Posted by When Kara had first showed up in front of Aker’s cell door, he was more annoyed than anything else. He, who was focused on his survival, on getting stronger and getting revenge didn’t want to be bothered. Of course, he was both happy and gratified to hear that she was saved because of him even when he didn’t understand how that happened it didn’t change the fact that he wanted to be left alone.
As Aker’s days became weeks and his weeks became months his impression of Kara changed drastically. As time progressed and he began to come to terms with his predicament, namely that The Pit was for the foreseeable future his home, he started to view Kara as a friend….No, a best friend.
In The Pit other than Kara there were no other kids running around. Even when he would practice in the kitchen all of the other apprentices were much older with the next youngest being in his late teens.
Wouldn’t that be at what would be expected though? Who would think that there would even be a single kid in The Pit much less two or more?
Due to Aker’s and Kara’s growing influence in the medic station the workers and the people around The Pit had started to forget that the two of them were just kids, one of them was even trapped and condemned.
If it wasn’t for their “challenges” to each other everyone would basically consider Aker a high-level doctor who happened to have to fight in The Pit. However, due to the challenges between the two of them everyone would be reminded that they were not grown up yet…they were far from grown up.
Initially it started innocently enough. Kara was struggling with putting a needle in the arm of a patient while she was assisting Aker. This was her first time going from the book to a person and she was nervous and scared she was going to hurt them. She didn’t have the advantage that Aker had with his visualization. Before Aker performed his first medical action, he had already practiced dozens even hundreds of times in his head which allowed for an almost seamless transition.
In order to calm her nerves and to show her that it would be fine even if she made a mistake Aker did the needle work but instead of showing her how to do it right…. he showed her how many times he could mess up before the patient got upset. Over and over again he poked that needle into the fighter, each time apologizing a genuine “please forgive me” look left the fighter no option but to say it was fine.
After “missing” the vein in the left arm half a dozen times Aker explained that he would have to try the right arm wherein he “missed” another half dozen times.
Clearly the “patient” was frustrated and gritting their teeth but Aker simply apologized and continued on. All the while Kara stood behind the patient trying her hardest to hold in the laughter as Aker punished this patient. As she watched Aker “mess up” over and over and apologize over and over the concern and worry she had melted away.
Finally, when Aker was on the patient’s right leg still “trying to find a vein” the fighter had enough and was seriously losing his temper….
“If you can’t do the job you shouldn’t be in here! All anyone has talked about was this Little Life Doctor, everyone told me if you’re not feeling well go see Little Life Doctor! I waited two days to be poked and prodded, it’s lies all lies, go ahead and tell me……you don’t really know what your doing do you!?”
Sensing that this patient had enough Aker gently and quickly inserted the needle while the patient was getting ready to throw a fit. Watching a muscular and bearded man with a scar starting from his temple and running down the side of his face and into his neck throw a fit made Kara laugh out loud. She couldn’t contain it any longer.
As Kara laughed Aker glared at her as if though to tell her to knock it off. He was only doing this to ease her tension and show that minor mistakes weren’t a big issue, but she was mocking and laughing at this big scary guy, didn’t she know that this guy could end her in a second if he wanted too?
Just as Aker suspected the scary scarred man’s face went red and he was about to explode on them so Aker swiftly called out “All done, your veins have been damaged due all of your excessive fighting so I went through and repaired them. I understand it was painful and a bit rough which is why I did all of your arms and legs and pretended like I couldn’t find the vein. I needed you relaxed and calm and if I told you what I was doing you would have tensed up.”
Aker’s face was solemn and gave of the light of a savior. Instantly the man’s face turned a different shade of red due to his embarrassment.
‘This kid was doing all of this for my benefit, he apologized to me countless times, helped me to fix my veins and in return I yelled at him and was about to lose my temper….ahhhhhhhhh….how can I call myself a man after getting angry at these two?’
He was ashamed of himself that he could lose his temper at some small kids, what kind of grown man could actually lose their cool like that?
“I-I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lost my temper. Thank you for taking care of me.” Aker couldn’t help but notice that as the man spoke, he was slightly tilting his head down out shame and embarrassment.
Seeing this big rough and mean fighter like this Aker felt slightly embarrassed and looked up and glared at Kara again. She was the one who made him do this in the first place. Then she laughed and made Aker make up a total lie making this guy feel guilty. Kara who saw all of it happen and saw the angry look on Aker’s face had a tear pooling up at the side of her eye, she wanted to laugh so badly. In her whole life this may be the funniest moment and she had to do everything possible to not laugh, it was a form of torture.
Seeing Kara’s face go red trying to hold in the laughter Aker couldn’t help but laugh himself, she looked ridiculous her shoulders bouncing up and down, the tear in her eye and the “hmmp…hmmp” sound she was making trying to hold in her laughter.
“I understand if I was in your position, I would have responded the same way. Come see me again in a couple of days but until then you should start to feel better in a few hours.” Aker tried to cover his laughing by talking with the patient and explaining, he was also trying to get them out of their as soon as possible.
Confused the patient got up and walked away, admittedly the patient already felt better so he quickly put the whole incident behind him. A couple of days later he was doing so much better and would be one of the biggest advocates for how great the Little Life Doctor was……the treatments were strange but they worked is what he would tell everyone.
After Aker’s demonstration Kara had no problems working in the medic station and jumped right in. Of course, she would make mistakes and of course Aker would come over to the rescue and show her how to do whatever it was she was struggling with.
It was at the forge that the “challenges” began. While Aker was hammering away at his metal he would listen to the sound of his “clank” “clank” “clank” and focus on how hard he was swinging his hammer, where he was aiming and the angles he was hitting at.
Suddenly as he was swinging, he heard a “clonk” “clonk” “clonk” ring out. The sound threw off his rhythm completely. Stopping his hammering and looking around Aker couldn’t see anyone else within the forge working so he ignored the sound and continued on. Just as before the sound of “clonk” “clonk” “clonk” rang out through the forge. This time Aker put down his hammer and started looking around, he had seen Kara but she was sitting at the work table minding her own business as she read her medical book. Aker proceeded to look through the forge before turning to Mavis “Master Mavis it is too hard to find my rhythm when you are making swings at the same time as my swing. If you can’t hold off can you at least time so it is isn’t in rhythm with me?”
Master Mavis was left dumbfounded. He had been enthralled with Aker’s hammer swing and wasn’t paying attention but he wasn’t the source of the sound either “Oi…oi….ya best be swingin yer hammer and not payin attention to all the other sounds anyways. You think in a normal forge ya be the only one swingin away? Now get back to it.”
Mavis rather than deny it was him just proceeded to use it as a learning lesson.
After the fourth day of “clonk” “clonk” “clonk” Aker had figured out it was Kara using a metal pipe she would bang against another metal pipe. She who would act completely innocent and blame free was busted red handed and upon getting caught couldn’t refrain from laughing madly at Aker.
Inside the kitchen Aker located where Kara was cooking and practicing. Kara took her cooking extremely serious as when she was sick, she felt as if though it was one of the few abilities she actually had. Just as Aker would focus on his hammer and metal in the forge Kara would lose herself in her cooking.
Aker was roughly 10 paces away from Kara’s station after it was moved. As she was trying to make a rather complicated sauté, she would have two pots simmering. After each of them hardened she had to mix them together and then simmer to blend the flavors. Once the two flavors simmered together it produced a sweet and delicate sauce that was perfect for deserts. Each time she would turn around Aker would run over and secretly put some powder he had ground up. The powder was a combination that Aker had invented as he was experimenting that due to its makeup was exceptionally sour and bitter.
For days Kara would try her sauce and find herself sticking out her tongue and drinking water to wash away the bitter taste.
When Kara discovered that her sweet desert was being sabotaged by Aker, she got so mad she didn’t talk to him for a whole day. She was nearly driven mad trying to figure out where she was going wrong and how it was even possible for the combinations she was using to produce such an awful and bitter taste.
It didn’t take long before Aker and Kara’s antics were known by everyone around as they continued to challenge each other and cause mischief. It wasn’t long until the mischief between the two of them began spilling over to others. To Vance it felt like he was apologizing for one or both of them on a weekly basis. He would scold the two of them and both would just blame it on the other driving Vance mad.
Mavis would always tell Vance kids would be kids until his forge caught on fire due to their shenanigans at which point, he was standing in front of Vance yelling asking how he was training his disciple and demanding Aker to be reined in.
As the months rolled by Aker and Kara became each other’s only friend. Kara was always cognizant of the fact that despite their joking and laughing together Aker was still a prisoner of The Pit. Even if they were giving each other a hard time in the morning, that evening Aker would stand before hundreds of thousands of people with a sword in his hand as he faced off against some unknown foe.
When Aker was practicing, when he was focusing, when he was training Kara kept quiet and would never do anything that would interfere. It was his practice and his training that would ultimately keep Aker alive and she would never do anything that jeopardized her best friend.