Chapter 19: Another Strange Morning Continued

By the time Cinnamon finished dressing Sharmon was strapping on her weapons. Cinnamon watched as she strapped a dagger onto her belt, and then picked up her sword and moved to exit the tent. "Um,,, Sharmon?"

Sharmon turned to her, "Yes?"

"Um,,, I was just wondering,,, " Cinnamon faltered.

"Yes?" Sharmon asked curious.

"Well,,, do you always sleep with your weapons?" Cinnamon asked, hoping she hadn't offended Sharmon.

Sharmon raised an eyebrow and looked down at the sword in her hand. Then she looked up at Cinnamon with a wry grin. "Not generally, but out in the wilderness you never know when they might be needed. Also, having them inside the tent makes them harder to steal and keeps the rain off them."

Cinnamon thought that made sense, and then paled at the thought of them being attacked.

Sharmon saw this and laid a hand on Cinnamon's arm to reassure her. "Don't worry, we're not likely to be attacked. There's no reason for bandits to be here. We're in a pretty remote area here that's rarely traveled anymore. Bandit's prefer more heavily traveled routes."

"Is that why you keep watches at night?" Cinnamon asked, concerned.

"Yes, although the biggest threat in this area are animals trying to steal our food."

Cinnamon relaxed a bit at that and smiled; not that she wanted to come across any hungry animal.

Sharmon saw that and smiled, even as she was wishing she was as confident as she sounded. Since the Holy Relic had been stolen, bandit activity had increased throughout the country. There had also been several small incursions of Orks and Goblins near the border areas, which they just happened to be in, as well as deteriorating relations with formerly friendly nations.

Sharmon crawled out of the tent, stood up and buckled her sword around her waist, while Cinnamon followed tugging on her boots. Then Sharmon picked up her bow and quiver, and asked Cinnamon, "After breakfast how about we give you some weapons training?"

"Weapons training?" Cinnamon asked, looking up at her.

Sharmon nodded. "Yes, just to be prepared, besides it's good exercise."

"Uh,,, ok,,, I guess that would be good; I don't have a weapon though," Cinnamon replied.

Sharmon tilted her head down towards the tent and said, "You have a staff."

"Oh!" Cinnamon said, and looked around for it. She'd forgotten that staffs could be used as weapons. Then she asked, concerned, "Where is it?". She didn't want to lose Ernon's gift.

"It's in the tent," Sharmon said.

Cinnamon blushed and said, "Oh", and turned to look inside the tent for it. A few moments later, she backed out pulling the staff out with her, and then stood up with Sharmon's help.

"Still feel a bit stiff?" She asked.

"Just a little, the massage really helped though, thanks," Cinnamon said with a smile.

Sharmon blushed slightly and looked away mumbling, "I'm glad it helped."

Then Harnley yelled out, "Tis about time ye lasses got outta bed! 'Twas about to go see if ye'd gotten lost in there!" Harnley and the others laughed.

Cinnamon blushed, and Sharmon scowled at him.

"Come, breakfast is ready," Ernon said, waving them over.

As they approached, Muriel asked if they wanted toast. Sharmon nodded, and Cinnamon said, "Yes, please," followed quickly by, "Oh! Um,,, I need to wash my hands. I'll be right back."

Muriel nodded, "Ok, I'll have it ready for you."

Cinnamon smiled at her in thanks, laid her staff against the log, and ran towards the creek.

Sharmon frowned at that as she watched Cinnamon run off. She'd just warned Cinnamon of the possibility of danger and here she goes and runs off without her only weapon. Still, the chances of an attack here were highly remote, so Cinnamon should be safe enough, Sharmon hoped.

As soon as Cinnamon disappeared behind the bushes, Sharmon said, "We need to discuss Cinnamon's lack of supplies as well as start training her how to defend herself, just in case."

The others agreed. Muriel and Vanessa both started to say that they'd discussed Cinnamon's clothes the night before, but they were cut off by a very loud "Eeek!" They all jumped to their feet, and were reaching for their weapons, when Cinnamon came running back, her arms crossed tightly around her, her hands up under her arms. As they relaxed their stances, Cinnamon joined them, her teeth chattering, and held her hands towards the fire.

They all gave a collective sigh of relief, and unobtrusively, so Cinnamon wouldn't notice, returned their weapons to their sheaths and quivers. Harnley watched as Cinnamon tried to warm her hands, and said, "I'm guessin' that the water's a might cold, lass." The others groaned at his joke, while Sharmon rolled her eyes and shook her head. Cinnamon just shivered. Muriel took a small hand towel, that she was using to handle the hot pots and pans, and offered it to Cinnamon. Cinnamon took it gratefully, and quickly dried her hands with the warm towel.

After they all sat down, Muriel shared a look with the others and asked Cinnamon if she'd like some tea. Cinnamon readily agreed and gratefully accepted a cup, after Muriel put in a spoon full of sugar for her. Cinnamon took the cup with both hands and brought it up to smell the aroma. When she did, her nose wrinkled with distaste at the odor. It had a very dank earthy smell to it.

Suddenly conscious of the sudden quiet around her, Cinnamon took a look around, smiled weakly at Muriel and said, "Thanks", before bringing the cup to her lips again. She blew on it a little before taking a careful sip. Then she made an awful face, saying, "Ugh!! Yeach!!! What is this stuff?" She thought it tasted like boiled potting soil.

Lancos bust out laughing. Ernon looked like he sympathized with Cinnamon.

Vanessa said to Muriel, "I told you she'd hate it." To which Sharmon responded, "Did you think she wouldn't?"

"Why not? It's good stuff," Harnley said.

"You've spent too long underground," Sharmon retorted.

While Vanessa and Ernon moved to stop the escalating hostilities, Muriel ignored them. Instead she sighed and said, "It's called Blue Caliphi, and it's an acquired taste, I'm afraid."

"You're joking," Cinnamon said with disbelief, "This stuff is worse than coffee."

Sharmon chuckled. "I'll agree with you there, but some people like the short one over there actually like the stuff."

"Watch it lassie," Harnley said angrily.

"Yes, well I'm afraid you'll have to learn to at least drink it Cinnamon," Muriel said.

"Why?" Cinnamon asked as she sniffed again, and again wrinkled her nose with distaste.

"Um... ," Muriel looked to the others for help, but they all indicated they didn't know what to say either. "Well it's

good for you, and there're important religious and secular reasons for drinking it daily," she said vaguely, not

wanting to lie, yet fearing the consequences of telling her the truth.

Sharmon, sensing Muriel's dilemma, and sharing her concerns, distracted Cinnamon from asking, 'What reasons?' by helping her lift the cup to her lips again, and said, "Don't worry, you'll learn to tolerate it like the rest of us."

"Yuck! I can't imagine getting used to this," Cinnamon replied, after taking another sip and making another face.

A short while later everyone was eating heartily except Cinnamon, who was just picking at her breakfast.

Concerned, Muriel asked, "Aren't you feeling well Cinnamon?"

Cinnamon smiled weakly and said, "I'm ok," and took a bite out of her omelet. Then she closed her eyes and took several swallows, while wobbling from side to side, before opening her eyes and saying, "It tastes great. Thank you Muriel."

Muriel said, "I'm glad," and then looked at Sharmon. They shared a concerned look. The others looked concerned as well. They'd never seen someone react to the tea as badly as Cinnamon seemed to.

Sensing everyone becoming quiet and moody, Ernon decided to try and change the subject. Turning towards Cinnamon he said, "Cinnamon, Sharmon told us of your talk about self defense and weapons training. Would you be interested in learning from us?"

"Oh! Um,,, sure, I guess," Cinnamon replied, surprised by the question.

"Excellent," Ernon said, "Have you had any previous training in defense or weaponry?"

"Um,,, no, well sort of, I guess," she amended.

"Sort of?" Lancos asked, raising one eyebrow, making Cinnamon think of Mr.Spock. She ducked her head and took another bite so he wouldn't see her grin.

"Can you elaborate on that for us?" Ernon asked, curious.

Cinnamon flushed at being the focus of their attention. "Well, I took classes in archery, fencing, and gun safety in college over the summer. Does that count?" She asked.

Ernon nodded, surprised, "It's a start." He wasn't the only one, as they all shared looks of surprise.

"I'm surprised to learn you've attended college," Muriel said, impressed. "I would have thought you were too young. You must be very intelligent to be so far ahead in your education."

Cinnamon blushed. "Not really, anyone can go as long as they meet all the class requirements. I did have to get my parents' permission though."

"I'll bet it must have been hard to convince your mother to let you go," Muriel said, sharing a look with Vanessa and Sharmon.

"Yeah, it was, but it was worth it. I really didn't want to go to cheer leading camp again," Cinnamon said, frowning. "I finally got my step dad behind me though, when I told him it looked good on university applications, and how much less it would cost than camp," Cinnamon said. "And even then, I almost didn't get to go because my mom said I'd have to pay for it myself. She'd pay for cheer leading camp, but not college," she said somewhat bitterly.