The Fate: Book 1: Tournament Wysteria

by Ko, John

  “I love it,” Rachel says. “They need a new sign, though.” The beat-up old sign hanging over the doorway reads Stewards & Raiders. Otherwise, everything else about the place seems clean and well cared for. But still, it’s on the wrong side of town, which means it’s away from the block-long row of inns that everyone else is staying at.

  Being so far away from everybody means missing out on half the fun of being on Tour. Not that I really had fun, anyway, Wake thinks. But at least he was able to watch, even if he never quite felt a part of it.

  He opens the door the Fate disappeared into and follows his sister in. Inside it’s well lit, with large stone hearths to either side. To his right is an open kitchen with bundles of herbs, pots and pans, and all manner of utensils dangling from the ceiling. Small tables are arranged neatly throughout the rest of the inn, most of them empty at this early hour. In the corner is a set of stairs, and along the far wall lays open a dark walnut door that reveals the woods out back.

  It does smell good. Wake spies his new Captain pulling up a seat next to a growling girl. Could she be a Daughter of Enyo? There’s no way … Why would a Daughter be on his team?

  The bronzed girl tears a piece of bread in two and picks the larger half to clean her bowl. She shoves the dripping handful into her mouth. A couple of half-successful chews later and she tries to swallow. A loud thump to her chest and it is done.

  “Congratulations, Riser. I assume that you passed,” the Fate says to the warrior girl. Turning to his new teammates, he asks, “Have you had lunch?

  “Lene, may we get three bowls over here, please?” the Fate yells out not waiting for them to reply.

  The Daughter takes a large swig from her mug and slams it down with a table-shaking belch. “I really hate you! How could you keep me from eating this?”

  “It was for your own good.” The Fate motions for them to take a seat. “These are the new ones I was telling you about. He was able to dodge out of Fluttering Blade and land a hit on me.” He points to Wake.

  “You?” the Daughter asks in wonder, pointing from one to the other. “Hit him?”

  ‘I got one strike in,” Wake admits, setting down his satchel and showing his sister to what he deems the cleanest chair.

  “I do not know what he was doing for most of the match, but when he actually tried—he was really amazing.” The Fate leans in close to the Daughter. “He is a little off, though.”

  “What?” Wake says, wondering how he could say that. “No, I most definitely am not.”

  The Fate shrugs.

  “Wake’s a good, thoughtful boy,” his sister says in his defense. Wake cringes inside.

  “I am sure he is, but that does not change the facts,” the Fate says just as the Innkeeper plops a bowl overflowing with stew in front of each of them. Riser asks for another helping.

  “Thank you, Lene,” the Fate tells the tiny innkeeper before turning to Wake. “That last match was really important to you, was it not?”

  “Of course it was.”

  “But you did not even try until the very end. I do not know what was going through your head, but it was not what should have been going through your head. You knew you had to win, you wanted to win, but you were barely paying attention.”

  “That’s not quite …”

  “That is what it looked like to me. And I have a word for that—madness.” The irritating boy grins at him. “No worries, though. Once we get you over your little condition, I am sure you will be unstoppable.”

  Wake decides he doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. One thing’s for sure: his new Captain is really annoying.

  “Riser, let me introduce you to our new teammates … what were your names again?” Beyond annoying.

  “Hello, I’m Rachel Avenoy and this is my brother, Wake. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Wake says politely.

  “Well met, I am Esperanza, current First Daughter of Enyo. You can call me Riser.” The Daughter grunts and nods. “At least you two look more promising than the first one.” This can’t be for real, Wake thinks. She really is a Daughter.

  “Sensei helped you study last night, after working all day. You would be sitting here with an empty stomach if it were not for him.”

  Riser rolls her long-lashed eyes and leans over to her new teammates. “Can you believe this guy? Captain made a rule that I couldn’t eat until I passed the pre-exam. He ate three bowls in front of me yesterday. I almost killed him and ate him.” She throws her head back and cackles loudly.

  “You should have passed the first time,” he says as the innkeeper brings another serving of stew and a pile of steaming bread.

  “Thank you!” Riser tries to smile graciously, but only succeeds in baring her fangs. Two of the Daughter’s side teeth extend slightly further down than the rest, ending in a pair of cute points. It’s a common trait among Orcs, a feature many a Daughter has also inherited over generations.

  “Please eat,” the Fate tells them as he breaks off some of his bread and hands it to the chipmunk on his shoulder.

  “So what are you two?” Riser takes a moment to ask between chews.

  Wake can’t decide if it’s ruder for him to answer with his mouth full or to leave the question hanging. The Fate answers for them.

  “She is going to Shield with you. And he is a Finisher.”

  “I am most definitely not a Shield. I race the Light Course and if I have to, I try to draw. Though I’m not very good at it,” Rachel says. “And thank you for lunch.”

  “You are welcome,” the Fate says. “What is it that you try to draw? Portraits or landscapes or is it something else?”

  “Nooo, nothing like that,” Rachel says, trying not to laugh. “Well, I do paint, but that’s another story. What I mean is, I can go defensive and try to go for a draw or a tie in games that require one-on-one matchups like, King’s Ladder. Anything else, like Flag or Battle Royale, I’m pretty much worthless.”

  “You make very little sense sometimes,” the Fate says. “It does not matter, however. We will figure it out.”

  Before she can say another world, he hands her a piece of bread. “Try this. It’s the best around, goes perfect with the stew. It’s like a piece of chewy heaven.”

  “It is good, isn’t it? Makes me want to kill him all the more.” Riser leans in close to the newcomers. “If you guys want to mutiny, I’m in.”

  Well, this is certainly different, Wake thinks. His new teammates are loud and rude. They say harsh things about each other, but with no real malice. It’s the opposite of his last team, where kind words hid darker intentions. Before he can get lost in the thought, the Fate hands him a piece of the warm bread.

  The awkwardness of the silence that would have been is instead replaced by what the locals called the inn’s specialty, ‘Quiet Stew.’

  Chapter 7

  RACHEL

  [The Village of Greenwood]

  Rachel tries to keep up the best she can. Even though she doesn’t understand just why they have to be in such a hurry. Her eyelids are already closed, but they feel heavy nevertheless. I should’ve passed on seconds. But everyone else had seconds. Riser even had thirds. Am I really on the same team as a Daughter now? Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

  Rachel hurries to catch up to the fading auras. It’s definitely naptime now. And why is he dragging us to the Office of the Registrar now of all times?

  When they finally arrive, her brother waits for her to catch up at the entrance. At least we’re together. She thanks him with a smile and asks for his help in finding a place to sit.

  The next thing she knows, they’re teasing her for falling asleep. A new aura has joined them as well. Young Sensei’s. Unfortunately for him, it’s a slow day at the Office so he’s free for lunch. Her new Captain declares it’s a perfect opportunity to get in their first practice together.

  I know we don’t have a lot of time, but isn’t this a bit much? Rachel can’t help but
wonder. The Fate is still talking so she tries to pay attention.

  “We do need to find a Healer, but any Healer worth their salt will be training this time of the day. Which is what we should be doing, too.”

  “In front of all these people?” Wake gestures towards the crowds scattered throughout Tourney Grounds. It seems as if everyone and their mother is out to enjoy the last of the solo games.

  “I have gone over the rules and they state that teams may practice anywhere on the Tourney Grounds. Did I misunderstand the rules?” the Fate says, setting down his buckskin pack.

  “You are correct. But no one practices here in the middle of everybody,” Wake tries to explain.

  He’s not going to listen. Rachel already knows that much about their new Captain.

  “It is settled then. Everybody, please loosen up and then we will go for a short run.” The Fate plops down onto the ground and begins to stretch. Noticing that only Riser’s joined him, he asks, “You do know how to stretch, right?”

  “Yes, of course.” Rachel lowers herself to the ground gracefully. Her brother and the clerk follow suit. She knows that Wake hates doing stuff out of the ordinary, especially in front of all these people. She doesn’t like it much herself.

  “Four laps around the Tourney Grounds should do it. Sensei, you just go at your own pace,” the Fate tells them. “Last one to finish does push-downs.”

  “Push-downs?” Wake asks. “Don’t you mean push-ups?”

  “Yes, those.”

  Two laps later and a glistening Rachel slows down to walk alongside the strolling clerk. She earns a look of disapproval as the other three lap them. She’s run enough, though. There’s no need for her to run anymore around the grounds like this. It’s unseemly. A weary Wake hands his satchel to her as he passes by.

  “So what do you think about our new Captain?” she asks the wheezing clerk after the others are out of sight.

  “Actually, I think …” he replies between breaths, “he’s pretty great.”

  She wasn’t expecting that. “Weren’t you surprised to see Wake and I joining the Team?”

  “Not really … he asked me to set it up so that he’d have the best chance … of going up against your brother.” The little clerk has to stop to spit out the rest of it. “Over the past couple days … he’s asked me to help him with some odd things. He never really explains why, but it’s usually pretty obvious.”

  “Are you feeling alright? Should we rest a moment?”

  “No, I’m fine,” he says, wheezing for air. “I guess my lungs aren’t used to it, but it’s really only my heart that I have to be careful of.”

  “I hope so,” she says, full of worry. After he catches his breath, she asks, “Is it really possible to choose your opponent, or even fair?”

  “I guess that wouldn’t be fair, but it doesn’t exactly work that way. There was a lot of luck involved, too. I just made sure his application was near the top of the pile and Wake’s was near the bottom. The way they seat the competitors did the rest. I would never have done something like that unless he had Wake’s best interest in mind.”

  “Oh, I get it, you only use your powers for good,” she teases. “He also mentioned that we’re signed up for the Greenwood’s Closing Games. Wasn’t the deadline for that yesterday? If so, how’s that possible? We don’t even have a full team yet.”

  “Well, we filled out all the proper applications and used a placeholder name to fill out the team roster. As long as the correct names are on the applications before the match officially starts, we’ll be fine.”

  “So you used a fake name?”

  Sensei scratches the back of his head and grins shamelessly. “Something like that …”

  The others catch up once again. This time, the Captain signals for them to come to a stop. Wake collapses to the ground, gasping and drenched. He seems long past caring about what others may think.

  “Rachel, you are last. You may do your push-downs and run your last lap after practice.” The Fate looks at Wake. “Please sit up.”

  “I just need a minute to catch my breath.”

  “We do not lie around during practice unless we are practicing lying around. And I see no need for that,” the Fate says. “If that is how you have been training, I see why your guard was down during our match. You practiced letting your guard down.”

  Wake picks himself up. He doesn’t say anything, but rubs his ear.

  “Now, let us go over our Fighting Styles …” the Fate says.

  “Why did we have to go for a run if all we were going to do was sit around and talk?” Rachel asks. This makes no sense.

  The Fate looks at her curiously. “You can sit here and listen to me describe my Fighting Style without going for a run first? You really are strong.”

  What? The more she learns of her new Captain, the less sense he makes.

  The Fate is already moving on. “I have an affinity to Yellow, particularly Earth. I use three pieces of Sharded equipment: Terra Boots, a Hand of Earth, and my Stick. I have been working on switching over to Light Boots, but I am not good enough with them quite yet.”

  “I use the standard ‘Earth Leap’ and ‘Hold My Ground’ techs with my 128’s,” he explains. At least, he’s not a total crybaby, Rachel thinks. He called Teared battle footgear 128’s, just like everyone else. Which means he probably knows that they’re called that because it takes a shard of 128 internal facets to power.

  “I use ‘Earth Grab’ and ‘Earth Repel’ with my Earth Gauntlet, usually to power up my handsprings to aide in my movement, but sometimes I use them to lock down or push away an opponent.” He nods at Wake.

  “And my Stick is actually a Rock Leech Root, a parasitic plant that grows on the shells of Basalt Tortoises. That means it thrives off of blood as well as water. Stick’s also coated with the sap of Black Iron Wood. This combination pulls the iron from the blood stored within to use my ‘Iron Blood Block’ Tech.”

  “Where did you get something like that?” Wake asks. Rachel knew he would. Wake has always been interested in rare Teared equipment. It even led to her brother earning his Appraiser’s License and writing a weekly column for their local paper on the subject.

  “My Old Man helped me get it, but I raised Stick all by myself. There is nothing else like Stick in the whole-wide world,” the young Captain proclaims proudly. “Stick is still growing, you see. Just this past summer, I planted a seed on her tip, a flowering type of razor grass. After gathering enough blood, the razor grass blooms, allowing me to use ‘Fluttering Blade.’”

  “That’s pretty impressive. I’ve never heard of a living weapon,” Wake says.

  “Yes, I have been raising her for almost eight years. Stick has a shard of each primary color embedded in her. This helps keep her nice and healthy. That, a little blood, and sunlight is all she really needs.”

  “So you’re pretty much all physical, close combat melee—using your gauntlet and boots to outmaneuver your opponent and get in close?” Rachel asks.

  “Yes, that is what I am best at.”

  “Rachel told me you’re Home-brew. I have respect for anyone who tries something new, and your combination is elegantly straightforward. There’s a lot of synergy in that build, definitely Beautiful Design,” Wake says. “Is there a standard Fate skill set though?”

  “Not exactly. And if I had to be exact, I suppose it would be more correct to call myself a ‘Switch Fate,’” he says, swiping the air with his stick. “Fates existed even before there were Classes, so we are more a collection of ideals than anything else. In fact, everyone here is going to end up being some version of a Fate.”

  “How’s that?”

  “We will all be following the Way of the Fate.” He straps on his gauntlet and wiggles his fingers. “And we will all be using at least one of these. It is not absolutely necessary that we do, but there are benefits. Please let me show you.”

  He reaches into his pack and pulls out a pair of gauntlets created of inte
rwoven vines. Each one a different shade of Green, they seem to writhe in the light as he tosses them to the clerk. “Green Hands are popular and relatively common. Go ahead and get used to using a pair for now.”

  Sensei thanks him and tries them on.

  “For the Big Sister we have something very special. This is another one-of-a-kind Hand, almost as rare as your brothers. My Old Man probably would not like that I took it from the armory, but he did say to take what I needed before he left,” the Fate says. He still can’t remember my name.

  “Please take good care of it.” He places a sleek golden gauntlet in her hands. It is warm and strangely smooth, with hardly an edge or corner to be found. It has weight, but doesn’t really feel heavy. She can feel the gilded glove glint wickedly even in the shade of the old tree. “It is a Hand of the Sun. I am pretty sure it was made for you.”

  “Are you sure about this? I’ve actually been using a Water Gauntlet for a while now. It’s not ideal, but I’m pretty used to it.” She doesn’t feel comfortable accepting this at all.

  “Please give it a try,” her new Captain urges. “That way your brother can try using both of the Water Gauntlets.”

  “Speaking of the Little Brother, you should start getting used to using the pair. With the way you weaponize Water, you will be better off with two.”

  “I’ve kind of always wanted to, but I always saw the second as Rachel’s,” Wake says, taking back the rusty glove. “But, yeah, thanks for letting Rachel use that so I can give it try.”

  “You are welcome,” the Fate says before turning back to her. What if it doesn’t work? Rachel worries. Wake seems pretty happy to reunite his pair.

  “Why are you not putting it on? As I said, it was made for you. No one else I know besides my Old Man can even use it, and he still has yet to return from his trip. There is a drawback to this particular Hand … repeated activation of a Sun Gauntlet leads to permanent blindness.” Does that mean his old man is blind too?