Chapter 19: No Pushover

It had taken a few days but the sugar beet field and a wide assortment of other smaller patches had been prepped and sown. It was going to be interesting to see if plants from home would grow here, Tom thought. Most of the plant life seemed familiar, and only slightly different, strange pretty flowers, the big ass trees in the forest, and he could swear the grass was greener here too.

But for the time being, they could only wait, this was one of the reasons Tom had never really been one to deal with plants before, they just took too long. That was where Raulf came in though. He was apparently head of farming around here, with the dragonettes mainly being mostly carnivorous, much of their farming was done to provide animal feed rather than people food. They did eat some greens though. Judging by the children, that was something they weren't pleased about but it was apparently necessary to stay healthy. The adults didn’t seem too bothered, so maybe a learned trait.

Tom had instructed Raulf to the best of his ability with the help of the book on survival farming, as to how to care for the different plants. Raulf hadn’t seemed surprised by anything so Tom believed it was probably fairly routine stuff. Plants were plants after all, only so many ways to tend them.

With the farming project well underway, Tom had gotten back to his studies, though now it had become a more even split between them teaching him, and Tom trying his best to explain as much as possible to them. Nunuk had even visited a few times to see what they were doing. The lessons with the children being the exception, of course, little Kiran wasn’t ready to know about that sort of thing yet. He and Tom had become quite good friends though, they were about on the same wavelength when it came to speaking and little Kiran showed no fear of anything, so Tom didn’t scare him in the slightest. Not that the other children were afraid of Tom, but they had a healthy wariness.

Tom had given the little bugger one of his sweets just to see how he would react, the results had been explosive, Tom had failed to account for the fact Kiran probably weighed about 8 kg tops and here in low gravity, it was more like 4-5kg. the little dude had hit the ground running and kept going for nearly 30 minutes. Good news though, he apparently set a new record for youngest dragonette in the keep to learn to fly without assistance when he had sprinted off the tall set of stairs leading down into the grand hall from the sleeping areas.

Esmeralda had some fairly stern questions afterward and didn’t seem to buy that Tom had managed to teach the little one, apparently flight training was supposed to happen when you turned five… whoops. He had held up a candy and pointed at Kiran, it seemed to click for her after that. She just facepalmed and went to fetch Nunuk, most likely to have her give the little one a once over.

She had left along with the other huntresses to go on a hunt not long after the little incident According to Sapphire, Dakota had tried to convince Nunuk to let her bring either Tom or one of his guns on the hunt. Tom wasn’t entirely sure, it had been quite the charade of gestures, words, and even some grunts and handshaking. They realized he wouldn’t just give up his weapons right? It seemed Dakota had been unsuccessful though, so no matter.

They had only been away for the day and returned with two deer. They were fiercely efficient hunters, Tom thought. Sure, a human hunter could probably manage the same with modern equipment but they used a bow and arrow, not a compound bow either… Note to self look into making a compound bow, he wrote down in his little notebook. Being able to cover vast distances and pounce with impunity from above clearly had its advantages. The fact that nothing ground born could outrun them was probably helpful too. But hey fresh deer tonight then, sweet, Tom mused to himself.

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The evening Dakota and the others had returned from the successful hunt around the common meal, Dakota had spoken up

“Even if we don’t have trouble hunting for our food I would like to see how Tom hunts. We know he hunted a deer for himself before we found him. I would like to know how.”

“Judging by how he is dressed I think he sneaks up on the target” Sapphire had added.

“Such underhanded tactics?” Kokashi had questioned.

“I don’t think he cares that much about honor, just look at how he is dressed” Rachuk clearly wasn’t impressed with Tom thus far. It made sense he was a man of honor and duty above all. From what Sapphire had gathered Tom was friendly but he hadn’t really had the chance yet.

“He hasn’t really gotten the chance to show his true colors yet. He's been doing farm work and school for Pete's sake how could he.” Sapphire had interjected

“Well, maybe he should get a chance then.” Rachuck was clearly playing at something Sapphire thought.

“What have you got in mind? You can't exactly have a sword fight with him yet, he’s not fully recovered” Nunuke seemingly having caught wind of the conversation and decided to join in.

“Oh come now, we all saw how he worked in the fields. Besides, what makes you think his kind doesn’t heal faster? It sure seems like it.”

“Why do you want to test him anyway, judging by Dakota and her huntresses his weapons would make him more than a capable warrior.”

“A warrior without honor can’t be trusted. Besides, I haven't seen any of these weapons in action. And by the sound of it, all you have seen was him hitting a tree. Not very impressive in my opinion.”

“I won’t deny you have a point, but what do you want? A demonstration?” Nunuk had asked

“Don’t you? Besides, I want to see him in honorable combat, see what our guest is made of. You made him take the oath of the guard, which technically puts him under my command. I want to know what my warriors can and can’t do.”

“Yeah, I guess I do but I will not have you beating seven bells out of him.”

“Me, fight?” it had come from Tom seeming very confused having clearly tried and failed to follow the conversation

“Yes hmmm… Play fight.” Nunuk had tried

“Bang bang?” Tom had gone pointing his finger into the distance, probably trying to mimic his weapons.

“Yes, Tom bang bang, and...” Rachuck added as he walked over, drawing his sword handing Tom the blade. Tom immediately went to work examining the piece, testing the edge, and admiring the craftsmanship.

“Very pretty. Don’t know use” Tom said looking apologetically

“You don’t know how to use a sword? at all!?” Rachuck was seemingly taken aback by this. Sapphire had considered that quite likely, Tom hadn’t carried a blade beside his small knife, so why would he know how to use a sword?

“Human no use no more, old weapon” Not again, Sapphire thought, fingers crossed Rachuk would take it in as good a spirit as Shiva had.

“Why stop?” Rachuck had questioned seemingly not grasping why anyone would drop using swords.

“Not effective, I kill before you see me” Tom had answered.

“You fight like a coward, and can’t even defend yourself when it gets tough?” Rachuck was starting to sound quite accusatory and Tom clearly didn’t seem too happy with the situation looking to Sapphire for help.

“Think about it Rachuk, if you have weapons that can destroy cities why use swords?” Sapphire did her best to sound reasonable even if she deep down found the statement wrong.

“To defend your honor of course, and to defend yourself in battle, you can't always just run away and shoot from afar. Besides Tom here can’t even fly so how would he get away?”

“Fight close too” Tom had gone, surprising Rachuck.

“How you have no sword, not the knife surely”

“No. Use gun”

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Right then there he was standing on what was clearly a small archery range with a little sparring ring. With nearly the entire keep watching him, he had managed to convince Shiva to bring two old broken chest plates. He had gotten a few, kind of half-rotten, cabbage things from Raulf, seemingly not having kept well over the winter. Along with some pieces of loose wood, they would make up the day's targets.

He had recruited Jackalope and Fengi to help him set up some targets, but for now, everything was still here in the training field. Rachuck had seemed extremely skeptical of the arrangements but hadn’t protested yet.

“Ready. What show?” Tom had started off.

"Defense against me” Rachuk had gone drawing his sword. That was not the response Tom had been hoping for. How would he do that without killing the man? He knew the sword was a blunt one but still metal.

“No no, not kill not” He really wasn’t good enough at this yet “not allowed”. Tom began backpedaling and dodging the incoming swings, it was clear Rachuk was going easy on him at least.

“Stop running and fight, are you a coward?!” Right then, nothing for it, the sword was blunt so this would only hurt. Tom reversed from his little backpedal and stepped forward, he caught the incoming swing on his right shoulder then wrapped his arm around the blade locking it in place. The pain was quite substantial but it worked, Rachuck had clearly not expected him to go on the offensive. Tom pushed forward placing his forward foot behind Rachuck’s left leg hoping to trip him.

Rachuck had clearly been overconfident but he was skilled too, and the whole double-jointed leg made it easy for him to avoid the trip. Tom was trained to an extent in hand to hand combat, but this dude had most likely been training for most of his life, and he still had a hand free. So he just punched Tom in the face and opened his mouth to snarl at Tom.

Tom quickly became aware of just how many teeth were in range of his face and elected to do something about it. So he used his off hand to draw his revolver and stuffed it in Rachuck’s mouth.

“YOU DEAD!” He shouted. Then he pulled the revolver back out and fired into the sky as if to illustrate his point. There was silence on the field until Tom let Rachuk’s arm go again, moving his shoulder to try and get rid of the pain. He could do with some actual armor if that was going to become a common occurrence.

“Now show how dead!” Tom turned from the captain and took aim at some of the pieces of wood. He fired three shots in quick succession at three targets, they were large targets so not too hard to hit. Then he took a shot at the breastplate with the cabbage thing inside and stuff went everywhere.

Rachuck flinched noticeably at that one. Tom then holstered his revolver and went over to collect the breastplate and presented it to Rachuck who just stood there staring. The others came over to have a look as well.

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After Tom had finished putting Rachuk in his place he had opened fire on the targets he had set up. Sapphire was shocked he could shoot that quickly. No bowman alive could have matched that rate of fire and when he took a shot at the cabbage, pieces had gone everywhere! He had brought the breastplate back to show the little hole going in. The weapon had just punched straight through the metal!

Then he whistled at Jackalope and fengi. They came running over, handing them two remaining cabbages and the breastplate, he had clearly told them where to put them before as they took to the sky flying downrange. Fengi had gone out to about what Sapphire would consider maximum bow range and placed the first cabbage, but Jackalope had continued out to over double that.

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Tom wasn’t quite sure about this, his rifle had yet to be re zeroed for this strange gravity and he had no clue how lower gravity would affect long-range ballistic. Nor did he know exactly what gravity was here, but he had made a guess and adjusted as best he could.

Besides, he could zero on the first target until he got it sort of right. He picked up his rifle and kneeled chambering a round.

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Sapphire just wondered how he could even point the weird one-handed weapon accurately enough to hit something that far away. That is when Tom had picked up the long strange metal stick she had seen him walk with. Wait, was the big stick a weapon too!? But the little one had blown straight through a breastplate! “Ohhh. far away targets” she just said earning a look or two from around her.

With a thunderous crack, Tom had fired at the first target, the cabbage had instantly exploded, pieces going everywhere. It looked like it had been dropped from one of the towers, this weapon was clearly even more powerful! Tom did a motion causing a metallic sound and one of the brass cylinders had come out of the weapon. it was quite a lot longer than the one he had shown them before. He then fiddled with the weapon for a little while and took another shot. The clang of the breastplate was heard again.

Then Tom did some more filling, made the motion again, and shot at the far target, apparently missing. Well, that was comforting, at least he could miss... Tom made the motion again, fiddled some more, and took a second shot, this time scoring a hit and more cabbage went flying. He picked up the brass cylinders and got up.

“That how I fight, you very dead,” Tom said, sounding very unimpressed, as he walked back past Rachuck.

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The little test had been a success at least out to 250 meters ish, just going half on the adjustments seemed to work close enough for elevation adjustment at least. He would need to do some testing out beyond that, it would be more than worth the ammunition. He would need to set up some more accurately ranged targets for that thought. Little Kiran had apparently managed to wrangle his way free and came running over.

“Big boom! What that” Tom had picked the little one up putting down his rifle

“Rifle”

“Ricle” Kiran trying his best and sounding even more adorable for the attempt,

“Yes Kiran Ricle”

“You beat Rachuk, he dead!” Kiran was sitting wide-eyed staring up at Tom as if he was meeting Batman or something.

“Yeah, but no fair, he no gun”

“You have a gun, you win!” it would seem Tom had just been elevated from a comfortable nest, and friend with sweets to a personal hero. He didn’t quite know how to handle that...

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“Right I see” was all Rachuck had managed following the display. Sapphire did feel a little sorry for him, as he stared out at the ruined targets probably contemplating what would have happened if he had been on the wrong end of that and just how close he had gotten.

“What is that Tom?” Sapphire had gone, hobbling over pointing at the long metal stick.

“Rifle, this revolver” Tom had held up the smaller one-handed weapon Sapphire was familiar with, but the long one was clearly even more powerful, and had a very good range. He hadn't struggled much to hit a target beyond what she considered possible with a bow, and she was without a doubt the finest shot here. Well, she had been the best, Tom seemed destined to take that title now.

"Tom how far hit” Dakota had gone.

“Double that. With effort, maybe more” ‘So yeah’, Sapphire thought to herself, Tom was now the best shot in the keep. Dammit… she had worked so hard for that, she even learned magic to help guide the shots. She was starting to understand Rachuck a bit, he must feel fairly shit knowing he was just bested in hand to hand combat by someone who had never even held a sword and now she was outshot by someone who had never held a bow...