Little Warriors

"Ben, what are you doing?" the stocky little girl cried, trampling flowers as she ran below her friend. She stretched her arms out, intent on catching him if he fell. The tree limb he shimmied along looked far too skinny to be safe. "It's dangerous, get down from there!"

"But my ball," Ben said, reaching towards the misshapen leather-skinned lump nestled in a fork in the branch. "I've got it-" His weight shifted too much to one side and he slipped off, plummeting towards the ground below. The girl braced herself, but he was heavyset for his age and his falling mass bore her down.

"Get off me!" Rose whined, pushing the chubby boy off herself. At eight years old, she was big enough that most thought her ten; Ben, being ten himself, was still bigger. He was such a child, though. "You okay?"

"Yeah. But I want my ball."

Having confirmed her friend's well-being, Rose drew her wooden sword and looked it over, fearing Ben's fall had damaged it. Glad to find no noticeable damage, she replaced it in her belt.

Their friend Ed jogged into view across the meadow, a lanky boy the same age as Rose. Like the other children, his dirtiness looked somewhat out of place on the vibrant spring-bright field. "Hey, what are you two up to? Wrestling again?"

"Ben's ball got stuck in the tree," Rose said. "He's been trying to get it down."

Ed picked a stone out of the wild grass, reared back, and pitched it at the ball. The ball popped loose of its niche and fell to the ground, where Ben dashed to pick it up. "Silly, why didn't you think of that?"

Rose climbed to her feet and shrugged, brushing dark locks back from her face. Though quite the tomboy, she still wanted to look pretty--unfortunately, her primary means of trying to involved growing her hair out as long as she could and disdaining haircuts. Of course, her constant roughhousing and physical play were hardly conducive to keeping that wild mane clean. "Dunno, wasn't thinking much once Ben started climbing."

"You hear about Camron One-Hand?" Ed asked.

Ben looked up immediately, his voice rising with excitement. "The great warrior Camron? What about him?"

"He's visiting Roddy Belther, up by the riverside. Guess he missed Hullel."

"Is he here now?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, he just arrived today."

"You want to see him, don't you?" Rose said.

"Of course. But I've got an even better idea."

"Hmm?"

"Let's get him to teach us the Five-Fanned-Fingers-Sword-Strike!"

Rose giggled. Young as she was, she knew kids like herself would not likely be able to master such a mystical technique. "I'd like to hear some of Camron's stories, but learning the Strike? Come on, Ed, that's too silly even for you."

He pouted, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "Maybe for me," he said after a moment's pause, "but aren't you the God-Touched? Remember when that horse trampled you, and you barely got bruised up? Maybe you can learn fast, too."

Rose was gifted with extraordinary physical resilience and strength, but she wasn't a miraculously fast learner. Still, maybe when it came to fighting . . . "But why would he teach us? He can't give every curious kid what they want."

"No, but we're warriors. I'm sure he'd appreciate our deeds. Like when we drove off Lenny and his bullies."

Ed and friends had fought many times against Lenny's gang, a group of mean-spirited boys who loved to pick on meeker kids, and always won. However, as Rose and Ben were bigger than any of their opponents, she could not help wondering if they were bullies themselves to an extent.

"Master of the Leather Fist!" Ben beamed, throwing his ball hard against the tree trunk, just like he did at Lenny's nose.

"I'll go with you," Rose said, "and try to learn the Strike. But you have to promise you won't abuse it against weaklings like Lenny."

"Who else would we use it against?" Ed asked.

"I don't know, but you wouldn't want to kill him, would you? We'd get in big trouble. Let's just save it for an ogre or something."

"All right, Mom," Ben said in a nasty tone.

"Shut up, or I'll spank you like your mom."

Ben raised his fists and started towards Rose, but Ed stepped between them. "Not now! You can fight later. Let's go visit Camron!"

#

The three friends left the meadow for the hilly woods, seeking the cabin of Camron's trapper friend. They knew where Roddy's place was in a general sense, but had only been there once a while ago. As such, it took them some time to find it again. As the house came into view, the kids broke into a run. "Guys, wait up," Ben gasped, panting as he fell behind.

Ed knocked on the worn door. "Hey, Roddy, open up!"

"Who is it, and what do you want?" a gruff voice asked from inside.

"It's Ed, Rose, and Ben! We want to talk to Camron!"

"Camron's not here."

"But I heard he came into town today! Didn't he come here?"

"No. Go away, you rascals!"

Ed knocked harder. "Come on, I know he's in there! Just let us in, please! We'll promise not to bother you for a year . . ."

"Oh, let them in," another male voice said, this one not as deep as the first. This must be Camron! "Kids should indulge their curiosity."

The door slid slowly open. Just inside was Roddy the trapper, a stocky, grizzled middle-aged man in a rough tunic. The kids hurried into the cabin, a dark, cozy place which smelled strongly of roasted meat. Standing in front of the lone bed was another, younger man. "Camron," Rose breathed.

He was smaller than she'd expected; of middling height, and smaller build than her father. He wore rather plain clothes--a hide cloak and drab leathers. His boots were very well worn, and his shoulder-length blonde hair spotted with gray.

"Hi, kids," he said bemusedly. "You came looking for me?" They nodded briskly. "What are your names, little ones?"

"I'm Ed!"

"Ben."

Rose spoke after a pause. "Rose."

"Little warriors, are you? Eyes keen and weapons ready?"

Ed drew his wooden sword with a flourish. "Defenders of the realm, against chaos and tyranny!"

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Rose glanced at Ben. The chubby boy was enraptured, eyes unblinking as he stared at the famed hero.

"So, what would you request of me?" Camron asked.

Ben piped up. "Tell us some stories! About your greatest adventures and fiercest battles."

"I have so many, I wouldn't know where to start," Camron said with a grin. "Have anything in mind?"

Ben looked to Rose, Rose to Ed, Ed to Ben. "How about the fight with the trolls of Blissful Hill?" Ben suggested.

"I want to hear about Thurden Pass!" said Ed.

Rose frowned, thinking. She too wanted to hear Camron tell a story, but not just another version of a tale she already knew. "Tell me about how you fell in love with Lady Serena of Masel."

"Rose!" Ed snapped, punching her arm. "Why do you have to be so boring?"

"Now, now," Camron admonished him, "let's not be so rude as to hit a young lady. Why don't we all sit down, and I'll tell you all what you want to hear?"

#

They spent the next few hours on the cabin floor, Camron hardly able to get through more than a sentence or two at a time without being interrupted. By the time he finished telling of his courtship of Lady Serena and her rescue from the dreaded Purple Baron, his voice had grown tense with impatience.

"More, tell us more!" Ben said. "What about your fight with the Boulder Bandits? How did you escape the clutches of the Sea Hunters? Who-"

"Wait!" Rose said, hoping to save Camron some annoyance. He seemed quite tired of sharing stories. "What about learning the Five-Fanned-Fingers-Sword-Strike?
Weren't we going to ask him about that?"

Ed nodded. "Oh yeah, that. Yeah, we want to learn it! Can you teach us?"

Camron winked at Rose, though she didn't know why. "Oh, sure I can. But not to just anyone."

"What about us? We're warriors, remember?"

"I'll teach you, if you can prove yourselves worthy."

"How?"

A thoughtful look came over Camron's face. After a few seconds, he replied, "All right, how's this? You catch a red-backed pebble fish and bring it to me by midnight, and I'll teach you the Strike."

"That sounds easy!" Ben said.

Rose's heart began to race. That didn't sound so hard! There were three of them, and they still had half the day. She had never expected it to be this easy. Why, they might actually learn the Strike! If Camron thought he could teach them, he must be able. "Thank you!" she said, her voice giddy.

"You sound like such a girl," Ed spat.

She shot him a dirty look, then both of them laughed and ran for the door.

#

Outside, they noticed the sky had darkened considerably since they'd gone inside. "Is it going to rain?" Rose asked nervously.

"Who cares if it is?" Ed replied. "Don't we always play in the rain?"

Ben assented. "Yeah, who cares?"

Rose supposed she really didn't. She always did play, even in heavy downpours, with the boys. Scared her parents sometimes, when they couldn't find her during a storm.

They hurried to the riverside, where Ben immediately waded into the shallows and began to comb the water with his arms. By now, a slight drizzle had begun.
"Shouldn't we go back to town and get a fishing rod?" asked Rose.

"Do you have money to buy one?" Ed asked in return, taking off his shirt.

"No."

"See? No point going. Besides, your mom might not let you come back."

"What are you doing with your shirt?" He was beginning to tie it up, but she was unsure why.

"Making a net."

Ed finished and joined Ben in the water. Rose stood there, watching them wait for prey. Ben looked at her and frowned. "What are you doing, Rose? Get in here! It's not fair for you to do nothing while we work."

"I don't want to go in the water. It's too cold!" Rose hated the cold. She had almost died in a blizzard as a babe.

"If you want a fishing rod," Ed said, "use a stick. Go find a vine or something, for the line."

Rose looked around. She spotted a clump of vines, but nothing that looked nearly even enough to make a proper rod. Then she thought of her sword, a pair of sticks tied together to form the crossguard. She drew it and walked over to the vines, breaking one off near the ground. Tying the vine to the end of her sword, she tested its balance and weight. Not bad--then again, she had no idea what would be good, for a fishing rod. "What do I use for bait?" she asked.

"Ben," Ed called. "Ben!"

"What?" Ben asked, looking up from his sweeping of the water.

"Got some food? Rose here is scared of the water."

"Am not!"

Ben fished a chunk of soggy bread out of his pants. "Will this do?"

"Looks good to me," Ed said, and tossed it to Rose.

She tied the end of the vine around the bread, staring doubtfully at its mushy form. "Are you sure this won't just break in the water?"

Ed shrugged. "Just use it. If yours doesn't work, there's still us."

Rose sighed and walked upstream from the boys, hoping to get where the fish might be less disturbed by their activities. A clumsy cast put the bread underwater with a splash, and Rose sat waiting.

#

"I'm f-freezing, Ed!" Ben said through chattering teeth, his arm movements now sluggish and halfhearted. "I think we should quit. There's no fish."

"Just keep trying," Ed said, himself looking sullen with disappointment. "We've got to get lucky sometime."

While she knew she could not be uncomfortable as the boys, Rose felt fairly miserable in her own right. Hours had passed, and by now the rain was pouring. Rose's bread had to be gone. "Let's just go, Ed. We're going to catch cold."

"Shush, Rose! You never get sick."

Her voice grew softer; she did sometimes feel guilty about being so strong. "No, but you could."

"You want to switch?" Ben asked. "I'm really cold."

She hesitated, then nodded. "Okay," she said, starting towards the river.

"Ben, wait!" Ed shouted. "Help, I got something! It's really big."

Ben stopped his walk towards shore, turning to aid Ed. As the big boy approached his friend, Rose glimpsed what exactly Ed was grappling with. A scaly tail thrashed in his arms, the shirt bobbing up and down in the water a few feet away. Ben closed in, not seeing.

"Guys, let go!" Rose cried. "That's not a fish!"

The shirt fell away, revealing a dark saurian head full of pointy teeth as it exploded from the water. The lizard-thing must have been as big as a large dog, bigger than any of the kids. Ben stumbled back and fell with a splash, and seeing what he held Ed released its tail and ran. Its easiest target clear, the monster lunged at Ben.

"No!" Rose shrieked as the lizard clamped its jaws over Ben's forearm, drawing blood. "Ed, stop running, help him!"

She ran into the water, passing by her fleeing friend, and stabbed at the lizard with her sword. But the wooden point was hardly sharp, and would not penetrate its scaled hide. Again and again she thrust, but it just ignored her and continued to maul Ben. Now a safe distance away, Ed did turn and try to help, throwing rocks at Ben's attacker. But they too bounced off, to no visible effect.

Ben wailed at the top of his lungs as though about to die, beating uselessly at the lizard's head with his free hand. "Help me, Ed, Rose, ahh, help, oh, help, ahh!"

Rose leaned back, then threw herself forward, putting all her weight behind a thrust. But the sword snapped without piercing flesh, and she was left holding a broken stick.

The lizard seemed to have felt the blow, however, as it began to retreat, dragging Ben with it. The boy flailed wildly, struggling to keep his head above water. Rose grabbed the vine she had used for a fishing line, floating in the water, and leapt onto the lizard's back. "Let my friend go!" she screamed, coiling the vine about the beast's neck to try and strangle it. "I won't let you take him!"

Useless; the vine snapped, and Rose slipped off its back into the water. Ben's struggles, she realized, had begun to weaken.

She dragged herself up with an angry snort, her furious eyes focusing on the lizard's own. She balled a small fist, her nails digging into her palm. "You--let--go!" she roared as she charged, blasting a haymaker punch right into the reptile's eye. She felt something pop against her knuckle, and pain flared up in her wrist. With an anguished screech, the lizard released Ben and sank out of sight.

"Ben!" she cried, dragging the wounded boy up. He coughed and choked, spitting out water. His arm was a torn, bleeding mess. "Are you all right?"

"W-what was that thing? It hurts, I'm bleeding! Am I going to die?"

Rose forced herself to take a closer look at his arm. It bore a number of punctures from the lizard's teeth, but none of them were bleeding all that badly. "You'll live, Ben. Let's get out of the water and wrap it up, okay?"

He nodded, and she supported him as they waded to shore. Her own wrist throbbed. She noticed Ed messing around in the water again, but could care less what he was doing. Tearing off a piece of Ben's shirt, she bound his wounds as best she could.

Ed walked towards them, a limp wet thing dangling in his hand. "Check out what I found." Rose's eyes widened as she realized what he held. A dead fish, nearly half its body missing as though from a mighty bite. Its back was red and bumpy. "The red-backed pebble fish," he announced proudly. "It was floating near the shore; the lizard must have killed it."

Rose could hardly think about learning the Strike right now. Ben was hurt! "You idiot, look at us! Our friend's bleeding, and you're probably going to be sick! My sword's broke, and you lost your shirt. Our parents are going to kill us, and all this happened because of you!" She slapped Ed about the head, breaking into tears. He fought back, punching at her stomach. Ben just sat on the ground and cried, cradling his injured arm.

#

The fight broke up quickly, as neither friend really wanted to hurt the other and both were very tired. The trio staggered back to Roddy's cabin, and even Ed's knock on the door carried little energy. Roddy opened the door.

"We did it," Rose said. "We got the fish."

"The fish? Oh, you mean like Camron said! Well, Camron left already."

"Don't lie to us again!" Ed said. "We know he's in there."

Roddy shook his head and spoke slowly. "No, he really left. He was only stopping by for a quick chat, and you already made him late."

A pit grew in Rose's stomach as she realized he was telling the truth. Her friends must have as well, for they did not argue. "Why?" she asked, her voice quivering. "He said he'd teach us . . ."

"He was just humoring you kids. You'll learn someday; enjoy your innocence while you can.

"But, I can't believe you caught that fish!"

"Is it hard?" Ben asked.

"For a bunch of kids? Certainly."

Ed smiled, perking up again. "Well, will you reward us for it?"

Roddy looked over the three children, then nodded. "Fine, I will. Looks like you worked hard enough to earn it. How's about I teach you how to cook this fish?"

Rose pouted, then began to laugh. It might not have been the Strike, but it was enough.

#

They cooked the fish under Roddy's guidance, and ate it. A rather small meal to split three ways, but Roddy did offer them some soup with it. He also dressed Ben's arm and praised his bravery with a warm smile. By the time they left, the sky was dark save for the light of the moon and stars. "Wow," Ben said, "we are really going to be in trouble this time."

"My mom's going to kill me," Rose agreed. "Looks like you can't trust grown-ups either, eh?"

Ed flashed a smug grin. "My mom's visiting her sister, and Dad doesn't care. I'm untouchable!"

Rose slowly turned her gaze upon him, glaring. A low growl rumbled up her throat, and as the sound reached his ears Ed broke into a run. Rose chased after him, smiling.