Tristan's Tale Pt. 04

That left two. I turned, and stalked toward them. The weapon in my hand was vibrant, practically alive. Like a silent song, but deadly. I held it casually, as one might a pencil.

The two creatures split from each other, keeping low to the ground and moving toward me in a pincer movement. They were trying to flank me.

"I honestly don't want to kill any of you," I said, keeping pace with their advance so as to not have either of them at my back. I eyed the headless corpse -- the ground around the stump of a neck was covered in thick, black gunk. I was revolted inside, but inside didn't matter right now.

They kept up their advance, and then launched themselves into the air. I expected the immediate, swooping lunge that had been their norm, but they kept to the sky for now. I briefly assessed my arm again -- there was pain, that at least was certain. But pain was pain, and I could deal with that. As long as I was focused, it wasn't a problem. But if this kept up...

I kept my eye on them, but risked checking the ones I'd injured. They had grouped together, huddled next to each other, and stared at me balefully.

"Well, you started it," I said, putting the tip of my sword into the ground and resting my chin on the pommel. Did I mention how fucking big it was?

"Actually, I sort of started it, didn't I?" I said. They didn't move, but the ones above, having climbed into the air high enough, had folded in their wings and plummeted toward me. "Oh, where's the fun in fighting something which can't talk back," I mumbled.

There was no way they were going to actually attack me -- that would be suicide, they'd just crash into the ground. Maybe they were up for suicide? Sacrifice themselves for the weak ones?

No, that wasn't right. That didn't make sense.

Either way, I stared them down evenly as they plummeted earthward. Don't get me wrong -- on any other day, I would have shit my pants and started believing in God. But it just didn't make sense -- I didn't believe that they were going to hurt me. It was just intimidation, pure and simple. And I couldn't be intimidated at the moment. It was beside the point -- outside the fight, almost. They screeched as they plummeted, and it was more like watching theatre than actually being in danger.

Sure enough, their wings fanned out before they got to me, and they flew around for a moment before landing near their wounded. They eyed me carefully, hopping to the downed ones and nudging them with their masks.

I stayed put. They crooned to each other for a while, the hatred gone from their voices. They were a lot less threatening now that they were tending to the wounded. They tossed glances my way occasionally but eventually wised up to the fact that I wasn't moving to attack them.

After a while, they got the two injured ones up and moving, and they looked my way one last time before slinking off into the forest. I breathed a sigh of relief -- I hadn't wanted to hurt them. Especially not after having seen them act so compassionately. I'd had to kill the one, though, the one on the ground, that one right over there-

My Chi vanished and I heaved last night's dinner out onto the ground. I bent over, my elbows on my knees, my fucking god I'd killed something, not just an ant, a real, live thing, with feelings, fucking feelings and they took care of each other. I looked up from the ground and at the corpse -- the wrongness of the separation of the head from the body. I felt sick. I felt like I couldn't live with myself.

Jade was beside me, a hand resting lightly on my back. I wiped my mouth and spat out the rest of the vomit. I looked up at her through runny eyes.

"I did what I had to, I didn't-"

"It's okay, Tristan," she said softly.

I closed my eyes. Was it?

A low rumbling sounded from across the grove. I looked up -- the stone giants were uncurling themselves from being huddled on the ground.

One of the huge ones got the boulder of its hand onto the ground and started to stand up.

Jade's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "Tristan, we need to go."

I smiled, despite the circumstances, the vomit, the pain in my arm. Oh, fuck, the pain in my arm -- that was starting to be a lot more noticeable now that my Chi was gone. "No, it's fine."

"I do not think you are in the position to be making that call," said Jade. "You are probably still high off of getting your Chi, and you are bleeding. We need to bring you to Medical. I will break your legs if it means I will get you back to Caer'Aton faster."

"That's sweet of you," I said, standing taller, though my knees were a little wobbly so I had to lean on her shoulder.

"Are you good to run?" she said, casting a critical eye over me and then back to the giants that were raising themselves out of the ground.

I smiled when I saw the little stone guy pop up -- he'd been huddled next to the biggest one, and now he was moving about in that strange way, sliding across the ground somehow, tapping all the mounds of rock that hadn't yet started moving. He was trying to wake up the grown ups.

"Tristan," she said, starting to move back toward the woods, pulling my shoulder.

"Jade, trust me on this one," I said. "They're friendly."

"You must have lost more blood than I thought," she said. "We need to leave, Tristan."

The giants arisen, they began to pick up the sticks that had been arranged in piles. They took the sticks and pieces of bark and tossed them all into the pond. The larger ones moved around the glade, inspecting the gashes in the trees, tracing their lengths. It was a calm, unhurried process.

The little guy moved to his harp -- it was one of three or four that hadn't been destroyed by the winged creatures. He approached it hesitantly, inspecting every inch of the thing before eventually moving toward the single branch down the middle. He plucked it, rolling an edge of one of the rocks on his arm across the branch, and it rang out clear amidst the relative silence of the glade.

I glanced at Jade -- she was eying the little guy curiously. He played it a few more times and the other giants turned to look at him. A couple of them stopped what they were doing and moved over to their harps.

Jade pursed her lips. "So, he just played a bent over tree. As an instrument."

I smiled. "Wait, just one more second. Wait until you hear this."

And then the others joined in, adding deeper melodies to the sound, interlacing their rhythms steadily. The entire grove began to reverberate with their music.

Jade watched on in silence. I was dumb -- dumb enough to charge in without knowing if I'd actually be able to get a weapon out -- but not dumb enough to spoil the moment by talking.

After a while, the song started to die down, and Jade's face broke into a smile. She looked at me thoughtfully, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Her white robe was a mess, her hair dishevelled and her face still pale with fright... But one look, that's all it ever took, and I was glowing inside.

"I take it back. This was not so bad a date after all," she said, and came over to me, kissing me lightly on the cheek. Where her lips brushed my skin, a million little fires spread.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," I said. "And that, you know, we didn't die or anything."

She glanced past me. "Not yet, anyway."

I turned -- the biggest giant, the one which towered over everything was sliding across the ground in our direction.

"Relax, they're friendly," I repeated a little more uncertainly than I felt.

It wasn't actually going for us. It moved over to the -- my stomach lurched -- dead body, and dropped its gargantuan head down to peer at it.

"Those eyes are incredible," said Jade. And then, the giant turned to look at us. Jade gasped, and grabbed my arm tightly. I put my hand over hers.

The giant put the end of its arm, a large, jagged rock, into the ground. It sunk in with ease. The giant spread open the earth, leaving a large ditch in the ground. Then it stood up once more and lightly tapped the top of a tree a few times, until eventually something fell to the ground near me.

I walked over to it -- it was like a coconut, but bearing the familiar colors of the wood grooves, albeit more faded. Jade looked at it in wonder, touching the hard but slightly fibrous exterior.

"What is it?" she asked.

I looked at the stone giant. It nudged the body into the ditch, and looked at me expectantly. Not a ditch, then. A grave.

And then I understood. I separated from Jade and walked over to the grave, in the shadow of the stone giant. Its head was down once more, cocked to the side as it peered at me curiously. Expectantly.

didn't want to look. But I had to.

The body had contorted into a horrible position when it fell. I grimaced - stone giants probably didn't see a difference, but that had just been flying freely, just hours ago.

Deep breaths, Tristan. I killed a live being.

It's not like killing an ant or some other bug. I don't know - maybe if you were raised in the country and you went hunting and shit, it would be different. But it's one thing to shoot a deer.

I fucking cut this thing's head off. And I did it without any hesitation.

The stone giant scooped some dirt over the body, and then looked at me. I dropped the seed on top of the dirt, and then it filled the rest of the ditch and packed it down. I looked up into the giant's eyes, and we stared into each other for a long moment. I got the feeling it was assessing me somehow, testing my mettle. Seeing what I was made of.

It rose from me, and turned back to the rest of the giants, sliding over to the trees and inspecting the damage.

I went back to Jade. "Well, I don't know what to make of that, really," I said.

She took me by the arm which wasn't bleeding. "I do. That was a very beautiful thing that just happened between you two. It was touching to watch."

"I don't really understand what happened," I said. "This whole thing, suddenly I had this huge sword and I could just do things..."

She squeezed me affectionately. "You have much power in you, Tristan. I would speak to Jet about your Chi." She gave a cursory look at my arm. "But first I will grab some healing salve from the supplies for you."

"Is that that door that isn't a door?" I asked. She nodded. "Oh, I've been in there already," I said.

"Really?" She sounded surprised. "Well you can get it yourself then, and you won't have me to put it on you." She grinned.

"I just did something stupid, didn't I?" I groaned.

She giggled. "Yes, but it's so very like you."

"Hey, things turned out okay back there," I pointed out.

She rolled her eyes. "Tristan, that we are still alive is a miracle. That you were even able to summon your Chi for the first time outside of the Chi room..." She paused, shaking her head. "Did you know you were going to be able to do that?"

I thought about it. "No, I wasn't sure. But I had a feeling about it. Like it was possible."

She punched my arm. "A feeling! I almost died because you had a hunch?"

"I like to focus on the present," I said, grinning. Then a bolt of pain shot through my wounded arm. "Or, maybe not." I winced.

"You will be fine, it is just an abrasion. I've done worse to people in training."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

She winked. "Now that you have your Chi, you will be able to see for yourself."

The thought of fighting Jade was a little too much to handle - there was a fire in her that I clearly didn't have, and I wasn't sure if I'd get all the same fighting capabilities whenever I got my Chi. I remembered how deftly she maneuvered her Chi when carving the wooden block - that kind of skill applied to my face... yeesh.

Soon we walked beneath the Arch and back into Moleh - I kept an eye on the sky for any sign of Dante or his wyvern, but, as usual, there was none. Apparently the comings and goings of people weren't something he cared about.

We split up at the fountain. Jade smiled at me and let go of my arm.

"I had a wonderful morning, monsieur," she said, mocking a curtsy in her gown. "Perhaps a little more excitement than I signed up for, however."

"Really? I thought it was a positively soothing excursion," I said, replying with a ridiculously deep bow.

Her eyes twinkled. "I look forward to many more," she said as the soft winds of the courtyard caught her hair. She brushed it out of her face, behind her ear. "Mention to Jet about your Chi. I want to practice with you."

"I'm sensing a double-entendre here," I said, grinning.

She smiled back. "Sense away, Tristan. I need to changed out of this hospital gown before I go anywhere." She pressed down on the white fabric, stained here and there from our adventure, pulling it tight against her contours, her hips, the curvature of her breasts...

She caught me staring, and blushed. "I'll see you around, okay?" she said, letting the robe fall back loosely.

I nodded. I think maybe was terrified of saying anything that would push her away, so I just replied, "Sounds good. It was nice to see you again."

I think she must have noticed because she pursed her lips in thought, eying me curiously in that way she could do where I had no idea what was going on in her head. I felt scrutinized, as if she was making a decision of some sort. I expected something further from her but she only smiled faintly, and walked toward the girl's dorms.

I headed for the men's, grinning like an idiot. Hey, world, guess what I just did? Yeah, you know, just saved some stone giants from these freaky metal bird things and brought out my Chi and got to know Jade better on a date, and she wants to practice fighting together and, you know, who knows what else?

As far as mornings go, not too bad.

On the way back, I'd picked up the blanket I'd abandoned in the grass before leaving. I was practically floating when I made it to the storage room -. I paused outside of the doorway (not that there was a door there), and had to think for a moment before remembering that my arm was bleeding. That was probably not a healthy way to live, I reflected as I went inside. I rummaged around the shelves until I found one that was littered with vials. They were all labeled differently, and on each label was a note saying: One per day.

They were ordered in accordance with how strong they were, indicated by plus signs next to the words "Healing Brew". I remembered the strong stuff I'd had before, how that had put me in a non-functioning state. But I wasn't looking for something to drink - Jade had said something about a salve?

I found the salves after some more searching - where the brews were visible through the glass vials, the salves were in bottles with wider tops, and wrapped in leather. I picked a weaker one and went to the bathroom down the hall.

Using the mirror there (avoiding the one I'd seen a girl being pleasured on) I applied the salve, a white, pasty substance, onto my arm after gingerly taking off my shirt. I gritted my teeth against the sting, but it faded quickly, and soon my arm was feeling warm and pleasant. I wiped away the excess blood - it hadn't been bleeding all that much to begin with - and put my shirt back on. This healing shit was pretty amazing.

I went to the sleeping room to change clothes, thinking that id take a shower afterwards. When I opened the door, it was totally empty.

Shit. Breakfast. I'd forgotten about breakfast. Jet had said in his note that there were consequences for being late - I was fucked.

I tossed the blanket on my bed, and then left the room, sprinting down the hall to the dining room. The doors were still open - thank god - but everyone was seated and boats were already floating down the water in the channel in the middle of the stone table.

Jules and Fred eyed me as I sat down.

"Bad form, being late," muttered Fred.

"Yeah, I know, I know," I said. "I've got some extenuating circumstances, but I don't think they'll matter much to Jet."

"What sort of circumstances?" asked Jules.

I sighed. "Long story, metal birds, almost died." Some food made it my way, and I dug in. Some kind of oatmeal with raisins and walnuts.

I didn't even notice Jet walking down the aisle until he was practically right next to me. I had a faint hope that he would just walk past without shooting me a glance as he was wont to do.

His eyes were fixed on me.

"Tristan." His greeting was as pointed and crisp as his appearance. Seriously, who the fuck wears a suit to breakfast?

"Hey Jet." I tried not to look terrified. I probably failed.

"You were late to breakfast. This is unacceptable." His eyes were freaking me out - like I was being bored into and ripped apart, but at the same time, he seemed totally indifferent.

"Does it matter if I had a good reason? 'Cause-"

"I am aware of your little excursion. Your decision to leave the grounds is your own." He cleared his throat. "As are the consequences."

I kept my head down. "Copy that, sarge."

He ignored me. "We will make the most of the occasion and get some training out of it in class today."

"So, what, I'm to be publically humiliated?"

He nodded stiffly. "Correct." He turned to leave.

"I got my Chi, by the way," I called to him as he was walking away.

He turned on his heel. "Demonstrate it to me after class and we will speak about adjusting your schedule." And then he walked briskly out the door.

I turned back to the guys. "You think he's ever had fun in his life?"

Jules shook his head. "I doubt he even knows his dick is used for more than pissing."

Fred scoffed. "Nah, I bet you he's got all sorts of kinky stuff in a secret office somewhere."

"Jet? Kinky?" exclaimed Jules. "No way. But, Tristan, you got your Chi?" he asked excitedly. "What's it look like?"

"It's a bigass greatsword made of water," I said matter-of-factly.

Jules snorted. "Yeah right."

I shrugged. "You'll see for yourself if we train together."

"Alright, well I'll believe it when I see it man."

We finished up with breakfast, and then I went to Kiara's class, catching up with Emmit on the way. I brought him up to speed on the events of the morning. He shook his head, and didn't bother commenting anything more than: "Vanessa is going to have a field day with you if you tell her, and then all of Moleh will know."

I shrugged. "That's fine with me. I was thinking about what you said at the beginning, about keeping things to myself. And you know? I don't really care what other people think, or what they know about me. I don't really see how they could use it as power over me."

"It's up to you, my friend. Just keep it in mind when suddenly everyone is asking you to be a part of their Clan, or when everyone becomes very friendly with you."

I saw what he meant. "I won't forget - and, for the record, I'm not too keen on making a ton of friends here. The social aspect of it... I don't know, it seems a little beside the point."

"I agree," said Emmit. "Better to train your mind."

"So what's so traumatizing about the Chi room?" I asked suddenly.

He smiled a forlorn smile. "Another time," he said, and I sighed, overly dramatic.

"Okay, I guess," I said, exaggerating the words. He smiled, but he wasn't really behind it, and then we parted at the classroom hallway split. I opened up briefly, scanning the hallways, and found the Body one with ease. The Spirit hall, though, remained a mystery. I couldn't really understand the feeling I got when I scanned it, and the fact that so few people went down that hall left me intensely curious.

I wasn't really present for the Body class - I was worried sick with fear for what was going to happen to me in Jet's course. Alice wasn't even near me to talk to, she was on the other side of the room, though she did blow me a kiss at one point when we were stretching and we caught each other's eye.