Was that even a thing?
Chapter Nine
Just because his life had been turned upside down, that was no reason for Tor to be gloomy. Especially since that could set Karina off. Still, the King and his advisors decided that the safest way to “hide” them all was to send half the palace Royal Guard and a train of wagons and carriages off to some undisclosed location thousands of miles away. He didn't want to be a pain, but it was about the worst thing that they could have done as far as Tor was concerned.
“Why? I really don't like carriages, I can put up with it, but we could be wherever this is in hours if we flew, instead were all going to be sitting in the back of a bouncing box for months instead. That's not much of a vacation, it's more like a punishment.” Tor tried, and largely failed, not to sound like a petulant, and spoiled, little Prince. To make it worse the real Prince was the one coddling him out of his dark mood.
“If we flew we'd be there fast, true, but we'd miss all the things in between. There are people to meet and new things to get to know! It's an adventure Tor. Besides, we have orders, so, you know, start enjoying it, because it's what we’re doing anyway. Complaining the whole time won't help anything.”
It was a point. A good one really. What would being a jerk gain him? A much less pleasant trip. That was the only thing and no matter how he twisted it, not a benefit at all. Fine, Tor sighed and made himself smile, then nodded and asked what they should do.
“Oh, well it's the first day, so normally people read or tell stories. I suppose you could work if you wanted, but try not to disappear on us into your head for days at a time? We're supposed to be having fun, and really, carrying for “corps Tor” isn't as thrilling as you might think.”
Tor smiled and stuck his tongue out playfully.
“OK. I think I'll go running, want to come?” It was a genuine offer, but Rolph just begged off and gave him a wave.
“No, but take a guard with you, or two. I'll join you later for some fight practice. I know I should run, but it's a pain. Literally, I'm getting too large for it to be comfortable at all anymore.”
Tor didn't wait, climbing out while the slow vehicle still moved along slowly. It was hard for him to approach the guards and ask a favor, but Rolph had set the conditions, so he made himself find Wensa. He knew her best after all. When he asked, she just nodded at him and gestured to two people on horseback. One was Veren the guy that had kicked his butt a few days before over wanting to take Karina off to school. The other was a familiar looking woman with medium dark skin, raven hair and a hawk like nose.
“Veren, Kara, job for you.” Wensa didn't wave or do anything else to signal them over, but seconds later they were both there, not looking eager, but not really seeming like anything.
“Master Tor here needs to get the first part of his daily exercise done, running. I want to use it as a forwards scouting mission too, so push him at best speed about fourteen out and meet us as quickly as possible on the return.”
Veren didn't make a move that showed any interest in what was being said at all, but his words were questioning.
“That's going to be close to twenty miles. Best pace?” The implied question to Tor was clear, could he do it? Tor wasn't sure. He couldn't outrun a horse, so could only hope Wensa meant his best pace, not the animals.
Wensa gave a single nod.
“Yes. When you return we'll move directly into practice for the day.”
“Alright. Ready then Tor?” The huge man said casually.
Tor blew out a breath.
“Probably not, but I know it's what I need to be practicing, so… yes?”
Veren didn't wait, just spun the horse and kicked Tor in the back with his right boot. Nothing happened, because his shield was on, making them all laugh out loud, except Tor.
Kara took off at a trot.
“Run!” She called back.
So he did. It was fast, faster than he'd ever tried to go for more than a mile or two before and he gasped in pain through the whole thing. He had to drop into a meditative state, focusing on the world around him so he wouldn't fall down, and how his body moved, in order to bear the discomfort. He could still feel his insides trying to turn to water and the cramps along the side of his stomach wall on the left side as he traveled. The road curved and had hills, but instead of slowing as they went up, the Royal Guards helpfully spurred their horses to go faster. On the downhill they slowed a bit, but it was never enough to actually catch his breath.
The trip back was faster, since the whole group had been moving along the whole time and basically caught up. When Tor saw the dust he nearly fell down in relief, but it was just an illusion, the actual wagon and carriage train was miles off yet. He wanted water badly, and they found the whole group sitting under some trees by a decent little stream, without waiting Tor ran to it, checked it for quality and started drinking straight from it.
“Not too much Tor, space it out. You can only absorb a few cups of water per hour anyway. About three, maybe less for you, being so small.” This came from Kara, who joined him, laying on the bank, sipping the water from cupped palms.
Tearing himself away was hard, but getting sick wasn't going to help him, and she sounded like her information was real enough. It wasn't something he'd ever thought of before, but it wasn't like he had an actual water tank inside that needed to be refilled, was it? He went slow, as hard as it was and felt embarrassed that he was still gasping a little three minutes later.
Then he got five minutes to try and focus himself and rest before the weapons practice and unarmed fighting drills took place. It was way different than in school. The guards pushed him, but everyone worked at the same time, Rolph and Karina joined, and, rather cutely, so did Ali, though she didn't have a clue what she was doing.
The big difference was that it was a group effort. If you made a mistake, it would be capitalized on in the moment, but your opponent would instantly tell you what you'd done wrong. It didn't matter who you were, from the Major in charge, who turned out to be George, to the girl taking her first lesson. Everyone was treated the same way. It was a little scary at first, as every move was looked at through a lens, and a lot of what he was doing was found wanting. He knew he needed to get better, but was he that bad? Apparently so.
It was about half an hour in when Tor decided to try and work in the new ideas he had, based on what Burks had mentioned and a few other things besides. Shorter movements, combined striking and getting rid of the gaps, merged with trying to read his opponents field. It sort of worked, enough that George, who he was going up against grinned at him.
“Better! A little man needs to be precise, you’re missing half the blows and it seems like you keep getting stuck every seven seconds or so, your flow of attack hitches. Is that on purpose?”
Tor shook his head and tried to focus more, since George was going to attack as he answered, he could feel it.
“No, I just suck that much. Working on it though.” Rather than try to block the attack Tor moved in and attacked as fast as he could, managing to keep his flow going for nearly twelve seconds this time.
Then George skipped in lightly and took him to the ground easily.
When finished, an hour later, they all bathed in the stream and got back in the carriages and wagons, since Tor didn't think he could manage doing much else at the moment. Everyone else had books with them, even Ali, which seemed a great idea, only Tor hadn't thought to bring any. Well, he had the ones instructor Fines had lent him still. He took out one that was simply entitled “Theory”.
The book was fascinating once started. A lot of it he already knew or had worked out for himself, but some of the things he'd never even heard of. For instance, on the tiniest level space and time didn't seem to run the same way. Even before the book pointed it out, Tor understood some of what that might mean. Actions could be done at a much greater distance than he'd ever thought. Maybe even further away from himself than he could imagine? The idea was hard to put into a device, of course, since most of them didn't have direct mental feedback mechanisms and when the book was written, a long time ago it seemed, no one had managed it.