A New Land, A New Home - Chapter I
“Hold the staff higher, boy, I’m not an ambuus, you need to keep your defense up at all times, from all angles.”
I lifted his head somewhat, squinting as I did so. “Master, it is hard to see in the rain with all the water running in my eyes,” I grimaced, keeping an eye as best I could on the trainer. Three-Toe brought his staff down hard, and there was little enough time for me to block. The two bamboo staves clacked together jarringly, but the cold and wetness in my hands was too much for me. The staff bounced out of my hands and fell with a splatter into the mud at my feet. Three-Toe eyed my staff, and then me… disdainfully I’m sure, before sweeping his under my leg, bringing me down flat on my back in the mud. That hurt, though the mud absorbed some of the impact at least.
“That’s enough for today, boy. I’m here to train you, lucky for you I am not here to kill you,” Master Three-Toe slid his hand down the staff and offered the other end to me, and I took hold of it long enough to get hauled to my feet. “Now go, get out of those messy clothes and get back to your Mother. I will probably see you in the morning,” he added, as he picked up my discarded staff and placed both of them against the wall. He stood emotionlessly, hands folded behind his back, eyes unmoving and his topknot dripping from the rain. I felt quite small at the time.
I looked up at him, trembling, more from the cold than from any fear. I respectfully bowed and nodded, trying to ignore the weather. “Y-yes, Master Three-Toe,” I huffed, before turning and running off down the path towards home.
——-
The old Master watched while the youngster, barely twelve years of age, bounded off for home. As soon as he was out of sight, he sighed, relaxing and slouching a bit before he turned back towards the door of his hut. “You have great potential, Raven,” he mumbled to himself. “But I won’t have you wallowing in self-obsessed pride like your father did.” he stepped through the portal, paused to peer up at the clouded sky, and slowly closed the door.
——-
Sprinting through the underbrush, I pumped my arms and legs furiously as I ran, feeling warmth starting to return to my limbs. My fingers and toes felt numb, however, and only being indoors would fix that. I suppose I could have asked Master Three-Toes to stay with him, Mother would not have minded, but lately asking anything of the grumpy old master was about as dangerous an idea as dancing through flock of crazed ostra.
A quarter mile down the road, I came upon my home. I quickly ducked under the diminutive porch canopy and removed my muddy sandals, slid the door open, and was half through the door before I realized Mother was there, waiting for me. She held out one half towards me, and said, “Raven, wait, before you take another step,” she chuckled to me, and turned to hook a woven jute rug under her heel and slide it across the wooden floor, where it stopped in front of me. Beside the rug, a cotton towel landed. “Remove that messy uniform before you step one foot in this house and dry yourself off. Honestly, why does Three-Toes push you so much, if you were to catch a cold… I’d twist his lumpy nose good,” she eyed me sternly, and for a moment of silence, we locked gazes…. and then smirked lightly, and I knew she was not angry. Next came a giggle, and laughter. I felt relieved that she wasn’t really mad at me. I could never tell if the Master was, I mean, Three-Toe was just being Three-Toe, he was a good teacher but socially he tended to terrify everyone he met too much to ever have a true friend… even though I had tried. But then he would always go off into talking about Father.
As I finished tending to a cleaning and change of clothing, I could smell delicious rice and some sort of vegetable, as I stepped into the common room. I was rather surprised to see that many things in the room were missing, and that a small crate sat in a corner. I looked at the room, the crate, and then Mother. “Where’s everything, Mother?”
She looked at the floor a moment, before she reached over and placed her hand behind my shoulder, patting my back as she sidled over to sit beside me. I was already worried at this point, for the last time she had done this, it was because of Father’s death. “The Ulvari have pressed their advance forward, and it will not be safe here much longer. Tanvu is overcrowded with refugees and Grandfather has already departed. Tomorrow morning, we shall be heading to the docks in Tanvu, where we will board a ship to New Tarangor,” she calmly explained as if she was reading off an imaginary list. “In six days we should be able to be settled into a village there called Three Rivers.”
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