A Question of Confidence

Kraelin woke from his light sleep quickly, as he always did. It was part of his warrior training. Always being alert, never letting your guard down in dangerous situations. Light sleep, quick awakening. But as he looked around the campfire, its embers dying, refusing to let go of their red glow, he realized there was no danger. Yet something was wrong. He saw Jake, laying in a heap on the collapsible chair they brought, Elysia in her sleeping bag, Alex…

Alex was gone.

Kraelin sat up straight. No sign of a struggle. He must have gone of his own accord. Kraelin muttered under his breath. Did these two not understand what they were doing, how dangerous it was out there?

Tracking Alex was easy. Simple foot prints, no effort to hide them. Kraelin followed the trail to a spot at the small stream near their camp site. He was laying on a large rock, looking up at the stars, stroking Stick behind the ear and talking to him.

“You know, you’re not the first pet I’ve ever had,” Alex said. “Had a cat once. But once mom and Steve found him they chucked him outside. No cats in the house, I guess. I was already enough of an inconvenience…”

Stick chittered sadly at Alex. Even as a little rodent, Stick could tell when Alex wasn’t happy.

“Yeah. I’m glad you’re here. But I don’t know why you came. You’re probably gonna have to leave at some point too. It’ll get too dangerous or you’ll get hurt and…I’ll be alone again. Nobody but Jake.”

Stick made a small noise, like a chirping bark.

“Yeah, I know Jake’s a dumbass, but he’s a loyal dumbass. And hell, I follow along behind him, so I’m arguably a bigger dunbass.”

Kraelin purposefully stepped on a stick, making noise, letting Alex know he was coming. Alex quickly sat up, then relaxed a bit when he saw who it was.

“Man, Kraelin, give a guy a heart attack. What are you doing out right now?” Alex asked.

“I could ask the same of you,” Kraelin said, sitting on the rock next to Alex.

“I don’t sleep well. I like looking at the stars. It relaxes me.” He laid back down, resting his head on his hands.

“And you couldn’t relax at camp?” Kraelin asked.

“Didn’t want to wake anyone. Me and Stick were talking.”

“Ah. What about?”

“Nothing. Life. Stuff.”

They sat together for a moment, the sound of the stream the only noise between them.

“Thank you for saving my life,” Kraelin said.

“Huh? Didn’t you already thank me?” Alex asked.

“Yes. But still, thank you. And thank you for coming on this journey with us. I know it’s a lot to ask of you. You never trained to be a warrior.”

“Hey, I’m used to getting dragged into stuff,” Alex sighed. “But I’m loyal to Jake, like he is to me. And he was going. Besides, I want out of this girl body.”

“It’s funny,” Kraelin said. “I see a lot of Elysia in Jake. Always willing to jump headfirst into a situation…”

“…not even caring if he gets hurt if he thinks he can help?” Alex finished. They both laughed. “Sometimes I think Jake has the self preservation senses God gave a door knob. Its like he’s always trying to…”

“…prove himself?” Kraelin finished.

“Stop it,” Alex said with a smile. “Yeah, prove himself. But we’re all proving ourselves out here, right?”

“I suppose we are,” Kraelin said, thinking. “Well, don’t stay out here too long. I plan on training you first thing in the morning.”

“Your funeral. I sucked at gym class, so…”

Kraelin’s fist shot through the air. It would have been a crushing blow to the side of Alex’s head if he hadn’t moved, blocking the blow.

“Dude! What in the absolute hell?!” Alex shouted.

“You two have the essences of great heroes flowing through you. Your physical limitations have been greatly lessened. You can do great things…if you have the will to do so.” Kraelin backed up again. “Like I said, don’t be too long.” He turned and walked away, leaving Alex alone by the stream.

Alex turned to Stick. The little whiptail was repeatedly smacking his paw into Alex’s leg. “This is a conspiracy,” Alex sighed.

*

It was the third day of training and Alex laid on the ground, staring up at the clouds floating through the blue sky. Alex had not chosen to lay on the ground. Kraelin made the choice for him.

“Come on, you can be faster,” Kraelin said, offering his hand. Alex reluctantly stood back up.

“Man, you’ve been kicking our asses for at least two hours,” Jake complained, catching his breath.

“And I’m sure the Twisted will care about your fatigue level if they attack,” Kraelin said. He handed the two training swords to Jake and Alex again. “This time, you two will fight each other. First one to disarm the other doesn’t have to clean the lopper tonight.”

“Sounds good to me,” Jake said, eyeing Alex. “Something to work towards.”

“Remember,” Kraelin said, talking to them both but keeping his eye on Alex, “you two have the power of great heroes flowing through you. Feel it. Use it.”

Jake and Alex squared off against each other. They had been getting their asses kicked for days. They were both sick of it.

“Time for a change,” Alex said.

“Damn right,” Jake agreed, and he charged. Their training swords clashed. They remembered the moves which had been drilled into them. Kraelin, Elysia and Stick leaned forward, watching the fight, eager to see the outcome.

“Who are you betting on?” Elysia asked. Kraelin said nothing.

Blow for blow they hit each other. Neither could get a firm advantage. Kraelin leaned in. “Come on. Work. Let this work…”

“Let what work?” Elysia asked.

“Your heroes aren’t heroes. I finally realized this fact. They’re, well, two guys you found. So maybe I shouldn’t train them like warriors,” Kraelin said.

Jake and Alex faced each other, panting heavily but…smiling?

“Not bad, bro,” Jake said.

“You should see me when I try,” Alex said.

“Yeah, I’ll see. While I’m watching you gut those lopper!” Jake shouted as he and Alex charged each other again.

“Why are they doing so much better now?” Elysia asked.

“Because it’s a game. I turned it into a game,” Kraelin simply stated.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. Jake raised his sword. Alex raised his. Then their eyes began to glow. A strange sense of determination seemed to take them over. As Jake held his sword high, Alex suddenly went into a backflip, kicking his leg up and knocking the sword out of Jake’s hand. Jake, in turn, quickly lashed out with his now empty hands, grabbing Alex’s sword from him, causing him to spin wildly through the air. Jake and Alex both landed hard on the ground, Jake holding Alex’s sword while Jake’s landed with a thud beside Alex.

“Yeah!” Jake cheered, sitting up. “Holy crap, we freaking…I mean…holy crap, what the hell!”

“I think I experienced at least four rotations in the air too many…” Alex complained. Jake helped Alex up, both of them grinning wildly.

“What was the flip thing dude?!”

“I dunno! My body seemed to…”

“…know what to do? I know!”

They high fived each other, acting like stupid teens, which was exactly Kraelin’s strategy. “I needed them to relax,” he said with a shrug. “Now they know what they can do. I might be able to push them farther.”

“Knew you had it in you, coach,” Elysia said, smiling as she watched her two new friends. “It’s great to see them filled with confidence.”

“Hey! I am not cleaning the lopper tonight!” Alex yelled. “I kicked your sword out first!”

“Yeah, but I held onto yours longer! Mine only flipped through the air!” Jake yelled back.

“Those weren’t the rules!”

“I still could have grabbed it!”

“But you didn’t!”

“But I could have!”

Elysia sighed. “Okay, you gave them confidence. Now how do you turn them off?”