Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Arrow, Bequeath my Heart ❯ Chapter 9
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Oreana Date 
Non Anime: Sonic Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Drama / Hentai / Fantasy | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 11.13.2013 | Pages: 3 | Words: 5.1K | Visits: 182 | Status: Completed
Non Anime: Sonic Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Drama / Hentai / Fantasy | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 11.13.2013 | Pages: 3 | Words: 5.1K | Visits: 182 | Status: Completed
The year that Troy remained on the roads of Skyrim with Ivan seemed to pass far too slowly for the young echidna. While Ivan was still very much Ivan (scolding and slapping Troy with a wooden ladle), the lightning mage still picked up on a few things both magical and food wise as well as a yearning to return to Winterhold after the first six months. “Soon, we’ll be back in Winterhold,” Ivan yawned as he stretched out across the old, wooden tree truck that was nearby their campsite that evening.
“You sound less than excited,” pointed out Troy with a raise of his brow, shifting through the books Thunderhawk had loaned him once more to make sure they were all there and in one piece. “I thought you loved working at the palace.”
Ivan expelled an almost irritable sounding huff through his nostrils. “Don’t assume I don’t enjoy what I do, boy,” grumbled the polar bear as he wiggled his toes. He was more than exhausted from working all day and from the traveling that was on top of that. “Just like any other person, I take pleasure in my time off from being told to cook morning, noon, and night for other folks and what to cook at that. Besides, not many jarls allow their head chefs to take a year vacation. I’d say I am lucky in that regard.”
Troy was quiet for a moment. He wanted to thank Ivan for taking him on the trip, but he was afraid that the bear would be sarcastic, per usual. Swallowing his pride in the matter, Troy found the courage to do so all the same. “I’ve been meaning to thank you, Ivan…for taking me with you on this trip.” He waited to see if Ivan had anything smart to say, but from what he could make out from the corner of his eye, the bear was merely eyeing Troy curiously. “I never did think I’d find cooking a passion, I guess, but it is something I enjoy, no thanks to you.”
He waited once more for a sarcastic comment to surface.
Nothing.
Finally, Ivan shifted slightly from where he was resting near the fire and placed his hands behind his head with a soft grunt. “I’ve been hard on you for a reason, Troy,” Ivan said finally. “You were but a puggle and yet you managed to make something so simple whereas my other trainees were sitting there with everything they needed scratching their heads confused. You think I was going to let you just head back to that old jarl and dump that sort of knowledge only on magic?” The aged bear scoffed, moving his arms to just above his round stomach. “I’ve pushed you worse than anybody else, and you’ve become a cook I can be proud of.”
A smile hooking upon his muzzle, Troy nodded in relief that Ivan wasn’t just asserting his power on him because he could—but for the sake of progress. “Thanks, Ivan,” said Troy over the crackling fire. “That means a lot to me.”
“The hell do you keep talking for?” Ivan griped, per usual, waving his arm angrily at the bag full of ingredients they had gathered. “I fixed dinner last night, so it is your damn turn!”
Same old Ivan, thought Troy as he did as he was told all the same.
As Troy shuffled through the bags to get what he needed, Ivan remembered that he had forgotten about bothering with the maroon furred echidna’s birthday. They had both been so busy that the idea skipped his mind. “I meant to give you something when you turned seventeen this year.” Pushing himself to his feet, he moved to his tent and rummaged through his belongings to pull out a large piece of fabric that was delicately folded.
Troy had stopped for a moment to see what exactly Ivan had in mind to give him, watching as the fabric was unfolded to show a cooking apron, yes, but it was embroidered with a second rank chef mark. His icy-blue eyes looking at the golden three point crown mark of Winterhold, he gazed to Ivan with befuddlement and, yet, hope.
“Here,” said Ivan, as he handed over the apron. “I was quick to pack that when you, out of everybody else, asked to come with me on this journey. Not many of those other would be chefs are willing to put up with me, even for the sake of bettering themselves.” His arms over his chest, he looked off to the side with a roll of his eyes. “They whine I am too harsh with them; idiots.”
“But—does this mean—?” Troy stammered, unable to believe what Ivan was giving him, really.
The bear nodded simply with that same neutral expression. “If you want it, the position underneath me but above everybody else is yours.”
“You mean your second in command?” Troy attempted to correct.
“If that’s what you want to call it.”
Moving his wild, white bangs, Troy tried to find his breath for a moment as he shook his head in disbelief. “Thank you, Ivan. It means a lot to me.”
“Yeah, well, you can thank me while you fix the dinner at the very least,” said Ivan a bit sarcastically, nudging the young teen with his elbow in the process. “I am starving over here, and I don’t plan on going to sleep on an empty stomach.”
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Her arms outstretched from her body, Sara-Li wiggled her fingers slightly before moving her right slowly back above her left while conjuring the light attack once more. She was still trying to perfect it, as she didn’t feel it was as powerful as it could be. With the light dancing upon her fingertips, she rotated her index fingers on both hands in a slight circular motion before expelling the magic forwards at the test dummy not far from her.
The spell hit with a loud cracking sound—blowing off a portion of the dummy in the process. Opening her violate eyes quickly with a startled gasp, Sara-Li’s shocked expression melted away into absolute relief and joy at what she had managed to do. “Finally!” she cheered to herself with a slight victory pose by hopping in the air with her arms above her head. “Who knew just trying to morph a stupid spell would take so much concentration and training? It was like learning the darn thing all over again.”
“I believe I told you that in the beginning of training,” came Thunderhawk’s voice from behind the fair Sara-Li.
Startled by the elder’s voice, Sara-Li spun around quickly to see the guardian standing there in the snowy courtyard with a pleased smile upon his face. “Oh—! Lord Thunderhawk—I didn’t realize you were standing there.” Out of respect, the periwinkle furred echidna grabbed her dress, layered and flared in green fabrics like pedals on a flower, and bowed before him.
Still not used to being treated in such a way, Thunderhawk waved his hand dismissively. “You know you don’t have to do that,” he insisted, walking past her to get a better look at the dummy she had taken care in destroying. “You certainly have gotten quite a handle on that attack. You’re doing quite well, I would say.”
A small blush crept across her muzzle at Thunderhawk’s compliment, twirling side to side with a smile. “Thank you. Honestly, I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without your help.” A part of her really wanted to impress Thunderhawk and show him how far she had come under his guidance. Sara-Li wasn’t even aware that that minor crush bug inside of her was developing over the years into a love sickness for her mentor. All she knew was that she felt comfortable around him and was filled with a fiery passion to make him happy.
“While a student may only be as good as their teacher, the student has to have a desire to learn to begin with,” Thunderhawk reminded her as he pulled from the practice dummy to come closer to the fair, young woman. “You really have come such a long way, Sara-Li, and all for your brother, no less.”
“My brother did a lot for me when I was little—he still does,” Sara-Li explained, folding her hands before her dress. “I don’t know where I’d be without him…”
Thunderhawk could see the concern in her eyes as he leaned against the partially demolished figure he was examining. He smiled to her tenderly. “Sara-Li, I am sure with you continuing to practice your healing magic, Cyrus will live a long and healthy life.”
Sara-Li’s worry didn’t deteriorate. It merely worsened for a moment as she turned her gaze from the elder. “But I cannot be with him forever… I worry that I am not in fact helping him, but making things worse.” Finding the courage to look at Thunderhawk, she did so with a subtle sigh, which was visible upon the cool air. “I feel as though I am giving his body something to thrive on, but what if I am taken away from him? What will he do then?”
“You work with him then,” encouraged Thunderhawk as he made his way to Sara-Li. He held her shoulder supportively as he relaxed his face to look less business like. “Magic cannot fix everything, Sara-Li. You also have to work with Cyrus. You best do so while you’re able, as everyone is uncertain what the future may bring, and how long the two of you will continue to live under the same roof.” He rose one brow while eyeing her playfully. “Besides, you both are old enough to look into making a family of your own.”
Scoffing at him, she lightly brushed away his hand from her shoulder as a teasing gesture in response. “Well, if you know of any males who are actually interested in me, I would be happy to meet them.”
Thunderhawk’s thoughts instantly went back to Troy, but he didn’t think it would be right to outwardly admit that the boy had buried feelings for Sara-Li. “I am sure there is one closer than you think,” he said, unaware that Devon and Jade-Li had the talk with her a year ago about Troy.
“I know who you speak of, Guardian,” said Sara-Li with a slight smile, “but I don’t think that boy will ever really mature to meet the standards of a man.”
There was still scorn in her voice. Thunderhawk had noticed it getting worse after Troy had left to travel around Skyrim. “You know he didn’t leave to spite you, Sara-Li,” he felt need to outwardly say with a sigh. “Troy just—he has a lot of things he would like to explore regarding his talents.”
Sara-Li frowned, even if the assumption of her tone was spot on. “I don’t care what that boy does! He’s just—he’s always been a jerk to me, even when I tried to help him!” Rewinding her words in her head, Sara realized that maybe she was just really missing Troy and not actively wanting to admit to it given everything he had said and done to irritate her. Shaking her head, she stepped backwards with a somber sigh. “Forgive me. I should go…”
Thunderhawk couldn’t help but feel bad for saying such a thing to her regardless of it being truth or not. “I’ll never understand teenagers,” he mumbled to himself.
Baltheer, Thunderhawk’s high priest, was nearby when he overheard the guardian mumbling ‘privately’ to himself. “I guess you wouldn’t. It’s been decades since you were that young.” He noticed that the elder didn’t act at all shocked or startled that he was there; making him relieved he didn’t give the old man a heart attack.
“You’re no spring chicken either, Baltheer, so don’t even start picking on me for my age,” he chortled, moving over to the priest to walk with him a bit.
“Yes, but, fifty-four moons compared to your…how old are you again?” he asked, only to get a nudge from the remark. “Anyways, she’s merely a woman that is still confused about the idea of womanhood.”
“I still find it odd,” said Thunderhawk with a wiggle of his old brow. “She just turned seventeen this year, and not once has she turned her sights on courting a young man. When I was seven, I was betrothed, and at fifteen we got married and worked on having a child. That was considered the norm.” He rolled his shoulders. “I guess I don’t understand why young men and women are waiting so much longer to wed and have a family.”
“Like I said, she is struggling with herself,” said the shaman. “While she may be in between with this Troy, I don’t think you realize how captivated she seems with you.” Baltheer stopped for a moment as he saw the berries he desired to have for a potion he was working on. Brushing the snow off with his fingers, he began picking them cautiously.
Thunderhawk rolled his eyes, as he had yet to see what it was everyone was talking about. “I wish everyone would stop saying that. I don’t see where you’re all getting the idea she has a crush on me. I am her teacher—nothing more.” In all honesty, he had a hard time believing someone so young would be remotely interested in someone his age.
“Sometimes students and teachers evolve beyond such.” Baltheer slowly rose to his feet with a grunt, digging the butt of his staff into the snowy earth. “But, for all I know, it could just be a phase she’s going through. She might not actively pursue it.”
“Troy should be returning soon, so maybe he can help spark something in the young Sara-Li,” Thunderhawk said, as he didn’t see Sara as anything other than a daughter at best. He had watched her grow from a young child to a young woman. “I know she won’t actively admit it, but she does miss him.”
“You continue to brush away the subject at hand, as if to ask for someone else to take care of the matter,” the old healer pointed out as he continued walking about the courtyard with the leader.
Thunderhawk grabbed either side of his head in frustration before narrowing his eyes at Baltheer. “I—don’t—what do you people want from me! I don’t see where you’re all intent on trying to get me to pair up with my student!”
Baltheer stopped, whacking Thunderhawk in the chest lightly with his gnarled staff; the beaded dream catcher hitting the lilac echidna in the process of such as well. “You’ve been lonely for far too long, my Lord. You refuse your servants, and you turn down any practical woman who would ask for your hand.” His old, soft-purple eyes shifted to where Sara-Li’s tracks were still fresh in the snow. “I honestly think you’re turning down a fate you just might be happy with.”
Thunderhawk opened his mouth to retaliate, but quickly shut it when he heard the arrival of Ivan and Troy. Thank the Goddess, he thought as he excused himself to go meet up with his other student and royal chef.
“And you better be careful with everything, or I will be sure to string you all up by your tails!” Ivan threatened the guards and Troy.
“Ivan,” Thunderhawk greeted with relief in his tone. “It is good to see you again! I never thought I would be so happy to hear that obnoxious yelling of yours.”
“Admit it, Lord Thunderhawk,” Ivan began, taking Thunderhawk’s hand to shake it, “without me, this place would be dull and lifeless.”
“And am I to assume that Troy is in one piece?” Thunderhawk said, looking over at the young man to see he had grown a bit in the past year. Seeing the nod of the young mage, he crossed his arms over his chest with a sizing gaze. “And what of my books? Did you bring those back too?”
“They are fine, Thunderhawk.” Troy grabbed onto the bag that had all of the tomes he was allowed to take with him. “Now, hopefully, I can beat your backside in a sparring duel.”
Thunderhawk laughed at how confident Troy had become in regards to his lightning mage abilities. “Is that so? We will have to look into everything you’ve learned later.”
Troy looked around the courtyard to see a few new faces and some old, but he didn’t see Sara-Li nearby. “Where’s Sara?” he asked, helping Ivan unload the cart. “I expected to see her when I arrived.” Admittedly, his heart was squeezing at the desire to see her again. He hated to say it, even to himself, but he had missed her dearly.
“Your highness opened his big mouth and she ran off that way,” Baltheer teased, pointing to the college. The shaman noticed Thunderhawk giving him an annoyed look, but he refused to take back his words.
“Really? Is she okay?” Troy asked, growling lowly at Thunderhawk, as he assumed that he had upset her. “Ivan, I will be right back to help with the cart; I swear it!”
“You will not—get back here, boy!” Ivan yelled, only to have his words lost to the wind as Troy hurried to the college to try and hunt Sara-Li down. “Dammit!” The old brow of the polar bear wrinkling in irritation, he jabbed at Thunderhawk and Baltheer. “You two!” Both Thunderhawk and Baltheer straightened up upon their names being mentioned. “Make yourselves useful, and help me with this crap!”
“I swear, I need less aggressive servants,” grumbled Thunderhawk as he did what he was asked of his royal chef.
Sara-Li had excused herself to the library, burying her nose into her studies to hopefully sidetrack herself from the pain that was buried within her. She was conflicted between Troy’s supposed emotions towards her and Thunderhawk’s nonexistent affection. Turning the page, Sara-Li sighed somberly. “How can Thunderhawk be so blind…?” she whispered to herself, finding that she was hardly paying attention to what she was reading. “Doesn’t he care about me as…?”
The young healer derailed as she heard the door to the library opening. Straightening up, she wondered who else would be joining her that evening when she saw the all too familiar maroon echidna enter the shared space. “T-Troy…!” she stammered, excusing herself from the chair she was sitting upon. “You are back home!”
Seeing Sara-Li heading towards him, Troy hurried to meet her halfway. Embracing her tightly in the middle of the room, he never thought he would feel such excitement in just holding her figure against his. Cupping the back of her head, he instinctively kissed her periwinkle colored hair.
Feeling the kiss to her head, Sara blushed brightly—relieved that it was hidden against his chest.
Realizing what he had just done, he too blushed and was quick to push away with a nervous laugh. “Sorry about that,” he apologized, running his fingers through the white strands of hair atop his head. “I didn’t mean to…overstep. I guess it’s just been awhile, is all.”
Sara-Li gave him a teasing ‘yeah right’ look before crossing her arms across her chest. “Perhaps,” she responded. For some reason, standing there looking at that once immature boy, Sara-Li felt her heart swell and tighten at just remembering him hugging her a second ago. “So, how did your traveling go?” Turning on her heels, she went back to the book she left on the table.
“It went well,” answered Troy, as he followed closely behind her. “I even brushed up on my studies a bit.” He attempted to gloat, or at least do his best to show off to her, as he sat down on the table she had been studying at. “Watch this!”
Upon getting her attention, Troy curled the tips of his fingers to allow sparks of the lightning spell to fly from his index finger, to his middle, and then to his ring finger and back again. Focusing hard enough, he managed to make the lightning conjure into a heart shaped design before hopping about in his palm to become a larger ball of power. Naturally, he couldn’t show off the full extent of what he was capable of in the library, so he merely continued to transform the spell into different creatures. “I can even make them bigger—make the lightning creatures fight for me as well! Fought off a bunch of bandits with a lightning wolf!”
Sara-Li smirked at his desire to gloat, causing her to close the book she was reading to listen to him a bit better. Even if she was sure he was probably lying about a few things, she did miss him, and Sara couldn’t help but smile at his desire to, possibly, impress her. “Did you now? What about that defensive spell Thunderhawk asked you to practice before you left? Did you progress any further with it?”
Troy blushed a bit at being called out on that. “Well, no…besides, I don’t see the point, all the same. Who the hell would I need to protect besides myself? I know how to make healing potions.”
“What about me?” Sara-Li asked. “What if you and I ever went out exploring together, and I needed your help involving protection?” After her worry subsided, she reached for Troy’s hand to hold it sweetly.
Blushing, the lightning mage grumbled to himself. “You’re a healer, Sara-Li. Would you honestly need my help in staying in one piece?”
“That all depends on what part of me I am willing to trust you with protecting,” Sara-Li said vaguely, sliding her fingers from his hand before closing the book she had and rising back to her feet. “Anyways, you’ve had a long time away from home. I am sure you desire to get comfortable and settled back in.”
Troy ran her words back through his head as she started to make her way for the exit. His eyes widening briefly, he turned back to Sara-Li with an eager calling of her name: “Sara! Wait—!”
She stopped and turned around to look at him quizzically.
The burning sensation rising within him once more, he resisted every urge to just ran, grab her, and start to kiss her like she was his lover. Had he really been eager for her all this time? Troy shook his head when he noticed he had been staring. “A-After dinner, did you want to spend some time with one another?”
Sara-Li rose a suspicious brow at him.
“You know, it’s been awhile since I’ve been able to practice, and I do really want to catch up with you, and see what you’ve done over the year,” he partially admitted while scratching his cheek. “That is, if all of that is okay with you?”
Maybe Lord Thunderhawk was right, Sara-Li thought, as she was now watching Troy in a different manner than before. She had been lonely, and her parents were constantly talking about her and Cyrus finding someone to marry. Even Cyrus was older than her, and he still hadn’t been too active in the dating scene. Troy was the only boy around that was about her age, and they had known one another the longest too. Didn’t it make sense? Sara-Li couldn’t help but wonder. “Of course,” she finally answered with a slight wag of her tail. “I would be delighted to. Did you want me to meet you anywhere special?”
“My room,” Troy answered quickly. “Krine won’t be there, as he’s usually out drinking on this evening, so we’ll have the place to ourselves. Sound good?”
That idea made her nervous. Alone in a room with Troy? Sara-Li knew she was old enough regardless of what happened, but it made her frightened all the same. Swallowing her fear, she straightened up with a slightly hesitant nod. “I will see you soon then? Farewell for now, Troy.” And with that, Sara-Li took her leave and headed back to her family.
After dinner was over, Sara-Li bucked up the courage to find her way to Troy’s bedroom. Knocking on the wooden door, she was greeted, once more, by the young mage. “Sorry I’m a little late,” she apologized, hoping her nervousness wasn’t showing. “I, um—I—yeah, I’m sorry…I don’t have a good excuse.”
“It is fine,” he insisted, waving her in to allow her to sit down at the table whilst he shut the door. He too admitted he had butterflies in his stomach. Troy was worried that he might get sick and loose the dinner he had devoured earlier when it came to what he wanted to say…what he wanted to do.
Taking in a courageous breath, he made his way to the opposite side of the table with a smile. “I didn’t mean for you to have to make plans for me, Sara-Li, but I did want to see you again.” When she was about to open up the spell book, he quickly reached over to prevent her from doing so. “It’s not…just about the spells, really. I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“O-Oh…?” Sara-Li could hear her heartbeat. It was so deafening that she was worried it was becoming painfully obvious to Troy that she was nervous.
Troy tapped his fingers upon the wooden surface of the table before finding the valor to finally get to it. “You’ve known me since I was six, right?” Seeing her nod, he continued: “So…what do you think of me?” That shocked look on her face nearly made him panic, so he rose his hands quickly to prevent her from speaking right away. “Okay, so—I know I drove you crazy a lot as a kid growing up, and I apologize, but I am curious about what you think of me now!”
Sara-Li wondered what it was she could say. True, he had driven her crazy, and it was sometimes hurtful the things he would say and or do, but they did practically grow up together. While he still teased her, it wasn’t nearly as bad. It seemed, lately (even before his trip), that he was in dire need to be close with her. “Well, I think you’re a really nice guy, Troy. You’re willing to do anything for anybody and you do whatever you can to better yourself, and I respect that.”
“So, you like me better than before?” Troy asked.
“Yes—yes, I do.”
Troy fidgeted slightly. “Tell me then, would you be interested in…seeing me as something else, then…?” When Sara-Li didn’t answer right away, he lowered his head in a defeated way. “I can’t ignore it, Sara-Li—it was hard as hell to not think about you when I was on that trip with Ivan. I kept thinking about what you were up to, or if you started dating someone. It consumed my thoughts, and it nearly drove me mad.” Lifting his head to look at her, he saw that she was a bit surprised by his outburst of honesty. “Now that I am home, I cannot deny that the urge is biting me even worse than before.”
“Are you…are you asking for my hand…?” Sara-Li wondered, a whole flood of emotions that hit her. It nearly made her ill, as it was coming so fast.
“N-No! Not your hand!” Troy corrected. “I just…I just want to see exactly how well we fit together beyond friends, yeah?” Finding an unbelievable amount of courage, the young lightning mage leaned forwards and kissed Sara-Li on the lower lip to see if he would be allowed to do so without it seeming as though it were ‘too much’.
Closing her eyes during that period, Sara-Li slowly reopened them to look back at Troy. “It-Is it okay if we take this…a bit slowly?” She moved her periwinkle hair from her face with a bright blush across her cheeks. “I don’t…I don’t want to rush into anything even if my body wants me to just go all out.”
Feeling a bit embarrassed he was that bold, he asked: “Is there anything you’d like to do then; something that we can do to enjoy one another’s company?”
Sara-Li pulled from the table to walk over and grab up the blanket that belonged to Troy. “How about if we do what you said we were going to do? We can talk about what we’ve learned while…cuddling perhaps?”
Troy removed himself from the chair he was upon as well to make it over to Sara with a spell book in his hands. He nodded at the suggestion. “I like the sound of that.”
“You sound less than excited,” pointed out Troy with a raise of his brow, shifting through the books Thunderhawk had loaned him once more to make sure they were all there and in one piece. “I thought you loved working at the palace.”
Ivan expelled an almost irritable sounding huff through his nostrils. “Don’t assume I don’t enjoy what I do, boy,” grumbled the polar bear as he wiggled his toes. He was more than exhausted from working all day and from the traveling that was on top of that. “Just like any other person, I take pleasure in my time off from being told to cook morning, noon, and night for other folks and what to cook at that. Besides, not many jarls allow their head chefs to take a year vacation. I’d say I am lucky in that regard.”
Troy was quiet for a moment. He wanted to thank Ivan for taking him on the trip, but he was afraid that the bear would be sarcastic, per usual. Swallowing his pride in the matter, Troy found the courage to do so all the same. “I’ve been meaning to thank you, Ivan…for taking me with you on this trip.” He waited to see if Ivan had anything smart to say, but from what he could make out from the corner of his eye, the bear was merely eyeing Troy curiously. “I never did think I’d find cooking a passion, I guess, but it is something I enjoy, no thanks to you.”
He waited once more for a sarcastic comment to surface.
Nothing.
Finally, Ivan shifted slightly from where he was resting near the fire and placed his hands behind his head with a soft grunt. “I’ve been hard on you for a reason, Troy,” Ivan said finally. “You were but a puggle and yet you managed to make something so simple whereas my other trainees were sitting there with everything they needed scratching their heads confused. You think I was going to let you just head back to that old jarl and dump that sort of knowledge only on magic?” The aged bear scoffed, moving his arms to just above his round stomach. “I’ve pushed you worse than anybody else, and you’ve become a cook I can be proud of.”
A smile hooking upon his muzzle, Troy nodded in relief that Ivan wasn’t just asserting his power on him because he could—but for the sake of progress. “Thanks, Ivan,” said Troy over the crackling fire. “That means a lot to me.”
“The hell do you keep talking for?” Ivan griped, per usual, waving his arm angrily at the bag full of ingredients they had gathered. “I fixed dinner last night, so it is your damn turn!”
Same old Ivan, thought Troy as he did as he was told all the same.
As Troy shuffled through the bags to get what he needed, Ivan remembered that he had forgotten about bothering with the maroon furred echidna’s birthday. They had both been so busy that the idea skipped his mind. “I meant to give you something when you turned seventeen this year.” Pushing himself to his feet, he moved to his tent and rummaged through his belongings to pull out a large piece of fabric that was delicately folded.
Troy had stopped for a moment to see what exactly Ivan had in mind to give him, watching as the fabric was unfolded to show a cooking apron, yes, but it was embroidered with a second rank chef mark. His icy-blue eyes looking at the golden three point crown mark of Winterhold, he gazed to Ivan with befuddlement and, yet, hope.
“Here,” said Ivan, as he handed over the apron. “I was quick to pack that when you, out of everybody else, asked to come with me on this journey. Not many of those other would be chefs are willing to put up with me, even for the sake of bettering themselves.” His arms over his chest, he looked off to the side with a roll of his eyes. “They whine I am too harsh with them; idiots.”
“But—does this mean—?” Troy stammered, unable to believe what Ivan was giving him, really.
The bear nodded simply with that same neutral expression. “If you want it, the position underneath me but above everybody else is yours.”
“You mean your second in command?” Troy attempted to correct.
“If that’s what you want to call it.”
Moving his wild, white bangs, Troy tried to find his breath for a moment as he shook his head in disbelief. “Thank you, Ivan. It means a lot to me.”
“Yeah, well, you can thank me while you fix the dinner at the very least,” said Ivan a bit sarcastically, nudging the young teen with his elbow in the process. “I am starving over here, and I don’t plan on going to sleep on an empty stomach.”
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Her arms outstretched from her body, Sara-Li wiggled her fingers slightly before moving her right slowly back above her left while conjuring the light attack once more. She was still trying to perfect it, as she didn’t feel it was as powerful as it could be. With the light dancing upon her fingertips, she rotated her index fingers on both hands in a slight circular motion before expelling the magic forwards at the test dummy not far from her.
The spell hit with a loud cracking sound—blowing off a portion of the dummy in the process. Opening her violate eyes quickly with a startled gasp, Sara-Li’s shocked expression melted away into absolute relief and joy at what she had managed to do. “Finally!” she cheered to herself with a slight victory pose by hopping in the air with her arms above her head. “Who knew just trying to morph a stupid spell would take so much concentration and training? It was like learning the darn thing all over again.”
“I believe I told you that in the beginning of training,” came Thunderhawk’s voice from behind the fair Sara-Li.
Startled by the elder’s voice, Sara-Li spun around quickly to see the guardian standing there in the snowy courtyard with a pleased smile upon his face. “Oh—! Lord Thunderhawk—I didn’t realize you were standing there.” Out of respect, the periwinkle furred echidna grabbed her dress, layered and flared in green fabrics like pedals on a flower, and bowed before him.
Still not used to being treated in such a way, Thunderhawk waved his hand dismissively. “You know you don’t have to do that,” he insisted, walking past her to get a better look at the dummy she had taken care in destroying. “You certainly have gotten quite a handle on that attack. You’re doing quite well, I would say.”
A small blush crept across her muzzle at Thunderhawk’s compliment, twirling side to side with a smile. “Thank you. Honestly, I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without your help.” A part of her really wanted to impress Thunderhawk and show him how far she had come under his guidance. Sara-Li wasn’t even aware that that minor crush bug inside of her was developing over the years into a love sickness for her mentor. All she knew was that she felt comfortable around him and was filled with a fiery passion to make him happy.
“While a student may only be as good as their teacher, the student has to have a desire to learn to begin with,” Thunderhawk reminded her as he pulled from the practice dummy to come closer to the fair, young woman. “You really have come such a long way, Sara-Li, and all for your brother, no less.”
“My brother did a lot for me when I was little—he still does,” Sara-Li explained, folding her hands before her dress. “I don’t know where I’d be without him…”
Thunderhawk could see the concern in her eyes as he leaned against the partially demolished figure he was examining. He smiled to her tenderly. “Sara-Li, I am sure with you continuing to practice your healing magic, Cyrus will live a long and healthy life.”
Sara-Li’s worry didn’t deteriorate. It merely worsened for a moment as she turned her gaze from the elder. “But I cannot be with him forever… I worry that I am not in fact helping him, but making things worse.” Finding the courage to look at Thunderhawk, she did so with a subtle sigh, which was visible upon the cool air. “I feel as though I am giving his body something to thrive on, but what if I am taken away from him? What will he do then?”
“You work with him then,” encouraged Thunderhawk as he made his way to Sara-Li. He held her shoulder supportively as he relaxed his face to look less business like. “Magic cannot fix everything, Sara-Li. You also have to work with Cyrus. You best do so while you’re able, as everyone is uncertain what the future may bring, and how long the two of you will continue to live under the same roof.” He rose one brow while eyeing her playfully. “Besides, you both are old enough to look into making a family of your own.”
Scoffing at him, she lightly brushed away his hand from her shoulder as a teasing gesture in response. “Well, if you know of any males who are actually interested in me, I would be happy to meet them.”
Thunderhawk’s thoughts instantly went back to Troy, but he didn’t think it would be right to outwardly admit that the boy had buried feelings for Sara-Li. “I am sure there is one closer than you think,” he said, unaware that Devon and Jade-Li had the talk with her a year ago about Troy.
“I know who you speak of, Guardian,” said Sara-Li with a slight smile, “but I don’t think that boy will ever really mature to meet the standards of a man.”
There was still scorn in her voice. Thunderhawk had noticed it getting worse after Troy had left to travel around Skyrim. “You know he didn’t leave to spite you, Sara-Li,” he felt need to outwardly say with a sigh. “Troy just—he has a lot of things he would like to explore regarding his talents.”
Sara-Li frowned, even if the assumption of her tone was spot on. “I don’t care what that boy does! He’s just—he’s always been a jerk to me, even when I tried to help him!” Rewinding her words in her head, Sara realized that maybe she was just really missing Troy and not actively wanting to admit to it given everything he had said and done to irritate her. Shaking her head, she stepped backwards with a somber sigh. “Forgive me. I should go…”
Thunderhawk couldn’t help but feel bad for saying such a thing to her regardless of it being truth or not. “I’ll never understand teenagers,” he mumbled to himself.
Baltheer, Thunderhawk’s high priest, was nearby when he overheard the guardian mumbling ‘privately’ to himself. “I guess you wouldn’t. It’s been decades since you were that young.” He noticed that the elder didn’t act at all shocked or startled that he was there; making him relieved he didn’t give the old man a heart attack.
“You’re no spring chicken either, Baltheer, so don’t even start picking on me for my age,” he chortled, moving over to the priest to walk with him a bit.
“Yes, but, fifty-four moons compared to your…how old are you again?” he asked, only to get a nudge from the remark. “Anyways, she’s merely a woman that is still confused about the idea of womanhood.”
“I still find it odd,” said Thunderhawk with a wiggle of his old brow. “She just turned seventeen this year, and not once has she turned her sights on courting a young man. When I was seven, I was betrothed, and at fifteen we got married and worked on having a child. That was considered the norm.” He rolled his shoulders. “I guess I don’t understand why young men and women are waiting so much longer to wed and have a family.”
“Like I said, she is struggling with herself,” said the shaman. “While she may be in between with this Troy, I don’t think you realize how captivated she seems with you.” Baltheer stopped for a moment as he saw the berries he desired to have for a potion he was working on. Brushing the snow off with his fingers, he began picking them cautiously.
Thunderhawk rolled his eyes, as he had yet to see what it was everyone was talking about. “I wish everyone would stop saying that. I don’t see where you’re all getting the idea she has a crush on me. I am her teacher—nothing more.” In all honesty, he had a hard time believing someone so young would be remotely interested in someone his age.
“Sometimes students and teachers evolve beyond such.” Baltheer slowly rose to his feet with a grunt, digging the butt of his staff into the snowy earth. “But, for all I know, it could just be a phase she’s going through. She might not actively pursue it.”
“Troy should be returning soon, so maybe he can help spark something in the young Sara-Li,” Thunderhawk said, as he didn’t see Sara as anything other than a daughter at best. He had watched her grow from a young child to a young woman. “I know she won’t actively admit it, but she does miss him.”
“You continue to brush away the subject at hand, as if to ask for someone else to take care of the matter,” the old healer pointed out as he continued walking about the courtyard with the leader.
Thunderhawk grabbed either side of his head in frustration before narrowing his eyes at Baltheer. “I—don’t—what do you people want from me! I don’t see where you’re all intent on trying to get me to pair up with my student!”
Baltheer stopped, whacking Thunderhawk in the chest lightly with his gnarled staff; the beaded dream catcher hitting the lilac echidna in the process of such as well. “You’ve been lonely for far too long, my Lord. You refuse your servants, and you turn down any practical woman who would ask for your hand.” His old, soft-purple eyes shifted to where Sara-Li’s tracks were still fresh in the snow. “I honestly think you’re turning down a fate you just might be happy with.”
Thunderhawk opened his mouth to retaliate, but quickly shut it when he heard the arrival of Ivan and Troy. Thank the Goddess, he thought as he excused himself to go meet up with his other student and royal chef.
“And you better be careful with everything, or I will be sure to string you all up by your tails!” Ivan threatened the guards and Troy.
“Ivan,” Thunderhawk greeted with relief in his tone. “It is good to see you again! I never thought I would be so happy to hear that obnoxious yelling of yours.”
“Admit it, Lord Thunderhawk,” Ivan began, taking Thunderhawk’s hand to shake it, “without me, this place would be dull and lifeless.”
“And am I to assume that Troy is in one piece?” Thunderhawk said, looking over at the young man to see he had grown a bit in the past year. Seeing the nod of the young mage, he crossed his arms over his chest with a sizing gaze. “And what of my books? Did you bring those back too?”
“They are fine, Thunderhawk.” Troy grabbed onto the bag that had all of the tomes he was allowed to take with him. “Now, hopefully, I can beat your backside in a sparring duel.”
Thunderhawk laughed at how confident Troy had become in regards to his lightning mage abilities. “Is that so? We will have to look into everything you’ve learned later.”
Troy looked around the courtyard to see a few new faces and some old, but he didn’t see Sara-Li nearby. “Where’s Sara?” he asked, helping Ivan unload the cart. “I expected to see her when I arrived.” Admittedly, his heart was squeezing at the desire to see her again. He hated to say it, even to himself, but he had missed her dearly.
“Your highness opened his big mouth and she ran off that way,” Baltheer teased, pointing to the college. The shaman noticed Thunderhawk giving him an annoyed look, but he refused to take back his words.
“Really? Is she okay?” Troy asked, growling lowly at Thunderhawk, as he assumed that he had upset her. “Ivan, I will be right back to help with the cart; I swear it!”
“You will not—get back here, boy!” Ivan yelled, only to have his words lost to the wind as Troy hurried to the college to try and hunt Sara-Li down. “Dammit!” The old brow of the polar bear wrinkling in irritation, he jabbed at Thunderhawk and Baltheer. “You two!” Both Thunderhawk and Baltheer straightened up upon their names being mentioned. “Make yourselves useful, and help me with this crap!”
“I swear, I need less aggressive servants,” grumbled Thunderhawk as he did what he was asked of his royal chef.
Sara-Li had excused herself to the library, burying her nose into her studies to hopefully sidetrack herself from the pain that was buried within her. She was conflicted between Troy’s supposed emotions towards her and Thunderhawk’s nonexistent affection. Turning the page, Sara-Li sighed somberly. “How can Thunderhawk be so blind…?” she whispered to herself, finding that she was hardly paying attention to what she was reading. “Doesn’t he care about me as…?”
The young healer derailed as she heard the door to the library opening. Straightening up, she wondered who else would be joining her that evening when she saw the all too familiar maroon echidna enter the shared space. “T-Troy…!” she stammered, excusing herself from the chair she was sitting upon. “You are back home!”
Seeing Sara-Li heading towards him, Troy hurried to meet her halfway. Embracing her tightly in the middle of the room, he never thought he would feel such excitement in just holding her figure against his. Cupping the back of her head, he instinctively kissed her periwinkle colored hair.
Feeling the kiss to her head, Sara blushed brightly—relieved that it was hidden against his chest.
Realizing what he had just done, he too blushed and was quick to push away with a nervous laugh. “Sorry about that,” he apologized, running his fingers through the white strands of hair atop his head. “I didn’t mean to…overstep. I guess it’s just been awhile, is all.”
Sara-Li gave him a teasing ‘yeah right’ look before crossing her arms across her chest. “Perhaps,” she responded. For some reason, standing there looking at that once immature boy, Sara-Li felt her heart swell and tighten at just remembering him hugging her a second ago. “So, how did your traveling go?” Turning on her heels, she went back to the book she left on the table.
“It went well,” answered Troy, as he followed closely behind her. “I even brushed up on my studies a bit.” He attempted to gloat, or at least do his best to show off to her, as he sat down on the table she had been studying at. “Watch this!”
Upon getting her attention, Troy curled the tips of his fingers to allow sparks of the lightning spell to fly from his index finger, to his middle, and then to his ring finger and back again. Focusing hard enough, he managed to make the lightning conjure into a heart shaped design before hopping about in his palm to become a larger ball of power. Naturally, he couldn’t show off the full extent of what he was capable of in the library, so he merely continued to transform the spell into different creatures. “I can even make them bigger—make the lightning creatures fight for me as well! Fought off a bunch of bandits with a lightning wolf!”
Sara-Li smirked at his desire to gloat, causing her to close the book she was reading to listen to him a bit better. Even if she was sure he was probably lying about a few things, she did miss him, and Sara couldn’t help but smile at his desire to, possibly, impress her. “Did you now? What about that defensive spell Thunderhawk asked you to practice before you left? Did you progress any further with it?”
Troy blushed a bit at being called out on that. “Well, no…besides, I don’t see the point, all the same. Who the hell would I need to protect besides myself? I know how to make healing potions.”
“What about me?” Sara-Li asked. “What if you and I ever went out exploring together, and I needed your help involving protection?” After her worry subsided, she reached for Troy’s hand to hold it sweetly.
Blushing, the lightning mage grumbled to himself. “You’re a healer, Sara-Li. Would you honestly need my help in staying in one piece?”
“That all depends on what part of me I am willing to trust you with protecting,” Sara-Li said vaguely, sliding her fingers from his hand before closing the book she had and rising back to her feet. “Anyways, you’ve had a long time away from home. I am sure you desire to get comfortable and settled back in.”
Troy ran her words back through his head as she started to make her way for the exit. His eyes widening briefly, he turned back to Sara-Li with an eager calling of her name: “Sara! Wait—!”
She stopped and turned around to look at him quizzically.
The burning sensation rising within him once more, he resisted every urge to just ran, grab her, and start to kiss her like she was his lover. Had he really been eager for her all this time? Troy shook his head when he noticed he had been staring. “A-After dinner, did you want to spend some time with one another?”
Sara-Li rose a suspicious brow at him.
“You know, it’s been awhile since I’ve been able to practice, and I do really want to catch up with you, and see what you’ve done over the year,” he partially admitted while scratching his cheek. “That is, if all of that is okay with you?”
Maybe Lord Thunderhawk was right, Sara-Li thought, as she was now watching Troy in a different manner than before. She had been lonely, and her parents were constantly talking about her and Cyrus finding someone to marry. Even Cyrus was older than her, and he still hadn’t been too active in the dating scene. Troy was the only boy around that was about her age, and they had known one another the longest too. Didn’t it make sense? Sara-Li couldn’t help but wonder. “Of course,” she finally answered with a slight wag of her tail. “I would be delighted to. Did you want me to meet you anywhere special?”
“My room,” Troy answered quickly. “Krine won’t be there, as he’s usually out drinking on this evening, so we’ll have the place to ourselves. Sound good?”
That idea made her nervous. Alone in a room with Troy? Sara-Li knew she was old enough regardless of what happened, but it made her frightened all the same. Swallowing her fear, she straightened up with a slightly hesitant nod. “I will see you soon then? Farewell for now, Troy.” And with that, Sara-Li took her leave and headed back to her family.
After dinner was over, Sara-Li bucked up the courage to find her way to Troy’s bedroom. Knocking on the wooden door, she was greeted, once more, by the young mage. “Sorry I’m a little late,” she apologized, hoping her nervousness wasn’t showing. “I, um—I—yeah, I’m sorry…I don’t have a good excuse.”
“It is fine,” he insisted, waving her in to allow her to sit down at the table whilst he shut the door. He too admitted he had butterflies in his stomach. Troy was worried that he might get sick and loose the dinner he had devoured earlier when it came to what he wanted to say…what he wanted to do.
Taking in a courageous breath, he made his way to the opposite side of the table with a smile. “I didn’t mean for you to have to make plans for me, Sara-Li, but I did want to see you again.” When she was about to open up the spell book, he quickly reached over to prevent her from doing so. “It’s not…just about the spells, really. I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“O-Oh…?” Sara-Li could hear her heartbeat. It was so deafening that she was worried it was becoming painfully obvious to Troy that she was nervous.
Troy tapped his fingers upon the wooden surface of the table before finding the valor to finally get to it. “You’ve known me since I was six, right?” Seeing her nod, he continued: “So…what do you think of me?” That shocked look on her face nearly made him panic, so he rose his hands quickly to prevent her from speaking right away. “Okay, so—I know I drove you crazy a lot as a kid growing up, and I apologize, but I am curious about what you think of me now!”
Sara-Li wondered what it was she could say. True, he had driven her crazy, and it was sometimes hurtful the things he would say and or do, but they did practically grow up together. While he still teased her, it wasn’t nearly as bad. It seemed, lately (even before his trip), that he was in dire need to be close with her. “Well, I think you’re a really nice guy, Troy. You’re willing to do anything for anybody and you do whatever you can to better yourself, and I respect that.”
“So, you like me better than before?” Troy asked.
“Yes—yes, I do.”
Troy fidgeted slightly. “Tell me then, would you be interested in…seeing me as something else, then…?” When Sara-Li didn’t answer right away, he lowered his head in a defeated way. “I can’t ignore it, Sara-Li—it was hard as hell to not think about you when I was on that trip with Ivan. I kept thinking about what you were up to, or if you started dating someone. It consumed my thoughts, and it nearly drove me mad.” Lifting his head to look at her, he saw that she was a bit surprised by his outburst of honesty. “Now that I am home, I cannot deny that the urge is biting me even worse than before.”
“Are you…are you asking for my hand…?” Sara-Li wondered, a whole flood of emotions that hit her. It nearly made her ill, as it was coming so fast.
“N-No! Not your hand!” Troy corrected. “I just…I just want to see exactly how well we fit together beyond friends, yeah?” Finding an unbelievable amount of courage, the young lightning mage leaned forwards and kissed Sara-Li on the lower lip to see if he would be allowed to do so without it seeming as though it were ‘too much’.
Closing her eyes during that period, Sara-Li slowly reopened them to look back at Troy. “It-Is it okay if we take this…a bit slowly?” She moved her periwinkle hair from her face with a bright blush across her cheeks. “I don’t…I don’t want to rush into anything even if my body wants me to just go all out.”
Feeling a bit embarrassed he was that bold, he asked: “Is there anything you’d like to do then; something that we can do to enjoy one another’s company?”
Sara-Li pulled from the table to walk over and grab up the blanket that belonged to Troy. “How about if we do what you said we were going to do? We can talk about what we’ve learned while…cuddling perhaps?”
Troy removed himself from the chair he was upon as well to make it over to Sara with a spell book in his hands. He nodded at the suggestion. “I like the sound of that.”