Quoted By:
<span class="mu-b">"Brun... can I please have your water? If you have any left. Please spare some for me."</span>
<span class="mu-r">"Oh- you lost yours? Or drank it all? You got up here so fast- you must learn to pace yourself on an ordeal. It is not something that you can rush- it is meant to cut your teeth. Oh, here."</span>
<span class="mu-b">"Thank you, Brun."</span>
With that, you take the water and drink deep. It doesn't matter it is lightly warm- both from the fading day and Brun's own body heat, it is the most delicious water you have ever tasted.
Days after your ordeal, you have fully recovered, but you are not the same as before. Every moment now you feel is something that must be spent with purpose and intention.
You return to Zaj and ask him to show you the finer points of pottery once again- all under your own initiative. You speak to the blonde warriors and see how they strip, prepare, and arm their weapons- something the army only taught you in the most vague sense- as though your rock solid logistics will simply always be there in all situations. While your scientific knowledge from your schooling is certainly higher then the blondes- they have a certain scrapiness to them- most of their cars are half a century old, with new parts constantly being made and retrofitted from the old. To learn such mechanical skill is to know the value in ones own hands- even if such skills are ultimately pointless to ones eventual goal.
Others have noticed.
<span class="mu-r">"Akule, you seem... different."</span>
You are doing calisthenics- you made it your mission to not spend a single moment at rest unless you are sleeping.
<span class="mu-b">"Different? I don't feel any different. Care to explain how?"</span>
<span class="mu-r">"I'm not sure. You certainly don't talk as much though."</span>
<span class="mu-b">"I can get more out of listening."</span>
