Dream Drive Ch. 04

Jackson screwed up his face for a second. "Uh...that means it was referring to something specific, like the name of a person, that deserved enunciation," Jackson said. "Do you know what it meant?"

Chaki shook her head. "I was as lost as you were. I'm unsure about many aspects of the side of your abilities that are like a...video game." The last term felt awkward in Chaki's mouth. It was clunky - from a language very unlike her own.

Jackson's frown deepened. "I'm getting tired of being in the dark on this much stuff."

"...I'm sorry I can't be more helpful."

Jackson gave her an odd look. "I didn't mean you, Chaki. You just totally revolutionized the way I was looking at magic. You've been extremely helpful."

"I have?"

"Absolutely," Jackson said. "You and Shaka know about persuasion magic. Persuasion uses runes to convince living things to change. I'm not sure whether those changes are encouraged by essence, or powered by it, but that's not really important. However, runes can't compel anything, they can only persuade. That means we're missing half of the equation."

"I don't follow," Chaki said.

Jackson shifted on his feet. He settled into a slouch, arm wrapped on his spear, using it as a crutch. He tapped his chin.

Chaki waited. He was composing his words. He could always find the words; it just took him a bit of time. Perhaps he had so many words floating in his head, he wasn't sure which ones to pick. Or perhaps he didn't know how to put them into terms other people understood. He seemed to jump topics at times.

It was rather fun to watch play out on his face. His expressions kept changing as he considered and dismissed ways in which to explain himself. He would start with a half-word, then stop himself and pinch his lips together, unsatisfied. She smiled and waited for his brain to complete the process.

"I've played a lot of games," Jackson said. "Maybe that's helping me intuit what's going on. But here's what I think: runes are for persuasion. Words - whatever they are - are for compulsion. That is the basic rule of magic.

"I can only have a limited number of Words, the same as the number of slots I have. A Word must be some powerful compelling unit. Unlike runes, I don't learn and use them as a full language, but as individual pieces of power. That implies a further contrast - two very distinct types of magic. Runes are a continuous ability - it's a speech, a drawn-out action that occurs over time. It's useful, varied in function, utilitarian. Words are big immediate blasts, probably offensive magical attacks."

Chaki opened her mouth to say something, but Jackson kept speaking. "But that's not all. It's important to note that the Spirit statistic increases the rate at which runes can be produced. That's vital for Persuasion - faster casting speed - but it doesn't seem as useful for Compulsion if it happens as a single Word, no runes involved. At the same time, Spirit increases one's magical resistance. I'm not exactly sure what magical resistance entails in terms of the game, but we can assume for starters that it means a higher chance of absorbing negative effects and reducing damage done by spells. But you just told me that runes can only convince, not compel. You won't be convincing someone to get hurt, but you could definitely compel them to be burned with an attack from a Word.

"In summary!" Jackson slapped a fist on his palm rather dramatically, as if pleased with himself. "Runes - Persuasion. Words - Compulsion. Spirit grants speed to Persuasion, and resistance against Compulsion."

Chaki blinked a few times. She opened her mouth again, then closed it. She stood for a moment. "...Jackson."

"Yes?"

"You've just made up an entire second...branch, of magic, based on nothing more than the implied clues of strange floating text."

"But it makes sense, right?"

"You can't extrapolate like that. It's risky."

"I'm sure I've probably messed something up," Jackson said. "That's ok. Hypotheses are meant to be changed." He smiled. "Like you said, I have to make the best decisions I can, given the information I have at the time. I have to be working from some sort of framework. This is that."

Chaki nodded. "If it helps you structure your thoughts, then by all means."

"And onto the next segment of our interview," Jackson said. "We need to specialize. Overlapping skills are fine, but we have to make up for each other's gaps. Honestly, it doesn't make much sense for me to learn runes. I'm not going to be persuading much. I mean, I'll learn them anyway, but I won't be pumping tons of points into it."

"Wait," Chaki said. "You're talking about the game."

"Exactly," Jackson said. "We need to complement one another."

"For what?"

"For when we...do things," Jackson said. "Travel. Fight. Adventure."

"Adventure?"

"Uh, yeah," Jackson said. "That's what we were talking about last night." Jackson studied her for a moment. "...oh. Shit. I thought - I wasn't thinking about your frame of reference. Chaki, I figured you meant you'd be coming with me. Up the tower. That's why I was hesitating so much."

Chaki felt a burst of emotions. Excitement. Trepidation. Anxiety.

Leave the plains? Leave Landri and Palla, and Shaka? The tribe? Her home? To travel with Jackson on his quest...of course. He was a warrior of Shakhan. He couldn't linger forever.

"You didn't realize that's what it meant," Jackson said. "That's ok. I'm -"

"No!" Chaki said. She shook her head. "No. I want to be with you. I am your north star. I will go with you."

"Chaki -"

"What do you mean by complement?" Chaki asked. She wanted to get away from the subject. If he knew he'd caught her by surprise, he might have second thoughts about taking her along.

Jackson squinted and considered her a moment, then shrugged. "We need to take our talents into account. You're already advanced in persuasion and spirit. You should keep specializing there. I'm going to focus on weapons and front-line activities. Taking hits, beating back enemies. And, if I can find some Words, I'll use those as well."

Chaki frowned. He wanted to protect her, take hits for her. It was the soft insult of misplaced manliness. Unfortunately, his logic made it difficult to form a counterargument.

"You don't like it," Jackson said.

"I didn't say anything."

"I can feel it," Jackson said. "Your coals turned black."

"My coals?"

"You feel like a fire," Jackson said. He pointed at his forehead. She took that to mean his sense of their bond. "When you're unhappy, it gets...colder."

"Hmm." Chaki decided that honesty would be the best policy going forward. It would be difficult to hide anything from him. That could be problematic. Sometimes a wife needed to hide things from her husband - keep him focused. Keep distractions out of his way. "I don't want you to sacrifice for me, Jackson."

"Sacrifice?" Jackson said. "I'll take the hits, but you'll be helping. Healing - and buffing. Do you know any runes to make a person stronger or faster?"

Chaki nodded. "I can briefly increase a warrior's strength. It's difficult; it requires essence constantly. Healing is actually a simple task - the body already wants to heal. It's much more difficult if you are active and moving around, but I don't see that it matters. You can't be injured."

"I can still lose health," Jackson said. "Anyway, I don't want you just dancing around with runes. You've got Agility."

"What does that mean for me?"

"I've trained up my spear skills, but bows are tough to use from the front lines," Jackson said. "You'll be ranged support. It's a great combination. You boost my abilities, and I head into direct combat. You shoot at the enemy from a distance. I'll specialize in Vitality so I can take more hits anyway."

Chaki slowly nodded. "I see the wisdom in what you're saying, but you speak as if you expect us to fight tomorrow. I hope that, when we make war, it will be a bit further out than that. And we won't be alone."

"Actually," Jackson said, "I wanted to go back to where you were captured."

"What? Why?"

"Two reasons," Jackson said. "First, those ruins have treasure. I can practically smell it." Jackson frowned for a moment, thinking. "Call it my gamer's sense. I've got this really big hunch there's something back there that I missed. Second, I've made great progress grinding, but it's not the same as fighting live enemies. I only get essence during actual combat, and I get the chance to practice my more powerful skills."

"Jackson, this is ridiculous," Chaki said. "I see your need to take advantage of all the mark has to offer you, but it seems like you're taking an unnecessary risk."

"It would be riskier not to go."

"Explain."

"Shakhan...told me a few things." Jackson looked at her, waiting. He had only given her the bare details last night.

"Well?" Chaki asked.

Jackson coughed. "Sorry. Shaka said that what Shakhan said was for me alone. Didn't want to offend you."

"I am to be your wife," Chaki said. "I would hope that things meant for you would be shared with me."

"Got it," Jackson said. "Well, Shakhan said that I wasn't supposed to live this long. The banishment was supposed to result in my relatively immediate death. Considering how close I came to it with the rattok...well. Doesn't matter now. What does matter is that, somehow, they know I'm not dead, and they're sending hunters after me."

"What is the nature of these hunters?"

Jackson shrugged. "Don't know. Shakhan didn't really have time to get into the details, but it definitely left me with the impression that I'm in a lot of danger. Going after rattok is dangerous itself, but unless I get stronger, I stand a great chance of dying anyway."

Chaki felt an icy gust around his ball of steel. "...you are leaving something out, Jackson Vedalt."

Jackson blushed. He looked away from her. "Yeah, well, you didn't think you were going on some stupid adventure, either."

"Don't change the subject," Chaki said quickly. "Complete your sentiments."

Jackson stood straight, raising himself up off his spear. He looked at her. "Chaki, you're involved with me now. I have to get stronger if I'm going to protect you." He raised a hand. "I can already feel you start to burn up. I'm not trying to distance myself from you. If you're going to be close to me, I've got to be tough enough to handle it. That means killing rattok. Otherwise..." Jackson's voice turned into a mumble. "...very good...sband."

"What was that?" Chaki asked.

Jackson's face turned redder. "Or I wouldn't make a very good husband, alright! If we're getting married, I...that's for keeps. I'm not just saying shit to make you happy. I mean it. So, I have to be thinking about the future."

"Jackson." Chaki struggled to keep her composure. The sun had rose fully while they spoke, turning the overcast skies from dark grey to fuzzy white. The camp was starting to wake in earnest, now. She couldn't just rush in and start kissing him. "I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to hear you say that."

"...you don't have to tell me," Jackson said. "I can feel it."

Against her better judgement, Chaki stepped closer. The sense of him sharpened palpably. Cold steel. Hot molten metal. Sealed gates welded shut, and sometimes pried open. "I can feel you too," she said. "But the words are important."

"They are," Jackson said. "Chaki?"

"Yes?"

"I really want to kiss you."

"You should take me by surprise," she said quietly, "so that I can't react in time to stop you."

Jackson closed the distance and pulled her into another kiss. It was gentle, caring. Loving. Their lips played against one another, softness on softness.

"Tatanka Ska!"

Shaka's shrill voice dug into Chaki's ears. She tore herself out of Jackson's embrace and tried not to look guilty. Did Shaka have some sort of sixth sense telling her when they were trying to be intimate?

Shaka marched up to them. Her thin bones and wiry grey hair made her seem an evil spirit come to reprimand them. "Tatanka Ska. That behavior is improper!"

"Uh..."

"Do not 'uh' at me," Shaka said. "Men do not speak in grunts and sounds, they speak with words."

"Chaki said the same thing," Jackson said. "What's improper about kissing, exactly?"

"Blatant physical displays of affection are improper in pubic until you are married."

"It's just kissing."

"Jackson," Shaka said, "do not test me."

"But Shaka," Chaki said, "we are to be married."

"What?" Shaka seemed a little surprised. "When was this decided?"

"...last night."

"When would you have time to..." Shaka narrowed her eyes. "Incredible. My own student, sneaking about with a young man behind my back. You - by the guidance of Shakhan, girl, what is that on your hand?!"

Chaki tried to hide her pentagram, but Shaka's hands were faster. She snatched Chaki's wrist in a grip like a vise and pulled her forward. "...when did this happen?"

"Last night," Chaki mumbled.

Shaka released her. "Impulsive girl." She moved to Jackson. "Stop slouching." She wacked his shoulder with her palm. "Stand up straight. Do you intend to marry this girl?"

Jackson jerked upright. He shifted his grip on his spear, which was still planted into the ground. His eyes shifted, avoiding Shaka's gaze. "More like she intends to marry me."

"Look at me when you speak to me, Tatanka Ska," Shaka said. "You are no longer a vagrant warrior. I am your spirit guide. I will have your respect."

Jackson looked at her, and his eyes were worried. "I didn't mean disrespect, Shaka."

"I know you didn't," she said, "and so I won't hold it against you. Now. Do you intend to marry this girl?"

Chaki waited with significantly more nervousness than she thought she'd have. She rubbed two of her fingers together, trying to work it out of herself. The pause stretched and uncomfortably long amount of time.

Jackson nodded. "I don't think either of us know what we're getting into, but yes. I intend to marry Chaki."

"Have you exchanged vows?"

Chaki shook her head. "No, Shaka. I had thought, at the Mountain Meet, we would exchange gifts, and then you could marry us."

"Then until that time you will respect tradition and not run about like a wild woman with no regard for propriety."

"Shaka -"

"Do not start with that tone, girl!" Shaka said. She fixed Chaki with her spirit-guide glare. "You creep about in the night because you know that the tribe would not tolerate your actions by day! What would Landri say, if she knew? In the end, Chaki, you can take responsibility for your own dalliances, but your mother does not deserve to be treated like this, to be embarrassed by an unruly daughter for whom she has cared for in solitude for years."

Chaki was struck by the ferocity of Shaka's words. She bowed her head. "...I am sorry, Shaka."

"Do not apologize to me. Correct your actions." She rotated to face Jackson. "And you. I will not ask what you two did last night. I do not want to know. But you will respect the laws and traditions of the Windseekers. You are courting this girl - you are not married. You may speak and walk together under supervision. You may kiss her on the cheek in farewell, only amongst friends, not in public. You may not meet alone under any circumstances. If I suspect that you are going against my wishes, then I shall not marry you and advise the other spirit guides to do the same."

"Why is this such a big deal?" Jackson said.

"We have done things this way for a long time, Jackson," Shaka said. "I do not expect one as new as you to understand, but the reason they are done this way is because it works. Men and women, bonded together in marriage, are expected to support and thrive and be contributing members of a tribe. Such relationships are not storms that come and go as they please. They are like the stars, and the sun, constant, warm, rhythmic. The courting process is to ensure emotional and mental compatibility well separated from the thrills and obscuring clouds of passion. Passion is not itself a bad thing, but it alone does not love make."

Chaki stood quietly. She did indeed feel reprimanded. In a way, Shaka had given all of her concerns a voice - that things were moving too quickly with Jackson, that she was getting caught up in her own fantasies. The two of them seemed caught in shifting winds - in some moments, not caring if their passion burned them up, and in others, being unsure if their passion was masking full and true feelings.

But Chaki had felt Jackson's acceptance. She had felt him open to her, briefly, and change because of her. He was shut tight again at the moment, but she was confident she could pry open his iron gates, reach within him, and draw them closer together. They were bound by a force more powerful than either of them understood. She took comfort in that - surely, if they had not meant their devotion, if their promises were false, the bond would not have taken root at all.

Jackson looked at her Chaki. She looked back at him. Something passed between them; they were having similar thoughts, and they both knew it. He nodded to her, and turned to Shaka. "I understand."

"That," Shaka said, "is what I wanted to hear. Come with me."

Shaka marched back toward the camp. Jackson made to follow, but glanced back at Chaki. "Sorry I got you in trouble."

"It's what I wanted," Chaki said. "Go on. I'll see you later."

"Tatanka Ska!" Shaka shouted.

"Coming!"

Jackson scampered away. It was a motion that was very like him. He was so very much himself. She would have to remind herself to call him Tatanka Ska in public.

She started walking back toward camp. Her mother would need help packing things up.

###

Jackson entered the tent and got slapped in the face.

It might not do lasting damage, but it still hurt like hell - maybe even more than getting stabbed. He winced back and held his face. "The hell was that for?!"

"Do not speak to me in such a tone," Shaka said. "I am your spirit guide."

He was taller than her, but somehow, Shaka loomed like golem. Jackson took a long breath and pushed his words through his teeth. "Alright. Shaka. Why did you slap me in the face?"

"For leading that girl astray!" Shaka said. "I wanted you to consider courting her, not take her into the dark and play with her emotions!"

"It went both ways," Jackson said. "I wasn't the only one that -"

"I do not care to hear your excuses," Shaka said. "I think of that girl as my own daughter. If you hurt her, Jackson, the symbol on your hand will not save you from me."

Jackson felt a small nudge of worry. Shaka was small, but she was experienced. She had magic. And she had a whole tribe of authority behind her. "Chaki and I talked about how quickly we're going. She's more sure of this than I am. She feels that fate made us cross paths."

Shaka's voice softened. "And what do you feel?"

Jackson shrugged. "Does it really matter if it was fate or not? If it was, then I couldn't have changed anything. If it wasn't, then I should be thankful for the happy coincidence."

"Not an unwise answer," Shaka said. "Sit with me."

They both folded their legs and sat inside her tent. Jackson noticed that she'd already cleared many of the hides from the ground, leaving bare dirt around her tipi's central fire. "What do you think?" he asked her. "About fate?"

"I think the same," Shaka said. "We live as we choose. At times, Shakhan directs us - but is that really fate? I do not think so. In the end, I try to avoid the topic. It is Chaki's choice to make for herself."

"...I didn't mean to upset you," Jackson said. "About Chaki. I really do care about her. I won't hurt her."

"You have strength of character, Tatanka Ska," Shaka said, "but forgive me for not throwing my student at you like the scraps of a bison. She is a young girl, still. Impressionable. Stubborn. And perhaps a bit full of herself."