Chapter Three: Yep, It Hurts

Chapter Three: Yep, It Hurts

‘Doomed’ was a good way to describe how Thomas was feeling. Tesseth lead the way back out the doors to where they had their run earlier, and lobbed him one of the practice blades before twirling her own.

“Going to put you through your paces, if that’s all right?” she asked casually. Thomas flinched, but brought his blade up, earning a nod from his opponent. “Brave. Foolish, but brave. Come on, give me a shot,” she said. Thomas blinked. She nodded again, encouragingly. Thomas swung, rather wildly. The impact was like hitting stone with a metal pickax, the vibrations making him drop his weapon.

“Ow! DAMMIT!” he swore, shaking out his hands, while Tess laughed. “Didn’t that hurt?!” he cried, wincing. He thought he’d be feeling that for days...

"You can't hurt us by your strength or speed alone. Not as you are," she answered, not a small amount of smugness in her tone. Thomas lunged at her, intending to prove her wrong, arm extending for a punch. One which never connected. She smoothly grabbed his wrist in a claw, humming inquisitively. “Braver, but still foolish of you. Lesson one of taking on a Gryphon, Thomas: a frontal assault is always doomed to failure," she declared. She pulled the strike, but the backhand still sent him flying back a few feet to land on the turf roughly. He groaned, his bones aching, and he tried to get up. He looked up, to see Tess extending a claw. He took the lift up, and was set back on his feet, then handed his sword again. She paced a few large steps away, then turned to face him again, bringing her sword up once more. “Again. Try holding your sword out at a forty-five degree angle. It gives you a little more reaction time, since your eyes train upon the point of your sword,” she tapped her sword against his, making them clack quietly. “On your guard, Thomas,” she murmured, and swung for his head.

Thomas, for his part, did something unexpected, and instead of blocking, he dropped to his knees and thrust upwards sharply at her unprotected stomach. Tess let out a chirp as he connected. “Good!” she called out and backed away a few paces again. Thomas regained his feet, looking cautious and wary. “I let you connect, though I could see it coming as soon as you dropped. Gryphon eyes and minds can percieve much faster, like training a muscle. Train it, and you can calculate for several minutes mentally, in much less real-world time. I could have shattered your collarbone and probably most of your spine, if I just adjusted my stroke. That’s the one free shot you get. Shall I not pull my strikes any more?” she asked, a smile in her eyes. Thomas’s eyes narrowed, and he spat on the ground, bringing his sword up.

“I never asked you to pull your strikes. I fully intend on earning my wings. Give me everything you’ve got!” he said angrily, rushing her. Tesseth rolled her eyes, and sidestepped at the last possible second, then promptly smacked Thomas in the back of the head with the flat of her blade as he ran past, knocking him flat.

“Gutsy. Emotional. And stupid,” she said harshly, bringing her sword down. Thomas rolled out of the way, and regained his feet again under a few hard strikes from Tess. “Lesson two! Don’t let your emotions get the better of you! You get short-sighted and become less combat efficient. Like right now, for example,” she commented casually, and swept aside his guard, slamming the wooden blade into his left side and cracking a few ribs. The impact left Thomas gasping and holding his side, even as he blocked a follow-up smash that sent him staggering back to land on the turf again. He rolled left to dodge the downward slash, then right as she made to strike again, wood clacking against wood as he blocked, and lunged back to his feet, thrusting violently. Tesseth snorted, knocked Thomas’s blade out of his hands, then delivered a crushing blow that left his left arm dangling uselessly, and Thomas seeing stars from the pain. He staggered, fighting through the haze, and retrieved the sword one-handed.

“Getting better. C’mon!” Tess snapped. Thomas held back, advancing cautiously, blade held in a defensive slant. A nod of approval was given to him, and she idily reached out as he got within range, tapping her blade against his. From the moment of contact, he brought his sword around to strike her opposite, more exposed half. She parried calmly, to which he riposte, getting blocked again. Thomas tried another angle, panting as the pain started to get to him, and was blocked once more. His next swing didn’t have more than half his strength behind it, and Tess’s eyes glittered knowingly.

“Yep, we’re done here,” she commented. Thomas snarled gutturally.

“No. We’re. Not!” he snapped forcefully. Tess’s eyes narrowed, and she tilted her head as she blocked a quick flurry of three strikes. It was obvious the rage had bled dry what reserves Thomas was drawing off of, however. The point of his blade wasn’t even parallel to the ground now, and dropping by the second.

“Don’t go and make a challenge to a superior unless you know you can win. Consider that lesson three,” Tesseth instructed, almost quiet, and swept Thomas’s legs out from under him. The look in his eyes was burning fury as he tried to move, only to find he had nothing left. Tess’s sword came down and shattered his right shin, Thomas screaming in pain and nearly fainting.

“Y-you’re... a bitch!” he gasped, eyes glazing a bit. Tess actually laughed at that.

“No, I’m a hen. The day I look like a Diamond Dog is the day I hang up my sword. Lesson’s over for today. I’ll get you to Poultice and Suture,” she said, picking him up by his good arm, sword and all, and getting him half-draped over her back. Thomas kept his right leg up, and he hobbled as he took slow, careful half-steps, Tess watching him the whole way. Gareth, emerging with Jenna in tow, took one look at Thomas and sighed.

“Did you at least take it easy on him, sister?” he asked, making Jenna blink in surprise. Thomas weakly eyed Tess, who smiled at him, before nodding to Gareth.

“I did, brother. Though he did push his luck, there’s potential. He just needs more practice. And learn to control his emotions, of course,” the Gryphoness answered genially.

“You’re family?” Jenna squeaked, contributing to her mousy appearance and taking the words right out of Thomas’ fuzzy brain.

“We are. And couldn’t be happier. We’ll explain, some night, perhaps. Come along, time to see how you handle a bow, miss Ronson,” Gareth said, sounding remarkably chipper.

“Have fun... I did,” Thomas mumbled, grinning weakly. Tess smiled at her charge approvingly, and stepped through the doors that her brother held open. The last thing Thomas heard was a quiet chuckle from the Gryphon outside, then the door shut.

There was an odd cadence as they made their way down the hall. Tesseth’s claws and paws making muted clicks and thumps, and the sole thud of Thomas’s good leg as he stepped, leaning more on her for support now.

“How much further to medical?” Thomas mumbled. He was fading fast, teeth grit against the pain.

“Fifteen feet to the elevator, tops. I can hit the button with the sword-point from four feet, then it’s up one floor and right across from us,” was the answer, calm and assured.

“Works for me!” he gasped, trying to be funny with a quip, but it only came out strained. Stagger, thump, click, thud. Tess took up her sword, hit the elevator button, and got inside with Thomas as it dinged. Ten seconds later, and the doors opened onto the first floor, Tesseth tapping firmly on the titanium, sounding like a firm knock.

The door opened to reveal a unicorn with a baby blue mane and eyes to match. Thomas guessed this was Suture. “Hello? Sweet Celestia, what happened to you?!” she shrieked, and Poultice poked her head out of the door to look, eyes widening.

“Practice!” Thomas answered cheerfully, grinning like an idiot.

Poultice and Suture looked at each other, sighed, and rolled their eyes. “Newfledges...” they muttered in unison, and backed into the medical station to let Tess and Thomas in. Thomas was helped, wincing, onto a gurney, and then hissed as his blood was quickly drawn.

“Ow... add to the pain, why don’t you?” he sniped. Tess firmly clapped a claw on his un-injured shoulder, and gave him a look.

“Behave, Thomas... you don’t want to know what happens when you tick off medical professionals. Speaking from personal experience here,” she said warningly. Thomas sighed, and relaxed. Poultice and Suture shared another look, before the latter shrugged, and took down a medical kit filled with bone-knitting nanoparticles in pre-loaded syringes. Tess caught Suture’s eye, and glanced down at the kit. The medical unicorn blinked, then frowned. Tess shook her head slightly, and looked at the kit again. Suture closed her eyes, and picked up another, differently marked syringe. Poultice quickly re-set the broken bones with a few quick twists of her magic, while physically prepping Thomas’s right arm. He was injected moments later, and the human shivered a bit. He could almost feel the nanites traveling through his body, or so it seemed. Suture splinted the newly set damaged areas, and levitated over a crutch for his arm.

“Now, you’re going to want to take it easy for several days. The nanoparticles are going to take two weeks or so to actually do any real work,” Poultice instructed. Thomas gave her a look, then looked over at Tesseth.

“Considering that I’ll be Converting in less than two weeks, if I pass, I don’t think I have much to worry about,” he said. The Gryphoness laughed at that, making the unicorns sigh.

“Fine, just... be more careful. We don’t want to have to see you in here every day or two, all right?” Suture countered. Thomas raised a finger.

“That, I can do,” he replied. Tess nudged him. “Mostly,” he amended, looking a little sheepish.

“Come on, on your feet. Let’s get some food in you. You’re going to need the energy reserves to knit yourself back together,” the Gryphoness said, and helped Thomas to his feet. Thomas leaned lightly on the crutch, and threw a backwards wave at Poultice and Suture.

“Thanks for the help, girls. It’s greatly appreciated!” he called, oddly cheerful at the prospect of more amazing food, as the door closed behind him and Tess.

Suture looked at Poultice. She looked back at her friend. The two shared a sigh. “He’s going to be in here often, isn’t he?” Poultice asked her compatriot plaintively.

“I’ll stock up on the supplies,” Suture replied in a resigned tone.

Tiyo looked up as the cafeteria doors opened, and tilted his head inquisitively at the sight of Tess helping Thomas gingerly make his way in. It was rather empty, for eleven a.m. and it being so close to lunch.

“Tesseth? Thomas? what happened?” he asked.

“Practice. He asked for it,” Tess replied, with amusement in her tone. Tiyo looked over at Thomas, who grinned sheepishly.

“It’s true, I did. Worth it, though, to do my best to hold my own,” he defended weakly. The Gryphons looked at each other and sighed. Humans. Couldn’t live like them, couldn’t shove them off a roof to knock sense into them. Thomas frowned. “What?” he snapped.

“You’re human, Thomas. Gryphons are... above and beyond what you’re capable of. We have to hold back in combat training, or you wouldn’t survive the first session” Tiyo explained kindly, and gestured to Thomas’ injuries, “you got off light, going against Tess. Do yourself a favor and don’t ever challenge Merkus. He’ll leave you in a pile of broken bones. Beke will just eviscerate you. Tess and Gareth are the two with the real combat experience alongside Merkus. We’ve all learned about challenging Derani to archery contests.”

“And you?” the human asked, eyes narrowing, distinctly feeling like he was being talked down to. Tiyo raised his claws to try to defuse his anger.

“I’m a scholar, along with being a warrior. I tend to be a bit more... elegant in combat. I use my pike here to keep a bit of distance, but if they close to closer range, I use my blade,” he replied, tapping the compact alloy metal on his back.

“So, I shouldn’t even bother, then?” Thomas said, still feeling slighted. Tess put a claw on his uninjured shoulder.

“We’re not saying that, Thomas. We’re saying that, as I mentioned earlier, with your current strength and speed, you can’t touch us. It’s just a fact, please don’t be offended. We don’t intend any insult. Come on, sit down... you’ll feel better after you get some lunch,” she murmured, guiding him to a seat, much as Tiyo did previously. Thomas sat, feeling his emotions roil inside. The clopping of hooves on tile was a distinct sound, enough to draw his attention, and he looked around, finding a unicorn trotting out with a chef’s hat and apron on. The pony gave Tesseth a sharp look at the practice blade in her free claw, and sighed, blowing a bit of his fiery red mane out of his matching eyes, which promptly settled back over a twitching beige ear, before he approached with Tiyo’s meal.

“Here you are, sir. Hello, human. I’m Head Chef Cayenne Pepper. Stay the buck out of my kitchen. What do you want?” he snapped, giving every indication of a long-suffering annoyance at everything that wasn’t related to his cooking. Thomas’s response was fairly subdued, still somewhat lost in thought.

“Are you the cook for the entire Bureau?” he asked.

“I am... what of it?” was the cautious answer. Thomas looked around, and noticed what seemed to be another tightly-sealed kitchen adjoining the main section. An idea came to him, and he pointed with his good arm.

“If that’s another kitchen, I think I could take the meat preparation and cooking off your hooves, Chef. You wouldn’t have to worry about dealing with the Gryphons, you could leave it entirely to me,” he said. Tiyo was giving him a curious look, and a raised eyebrow.

“It is indeed another kitchen... do you cook?” Cayenne inquired.

Thomas shrugged, carefully. “I have a few recipes in my personal cookbook. I’d satisfy the Gryphons, you wouldn’t have to get anywhere near the meat. Win-win scenario.”

The Chef perked up at that, and a bit of the harshness went out of his tone. “What’s your name? And when can you do this?”

“Assuming that Tess here doesn’t break any more of my bones any time soon... I can start moving everything over to the other kitchen tonight, if that’s all right. My name is Thomas. A pleasure to meet you, Chef. If it’s not too much imposition, could I get a four egg omelette with peppers and cheese?” he said, smiling.

“I can certainly do that. Especially if it means you can take that meat cooking off my hooves. It bothers me like you wouldn’t believe,” Cayenne answered.

“I think I have an idea, actually,” Thomas replied, and the Chef turned to head back to the kitchen.

“You do realize I can’t make any promises, right?” Tess asked, leaning over with amusement dancing in her eyes.

“I’m well aware, and I’m willing to take that risk!” he replied cheerfully. Tiyo chuckled behind a claw. Thomas stretched, then grunted, his eyes going wide. A whimper of pain escaped him.

“You okay?” Tess asked, looking concerned.

“Ow... my everything...” Thomas gasped, shaking a bit, and very slowly tried to relax. Tess winced in sympathy and helped him settle back into a normal relaxed position. He laid his head on the table and groaned. “That’s pain,” he murmured weakly. Tiyo just shook his head, as Cayenne returned, raising an eyebrow at the human.

“What happened to you?” the chef asked, putting the tray down on Thomas’ left.

“Practice...” came the answering groan. Tiyo pushed Thomas’s tray against his arm, and Cayenne retreated, rolling his eyes.

“Come on, sit up and eat. You’ll live. You’ll hurt for a while yet, but you’ll live,” the Gryphon prodded. It was Tesseth’s turn to snicker a bit, and she helped Thomas sit upright with another wince.

“I feel like I’ve had this conversation before,” Thomas said, and dug into his omelette. As with breakfast, the first bite made him pause, and his eyes closed, savoring the flavors. He swallowed, almost reluctantly, and looked over to Cayenne, raising his fork appreciatively. “My compliments to the chef! This is amazing!” he called out, then dug in with gusto. Tess burst out with a squawking laugh, while Tiyo just beakclawed.

“What have you done, sister?” he asked.

“Oh yeah, he’s gonna be juuuuuust fine,” Tess crooned playfully. The pair of Gryphons sat idily while Thomas ate, Tiyo humming to himself as he perused a DaTab. Thomas’s eyes flicked over to him, and he raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he swallowed his latest bite. Tiyo’s eyes met Thomas’s, and he shrugged a little.

“As I said earlier, I’m a scholar. Lots of interesting history your species has. This ‘Wikipedia’ thing is fascinating. So much information, and most of it created by others of your species. Quite impressive.”

Thomas blushed a little in pride. “We are nothing if not innovative in some respects, if you don’t mind my boasting,” he replied.

“It’s not a boast if it’s grounded in fact. I’m going to be quite busy for some time, thanks to your kind. As a seeker of knowledge, I thank you,” Tiyo said, nodding gratefully. Thomas smiled, and saluted jauntily. Tess laughed, and nudged Thomas gently, amusement twinkling in her eyes. The human smiled, and returned to eating.

It was a few minutes later, Thomas had slowed noticeably, and was blinking wearily. “Dang... full belly, and now I’m tired. Not sure if it’s the food or not,” he murmured sleepily. Tess squeezed his un-injured shoulder sympathetically.

“After the morning you’ve had, I’m not surprised. It has been quite a full day already. You’re excused to go take a nap. You could use the rest to give your body time to heal. You won’t need the crutch by the time you wake up,” she said. Thomas looked at her blearily.

“I’m rooming with you, right?” he asked. She nodded in answer.

“You were in room six, now you’re in room twenty one. Derani moved your things earlier while I was running you ragged. Go rest, newfledge. You’ve earned it. I’ll come wake you up in a while, okay?” Tesseth instructed. Thomas nodded his thanks, and made to stand, swaying a bit on his feet. Tess held him steady, and Tiyo stood, getting him braced against his body.

“Come on, Thomas, I’ll get you settled in,” he offered, helping Thomas out the doors and towards the stairs. Tess watched them go, thinking about what to do.

“Here we are, room twenty one,” Tiyo announced, opening the door with a wing. Thomas was surprised at how... relaxed the decoration was. What seemed to be a tartan blanket was pinned to one wall, with almost a riot of color. It was admittedly subdued in pleasant hues, but he noted Derani’s ocean colors woven in, Tiyo’s brown and tan, and Gareth’s black and amber were all offset by Merkus’s wheat and leather tones, Beke’s silver and forest green and Tesseth’s arctic blue and white. The color palette was the centerpiece on the wall, but the pile of blankets and pillows around what appeared to be a heated, old-fashioned hearth warming the room was the main attraction for the rest of the space. The same colors were splayed about, and Thomas had a sad half-smile on his face as Tiyo helped him lay down with a bit of stiffness, and surprisingly tucked him in after stoking the hearth with a steel poker. He still looked about a bit from his new vantage point, and found his bags against one wall, untouched.

“You really are all family...” Thomas mumbled drowsily, eyes blinking slower, closing for longer as the seconds went by.

“We are. Gryphons pride themselves on family ties. There are exceptions, but family and honor is paramount with us,” Tiyo answered quietly, setting the poker back in its stand and giving Thomas a comforting pat, “sleep now. You’ll feel better after a nice nap, hmm?”

“Wish I knew what real family was like. Nothing but a tool to my father. ‘Nother weapon in ‘is arsenal... hope I c’n prove myself” the human murmured, fading fast.

“We hope so too, Thomas. You seem to want this very badly. We’ll discuss it later, though. Rest now,” the gryphon answered, standing and moving to the door. Thomas snuggled a little more into the blankets and closer to the heat the hearth was putting out.

“Don’t wan’ hurt innocents anymore...” he whispered, and was out. Tiyo slipped out, but couldn’t get the image of Thomas’ troubled face out of his mind.

Tess met Tiyo coming out, and they traded looks. The duo went to find Merkus. When in doubt, ask Father for help.

The smoke obscured much, though he could still feel the rough duracrete underneath his shoes. Shards had been blasted free from the last couple explosions, but nothing a patch or three wouldn’t fix, getting out of there. Bodies were all around. The fuckin’ Ponies had actually fought back. The prissy pastel motherfuckers had tried to *fight back*. Well, higher body count for them. Self-defense, and all. The blood splatters were almost artistic. Made him think of that one artist. Pallack or something. Whatever. He was here to finish off anything left that his explosives hadn’t.

The sound of hitched, labored breathing caught his ear, and he followed the sound, to find one of them pinned under a slab of more duracrete. Must have come down when the building blew. The glass seemed to confirm that, anyway. The fucking pony whimpered as it saw him. Whimpered, like a damn dog. He looked down into the things eyes. His knife was heavy in hand as he leaned in. Those eyes were a gleaming amber, reflecting his own gaze. Blood flew in a spray and the pony breathed his last. A shudder ran through him, and his knife was gone. A claw, gleaming wicked talons shining, plunged into flesh and tore out a hunk of meat. Warm, bloody, dripping *meat*. His mouth opened wide, and tasted...

Thomas jerked awake with a start, shuddering violently. The hearth was still warm, but the heat did not reach to that icy chill inside him. Not again. *Never* again. He looked around, and saw Tess curled on the other side. One of her ears twitched, and Thomas started again. He moved, stiffly, slowly, when she shifted a wing and then moved no further. He got up, and as silently as possible, slipped out the door. Maybe a walk would clear his head. The door closed.

Tess’s eye opened, and then closed again, nodding to herself. Good, Father would know what to do.

Thomas padded along the plush beige carpet, rubbing his eyes wearily. He staggered briefly, and caught himself against the corridor. He was so weary. That was so... he didn’t have words. ‘Horrifying’ seemed inadequate. Yet, his mind continued to bring the memories back, now that he’d dreamt of his... what? a potential future? That other part though. That was what left him so cold. He didn’t want to be some... some mindless beast. Everything he’d seen of Tesseth, and Derani, and Gareth and the others said that that would never happen. The dark fear was still there, though, even if it was nonsensical. He found the stairs, and took them down to the ground floor, walking out into the lobby. He was struck by the sight of a piano, of all things, sitting in one corner and faintly illuminated by the low lighting. Thomas thought they must have brought it in while he was napping. He looked around, and didn’t see anyone.

Bench pulled out, and cover raised, Thomas flexed his fingers as he settled in. He struck a C chord, and it rang out quietly. He smiled. Creature comforts, this sort of thing. He only hoped that his skills hadn’t rusted too much in the long span of time since he’d last gotten away to play. He searched his mind, and found the song he wanted, and began to play, singing quietly.

Now you all know

The bards and their songs...

When hours have gone by,

I’ll close my eyes...

Thomas jumped as a guitar quietly joined him, and he struck a dissonant note. He looked around wildly, then froze at the sight of Merkus sitting in a chair and watching him, a large guitar in his claws. Thomas started to move to get up, and the gryphon held up a claw entreatingly.

“Don’t stop, Thomas. You play well,” he said in a tone that spoke of long, long nights that Thomas could not hope to fathom. Thomas swallowed nervously, and looked down at the keys, so he didn’t have to look into those wise eyes. A shudder ran through him, and he found his fingers at the keys again, Merkus’ voice joining his own.

In a world far away

We may meet again

But now hear my song

About the dawn of the night

Let’s sing the bard’s song...

The melody wove around him, and while Merkus’ voice was rough, he had a distinct feeling that the gryphon was more of a bard than he let on. The tone and pitch were too practiced to be anything but. Everybody has their hobbies, he supposed. Something to keep them grounded. The last strains of the song died away, and he found himself shaking, but didn’t know why. Something warm dripped down his face and splashed on his clothes. He wiped at his face and looked in the low light. Water? Maybe there was a leak somewhere that they didn’t know about? He looked up at the high ceiling, past the balconies of the first few floors, but didn’t see anything. He also didn’t notice Merkus get up and move to his side.

“Are you all right, Thomas?” he asked quietly. Thomas was chilled again, wrapping his arms around himself.

“I... I don’t... understand...” he whispered in reply.

“Understand what?” came the query, the gryphon sitting next to him on the bench.

“Why I feel this way. What you’re doing to me. I’ve never felt so exposed,” he said.

“Tell me.”

Thomas swallowed back the lump in his throat and spoke haltingly. “All my life. I’ve just been a weapon. A thing to hurt others with. Humans, at first. My best friend Barry was the first one to fight back and knock some sense into me. Then the barrier showed up. It was nothing but a new target for Tyler, my father. He became convinced that his way was actually a sign from his god that he should inflict as much suffering as possible, so you’d all go away. You gryphons, Celestia and her ponies... all of you. I was... I was tired of it. Tired of the hate. Tired of the mindless rage. I was so scared of losing myself. If not to the things he talked about, then, somehow, I’d lose part of myself if I did convert. The more I talk to each of you, though, the more I see how terribly wrong I was. It hurts. It hurts that it took me so long to wake up and realize that there was another way.”

Merkus watched Thomas, saying nothing. Thomas closed his eyes. “I’m sorry, Merkus. I’m sorry for my species, I’m sorry for my own terrible actions, I’m sorry I’m weak.”

“The last thing you are, Thomas Lawrence, is *weak*. You need not apologize, to me, or any other. You are not your species, and you are wanting to make up for your past. You would not be here otherwise,” Merkus said firmly. Thomas buried his head in his hands. His eyes hurt from crying, but he couldn’t stop.

“Merkus... who am I?” he whispered. Merkus put a large, warm, soft wing around Thomas, who froze, then leaned in with a shiver.

“The question you should be asking yourself, is who do you want to be?” the gryphon murmured in his ear. Thomas looked up at Merkus, who looked back with a level expression on his beak.

“I...” he started, coming out as a croak, then he cleared his throat and tried again. “I want... to be good. True. Honorable. I don’t... want to live with any regrets.”

“We all have regrets, Thomas. No matter what the species. Human, Pony, Gryphon, Diamond Dogs. We’re only mortal beings. We have regrets. Surety of feeling, that, you can attain. Regrets are a constant, no matter what your life is like, however,” Merkus said, getting up and returning to his previous chair. Thomas felt compelled to follow, sitting in the chair across from him. The gryphon picked up a longsword, the scabbard and hilt wrapped in blue-dyed rough leather over titanium alloy. The blade almost seemed to glow in the low lighting as it was unsheathed, and Thomas couldn’t take his eyes off of it. Merkus removed a small box, applying oil from a vial to a cloth before starting to clean it with an obviously loving touch.

“That’s a beautiful sword,” Thomas commented, watching attentively. A sweep up with the cloth, a twist, and a sweep down from tip to guard.

“Thank you. It’s my son’s. He can’t attend to it right now, so I do so in his stead,” Merkus replied quietly, eyes flicking up to look at Thomas, before returning to the sword.

“Kind of you. You must love him a lot, to do something so personal. I know taking care of weapons is something that’s preferred to be done by oneself.”

Merkus hesitated for an instant, then nodded. Short, quick strokes swiped along the back of the blade, working into a thin blood channel. “He would, normally, but he’s not here. I am, so I maintain it for him in the meantime... you remind me of him, actually. Were it not for species, you could be twins, I think.”

A blink. A second one. “Don’t you think that’s over-estimating me greatly?” Thomas asked, tilting his head.

“Not at all. You’re an emotional creature, just like we are. Prone to anger, self-doubt, worry... not much in the way of fear...” Merkus said, trailing off as he finished his oiling, brought the blade about in a sweep, a twist, then a slide along the scabbard edge until the point found the opening and slid home with a soft click. He began putting the kit back in order almost with a solemnity to the act.

“You’re serious,” Thomas said in a stunned tone.

“Fully. You are a good soul, and let no one, not even yourself, tell you otherwise!” the gryphon pronounced in a fierce whisper. Thomas stared at Merkus, eyes wide, and they locked gazes until Thomas looked away. Merkus nodded to himself, rose, and moved to leave the room, stopping next to his chair. “Get some sleep, Thomas, and dream well. You have a good start here. Let us see how well you can keep up. Tiyo and Tesseth came to me, concerned for you. You bury your emotions until they boil over. It is never a sign of weakness to *feel*, either for yourself, for family, or for those you fight against. It’s what makes you mortal, just like us. Class with Derani is at ten a.m., and I would like to speak to you again afterwards, if I could.”

Thomas shivered a bit, then nodded. “I understand, Merkus. I’ll come find you after class, then.”

Merkus patted Thomas’s un-injured shoulder gently, and walked out. Thomas stared at where Merkus was sitting, then stood up, plucking a molted feather from the cushion. The wheat gleamed gold in the light, and he inhaled deeply. Merkus was right on more than one account. He put the feather behind his right ear, and went upstairs, back to the room he now shared with Tess. Thomas didn’t notice Tess had her eye cracked open when he came back in, and he settled back into the pillows and blankets, snuggling down and tucking the feather under the softness he laid his head on. His eyes closed, and he soon drifted off to a warm, dreamless sleep with a sigh. It was obvious that a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

‘One weight down, several left to go’ Tess thought to herself, and fluffed her feathers quietly in satisfaction. Talking to Father always helped.

Author's Note

So! At long last, and with Real Life kicking me in the head, here's chapter three! Trauma's a bitch, ain't it?

Since I'm a musically inclined sort, I have an OST of sorts, here... I'll offer up (usually) three or four tracks per chapter. Enjoy!

Thomas’s theme - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLUj9lFPU6s

Tess’s theme - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PqGc3qiXIs

First combat with Tess - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZvJaGf4Yig

Thomas’s nightmare - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO1FdPXlsWw

Thomas’s misery (discussion with Merkus) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGkK9ctxP3o

Oh, and the song Thomas plays and Merkus joins in on? Blind Guardian's 'The Bard's Song' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_tORtmKIjE