Dawn woke up in the morning and did her usual routine. However, she decided to leave her baby with Mabel when she headed to the meadows. She brought nothing but a torch to light the way. Rock and Sun were at the meadows, training with their goblins. They thrust wooden sticks in a line while counting in unison. Rock stood side by side with them doing the same thing while Sun leads the counting. Dawn walked towards them, waving at Rock. "Good morning." She told Sun.
"Good morning," Sun smiled back, "Where"s the baby?"
"Baby with Mabel, still need sleep."
Sun nodded and continued counting. "Can Dawn join line?" Dawn asked.
Sun looked at her perplexed. He hesitated to answer, "Sure, here you go." He handed her a stick similar to the ones the men were using but smaller. She stood two rows away from Rock. The two would occasionally glance at one another. After ten minutes of thrusting the spear, the goblins cleaned up and got ready for their morning jog. They brought a bag of warm water to hydrate themselves and replaced their thicker coats with thinner, lighter ones.
Rock handed Dawn one of the specially made clothes to her. She hid behind Rock to change. Once everyone was finished, they got into their groups and jogged. Rock and his group led the way while Sun stayed behind the pack catching those that fell behind.
They run around town through the snow, and in between the giant walls of piled up snow. Goblins around town waved at them as they pa.s.s by. Meanwhile, the rising sun warmed the sweat-covered goblins.
Dawn was running with Rock and his group. She watched while Rock throw punches as he runs. Then he would bob his head left and right before throwing uppercuts. Rock repeats this cycle often during their jog. "Why do that?" Dawn asked.
"I"m doing it to train my footwork and breathing—the two things I need to get stronger. Oh, I meant to ask you this for the longest time. How did you beat Sum? What was that punch you did?"
"Dawn only beat Sum because Rock beat Sum. And punch no name but Sum learn punch watching fish fly."
"Oh, do you think I can learn it?"
"Dawn think so. Dawn no how punch work. Dawn teach Rock if Rock teach, um, "civil" talking."
Rock smiled, "Tonight is ok?" Dawn nodded, "Then, that"s a date!"
The two continued to jog around the town. Rock slowly lost his position as the leader because he kept his speed at a similar pace to Dawn. "Why you no punch Sum"s crotch?" Dawn asked out of the blue.
"Wha?" Rock responded perplexed. "Well, I guess its because if I don"t want that to happen to me, I won"t do it to someone else. Also, Sun beat me without doing anything like that. If he could beat someone twice his size and enraged without underhanded tactics, then there is no reason why I couldn"t. But still, I lost to Sum, and my fight with Tama was one-sided. I have a long way to go." Rock clenched his right fist. His eyes were burning with pa.s.sion.
Eventually, Dawn"s stamina ran out. She struggled to catch up with Rock and his group. Not wanting to hold him back, Dawn told Rock to go on ahead. As time goes on, more and more goblins pa.s.s her by until Sun"s group caught up with her. At that point, Dawn regained some of her energy and maintained a steady pace alongside Sun.
Sun was impressed with Dawn"s dedication. He usually has to yell at the goblins falling behind to keep going, but she picked herself up on her own. "It seems like you still got energy on your legs!" Sun exclaimed.
"Yes! Dawn can run more."
Ahead of them was a goblin from the group further ahead lying on his back. Sun yelled at the goblin to get back up and run. The goblin jumped up and ran ahead. "Dawn, can I ask you something?"
"What is?
"What"s your opinion of Rock? Do you like him?"
Dawn was concerned about Sun"s questions. "Why Sun ask?"
"This was the first time any of my brothers fell in love. I just want to make sure that whatever happens in the future, he will still stay the same. I guess what I"m trying to say is, please be gentle with him. Whatever feeling you have for him may be, I don"t want him to get hurt. Sticks and stones may break his bones, but the person you love not loving you back is far more dangerous than any weapon. You should know what I mean, right?"
"Yes, Dawn knows well." Dawn looked down, thinking about all the lies that wrapped around her. She knows how it feels to love someone that doesn"t love you back. "Dawn not know if love Rock. But Dawn know not want to hurt Rock. That all Dawn can say right now."
"Thanks, that"s all I need."
"Sun cares for brothers lots."
"Of course!" Sun smiled back.
After a half an hour of jogging, they finally stopped after encircling the town. The goblins walked to the main square to get their morning ration and then attend to their a.s.signed duties. Dawn returned to Mabel and her baby. Mabel got her morning ration while she was gone.
She and the rest of the mothers walked towards the western fences to eat their breakfast and to let the children play. On the way, they saw Stick and his followers carrying bundles of ropes and sticks. They were heading to the eastern wall with the supplies to upgrade the wall. Some of the goblins that went out to hunt saw them digging a large ditch in front of the wall with pointy sticks on the bottom. The hunters mocked the ditch. Trolls were so tall that they could walk over the holes to reach the wall, but the goblins that once followed Cala knew how dreadful the trench could be. One wrong step and a troll could trip and fall down the pit with spikes in the bottom, waiting for it to crash on them.
Stick greeted the mothers on the way. Behind Stick was Mist sulking. Rumors had it that she confessed her feelings to the Chief, but he declined her offer. That rumored poked Dawn"s curiosity. Cala immediately used his power to have his way with every goblin women he found attractive in the tribe.
Meanwhile, Sun has yet to abuse his power. At first, Dawn thought Sun was queer, but he didn"t force himself on the goblin men. But the more she thought about it, Rock also has considerable power over the tribe, just like Tama did. Yet he chose her over the others—an old mother of one.
The more she thinks about it, the more confused she gets. Suddenly, her train of thought stopped. "So, how Rock?" Mabel asked.
"He good."
"Oh," Mabel exclaimed, "Good, Dawn said. That why Dawn sweaty?"
After a few seconds, Dawn finally realized what Mabel meant. "What?" Dawn got fl.u.s.tered, "No, Dawn and Rock no do that! Dawn just run with Rock."
"Oh sure. Mabel believes." She said sarcastically.