Brenda said, “I think it’s very sweet. He doesn’t know what we’re asking, but he agrees to it anyway. Because if we want it, it must be OK. I think it’s very sweet. Ronin, you’re an exceptionally good man. And now I know that I love you as much as I was afraid that I would.”
Alice said, “Brenda, I didn’t tell you about the bath last night.”
I started to blush again and said quickly, “And, we don’t have time for stories right now. What else do we need to discuss.”
Harmony said, “I need a better training dummy. Adventurer Monks know about them. I made mine, but I need a better one. Like a real one. And I need you to teach me how to practice with it.”
I said, “And, I need to teach all of you about the wooden sword. Harmony, we can go to the woodworker and I can show him what to make for you. Where did you learn about the Mook Jong? The wooden man?”
She said, “From my grandfather.”
Val said, “But that’s all we need for now, right? Alice and Brenda have a free hand to do whatever they think is best for us. Money is no concern. Ronin needs to learn a new custom. Harmony wants a monkey tongue for some reason, and the rest we can figure out as we go.”
I said, “A Mook Jong.”
Chapter 11 - A walk in the Meadows
Two hours later, the three girls and I were walking toward the meadows at the outskirts of the town. We had been to the woodworker and I had shown him what Harmony wanted for practice. It was a more refined version of the simple log with two branches that she had in the courtyard when we met. The proper Mook Jong was a log about six feet tall, with the bark removed and polished smooth. At the height of the face was an area wrapped with thick rope as a bit of cushioning for the fist when it was struck. At the height of the shoulders, two arms stuck out at an angle toward the front. They were mounted in slots in the trunk, and had a bit of wiggle room so that they both moved and made noise when hit. Below that, at the height of the elbow was a second set of arms made the same way. Another piece of wood was mounted at knee height. It came out from the log, and bent down to the ground to represent a leg. It wasn’t a complicated apparatus and would only take a few days to make. I would start training Harmony when it was done.
But now we were headed out across the meadows toward the orchards and Gerald’s fields. We weren’t really going anywhere. That was the point.
As we walked, I thought about the morning meeting. Specifically about how I didn’t care about the details of the house. Nor did I care about the specifics of whatever new arrangements had to be considered for Brenda and Alice. It wasn’t that I didn’t follow the conversation, or that I was emotionally detached, or that I wasn’t capable of connecting to what was being said; it was that I was comfortable leaving it to the others to handle for us. If it needed my input, I could certainly take care of it. If there was any way at all that I didn’t need to be involved, I was happy to leave it to Val and the others. As long as food appeared on the table, I didn’t have to involve myself in getting food. As long as we had money, I didn’t need to be especially concerned about how it was spent. If there was some local custom that I didn’t know about, as long as my ignorance wasn’t a problem or offensive, I would find out about it in good time.
But, maybe I should make sure about that. I asked Val, and she assured me that the custom that they had discussed at breakfast was nothing that had to be settled immediately and that I wasn’t likely to offend anyone much by my ignorance, so we would let it be for now. She said that it would come up at some point, and that she would encourage Gerald to discuss it with me. And she seemed to be confident that I didn’t need to think about it now, so I didn’t. I could have. I could have pressed for an answer to questions that I would have to make up, but for now, there was no need. So, I made the decision to ignore it until it was time to know more. It wasn’t that I simply ignored it; it was that I consciously decided to ignore it, based on my faith in Val and the others to know what was best in this situation. I would know what was best in other situations, and I would expect them to have faith in me at those times. Even so, it never entirely left my mind.
The girls and I were all dressed a bit unusually today. We all wore a loose fitting pair of pants made from a very soft hemp fabric. The pants tied at the waist, and felt very comfortable. It was as if we were naked, but entirely modest and fully clothed. The pants were something that Lucille made for lounging around the house on a pleasant evening or, in this case, for taking a relaxing stroll in the middle of the day. They were unusual, but apparently perfectly acceptable for walking around town in the market. Instead of boots, we wore sandals. For shirts and blouses, what we had was very much like the pants. It was a shirt with long sleeves that pulled on over the head. It again was very loose fitting. The neck was slit to a point maybe half way between the breasts, but a little tie held it closed a bit higher. I hadn’t bothered to tie mine, and after we were beyond the edge of the town, I noticed that the girls had untied theirs. We were all entirely clothed, but we felt like we were naked, the clothing was so loose on our bodies. The pants and shirts did nothing to show off the forms of the girls’ bodies, but because the fabric was so soft, it didn’t do much to obscure them either. The shirts hung straight down from the shoulders and over the girls’ breasts, and had no belt. The shape of their breasts were hinted at, and if their nipples were at all firm, the shape of them was plain as well. But all women’s dresses were that way, unless they wore a thick vest or jacket, so it was no different than any other woman in the village. Or in any other village that I had ever visited.
It was no different at all, except that it was. I knew exactly what was under that loose-fitting clothing, and could see it in my mind’s eye, as if it were not hidden at all. The pants were loose, but now and then, they would sit against the hips in a way that made the very pretty cleft between the girls’ buns plain. And the blouses were the same on their chests. We were fully clothed, amazingly comfortable, and somehow naked nonetheless. Lucille was a genius. Dawn was the first one to mention it.
She said, “I love these clothes. I have never seen anything like them.”
Harmony said, “This is what we wear around the house, or when it’s warm in the spring. But mostly at home. Unless we wear the tunics like we did last night.”
Dawn said, “It’s like not wearing clothes at all.”
Harmony said, “Fine by me.”
I said, “No, not yet. Keep your clothes on for now.”
Harmony said, “I’ll try. But, you never know what accidents might happen.”
Val said, “I had visited Lucille and have seen these before. She let me borrow some once, when I slept over, but I never had any of my own.”
I said, “I like them. Somehow, they are very attractive on you.”
Dawn said, “You ain’t so bad yourself. It’s funny having the same clothes for both men and women. But I like it a lot. And no sizes. Harmony wears the same ones as me. I like that. I don’t know why.”
I said, “It’s because of intimacy. If you wear the same clothes that I do, we feel more a part of each other. If there isn’t mine and yours, but simply ours, we feel more connected and intimate. If you would wear what I think of as my clothes, I feel loved by it.”
Dawn said, “That’s it. That’s it exactly! Here, trade shirts with me!”
She pulled off her shirt and tried to hand it to me. For a second, I just stood and stared at her wonderful breasts, but then pulled off my own shirt and we traded. We pulled the clothes on over our heads, and started walking again.
Dawn said, “See, and this one smells like Ronin. And he is wearing a shirt that smells like me. It’s wonderful.”
Val smiled and said, “Ronin, trade with me.”
She pulled off her top and this time, I traded with her. After a minute of walking, I noticed that Harmony was now topless, and when she saw that I noticed, she held out her shirt, and I gave her mine.
Dawn said, “Now, see! Ronin has worn one that
each of us has worn and now we all wear one that he has worn.”
Harmony said, “Ronin, give me your pants.”
It was a game now, so I smiled and complied and handed her my pants. She took them from me and started walking.
I said, “Hey. Give me your pants if I’m giving you mine.”
Harmony laughed and said, “That wasn’t the deal. If you want my pants, come and take them,” and she started running across the meadow.
I stood and watched for a second and then Val said, “I don’t mind you not wearing pants, but I think that she’s serious. If you want pants, you’re going to have to take them from her.”
Dawn smiled and said, “You can take mine if you want.”
I looked at Val and Dawn and then started running after Harmony. She was fast and had a head-start. I gained on her for a few yards, but every time I started to get closer, Harmony ran faster and outdistanced me. She ran a lot farther than I expected, and before long, we were maybe a quarter of a mile ahead of the other girls. It seemed that maybe she was slowing down. Maybe she was finally tiring. I glanced back to see how far we had run, and when I turned back to look for Harmony, I was shocked to see that she was gone! I slowed for a few seconds, wondering where she could be, but then I increased my speed again, running in the direction where I had seen her last. After another half a mile, I wondered if I had missed her, and came to a stop.
I looked in front of me and saw no sign of Harmony. I turned around and could see Val and Dawn off in the distance, three quarters of a mile away. If they kept walking the way that they were, it would be ten minutes or more before they caught up with me. Harmony was gone and I didn’t know where she had disappeared to. I turned to the front again, and was startled by Harmony standing two feet in front of me!
She said, “Oh, what do you want?”
I grinned and said, “I want some pants, you minx!”
I grabbed for her. Harmony squirmed in my arms as I playfully wrestled with her to undo the tie at her waist. I picked her up and put her over my shoulder and took hold of her waist band and pulled it down, uncovering her rear. I pulled the garment all the way down and left her bottomless. In an unexpected, move, Harmony dropped herself off my shoulder and ended up with her legs around my waist, locking me into an embrace that I couldn’t easily shake.
She leaned into my ear and said, “Ronin, fuck me here on the grass! Hurry. There isn’t much time.”
I said, “Harmony, not right now.”
She said, “Yes, right now! Do it. I want you to.”
For same reason, I took her at her word and kneeling down, I laid her on her back in the grass and got on top of her. Harmony reached between us and stroked my cock very briefly and I was stiff in an instant. She held me against her opening, and I let myself down on top of her tiny body. Her legs were still locked around my waist and she pulled herself hard onto me, raising her rear off the ground in the process. I continued down so that her back was on the ground again and thrust deeply.
She whispered, “Yeah, like that. Don’t take your time. Hurry. Be quick!”
I began thrusting in and out of her wonderfully tight, wet, and warm tunnel. Several minutes went by, and it seemed like she would climax at any moment, but she didn’t. I would see her start to make a face, and then it would go away. Then suddenly, Harmony gasped and looked almost horrified as she had a very intense orgasm. So did I. The whole thing took only a few minutes.
Harmony writhed beneath me and pushed me to let her up. When I did, She quickly shoved her mouth onto my penis and sucked me for a very brief moment. When she was done, she smiled and lay back on the grass with her legs in the air, her vulva shining with moisture, and rubbed herself with a pair of our pants to clean up. Then she handed them to me and told me to put them on. As I took them from her, she took the other pair and wiped them around my crotch and started to pull them on over her own legs.
I tied the string at my waist and said, “Harmony, you wicked kitten!”
She grinned and said, “I know! Isn’t it fun! And now my clothes really smell like you.”
I said, “Is that what this was about? Because you wanted your pants to smell like me?”
She said, “Well, partly. And, I wanted to make sure that your pants smelled like me. So that you won’t forget me. And so that you would make love to me and remember how nice it feels. We haven’t hardly been together at all. Both times we just rushed through it.”
I said, “Oh Harmony, I’m sorry.”
She grinned and said, “I kind of like it on the run like that, to tell you the truth. I like the extra excitement of being in a hurry. You make it hard though.”
I said, “Hard in what way?”
She said, “I almost climaxed several times, but Lucille said that sometimes if we hold off, then the final one is even bigger, and I wanted to try that, but you had me ready to have my brains exploded so many times that I couldn’t last as long as I tried to. But when I couldn’t do it anymore, wow! She was right.”
I twisted to see where the other girls were, and could see them still fifty yards away. I stood up and helped Harmony to her feet with a smile.
I said, “Harmony, I love you. I always remember you. I was looking for you this morning. I felt like part of me was missing. Where did you go?”
Harmony hugged herself against my arm and said, “Really? You were looking for me? That’s so thoughtful. Do you really always remember me? If I’m here or not?”
I said, “Of course. I love you. I am always aware of you.”
She said, “But I sat beside you at breakfast, and you didn’t even notice me.”
I said, “No, I didn’t see you. But I was looking for you.”
She smiled and said, “I guess that’s true. You were looking for me, you just didn’t see me.”
I said, “Harmony, do you hide from me?”
She was quiet for a minute and hugged herself to my arm more tightly and said, “Maybe.”
I asked, “Why do you do that?”
She paused and said, “I don’t know. I don’t think that I know that I do it.”
I said, “Are you afraid of something? Of me?”
She said, “Maybe.”
I said, “Is it because you are younger than the other girls?”
She said, “Younger? Ronin, I’m a year younger than you. I’m three years older than Val and five years older than Dawn.”
I said, “Oh, that’s right. Lucy told us about having elf blood.”
Harmony said,, “Yeah. My folks were both part-blooded, so I got more than they had. Dawn has some, but not as much as you and Val. You have almost as much as me.”
I said, “I don’t think so. Lucy guessed one-thirty-second.”
Harmony said, “Well, either she was mistaken, or she lied. Did she say that you were? Or did she say, ‘suppose you were’?”
I said, “I’m not sure now.”
Harmony said, “She almost never lies. I bet she said, ‘suppose you were’. But, she wouldn’t know as well as I can. Hold still and look into my eyes.”
I did as she said and she slipped her hand under my shirt and laid it on my chest while she stared into my soul.
She said, “Your paternal grandmother was part. Your maternal grandfather was part. Your father and mother were both part elf. But your maternal grandfather was very strong. Even your paternal grandfather was stronger than Val. It seems that your clan was drawn to each other by the ancestry. Did your grandfather and your father have special abilities?”
I said, “They were both amazingly skilled. It did seem like magic sometimes. My grandfather was more legendary than my father.”
Harmony said, “And you are stronger blooded than he was.”
I said “Lucy said that it depended on how much each parent had.”
Harmony continued to stare into my eyes and said, “Partly. And I only know this because of what I see, not what I was taught. We don’t have anyone to teach us and we make up our theories
to fit the evidence we have. The evidence that I see in you says that it is not just a matter of mathematics. It’s more complex than that. And it is starting to hurt my head.”
She broke our gaze, but pulled me down and kissed me hard, pushing her tongue into my mouth…and I responded in the same way.
I broke the kiss and said, “But, Harmony, I love you. I never forget you.”
She smiled and said, “Then I’ll try to stop hiding from you.”
I said, “Where did you go this morning?”
She said, “Nowhere.”
I said, “But Alice said that you had left.”
Harmony said, “She was trying to say that she couldn’t find me. That she didn’t know where I was. I heard her say that I wasn’t there. And when she said that I went ‘out’ she was explaining to herself in a way that made sense, why she didn’t know where I was.”
I said, “So, you were there all along?”
Chapter 12 - New Abilities
At that moment, Val and Dawn joined us, and we hugged each other all around. There was no mention of our play time or what we had been doing.
Harmony said, “The orchard is safe now, right? Let’s go to the pools!”
Val said, “Oh, that would be nice. Let’s go to the pools! I haven’t been there for years.”
Val led the way. Harmony climbed onto my back, the way that she had when we had first met, but at least this time, she was still wearing some clothes. I had to support Harmony’s legs as she wrapped them around my waist, but Val and Dawn each linked arms with me as we walked.
We came to the orchards, but the pools were another mile, I was told. I started to think about how Harmony, and Lucy, were able to sense the strength of the elven parts of us. I decided to try to see if I could do the same. It might be a handy skill to have at some point. I started by clearing my mind and tuning out my surroundings. As a martial artist, we can develop a way of making the world go quiet. In a battle, the goal isn’t to be hyper-aware of your environment, or even to focus on any particular thing. It’s more a matter of not focusing. Of not being distracted by noises and movements that have no significance. I started by trying to find that place. As I did, and the sounds around me became muffled in my mind, and the visible world began to get more hazy, I looked for something that I had never noticed before.
The Edge of Harmony: The Guardian Maidens Book 2 Page 10