Renegade Rising (The Renegade Series) (21 page)

“Yup? That’s all you can say? We nearly died!” Gisbo protested, raising his voice.

“Correction, YOU nearly died,” Falcon said as he shook an accusatory grilling fork at him. “That was . . . unexpected . . .” he added and, with a shrug, he went back to cooking.

“Unexpected? You sound as if you knew what was going to happen,” Rolce stated, as he stroked Harpie’s head slowly and the little bird cooed.

“That is not entirely false. However, it is not beneficial knowledge for you as of yet. There are more pressing matters ahead for conversation, so let's do it over dinner, shall we?” Falcon said, as he slapped various meats and grilled vegetables onto three plates, passing them out to Gisbo and Rolce, keeping one for himself.

“Oh yeah? Well, what was all that talk before then about not holding anything back from us?!” Gisbo asked. Falcon looked a bit pained as they began walking inside and setting their table for dinner.

“Boys, it’s not that I don’t WANT to tell you, it’s just that it is top secret, Renegade classified. That's the honest truth.” Gisbo and Rolce looked quite disappointed, but also intrigued. Things brightened quickly enough with their first bites of food. It tasted even better then their previous meal, if that could be possible.

“Falcon! This tastes amazing! What do you do differently than the Renegade chefs?” Rolce wondered with a mouthful of food. Falcon smiled at his compliment.

“Well, it’s not that I don’t WANT to tell you, it’s just that it is Falcon Vadid classified. Those chefs have been trying to pry my marinade recipe from me for years. Maybe one day I’ll pass it on to someone, when the time is right,” Falcon said with another amused grin. Gisbo and Rolce weren’t disappointed as they continued to scarf down the delicious meats and vegetables before them.

“Now then, down to business. Your official first day as Renegas begins on the morrow. The training will prove . . . adequate. The term is split up to focus on one notch of study at a time rather then having all three to deal with at once. Each of these courses, upon completion, will earn you your initial bands and should you finish notch three, you will graduate to Renegara status. From there, you will begin your training with your Class Masters after a short break for summer. Now Gisbo, if you would please stand up,” Falcon requested.

“Why?” Gisbo asked.

“Just stand your ass up,” Falcon muttered. Gisbo did. Falcon pointed his ring finger forward and, with a glow, a red beam of fire stretched forth, hitting Gisbo’s leather belt. It stayed concentrated for a moment and the smell of burning leather hit his nostrils and then it was done. Gisbo looked down at his belt and saw the symbol of a fork burned there, pulsating with a red glow every few seconds.

“If you recall seeing all those relics and plaquards throughout the hallway we walked down earlier today, then you should know those are the titles one can win for oneself, forever engraving one's name in Renegade history. Quite the honor, the silver fork already has your name engraved upon the plaque and now you display the fork on your belt for all to see. If you notice, it will pulsate with a red glow from time to time, showing all that you are the current eating champion. Should you lose your title, the engraving will remain, but it will cease to pulsate. I doubt anybody will challenge you anytime soon, what with your display of fortitude today,” Falcon added with an air of pride. Gisbo beamed.

“You will meet in the Courtyard of Strength on the morrow at exactly six in the morning. Don’t be late, the instructor is in quite the foul mood that early in the morning and you shouldn’t try their patience,” Falcon stated.

“That early? Every day?!” Gisbo moaned.

“Not every day, five days a week. You get the weekends off at least, which comes down to our next state of affairs . . . tarries,” Falcon stated with a smile.

“Money?” Rolce and Gisbo said, almost in unison.

“Yes, money. You have been given about one hundred tarries apiece in your bank accounts. That should be enough to last you until you find yourselves a means of work. You are able young men and the time for handouts was over when those one hundred tarries were deposited. If you wish to buy food for yourselves, books, supplies, etc. you will need to find a means of work throughout Heaven’s Shelter to support yourselves. I suggest you two look as soon as possible after your course tomorrow, before the good jobs are taken. I believe that’s it for now, so pleasant night to you, boys! I’ll be seeing you!” Falcon said as he unsheathed his sword and made his way to the end of the deck. With a quick leap, Falcon activated his essence and was skeeting away into the night sky, leaving a fiery red tail behind him.

“Man, I can’t wait for the day I can do that!” Gisbo said, watching the red trail glimmer in the night sky before dissipating.

“He could have at least helped us clean up,” Rolce complained, as he began picking up the plates. Gisbo and Rolce then took turns jumping into the cleansing room and were off to their beds. Fao slept at the base of the ladder of Gisbo’s bed and Harpie perched on the bed post of Rolce’s.

“I better not find any surprises behind my bed in the morning. You and Fao can take your business outside! You understand?” Rolce said, laying down the law. Harpie puffed out her feathers in retort. “So you really don’t remember what happened, Gisbo? The place was an absolute mess. There was even a shattered oak tree and, when I say shattered, I’m not at all exaggerating.” Rolce said, turning to Gisbo, who only sighed.

“If I knew what had happened, I’d tell you, Rolce. It’s bothering me too. I felt death’s grip on me and then I wake up here in my bed, safe and sound,” Gisbo stated.

“It is a miracle you're alive, you know that,” Rolce said.

“Yup,” Gisbo said. Rolce shook his head.

“You and your, ‘yups,’” Rolce said.

“I find it stranger that Falcon supposedly knew how everything was going to play out, but then my actions surprised him. Something happened out there that wasn’t supposed to happen and I haven’t got a clue why,” Gisbo said distantly, his mind deep in thought.

“This whole day has felt like that, like we are on some trail we can’t break from. I feel that IAM has great plans for us,” Rolce said with a touch of seriousness.

“How does a guy as smart as you believe in something you can’t even see? Do you really buy into all those ideas of an afterlife? Hate to break it to ya, pal, but this is all we got.” Gisbo looked up again at the full moon through the skylight. Rolce sat up in his bed to answer.

“I refuse to accept that life is a meaningless accident. It is a comfort to dwell on the possibility that there is a life beyond this one,” Rolce answered, staring at the stars above. Gisbo looked from the window to Rolce with curiosity.

“Still, you just don’t know; you can't prove it. Why limit yourself to some higher power's rules, doing things against your own nature, when you can make the rules and do what makes you happy?” Gisbo asked.

“You could be entirely right. I believe though that what you said about following rules and doing what makes you happy is intertwined. I think whatever it is up there, IAM? Something else? I dunno for sure, but I feel each of us have been given talents to use that will make us happy and as long as we stick with what we love, that's what we are meant to do,” Rolce stated plainly. Quiet enveloped the room as both boys pondered the words.

“Hm, you know what, buddy, I can get behind something like that. Night, pal,” Gisbo said as he turned over to sleep.

“Night, man, pleasant dreams,” Rolce said. Gisbo sighed loudly.

“Rolce, a man does not wish another man pleasant dreams,” Gisbo said.

“What? I was just being . . .” Rolce started.

“Night, pansie,” Gisbo said.

“Shut up,” Rolce answered.

“GISBO!!!” Rolce’s voice boomed through Gisbo’s eardrums. Gisbo sat up, yelling curses in protest of the rude awakening until he saw Rolce’s accusing index finger pointed not at him, but at the clock on the Breeze Harmonic. Pulsating in thick golden numerals it read 5:55 a.m. Gisbo jumped from his bed, forgetting that he had a top bunk, and hit the ground with a thud that shook the floor. Rolce struggled to get his uniform on as Gisbo frantically began retrieving his articles of clothing one at a time from where they were strewn across the room. In a matter of minutes, they were out the door with Rolce shouting “We’ll be back soon!” to Harpie and Fao who were still sleeping soundly.

After taking only one wrong turn past the swamp they had fallen in the day before, they were finally at the common, with the giant golden statue of Vadid the Valiant staring down at them. They ran past the statue, through some shops and various food suppliers to the wide open circular field that held the cookout earlier. Huffing and puffing, they joined a group of boys and girls standing erect in a line with an instructor pacing back and forth. When they barged in on the group, the instructor stopped talking. A painful silence ensued as the boys quickly caught their breath and stood up straight to match their classmates. The instructor walked right up to Gisbo and stood with her arms folded, glaring up at him.

The instructor was nearly a foot shorter than Gisbo and two feet shorter than Rolce. She was dressed in Shininja attire, with blond hair and intense hazel eyes. She looked quite attractive for her age as well, which Gisbo guessed was just a little younger than Falcon. The awkward silence, along with the petite woman in front of them doing her best to look intimidating, was just about as much as Gisbo could take. A small chuckle escaped his lips, followed by a sheepish grin.

Rolce went white upon Gisbo’s insolence. The petite woman simply smiled back and moitioned for Gisbo to follow her with a delicate wave.

“Hah! Here we were getting all worked up at Falcon’s warning of some big tough Renegade who was going to put us through total hell . . . she’s just some little old lady,” Gisbo whispered to Rolce in a tone just above a whisper before he followed the woman to stand in front of the Renegas. Rolce looked like he was about to have a panic attack as the other kids were staring at him with looks that said,
You're friends with that idiot?

“Falcon’s boy, why am I not surprised?” the woman said, as she sized him up. “For our time together, would you and Moordin’s boy kindly be punctual? It would be MOST appreciated.” Her voice was sweet, almost too sweet. Gisbo was a bit taken aback as he nodded, not knowing what else to do.

“Good! Now off you go,” the woman said in an uppity tone as she raised her hand, beckoning for Gisbo to return to the line. Gisbo shrugged and turned to walk away when he heard a rush of air behind him. Before he knew it, the instructor was standing right in front of him. Gisbo froze as he looked backward, wondering how she had gotten there so fast. The faces of the students were shocked.

“We will be learning much in this three month term, my students. By the end of it, your bodies will be in peak shape, able to attack and defend yourselves accordingly,” she asserted. In an instant Gisbo felt pains all across his body as the instructor went wild with an array of punches and kicks, returning to her erect ready stance in seconds. How many hits had landed, Gisbo didn’t know. He was only aware that his entire body ached as if his whole body was just attacked by a hive of wasps.

“The main point of this course is to strengthen your body well enough to be able to bear elemental essence within it,” continued the petite Shininja woman, swinging her right arm, slamming Gisbo in the stomach and retracting in one fluid flash of movement. Gisbo coughed in pain as he tried to reclaim the wind knocked from his gut. Unable to, he dropped to his knees and crouched over.

“And also be ready to wield weapons accordingly upon your third notch of training,” the woman finished as she quickly extracted what looked like a dagger. In a flash of steel Gisbo’s pants dropped to the ground and he was left on his knees, regretfully showing his underwear to the class. His classmates were too stunned to even laugh at a situation that would have been funny at any other time. The petite instructor dropped down to Gisbo’s level and looked him in the eye, dangling her dagger playfully as a cruel smile stretched across her face. This time she truly was scary to Gisbo, which was probably the point of it all.

“For those who didn’t hear me the first time, you may call me Renegade Roarie. Does that name suffice to you, pup?” Roarie asked with the sickly sweetness of poison. Despite the pain all over his body, Gisbo he couldn’t help but feel angry at her cheap jab at his dog name.

“Thank you for your cooperation, pup. For those who don’t know, this is Gisbo Falcon, but you all are to refer to him as ‘pup’ for the remainder of this week in my presence. Anyone who doesn’t…well…I have something of great fun prepared!” Roarie announced gleefully.

“Well, pup, off you go now! Oh, please be on time for our next meeting, will you?” Roarie reiterated as she motioned with her hand to return once more. Gisbo pulled up his pants gratefully and scuffled back next to Rolce.

“Now, I’ll be straight-up honest with you. The first few weeks are going to be very intense. Puking, exhaustion, dizziness, extreme muscle aches and short periods of blackout are all completely normal. So if you have complaints in anything other than those areas, I’ll be glad to hear them!” Roarie spoke cheerily, as if she was wishing somebody a happy birthday. Soft chattering spread up and down the line of Renegas.

“She’s not sane,” Rolce muttered under his breath.