fandomhigh | Library [24.09]

"So how'd you get to half-drowned from there?" she wondered.

He held up a hand. "Patience," he said with a smile. "I was waiting for the stallion to explode, but he ignored me for the most part. Went wandering around his pen as if I wasn't even there, which was no way to impress my detractors. So I started nudging him with my heels, telling him go, and generally being a complete pain. He kept ignoring me until I smacked him with my hand, and then he very neatly dumped me off over the fence and into a thorn bush. That is how I got punctured and sightly bruised. The half-drowning came after that."

"You tried again?" she guessed, sort of impressed at his perseverance. Not that she wouldn't have done the same, but there were thorns involved and that would be a deterrent for most people.

"Oh, no," Karal laughed. "I wasn't nearly that smart. Meln, the oldest of the other stable boys, decided that wasn't good enough. I insisted that I'd ridden the stallion, even if he'd tipped me off, and when he said I hadn't proven anything, I tried to hit him." He dropped his forehead into his hand. "So there we were, rolling around in the dirt, me with thorn holes and getting more bruised by the second, when my father arrived. We didn't notice, the others scattered, and next thing I knew both of us had been unceremoniously dumped in the watering trough. That's where the half-drowning came in."

Edited 2008-09-25 01:56 (UTC)

Jaina laughed softly. "Very nice," she said, nodding. "Though I have to say, I can't imagine you in a fight."

"It's something I'd prefer to avoid if I could," he said. "My seven year old self thought it was a grand idea, but a lot has changed since then." Karal looked at Jaina thoughtfully. "I have been trained, though. When I first went to Valdemar, my master insisted, given how hated Karsites still were. The Armsmaster taught me how to stay alive if someone tried to kill me, for which I was grateful when someone did. Defensive and avoiding moreso than offensive, though she did train to me identify everything that could be used as a weapon within reaching distance, to the point I do it automatically."

"Really," she said interestedly. She couldn't help thinking that Mara would approve. "It kind of sounds like you've had more formal hand-to-hand training than I have."

"Herald Kerowyn was very insistent, and she was terrifying. I thought I was going to die after the first time, but it got better, easier, as we progressed," he said. "I imagine our training was different, though. Mine was designed to keep me alive until someone arrived to rescue me or I could run away." He gave her a small smile. "Yours would have been the training of the one doing the rescuing, I think."

"Is she the one you told me about?" she asked, wondering if she did know that name or not. "I think I focused more on defense than anything else. I'm changing that. If you're ever bored, I'm down at the gym a lot for training."

"She is. I think you'd like her. Next time I return to Valdemar, you could come with me, if you liked," he offered, then went on, quickly, so she wouldn't have time to say no out of hand, "And I think I'd like that, if you're certain you wouldn't mind."

"I need all the experience I can get, couldn't hurt," she said with a slight shrug. "I'll probably be skipping out through the end of the week, but after that?"

"After that would be good." He folded his hands and considered her. "Why are you skipping out through the end of the week?"

"Bad weekend," she said carefully. "Broke a couple ribs. I'm working on the healing, I'll be fine, it's just not immediate."

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked, just as carefully. "I had my own encounter over the weekend, though it didn't leave me injured."

"Nah, I've just got to suck it up," she told him. Which was physically true, but otherwise she was still being kind of difficult. "Everything okay?"

"It was disturbing. The man, he was from Evey's past, a priest with no faith, an evil man, who did more harm than you would think one man could do. The things he has done..." Karal shivered slightly. He would keep the details to himself - even thinking on it made him feel ill - but he couldn't help the thought that if he shared at least some of what he'd experienced, then perhaps Jaina might, as well.

"Altra Jumped him back to the island. We told him that if he set foot on Fandom again or harmed any of Fandom's people, then I would take him back to Karse, to face justice there," he said, expression grim. "I could almost wish he had."

When it came to evil deeds, Jaina felt that the Vong had destroyed whatever sensitivity or squeamishness she had left- they hadn't yet, of course- but if it had Karal that upset, she definitely took it seriously. "You did well," she told him. "I have no idea how that island can even function, but it sounds like he belongs there."

"Yes." Karal was silent for a moment. "I'm thankful they, and it, are gone. It's not a comfortable thought, knowing there is an island with the power and wonder of this one, filled with such evil."

"And yet I'm not entirely surprised it exists," she said. "Being over there was really strange, though. It was just too off to feel comfortable."

"You went over there?" he asked, surprised and yet not.

"A few times," she nodded. "First rule of a new place is to know your surroundings and what's there. And then I just had reason to go back."

"It must have been a strong reason," he observed carefully, an invitation to talk about what ha happened if she wished. He wasn't going to push, though.

Jaina sighed, deciding to suck it up and say it. It was enough that she was going to have to tell Anakin, might as well put it out there. "My twin was there."

Karal sat forward a little. Sunlord, could you give her a chance to rest? Please? "I'm sorry, Jaina."

"Alternate universe," she said, like this wasn't a big deal. "I just wish I could have done something for him."

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