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Jas	By : awcoppelia Category: A through F > Forgotten Realms Views: 3207 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Forgotten Realms series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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CHAPTER 3

Jas had spent just about all the time in the shop as he could. There had been no wood or anything else remotely like it in the shop today, and since it was only a small branch of the merchant house's main displays in the bazaar proper, there wasn't much to really look through. Furthermore, the shop tender was being to pay far more attention to him than Jas liked. The merchant knew Jas, so he knew that the boy was not likely to run off with any merchandise he had not paid for, but he also knew him well enough to know that if the boy didn't buy anything within a short period of time, he was broke again. Since he wasn't going to line the merchant's pocket with coin, there wasn't any reason for him to be wasting him time in the little shop, taking up valuable time that the merchant could be spending on reading the latest gossip leaflet floating around. The anonymous leaflet was sure to completely opposite of the truth, but was more entertaining than keeping an eye on a runt like Jas.
Once he left the shop, he lingered in the overhanging portico over the entrance, trying to decide what, if anything, he could do next to waste some time until the last meal of the day. Suddenly, he was distracted by the noise of metal ringing against metal, somewhere in the yard between the little shop and the larger storeroom behind it. Curiosity as well as boredom drew him to the low fence surrounding the yard. An adult drow male and a younger boy, a few years older than Jas, were practicing combat drills in the small bit of flat space behind the fence. Taking care not to touch the metal filaments that made up the fence, as they were likely to be quite sticky, he sat as close to the fence as he could, peering through the individual strands to watch. There wasn't too much actually going on though, just the same drills over and over, but it was better than sitting at home watching his sisters annoy each other endlessly.
The training session was over well before Jas would've liked, and the trainer went inside the complex after the two drow had straightened the yard and put away their implements. The younger male lingered outside, having caught site of his audience between drills. After scooping himself a quick drink of water from a nearby cask, the youth wandered over to where Jas still sat. Seeing that Jas wasn't inclined to stand up any time soon, he sat as well.
"What are you doing? " the older boy inquired.
"Trying to survive a fatal onset of boredom," Jas replied. "It was working there for a moment, but then you guys stopped."
"Eh." the drow on the other side of the fence shrugged, "believe me, all those drills are just as boring. Anyways, I'd rather be the one sitting on the other side of this fence," he joked.
"Anyways, I'm Tengen. We just had to move here because someone was stealing from the coffers and had to removed, so here I am."
The boys eyed each other for a moment. Tengen had not given many details, but Jas got the point well enough.
"Anyways, I know who you are. You're the noble that lives down the street with all of them girls. That must be hell," the older boy continued, looking a bit jealous even though his statement and tone said otherwise.
Jas snickered, mostly at Tengen's overuse of the word ‘anyways'. Actually with all the noise and chaos in such close quarters as the small complex afforded, he tended to fade into the background unless he drew attention to himself by doing something stupid. "Its not all bad, but it can get annoying sometimes. And boring," he added as an afterthought.
Tengen looked over his shoulder in response to a voice floating from the open door behind him. His trainer was looking for him.
"Well, I probably will be out here around this time everyday, so if your bored again.." He trailed off, looking again over his shoulder.
"I've got to go," he pronounced importantly, and ran off, leaving Jas to once again cope with the lack of entertainment that seemed a hallmark of his days.

*** ***

For weeks now, Jas had been a regular feature at Tengen's practice sessions, sitting in the spot with the best view, right outside the fence. He had gotten comfortable enough to even bring a few snacks along for the daily show. He didn't really think Tengen was that good with handling his weapon, and the older boy's lack of enthusiasm for the exercise tended to get him yelled at frequently by his frustrated trainer. This took nothing away from Jas's enjoyment of the spectacle, if anything it made it more worth the watch. Jas definitely knew he could do better if given a chance. But, he tended to be the last thing on his mother's mind at any given time, and his future had been left on the wayside for more pressing family matters, so he sometimes despaired that he would ever get to do something, anything, except for sit around and watch the world go by.
One day, after Tengen had been especially distracted, his trainer had had enough, and dismissed the boy early. Tengen made off as fast as he could, knowing full well that he would catch it later from his own mother, but for now enjoying the unexpected respite from something he really would rather not be doing. His instructor, whose name Jas had overhead to be Qual'indo, having noticed Jas's perpetual presence, wandered over to the fence.
"Enjoying yourself?" he inquired, one eyebrow raising. "Don't you have anything else to do?"
"Not particularly," Jas answered, not reacting to the subtle dismissal. "I'd rather be doing than watching, but I can't do much about that. And I bet I could whip Tengen's butt just from what I've picked up watching. But, I tend to be the last thing in my house that any one wants to spend any money on."
Too late, Jas realized he probably should not have revealed that information, not good to let anyone lower than you know any weaknesses, but the damage was done. And Qual'indro saw the opportunity to add a noble student to his lineup of commoner students, thus increasing his status and profit potential, and jumped on it.
Affecting an appearance of bored disinterest, he said, in an offhand way, "Well, normally my price is 4 silver, but I might think about cutting that in half if I train you at the same time." Qual'indro thought it would be interesting to have a student who was there because he wanted to be there, and not because he had to on threat of pain, for once. It also might motivate Tengen somewhat to have someone his own age to spar with, instead of wasting the teacher's time and patience.
The price, even halved, was still twice as much as Jas was allowed in a week, but he was already thinking of ways to make it work. He wouldn't have to take a lesson every week, maybe not even every other week if he still wanted some money for things like wood and the frozen sweet lakeweed dish he indulged in from time to time. Qual'indro could almost see the wheels in the young boy's mind turning, so he just told him to let him know, and walked back into the shop complex.
Jas wandered slowly home in a semi-daze still trying to work out all the details, including how to approach the matter with his mother. Although he was so very proud of her, and she occasionally deigned to give him some slight attention, approaching her without being called directly, was still very intimidating. But, the chance to finally have something to do, a purpose other than a game only he really knew, was too much to resist. This could finally be his chance to be a real contributing member of the household.

*** ***

Jas had been training with Tengen and Qual'indro for three years now. His mother had readily agreed to the training, not even asking him to give up his small allowance, knowing she had no males to spare for his training. His father was certainly no help, being pretty much good at only one thing: making female babies, although his prowess there was certainly star material. Although he had no striking talent for the physical attributes of swordplay, he was no klutz either and had progressed at an average rate. He had easily surpassed Tengen's poorly motivated efforts, however, he wasn't as quick as he would like sometimes and flexibility was not on his side, either. Once he had mastered the basics to a certain degree and could concentrate on something more than pure movement, he then realized it had a certain affinity to his game of chess. He'd never be able to explain it to another person, but somehow it all tied in together in a similar way. Although his game had many more pieces than individual combat would have, the basic drow body could only move in so many set ways, even further limited by accepted weapons and means of fighting. And there were only so many combinations of patterns… Furthermore, he was able to extend his dillettante talent of apparent clairvoyance to the art of swordplay. He was usually able to predict, after a few moments of individual combat, what his opponent was likely to do based on their general personality and style, and set up fairly elaborate and effective counters to their defense. Fortunately, training with Qual'indro meant he had a chance to practice occasionally on students besides lazy Tengen, although none were nobles like himself. Qual'indro would often have more students than hours available in a day, and used the random pairings as a way to fit them all in, while using the benefits of variety to his advantage as well.
Of course, there would always be some certain exceptions to the rules, people with a sense of humor like his mother for instance, who had taken down her first house with basically a series of glorified stink bombs. And there were people like Tengen, who was more likely to use methods such as whining or bribes to get out of anything having to do with fighting. Half way through a sparring session, he'd simply drop his sparring poles and go get water, thereby ruining any elaborate transit strategy Jas was testing out on his unsuspecting cohort.
Previously cherished objects such as chess pieces and boards gathered dust as Jas spent long hours instead of with his new found game, practicing the physical movements that tended to be his only bar to perfection, training his body to keep up with his mental blueprints. Even more time was dedicated to intellectually working through various combat scenarios, what-if's and the like, replacing the patterns that once stood upon the polished chessboards. If nothing else, boredom was no longer an issue. And day by day his ‘game' improved.

** **

Approximately three months before his twentieth birthday, Tengen came out to the yard in an especially foul mood. After a frustrating practice, in which Qual'indro pretty much ordered the older youth to sit and watch Jas and himself spar halfway through the session, Jas grabbed Tengen by the arm before he could flee through the door into the shop. Normally the two were not allowed to mingle, as Jas's mother did not wish others to think that their house was actually affiliated with the merchant, that type of privilege came at a price, of course. But, Jas could tell that something was bothering him more than the usual dislike of anything remotely physically demanding.
After making sure Qual'indro stalked down the street aways, out of their hearing range, Jas demanded to know what was up with the extra bad attitude Tengen had today. At first resisting, telling Jas it wasn't really his business, he easily relented, really wanting to talk to someone whose personal interest wasn't tied to his lack of skill.
"They're all making me go to the academy, even though I pretty much proved I suck." Jas wondered who exactly ‘all' could be, since as far as he had seen, Tengen only had his mother to boss him around. "And I have to leave in just a month, and I already hate it, and.."
While Tengen gushed on and on about everything that could possibly be wrong with going the Academy, Jas tuned him out as he often did, as always regretting that he had asked in the first place. If Tengen could fight even half as well as he could chatter, he'd be best in the world, Jas decided. But when the older drow threw in the fact that his mother kept badgering him about why he couldn't be more like Jas, and how Qual'indro had said Jas was likely to do very well himself in the academy, most of this said in the same breath as three completely unrelated topics, it caught his full attention.
"Wait a minute, shut up," Jas interrupted. Tengen rolled his eyes at the interruption, not willingly giving up his one sided conversation. "They said I was good, I was going to the Academy too?"
Tengen heaved an impatient sigh. "Well, of course, you're a noble, of course you're better than me, but you‘re not old enough yet anyways."
"Uh, I'm not necessarily better than you because I'm a noble."
"That's not what I meant, I mean you HAVE to go because you're a noble." Tengen rolled his eyes again as if Jas was the one not making any sense.
"Whatever. What exactly do you want to do with yourself if you didn't go to the Academy anyways? It's not like you really have anything else to do either.." Jas retorted.
"Go find a rich Matron and let her support me?" Tengen replied, pouting. Jas was right of course, Tengen pretty much didn‘t like to work, period, but he didn‘t like having it pointed out either.
"Oh yeah, that's some goal," Jas said sarcastically, gathering up his discarded plain piwafwi and taking his leave.
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Jas