[Challenge] The Inequities of Life IV

[Alric Lysane]

26th Fall 522 AV – Syka Commons/Storm Shelter

“Nymkarta”

Alric’s eyes flashed open and the pushed himself up off of the ground almost immediately, unlike the past few cycles where he had merely groaned and wondered whether putting himself out of his misery were an option. He hadn’t gone through with it because in general he didn’t believe in it, it was too final a thing to consider, though if he had to live this cycle for the equivalent of a hundred years then maybe he’d end up reconsidering – no one was impervious to events after all. He looked at Jade, smile and nodded, clapped him on the shoulder, then immediately ran for it.

“Mathias wanted to see you! It’s an important day!”

“I know! But I have someone else to see Jade, send him my apologies…for the fifth time”

“That makes no se-“

“Sense? I know right! It’s madness…humans eh?” he shouted back over his shoulder, making his way towards the Commons, this time cutting across it and to the North, slowing down to a slightly breathless jog when it became apparent that Jade wasn’t following him…yet at least.

“Alric! You’re in a hurry this morning…Mathias scare you off?” came Randal’s voice, he was quickly making his way up the path compared to last time, he couldn’t have been closer if things were repeating after all, “thought he wanted to see you today?”

“So I keep being told” he muttered to himself with wry amusement, if tinged with a grim edge.

“What was that?”

“Oh nothing. Yes I know, but I’d rather be doing something else…say wilderness exploration with yourself. Or, you know, meeting Buraga of the Rangers, see what they’re about”

“Didn’t we do that the other day? The exploring bit? I could have sword…that…” the Founder frowned thoughtfully, and time seemed to ripple for Alric.

There was a sudden gust of wind that whipped around them, one he didn’t remember from the previous day, and for a few ticks there was a collection of sand grains that were taken up, tightening into themselves and circling around each other until there was the vague outline of what looked like a human form, or at least a person of some kind. It felt as if it stared at him and then as he blinked it vanished, leaving him licking his lips and wondering if he was going mad – Randal seemed not to have noticed at all. Alric swallowed and then the spell of apprehension was broken by Randal’s laugh, the man shaking his head.

“You know maybe we haven’t, could swear we had though. Maybe I need to spend less time with the board wax. Still…Buraga eh? Interesting, and encouraging. This time of day he should be checking the Storm Shelter – taken to doing it daily given the past season or two. Might catch him if you hurry, that way if you don’t remember, pass the Dovecote and keep going,” Randal gestured towards the back of the Commons for a moment, “mark my words though, that expedition of ours happens soon! Can’t have you lazing about forever” and with that the Founder was walking away, off to do whatever it was he did when not encountering Alric on this cursed day.

Alric nodded and set off at a brick walk, his gaze taking in the Dovecote off to his right as he walked, wondering whether he could escape into the Outpost and get away from whatever was happening. He doubted it but it was worth taking note of if it came to it. Still, what had started to be the beginnings of despair had been reforged into something new – enthusiasm. Randal and Mathias wanted him to be better, and their words had kindled something he had forgotten he had had in Sunberth – the game of living. He had the shape of what might be afflicting him, though not enough pieces of the puzzle to solve it.

Still if I’m stuck like this then I might as well try something different each day, never know what might break this thing. And if not, well at least it keeps things…fresh for a time he mused to himself, finally coming up on the entrance to the Storm Shelter, not finding Buraga and so stepping across the threshold and into the large cavern, fingers trailing across the rough surface of the stone as he went.

“Buraga?” he called out, voice echoing slightly as he turned to study the walls of the cave, again trailing his fingers before pushing away and staring into the pool of water towards the centre.

“Why are you bothering me in my rounds Alric?” came the terse but still strong voice of Buraga, Ranger Leader.

“Randal said you might be here”

“Still not an answer, why would he send you my way?” he peered down at Alric, his height made more imposing by the fact he was basically a wall of muscle, even if it was older and more worn than the youngster before him.

“He didn’t, I asked. Figured I would see what this Ranger stuff was about…you know…if you didn’t mind teaching me?” he asked, meeting the man’s gaze the same way yet craning his neck up slightly.

“Ranger stuff…Ranger stuff?” the old warrior grunted and shook his head, “not heard it put that way before…but given how small we are…Priskil guide me we can’t turn people away, even if they have just gotten tired of lounging somewhere…very well. But not here. Come”


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[Alric Lysane]

Swing Beach

Buraga led Alric back the way he had come, across the Commons and towards the beach, ending up at Swing Beach, not sitting in one of the many swinging seats that were available but instead walking a little way past them, stopping to look out at the horizon. Alric was familiar with the horizon these days, it was a companion for his thoughts – or avoidances. It was easy to get lost in the crashing and mixing of waves, the light shining on the water’s surface and the colours of the sky as the Bells passed. Very easy to distract yourself from things that you’d rather not remember.

At that acknowledgement he shuddered slightly, it was long overdue yet at the same time it felt like the right time for the realisation to come, fully formed and without the ability to rebuke it. He blinked away the flashes of memory, breathing deeply and then finally closing his eyes as he wrestled with pushing them back – now was not the time. It was Buraga’s voice that broke him out of it and provided true distraction once more.

“Ranger stuff…your words always seem to try for something humorous…to varying degrees of success. But protecting this settlement, its people and way of life, is no joke. Why should I agree to telling you anything about it, when you are so flippant with the reality?”

“I came all the way here to try to help this place. Just because it didn’t work out doesn’t mean that I wasn’t resolved to do it”

“Yet you’ve had a season to join up, ask for direction or to be provided with training. Or just to provide logistics aid, production or processing. Instead, you seem unmotivated…occupied with yourself. The Rangers is about being part of something bigger than yourself”

“True...and true. I don’t pretend that I am perfect, in fact I’m pretty sure given where I come from I’m one of the worst to step upon these shores…well apart from the Priest of Rhysol…but sure, I’ve not exactly…integrated. I’d tell the story but, well frankly I don’t know you well, and you seem to be offering me a way out of this…which is strange given that you said you could do with all the help you could get”

Buraga grunted at that, giving nothing away.

“So, this is a test? To see if I’d just walk away if given the prompting. We really don’t know each other well at all, otherwise you’d know that that might be a challenge to me”

“Perhaps I know more than you think. Mathias spoke to me a few times about you, about how you might be useful. I listened, waited…then I saw you do nothing, so I didn’t bother. I don’t have time to coddle, you’re either willing or not”

“Let’s assume I am interested”

“No, not that easy. You want to start that journey you have to have something to offer. We can’t teach you everything. What exactly would you bring to the Rangers?” the man turned to face him then, instead of the horizon, and gave him a very direct, weighing look.

Alric sensed that this was some kind of turning point, and if it wouldn’t get to be repeated, he would have felt more fear about that. It was strange, the idea of doing something constructive was new and yet not new at the same time. He hadn’t been successful at much in his life, it seemed like he should try to correct that. Before the last loop with Randal the idea of being a Ranger hadn’t really registered with him. He had seen the proclamations and heard the chatter, yet he knew next to nothing about jungle living and thought he was so surplus to requirements in that area it wasn’t worth much of a try. Randal had done one thing with their outing together – he had given a different perspective. So, he thought quite seriously about Buraga’s question, though a few flashed of amusement at his own thoughts crept across his lips as he did so, to Buraga’s slightly increased frown.

“Well I’m no wilderness expert, but I know my way around some weapons. Bit of magic – Shielding, Auristics…Reimancy. Sunberth taught me how to stay silent when I want to be. Can ferret out things if I have a mind, investigative spirit you could say. And despite my lesser physique compared to yourself I’m pretty hardy. I’ve…been through a lot,” he sighed, looking away and blinking again to stop the thoughts before looking off at the horizon, “and I have my own reasons to want to keep this place safe. Sunberth was my home…will always be partly my home…but Syka…it’s my new home. When I lived in Sunberth I helped where I could, even saved some people at times…wasn't all bad. I figure I could do something similar here, if I had the mind”

Buraga rubbed his jaw thoughtfully for a time, sizing Alric up, before nodding.
“Well we could always do with some soft-stepping scouts…need to learn your way around the wilderness but…well everyone starts somewhere. Good with weapons you say?”

“Sure, some of them” Alric shrugged.

“Which ones?”

“Broadsword,” he tapped the hilt of Zhyad at his left hip, “dagger, kukri…unarmed. Fought in the cages a few times that way. Not always by choice”

“In that case…show me”

“Come again?” Alric asked, gaze snapping back to the bigger man.

“You heard me, unarmed, not deadly just a good sparring…show me” Buraga suited his words by taking off his weapons harness so he was unarmed and crossed his arms, waiting for Alric to do the same.

Alric opened and closed his mouth a few times, having not expected this, yet in the end sighed and did the same, laying them down gently upon the ground and patting Zhyad before turning and standing up straight.

“I don’t see the point of this…but you’re the Ranger Leader...fine”


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[Alric Lysane]

“The point is to show me what you’re capable of” Buraga almost growled, the man was a grumpy sort when he had a mind to be – though headstrong was a good thing when it came to defending others Alric supposed.

He wasn’t given much chance to ready himself, the bigger man darting forwards with more speed than Alric anticipated, forcing him to knock away a series of blows with his forearms, settling into a defensive stance that allowed him to keep his elbows in and deflect by moving his arms in a ‘wiping’ motion. He had found that it offered a good amount of easy defence against most types of common attack, as it did now with Buraga’s probing and soft attacks. The man was testing him rather than trying to hurt, something which spoke well of this encounter so far.

“Good, some basics at least. Care to go a bit harder boy?” Buraga’s asked, his tone intending to see if he could provoke Alric into an attack, a choice Alric refused to commit to, instead stepping back a little further to Buraga’s slight nod, nodding back in return, “better. Protecting Syka isn’t about you, or me. Its about them. Means you need to be willing to do what it takes. Got that in you?”

The next series of attacks were harder and Alric felt them, even trying to knock them away rather than block them directly he could feel the numbing of his forearms, instead shifting now to batting away the punches with his palms, bobbing and weaving around them where he could, trying to get a blow to the man’s ribs if he could but not finding an opening. He went for a sidestep and pivot, fingers of his left hand grabbing Burga’s right wrist and his elbow coming down to smack into the top of the elbow – or that was the plan but Buraga slipped through and broke his grip, shoving him back a pace to stop the blow from landing. They were both breathing heavily – though strangely Buraga seemed more tired than Alric did, if only slightly.

“Maybe,” he said between breaths, controlling his breathing and forcing the in out through nose and mouth he had learned long ago in the cages, “doesn’t mean it’d be my first choice. You don’t do tactics here? I suppose that’s to be expected, age does make the mind go a bit…wobbly” he smiled at Buraga slightly.

The man grunted back, a frown upon his brow but clearly not drawn into anything foolish – with age came experience Alric supposed. Still, it felt somewhat satisfying to give a little back, he was growing tired of swallowing everything all of the time. He didn’t wait for Buraga this time, instead stepping in himself with a series of kicks – front, side and then hook. They all landed but were blocked, Buraga launching his own at him in return. There was some back and forth for a bit before Buraga pulled a trick Alric hadn’t seen before – or at least not the same way. The Ranger stepped in, grabbed Alric’s wrist and with his other hand pushed on Alric’s chest and shoulder of the same side, pivoting slightly as he did and pulling with the wrist – the result being that Alric slammed into the sand, Buraga’s fist falling to finish the job.

He rolled out of the way from it and wrapped his feet around Buraga’s ankle and knee, pulling and pushing to make him fall a little himself before they broke away and pushed themselves up.

“So you do have some tricks street thug…good…you’ll need them,” Buraga actually seemed to be enjoying himself now, at least Alric could swear the man was, “all we think about are tactics. Still, thinking on your feet in the jungle is a necessary ability, else you end up dead quick. Same with actual battle lad – doubt you’ve seen much of either one. Street fights don’t count. Ready to be a bit more serious?”

“If it shuts you up old man, sure”

“No pulled punches now. First to quit?”

Alric shrugged and settled into a defensive stance once more, waiting to see what the mad Ranger Leader would do this time.


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[Alric Lysane]

Things became quicker then, more fluid and dangerous than jerky and testing, and blows were taken by both parties. Even so there was little Alric could take in the way of satisfaction – Buraga was clearly the superior fighter. For every glancing blow he managed to get to the man’s shoulders, ribs and legs a solid one was returned. Despite the bravado there was no intent to injure, the man’s blows were hurtful but not damaging. He was thankful, for the first time, that the day repeated – it meant that he would awaken without injury despite the fact his body already ached. Ducking a hook to his head he managed to get his first solid hit into the Ranger’s ribs, and for his trouble he got a curse, a grappled and a throw that sent him rolling across the sand.

Spitting sand and rolling out of the way of a kick he pushed himself up and stepped back, pushing away another kick with both hands, forcing the man slightly off balance and then picking him up and they both went sprawling together this time. There was a brief battle for supremacy where each wanted to have the advantage by being atop the other, but in the end, it was Alric who managed to wriggle into position, there to rain down blows for about five ticks before, after all of them were blocked, Buraga bridged and sent Alric flying. Then Buraga was striking, only this time there were no punches or kick, no he went for a choke and the thick forearm wrenched across Alric’s throat, cutting off the blow to his head slowly but surely.

Buraga expected Alric to give up but he didn’t, instead his legs scrabbled and tried to get purchase to gain leverage, finding nothing but shifting sand though there was little they could do. His hands grabbed at Buraga’s forearm, gaining him some much needed breaths every so often, but in truth the fight was already lost – Alric just refused to admit it. In time, the blood cut for long enough, his struggling grew weaker, until the darkness took him and the fight was over. Just before everything went black he found himself suddenly fearful, as if Buraga would really end his life, and that in an of itself sparked something in him – life was not something he wanted to be over just yet.

*****

He gasped and rasped as breath returned, then groaned as his throbbing head made itself known to him, the light of day far too bright for his liking. Next came the aches and pains from bruises he couldn’t even begin to count, nor could he be bothered to. When he came back fully to consciousness, he found himself slumped against a tree, a gouge in the sand before him telling him that he had been dragged there. Darkness was starting to fall and there was a warmth rippling his skin to his left, the sounds of a crackling flame reaching his ears finally. He groggily turned his head to see Buraga roasting something upon the flames.

“Welcome back. I have to say, you don’t quit…surprised at that” Buraga said with a grunt, rubbing his chin with his free hand.

“And you hit like a right…oh I don’t know…bastard” Alric muttered back, throat still a bit closed off but coming back bit by bit, listening to Buraga bark a laugh.

“Syka needs more of that spirit. You’re a lazy good for nothing you know…but there’s potential. Don’t know shyke about the jungle and survival but at least you can fight. Always like to test people’s fists”

“You’re mad, you know that, right?” Alric coughed.

“Maybe, doesn’t mean I’m wrong though. Weapons can be taught, they’re about repetitive motions. Anyone can learn enough. But fists and feet? It’s about instinct and movement, tests you fully. Plus, you never know when you might no longer have a weapon”

“Tactics?”

“Tactics” Buraga nodded, “come on, let’s eat and speak together. You have questions, I have some answers. But you might not like hearing them all”


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[Alric Lysane]

Buraga passed him what turned out to be some fresh and well charred fish, though he was unsure what type it was even when his teeth crunched through the skin and tore into the flesh. Only once the food was in his mouth did he realise how hungry he was, or how thirsty even as Buraga passed him a bottle of what turned out to be rum – though it was only a quarter full and so not enough to do much to them when shared. For a time, there was only the crackling of the fire, the eating of shared food and the passing of the bottle between them both. Once the food was done Alric lit his pipe using a piece of kindling and smoke began to curl around his face as he relaxed against the tree had been propped up against.

“Now that we are fed and watered…and you’re smoked much like the fish…let’s talk specifics”

“Specifics?”

“The Rangers!” the man growled at him and Alric wisely decided to put what little was left of his humour away, “first one being that it’s not a damned job. Well it is…but it isn’t. Understand?”

“I might need a bit more nudging, my head still feels swollen”

“I mean that you ned tog et a damned job! You spend half of your time doing nothing to help the settlement. When you do help it’s intermittent You need to commit. How am I supposed to believe that you will give everything for Syka when you aren’t fully part of it?”

“I can only give my word”

“No, words are important but actions…they are more important. Besides, as I said, we don’t have the means to have Rangers as a full occupation. It is a necessary supplementary but Syka needs both trades and protectors. Preferably one day everyone will be both…or at least enough”

“Isn’t that a bit of a…tall order?”

“It is all we can do. Enemies keep coming, one way or another. You had guards in Sunberth, yes? Gangs and groups and what might even be like actual combat forces?”

“I suppose…I mean the bigger ones had hundreds of people…maybe more. I mean I never really counted them”

“You think we have enough here to even deal with one of those?”

There was a pause as Alric considered, the weight of Buraga’s logic finally sinking into himself. It was true, if he started thinking less like a Sunberthian and more like a Sykan. Their community was growing, and people were rising to the challenge of developing skill, but there were not enough of them to defeat say the Daggerhand in a pitched battle. Sure, the jungle might level the playing field a but, but if landing forces simply sailed up the beach what were they to do? How much could the mages that there were really hold off until the inevitable overrunning manifested itself?

“So…you’re saying that whilst the gangs of Sunberth could afford a standing army of sorts,we can’t? So, we have to be two things?”

“Yes, we have little choice at the moment”

“You realise that I am not a fisherman, despite Mathias’ attempts. I’m not a priest or a powerful mage…or much of anything. I was a guard, it is all that I know. Now you tell me that that isn’t enough here…what do you suggest that I do?”

“I suggest you find something, anything, you can contribute. Then we can talk about the rest. Look we are mostly reserves at the moment, you get half pay until you qualify for full Ranger but let’s be honest, how many will develop that far quickly?”

“You know you’re telling me a good tale of failure right?”

“I’m telling you a realistic story, because you come from a realistic place. I came from somewhere much the same. You understand the need, or you might do at least. I can’t tell everyone, what would that look like? But you’re a realist, even if you’re a petching romantic when it comes to a curly haired innkeeper…you I can use, and speak truly to. And you won’t run your mouth either. So…think about it. Before we talk rangers…job…role…then come back to me”

The rest of the evening was spent in talks of milder things, of common occurrences and shared experiences. Buraga was as cantankerous as ever but companionable enough with the rum in his veins. Alric fancied that he had much to think on, especially when Buraga told him of how Stu was more than he seemed and capable of helping people out of difficult spots in their personal endeavours.


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