Humayre: The Chronicles of Ronin Wilder
Chapter 21

Three months seemed to pass as fast as three weeks. Snow covered the cobblestone streets of BrightWood and blanketed the thatched rooves like frosting. Pine tree branches hung low, heavy with white fluff.

Ronin sat in the back corner of the common room. His bokken lay on the table in front of him. The cushioned armchair he was sitting in was turned away from his table and aimed at the cobblestone fireplace. The flames cracked and hissed, the warmth stretched across the room to comfort Ronin’s snow-chapped face. The table his right hand rested on was a dark hardwood. It was all but free of scratches or marks, but still looked old, a testament to its durability. Right below Ronin’s right index finger was a gouge in the wood, an injury precipitated by an unconscious twitch of his hand.

The Common Room bristled with life. It was too cold outside and just about every student from House Ware was lounging about in the cozy room. Laughter, smiles, general happiness permeated through the room as kids played chess, read books and talked amongst themselves. Despite the worries weighing him down, Ronin found the atmosphere to be uplifting.

The wall to Ronin’s right kept catching his eye. The outline of a missing painting ghosted the stone wall. He wished they would have filled the empty space with something, anything. It was a constant reminder that his parents were traitors. A constant reminder of how hopeless his predicament seemed.

Three months of sweat and blood. If it weren’t for his friends, he might have quit. But they always lifted his spirits when he was at his lowest. Ronin picked up his bokken and laughed to himself. It was all he could do. To accommodate for Ronin’s claws, Cyrus had come up with the idea of fashioning a bokken with a thicker diameter handle. It worked, but only because it kept his claws from digging into his hands. Wielding the thing was an entirely different story. It was terribly unbalanced and just plain difficult to hold on to when trying to block a strike. Even with a wider diameter Ronin still had to be mindful not to extend his claws, if he did they would still pierce his flesh. The fact that he didn’t have all of the Humayre’s physical gifts, coupled with the difficulty of wielding such a bokken, was causing him to fail every single one of his sword classes. Even Cyrus’s. And it wasn’t for a lack of effort. He spent every free hour he had in his training room. He practiced religiously. And he did improve. But it wasn’t enough. If it weren’t for his incredibly quick reflexes, which seemed to be getting better every day, he might have been killed. The strength and power of his classmates was inhuman. Any one of their blows could have ended him outright.

Taking a deep breath and then exhaling, Ronin focused his mind. All he wanted to experience was the smell of burning wood and the hissing of its demise. Tuning his senses was now an easy task for him. He could pick and choose what he wanted to smell, what he wanted to hear. It was a nice gift to have, but it didn’t help him with his swordplay. Focusing on the smoky scent wafting through the room and glancing about, he tried to loose himself in the ambience of his surroundings

No matter how many hours he spent in the Common Room it never grew old or ceased to delight with its warm medieval feel. The Common Room walls, floor and ceiling were all made of a grey stone. Paintings adorned the walls along with massive wooden bookcases filed with leather bound books. A burgundy tufted leather couch faced the fireplace, just above it was a chandelier with hundreds of lit candles. Tables and ornate chairs spread throughout the room, the entire décor modeled after medieval influence.

Taking in a deep breath, Ronin relaxed his aching shoulders. All he wanted was just a few more minutes alone with his thoughts. His eyes wandered to the door expecting his friends to come in at any minute, he was glad they were not there yet. The flames danced and sputtered in the huge cobblestone fireplace. It mesmerized him. Relaxed him. Helped to clear his burdened mind.

However, no matter how hard Ronin tried, he couldn’t get one thought out of his head. It both drove and terrified him. Months earlier he’d had a meeting with Mr. Wetstone. It was a meeting he would never forget. Mr. Wetstone was cold and standoffish. Nothing like the man he first met who professed to be his godfather, or at least the closest thing to it. Mr. Wetstone explained to Ronin that because his parents were now labeled as traitors that it changed the terms of Ronin’s contract.

Originally the contract specified that if Ronin were to fail out, he would have the opportunity to intern at the Storm Biotech labs. The monetary compensation for Dick and Mrs. Kinney would be far less, but he would still have a place to live and a purpose. But because of the situation with his parents he would no longer have that safety net. If he failed out, he would be put back in Dick’s custody and his contract would be rendered null and void. The thought of going back to Dick terrified Ronin. It wore on him so heavily that he rarely slept well at night. It also didn’t help that no matter how dark it was Ronin could still see as though it were day and that even the minutest of noises could catch his ear.

“There he is,” said Kevin, standing in the doorway.

Kevin, Mike and Grace weaved in and out of tables and chairs, dodged through students and even had to step over a couple kids laying on a fur blanket in front of the fire place to get to Ronin.

“Bro. You missed it. Mr. Bean destroyed Kevin in a game of blindfolded darts.” He squinted his eyes and folded his arms. “Why’d you just take off?”

Grace took a seat next to Ronin. She put her hand on his shoulder and gently squeezed. She removed her hand, sat back and stared at Ronin as though she were waiting for an answer.

“I don’t know. Sorry guys. I just had to get out of there.”

“No biggie, just giving you a hard time,” said Mike. He grabbed two chairs from the table next to Ronin’s and dragged them over. He motioned for Kevin to sit.

“Thanks,” said Kevin, as he took a seat.

Kevin’s right eyebrow raised as he stared at Ronin. “Wait. I know that look. You’re thinking about breaking into the hospital again, aren’t you?”

Ronin folded his arms. Kevin was now like his brother. Problem with that was he could read Ronin like no one else. Usually it didn’t bother Ronin so much. But at that moment he wished Kevin wasn’t there. “Yeah. And I’m not just thinking about it anymore. I’ve tried everything. But no one will talk to me. If I want to find out anything about my parents, it’s the only way. It’s the only way I’m going to be able to prove they weren’t traitors.” It had become an obsession for him. If he wasn’t thinking about getting kicked out of school, he was thinking about how he could clear his parents’ name.

Mike and Grace leaned back into their seats. Both closed their mouths and looked as though they were bracing themselves for an argument they had no desire to be a part of.

“Are you crazy?” asked Kevin, his eyebrows furrowed. “We’ve talked about this a million times. There is no possible way you can break into the hospital.” He looked to Grace. “This is your fault, you know. If you hadn’t told him where they hold all the records, he never would’ve had this stupid idea.”

She folded her arms. “Don’t get mad at me for telling the truth.”

Kevin shook his head and refocused on Ronin. “You already know it’s not like BrightWood. It has fulltech security. The Mayretone TS doesn’t reach there. Did you forget that already?”

Ronin glared at Kevin. He didn’t care what Kevin had to say. He already made up his mind. There was no point in arguing.

“If you do it, I’m not helping,” said Kevin. He shook his head and his eyes blazed with furry. “I can’t believe you’re so selfish. You know I can’t get kicked out of here. You know about my sister.”

“Did I ask for your help?” Now Ronin was angry. “I don’t need you. It’s not like you give a crap anyway.”

Kevin stood up and kicked the chair out of the way. It slammed up against the table, a little piece of wood chunked off it from the impact. The whole common room turned their focus on the now standing and enraged Kevin. “If you weren’t my brother, I’d beat the crap out of you for saying that.” He stormed out the common room and slammed the huge door behind him, almost breaking it off its hinges.

“Bro.” Mike placed his massive hand on Ronin’s shoulder. “Don’t take this wrong. But that was harsh. You know I got your back. But that was harsh, bro.”

Grace just sat with her arms crossed looking disappointed.

“He’s fine,” snapped Ronin. He felt bad, but he was too angry and prideful to admit it. He took a deep breath and tried to slow his racing heart. Kevin was always the calm one. Ronin could count on one hand how many times he actually saw him upset. It was the angriest Ronin had ever seen Kevin. When he kicked the chair, it actually scared Ronin a little, which was probably why he was having such a hard time calming down.

“You’re really going to do it?” asked Grace.

“I have to.” Ronin faced Grace. Desperation was in his eyes. He wanted her to understand. “It’s not just to clear their name. I have to know. I have to know that all my memories of them aren’t lies.”

“Bro. If they catch you it’s automatic expulsion.” Mike picked Ronin’s bokken up and examined the bloodstained handle. “I know it’s been pretty friggin brutal for you. It’s easy to think you have nothing to lose. But you can still pull this off. It’s not over till it’s over. You have another semester of grades. And even if that doesn’t work, you still have the Tournament. But if you do this and you’re caught, it’s all over.” He shook his head. “You don’t want to go back to Dick.”

“I know.” Ronin opened his hands and stared at his pearlescent claws.

“What if you go through all of this and find out that it’s all true?” asked Grace. “What if you find out they were traitors? What then?”

“I don’t know.”

Rob Miles stepped up to Ronin’s table. He had a smile on his face. “Any of you guys want a game of chess. I just beat my brother for the fifth time in a row. I need some competition.” He looked back to the chess table his brother was sitting at. Bob had his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. “Seriously you guys. If I beat him again I think he’s going to smoother me in my sleep. And he won’t quit unless I find someone else to play.”

“No thanks,” said Mike. He looked to Grace and Ronin. “We have some business to discuss.” Twisting left, then right, a crack exploded from his back. “Maybe later.”

“Shoot. Well, it’s on you guys if he ends up murdering me.”

“Just let him win then,” said Ronin.

“Fat chance,” said Rob. “I’m not letting that guy win at anything.” He Nodded to Ronin and headed back to his scowling brother.

Mike and Grace laughed. Ronin smiled as he twisted to his side and carefully dug into his front pocket. Four pairs of pants had already fallen victim to his claws. He didn’t want to make it five. Placing a folded piece of parchment on the table, he looked to Grace.

“What’s that?” she asked.

Mike wasted no time. He picked the paper up and unfolded it. He laid the paper across the table. “A map?” asked Mike.

“Yeah,” said Ronin.

“Of what?” Grace gave a disapproving look. “And where did you get that?”

“It’s the map of BrightWood, including the hospital,” said Ronin.

“You stole that from the library!” Grace grabbed the map and folded it back up. She glanced around the room as through she were afraid someone might have seen what they were doing. In a firm voice, she continued, “If they catch you with that, you can forget about expulsion. They will arrest you for treason.”

“Don’t worry. I will return it as soon as I’m done memorizing the layout of the hospital,” said Ronin. “No one will ever know it was gone.”

Grace handed the map to Ronin. “Put it back in your pocket.” She shook her head.

“I’m doing it tonight.” Ronin stuffed the map in his pocket and stood up. “So if I don’t see you guys again…”

“Hold up, bro.” interrupted Mike. He grabbed Ronin’s arm and forced him back into his seat. “You ain’t doin nothing by yourself so you might as well get all that lone hero garbage out of your thick skull.”

“You really think we’d let you do this alone?” asked Grace. “Wow. You really don’t know us all that well do you?” She looked to Mike. “I feel insulted. Do you feel insulted?”

“I sure do.”

Ronin smiled. He knew it would be almost impossible without their help, but he wasn’t about to ask them to risk everything for him. “Thanks guys.”

“So what’s the plan then?” asked Mike.

“And don’t tell us we’re just going to wing it. I might have to kill you if you say that again.” Grace brushed her hair off her shoulder. “Last time you said that we almost had to sleep in the forest because of you.”

They all laughed.

“What?” Ronin shrugged his shoulders. “We would have found our way if Kevin didn’t fall in the river.”

“What about Master Musashi’s face after he fell into the river trying to rescue us?” asked Mike. “I’ve never seen anyone so mad.”

They all broke into laughter. Ronin caught his breath. “Yeah. My arms are still aching from all the cross blocks he made me do that next day in class.”

“You do have a plan right?” asked Grace, taking a more serious tone.

“Yes. Don’t worry. I’ve got it all figured out.”

“Okay,” she said hesitantly.

“I’ll break the whole thing down for you tonight. Before we head out we need a few things though.” He looked to Mike. “Do you think you could buy a one hundred foot climbing rope?”

“You know it, bro. Is that all we need?”

“Yup. I have a few things I have to do before we leave.” Ronin stood up and put his hand on Mike’s shoulder. “We’ll meet tonight at ten. Behind the south-side stables. Right by the huge water drum. You guys know where that is right?”

Both Mike and Grace nodded.

“Okay. I’ll see you guys tonight.” Ronin started to walk away but stopped. Choked up with emotion he cleared his throat. “Guys.”

Mike and Grace turned their attention to Ronin. Both had concerned looks on their faces.

“Thanks,” said Ronin, and nodded. “I really mean that guys. Thanks a lot.”

“That’s what friends are for,” said Grace. She forced a smile. She was obviously nervous about what they were planning to do.

Mike nodded. He too looked nervous. “Not gonna let you hog all the fun.” He lifted his massive hand and gave a thumbs up. “Tonight then.” He chuckled, it too was forced. “Better not chicken out on us.”

Ronin laughed. The sort of cocky laugh that would leave no confusion about his resolve. As Ronin made his way out of the common room, guilt grew in his heart. Mike and Grace were good friends. The best he’d ever known. How could he so eagerly put them in a positon to be expelled? Without them helping, he would most likely be caught. If that was to be his fate then so be it. He wasn’t going to drag his friends into it. It was settled then, instead of meeting them at ten he would leave an hour early and head straight to the hospital. The realization that he was going alone ignited his heart into a flurry of thuds. Glancing back over his shoulder he wanted to take one last look at the Common Room. It might be the last time he’d ever see it.

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