Boy of Light and Dust

Ica

Ica spent the rest of his morning and afternoon focusing on his homework that he'd put off for several days. He knew he couldn't be frustrated with anyone but himself for waiting so long, but it didn't make him any less frustrated.

As he had promised Dayin, he headed to his room to take him to the training room. He had forgotten to tell him that Finn might show up, which made him feel a little guilty. He hoped Dayin wouldn't mind. Just as he raised his hand to knock on Dayin's door, the door swung open, causing Ica to jump.

"Sorry!" Dayin said, eyes wide. He raised his hands defensively. "I heard you walking up to the door—"

Ica sputtered laughter. "It's fine, just caught me off guard," he promised. "Were you just waiting by the door...?" he inquired with a suspicious squint at the other boy.

Dayin looked sheepish. "I didn't have much else to do," he admitted, not making eye contact.

Ica felt a little bad that he hadn't gone to check on Dayin now, knowing that Dayin had probably been sitting around doing nothing most of the afternoon. "You could've come down to my room," he offered. "I wasn't mad at you for earlier," he said. "I'm sorry if it came off that way. I... Can be bad at expressing myself sometimes." He glanced over his shoulder as Finn silently slid out of the door next to Dayin's room. "C'mon. We'll work on your weapons training."

"If we're quick, Jensen won't notice where I've gone," Finn said quietly as he walked toward Dayin and Ica. "I'm Finn," he said with a polite smile in Dayin's direction as Dayin closed his door behind him.

Dayin's brow knitted together in slight concern; it was clear that he hadn't prepared for someone else to go with them. "I'm sure you already know who I am," he sighed quietly.

Finn nodded. "I do," he said lightly, allowing Ica to lead the way. "I only want to offer my help if you're interested in it. I wouldn't want a bunch of people crowding me just because I was famous."

Ica hid a smile. He was happy that Finn could be friendly enough to offer his help and mean it. Many people at the school wouldn't care to help. They only wanted to be friends for the sake of being friends with someone famous. "I forgot to let you know," Ica said apologetically over his shoulder. "I talked to Finn last night about him coming to train with us."

"Did he tell you I suck with weapons?" Dayin inquired with a slight frown.

"Well, he put it a little nicer," Finn laughed. "And you have to start somewhere. Nobody is good to begin with."

"I was," Ica argued.

"That's because you're weird."

Ica nodded. "Fair enough." He glanced back at Dayin. "Did you bring your daggers with you?"

Dayin nodded and revealed the two golden daggers hidden in their sheaths at his side. How he'd hidden them was beyond Ica, but it impressed him. "I figured I'd need them."

"They probably handle differently than the daggers they heave in the training rooms," Ica said, nodding. "It's better to learn with the weapons you already have."

"Do you use anything?" Ica heard Dayin ask Finn quietly.

The smile was clear in Finn's voice. "No," he said. "I like my magic more than I like physical weapons."

"Oh," Dayin mumbled.

"I chose to focus more on my magic than on another weapon because I was never any good," Finn said. There was laughter in his voice. "I like to watch though, just in case I need to use something besides magic."

"Which is a good thing," Ica chimed in. "Even if you end up not wanting to use your daggers often, it's a good idea to at least know how to use them when you need to."

"Why would I need to?"

Ica bit his lip. "Things happen," he said with a shrug. Dayin didn't realize that there was essentially a war raging around them? Hadn't he seen what had happened to Riverton?

"It's a cool hobby to have too," Finn suggested, knowing where the conversation might head if they continued down that path. "Not everyone is good at it, which makes you special."

"Isn't being famous already special?" Dayin inquired, a bit of bitterness seeping from his words.

"What does being famous do for you, though?" Ica interjected. "It doesn't really give you any sort of skills, does it?"

"I guess not really," Dayin said quietly.

"What's Jenny up to?" Ica asked Finn, trying to find something else to talk about instead of riling Dayin up. He glanced over his shoulder to see Finn raising an eyebrow.

"Behaving, if that's what you mean," Finn said. "He had no intention of leaving his room."

Ica wrinkled his nose up in disgust as he held open a door for Dayin and Finn to walk through. "At least he won't be bothering us, I suppose." He allowed the door to close behind him before removing his lance strapped to his back and laying it on the large table in the back half of the room.

He felt at home here. He knew he could relax. It was rare for anyone to intrude once he closed the door. "So," he said, turning to Dayin, who hung in the middle of the room uncertainly. "May I see one of your daggers?"

Dayin nodded as he carefully unsheathed one of the golden daggers from his hip and handed it hilt first to Ica. "Pretty," Ica said, eyebrows raised as he turned the dagger over in his hand. "Do you know how to hold it?" he inquired, as he quickly shifted the dagger to his left hand.

Dayin pressed an uneasy, sheepish smile as he tried to hold his remaining dagger in his hand. "I can tell by your face that I don't," he said.

Finn stifled laughed. Ica raised the dagger in his left hand, showing how he held it to Dayin. "I wouldn't say you're wrong, but it definitely will feel more comfortable like this."

Dayin clumsily repositioned the dagger in his hand before grinning at Ica. "You're right."

Ica looked pleased with himself. "I usually am," he beamed. "Anyway, would you like to spar with Finn?" he inquired. "I'm not a fan of daggers, but he's good with them."

Dayin bit his lip as he glanced at Finn, who looked eager. "Are you sure?"

Finn nodded. "Ica's not a fair fighter either. He'll just cheat," he added with a friendly grin as he took Dayin's other dagger from Ica, who retreated to the table where his lance set.

"Awfully rude for someone who couldn't dodge my lance," Ica snorted as he sat on the edge of the table and leaned back. Ica never purposely tried to hurt anyone he sparred with, but occasionally, he'd clipped Finn with his lance. He'd apologized profusely afterward and demanded to let him heal the damage he'd done, but Finn still poked fun.

Finn flashed him one last grin before leaning toward Dayin to show him how to position himself in a fight. It was are that Ica got to watch someone teach. Usually, he came alone or with Max. Even Finn rarely came with him, since Jensen lurked where Finn was concerned. He found it a little entertaining to watch Dayin attempt to copy Finn's movements. He wasn't necessarily bad; maybe it was the fact that he'd always imagined the Jackson boy knowing far more than he'd turned out to know.

They must have lost track of time, because what felt like a half-hour later, Finn glanced at the clock that hung above the door and grimaced. "Hey, Ica," he called. "I, uh, probably should get going before Jensen freaks."

Ica followed his gaze and frowned. Nine already? "I probably should too," he agreed. "Max will be waiting." He felt a little bad that he'd been gone for so long. He'd had no intention of being gone for three hours. "We can always come back tomorrow," he offered to Dayin as he grabbed his lance from the table behind him. "Or whenever you want." He shrugged.

Dayin nodded as he sheathed his dagger and took back the dagger Finn had been using. "It was fun," he said with a genuine smile at Finn.

Finn returned the smile. "I'll see you around." He glanced at Ica as he walked toward the door. "Please try not to start fights with Jensen," he sighed before he vanished through the door of the training room.

Ica frowned. It's not me who starts it.