Vanilla #10 - Phobias
Author: Wang Xi-feng
Story: Stand and Deliver!
Flavor: Vanilla
Rating: PG (language)
Word Count: 1,075
Summary: The hajduki are not quite like Stojna's fantasies.
There was nothing in the world that Stojna liked better than being in the hajduk’s nest, even if settling in had been a little more difficult than she’d anticipated. For one thing, the swarms of children who often followed the hajduki were apparently so ordinary and commonplace that her presence was not even noticed at first, and she not-infrequently received a cuff or a scowl if she tried to introduce herself into their councils. How That Nastrántsy Asshole, as she thought of Lukánsky, thought they were supposed to learn anything worth knowing without being able to sit in on the adults’ conversations, Stojna was sure she didn’t know. For another thing, Stefan Smirtko’s outfit was presently living in a cave, and squirming in and out of the passages and shafts was rather difficult.
It was just a matter of time, in any case. They would realize soon enough that she could be trusted, and at this point Stojna would fantasize about all the adventures they’d have together. Inevitably, one of the harried-looking women who followed the hajduki would shake her roughly and tell her not to drop the soup pot, or not to daydream while she cut things. As this usually came right at the point in Stojna’s daydream where the men realized that she was the great hajduk Stojna Markojvic who had held up the Prince Palatine’s carriage, the encroachments of reality were extremely unwelcome.
“Here,” the pale, sharp-faced woman said. She had long, red hair that was rapidly going grey. “Go take this out to the men.” She thrust a side of roast meat into Stojna’s hands.
Stojna looked down. “Is this it?”
“What do you mean, is that it? It’ll serve fifteen or twenty of them. You’re not the only one taking food out to them. Now get going!” The woman turned Stojna around and gave her a shove in the direction of the chamber where dinner was routinely served. As soon as she was sure that the woman was out of eyeshot, Stojna bared her teeth and hissed at her backside. Her discomfiture was complete when she picked her way through a narrow path into the chamber where the men ate, only to find that someone else had already brought Smirtko his meat.
At the rate they were going, she’d never get anywhere Smirtko, let alone reveal her own storied life as a hajduk who was surely his equal. Frowning, Stojna stomped circles around several of the clumps of hajduki who crouched here and there, eating, only to find that someone had beaten her to them. Now that she thought about it, none of the old stories mentioned this, though she supposed someone had to bring the great hajduki their dinner after they were done robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. When she was a hajduk, she was going to make Barto and Hristo bring her dinner. She’d have smarter henchmen who wouldn’t rat them all out to Lukánsky.
Lost in her thoughts, Stojna almost jumped when something brushed her face, and then ducked when she felt it touch her hair, nearly dropping the meat. A man’s voice said, “What the fuck--?”. When Stojna looked up, there were black shapes fluttering and beating their wings in the dim light, and she watched them, amazed, for a minute, before someone else screamed.
“BATS!” It was one of the younger hajduki, a blond, freckle-faced young man, and his eyes were wide in abject terror. As the other men tried to chase the bats away with varying degrees of success, he ducked, hitting the floor abruptly, hands scrabbling madly in the air above his head. Stojna watched, rapt, until she felt the patter of wings above her own head, just brushing her hair, and then she shrieked despite herself and joined him on the ground. There were bats near Starovek, of course; she had seen them in flight and heard their noises many times, but one had never actually touched her.
On the ground next to the gibbering hajduk, she sneaked a look at his face - it was pale under the freckles, and he was sweating profusely and mumbling to himself. When Stojna listened more closely, she heard the words of a prayer, and she was torn between feeling sorry for him and wondering how such a coward had ever managed to become a hajduk. “Get up,” she whispered to him; she could still hear the sounds of the men as they attempted to shoo the bats, and the beating of wings overhead, but now that she knew what it was, she felt a little braver. Rising to a crouch, she shook his shoulder. “Come on, get up.”
The young man looked up at her dubiously. He barely moved his lips as he said, “Are they gone yet?”
“I don’t think so. It’s all right, though. We’ll get them out of here.” Stojna rose to her feet and, as one of the bats drew nearer, tried to imitate what she had seen the men do. It was only an indifferent success; the bat abandoned its beeline straight for her, but she couldn’t quite make contact with it and it altered its course. “Come on, it’s all right.”
Hunched on the ground, the young man shook his head vigorously. “You don’t understand.”
“They’re only bats, silly,” Stojna said, swatting at another bat, which flew around her rather than make contact with her hand. “They’re more afraid of you than you are of them.” She reached down to shake him again. “Come on, it’s all right.” He remained on the ground; given that it was made of solid rock, Stojna couldn’t imagine that it was at all comfortable. She kept trying to shake him, but he refused to get up, and finally, she stamped her foot in frustration. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Oh, Anastko?” one of the older hajduki said. “He’s a pussy.” There was coarse laughter as the last of the bats flew through an opening in the ceiling of the chamber. Anastko finally got to his feet, dusting himself off and touching his hair carefully, as if he wasn’t sure that the bats were really gone. He was still pale and sweaty, and it looked almost like he had been on the verge of tears.
Stojna was inclined to agree that he was a pussy, but when she sneaked another glance at his distressed face, she wasn’t so sure.