Shorter Than Me

4 Ecyn

"Hello, Guiin." Captain Zebbo smiles at me.

"Hello, sir."

"What have you and Ackerman been doing recently?"

"Well, sir, he kind of just leaves me in the forest alone." He looks confused, so I continue. "This past week. Before that, we were doing maneuvers. Pretty much just using the maneuver gear."

"You know how to ride a horse?"

"Yes, sir."

"We'll go to the forest then." He walks to the stable. Briine and I follow. I notice Captain Levi's horse is missing from his stall. I take my horse out and put the saddle on her. Briine has a black horse and Captain Zebbo has a brown one. We lead them outside and mount them. I've perfected my independent mounting, so I barely struggle today. We ride into the forest and Captain Zebbo attempts to make conversation, which is hard with galloping horses. He gives up after a minute and we ride in the familiar silence. He slows, and Briine and I slow down behind him. We activate the maneuver gear and rise to the middle level of the trees.

"I'm just going to continue with what Atkins and I have been doing and you can participate."

Atkins is Briine's last name. I didn't mention it earlier, so you don't know it. But now you do. So yay.

I nod in understanding.

We start, and it doesn't take very long for me to realize that Captain Zebbo has an extremely different idea on how to teach things to people. He takes a few minutes explaining something I'm still confused about, but when we try it, I realize how it's done. He's very quick to praise, also unlike Captain Levi. I can tell he's slightly impressed by my progress and my ability to apprehend the information.

He goes really slowly and I find myself missing Captain Levi's faster pace and slightly angry demeanor.

I only have four days of this. I can last.

I actually do learn something, slowly, and I get to practice with the maneuver gear. Though we don't use the blades.