Aide Me

Chapter Twelve - Train Me

The group arrived to The Shore around 10am in the forenoon. Some of the men had been up to late at night drinking away their guts and then throwing it up that morning. They were beat, but Hanke was fire and lightning.

"Alright men," He said while he sternly walked up and down the file of men who wanted to learn the skill of handling a sword. "Today ye' step into a proud rank; The rank of men who walks with a sword!" He glanced at the men who looked somewhat sleepy. "I'll teach ye' how to fight, defend and attack every man ye' meet! Ye'll be indestructible when I'm done with ye'!"

Emaia scoffed to herself. While it all sounded great, there was just one problem; His speech was crafted for men and so was his training routine. They were all lined up on the beach, each holding a heavy sword in their hands. Emaia was sitting on a lump of wood and watched from a distance while she cleaned the pelt of a rabbit. It was so unfair.

When she had asked Hanke if she could join, he had awkwardly looked at the ground and muttered some ludicrous excuse about how the sword would be too heavy or the men might find it odd. It was best that she just watched from a safe distance, oh—and then there were some rabbits she could deal with. He had walked away in a hurry.

Emaia put the pelt down and carefully slipped her hand into her satchel. She pulled out one of the small throwing dagger and flipped it in her hand. It was so weird, yet strangely comforting holding a weapon. A real weapon. Not just a vegetable knife.

"Aren't you joining them?"

Emaia yelped and turned in her seat to find Aide coming up to her. Today he looked different from what he used to. Instead of his black leather attire, he had opted for a pair of brown breeches and a pale tunic. He still wore his cloak, but for him wearing his hood up was mandatory; Either walk around with a cloak or get seen.

This new look of his soothed him, Emaia thought. The skin on his neck and clavicle bone was exposed and revealed smooth porcelain skin, plus, the tunic did something else to his torso. She liked it.

Emaia turned back and looked out to the men who were following Hanke's motion with their swords. "I can't. They won't say it, but they don't want me learning how to fight."

Aide sat down on the lump of wood next to her. A small section of his silver hair slid to his front and blew softly in the warm beach air. "Is that so? What did they tell you?"

"Something stupid about the sword being too heavy," Emaia scoffed and rolled her eyes. "And then something about the men and my presence there. Don't you think it's stupid?"

"Actually, no," Aide said and made her jerk her head to him.

"What?"

Aide chuckled by the sound of her defensive tone. "It actually makes sense, but it's still not an excuse for you not to learn. The sword would be too heavy for you, and the men would probably think it's weird having you standing next to them like you're just another man. You're not a man, you're a woman."

"I know that," Emaia snapped. "But you were the one who said we shouldn't let genders define what we were capable of!"

"And I stand by it, but these men have been taught since the day they came out of their mothers womb that women were the softer gender," Aide said. "Even if they fight for equality for all mankind, they still need time to adjust."

"Well, then why shouldn't I join them?!" Emaia barked and crossed her arms. "If I was up there with them, they might get more used to the idea!"

Aide smiled and looked down. "Yeah, but here's the thing; Men have egos. Can you imagine how they would react if you turned out to better than them?"