Dual Wielding

The day after their encounter with the rootlurker, it rained. Any other time, he may have been unhappy about that, but considering the circumstances, Corrin couldn’t have been more grateful. He stood on a flat part of the strider’s shell outside the saddle, naked as the day he was born, and scrubbed furiously with a soapy cloth at the blood that had caked onto his skin. He’d already gotten the grime out of his hair, and now it hung annoyingly over his eyes–it was starting to get in the way of his vision, he needed to cut it.

At his feet, the water which ran down his legs trickled into the grooves of Siensa’s shell and flowed off the side. If the rain hadn’t been so cold, it might’ve actually felt nice, but Corrin decided he preferred a proper bath–even a river–compared to bathing in the rain.

Soon, he finished and walked back under the canvas above the saddle and wrapped himself in a towel.

“I’m done. You can go now Kei,” he announced. His companions turned, Wyn was wrapped in a towel as well, and Ven had already dried enough to put proper clothes back on.

“Are–are you sure it’s safe?” she replied, looking warily at the back of the strider. It was the first proper shower of the trip, so they were adjusting to the bathing procedure. Though Kei had been the first to jump at the idea of cleaning off, she’d quickly been sobered by the idea of standing on the edge of the shell in the rain.

“Yeah, the shell actually has pretty good grip there, and we’ll be holding the rope for you,” Corrin nodded.

The rope in question was the same one they’d used to swing Wyn across the gap, and it could be tied to the waist when showering to protect in the case of a fall. Ven had assured them of the safety of the showering area though, and to Corrin’s surprise he’d been right. Apparently, the captain sanded that part of the shell to make it rougher, and thanks to the smooth, flowing movement of the strider, it wasn’t too difficult to remain standing even in the rain.

Kei hesitantly stood and made her way towards the back of the strider. The sound of her movement stopped for a moment. “You three aren’t going to look right?”

“We’re not going to look, Kei. I already told you. What do you take us for?” Corrin rolled his eyes.

“Wyn, please keep an eye on him,” Kei asked.

Corrin almost leapt to his feet. “Wait what? Do you mean to say you trust Wyn not to look but not me?” He didn’t turn, but he jabbed his finger at her wildly, then Wyn. “I’m a purehearted young maiden compared to this guy! If you’d heard half the stories from back home you’d–”

An elbow jabbed his side as Wyn cleared his throat. “Please don’t give her the wrong idea about me.”

“It’s true!” Corrin exclaimed. “I heard that you and Vie–”

The elbow rammed into him.

Kei let out a strangled choking sound, somewhere between revulsion and shock.

“Don’t worry Kei,” Wyn reassured her. “No one is going to look. Right Corrin? Ven?”

Ven’s tone was dry. “Is this how it is going to be the entire trip? Perhaps the rootlurker was a blessing in disguise.”

Eventually, Kei eventually gave up and showered. Though Corrin felt his face heat up, and he noticed Wyn staring at the back of his hand like it was the greatest mystery in the world, no one looked. She only slipped once, and Corrin only laughed a little.

***

Food on the sea was bland, even compared to the rest of the journey. With the caravan–even before the caravan actually–they’d been able to hunt and fish for fresh meat, and they could forage in the forests for ingredients as well. The veldstrider offered no such luxury, and water wasn’t plentiful enough to waste in stews. Furthermore, without wood, making fire was difficult, which was why the suntrap was used to heat the air in the saddle instead.

There was variety in theory–bags hung off the side of the saddle filled with nuts, dried berries, cured meats, cheeses, and other things, but it was all just so bland.

Corrin did his best, but without really being able to cook anything, he had to eat his sad, hard bread, and remind himself it was better than the monster meat.

It was for that reason, when Ven announced that they would be stopping to pick up some fresh food, Corrin was almost jumping with excitement.

“Where are we stopping?” He asked, clasping his sword belt and adjusting the scabbard. “Is there a hunting area near here? One of those big trees?”

“Spirits no,” Ven said. “Your strength aside, I have no interest in approaching the trees. They’re home to grass apes and razorbeaks. Same as the spires frankly, but while they will sometimes live on the spires, they almost always live on the branches of those trees. See that one over there?”

Corrin looked at the tree Ven was pointing at. Like the rest of the trees on the sea, it had long, twisted branches and a thin trunk. The green canopy was distinctive, flat and wide somewhat like a parasol. “Yeah?”

“I count… twenty one grass apes, and those are just the ones I can see.”

Corrin squinted, the tree must be at least a mile out. “Really? I can’t see anything from here.” That was surprising to him, he’d rarely met a person with better eyesight than himself.

“Ah, blessing.” Ven pointed to his eyes. “Hawk’s sight.”

“You have a blessing?” Wyn asked. “Does it just let you see further?”

“Further, more sharply, and I think more colors, though it is difficult to say.”

“Everybody’s got one except me,” Corrin pouted.

“Hey, I don’t have one either,” Kei said. “So if we’re not stopping at the tree, where are we getting food?”

Ven slapped his forehead. “Ah yes I had forgotten. It is nothing special, we’re stopping at one of the islands ahead. There should be fresh fruit growing there.”

“There are islands out here?” Corrin asked. “That’s cool, just fruit though?”

“With luck there may be other foods there, but fruit is the only likelihood.”

“Have I had fruit like it before?”

Ven grinned. “Unlikely.”

They reached the island he’d mentioned about an hour after that, a large karst sticking out of the sea. It didn’t actually look too much different from the spires, except it was far wider, and covered in more greenery.

“Are there stairs up to the top?” Kei asked, looking at the rough cliff face they were headed towards.

Ven laughed. “As likely to find stairs here as you are to find a fish in a desert. No, we don't put stairs on these ones. Better to keep it unspoiled, and it would ruin the fun.”

“The fun?”

Ven reached into one of the side satchels and pulled out the rope again, along with some hooks. “Climbing it, obviously.”

He turned to Corrin and Wyn, “I assume you two want to join?”

“You know it,” Corrin said. Getting the chance to stretch his legs would be nice.

They reached the side of the karst and Ven tapped the guiding rod twice, bringing Siensa to a stop. “I’ll let the two of you go first, one of you tie this around your waist.”

He handed one end to Wyn while he tied the other end around his own waist. “You won’t be joining, right princess?” he asked Kei.

She looked up at the cliff with a raised eyebrow. “No I don’t think I will. I’ll just wait here.”

A minute later, they were climbing. Corrin was in the front, his hands gripping a tiny shelf as he pushed himself higher. Most people assumed climbing like him and Wyn could took a lot of finger strength, and while that was true to an extent, the real secret lie in the footwork. He’d taken off his boots to better grip the wall with his toes, and so he was able to push with his feet as much as he pulled with his arms.

He glanced down to see Wyn and Ven steadily making their way up the face as well. Ven’s experience was clear, as even with his lack of mana or spirit fire, he was able to keep up with the two of them no problem. “Hey that shelf right there is a bit unsteady!” Corrin called down, pointing at the spot his hand had just been. “I wouldn’t trust it!”

“Thanks for the heads up,” Wyn called back. “Did you hear that Ven?”

“Aye! Good warning!”

“So, the fruit is at the top, yeah?” Corrin asked, still looking down.

“Some,” Ven said. He adjusted his grip and took one hand off the wall, pointing past Corrin. “Do you see those vines to your right?”

Corrin followed his finger. Above him and to the right was a tangle of vines hanging off the side of the cliff. At the ends of the vines were large, purple globes a bit larger than his fist. “Wait, are those the fruits?”

“Hey I’ve had those before!” Wyn called up. “They’re fizzy right? Oh man, those are so good.”

“Ah, have you?” Ven said. “Aye, those are Agaraberries. It seems I was mistaken about you having had them.”

“Agaraberries? I still haven’t had them. Do we just toss them down?” Corrin asked.

“That’s easiest,” Ven nodded. “Down the line and have Kei catch them. They’re sturdy–have to be since the wind often slams them against the cliff. They won’t break.”

Corrin scrambled up to the vines and pulled at the stem. He didn’t have much leverage, but to his shock, the stem–which dug into the cliffside–didn’t come out.

“Just pluck the fruits from the vine!” Ven called. “They hold much less tightly than the stem, and this way they will grow back.”

And Corrin found they did. Thus, they began to drop them down one by one, from Corrin, to Wyn, to Ven, and then down to Kei on the strider. After that he moved to another cluster further up the cliff and the process continued. They cleared two full bunches–not counting the three Kei fumbled into the grass–over the course of about fifteen minutes before Ven made the call to continue the ascent to the top.

Thanks to swinging a sword so much–not to mention all the climbing he and Wyn had done growing up, Corrin’s hands were plenty calloused, and his grip was strong, so the rough surface didn't bother him. In fact, it made it easier to grip. In all, the cliff face wasn’t much of a challenge, making for a nice relaxing climb. While he kept a low level of mana circulating in his system, he wasn’t actually channeling that much. It was nice to feel a bit more exertion, and the wind as he ascended the cliff felt great through his hair.

Soon they reached the top and began to harvest the fruits that grew above, namely Kiqui, a large green spiky-shelled fruit which grew from a similarly spiky plant on the ground, and draveberries, which were much smaller and grew by the hundreds on bushes atop the karst.

“How do we get these down?” Corrin asked, holding the basket of Kiqui they’d collected. Though the basket was large, there was only enough room for four of the fruits, one for each of them. They’d gathered the draveberries into bags which hung from their waists, but he didn’t see how they could get the larger fruits down.

“Rope solves all,” Ven grinned. He untied his end of the safety rope and took the basket from Corrin, tying it to the handle. Then he walked to the side and began to lower it down. “Incoming, Miss Kei!”

After the Kiqui were delivered, they made their way back down the cliff. The whole excursion had only taken about an hour, and Corrin was happy for the new spoils. As they began to move again, the four of them sat down and ate.

“Come to papa!” Corrin grinned as he bit into the tough skin of the agaraberry. It was, as Wyn had described, fizzy, and the sweet juice bubbled wonderfully in his mouth. He laughed at the sensation as Wyn tried to prepare the Kiqui. As he carefully cut it open though, next to him, Ven simply bit into the hard outer rind with a loud crunch and began to munch away.

“How are you–?” Wyn gaped, trying and failing to gnaw through it himself. “What?”

“I doubt you would like the rind anyways,” Ven said. “Most people choose to cut into it as you do. If you save the rind we can use it to make tea later.”

“How will we make tea without water?” Kei asked, popping a draveberry into her mouth. Her eyes widened as she bit down on the small blue fruit, and she quickly ate another. “Woah…”

“I included Kiqui tea in the water rations for the trip,” Ven waved his hand dismissively.

“We've had extra water this whole time? What about stew?” Corrin complained. The whole reason he couldn’t make any was because they apparently didn’t have enough water.

Ven waved a finger and slowly made a ‘tsk’ sound three times. “When you are the captain of your own strider, you can decide what to do with the water surplus. Do not worry, the Kiqui tea will be worth it.”

“It’d better be,” Corrin grumbled. Then he bit into the agaraberry again and sighed. After almost two weeks of dried and preserved foods, it was like a bite of paradise. “Can’t even be mad… damn this is good.”

As the sounds of conversation and laughter filled the air, the four travelers atop the veldstrider all agreed–it had been a good day.

The blades of grass rolled by slowly. But hundreds of miles ahead, far past the bounds of Ven's hawk sight, people were gathering in the heart of The Grass Sea. Channelers, mages, and veldstriders numbering in the hundreds all converging on one town. And there, they had begun to prepare.

Something had stirred amidst the waves of green.