On the One Path
an excerpt

It took her a while to settle in; but in the end it wasn’t as bad as she had feared. The only one close to her own age was S’aal Ki’ae. They had met at the evening meal. He had been sitting there, his food almost untouched, when she had spotted him. As her own squad-mates were nowhere to be found, she shrugged. It was better to sit with the one who was roughly her own age and rank. Even if he was a little cold. Mabye it was just his sept.

She had gotten evening meal in the commons; some sort of soup she didn’t recognize. That wasn’t a surprise. Food tended to differ a lot between the sept worlds, given the different climates. It smelled good though; a vegetable broth with some sort of spices in it. She had taken that and a glace of juice. After a moment of glancing around, she had spotted S’aal Ki’ae, and headed over to him.

“Do you mind?” She smiled a little at him, holding her bowl in her hands. He nodded, and gestured to the seat across from him. She set her bowl down and sat down with a small bow of her head.

I’ve got to say something, or we’ll be eating in silence. “Your food won’t bite, you know.” Oh, that was brilliant.

He blinked, and his mouth quirked a little. “I know. I’m just not really hungry.”

“Our trainer – the Shas’vre who taught us on Fal’shia – taught us that we should eat when we could, especially in a battle situation.” She idly took a spoonful of soup, not really hungry herself, and blinked in surprise. It was quite spicy, much more then she had expected. What do the Kel’shan’s put in this! She quickly reached for her juice.

“Are you alright?” He looked up; concern in his eyes as she fumbled for words.

“Yes,” she strangled out as she finished the last of her juice. His mouth twitched again.

“In response to your comment;” he said, taking a spoonful of his own soup with little effect, “I know that. But it’s hard to eat when you’re nervous.”

“Why are you nervous?” She sighed and took a second spoonful of soup. I really should follow my own advice. At least this time she was ready for the spices. It was still hot, even so.

“I’m to have my Trial by Fire soon.”

I suppose that would be a good reason. She smiled at him again. “Me too – so I guess I can understand.”

He toyed idly with the spoon for a moment. “The Shas’ui’s say I shouldn’t be afraid – that will only make the Trial harder. But –“ he paused and actually took a spoonful of soup, “it’s easy to say that. Harder to actually do that.”

She chuckled, wondering if she should tempt fate by having another spoonful of that soup. Her juice was gone. She was reminded of what she had said to Ju, her comment about fear. “S’aal Ki’ae,” she said, deciding not to burn out her sense of taste with the soup for the third time in a few decs, “it’s not fear that is a problem, it’s letting that fear control you. Yes, if you freeze up and panic during your trial. . . “ she sighed, not wanting to get into that. “But if you’re afraid and still manage to do all that you need to, what does it matter?”

“But –“ He seemed flustered.

“Fear in and of itself isn’t a bad thing. Without fear, there would be no sense of self-preservation.”

He blinked, tilted his head. “I had never considered that.” For the first time, he gave her a true smile. “Perhaps you will be an interesting companion in this Cadre after all. He turned his attention to his soup.

Ke’shan’s –are- weird, she thought, annoyed, as she stuck her spoon in the soup. Maybe if I drink it all it won’t be so hot. She cupped the soup bowl in her hands and took a sip.

S’aal Ki’ae just laughed and pushed his juice towards her.