he that let it escalate multiple times. How did she get to him like that?

Thorn had quickly filled him in on her background after the Ranger recruits had returned to the tent. The Gnome’s lack of memory until this morning. The strange lack of class while still having an Advanced Archery perk. He wanted to object to giving her a Ranger worm. They were too rare, he thought, and they only had the five left. It was foolish to use them all. But the accuracy she had just shown gave him pause. One-hundred four of one-hundred twenty-eight actually in the red, some while moving? Without any skills? Was it really going to be a wasted worm? And even if it didn’t work, it would be reusable in a few months, so no real risk, right?

As he approached the tent, he could hear his recruits talking. That was good, at least, they were coming together as a team right from the start. Maybe it was in hatred of him, but it was something. Then he heard those harsh words: “... people like him don’t apologize.”

It was the Gnome, he knew that voice now. He had planned to go in and maybe critique her form or the one arrow that missed the target, or something else petty, and then just go back to training like nothing had happened.. But now he had a better plan. He’d do exactly what she didn’t expect, and that would let him win this round. Or at least not lose it.

Trainer Reynard entered the tent to find his recruits seated around the Gnome. She was lying on her back, hair and face wet. He cleared his voice and moved to take a seat on the other side of the tent while the recruits all turned to look at him. It suddenly occurred to him how young they all were, or maybe he was finally getting old.

Reynard cleared his throat again. This was going to be awkward. Sighing, he cleared his throat one last time. “I could make an excuse for how I behaved. But it would be a hollow one.”

Callie sat up, but didn’t say anything.

“It isn’t even the first day of real training,” Reynard said, “and I’ve shown you a side of myself that, honestly, I didn't know existed. I was vindictive and petty and deserve the shame I feel.”

He turned his eyes to look directly at Callie. “I am sorry.”

Callie blinked. Then blinked again.

“Can you forgive me?”

Callie took a deep breath and returned Reynard’s gaze. “No, I can’t,” she said flatly.

The rest of the recruits each let out a little gasp.

Callie held up her finger. “I can’t forgive you today. I am too angry. It would not be sincere. But, I will forgive you another day, when you can admit that I am a Ranger.”

Reynard gave a weak smile. “I believe that is fair.”

“But never … and I mean never … call me a ‘Little Pip’ again. Got it?”

“Understood,” was all he could say.

Outside the tent, Master Trainer Thorn listened to Reynard and his students. Thorn had expected his friend to just pretend nothing had happened. Yet, this surprise apology was remarkably sincere, more-so than he had ever seen from his friend, who was not one to do so easily. Recruit Calliope Archer’s response was peculiar, as well. No pressured instant forgiveness in return, but a response re-emphasizing her justifiable anger. A response that stated simply that the wound would heal in time, just not immediately. It was an equally heartfelt response, and he actually admired her for standing up to his friend.

Thorn shook his own head. He had told Renard that his new training group had a special student. A unique challenge. When pressed, he had simply pushed the surprise. It had been a mistake, apparently. Reynard thought he was talking about the Salamanderkin. Perhaps, though, the final outcome could still be positive?

He thought back to the spectacle on the makeshift shooting range. The little Gnome, wielding his son’s magical toy, shooting over and over without slowing and without faltering, that stare of certainty in her eyes. He had certainly seen that kind of accuracy before, but never in a recruit on day zero, or really before day zero. He hated to step in and force Reynard to stop, but once the Gnome’s clothing had fallen open, it needed to happen. She hadn’t stopped though. Modesty be damned, the Little One simply would not stop. There was fire in that heart of her’s.

The Master of Trainers changed his mind about making an appearance in the Ranger tent, turned, and quietly slipped away. There were other duties to attend and this situation had resolved itself. Even now, down the Warrior Row of tents, he could hear what sounded like a bunch of recruits getting rowdy. Probably the Berserkers. Best to walk by and tamp it out, before something happened.

Reynard cleared his throat. “If we can, I’d like to return to the items we need to cover today. It shouldn’t take long and then you will all return to your bunkhouses for the evening. To begin, I’d like to get some proper introductions and understand what skills you may have already unlocked, especially off-class skills.” He gestured at Thucax. “Would you begin.”

Thucax sat up straight. “I am Thucax. Unfortunately I have not unlocked any Ranger skills, or any others either. My parents are merchants and I work for them, so it has not been important for me to pursue studies in my class, and no skills have come to me in my sleep. Unfortunately, I was Conscripted, so now I am here. Once I can, I will return home to take over our business.”

“What kind of merchants?” Callie asked.

“We operate several warehouses to facilitate trade. We will make and receive deliveries, act as escrow agents, and the like. Larger cities would not function well without our type of services to keep trade organized.”

“Oh! That’s really interesting,” Callie said, almost using the term ‘cool’. “I love numbers and logistics like your business does.”

Thucax’s eyes lit up as he realized he had something more in common with the little Gnome, besides both apparently being Rangers. “We must talk some time. I would love to share more of what we do with you.”

“And you?” Reynard said, retaking control and gesturing to Kiasess.

“Of course,” the golden Tigerkin said, “I am Kiasess and I have only been a Ranger for a very short time, less than three months, so I have not unlocked any Ranger skills. However, I do have a perk called … ‘Par-coor’.” He slowly sounded out the unfamiliar name. “The Scryer stated it would allow me to run on walls and jump over things, but I do not know exactly what it does. It just unlocked for me two weeks ago while I was asleep.”

Reynard nodded. “It is a perk some Scout Hybrids and Specialists will receive. and is very much like you were told. I’ve seen some Catkin Rangers receive it at higher levels as a melded skill as well. With practice, you can use this perk to run up walls, slide under low things, and jump over others without slowing. It is surprising you received it at Iron, though, so count yourself lucky. I will make sure you get some training time with another group that uses that perk, likely the Duelists.”

“Thank you, Trainer Reynard.”

“I’ll go next!” Jesca jumped in. “My name is Jesca, and as you can see I’m a Cheetakin. I’ve had the Ranger class for about one year, and have picked up two Ranger skills. Multi-shot and Sniper Shot. I don’t have any off-class skills, though. I’m super excited to be here, though and look forward to getting to know all of you.”

“Excellent. You will have a head-start on the others with those two skills,” Reynard said.

‘My Sniper Shot isn’t very good, though,” Jesca said. “I run out of mana too quickly.”

“Practice will get you more efficiency.”

“I hope so. It’s not much good if I can only use it once or twice.”

Eyes turned to the dark Salamander.

“Me? Oh, yes,” they began. “I go by Shul'an and I hail from the Great Oasis. Until I was Conscripted, I was a guard for merchant caravans and probably delivered to and from the very warehouses that Thucax’s family owns. When I was Cursed, there was not time to return to my homeland, so I had little choice but to come here. I have been a Ranger for six years now and have unlocked several Ranger skills. Multishot, Sniper Shot, Burst Shot, Flare and Eagle Eye. Also Homing Shot and Rain of Arrows. I also have a skill called Earthen Wall, which I think comes from the Geomancer class. I can raise a wall of sand or soil for protection. Finally, I have learned the Wizard skill called Burning Hands, which I use to set alight my flammable spit.”

“Excellent!” Reynard said. “Your Earthen Wall is indeed a Geomancer skill. Where did you learn it?”

“We had a Wizard, or he may have been a Geomancer, who would travel with us occasionally when he wished to visit the city. He used it once and I asked him to teach me. However, I am not very proficient with it and need more practice. As for Burning Hands, I saw its usefulness since our ‘Kin don’t have the spark gland, so I hired a Wizard to instruct me some time ago. I am not efficient with it at all, but I don’t need to use it much as I am only able to spit twice, or three times if I am very lucky.”

Reynard could see uses for both off-class skills as part of a Ranger’s combat style. “Quite the variety of Ranger skills, and some are Bronze Tier. How long ago did you rank up?”

“About eighteen months ago.”

“Very good work on your own. Are you fighting with two swords or one?”

“With two. I have practiced for many years, and have been told my technique is good, but I have no specific melee skills.”

“Rangers don’t get any skills, only the Dual-Wield and Ambidextrous perks. No specific melee skills that is. Sword fighting isn’t our strong suit, but we can hold our own. We’ll be practicing routinely with other dual-wielding classes at first, and eventually all of them. In time, learning a few off-class melee skills may be helpful for you, although you won’t have time here in the next eight weeks.”

“Thank you, Trainer Reynard.”

Reynard turned to Callie. “What of you, Calliope? As I understand, you have neither class, nor skills, correct?”

The little Gnome straightened. “My name is Callie Archer,” she began, emphasizing her chosen first name. “I know, it’s an ironic last name considering my class, or my possible class. To just be upfront with all of you, there’s some weirdness about me. Jesca knows the story, and maybe Trainer Reynard, but I will give you all the short version.” She went on to tell the tale about how she woke up earlier that day with no memory and no idea where she was. She talked about how Lena and Tazrok and the others rallied to her aid and they were now housing together. She talked about being scryed, twice, and then the painful deep scrying. About how she had a ‘void’ where her class should be, no skills, yet still the Advanced Archery perk.

“So that display you put on earlier? That was all from only a perk? No Ranger skills at all?” Shul'an asked.

Callie shrugged. “Maybe they are hidden like my class, but I wasn’t consciously doing anything to use them if they are. I just shot the target. A lot.”

Reynard shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“So, you might not actually be a Ranger, then?” Kiasess said.

Callie shrugged again. “Master Trainer Thorn is pretty sure I am, since it’s the only class with the Advanced Archery perk. But I guess we’ll find out.”

The six in the Ranger tent talked more. Shul'an spoke of fighting huge Sand Snakes in the desert and Kaisess spoke of his sister, a Wizard, who had been Cursed six months previous and was already in the south fighting at the front. He hadn’t heard from her in some time and was worried, but also confident she could take care of herself.

Reynard reviewed the schedule of things for the next few days, where to meet and what to bring from the breakfast tables as additional snacks for the day. Several times Callie attempted to interrupt, only to get a firm “Let me get to that,” from Reynard. Eventually, Jesca just put her hand over Callie’s mouth every time it looked like she was about to say something. Callie really didn’t mind. She felt it was all in fun and it was nice the tension of earlier had mostly abated.

“We’re just about done here. I’m going to send you all back to your houses so you can start the process to get your skills. For now, just relax until the staff comes to your bunkhouse to assist you.“

Callie literally bit her tongue to keep from asking questions as Jesca gave her a warning look.

“It will be a long night, but rest and you’ll be fine in the morning.”

A tall Elf poked his head through the tent doorway. “Trainer Reynard? Good, you’re still here. We have a situation and most of the trainers have finished and left.”

“What’s going on?”

“Oh, you know. The usual. A bunch of Dwarves are getting heated. Someone started shoving and it’s about to turn into something ugly.”

“Berserkers?” Reynard asked.

“Berserkers versus Barbarians this time.”

“Shit! Give me one minute,” Reynard said.

Turning to his recruits, he hurriedly said, “Normally I’d talk you all through this, but if I don’t help stop this it could turn into something and people will get hurt. Each of you, give me your class identification block.” He reached into a basket sitting on the ground next to him and started handing each recruit a small wooden box, taking their block in exchange. Each box was painted with a large brown and a small yellow circle, and had an attached length of string with a small key on the end. Reynard noticed he had received five small boxes in his basket from Logistics, and realized he’d never counted when they were issued to him. Had he known there was a fifth recruit, it wouldn’t have come as such a shock to him, and everything that had happened would have been different. A foolish oversight on his part.

“You have mine already,” Callie said as she took the box from the trainer.

“I do? Oh, right. Again, everyone is to take these directly to your houses. Put it straight into your footlocker and wait for one of the Healers to come by and assist. Talk to your other housemates, they all received the same additional information that I need to skip, and can give you the details.”

He rose from his seat and started for the door. Pausing a moment, he turned and said “I’ll see you all the day after tomorrow.” With that, he ducked out, the sound of yelling coming through the open flap..

“That was … abrupt,” Jesca said after a moment.

In the distance, someone roared out a string of expletives, which was quickly followed by the sound of something being smashed. Immediately, that was followed by something heavy hitting the outside of the tent.

“Um, let’s maybe get the hell out of here?” Callie said, quickly jumping to her feet and grabbing her bow.

The five ran out of the tent. To their left, at least six Dwarves were squared off into two groups. Some held long chunks of wood, while others were holding up their fists in a boxing stance. All were yelling and cussing. Reynard was trying to wade through the mess and keep everyone separated.

“That way!” Shul'an said, pointing in the direction opposite the melee. “Run!”

And they ran. Callie’s short legs made keeping up difficult, but both Jesca and Shul'an slowed enough to match her stride. There was another crash behind them, followed by the sound of cracking wood. A piece of something flew over their heads..

“This is crazy. Everyone, just go to your bunkhouses. We’ll reconnect tomorrow,” Kiasess said over his shoulder, waving his hand in a vague go-that-way motion towards the housing area of the camp.

“Yeah!” Callie yelled, still running.

By this point, they were far enough from the chaos to not be in danger of being dragged into it or hit by anything, but their nerves were shattered and they half-ran and half-walked the rest of the way.

Panting, they reached the garden area and started to split up. At the fountain, Jesca was just about to walk towards her own house, but stopped and turned to Callie. She got down on one knee and embraced the little Gnome in a deep hug. Confused, Callie returned it.

“What was that for?” Callie asked.

Jesca shrugged. “I just thought you could use a hug. See you later?”

“Okay,” Callie said, and then asked, “Jesca, I got that it’s a bad word to call someone from context, but what does ‘pip’ mean?”

Jesca got a nervous look on her face. “It’s really considered an insulting word to call Gnomes, Goblins, Pixies and Sprites. Now that I think about it, really any race that’s shorter than a Fairy.” Then she whispered, “It’s short for ‘pipsqueak’.”

Callie just stared at the Catkin, dumbfounded. “That’s it?”

“Yes. It’s a really bad thing to call Little Ones.”

Callie was going to make some snarky remark, but then realized that it wasn’t Chicago, and the racially-insulting words here would be different than back home. “Good to know, then,” she finally said. “Everyone keeps calling me Little One. I assume that’s a better name for Gnomes?”

“Oh yes. It’s an endearing name for Gnomes. And Goblins, too.”

“But what about the other short races? Like Sprites or Pixies or Fairies?” Callie wondered.

“Well, Fairies are taller than Gnomes, so they aren’t so little. I suppose Sprites and PIxies could qualify, but nobody ever calls them that. I wonder why?”

“So if someone calls me Little One, I shouldn’t feel insulted by it.”

“No! Not at all. It’s a good term,” Jesca assured.

“Okay. I sort of got that from context, too, but I just wanted to be sure.”

Jesca gave Callie an additional final hug and ran off her own way. Callie turned to face the extra-sized bunkhouse looming ahead. Callie muttered to herself, “I can’t believe I'm living with two Elves, an Ogre and a Lizard … girl? Lizardguy? What gender is Xin?”

The little Gnome walked up the steps to the smaller door, inset in the larger ogre-sized one, and walked inside. Everyone was here. Her new found family, only hours old, but her best friends in this whole wide brand new world.

“Hey, everyone. I’m home!”