Hey everyone! After last week’s break, we are finally back to Story Day. 🙂 Let’s get started!
Recap
Calah doesn’t want to kill anyone, but she may not have a choice. Weapons are needed for this kind of mission, so Lasha turns to the Weaponry…
The Caretaker – Part. 1.11
They were greeted by the melodic tinkling of bells. The room was smaller than most of the others the pair had visited – it was long and rectangular instead of soaring and round, as the Leapers preferred. A table was on one side, and next to it shelves upon shelves of vials full of various liquids. On the wall behind the table were racks of weapons – some small, some large. Some resembled guns, some resembled swords, one looked like a flower. Lasha felt a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, so she looked away.
Footsteps sounded, and Lasha turned to see an elderly Leaper shuffle across the carpet to the table, where he carefully set down a tray of glass… things. He adjusted his spectacles and squinted up at her, his mouth quirked to the side as he swiped some flyaway white hair away from his eyes. “Commander Aldric,” he croaked, his voice as weathered as his wrinkled face. “What brings you here?”
Lasha let her countenance suffer as she stepped forward and brushed his stooped shoulder with a friendly pat. “I have a new apprentice, Mr. Shazen. This is Calah.” She beckoned for Calah to move forward, which she did with shy steps.
“Ah.” Mr. Shazen peered up at her with his bright eyes, then reached across the table and nudged her with his cane. “You aren’t being too hard on her, are you, Lasha?”
Lasha rolled her eyes, letting a small smile onto her face. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
“But treating her harshly could ruin your relationship,” Mr. Shazen countered, moving on to poking Lasha’s stomach. “You and I learned that the hard way.”
With a sigh, Lasha nodded. “I’ve been trying. We’re doing better than Rosh and I first did.”
“Ha!” Mr. Shazen withdrew his cane and stooped over it, staring at his glass vials. “You two did nothing but argue – even silence might be better than that.” The last word broke off in a fit of coughing as he doubled over his cane.
He’s getting worse, Lasha thought. Nearly 250 years of life will do that to a person. She strode around the table and began thumping his back. “Why don’t you take medicine?”
Mr. Shazen’s face scrunched up as he waved his cane at her, his hair flying up to reveal his bald pate. “Medicine? MEDICINE?” Coughing overtook him again as he bent back over his cane. “Take that infernal MEDICINE?!”
“Calm down.”
A wheezing laugh escaped from his coughs as he shook his head and looked up at her. “You know how I feel about that, Lasha.”
She sighed again. “Yes, I do.”
“Now!” He suddenly stood upright again – well, as upright as he could – and jabbed his cane into the air above his head. “What can I do for you?”
Lasha headed back around the table to where Calah stood, twisting her fingers behind her back. “We need to equip her with the basics, and we’ll need at least one primary weapon common in most Inside worlds for us both to carry, then two or three minor ones and maybe a Threaded one.”
Calah grinned.
Wrap Up
I PROMISE things are going to pick up the pace soon. 😛 For now, what do you think is going to happen in the future? Do weapons intrigue you? What do you think of Mr. Shazen?
Until next time,
Take courage, pursue God, and smile while you still have teeth!
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