Part Nine
In the last fortnight of their training, the recruits were to complete projects, which would demonstrate their initiative and dedication to the Rangers. For these projects, they were allowed regular access to the woods around the fort during the day and to any belongings they might have stored in the armory, though all the materials and tools they removed were to be stored in the armory or in instruction halls after curfew and when they were not working on the projects. They might choose to work in groups or as individuals; they had until the end of the current week to submit the premise of their work and the individuals involved and to the end of the week after to complete all of the work.
The recruits had heard rumors of the new assignment only a couple days before and many had hurried to choose groups. Some had clear ideas for their projects and worked to convince those that had the skills that would be useful to work with them. It did not matter the Company one was assigned to, any could work together on projects. Others had more clear ideas regarding whom they preferred to work with and formed groups quickly.
Tsuki had a clear idea for a project and he was also excited to have access to all his belongings again, even in a controlled fashion. He needed only to convince others to work with him. He knew he needed at least one assistant who had particular skills, and so he approached Gib the Dwarf after breakfast, just after the assignment had officially been given.
"Have you an idea for a project, Gib?" he asked, "Or teammates chosen?"
Gib eyed Tsuki suspiciously, for although in nearly two months he had come to find the Easterling much more tolerable, he now was certain Tsuki knew of Wizardry and that made him somewhat nervous. He replied honestly, despite the suspicion, and said that he had no set idea or teammates.
"I have an idea and I would like you to help me. It is true you know how to craft jewelry and fine metalcraft?"
"Yes. Before I went to war..." Gib started to tell his story again, about his study of metalcraft and his plans to be a master jeweler and his brothers.
"And you have some tools with you for your work, or know how to make more?"
"I have some stored."
"I questioned The Brown and he told me that if we recruits conceive a project which requires some commodity we need not in every case obtain it ourselves, the fort will provide many materials, so long as we do the work. This includes some metals."
"Do you wish me to craft new cloak pins for the Rangers?" Gib laughed.
"No. The actual project I had in mind is designing and crafting new cookware for Rangers to travel with. Listen..." Tsuki lowered his voice, "The Brown said if it was necessary for our project, we could ask the smiths to allow us access to their smithy and they would likely allow it. We will have access to our belongings; that means your tools. And I have some metal objects that I would liked worked on. If I can convince the warden of the armory that they pertain to our project, would you work on them under guise of doing work for our project? There will of course be work involved in making the cookware, but I will help you with that as much as I am able. I already have some ideas for design."
"I do not know. Is it some Wizardry?"
"There is more inherent Wizardry in the cookware we shall design than in the items I would ask you to alter for me. They are simply decorative metal items."
"What sort of metal?"
"Silver. I also have a spare silver cup. You can use that if you require extra metal and keep any excess for yourself."
Gib was not yet convinced.
"If you like, we can go now to the armory and I will show you."
"Yes, but I have not agreed yet."
"Very well," Tsuki agreed. He had other bargaining pieces remaining.
They went to the armory and found it rather crowded. Many recruits who had already chosen groups were there looking at their belongings and wondering if any might be useful. The projects might be craftwork or scholarly reports or perhaps some combination of the two, and some recruits were wondering if they might write reports on various types of swords, so that they would have an excuse to get their own swords from the armory and have sparring matches.
The warden had additional Rangers working with him, to control the many recruits. Tsuki waited until he was allowed to collect his things. The Rangers said he could set his things on one of the tables to find what he needed, but that he should be as quick as possible.
Tsuki opened the chest and his leather case and saddle bags, which had had traveled with before. He wished that he had more time to sort through everything, but he was at least glad to find that the chest and everything he had collected while traveling with Dale had been brought to the armory safely.
He collected everything he had that might be seen as cookware, spoon and eating sticks he had whittled, various metal and clay cups and pots, some Wizard cookware he had not seen since arriving at the fort some knives. Within this collection, Tsuki placed his ceremonial cup, knife and wand. If the Ranger nearby asked, he would say the wand was a sort of eating stick. He also took the remaining rabbit bones, snipping one from his bow to add to the others. If asked, Tsuki would say this was for reference in measuring the cookware against what might be cooked in it.
Tsuki lastly took a quill, bottle of ink and a tome with remaining blank pages. The rest of his things he returned to the shelf. Tsuki knelt on the floor with Gib stooped and looking over his shoulder and sketched in ink what he wanted. The two largest bones of Old Rabbit's rear legs should be made handles for the wand and knife. One of the large bones from a front leg should be the stem of the ceremonial goblet. The remaining bones should be joined somehow, possibly by silver wire. Facsimiles would be made of the four missing bones to complete the skeleton.
"Are you as mad as that Elf you talk to? You are asking me to aid you in necromancy?" Gib demanded.
"Quiet! It is not any such sorcery. It is just...lucky. The bones are from the first rabbit I killed with my bow, so I consider them lucky and I should like my personal tableware to include the bones and I should like the remaining bones arranged in their original state as a trophy. No necromancy or Wizardry at all. Just hunting trophies and good luck items."
"I would feel very strange joining silver and bone."
"But you could devise a means of doing it?"
"It would not be difficult, I have delicate drills and the proper tools. I also have some silver wire, which I would exchange out for that cup you mentioned. If I had access to the heat of the smithy, it would be easy, but...bones."
"I will give you a ring. A true silver ring."
"True silver?"
"Yes! With moonstone in it."
"It's not some magic ring? I curse magic rings."
"No, not magic, just pretty, maybe small enough for the finger of a lady Elf...maybe there is excess and you could cut and size it."
Excess true silver sounded good to Gib, as did owning a ring such as Tsuki described. "I will be on your team," he said, "I will collect all my metalworking tools and materials and my cookware as well."
Tsuki smiled slightly.
After he and Gib had collected their things and gained permission from the smith to use his facilities and have some space to work, they brought their things outside to discuss design, as it was cooler. Dale found them seated on the ground with their collection spread on a leather apron. Tsuki was busy sketching the designs of his ceremonial objects in more detail and Gib was examining Tsuki's wand.
"You are not working together?" Dale asked.
"We have worked out a mutually beneficial arrangement," Tsuki said without looking up from his tome.
"What is your project then?"
"Metal cookware, I believe," Gib said.
"You couldn't use another person for your team, could you?"
Tsuki looked up. "Do you wish to help?"
"It is not for me. I do not have a project yet, exactly, but someone else is looking for a team and does not have an idea how to use their skills to complete the assignment."
"Who is it?" Tsuki asked.
"Cal, from First Company, the one who works in clay."
Tsuki glanced to Gib. "We might use him to make sample cookware to check our sizing, before we make the metal ones. And he could make the missing bones."
Dale laughed. "I see you are using the assignment's allowances and the smithy to advantage. May I tell Cal that he can join you?"
Gib said that he agreed and Tsuki nodded. Dale left them to find Cal.
Cal was a Man from the lake region to the west and he said that Dale had informed him where there was a stream and possibly there would be good clay there. If they wanted any special items of clay, he would make them or if they wished to walk outside, they might use the excuse of going out for clay. Cal wondered if they might use the smithy I some way to fire clay and went to speak to the smiths about their furnaces.
Soon Cal, Tsuki and Gib had worked out what they wanted from each other. Cal would make clay facsimiles of the missing rabbit bones for the skeleton and Gib would work the rabbit bones into Tsuki's 'tableware'. Gib wanted a figure in clay of a beautiful female Elf. In exchange, Cal got to work with a team and had found a means of firing some clay objects. Gib got his clay figure and a ring and perhaps some spare silver from Tsuki.
By the afternoon they were clear on their personal tasks and how they should work on them in secret and Tsuki began explaining what he wished to make for their project. "The first part will be a burner. I suspect the easiest way to craft this would be to make a sort of metal cup or bowl, perhaps like a lamp. It might use as fuel some manner of oil or wax. I am not sure. Perhaps paper or wood shavings in wax. The second part is the stove. It will be small in size, so to travel well, have openings in the bottom to allow air to feed the flames, and have a level, but grooved surface on top on which to rest a pot. The third part will be the particular kind of pots and pans. I wish to make them in some precise manner so that they may stack inside each other or in a small space when traveling. The fourth part will be accessories, anything we find we need to make the system work better, perhaps spoons, or pot lid or pads to protect hands."
Tsuki drew pictures and showed some examples of Wizard cookware. "This is a vapor cooker. The lower pot holds water and sits above a stove or fire. The upper pot has holes in the bottom and vapor from the hot water travels up through the holes. The lid goes on top and seals the vapor in. The food in the upper chamber cooks fast with very little water and remains very flavorful."
Gib said this was Wizardry and Cal said he was not certain he wanted to eat foods cooked in vapors.
Tsuki sighed. "It will work, trust me. Perhaps it is enough for today. Think about ways you would improve the cookware and tomorrow we can meet again and perhaps go seek clay and wax. We will probably want to construct a press to make the pots from metal discs..."
"A press? That takes all the art out of it. You will have quickly made identical pots."
Tsuki smiled at the Dwarf. "Yes. That is what the Rangers need. They are not all Dwarves. They need a means to make many identical kits that work well and travel well, so that they may issue them to those who serve. There will be times when fires can be built and things can be roasted on a spit or stewed, but what if there is danger or a mission that calls for speed or even secrecy? Large fires will attract attention in the night. Our burners will cast less light. The vapor cooker can use little water and if the pots are cooled with the lid on, the vapor will condense and become water again. So, our kit can be used between water sources quite efficiently. Also, the size and shape of the burner and stove should cause the surface to heat quickly. Grilling directly on the stovetop or using the vapor cooker will cook foods quickly. We have two weeks to work out the details, but if you are set on making the kits beautifully crafted, then devise between you some pleasing shape that is also efficient which we may cast or press."
"Tomorrow we should go seek some clay."
"I will go with you. We are both in the barrack of Third Company. You may find us there or meet us after breakfast. We will also need wood large enough for constricting press if we use one, and some kind of fuel."
They stored their things in a box inside the smithy and parted. Tsuki went to the barracks and whittled and thought the sorts of things he thought when he would meditate. In a way the whittling was also meditative. At the call to supper, Tsuki cleaned up and went to the dining hall.
Dale came and sat across from Tsuki as he was wondering whether Gib could make eating sticks of steel. Dale smiled warmly. "How is the project going?"
"They suspect me of Wizardy."
Dale laughed. "Table ware and hunting trophies?"
"I thought he was going to refuse my offer. He accused me of necromancy," Tsuki whispered.
"What did he think you would do? Bring life to an army of Wizard-spawned rabbits?"
Tsuki laughed. "Do you have a project yet."
"Yeah, my pet Halfling and I are compiling a dictionary of Goblin and Common Speech."
"You should not say that. Halflings cannot be pets. They are people, like us."
"I know, it's just I've broken him, you know? He will do nearly anything I say to get me to bring him food."
Tsuki shook his head and sighed.
"The Brown has supplied our team with pens, ink and paper for our manuscript, so we are all set. I will see how much of it I can dictate in two weeks. I may even write a treatise on the nature of Orcs in the absence of Wizard control. Do you need anything?"
"The Smith can supply the metals we need and we will go outside to look for wood and clay. Cal thinks there will be some at the stream."
"There will be."
"We need a fuel, an oil, or a wax if possible. There is beeswax and plant wax and mineral wax, but I do not know of how to obtain mineral waxes or if there are the correct sort. Towns and farms often have beeswax, so I think we should use that, as Rangers would have the opportunity to refill the burner while traveling."
"Some kind of Wizard camping stove?"
"True Wizards would dig and refine oils and vaporous elements deep in the ground to use as fuel. That is somewhat beyond my knowledge and not practical for Rangers."
"The Nightgardners have a hive."
"I do not know them."
"They are sisters that live on a homestead nearby. They are quite knowledgeable about plants and make their own candles to sell in town. Would you like to go with me tonight?"
"We should not leave the fort after curfew; we should have to find a means of reentry."
"I thought we would just scale the wall, but the moon is waxing, so there would be a chance we were spotted."
Tsuki smiled, thinking that the moon was waxing. "Tomorrow, in the day?"
Dale agreed.
The next day, Dale spent his morning writing out a guide for pronouncing goblin as transliterated into the Common Writing, while Tsuki went with Cal to the stream to dig clay.
Tsuki and Cal met Gib in the smithy and while Gib began his work on Tsuki's 'tableware', Cal and Tsuki began crafting various sizes of pots to test stacking and transport methods. Cal showed Tsuki how they could make a hot fire and then bury clay objects that were already air dried in the coals to become hard. Tsuki fired his disc as an experiment. Gib contributed by saying that he had given the project consideration and thought the burner and stove could be made of steel and the pots of copper, which was lighter.
Dale came by for Tsuki in the afternoon. Tsuki said he would try to get wax and return to help them. It was a warm day toward the end of summer and Tsuki and Dale walked with cloaks, but without jackets over their shirts. They walked quickly through the woods, to the homestead Dale knew.
"It was only two days," Tsuki said.
"What?"
"Two days we were alone together, but it seemed more. It is nice to do it again, for a little while."
"Yeah, it's nice," Dale agreed.
They met the Nightgardeners inside their home and were invited in to have some cakes and ale. The sisters agreed to provide Tsuki with some beeswax and told him of the candleberries they grew, which they could boil wax from. They gave Tsuki a quantity of wax on credit, as he promised to make some particular wooden items for them.
When they returned to the fort, Tsuki thanked Dale for helping him locate wax and said that he had enjoyed the walk. Dale went to dictate Goblin and Tsuki went to show his teammates the wax.
In the first week of their assignment, Tsuki's team cast a stove in steel as well as several little pots that might be used as burners. They made and fired various clay cookware to test the shapes and sizes. During the second week of the assignment, they split their time between work in the smithy and camping near the stream where they tested the function of the stove, burners and various pots.
When they were outside, they often saw other recruits who were foraging for materials or writing reports on plants and animals in the area. Sometime others would come to see what they were cooking. Gib was amazed that vapor cooking truly worked. They determined that the stove would also work over a small wood fire and that wood shavings and beeswax made a good fuel for the burner and that the burner would last for many meals before it needed refilling.
The last few days they spent in the smithy. Tsuki drew up the plans for the press based on basic principles of machinery and they constructed the various wood and metal parts so that the pull of a single lever would bring a weight down against a blank copper disc and press it into a hollow to form the shape of the pot. Some hand tooling finished the edge of the pot and handles or latches were attached with rivets and additional hammering.
They changed the attachments to the press to make the different shaped pots and even to put the many holes in those pots used for vapor cooking. They even pressed matching cups, bowls, plates and steel eating sticks. Tsuki crafted an additional wooden spoon and pair of eating sticks to go with the kit.
The next to last day was spent partly near the stream recording every way there was to cook fish with the kit: vapor cooking, grilling, frying, boiling, roasting, baking, and partly at the smithy polishing the pieces for their presentation. Cal had even added an earthenware pot and lid to the kit, which could be placed directly in hot coals to bake or roast food. All together, the kit did weigh marginally more than the total weight of the cookware the Rangers presently issued, but it could do much more and took very little space to pack, as the pieces could be made to stack inside each other.
In the evening before the presentation, Tsuki wrote up direction for making the kits in the smithy as well as packing and using the kits.
All during the time they had been working on their final projects, the recruits had been called to take various tests under observation, demonstrating for their instructors that they were proficient in a certain weapon or well versed in a language or period of history, or that they could go and locate a specific plant or animal and bring it to the fort.
They often worked right up to curfew, but some used the darkness after curfew for activities. Dale continued to go out to obtain goods for trade. Tsuki continued to meditate and sometimes to whittle by moonlight.
He meditated every night and even invoked his power to spell for revelation in his dreams and slept with his knife beneath his pillow. Sometimes, Dale still came and sat near him when Tsuki was meditating. He would chew mint leaves and say that he hoped they would pass the requirements to become Rangers and be assigned to the same fort or patrol.
When the morning of the presentations came, Tsuki went to the armory to return the materials he had taken for the project to his shelf, including the ceremonial objects Gib and Cal had helped him alter. Tsuki was pleased with the work and took one of his true silver rings from his chest and placed it in the bag on Gib's shelf, which he knew.
He stepped out into the yard, on his way to meet Gib and Cal to go to the meeting hall to await their turn in presenting their project, and Tsuki realized that he knew just what the Wizard he had lived with had done wrong. In a moment, with a cool breeze lifting his cloak and the sound of leaves rustling in the air, Tsuki knew.
It did hurt, but Tsuki knew the wrongness was not his fault, but the Wizard's.
He went to the meeting hall and found Cal and Gib there; Cal was holding the kit and Gib a waterskin and some items borrowed from the kitchens. Tsuki smiled and led them to take seats.
Barad and a group of the instructors were seated near the front of the room, taking notes on the presentations so that they could give the recruits marks and better know how to assign them later. Thorn called out the names of those who had submitted their teams and one by one, each group or individual made their presentation.
The recruits had worked on various projects. Gwindor had written a scholarly work on hair-wash, various formulas, where to obtain ingredients and how to determine the best wash for one's hair type. This seemed frivolous to some, but to the Elves it was quite serious. Another group presented a design for a frame that could be constructed to carry and injured person, which could be carried or dragged by horse and even made to disguise its own tracks. Dale and his teammate presented their dictionary of Goblin, without ever admitting that Dale was fluent in the language.
Tsuki's group was called and they set up their cooking kit. They placed a leather apron on the table to protect it, lit the burner, placed the stove over it and set water to boil. They each took turns in demonstrating how to prepare food to be placed in the cook pots and how the different pieces could be arranged to cook by various methods. They invited their instructors to taste the food. The Brown eagerly tasted some carrots that had been cooked with vapor, while others were more skeptical.
The presentations continued until shortly before supper and the recruits were told that over the next several days they each would be hearing from the commander as to their marks and new orders. For the time being, they were free to access their belongings during the day, so long as they did not store these items in the barracks after curfew.
At supper, the recruits were all in a generally good mood. Tsuki was thinking about the realization he had, but he was not sad. He knew he had sought the realization and that he could deal with what he knew. He wanted to speak to Dale, to thank him and to say that he had been correct about many things, but Dale was surrounded by others showing off useless things they had just taken from their shelves
The Brown came to Tsuki; Gib was also seated nearby. "The commander wishes for your team to construct two more full kits, working with the smith this time. We have not decided that all Rangers should have such kits, but it has been agreed we should have more samples to issue to particular Rangers for trials. You may start as soon as you wake in the morning."
Tsuki did not see Dale that night. Dale went out of the fort and visited the nearby town and its tavern. In the morning, Tsuki worked in the smithy. His team demonstrated their methods to the smith, particularly operation of the press they had built there. The pressing did not take long, but some of the finishing would be completed the next day.
That night Tsuki did not see Dale come to the barrack of Third Company, so he snuck out into the yard after curfew to go to the barracks of Second Company. Dale's cot was the first near the door and it was empty, but one of the men saw Tsuki standing in the doorway and called out, "Dale, your friend is here."
Dale saw the figure against the faint light from outside. He walked finished hiding away his things and went to the door. "Can we talk?" Tsuki asked.
"Yeah." Dale opened the door wider to move past Tsuki and led him to the stables. They sat in the straw in the yard behind. "The sky is dark again."
"Yes. Waning; almost black."
"When it is full, it makes me think of how your eyes look."
"Do you remember you told me I would figure things out, and it would hurt?"
"Yeah."
"It did hurt, but I am not really sad now. I feel like it is better to know. I want to tell you about it. You were correct about a lot of things."
"You can tell me about it."
"The Wizard I called Master and I did have a relationship, a sort of exchange. It was not physical in the sense of sex, so when you suggested that I was more confused."
"You called him 'the Wizard'."
"Yes. It was physical in the sense that we gave and received things. It was emotional, intellectual, perhaps spiritual. I think the spiritual exchange was most intimate and perhaps what held me so long. It feels like, there was a piece of me that should have been inside, that was missing, and I had to work to get it back. Perhaps that sounds bad to you, but truthfully, I enjoyed the exchange. I got a lot out of it. It made me feel good. If the Wizard had waited until I was older and explained what the exchange was...what the relationship was to be, I would have agreed to it. He did not wait until I was old enough to understand. He did not ask. When I was very young, he did place me with My Teacher. My teacher only cared for me. He was loving the way a father would be. It was a different sort of exchange, something more innocent. When I went to live with the Wizard, I had perhaps ten years, maybe eleven. He started then. It was wrong. I know that now. He should have waited until I was older. He should have asked. He should have warned me of the side effects."
"Do you feel angry?"
"No. Not really angry. Perhaps hurt or bitter about the way it started and the way it ended, but not regretful or shameful about how I felt between. I liked being with him. Do you remember also, that day we tried to think what alternative there was, if one did not desire to share casually, or seek a wife, or belong to an order that demanded celibacy?"
"I remember."
"The alternative is...you are one who is devoted to another of the same gender. That is how I am. I liked the bond I shared with that Wizard, though it was begun wrongly. I would like to find someone in the world who would agree to have a similar bond with me. I think that I should abandon my vow. I choose to seek someone who will share a bond with me on every level; someone who is male."
"I..." Dale's voice rasped, "I hope you find that person."
"I have, at least, one I desire to be with, though I do not know if he can feel the same about me as I do him. It is difficult to ask."
"You cannot just go straight to being bonded for life. I know that. With males or females, you have to take steps toward the relationship you want. Sometimes smaller. Sometimes larger..."
"I want to have sex with you, Dale."
"Yes."
Tsuki twisted toward Dale, reached out and felt his arm. He swung a leg across Dale's body to straddle him. Tsuki felt for Dale's face with his fingers, bowed and kissed his lips.
Dale did not know how to react; he was horrified. For a moment, he froze still. Tsuki felt there should be some form of reciprocation and as he was about to lift his face to speak to Dale, when Dale put his hands to Tsuki's chest and pushed him away. "No kissing! No kissing, Tsuki. Never. Never. I can't!"
"Dale, why? I though that you wanted to." Tsuki stroked Dale's braid and tried to see him in the dark. "Dale."
"I never let anyone kiss me. I can't. I'm tainted."
"Not to me."
Laughter. Mad laugher. "I ate men."
"I did not think they had such food in the west."
"Ate them. Gobble slurp. Tore flesh. Ate them. Even Elves. Tainted like a Wizard-spawned Orc."
"Dale, be at peace. That was a long time ago."
"I even ate Orcs," Dale whispered.
Tsuki caressed Dale's cheek with his fingers. "Dale, I had already guessed. There was a time when you believed that you were an Orc. You even liked being an Orc. And after you had killed all the Orcs that had made you their pet, you murdered Men and Elves that came into your valley, because you were still an Orc then. I know. If any agents of disease worked their way into your body by the eating I believe they have been worked out by now. If Men died, I am glad their deaths enabled you to survive and be rescued from that life. I am resolved; I still wish to kiss you."
"You can't just be resolved!" Dale shouted.
"Quiet. Dale, it is after curfew."
"Can't just be resolved," he sang. "Be resolved? You cannot, because I am not resolved. I do not feel right about it at all!"
"Dale, gather your wits! No matter how Elves behave, this is no way for a Ranger to behave. I swear I will not kiss you, if you do not wish it. I thought that when you said, 'yes' it meant it would all be well with you."
"I change my mind! I'm allowed to say 'no' or change my mind. Leave me alone. You make me feel tainted."
Tsuki removed himself from Dale. He called his name.
"Leave me. Now."
Tsuki left. He crept from the stable yard back to his barrack. When he sat on his cot, he heard shifting behind him. Gwindor came and sat beside Tsuki on his cot. "Was he not well?"
"I do not understand," Tsuki whispered, "I think you know that Dale has offered to share himself with me before. I went to him and told him that I was prepared to share myself with him. I thought...that...we had the same regard for each other. But when I kissed him..."
"He let you kiss him?"
"No." Tsuki touched his lips. "There was but a moment of contact and I felt his heart was not in it, so I stopped. I would have shared in other activity without the kissing, but Dale was so upset, he no longer seemed interested. He told me to leave him. I offered myself to him completely, and he told me to leave."
"I have not often been with Men, but I offer myself to you. You may even kiss me."
"I am sorry. It is kind you offer, but I desire only Dale."
"No need to feel sorry. There is no pleasure to be found in taking one who does not agree to share. Your answer was honest and I am not offended. But, perhaps that is the reason..."
"Reason?"
"Your kiss made Dale to understand more than your words. He is not prepared to accept your offer. I suspect he feels unworthy of your intentions."
"Dale is not unworthy."
"He does not believe that," Gwindor said calmly. He rose from
Tsuki's cot and left him alone, in the dark.