Pluck and Push

Weeks had slipped by since the south sparring field first smelled of straw and rune stone. Since the dummy poles crackled with their first marks. Since Kaiden's silly little pebble made Dessie snort-laugh mid-shot.

In that time, the academy's days had settled into a new rhythm — practice sessions at dawn, lectures that Kaiden mostly absorbed with a blank stare, sparring drills that left Rio bruised and proud, and countless moments when Kaiden's calm steadiness turned into a quiet anchor for those around him.

The academy wasn't the same anymore. The first-graders were no longer fixated on their own guild. New friends were made, but some old rivalries stayed the same. Rio and Rell were still like water and oil.

And somewhere in the middle of all that, Dessie Marron — bright, brash, better with a bow than a conversation — had found every excuse to hover near Kaiden Stagin. He'd fixed her bowstring twice. Adjusted her stance. Walked her through rune pole calibrations when she panicked.

To anyone watching, they looked closer than they were. To Irna, watching from her patch of grass, they looked like an arrow through her heart.

The east courtyard buzzed with mid-morning practice now. A warm breeze rattled the leaf canopies overhead while a fresh line of rune poles flickered softly. Under the shade of a spindly tree, Kaiden knelt by Dessie's side again, explaining something about draw tension. She laughed too hard at something he mumbled — her braid bouncing.

Irna watched them from a low stone bench, guzheng case across her knees, strings half-tuned, half-neglected. She hadn't played more than a few quiet notes in days. Every time she tried, that same picture appeared behind her eyelids: Kaiden's patient smile. Dessie's laugh. The way they bent so close, the sunlight seemed to land just for them.

A heavy thump made the bench shudder. Peggy landed beside her, one big hand draped lazily over Ragna the hammer's head.

[ Peggy ]

"Pouting again?"

Irna didn't flinch. Her eyes stayed locked on Kaiden, who was brushing flecks of bark from Dessie's bow now like it was a precious heirloom.

[ Irna ]

"Mind your own hammer."

Peggy barked out a single laugh, then leaned forward, chin propped on one scarred palm.

[ Peggy ]

"My hammer's doing fine."

"You, on the other hand…"

She flicked her gaze across the yard.

Kaiden was saying something that made Dessie punch his shoulder lightly. He didn't react except to check the arrow notch again, calm as ever.

[ Peggy ]

"Poor Irna."

"Weeks of practice, and you still just sit here like a ghost at a festival."

Irna's thumb found the guzheng's neck, pressing hard enough to sting.

[ Irna ]

"He doesn't see it."

Peggy snorted.

[ Peggy ]

"Because he's Kaiden."

"He'd calm a raging troll and never notice if it wanted to hug him after."

Irna's braid twitched over her shoulder like a tail.

[ Irna ]

"He doesn't like Dessie, does he?"

Peggy's grin softened. She knocked Irna's shoulder with a gentle bump.

[ Peggy ]

"Not like you like him."

"He just... likes helping."

"Dessie's loud, and she makes it easy for him."

She nudged the guzheng with one big knuckle.

"You ever think you might be braver than him?"

Irna's eyes narrowed.

[ Irna ]

"I'm not brave."

Peggy flicked her forehead. Thunk. Irna scowled.

[ Peggy ]

"Not yet..."

"But you want him to notice you?"

"Then stop plucking ghost notes like you're invisible."

She tipped her chin at Kaiden — at the way his head tilted every time Dessie spoke, like he was searching for a softer sound that wasn't there.

"You have that sound."

"Play it."

"Sit by him..."

"Let him see you choose him, instead of hiding here wishing she'd vanish."

Irna sucked in a sharp breath. The strings under her fingers hummed once, clear and sharp — just enough to drift on the breeze.

Kaiden's eyes flicked up at the faint note. His calm gaze met hers from across the courtyard. He smiled that soft, baffled smile that always made her gut twist.

Dessie turned to look too, but Kaiden's eyes stayed on Irna — for a breath, two, before a question from Dessie tugged him back.

Peggy thumped her shoulder again.

[ Peggy ]

"See? He's looking."

"Next time, sit next to him."

"Play him a whole song."

"Let the arrow girl find someone else to hover near."

Irna's cheeks warmed. She pressed her thumb to the strings, another note thrumming out like a promise.

[ Irna ]

"Thanks, Peggy."

"That..."

"Helps."

Peggy's grin stretched wide, wolfish and fond all at once.

[ Peggy ]

"You'll outpluck her, girl."

"Mark my words."

The girls hugged. Their bonds have tightened since the first day they met at the town square.

◈◈◈

Another week drifted by like nothing at all — drills, lectures, the endless rattle of rune poles recording every swing and shot. And Kaiden… still Kaiden. Always helpful. Always calm. And always, somehow, within earshot of Dessie Marron's easy laugh.

Today, the east courtyard hummed with lazy midday heat. The practice session had ended early, the rune poles packed away, and half the class sprawled under the shade, picking at lunch scraps or flicking pebbles into the pond.

Kaiden sat on a low stone wall, sleeves rolled to the elbows, a battered cloth over his knee as he checked a nick on his wooden dagger. Dessie perched beside him, one boot tapping the wall, bow propped across her lap.

Irna stood by the sycamore tree, half-hidden behind its trunk, guzheng strap digging into her shoulder. Peggy's words still buzzed in her ears — "Sit by him. Play him a whole song."

She almost turned back. Almost. But Kaiden glanced up just then, wiping the blade's edge, and his eyes caught hers through the leaves.

No smile this time — just that patient waiting look, like he knew she'd been there all along.

She stepped out before her courage could break. The grass seemed to swallow the sound of her boots as she crossed the courtyard.

Peggy, sitting with Nerim and Rio by the pond, caught her eye and gave a subtle nod, lips curling around her waterskin.

Irna stopped in front of Kaiden, staring at the scuffed stone beneath his boots.

[ Irna ]

"Is… this seat taken?"

Kaiden blinked. Dessie's tapping foot froze. She looked between them, one brow arching.

Kaiden shifted over on the wall, patting the spot between him and Dessie.

[ Kaiden ]

"Room for one more."

Irna settled her guzheng across her knees. Her fingers hovered just above the strings — they trembled, but she forced them still.

Dessie snorted, a short laugh sharp as snapping bowstring.

[ Dessie ]

"You gonna play for him now?"

Irna's eyes narrowed. She plucked a single note — crisp, bright, drifting across the courtyard like a bird.

Kaiden leaned back a fraction, eyes locked on the guzheng.

[ Kaiden ]

"Play."

That one word — so simple, like he expected nothing more than the truth from her fingertips.

So she did. One note, then another, weaving into a gentle river of sound. A song so soft that even Peggy at the pond cocked her head to catch it.

Kaiden's dagger slipped forgotten to his lap. He just listened, shoulders slack, eyes never drifting away.

Dessie watched, jaw tight. She clicked her tongue, swung her bow onto her shoulder.

[ Dessie ]

"Tch..."

"Gonna shoot some arrows."

"'Scuse me."

She hopped off the wall and stalked away, boots crunching over gravel.

Irna's fingers stumbled on a note. She almost stopped — but Kaiden's hand rested on the edge of the guzheng, not touching the strings, just there.

[ Kaiden ]

"Keep going."

She did. A single string. One chance. And this time, she didn't care if the whole courtyard heard it.

The courtyard settled after her song. Peggy's voice drifted across the pond — mocking Rio for losing a pebble toss, Nerim rummaging for leftover bread. Somewhere, Dessie's bowstring twanged, arrows thunking into a battered practice target near the shed.

Kaiden stayed where he was, hand resting on the old runes on his wooden dagger, the echo of Irna's last note still buzzing in his chest. She wiped a stray hair from her cheek, guzheng case now closed and strapped snug across her back.

They didn't say much as they rose. Didn't need to.

He fell into step beside her automatically, his boots scuffing the stone path as they crossed under the sycamores. Irna kept her gaze forward, jaw set — but every few paces her shoulder would bump his. Not a shy bump either — more like a question.

Kaiden didn't pull away.

When they reached the split in the path — left for the dorms, right for the old stone bridge that looped back to the main hall — Irna paused. She didn't move, the guzheng shifting behind her as she looked up at him.

[ Irna ]

"Do you…"

"Mind it?"

Kaiden blinked.

[ Kaiden ]

"The song?"

She gave the tiniest nod.

Kaiden's mouth twitched, half a smile, half that thoughtful line he always wore when fixing some nicked blade or loose strap. His thumb brushed the old rune carved into his dagger's grip.

[ Kaiden ]

"I don't mind."

"I liked it."

He started to step away, then doubled back, planting himself a hair closer than before.

[ Kaiden ]

"You can play any time."

Irna's breath caught. Her hand twitched like she wanted to pluck an invisible note off his coat sleeve.

Behind them, the wind ruffled the courtyard grass. Peggy's laugh rolled out, teasing, but distant enough not to reach them whole.

Irna stepped past him, boots soft on the dirt. But just before she took the left path, she glanced back, the faintest grin threatening her lips.

One note braver.

One step closer.

And Kaiden?

Still too dense to see how the bridge behind him had just moved.