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She was all Claire had, that much she knew.
Jodie was the only friend Claire had back when the two lived in Brightport, and despite their brief separation, that was a bond that stuck.
It had started in junior year of high school, when Jodie saw a new kid sitting alone at lunch, clad in a hoodie and baggy pants. Jodie couldn't let this stand, so she approached, and sat in the adjacent seat when no objection was made.
"Hey there! Don't think I've seen you around before," Jodie greeted.
"Hmm? Oh, uh, yeah. I'm new around here," replied the new kid.
"Well, welcome to Brightport Middle/High!" the tiger said enthusiastically. "My name's Jodie."
"Collin," he said, seeming to wince a little. "Collin Higsby."
The bovine freshman didn't quite seem to know how to respond to Jodie's welcome, and went back to eating his lunch. Jodie noticed this, and immediately acted on her growing concern.
"What's wrong, Collin?" she asked.
Collin made a face. It looked like a mix of confusion, discomfort, and fear that Jodie tried to back down from at first. "I mean, it's cool if you don't wanna answer, I know we just met--"
"No, no, it's... fine? Just... not used to. This," Collin muttered.
"This what?"
"Just the whole... welcoming thing? Is this something people do often at this school?" he puzzled. "Am I gonna have to do this too when I see a new kid?"
"Well, no..." Jodie said, scratching the back of her head. "I just saw you were alone, and I didn't like it."
Collin blinked a couple times, as if he were struggling to believe the matter-of-factness of Jodie's statement. "Well, you... probably wouldn't wanna hang out with some... nerdy wannabe adventurer," he finally said, finishing his lunch. He was about to get up when Jodie piped up.
"You wanna be an adventurer too?"
Collin looked at Jodie, surprised for a moment before replying. "Well, yeah, but you're built way better for it."
"I mean, it's not all tough and rumble out there," retorted Jodie. "There's healers and witches, and, uh... well, I'm not the most well-read on magic, but... yeah."
There was a moment of silence before Collin shuffled a bit closer to Jodie. "I... I wanna do magic."
"Hell yeah," Jodie simply said.
From there, after finding out they shared a couple of classes despite being two grades apart, the two slowly but surely became friends. During lunch breaks and after school, Jodie would look for Collin, and strike up a conversation or two about adventuring. They weren't the longest-lasting discussions at first, but Jodie was determined to be a friend to this kid if no one else would.
One day during P.E., some of the other athletes were giving Collin grief, typical jocks-bully-nerd fare that he was apparently used to. Though, he seemed particularly unhappy when they mockingly called him "a big old girl." Jodie didn't like that one bit, and quickly stepped to Collin's defense.
"Mind your own beeswax!" she'd shouted, snatching a library book about magic that one of them had been holding just out of Collin's reach. His short stature made him an easy target on that front. After making a big enough stink about it to catch the coach's attention, Jodie told him that these other students were more focused on Collin's book than the actual exercises at hand. Thankfully, the coach understood plenty, and while the bullies in question were reprimanded, Jodie returned the book to Collin, who looked dumbfounded at what just happened.
Maybe he could let a couple more walls down... and let those walls down, he did.
The two's friendship grew stronger after that. Midway through the school year, the two had become damn near inseparable. Collin stuck to Jodie like glue, and the two's discussions about adventuring had gotten far more detailed as well. Jodie would talk about blacksmithing, and all the different metals and stones and how well they conducted mana, while Collin went on and on about different types of magic, magic classes, and even lesser-known uses of magic, including the production of medicine.
Though, whenever the two had to leave for home, Collin's mood always seemed to plummet. He wouldn't say why, and Jodie just couldn't seem to cheer him up. Even the reassurance that they'd get to talk again tomorrow or Monday next week didn't seem to work.
As the school year started nearing its end, Jodie decided that enough was enough.
"Do you think I could visit you sometime?" Jodie asked.
Collin flinched. "N-No, don't."
"Why not?" Jodie asked, concerned.
The freshman's eyes darted around, his expression hard to get a read on as he struggled to think of a response.
"...Do you think you could visit me?" she asked, hoping to calm him down. To her relief, she succeeded, Collin nodding with a relieved smile.
"Nice! We can keep in contact, then, alright?" Jodie said, holding her phone out towards Collin and showing her handle on the messaging app she used. It was the longest she'd ever seen her friend hesitate on something, but eventually, he pulled a phone out of his hoodie's pocket, and a few moments later, Jodie received a friend request from '@stardust985.' She accepted the request, and saw the profile attached to that handle.
CLAIRE // WANNABE WITCH
- she/her
- magic nerd
- weird cow on the internet
Oh.
A few more pieces of the puzzle had fallen into place. Jodie looked back at her friend. The cow was tense, rubbing the side of her phone case with her finger as she looked up at Jodie anxiously.
The tiger just nodded, and smiled warmly. "Thanks, Claire," she said.
That was the first time she'd ever seen Claire cry.
Eventually, the school year concluded, complete with an end-of-year party to celebrate. Jodie and Claire had fun, of course, even if the latter didn't speak up much during any of the activities taking place. Though, she did clean house at a fighting game that some of the seniors had set up in one of the classrooms, maining a psychic child who was apparently from an RPG that was never localized. Even now, Jodie was seeing sides of Claire that she hadn't before.
The day concluded with an outdoor lunch to celebrate the Summer Solstice while the students waited for their rides home, be it bus or carpool. Even some of the parents joined in, though Jodie couldn't help but notice Claire starting to get worried.
"What's wrong, Claire?" asked Jodie.
"I'm just... n-not ready for the day to end, I guess," Claire said.
Jodie nodded. "Yeah, ain't that the truth... But hey, we can all get some well-earned rest this summer, right?"
"...Right."
Just then, the two heard a voice.
"Collin?"
Jodie didn't recognize it, but Claire did, and her expression dropped like a rock. "That's... my ride. Bye."
She started to walk away, but Jodie stopped her. "Wait! You didn't even finish your pizza yet!"
"I'm sorry, can you toss it for me? I really need to get going."
"Surely your mom will understand--"
"Collin, I'll leave without you if you don't get over here right now."
That got Claire even more frantic. "shitshitshitshitshitshitshit-- I'll talk to you later Jodie!" she said, but before Jodie could respond, Claire had disappeared into the crowd of students from all grades, and a few minutes later, Jodie saw a blue sedan leaving the parking lot. I've got a bad feeling about this, Jodie thought.
About fifteen minutes later, the crowd had thinned out significantly as Jodie's father arrived. Just as she was about to enter the car, though, her father spoke up. "Say, who's your friend there?" he inquired, looking past Jodie. Jodie looked behind herself to see...
"Claire?!"
The cow was in a sorry state, dried tear streaks lining the sides of her face. She clutched her upper arms as she tried and failed to steady her breathing.
"I d-didn't get to my mom's car in time..." Claire choked out.
"She just left you behind?!" Jodie said, incredulously.
"I-I mean, she did s-say she would..." stuttered Claire.
Jodie couldn't believe what she was hearing. A few more pieces had fallen into place, and she didn't know whether to be horrified at what just happened, or pissed off that it did. She decided to focus on that later. "Dad, can Claire stay over tonight?" she asked, desperately.
Her dad just nodded. "Bring her in."
Jodie breathed a sigh of relief as she took Claire's hand, and led her into the backseat of her father's minivan. A smaller voice made itself heard from one of the middle seats.
"You're Claire?" said a much younger tiger girl, who couldn't have been much older than ten or eleven. She leaned out the side of her seat to look back at Claire and Jodie.
Claire simply nodded.
"Jodie's talked about you a few times!" the cub continued. "I'm Orchid."
"She's my little sister," clarified Jodie.
"Call me Smithy," said her father.
Claire just nodded again as she sent a text to her parents.
Jodie rested a hand on her friend's shoulder, hoping to reassure her that things would be okay. If no one else would be Claire's rock, then she would.
Claire stayed at Jodie's place that night, meeting the rest of her family, including Jodie's mother, Jane, and her older brother, Bill, who was by far the tallest member of the family, and the quietest.
"Bill, huh?" Claire had asked.
"Short for Crucible," he'd said.
"Wait, really?"
"Yeeup, dad picked it out," he chuckled. "Mom wouldn't let him name any of their kids after, though."
"That why everyone calls you Bill?" asked Claire.
"Yeeup. People still forget that isn't my real name."
"I think your real name sounds cool."
"Damn straight, it does."
Jodie's family all did their best to be welcoming to Claire, which, judging by her expressions throughout her stay, meant the world to her.
Claire's father came to pick her up the next morning. Jodie tried to object, but Claire was adamant as she exited the house, receiving a stern lecture from her father to not screw up her parents' schedules as the two left.
Regardless, Jodie's family set a precedent, and because of that, Claire visited often during summer break that year, hanging out with Jodie whenever she could. Jodie was always happy to have Claire around, and Claire was glad to have an excuse to get out of the house.
One day when Claire visited, she'd brought something along in her backpack. It was a witch's hat that she'd worn with her costume last Autumn Equinox, though she'd waited until her parents' car was gone to actually show it. Orchid was ecstatic, wanting to roleplay an adventure with her, which Claire happily accepted, and Jodie joined in as well. The three were an intrepid adventuring party with the noble warrior with her trustworthy cardboard sword, Orchid, the trickster witch, Claire, and their knight, Jodie, who would protect them at all costs with a plastic tub lid she used as a shield. Crucible played the part of a big bad monster the trio had to vanquish, until Claire showed him that he didn't have to be that.
The weeks went by, and Claire's visits kept up. Sometimes she'd play with Orchid, other times she'd watch a show about sentient rocks with Jodie and her siblings. On some occasions, she'd just talk with Jodie.
"Hard to find any blacksmiths taking apprentices these days..." Jodie said.
"Is that so?" asked Claire, tilting her head.
"Most of 'em either work solo, or they've already taken on an apprentice."
"Well, I hope you can find one."
"Me too."
Eventually, the next school year started back up. Jodie was a senior, and Claire a sophomore. The pair was still as inseparable as they always were, even if they only had one class together this year. Claire started bringing her witch hat along to school as well, wearing it during the magic history class that she and Jodie shared. Jodie actually had to ask her for help a few times with that class, which Claire gladly did. She clearly ate up any chance she had to flex her knowledge of magic and its uses, and Jodie couldn't appreciate that enough when her focus was mostly on finding a blacksmith to work under.
One day, though, the magic history students had to do a presentation on a subject of their choosing, in the place of a midterm exam. Many of the students' parents were present for it, including Claire's. That was the first time Jodie was able to get a good look at them.
Claire's presentation was about the Goddess Fortuna, the gift of magic, and the start of the Arcane Era.
"You've got this," said Jodie, careful not to say Claire's name, as per a plan they'd discussed prior. Claire nodded, donned her hat, and walked up to the projector screen.
There wasn't a title slide, instead getting right into the history itself.
"About 1,007 years ago, the Goddess Fortuna descended to Reverie to gift the mortals of Reverie magic," she started. "This single act changed life on Reverie forever, as magic sees regular use in all facets of modern life from technology to healthcare."
The presentation progressed through each of the slides as Claire discussed the gods of Reverie, the absence of the Goddess of Magic in most pre-Arcane Era depictions, and theories that scholars have posited as to why Fortuna gave her magic to the mortals in the first place. Some of the slides' formatting was lost in translation from her school laptop to the teacher's computer, but it was clear she knew what she was talking about.
"...and while she might not have given Reverie life, she did give Reverie its current way of living, and in that sense, she's one of the most important deities to Reverie's people," Claire stated grandly, progressing to the last slide. Jodie could practically see her heart flutter. "I'm Claire Higsby, and this has been Arcane Beginnings."
Jodie was first to applaud. Soon, most of the class, the teacher, and a few parents followed suit. Though, Jodie couldn't help but notice Claire's expression turning from pride to fear. Looking behind her, she could see that Claire's parents weren't applauding. If anything, they looked... disapproving. Claire nervously walked back to her seat, prompting a few confused and worried looks from the other students.
The rest of the presentations went off without a hitch, including Jodie's, which was about how spellcasters could find out how well different metals conducted mana, and how the general consensus is that silver is one of the best metals to use in casting foci, as it's one of the most conductive materials. Though, throughout all of the presentations, Jodie was still worried about Claire, and by the end of the class, when the students were all leaving, Jodie's worries were validated.
"Collin, we need to talk," Claire's mother said.
Claire tensed up. Before she could say "Okay," Jodie stood up from her desk.
"Her name is Claire," she said.
Claire only looked more horrified as Jodie stepped in. Her parents looked at the tigress, unimpressed. Jodie's parents stood by, unsure what to say.
The rest of the conversation is all a blur to Jodie now, but she remembers that it was long, and infuriating. She remembered Claire's father saying something to the effect of "we didn't raise a crossdressing screwup," and things getting ugly after that. Not physical, but ugly. It ended with Claire's parents leaving the room, and taking her hat with them, continuing to talk about her as if she couldn't hear them through the open door.
The school year continued to march on afterwards. Jodie didn't see Claire wearing her hat again after that day. She couldn't visit as often either, and when she did visit, she didn't seem as happy as she did before. She wouldn't say what happened to her hat, and apparently her grades had started to dip too.
Jodie only redoubled her efforts to be Claire's rock after that. To be an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, a shield from what had Claire in the spiral she was in. Outside of classes, they were rarely seen apart.
Then, a couple weeks before she graduated, Jodie finally found a blacksmith.
"You're moving to Greenridge?" Claire looked hurt as she asked.
"The only blacksmith I could find is... in Greenridge," Jodie sighed. She considered trying to find another smith in Brightport, but who knew when an opening would show up again?
"I really wish I could find an opening here in Brightport, but..." she continued. "I can't find any other options. Besides, it'll be a change of pace from the big city life, and... a-and I promise you I'll keep in contact."
Jodie knelt down, holding Claire's hand in her own. "You have my word."
Claire just kept staring at Jodie, but eventually nodded. She still looked sad and hurt. Jodie felt awful.
The graduation ceremony came and went, Jodie's family held a barbecue in celebration... Jodie invited Claire along as well, hoping that would help any. It helped a little, but not much.
About a month later, the time came for Jodie to move to Greenridge. She said her goodbyes, and boarded the ferry to the Sapphire Islands with her luggage in tow. During her ride, she made sure to check in on Claire.
@grillsmith: You doing okay?
@stardust985: im fine yea
@grillsmith: You sure?
@stardust985: yeah
@grillsmith: I'm here if you need anything.
...
@stardust985: 🫂
@grillsmith: 🫂
The next two years went by quickly. Jodie settled into Greenridge no problem, starting her work as an apprentice under a blacksmith named Bernice. She made new friends, including the daughter of a local restaurant owner, Beverly, who inspired Jodie to forge her own grill, a woodcutter named Allison, her best friend, Melody... Allison in particular, she ended up forming a relationship with... though, it didn't last very long. In the wake of that breakup, Jodie met another girl named Faith, and the two hit it off quickly, even falling in love, forging matching armor for the two and everything. They were like a couple of knights, though Faith was aiming for the position of town guardian.
All the while, she kept in contact with Claire like she'd promised. Claire didn't say much about her home life as they talked, but Jodie understood why. She still offered kind words whenever she could, even staying up late just to make sure Claire was doing okay some nights. There were many apologies from Claire, and Jodie always told her that she didn't have anything to be sorry for.
Then, one Summer Solstice...
@stardust985: I finally graduated
@grillsmith: Oh, congrats!
@stardust985: Dont have the grades or money for a good sorcerers college though
@stardust985: Parents arent helping iether
@stardust985: *either
@stardust985: Kinda stuck atm
@grillsmith: Oh, I'm so sorry...
@stardust985: Parents are threatening to kick me out if i dont find a job that isnt adventuring
@stardust985: Gotta figure something out fast
The very thought horrified Jodie, adventuring and magic was the one thing Claire was passionate about, and the fact that her parents were being this awful about it... she didn't have anywhere to go.
Just then... Jodie had an idea. Maybe, just maybe, she could make up for leaving Claire behind with her family. It would be a big change, but it was worth it if it meant getting Claire out of Brightport, and making up for the mistake she made.
@grillsmith: If you don't have anywhere to go, you can move in with me.
@stardust985: WHT
@stardust985: WHTA
@stardust985: WHAT
@grillsmith: Smithing's been making me some good money, I can totally offer a place for you to stay while you get your footing.
@stardust985:Are you sure???
@grillsmith: Absolutely positive.
Jodie had to do some convincing, Claire was hesitant to accept the help, to say the least, but eventually, plans were made with Jodie's family, tickets were bought, and the two kept each other posted all week. Booking a round trip on such short notice wasn't ideal, but Jodie wasn't about to wait any longer and see what would happen otherwise, smithing work be damned.
Then, the end of the week arrived, and Jodie took the ferry back to Brightport. Once the boat had docked, Jodie disembarked the second it was safe to do so, and looked around, trying to find her friend and roommate-to-be.
If the running embrace that Jodie found herself in was any indication, Claire had found her first.
"Woah, hey... good to see you, Claire," Jodie laughed. Claire didn't say anything, just holding on tight.
Jodie's parents and siblings, no, sisters, apparently Claire had gotten some gears turning in Crucible's head, had arrived to see Jodie and Claire off as well. They were all happy for the two of them, though Orchid was particularly sad to see Claire go too.
One appropriately long hug later, Jodie broke off the embrace. "Come on, Claire," she said. "Let's go home."
Claire nodded, grabbed her luggage, and the two boarded the ferry to Greenridge, the rest of the Caldwell family waving good-bye as the boat left.
Jodie kept Claire close, resolving to keep her safe in her new home.
To be her knight.