Jon’s arm and head and pillow were hanging over the side of the bed when he woke up to see the floor before him.

He groaned and stretched. Looking up, it seemed to be sunrise.

Jon stretched and groaned again. He felt cramped, and didn't want to stay in bed, so he got up and went through his bag to find a change of clothes.

He saw what he thought were the black pair of overalls that Mercy made him. He tugged on the pants leg and brought out what was a regular pair of pants.

Oh. The pants were made of the same fabric as the overalls. Some more digging through his bag found that the black pair of overalls were also in the bag. Mercy must have made him an extra pair of pants. Maybe there was more stuff he wasn’t aware of.

Hmmm… feeling curious, Jon threw on the black pants with the orange plaid shirt. Like before, the fabric feels nice and cool on his skin. It did feel a little weird to not have anything over his shoulders, but he felt like being “free” today.

Free. Jon decided to decide what “free” meant. He decided to take a walk outside of the building and maybe mess around on the grass. Being in the library made him more nervous than being outside.

He walked out of his door and saw the gardener tending the grass. Jon waved. Watching the gardener reminded Jon of his father for a moment, if just a miniscule of the idea.

“Hi,” Jon said softly.

The gardener looked up.

“Oh, hi,” he said before quickly returning to the green.

Jon trusted his gut and followed through the doors on the end of the hallway. He kept going through doors until he found a large pair of doors that seemed to lead to the outside.

Yes!

He opened the doors, revealing the outside world to the library.

He immediately heard some clanking metal before Hector rushed past him.

“Hi, Jon!”

Jon leaned out of the doorway, watching Hector jog down the large green of the central plaza.

“Hi, Jon!”

Mallory slowed to a stop next to Jon, and bowed over, holding on to legs and taking deep breaths.

“Running?” Jon asked.

“Laps… laps!” Mallory forced himself up. “We’re…”

“We’re doing laps, Jon!” Hector stopped next to them, then jogged in place. “You want to join us?”

“Yeah!” Jon nodded.

“Alright. We’re doing two sets of jogs,” Hector said. “One with magical items, and one without.”

“I don’t have magical items, man!” Mallory said through his shallow breath. “I am magical! I’m only doing one!”

He bowed over again.

“Does it make a difference?” Jon asked, pulling his gun off of his back and looking at it.

“I don’t know,” Hector said. “I wanted to try it out. We should probably take a break but do you want to run?”

Jon nodded. “How many?”

“As many as you can,” Hector said. “Or rather, just start with one.”

Jon started to run.

“Wait!”

Jon stopped and moved backwards back to Hector.

“I wanted to make this a little measured.” Hector began. “I, uh, since I’m gonna be training the others… I figured I should start training myself, so I can get a feel of things.

“And…” Mallory added.

“And… would you mind if I worked with you this morning?”

Jon was already ready to start running. He was prepared to start working out with Hector. It was a little odd that he felt the need to ask him.

“Sure.” Jon said with a small shrug. Being asked did make Jon feel better.

“Okay. Um…” Hector scratched his chin. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I want to test how well you run both with and without the gun. I’ve been meaning to do the same thing myself, but-”

“The man wants to run, let ‘em run!” Mallory demanded.

Hector sighed. “Alright, Jon. First, I’ll lead you through some stretches.”

Stretches?

“Yeah. It’s good to stretch, especially since we won’t be-”

Hector stopped himself as he watched Jon begin to stretch his legs. Jon mimicked what Tallow had shown him, stepping forward and leaning weight over to one leg.

“Oh. Well, okay. I’ll let you finish then.”

After Jon went through the few stretches he could remember, he turned back to Hector.

“Sure. Okay then. Can you do one lap around?” Hector asked. “Without the gun?”

Jon nodded. He took off the gun and held it out to Hector. Hector reached out to grab it, then Jon pulled it out of his reach.

“Sorry,” Jon said. He walked over and tossed it to Mallory’s side.

“Nice shirt by the way,” Mallory said.

Jon nodded, then he jogged down the side of the plaza.

He kept going until he came around back to Hector and Mallory.

He went down the sides of the green, a little afraid to be leaving his friends, but he knew that he would see them soon.

When he came around again, he stopped and jogged in place like Hector did. Hector was watching Jon with his arms crossed, and Mallory had taken a seat.

“How was that?” Jon asked.

“That was actually pretty decent,” Hector said with his eyes raised. “I mean, that should be obvious, but… do you do a lot of running on the farm?”

“I do a lot of running behind you,” Jon answered, stopping his jog.

Mallory dropped onto his back and his limbs flailed while he laughed.

Hector turned red.

“I see. Can you do a lap with your gun now?”

Jon nodded. He walked up and grabbed his gun. He felt a shiver run through his body.

He didn’t even put the gun on his back. He held the gun in his hand by its barrel as he started to run his lap.

Jon felt the same anxieties, but they didn’t weigh him down as much. It felt like the plaza went by faster than the first time.

When he was back, he got an assured nod from Hector.

“Yep. Your time was better.” Hector nodded. “Okay. Now I want you to run again, without your gun.”

“How many?” Jon asked.

“As many as you feel like without hurting yourself,” Hector said. “Until you’re tired.”

“Alright.” Jon ran off again.

Jon might have been nervous of the peer size of the plaza at one point, but here, there was no need to haste. There was no dangerous thing he needed to evade, or somebody who needed his help at the other end of the line.

Still, Jon felt a little bit of guilt. He couldn’t help but feel like there was something on his heels. A need to get faster. To get better. To do more than what he could do now.

He kept running and running until he felt his legs straining. He had counted up to 5 laps then lost count. He could have forced himself to keep going, but he heeded Hector’s advice and slowed down once he returned to his friends.

“Okay. 8 laps.” Hector pointed at Jon’s gun. “Run the same amount while holding the gun at your side.

Jon was tired, but he went and grabbed his gun regardless. Again, a shiver. He felt his breathing become a little less labored.

“Ready?” Hector asked.

Jon did two more laps. He was still tied, but he was able to push through. Holding the gun gave him just the extra bit of edge he needed.

“Hmm…” When Jon came back around, he took his seat next to Mallory.

“Did you eat?” Hector asked him.

“No,” Jon answered.

“Alright. I’m gonna do some more laps without the armor, then I’ll come in for breakfast.” Hector reached down and clicked his waist. The top and bottom of the armor deflated, the top half splitting down to become a jacket, and the bottom crinkling up into a pair of golden leather pants.

Oh. Jon didn’t know Hector’s pants did that.

Hector tossed his jacket on the ground near Jon, then he went off running.

Jon and Mallory watched Hector go on running.

“You know, I think Hector doesn’t mind doing something physical that doesn’t include fighting,” Mallory said to Jon.

Jon nodded.

Mallory sighed and stood up. “I’ll join you inside for a second.”

When Hector passed by again, Mallory followed after him.

When Jon got his breath again, he waited until they came around and he joined them.

The sun had raised over whatever horizon it needed to at that point, and the sky was fully bright. The three of them jogged around the plaza. Jon didn’t keep track of how many times they passed. Eventually, Jon and Mallory both walked to the long door and sat down, trying to catch their breaths.

Hector finally came back around after a few more laps.

“That was… good,” Hector said. Even he had trouble standing up. “I could have done more if you guys didn’t-”

“Shut up and come in for breakfast!” Mallory yelled.

Hector led the three of them in the library, then towards the dining area.