Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Arrow, Bequeath my Heart ❯ Chapter 12

Upon taking Sara-Li back to Winterhold, Thunderhawk made sure she was safe and secure in his own bedchambers before sending a servant to her parents. “Get someone down there to relay that message to Jade-Li and Devon as soon as possible,” said Thunderhawk to one of his guards at the doorway while Sara-Li rested upon his bed out of sight. “I want them to know their daughter is safe and with me for now. I will return her in the morning.”

Hearing the door close from the other side of the partial, U-shaped wall, Sara-Li felt some relief as Thunderhawk made his way back to her. She turned under the covers to look to him with guilt upon her face. “I'm sorry…it's just…I've never had disagreements like that with my mom before.” Remembering her outburst, she shook her head somberly with a pitiful look upon her features. “I didn't mean to yell at her.”

Thunderhawk scratched an annoying itch within his lilac hair as he thought of a good response to give her. “We all yell at the ones we love. Emotions are a fickle thing and very hard to control sometimes.”

She would have asked if he had ever raised his voice to his daughter, but she stopped herself and smiled to him briefly. “I thank you for letting me stay here…I just didn't have it in me to really go see my parents…”

Thunderhawk gave the fair maiden a sideways smile of sorts. Honestly, he was just happy to have her nearby and talking to him again. “Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you desire to.” Thinking back on the times she had stopped coming to study with him, he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “So, what caused you to stop coming to classes lately?”

With him asking such a thing, Sara-Li blushed in embarrassment. She pulled the covers slightly up to her muzzle while averting her eyes.

Seeing her react in such a way, he sighed. “Did I do something wrong?”

“It's not you by any means, my Lord,” Sara-Li lied slightly as she fondled the covers in her hands. “It's been about my move to Morrowind, is all.”

“Your move to Morrowind?” Thunderhawk asked with a raise of his bushy brow. “Have things been decided on that?” He was trying to remain professional and not let his emotions overflow on the matter.

Sara-Li stared ahead at the cobblestone wall beyond the foot of the bed with her eyes lidded in sorrow. “It was why I was…so upset—why I yelled at my mom as I did.”

He hoped that his steady breath wasn't caught by Sara-Li's ears as he felt his heart squeeze at the thought of losing his student. “I see,” he muttered, shifting his blue eyes to the fair maiden to realize that his vagueness wasn't helping the situation. Forcing a smile on his face, he placed a hand upon her shoulder. “We shouldn't waste what time we have then, right? I would hate to regret the last moments I share with you before you and your family departs.”

Sara-Li knew he was right, and thus, she nodded to him with a forced smile of her own. “Y-You're right. I shouldn't let this change in things hurt my time spent in Winterhold. You've done so much for my family, that I would feel bad if I just shut you out until I left…”

Hearing her say that brought some honest warmth back to his grin, and he worked on changing the topic for a moment. “But, you must color me impressed, Sara,” he chuckled, turning his head playfully to the side as he stared upon her out one open eye as if to study the periwinkle echidna. “I know you're weak from the overuse of your power, but I am surprised you able to fight off so many of those undead like that.”

She laughed briefly with an embarrassed look at his comment. “Well, I tried. I am not nearly as strong as you, but I am able to at least manage a little bit thanks to practice.”

“That practice really did pay off in the long run,” said Thunderhawk with a sideways smirk of sorts. “But, for now, you should rest and regain what energy you can. You did do a lot of nodding off when I got you back here,” he lightly teased as he fixed the covers about her body.

She gave him a sarcastic look. “Because I am not as strong or old as you are.”

“Well, there's that witty tongue of yours,” chortled the guardian as he pushed himself up from the chair he was sitting upon.

Sara-Li watched as Thunderhawk was about to leave her to rest in peace. “Where are you going to sleep now that I have your bed…?”

Pausing in his steps, he looked over his shoulder at Sara-Li with a nod. “I do have a cot I can sleep on, my dear. It's downstairs in my training room, remember?”

Even if he would be in the same room as her, technically, Sara-Li couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about being alone. She worried who might try to come in.

“What's the matter?” asked Thunderhawk, knocking her from her thoughts.

Sara-Li opened her mouth to speak, but shut it shortly afterwards, as she struggled to think of the right words to say. “I guess, I—I just don't want to be alone up here is all.” She chuckled nervously, hating how young that sounded. “Sorry, I sound like I am afraid of the dark, don't I?”

Thunderhawk caught his scoff in his throat as he gave her a gentle look. “I do have a few blankets I can move to the floor, if you like?”

She felt bad hearing that he'd have to sleep on his own floor. “But, I—won't that hurt your back?” Sara-Li asked innocently as she held the covers to her chest as if to fidget with them.

“You young kids and your jokes about my age,” he scoffed as he headed towards his closet to look for the blankets he had mentioned.

Sara-Li blushed wildly, as she didn't mean for her comment to come across like that. “No, no, no—! That's not what I meant! I meant that the floor is hard, and it must be uncomfortable!”

Thunderhawk grabbed up the blankets he would need, as well as an extra pillow from one of his chairs to toss there near the foot of the bed. “I know what you meant. I was merely teasing you for all the times you teased me. I felt it was only fair,” he chuckled with a shrug of his shoulders to show he wasn't offended.

She lacked the energy to do much beyond give him a playful, yet, disapproving stare of sorts. With Thunderhawk soon out of sight for the moment, she relaxed on the bed's covers with a gentle sigh of relief. Staring upwards at the cobblestone ceiling, she slowly closed her eyes. “Thank you, Thunderhawk. I appreciate your kindness.”

The lilac colored guardian fidgeted a bit as he too gazed to the ceiling above, taking her words in. “You're welcome, Sara-Li.” It was the only thing he could think to say. Anything else sounded too corny and too personal to how he was feeling. Turning to his side, he got comfortable (best he could) and closed his eyes before falling asleep.

---

When morning came, Sara-Li made her way back to her parents with Thunderhawk escorting her to keep her nerves at bay. Jade-Li was waiting eagerly for her daughter with her husband at her side. Running to Sara, she embraced her tightly and almost refused to release her.

“Thank the Goddess you're alright…!” Jade-Li said gently, unable to hold back her tears of worry.

Hearing the worry in her mother's voice, Sara-Li wrinkled her brow in regret of her actions. “Sorry, mom…” she apologized as she held her reassuringly in return. “I am safe now, and I promise I won't ever do that again.”

Devon watched as his wife and daughter headed back towards the room together. He never felt so relaxed in his life. Even if he trusted Thunderhawk, he couldn't help but be worried and desire to see his daughter during the night hours when she was supposedly returned. “Thank you for watching over her for us, Lord Thunderhawk,” he praised. “I don't know what I'd do if I lost my little girl.”

Thinking back on his own daughter, Thunderhawk managed a smile to hide the pain best he could. “I wouldn't wish that sort of loss on you, my friend.” He attempted to change the topic best he could. “I heard why Sara-Li ran off—so is it true? Are you all going back to Morrowind?”

“I know she would rather stay,” said Devon with a heavy sigh. “However, Cyrus' health isn't at its best here, and we would be back home where he could thrive a bit better in the climate.”

“What of Sara-Li? She practically grew up here,” Thunderhawk expressed in Sara's defense with his hands crossed upon his chest. “She is old enough to make her own decisions in this matter, don't you think?”

Devon gave a teasing look at the ruler of Winterhold. “You make it sound so easy in that regard. The thought of living away from Sara-Li is—it's not easy.”

“It never is; however, if you drag her back to Morrowind without her say in this matter you'll find the distance between you both even worse than if she were here,” he warned. Reaching over, Thunderhawk placed his hand upon Devon's shoulder supportively. “Think about it, and try to talk about it civilly. If she goes running off again, I am going to hunt you down next time,” teased the leader.

With the thought in mind, the two men parted and went their separate ways. As his mind wandered, he felt a familiar presence near him. Thunderhawk nervous turned his attention to the western part of the courtyard to find Troy standing there under the overhang with a rather worried look upon his face. He was eyeing where Sara-Li had gone, and this caused Thunderhawk to stop in his tracks and, reluctantly, head towards the boy.

“She is fine, Troy,” assured the ruler as he snapped the aggressive teen from his thoughts.

Troy's face of concern turned to mellow annoyance as he frowned his greeting to Thunderhawk. “I know she is, but I cannot help but be concerned with her…leaving and all.”

“So, she told you, eh?” Thunderhawk couldn't help but feel a bit pained by that. He wasn't sure why—he always assumed that Sara-Li would be open and honest with him. “I guess that's why you both have been so distant?”

Thinking back on that moment inside of his room where Sara-Li refused him, Troy felt his heart squeeze in pain. Having that memory surface, he shot an icy, cold stare at Thunderhawk. “That's none of your business…!”

“Look,” began Thunderhawk, “I talked to her father about the idea of moving, so all we can do is wait it out. I am sure things will get better, but, whatever you do, don't add to the situation. That's all I am asking. She's in a very fragile state right now.”

Troy said not a thing in return. He was studying Thunderhawk's actions and words, if anything—finding them odd and almost awkwardly out of character to how he used to act in the past.

With the silence becoming too deafening for him, he rubbed the back of his neck as if to wonder what to say next. “Just…be sure to get inside. You'll freeze with this blizzard going on.” With his advice offered, he turned away and headed back to the college in order to make it back to his bedroom for now. He was too drained to consider doing much else beyond tedious paperwork.

-------------

Sara-Li did her best to continue heading back to classes as the months passed. She was still on edge and stressed over when the move was to take place, and every day was almost terrifying in the terms of stepping out of bed.

“Sara?” called Thunderhawk, snapping her from her train of thought from where she was studying in his bedroom.

Her violet eyes blinked wide as she turned to the leader's voice. “Eh?” Seeing the concerned look on his face, she blushed a bit in embarrassment. “Oh, sorry, my Lord. I guess my mind is just wandering.”

“As usual,” he said more in concern than teasing. His hand nearby the book she was studying, he drummed the fingers upon the wooden surface of the desk. “Are you alright?”

“Nothing you haven't heard before,” Sara-Li chuckled as she shut the book with a forced smile upon her muzzle. “Besides, I am supposed to have a family meeting of sorts tonight about the move back home, so I guess I am a bit nervous is all.”

That makes two of us, Thunderhawk thought, but pushed the idea to speak it honestly to the side. “Would you like to try testing out your healing magic?”

“How will I do that? I don't want to test it out on someone and then the spell goes wrong,” Sara-Li admitted with a nervous smile of sorts. While she used simple, novice spells on her brother, she always worried about using the more advanced ones.

Thunderhawk didn't answer. Instead, he bent his fingers a bit to work on conjuring up a dog that had a wounded back leg. The animal stood there, whining as if it were in the worst pain possible.

“O-Oh my…that poor thing!” Sara-Li gasped, her hands to her muzzle to conceal her gasp. “B-But, I don't trust myself enough to heal this poor creature properly, my Lord…”

“It's not real,” he said with a sideways smile. “This dog is just a magical dummy of sorts that will react to how you treat it. It's filled with a soul gem that I had taken off of enemies in my travels,” the guardian explained, flashing the crystal gem hidden under his palm.

Sara-Li's fur prickled at the sight of that soul gem container. “I've…heard of those. They make my skin crawl,” she said, rubbing down her fur on her upper arms.

Thunderhawk saw her uneasiness and could easily understand it. “I only trap the souls of the wicked in these things. I'd rather not trap feral animals in them as they are running on instincts.” He gestured back to the magical dog. “Now, try to use your magic on his back leg.”

“Well, I first have to know what caused it,” she admitted, as she got closer to the magical dog, which was acting almost robotic in whining noises now that she paid closer attention to them. Kneeling down beside it, she took a closer look at the injury it was conjured with to notice that it was a broken bone after a bit of touching the leg. “Broken bone, isn't it?” she asked, just to be sure.

Thunderhawk nodded, not giving any hints beyond that.

Sara-Li looked back to the leg to power up a spell she knew of that could at least ease the pain first before working on mending that which was broken. The dog seemed to whine the same amount, if any, but when she was finished she found that the leg was soon stood upon. “There! Did I do well?”

He smiled to the young maiden as he noticed she was getting a better handle on her magical abilities. It made him feel a bit more at ease with the idea of her venturing back home. “Well, judging that the dog is standing just fine, I would say you did.” Uncoiling his fingers from the crystal he held, he took the soul back and the dog disappeared in a cloud of smoke. “You get so nervous over the idea of using your powers, but rest assured, Sara-Li, you use them just fine.” He smiled tenderly upon her. “Don't let your anxieties stop you from being the healer you're meant to be.”

Sara-Li hid her blush from him as she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “No matter what happens, I do thank you for taking the time to teach me, Thunderhawk,” praised Sara with a bow to him. She still wasn't too used to the idea of treating him casually, so she withheld on the thought of hugging him.

Feeling his heart squeeze at the underlining message to her thanks, he guided her to the door. “You know where I am should you need me. I know I am quite far, but letters do reach well enough over here.”

Standing in the doorway, Sara-Li looked to the leader of Winterhold best she could without showing any signs of faltering. “I will let you know what comes of the discussion tonight.” She could see the pain in his eyes, and it hurt her to think she might be the cause. Reaching to his cheek, she touched it in an attempt to lighten the heaviness that was weighing him down. “I'll speak with you again soon.”

And with that said, she departed.

Jade-Li was sitting across form her husband as they talked in private about what they should do. The mother's heart felt like the most fragile thing in the world as she held onto Devon's hands tightly. “I suppose so…” were the words she uttered when Sara-Li opened the door to their living quarters.

Seeing her mother in such a way, Sara-Li began to fear the worst for a moment as she entered the main living room. “Sorry I was so long. I was practicing my healing magic a bit with Lord Thunderhawk's help.”

“That is good to hear, sweetheart,” said Devon as he looked over his shoulder at the other door in the room. “Cyrus! Can you come out here, please?”

With Cyrus entering the room and the family had gathered, Sara-Li thought her heart would explode right out of her chest. She was anxious, and her father taking his time in trying to talk about the move wasn't making the situation any easier. “Well then,” began Devon finally as he slapped his hands on his thighs to try and kick himself into gear. “It has been decided that we are heading back to Morrowind given the health problems with Cyrus and in light of the situation with the taxes.”

Sara-Li felt her heart sink, but she said not a word given what occurred last time.

“However, we have thought it through, Sara-Li, and since you are old enough to make your own decisions, we feel that it is best that you choose what you want to do,” added her father, though his words were strained given how difficult it was for him to say this—explaining why her mother was possibly not in the best of positions when she entered earlier.

“R-Really…!” Sara-Li stammered as she shot to her feet in disbelief. “You'll let me stay here if I want to!” she exclaimed as her body almost went numb with excitement.

“It is your call, my dear,” added Jade-Li as she held onto her dress tightly to keep the sadness of the thought at bay.

“Th-Thank you…!” squealed Sara-Li as she hugged her parents tightly. “This means everything to me!” Pulling from her parents, she hugged her brother as well with a gentle sigh. “I do hope you get better, brother. Maybe if you do, you'll be able to come back here…”

Cyrus embraced his sister tightly. “I hope the same, little sister. But for now, we both just need what is best for us.” He pulled back slowly from the embrace with a gentle look in his eyes. “But, I do plan on making my way back here at some point. Don't think you'll be escaping me too easily now.”

After dinner, Sara-Li had to go and tell Thunderhawk the news that she was given. Her eyes fixed on the window to his bedroom, she saw that the candles were burning bright enough to signify that he was there. As she tore into the college, she was soon stopped by a familiar character.

“Sara!” Troy said eagerly as he grabbed her wrist to try and prevent her from running away from him.

Sara-Li's face turned pale as she saw who had her. Her periwinkle fur slightly rose as she tried to get her hand back. “Y-Yes, Troy?” she asked nervously, as it would be impossible to escape him now unless she made a scene.

“Look, I am sorry for what I did!” Troy blurted out, as he knew what had to be bothering her. “I was just scared—scared of losing you and not having a chance to show you how much you mean to me!”

Sara had been doing everything possible to excuse his actions and blame them on her in the time she worked on avoiding him. With him apologizing, it was harder to stay mad or even scared of him. It was only once… maybe he won't do that again… Sara-Li thought before turning to Troy with a slight smile. “W-Well…you did startle me, Troy. I honestly thought you were going to…” she paused and looked away as the memories of that moment always seemed to frighten her.

“It was just the heat of the moment, and I thought you didn't care for me anymore with how you were acting,” defended Troy, doing his best to find anything he could to say to her to make Sara-Li forgive him. He honestly didn't know what had come over him in the bedroom that night, so he lacked a real response to the situation. “Can we just start over?”

She relaxed herself. Sara-Li knew now she couldn't hide forever and it was best to just forget it. Smiling to Troy she managed a nod. “Y-Yes; we can start over.” She shrugged her shoulders with a tilt of her head as she idly swung to and fro. “If anything, it might be the best moment to since my parents are allowing me to stay.”

Troy's icy-blue eyes blinked rapidly as he took in what she had said. “I—you are! This is perfect then!” he shouted excitedly, and was about to go in to hug her, but seeing Sara-Li instinctively recoil, he stopped himself. “S-Sorry. I promise I will take my time with gaining your trust again.”

“That's all I could ask for,” said Sara softly as she placed her hand on his shoulder. Pulling away from Troy, she made her way quickly up the spiraling stairs and towards Thunderhawk's bedroom doors to knock on them eagerly.

“Enter,” shouted Thunderhawk from the other side of the room as he was busy looking through a few of his tomes, which he got from the library downstairs. When he heard the doors open, he removed his glasses to look upon Sara-Li. “Sara-Li—what brings you back here?” he asked, feeling a bit anxious in what news she might bring him.

“I am staying!” were the words that erupted from her mouth as she hurried forwards to the guardian of Winterhold.

Getting up from where he was sitting upon his desk, he opened his arms to catch her and embrace her in a hug that didn't feel as he was expecting. Blushing a bit from her embrace, he did his best to shake away the warm feeling rushing over him. “So you are, eh?” Thunderhawk replied, trying not to sound unenthused but also trying to hide the strain in his words. “That's wonderful news!”

Sara-Li was glad the hug could hide her own blush as she smiled at his words. Losing my parents and my brother for a bit will be hard, but… I will have Winterhold, my studies, and Lord Thunderhawk can remain my teacher…