Savoirs

Joseph

Its been a week since Jaclyn confronted the strange man. The three girls are all in men's riding outfits and carry a weapon of their choice. Adam had began teaching Serena and Lia how to shoot a bow and arrow while I had begun teaching Jaclyn how to wield a sword. Jason had offered to help Adam but had been quickly told that it was fine and that he should rest and gain his strength again. After that Jason only watched us teach the girls. Tonight Jason sat by the fire with Adam and I as we watched the girls practice the skills they have learned. Jaclyn was using a sapling as an opponent and was slowly going through how to block and then attack.
"Good. Now try it like you would normally." I call and she nods. She starts the process over again and I hear Adam correct his students on something. Jason lays back and looks up at the sky.. Adam and I glance at one another and the girls finish practicing. Lia and Serena gather the arrows that they had shot and Jaclyn sheathes her sword. They sit by the fire and keep their weapons close.

"Are the stars talking to you or are you just thinking?" Lia asks and Jason sits up.

"I was thinking." He says shortly and we all glance at Jaclyn. She was watching the fire. We knew how the two felt about each other and a week ago when the pain made Jason angry it had built a wall between the two. We all had heard the fight and what was said but none of us had ever heard Jaclyn talk so angrily or loudly.

"What were you thinking about?" Lia asks and he hesitates.

"The past." He says after a moment. It makes Jaclyn look up curiously and he looks at the ground. "I was thinking of the day we met Adam. How he had us jump off that cliff." He says and Adam smiles.

"You thought I was crazy." He says and Jason shrugs.

"Could you blame me? I would've gone a different direction and gotten caught but you just jumped over twenty feet down into freezing water." He replies and Adam laughs.

"If I hadn't you all wouldn't have gotten away. None of us would have!" He exclaims and we lose ourselves in laughter. The girls laugh until they have tears rolling down their cheeks and the three of us stop laughing after a few moments and listen to theirs. It was light and in an odd way beautiful. Once they finally calmed down and wiped away the tears from laughing too much an easy silence falls over our small group.

"It's weird. It was only a week or so ago when we all were going about our normal lives and now we are sitting around a fire laughing about jumping off a cliff together. Talk about some serious trust." Jaclyn says and we all nod.

"You know, I never planned on going on this adventure. I agreed to find you all but I didn't agree to being apart of whatever he needed you for." Jason says.

"I think all of us have done or will do something we never thought we'd do on this adventure." I say and he nods.

"You're probably right."

"How much longer do you think we'll be out here? You know until we get to where we're going?" Serena asks and everyone looks at Jason. He shrugs.

"We'll know when we do. I assume we are taking the fight to the enemy so as a result we have been heading in that direction." He says and I look around.

"We have about a week before we get there." Lia says.

"It'll be a fortnight until they start to march towards the kingdom. We have to get there before they move out." Serena says and Jason nods.

"Then lets get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us." He says and the others nod. I stand.

"I'll take first watch." I say and they nod.

***

The night seemed to last forever and it got cold fast. The fire flared when Jason would get too cold and I saw the girls shiver. I had long ago covered them with my cloak and I stood leaning against a tree and watching the night. A lone wolf howled at the moon and I looked up at the sky. It was a clear night and the moon was only half full. The stars were spread throughout the black night sky and I closed my eyes. 

I remember tracing the stars in the sky when I was younger. The Archer and the Bear, the Bear Cub and the Lion. I would imagine them in the sky living and breathing and I would fall asleep outside as I watched the night sky. Then I would point to them and teach my children them and my wife would watch from the house and smile when I would come up with the children giggling about the stars and I open my eyes. I see Jason sitting up watching the fire and I stay at my tree. He would shake his head or throw something into the fire every so often and then he stood.

"You should get some rest." He says and I laugh.

"It hasn't been very long. What's on your mind?" I ask.

"Everything. I don't want to go into battle again but what choice do I have?" He says and I shrug.

"The choice to go home right now or to face this with us. If you leave I won't stop you, none of us would." I say and he shakes his head.

"You make it sound so easy." He says and I smile.

"Its not that easy. You love her and don't want to leave her. The fact that she won't talk to you or look at you hurts you but you don't know what to say to fix it. Give it time, the words will find you and you'll know how to say them when the time comes." I say and he looks at her. She shivers and pulls her cloak around her in her sleep.

"What about you? Don't you love Serena?" He asks and I look at him.

"I love my wife. But I love her too. At first I felt like I shouldn't but then I remembered that my wife would want me to be happy. I remember them everyday but everyday I can bare remembering them better than the last because I know they wouldn't want me to remember them not when I feel grief but when I feel happiness." I say and he nods.

"She is that happiness." He murmurs and I nod.

"She is." I say and he walks back to the fire without another word. I watch him as he drapes his cloak over the girls and then lay down on the opposite side of the fire from them. The fire grows as he drifts to sleep and I find myself drifting to sleep as I watch over the group.