11 – No Stranger to Bad Decisions

Mikan’s breath emerged in a stream of puffy pale clouds, and she rubbed her gloved hands together vigorously. Her eyes were fixed on Ash as she sniffed around the back of the shop, but she was only somewhat wary of the little jackal.

“I’m almost afraid to see what other pets you’ll get,” she remarked. “Next thing you know there’ll be a baby dragon roosting in your field, or something.” She smiled nervously at me.

“I’d hope not,” I said, setting my demijohn on the table. The cloudy golden scrumpy within glinted from the few sunbeams struggling to pierce the clouds. “Sound like it would be a fire hazard.”

“So, this is the stuff, huh?” Ryu said. The broadly-built man leaned in, sniffing and rustling the fibres of his moustache, and he quietly examined the great glass jar. “It looks like it has a... distinct texture, Master Amon,” he said.

“Trust me, it tastes better than it looks. And with it getting colder, it’ll be damn handy for helping people warm up.”

I popped the cork from it and poured a helping into the three thimble-like cups that Mikan’s father had set up on the table. I would freely admit that it wasn’t the best looking scrumpy I’d ever seen, but it wasn’t something generally enjoyed for the aesthetics. Taste was what mattered.

And how much of a buzz you could get from drinking it.

Sadly I doubted I could get drunk, even if my powers had been a little... strange of late. Random flashes of tiredness, hunger, thirst... it was not a daily thing. So infrequent that I’d occasionally forget I was even having them, such was the lull between the sensations.

The thought made me anxiously work my jaw. Still had no idea what that was even about...

Mikan sniffed her offering, and she made a pleased cooing sound. “My, the scent is lovely,” she said, the corners of her mouth tilting into a smile. She downed it in one go, shifting the liquid from one cheek to the other before swallowing.

Ryu did the same, though with much more humming and grumbling while he drank.

“This is...” he trailed off, and the edge of his mouth flicked up right into a smirk. “Very good, Maste Amon. Sweet and rich flavor, but clearly potent as an alcohol too. I imagine a man could get drunk fairly quickly off of this... Scrum-pi.”

“Oh aye,” I said, nodding. “When I was younger my friends and I were pretty keen on the stuff. Thing is the sweet taste masks how strong the alcohol really is. We’d have a glass or two casually, and then struggle to stand back up again after. Hits like a runaway wagon.”

They were good times. When the world was a much simpler place.

“Would you be looking to sell it?” I asked. “I’ll admit, it takes me a while to produce a decent quantity of the stuff. I need to plant more apple trees, and I intend to, it’s just...” I looked skyward, to the sea of dark grey clouds hanging over Tiode’s bay. “Well, the season changing this way... it might be a while before I get a chance to.”

Ash made her way over and Mikan stroked her behind her pointed ears. “Cute,” she murmured, even as she jerked her hand away from a teasing bite. “I think we could sell whatever you’re willing to provide. Don’t worry about quantity. People like the potatoes, they’ll like this too. What do you think, Dad?”

Ryu nodded. “Alcohol is always in demand here. Though I imagine most people would be willing to at least try something other than sake.”

“Ah.” I’d tried the sake Ryu had given me a few times now. A bit different to what we had back west, but it was nice. Novos had so much damn wine and too many bloody vineyards to count. Really I would have preferred anything to wine, or the stale beer commonly found in the war camps. “Glad to hear it.”

I scooped Ash into my arms, seeing giddy she was getting. “No biting,” I said.

She frowned up at me, her ears flattening briefly against the sides of her head. That got a frown out of me. Seemed she wasn’t just a wild animal. There was intelligence in her eyes, I saw. Budding and only partially formed, but she was possibly a spirit beast in the making.

“I mean it,” I told her. “These are friends. Do not bite friends.”

She probably wouldn’t intend to hurt them, if she did, but those damn teeth of hers could easily sink into human flesh. To my surprise Ryu reached over, utterly unconcerned, and pet the jackal. She was uneasy at first, but leaned into his touch on the third pat.

“Haven’t seen a plains jackal up close in a long time. And they were all fully grown, not a pup like this one.” He smiled slightly, and when his hand pulled back Ash seemed remarkably calm. “Never thought I’d consider one cute.”

“You have many encounters with wildlife?”

Mikan shrugged. “With how long he spends on the road, it would be stranger if he hadn’t. You tell him about the dragon you saw?”

“Oh, well, I have to be suitably drunk before I get into that,” the older man said, chortling as he rested his hands on his hips. “Helps me get more into the... drama of the story. But, well, I won’t be going on the road again for a while now. Whenever the Chill comes around, and the roads become crusted with both frost and ice... well, it’s ill-advised and generally unpleasant to travel in such conditions.”

“I can imagine.” Whenever the cold had come in during my campaigns for Emperor Novos the generals and the soldiers had endless complaints about the frost and the mud and mists that hampered their marches, and progress tended to come to a halt on both sides whenever the weather got bad enough.

There came a call from the front of the shop, and Mikan started for the shop’s backdoor. “Suppose that’s an end to our break. I’ll deal with it.”

Alone, Ryu gave me a sideways look. “All going well, Amon?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Things could always be worse.” I knew that for a fact.

Ryu nodded, his lips slightly pursed. He leaned into the back wall of his shop and watched me with a lazy, heavy-lidded gaze. “You have been good to us, Amon. You have been good to my daughter. I will admit to trusting you.”

I held Ash close, the jackal gradually relaxing in my grasp. “Alright,” I warily replied.

“I will also admit... I know what it is like, to live a troubled life and seek a peaceful and quiet one. I do not know what you did in the past, nor do I need to, but it’s clear you lived a life of danger and conflict in the past.”

“You’re not wrong.” I’d gotten the impression Ryu was no stranger to violence either. But, as he wasn’t asking for my secrets I wouldn’t ask for his.

“I merely ask that... whatever you run from, in your past, it stays in the past. And that if anything should seek you out, and risk harm to Tiode...”

I gave him a firm nod. “I’ll leave if that happens.”

“Just like that?” he asked, lifting a bushy brow.

“Just like that.” I sighed, turning so I could gaze through the side alley. It gave me a decent view of Tiode and the bay. “I’ve actually... come to like this place. These people. I wouldn’t want harm to befall either.” I worked my jaw and eventually managed to meet his gaze again. “I... was not a good man, Ryu. Whatever you might think of me, the truth of the matter is... I’m one of the worst bastards you could ever imagine.”

“Maybe. But who you were before doesn’t matter, seeing as all I know is who you are now.” He tipped his head up, watching the clouds. “The Goddess teaches us that no man can change his past. That was already set in stone. But what a man can do is decide his future.” He puffed out a long stream of misty breath. “You want to be a better man and do right by these people, you do that here and now.”

“Speaking from experience?” I asked.

He offered me a faint smile. “Sadly.”