by T. A. White
"Good. Did you also let the Allfather know we have the package?" she asked.
There was a long-suffering sigh in her ear. "What do you take me for?"
He didn't want her to answer that.
"Of course, I did," he finished.
"And?"
Silence echoed down the line.
"Jin?" Kira said, threat deepening her voice.
"I'll try again," he grumbled.
Kira didn't like the sound of that. Odin was almost never out of contact.
Footsteps pounded against the ground as Finn caught up. Kira thought she detected the slightest flicker of anger in his stoic expression.
"From here on out, I'm going radio silent," Kira said.
"Why?"
"Because it's sensible. I suggest you do the same."
"No need. I've encrypted my signal and piggybacked it off one of theirs. If they see it, they'll assume it's from someone on their side," Jin said.
"Your arrogance is going to bite you in your metallic behind one day." Kira's pace slowed, the brief sprint taking its toll.
"But it's not likely to be today."
She couldn't help the brief smile that crossed her lips at that rejoinder.
As angry as she'd been that he'd smuggled himself onto the planet, she was glad for his presence. Even in the darkest of times, he managed to create light. She didn't know if she'd have survived everything with her sanity mostly intact, if not for him.
Lost in her thoughts, Kira almost didn’t notice as a tree root sprang up out of nowhere. She twisted in midair, only her quick reflexes saving her. She managed a semi-graceful landing on the other side of the root. She stopped and scowled at the root.
There was no way that had been there before. She was sure of it.
"Finn, can the forest move itself?" Kira asked.
The oshota was barely breathing hard, acting more like they were out for a lazy stroll than a challenging run. His only response was a silent stare. He arched an eyebrow at her. Kira took that as a yes.
She glanced around with new eyes, taking note of the way the trees seemed to have pressed closer to the trail, leaning ominously over it. Some of their roots had burrowed over the path she’d taken moments before, fully obscuring it.
Kira's lips curved up. "That's pretty cool."
"What? What is?" Jin demanded.
"I've never heard of trees that moved. I wonder if they would attack those they consider an enemy," she said.
Finn was predictably silent.
"Are you sure they're moving and it's not your imagination?" Jin asked skeptically.
Kira rolled her eyes before setting out again. Of course, she was sure. That wasn’t the sort of thing she was likely to make a mistake on.
Jin grumbled, unhappy about Kira's silence.
"If I had known it was going to be like this, I would have stayed with Jace," Jin complained.
Kira didn't respond, picking up her speed while keeping an eye on the ground and trees around her. This time when one swung a branch into her path, she bounded lightly onto it, using it as a springboard to launch herself into the canopy.
A laugh escaped her as she hopped from branch to branch, executing random flips before landing lightly and finding her next foothold. She never broke speed, Finn shadowing her below.
Sweat gleamed on her skin, her breathing ragged by the time she dropped to the dirt path.
"Having fun?" Finn asked.
Her grin this time was unreserved. "A little; yeah."
NINE
Kira's days quickly settled into a pattern after that first day. Early morning was spent in the med bay, letting Quillon use his invisible needles to scramble Kira's insides. Afterward, Finn always shoved a quick snack into her hand before they reported to the Warrior's Hall.
Kira never did any real training with the initiates. Wren was nothing if not consistent in his assertion she needed to increase her overall stamina and strength before she embarked on learning to master her ki.
By the end of the first week, she’d stopped approaching him in the mornings, setting off for her run even before he opened his mouth.
Finn was her constant companion, accompanying her as her morning runs got progressively longer. If he resented being forced to tag along with someone not even deemed worthy of using ki, he never mentioned it.
Since Wren had never specified that all she could do was run, Kira used the opportunity to throw in circuit training, pushing herself as hard as her body would allow.
When she got tired of training, she'd use the forest as her opponent, learning to read its movements before it actually moved.
Her fellow initiates weren't much better off.
Wren had been true to his word, not allowing anyone to progress until they'd reached the top of the stone monolith, a challenge much harder than it seemed at first glance.
Stationary wind guns waited along the rock face to knock unsuspecting Tuann off its surface. If that wasn't difficult enough, camouflaged drones crouched in the crevasses came alive anytime someone strayed too close.
The drones always moved, never staying in the same place from day to day. It made it impossible for the initiates to map their location. A fact Kira knew frustrated Raider to no end. He seemed to have a talent for setting them off. This week alone, he'd felt their sting no less than seven times. The prior weeks hadn't been much kinder to him.
The monolith's traps weren't the only surprise the forest held. During one of her runs, Kira had stumbled across an obstacle course, much like the one on Luatha. It had taken some quick thinking to escape a swarm of drones and make it back over the fence with no one but Finn the wiser.
Since then, Kira had been careful to mark the edges of the course, delineated by the nearly invisible energy fence around its perimeter.
Finished with her run for the day, Kira headed for the arched gate she’d grown familiar with, the evening shadows deepening as she made her way through the forest.
Today, unlike other days, a small figure crouched at the base of the gate, nearly hidden where he sat.
Kira slowed as she and Finn traded a long look.
"I'll handle this," Kira said.
"As you wish." Finn paced a few steps away, giving them the illusion of privacy.
"Joule, I could be wrong, but your session with Maida finished hours ago," Kira said in greeting.
Kira had made it a point to keep track of when others were in the forest. Some of the things she was attempting would likely get her in trouble if others found out.
She’d learned early on that Roake wasn't the only House who used the forest. Other Houses sent people to train there as well.
Kira had gotten quite good at slipping through the trees unseen. It had become a sort of game, one Finn was happy to oblige her in, teaching her techniques to conceal her presence both physically and on the ki level.
Which was why Joule's presence was so startling. It wasn’t the norm.
A pair of morose eyes met hers.
Kira knew that look. Things weren't going the way someone had thought they would.
"That's an awfully long face for someone who got everything they wanted. Things not working out like you hoped?" Kira asked.
Joule's jaw tightened, an angry kind of misery radiating from him.
That was a yes then.
Spotting a bottle of water in his hand, Kira nodded to it. "Is that for me?"
He looked at the water as if surprised before handing it over to Kira.
She took several sips, the water cool and refreshing. Only once she'd drunk half of it, did she nod at the gate. "Let's go. You don't want to be in these woods after dark."
It had only taken one late day for Kira to realize the danger. Nocturnal predators hunted here after sunset. They were big and deadly enough to consider even a Tuann fair game.
Joule started. "How do you know that?"
Kira scratched her cheek, her eyes sliding away.
"Someone just got caught doin
g something they're not supposed to," Jin said gleefully.
Kira pointed at Finn. "Sometimes, it's helpful to have a source of information who refuses to leave your side."
Finn was expressionless as he stared at the two of them, giving nothing away. Sometimes her unwelcome guard had his uses, like now when he made the perfect fall guy.
He hadn't told her anything about the forest, letting her experience its dangers for herself.
Joule didn't question her further, standing and dusting off his pants before touching the gate. His forehead furrowed as the runes shifted, and a path opened.
Since her arrival, Kira had learned the archways acted like a network. You could go anywhere as long as there was a corresponding archway on the other side that you had permission to access. Your ki had to be encoded into the archway before use, otherwise, the connection would fail to establish.
A sheen of color rolled over the middle of the archway, radiating a slight haze, similar to what you got when very hot rays of light hit a surface like sand or blacktop and reflected a shimmer.
Joule stepped through, Kira and Finn following.
The sound of the sea greeted her as the ocean stretched into the distance. Kira glanced behind them, unsurprised to find the hulking form of the fortress.
Joule didn’t wait, continuing along the small dirt path, lined with long grasses on either side. Kira followed.
"What did you want to talk about?" she asked.
It was obvious something was on his mind.
His eyes remained trained on the horizon as they made their way to the cliff's edge, the chilly wind drying any lingering sweat on Kira's skin.
It was colder here, much colder than the forest, and not necessarily comfortable. Hopefully, whatever Joule had to say wouldn't take long. Kira already longed to retreat to the warmth of her room.
"I heard them talking," Joule finally confessed. "They called you an abomination and a coward. They said Roake should never have allowed you to become an initiate."
Kira took a slow sip of the water as she considered Joule. "That's it? That's why you look like the rug has been pulled out from under you?"
Confusion descended on his face.
Kira waved a hand. "Earth saying. It means you've had the balance knocked out of you."
Joule neared, his expression earnest. "You don't understand. If they think you shouldn't be here, they'll challenge you. The seon’yers won't be able to stop a challenge for those who haven't passed their adva ka unless it becomes life threatening."
Kira whistled. "Sounds scary." She glanced at Finn. "Anything to add?"
Finn's gaze was steady as he regarded her. "Initiates cannot kick someone out of the program. Officially."
Kira waited, knowing there was more.
"However, they can make life very difficult for someone they deem unworthy." Finn's lips twitched as if he was amused at the prospect they might try. "Unrelenting challenges are one method to obtain that goal."
Kira studied the water bottle. "Humans do something similar."
It was never pretty when it happened, but the training cadre usually turned a blind eye. People who were too different might not survive the sustained efforts of their peers to force them out. Things could easily get out of hand, which was why it was technically against military regulations to haze a fellow soldier. Despite that, it still happened.
"I'm surprised they haven't tried that with Raider and Blue." The other initiates, with Devon leading the charge, had made no qualms about voicing their dislike of the humans' presence.
Joule's eyes dropped.
Finn looked uncomfortable as he said, "I believe they've faced some difficulty. However, the other initiates underestimated the humans' stubbornness and ingenuity. I don't have all the information, but it appears the blue-haired one's retaliation was decisive—and impressive."
That surprised a snort out of Kira. "That sounds like Blue."
She was always resourceful and never willing to turn the other cheek.
"And Raider?" she asked.
"He's held his own so far," Finn said.
That was good. And unsurprising.
Kira gazed unseeing at the horizon, contemplating what Joule and Finn had shared. A lot had happened while she'd focused on herself. None of it could be helped. Blue and Raider had to establish respect for themselves, and it sounded like they were doing that.
Kira nodded. "Sounds like it's handled."
Done with the conversation, Kira started toward the castle. Joule jolted, hand upraised as if to stop her. "Wait, we need to talk about this."
Kira grabbed his outstretched arm, jerking him toward her as she swept his leg out from under him. He tumbled, jolting to a stop when she caught the collar of his light armor, one that was little better than leather strips over his vital area, likely the best he could afford given the state of his House.
His back toward the ground, he hovered, only her grip keeping him from falling. She lifted him a few inches toward her, the mask she normally wore gone. The carefree attitude, the cutting humor, all laid to the side.
Stripped bare, she gazed at him, letting him see her seriousness, the person who wouldn't let anything or anyone stand in the way of the pursuit of her goals. That was who he saw in that moment. The Phoenix. Someone who'd tasted loss and exacted the first phase of her revenge.
He swallowed thickly.
"Do I look like someone who gives a fuck what others think of me?"
Joule didn't answer.
Her lips parted in a snarl. "When you've experienced the worst life has to offer you, the little details no longer seem to matter so much. You choose what in this life affects you. What you will waste precious energy on. They want to belittle me? Mock me? I don't care. Let them challenge me. I'll win or I won't. The end. Everything else is details."
Joule touched her wrist lightly, naked vulnerability written in his face. Kira sighed and shook her head, lowering him until his butt rested on the ground.
She crouched before him. "Joule, you have a goal and a purpose. Focus on that. Forget about me, and don't let matters like these hold you back."
Joule swiped at his nose; his eyes suspiciously red as he avoided Kira's gaze.
Kira sighed, feeling like the lowest of the low. She hadn't meant to hurt his feelings or point out truths he wasn't willing to face.
"I thought we were friends," he finally mumbled.
He was so young.
"I'm awfully hard on my friends," Kira said, one hand rubbing her neck. "Ask Raider and Blue. They'll tell you how difficult a friendship with me is."
It would be tempting to think she was cursed. She didn't believe in such things. She was unlucky was all. Her standoffish nature and tendency to shoulder the brunt of any burden didn't help.
"I don't care," Joule said stubbornly. "You saved Ziva and me. You didn't have to, but you did."
"That doesn't make me a good person or a good friend," Kira pointed out.
His gaze held hers, unflinching. He didn't plan on letting go of this point.
"Is that the only reason you looked like someone had killed your dearest friend?" Kira asked finally, offering an olive branch.
His gaze slid away, his mouth setting in a stubborn line.
"Ah, I see," Kira said, hiding her smile. Joule might have wanted to warn her of the trouble brewing, but it wasn't the only reason he'd sought her out. "Having trouble?"
"It's different than I'd imagined it'd be," he mumbled.
"It always is," she murmured.
Achieving what people told you was impossible could feel like the greatest thing in the world. Miraculous and dreamlike. It could also leave you feeling empty—especially when reality didn't fit with what you'd envisioned.
"Does it make you want to give up?" she asked.
His gaze was sharp, the answer written on her face.
Kira’s laugh was husky. "Good. I'd think less of you if it did."
A shy smile bloomed at the praise. Ki
ra was glad to see it. Joule and Ziva had managed to burrow their way through her defenses. As much as she wanted to push them out, she didn't have it in her.
They reminded her she hadn't been broken by war and loss, their unwavering faith whispering to the parts of her she'd buried deep. The parts that insisted she had once been more and could be again.
It was humbling. Disconcerting, leaving her feeling vulnerable and off-balance.
It would be so easy to destroy their hero worship.
Kira stood. "Come on. You can show me the new things you've learned as we walk back to the fortress."
Hope lit Joule's expression. "Are you sure?"
Kira lifted a shoulder. "Not like I have anything else to occupy my time right now."
He bounded to his feet with an energy and grace only someone as young as he could manage.
He ran through the warrior forms Maida had taught him. Kira watched with interest, cataloging them to try later. She was glad to see his form had improved since she'd last seen him work. Whatever training Maida was putting them through was working. With practice, Joule would become a talented warrior.
"That's not all," Joule said. "She's been working on teaching us a shielding technique."
Joule fell out of his last stance, straightening. He inhaled, centering himself. His hands came up to meet at his chest, his palms facing each other as he left an inch of space between them.
The frown on his face deepened with concentration, sweat dotting his forehead.
The faintest flicker of power sparked to life between his hands. It built, the pressure causing Joule's hands to shake.
He held it like that, the flicker getting brighter. With a cry of effort, Joule ripped his hands apart, stepping back with one foot at the same time.
His left hand swept up in an arc, his right hand mirroring it as he drew a circle, his hands crossing as they finished the circle. Visible ki crackled in the lines he had drawn with his hand. His palms flipped to face out and he shoved.
Kira's ears popped as a dome sprung into being, accompanied by a soft glow. It wobbled then stabilized. Joule remained in that position for several seconds before dropping the dome.