Cascadia's Fault

Cold, Damp, and Armed

They reached where their friends were sitting, Noa and Lulu right there with them, which made Caz cringe, but she grinned at CJ anyway, "You think you can still talk me into that?"

CJ smiled, "Scared?"

Jem looked from one to the other, "I'd have a hard time believing she's scared of anything."

"Thanks. I thought you were my friend, and now you've doomed me to at least two hours of getting my butt kicked by my s******c little brother who likes to play God."

"Well, what kind of friends would we be if we let you suffer alone," Johnny asked. "I guess we're all in."

CJ pumped his fist, "Yes! More victims! I mean players," he amended with a smile.

The last of the participants finally finished their demonstrations and took their seats to their classmates' applause. Grant stood in the center of the mat, flipping through his papers and glancing out the window. "Well, boys and girls, it looks like we're gonna get wet for the next step of our little test." He tossed the clipboard on the table, "You might as well go put on your own clothes, you'll be warmer, then we'll head to the range."

The stampede to the locker room was almost more epic than the first. Caz felt a hand on her arm, holding her back from the press of bodies. Turning, she realized Johnny had pulled her away from the herd. No one was paying attention except Noa, who was doing her best impression of a cheerleader scowl, but she was caught up in the tide heading toward the lockers.

"I thought your hair was green?"

"What?"

Johnny pulled her long, leather wrapped braid over her shoulder and splayed the ends between his fingers. It was a deep, dark red at the very tips then faded into green. Caz felt the drain from her face. It was the second time in a day and that had never happened.

"When we were on the bus yesterday? You were serious about being born with green hair," Johnny rubbed the strands between his thumb and forefinger. "Does anyone know why?"

Caz pulled her braid from his grip, "Now's not the time. We can talk about it later, okay?"

Johnny stared, and Caz resisted the urge to look away. He looked like he wanted to say more, but instead he nodded and headed toward the locker rooms. Caz slipped into the noise of half- and mostly dressed girls. Jem was shrugging into her jacket and gathering up her gi.

"I wondered where you wandered off to."

"I just wanted to check on a couple of things; see if my workout clothes met the dress code." Caz stripped down in record time, then shoved arms and legs into shirt and pants, shoes and jacket, then zipped her vest and yanked on her watch cap in less time than it took

Jem to dump her gi in laundry.

"If getting dressed was an Olympic sport, you'd win the gold. Ready to get out of here?"

Caz tossed her sweaty gi into the basket on the way out, "More than ready, but it doesn't sound like we're in for much of an improvement, unless you're into cold, soaking, and impatient."

As they came out of the girls' locker room they almost slammed into Tal. Considering how big he was, Caz was pretty sure it would've been her and Jem on the floor and not the other way around if Tal hadn't grabbed their arms. Apparently, he had heard the last part of Caz's comment, adding, "It is that. Get used to it. After solstice, things start to warm up, still windy, but definitely less rainy." He let go, asking, "Caz, right? Who's your friend?"

"Oh. Um. Jem, Tal. Tal, Jem. We only met yesterday, so, yeah, and don't I just suck at the whole social grace's thing?"

Jem swung an arm over her shoulder and sent them a broad smile, "Don't worry about it. Johnny's never been good at it, either. I'm used to it." She shifted her attention to Tal, "Johnny's my twin brother, and here he comes now. Johnny, this is Tal. It's nice to meet you, by the way, and thanks for keeping us from landing on our asses when we so rudely mistook you for a wall."

Tal stared at Jem, glancing at each face through the introductions and began looking a little shell shocked, but good manners prevailed, "Good to meet you."

Jem smiled, a little sympathetically now, "And here comes CJ, Caz's brother, not that we expect you to remember all these names. CJ, this is Tal... and I guess we'd better get moving before Grant comes looking for us, or we start a riot because we held up everyone else."

"They might not mind so much," Tal replied, "considering that in about an hour we're all going to be soaked to the skin and wishing we were back in here taking a punch to the face. Likely wouldn't feel it, either, since we'll be numb from the cold."

"Then we'll let you take the first hit, friend," Jem laughed. "Okay, let's get this over with. The hot shower at the end of the rainbow isn't getting any closer."

The rain was still misting, but it had slowed again. Grant was standing at the door, but Caz could barely see the top of his head with everyone else standing in front of her. She envied Jem, Johnny, and Tal their height.

Tal had to be at least six foot eight.

Ah, well.

Caz tuned back into Grant's little speech. God, he talked a lot! "... when we get to the field, half of you will go to the archery range, the other half to throwing knives."

"I'll get one group started, then the next, there's enough for everyone, and we're not going to stay out there long. I'm no more willing to get drenched than you are, but we've got to get this done and you're going to show me what you can do in rotten weather. If you can do it now, then you can do it when the sun is shining."

There was a collective groan before they tromped over the muddy field. It was impressive with two ranges set up on either side so there would be no chance for accidental injuries. There was a long rack with bows hanging and a long bin of arrows beneath, then another rack holding long throwing daggers – not the short ones like seen in the movies – mounted in long rows.

Grant stood near the weapons, explaining, "Once I've determined you do belong in the advanced class, we'll decide on a schedule and specific focuses."

She watched CJ meander toward the archery. Caz enjoyed archery. A lot. But those daggers, different from what their dad used to teach them – thicker, longer – drew her in. She pulled one off the rack, noticed it definitely weighed more than she was used to, would require more thrust to hit the mark. Maybe an earlier release? She took another four. Five seemed like a reasonable number to attempt for the first time.

She noticed that Jem gravitated toward archery as well, but Johnny, his friendly neighborhood stalker, Noa, then Lulu and Tal, were all lining up with the daggers. The target wasn't far for the throwing daggers, maybe ten feet, making her wonder if Grant was going easy on them for this first round. Of course, with as heavy as the knife was, getting it ten feet might prove more challenging than she believed.

Caz took her position, holding the extra knives in her off hand. She heard Grant walking up and down the line, muttering here and there, another voice responding, or feet shuffling to adjust until he finally took up position at the head of the line again. The signal came with a shouted "Fire!" and she had to remind herself to take the cleansing breath first, then let it fly.

It was heavy and felt strange in her hand.

While it struck the target, it was lower than she expected, the extra weight dragging it down.

Earlier release, for sure.

She peeked over at Johnny's target and his was even lower. Tal was on her off shoulder, so she would have to turn around to see how he did, but Noa and Lulu were to the other side of Johnny and their daggers were almost dead center in the bullseye.

Damn it.

Okay.

Readjust.

Grant called everyone to fire again and this time she not only adjusted her grip but her motion and release. The knife flipped end over end and landed above and to the right of the bullseye.

Seriously!

Johnny's was in the inner ring, Noa and Lulu's were back in the bullseye. Caz's eyes narrowed as she felt her body warm. She felt herself sink a little further into the spongy earth.

Not happening.

There was no way freaky cheerleader girls were going to beat her so completely. Her fingertips felt hot as she let the third one fly at

Grant's "Fire!". She felt it whisk through the air.

Inner ring.

Better.

Only two knives left, she thought, I'm better than this. I'm the one I need to beat.

Focus.

Breathe.

Don't think about what CJ is doing.

Grounded.

Inhale.

Exhale.

"Fire!"

She flipped the knife in her hand, retesting its weight, and loosened her shoulders. Keeping the target in her mind's eye. The rain that had been steadily dripping down her vest and jacket stopped.

Now.

Caz released the fourth dagger, and then, without looking where it landed, spun and flicked the last with her left hand where her other birthmark tingled beneath the leather cuff. She sucked in a breath and refocused on the target. One was in the outer edge of the red bullseye, and one was dead center.

Johnny was staring again. Everyone else was focused on their targets, talking to the people next to them when he moved closer.

She side-eyed him, "I couldn't let you completely show me up, now, could I?

He didn't answer, instead he pulled his hands out of his pockets, reaching toward her face. Caz gaped when he pulled her watch cap further down. Johnny leaned in, his mouth practically touching her ear, "Your hair is red and so are your eyes. You might want to fix that before Grant walks by. You and I are definitely going to have that talk."

Caz felt his breath on her neck making her skin as hot as her blood. Understanding him, she realized she was freezing.