Stoatorian Guard Private Maybe You Won't Die Alone

[Caden S. Freemont]

The new recruits were coming along well. Caden walked up and down the front line of drilling Guard cadets, keen gaze on their form and movements as they went through a basic set of sword and shield drills in pairs. He rested on paw on the hilt of the arming sword in his belt.

"Wendley, shift your footpaws further apart, leading with the right. Too close together and you'll be easier to knock back when--" The marten watched as the weasel cadet in question was indeed knocked back by a shield blow from his partner and fell to the ground. Wendley rubbed his tail as he stood. Caden moved beside him and showed the young weasel his footing mistake. "See how you crossed your left to your midline and destabilized yourself? Stepping out with your right gives you a stronger stance as you reach with your attack."

Once it seemed that Wendley had his footpaw work under control, Caden continued on down the line. It was warm on the drilling grounds, and it had been a long day. Caden could feel sweat dripping down the small of his back where his muscles were beginning to feel sore from his own drilling earlier in the day with the halberd. While he had fought with polearms before in a pinch, the Ministry insisted as part of his employment that he become proficient in their use. And so he had drilled with several others for a good portion of the morning and afternoon before his current task of checking on the progress of the cadets with their sword and shield training. He was very ready for a drink, and when the clock struck the end of the afternoon shift, the marten joined the cadets in breathing a sigh of relief before putting away training weapons.

"Good work today," he called out to the dozen or so young beasts as they left the drilling grounds. Then he quickly made his escape through the halls of the Ministry of War building, choosing a favorite secret passage that allowed him to bypass a good portion of the crowds and potential interactions with officers or anybeast else he did not particularly want to talk to. He emerged from a standing cupboard in a cleaning closet and, composing himself, stepped out into a side hall that fed into the wide entrance hall directly into the path of one Eirene Liu. They did not collide, though it was a near thing.

Caden laughed, pretending to wield a halberd at the older jill. "Pardon me. Apparently I wanted another round after you so thoroughly wiped the drill grounds with me today."

 

[Eirene Liu]

Eirene's eyes widened as the marten almost collided with her, and her paws started to go for a phantom dagger at her side before she recognized him and relaxed, laughing a bit shakily as her heart rate calmed. "Caden! If you want a rematch, you only need to say," she commented, putting a paw to her chest and leaning on the wall for support. "Pardon me, I no see'd you dere." She was about as sweaty as Caden was, still wet from wiping her face and head down with a wet cloth after changing out of her uniform.

She managed to catch her breath from the brief startle she'd taken, waving a paw to dismiss his comments. "I am lucky de fangtian ji - de painted sky halberd - is de weapon I train with from little age, so dese polearms no are very different. Maybe tomorrow I bring to show and tell," she suggested.

Her paws went to her civilian clothes, a neat double breasted coat over button-down shirt and plain white ruffles topped by a yellow jade broach. "You are going home, or maybe you go to get drink?" the black sable ferret inquired. "My, ah..." She glanced up and down the hall reflexively, making sure there wasn't anyone within earshot, before continuing. "My wife Bezine, she works late dese days, she is detective now. So, is no matter I am home quick to make dinner, she no will eat until morning. Maybe we talk, catch up."

 

[Caden S. Freemont]

Caden shut the door to the closet. "I was, in fact, about to go get myself a drink or two. It's been a day, and my daughter Asta is practicing with the orchestra this evening, then she said something about going out with beasts from the orchestra. So I'm free for the night." He ran a paw through his headfur. Given that it was still slightly sweat-damp, it did not lay back down neatly, instead standing in various directions.

"If my fur could go grey, she'd have given me plenty of grey by now. Can't stop worrying about her when she's out late. She's nearly an adult by age, really, but by Bully standards she's still so green." He chuckled. "So yes, drinks and talking sounds magnificent. Maybe you can give me advice on raising a teenager in a place like the Imperium. On the farm in Varangia it was so much simpler."

 

[Eirene Liu]

Eirene grimaced as she turned and started to walk with Caden in the direction of the exit. "I can tell you lots of advice," she noted, "but I no know if is helpful. My daughter Morgan, she is much trouble. She is in de navy now, on de Golden Hide, she and her friend Vihma go togetter. I no know when dey get back." Her expression turned haunted and hollow as she admitted, "I worry for dem, but I no can do anyting from here. I give her all de lessons I can, I only hope is enough. So, I know dat worry."

She glanced to Caden, inquiring, "Maybe you can tell me what is I should drink here. Since I leave'd Hanshima, I no drink often. I tink perhaps I will not keep up wit' you very fast."

 

[Caden S. Freemont]

Holding the door to the street open for Eirene, Caden shook his head. "I'm not a heavy drinker myself. One or two drinks every other night or so. When I was younger I could put them back, but it hits harder as you get older, as you likely know."

The pair made their way into the Trenches from the Ministry building. "That sounds nerve-wracking," Caden said. "Just waiting for her to return with no word of how she may be faring. But if the Hide is anything like the stories I have heard of her past exploits, Morgan will certainly have some tales to tell when she steps back to shore."

Winding their way through the late afternoon traffic, marten and ferret came to the entrance of The Frog's Gizzard. The tavern was beginning to fill with the early evening crowd, but Caden and Eirene were able to find an empty table for two in the back corner beside a window. Adjusting his sword in his belt as he sat, Caden tapped at the pommel in thought.

"If you're looking for something easy to start with, their house ale is quite good. That's often what I choose after a day like today where I just need something to help the muscles loosen up a bit."

 

[Eirene Liu]

Eirene nodded, accepting the recommendation, and when the waitress came by, she followed Caden's advice. Once their order was taken and they were alone again, she leaned in a bit, just enough so they could talk conversationally without risk of being overheard. "It is nice," she commented. "I no get to go out by myself much anymore. I spend so many years being a motter, is easy to forget I am me. That makes sense?" She gestured to Caden, adding, "I am sure you know. You have a daughter you are raising... and a partner as well?" This last one was ventured more tentatively. Caden hadn't talked too much about his personal life, but she sensed there was some sort of story there.