HAI A-GAIN.

Okay, explicit warning (well, not really, but still): Since I've been running out of bad duck related puns, I've moved to where they are cussing and using the puns. If anyone has any they wanna share, go right ahead because even with the series, there aren't that many that are duck related.

As for the usual Author's Note thing I put up, here's something interesting. This chapter is actually a combination of many inspirational pieces to me; "The Queen of the Darkness" from the Black Jewels Trilogy books, "The Princess Bride" movie, "Talledaga Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" (don't ask), and too many hours of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 and Fire Emblem.

So with that said, enjoy.

...P.S. If you've read another one of my stories, you'll recognize a name in here x3

Disclaimer: I don't own MD:TAS. If I did, I'd be rich.

"OW! FUCK!"

Duke quickly sank to his knees on the mats that were used for combat training, hunched over, cradling his left arm. His sparring partner quickly freaked out and dropped to the ground. "I didn't mean to Duke!" the other exclaimed. "I thought you could take a bit more, but you turned like that and-"

"Enough you two!"

Both students looked up at the female Master leading the combat sparring session for the day. "Duke, can you stand up and let me look at your arm?"

The sixteen year old slowly got to his feet. He could feel tears starting to build up in his eyes as the master known as Rose probed his arm because pain was shooting up, it seemed, from his arm to his shoulder.

But Duke wasn't about to cry in front of a master.

Then again, despite all the injuries he'd ever gotten before and after joining the Brotherhood, he had never broken anything. And it hurt.

Seems like today's now skewed, the teenager thought, wincing as the female leader continued to examine his arm, then at his shoulder. As she did, he looked at his arm. It was bent in a way he was pretty sure it wasn't before the sparring match had started, and he didn't really know what his shoulder looked like, he just knew that it hurt. A lot.

What had happened was simple, yet it kept replaying in his head.

Duke and his sparring partner, another recruit younger than him by about six months or so, had been practicing hand-to-hand combat when the other had slipped behind him and grabbed him arm, twisting it behind Duke's back. Duke had figured out a way out of the hold, but it seemed that his opponent had wanted to do something else.

So two moves from two different opponents had resulted in the injuring of Duke's arm and shoulder.

"Alright, you need to go to the Infirmary and get one of the docs to patch you up," Rose told him. "It looks like it's broken while your shoulder's dislocated, but that's just my guess." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a bandanna that she usually carried. "Here, this'll keep your arm level and it'll be easier than cradling it the whole time," she said, making a improvised sling. She quickly finished the sling and patted him on the non-injured shoulder. "Now go down there. I'll inform Baron about what happened."

She turned to the duck who had been his partner. "You go with him and make sure he gets down there all right."

The younger duck nodded.

Thus started the journey to the Infirmary.

It was an awkward walk, mainly because the kid who had been Duke's sparring partner (Duke didn't really know him, so he didn't know his name) kept apologizing for doing what he did. Duke would continue to say that it was alright and it wasn't a big deal.

Finally they reached the Infirmary. Duke walked in, his escort behind him and they both looked around.

Duke had wondered what Baron had meant when he had recruited the younger one about how "not all of us are purely thieves" when he first joined the Brotherhood. It wasn't until he was fourteen and got a rather bad gash that needed stitches that he figured out what his master meant. Though he should've known at the time, he didn't really think of thieves needing doctors…until he had gotten stitches anyway.

The Infirmary wasn't just like a tiny clinic that most people thought of, like in the movies when bad guys needed medical attention. This place practically had its own wing on the Brotherhood property it was so big. An easier way to describe it (Duke guessed) was that it was like a small hospital.

A nurse walked out of one of the many doors that led to other parts of the Infirmary. "Duke! What are you doing here?" she asked. She came up to him and looked at his arm. "Geez, what'd you do this time?"

"It's my fault Roxana!" the duck next to Duke exclaimed. "I didn't mean to hurt him, we were-"

"We were trainin' and we both just did the wrong thing at the wrong time," Duke explained lightly. He smiled. "I wasn't exactly expectin' it, so it was a good move I guess."

"It was?" his sparring partner asked.

"Sure, look what ya did! This'll be a kill'ah move against guards an' stuff."

"I…I guess so," the other said sheepishly.

Duke smiled to the younger one. "Why dont'cha go back and tell Rose I'm okay? She's prob'ly wonderin' where ya are."

He nodded slowly, then turned around and left out the Infirmary doors.

Roxana turned her gaze from where he left to Duke's arm. "We'll need Doc to look at you right away," she said, leading him to an examination area. "Just by looking at your arm, I think you were a little too easy on that kid."

"Rox, I know your twenty some-odd years older than me, but that doesn't mean you know everything," Duke said lightheartedly. "He was spastic when it first happened. I didn't wanna worry 'em any more than what I did."

Roxana just smiled. "You sound more and more like Baron everyday," she said, making him sit on a stretcher in the examination room they were in. "Which reminds me, where is he? If Rose informed him about this, he should be here soon."…

RVRVRVRVRVRVRV

10 Minutes Before…

/Hey Baron, you there?/

Baron took a deep breath, sighed, pushed away from the paperwork at his desk, and held his wrist comm up. "What is it Rose? I'm kinda busy right now."

/Duke's going to the Infirmary. Thought you should know./

The older drake tensed and sat up straighter in his chair when he heard that sentence. "Is he alright?" he asked.

/Just some sparring incident. Duke and Spade were practicing hand-to-hand combat when Spade got his arm behind his back. When Duke tried to slip out of it, something went wrong, though I'm not sure what. They don't really know either, they just both tried to do what they were doing, y'know?/

Baron got out of his chair and went to the door that led entry to his quarters, shoving his feet into his shoes. "How bad is he hurt?"

/Well, I took a look, and it looks like his arm might be broken. His shoulder seemed to be bothering him as well, but I'm not sure what might've happened to it./

Baron sighed. "Thanks Rose."

/Anytime./

With that, his comm shut off and he went out the door, trying to get to the Infirmary as fast as he could so he could meet Duke there…

RVRVRVRVRVRVRV

"…If Rose informed him about this, he should be here soon."

"Who should be what now?"

Roxana turned around and saw Baron. "Well well well, speak of the Saurian," she said. She motioned to Duke, who had just sat down. "Your apprentice got hurt, so I'm gonna go get Doc and see what he'll wanna do."

She left and Baron pulled up a nearby chair. "Rose told me what happened," he started, taking a seat. He studied his young apprentice's arm and shoulder. "Looks like you'll be out awhile."

Duke frowned. "Do you really think so Baron?"

"Well, if your arm really is broken like Rose thought, then that alone is about six to eight weeks of down time," Baron explained. "I dunno about a dislocated shoulder, if you do actually have one."

Duke groaned. "Great. So what am I s'pposed to do with all that down time?"

"Let's see what Doc says first, then figure that out," Baron told him. He ran a hand through his shoulder length hair. "Geez kid, I'm not even thirty-six yet and you're giving me more gray hairs than I thought I would have."

"At least you still have it, 'stead of losin' it," Duke pointed out.

"Waiting for me?"

The two looked up to see Doc, the head of the Infirmary of the Brotherhood of the Blade.

Now, Doc was one of the more interesting drakes of the guild, mainly because he came in so late in his life and he didn't join to be a thief. He had actually joined shortly after Duke had come into the picture and the elders of the council had gladly welcomed Doc with open arms.

Apparently, shortly before Doc had joined the guild, he had been Puckworld's top doctor with many degrees and PhD's. Everyone in the both the guild and outside world knew that he was (or rather, had been) Dr. Yatomi Shinosuke, brilliant genius. He had been working with the military until some sort of falling out with the other doctors and one or two generals caused him to leave, meaning that he was now AWOL. Somehow or another, he had found the Brotherhood and asked to join. He didn't want to steal, but he had said that he wanted to continue being a healer, despite the fact that it would be for the opposite side this time; so the council agreed and he went to join the other doctors in the Infirmary.

Doc quickly looked at Duke's arm in its sling and tsked. "What'd you do this time?" he asked, coming over to the young drake, taking the sling off, and beginning to examine his arm and shoulder.

So Duke explained the story to Doc as he probed at the teenager's left arm and shoulder. Every now and again, Duke would wince or hiss in pain, but Doc kept looking.

After a few minutes, the physician pulled away. "I want to scan you over with one of the Med-I-Coms and confirm my diagnosis." He thought for a second. "Say, isn't it time for your bi-annual physical Duke?"

The teenager pondered for a minute, but before he could answer, Baron interjected. "I believe it is," he said. "Should we go ahead and do that as well?"

"Well yes, but like I said, I want to scan him first," Doc answered. "So come on kid, let's go."Duke hopped off the bed, cradling his arm in place of the sling, as he and his master followed Doc to another part of the Infirmary that held Med-I-Com beds.

RVRVRVRVRVRVRV

"Just keep your arm in that sling and we'll check your shoulder in a few weeks."

Duke groaned as Baron thanked Doc for 'fixing his apprentice up' before master and pupil left the Infirmary.

"So what am I s'pposed to do with six weeks of no training?" asked Duke tiredly.

He did not like what the diagnosis had been. Both Roxana and Rose had been right; his shoulder was dislocated and left arm broken. So for the next six to eight weeks, he was going to have to keep his arm in a cast, while the sling/shoulder immobilizer would keep his left shoulder from moving too much. What had made Duke feel worse was that he had been drugged so that Doc and Roxana could put his shoulder back into place, and it had still been painful. Right after they started, he couldn't remember anything but pain until he woke up about two hours later, still feeling groggy.

"We'll just do something else," Baron said, facing Duke. Concern suddenly flashed on his face. "Are you sure you're okay to walk kid? You still look really out of it."

"I'm okay," Duke said, but couldn't stifle the rather loud yawn that came after that.

Then the next thing he remembered was the world going black.

RVRVRVRVRVRVRV

"C'mere Scamp!"

A small five year old looked back at his father and smiled. "Poppa!"

The older drake smiled and opened his arms up as he went to his knees. "C'mere kiddo, it's time for dinner," he said, waiting for the small child to come to him. "Mom's got your favorite tonight."

"S'ketti?" the five year old exclaimed excitedly. When his father nodded, the young duckling ran over to him and hugged him. "Let's go!" he exclaimed, laughing. His father smiled, wrapped his arms around his son, and got up.

The hatchling was so busy just laughing with his father that he didn't notice when the two had reached the kitchen table.

"Ready for dinner sweetie?" his mother asked, just smiling to her 'boys'. Her husband sat their son down in his seat before going over to his wife and holding her in his arms.

"I know I am," he said, nuzzling his bill against hers.

"Eeeww!" their son exclaimed from his seat. "Kissin's gross!"

Both mother and father laughed, turning to their son…

RVRVRVRVRVRVRV

"-c'mon kid, wake up."

Duke could hear Baron's voice, but couldn't get his voice to work.

Or his eyes to open.

But why could he hear him?

"What happened Baron?"

"He just passed out back in the hall, though I've got a pretty good idea as to why."

It sounded like Baron was talking to Rose. Why was Rose…wherever they were?

Duke wasn't sure where he was, but he knew that whatever he was on, it was soft. He thought he felt a blanket, or something to that degree, covering him. Something cold and damp was covering part of his face. A compress?

"Kid tried to prove he could walk back to his room?"

"That's the gist of it." Baron sighed. "He was looking too groggy when I asked him if he was alright. He started to say that he was fine, but then he collapsed."

"I'm surprised he woke up as fast as you said he did after Doc reset his shoulder. Usually someone is out if they have to get a dislocated shoulder reset-"

Duke finally managed to groan a little, getting the attention of the two masters. He felt the compress being moved. "You finally up kid?" Baron's voice asked, in a gentler tone than Duke had ever heard from him.

The sixteen year old managed to open his eyes a slit. "Baron?" he asked, his own voice sounding unfamiliar to even himself. "Wha' happened?"

"You collapsed out in the hall," Baron told him, sitting on the bed, facing Duke. The older drake placed the compress back on his apprentice's forehead. "I told you that you shouldn't have walked back, but you claimed to be just fine. Then you fell over." He paused when Rose walked over closer to Duke's bed. "If Rose here hadn't of come when she did, I wouldn't have been able to get you on my back to bring you here to your room."

The sixteen year old averted his gaze. "Sorry," he said. "I didn' mean to-"

"What, worry the shit outta Baron here?"

Both drakes looked at Rose.

Now, while Rose was not one of the top-ranking masters of the guild, she certainly was the most outspoken. She was pretty blunt when it came to talking and could be a bit of a smart-ass at times.

But oddly enough, that's what people liked her for.

"If you had listened to your master like you're supposed to, you wouldn't have had that little episode out in the hall!"

"Rose."

"What were you thinking Duke? You just had your damn shoulder reset-"

"Rose."

"-and you shouldn't be walking around with the medicine still in your system!"

"Rose!"

The female quickly shut up when Baron practically yelled. "Let me talk to the kid," Baron said, looking at her sharply. "He's my apprentice. Let me deal with it."

Her shoulders slackened from the tense stance she had taken and sighed. "Alright Baron, he's yours once again," she said. As she turned around to leave, she said, "Hope you feel better soon kid."

And with that she left.

Baron sighed and looked back down at Duke. "She does have a point though," he said gently. "You did scare the feathers off me when you passed out. I wasn't sure where to take you, here or to the Infirmary, much less how. If she hadn't come when she did, then I dunno what I would've done."

"…sorry."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes. As Baron took the cloth off Duke's forehead, the teenager spoke again. "Hey Baron?"

"What is it?" he asked, leaning over to reach the bowl on the floor that held ice-cold water. He was in mid-dipping of the compress in the water when Duke's question caught him off guard.

"Do you ev'ah dream of stuff that you can barely rememb'ah when awake?"

Baron looked to his apprentice, somewhat confused. "What do you mean?" he asked, bringing the cloth back up after wringing it out.

Duke sighed. "I dreamt about somethin' odd," he said. "Both my parents were there, though I couldn' really make out my dad's face…it wuz weird."

Baron brought the cold compress back to Duke's forehead and just held it there for a moment. "Was it at least a good memory?" he asked, his voice sounding sad.

The teenager yawned. "I think so," he said, starting to get tired. "My dad was tellin' me it wuz time for dinn'ah and Ma had pasta ready. He carried me to the kitchen table, then went ov'ah and hugged Ma."

Baron could see that his protégée was starting to fade back into unconsciousness. "It was probably just a dream kid," he said, beginning to bathe the younger drake's face. "But who knows. Just get some sleep kid, you need it."

"…uhm, I know it's gonna sound kinda stupid, but…"

"But what?"

"…will you stay?"

Baron smiled softly. "Sure kid. I'll stay. Besides, my room's too far away from here if you needed me."

Duke grinned, feeling his eyelids growing heavier.

Within a few moments, Baron heard soft breathing, meaning that he was sound asleep.

The older drake sighed, placing the compress back onto the sleeping teenager's brow. He got up from his seat on the bed and grabbed Duke's desk chair. He placed it next to the small bed and sat, a sad look on his face and who only knew what kind of emotion in his eyes. Don't they say that dreams are "the gateway to memories"? Baron thought. If so…who knows what else Duke will remember.

RVRVRVRVRVRVRV

3 Weeks Later…

Duke was not a happy camper.

Doc had just come to the teen's room and evaluated how his shoulder was healing. He had told the younger drake that he needed the sling for at least another week before they tried any physical therapy (though they had tried a little bit. It just wasn't anything heavy.)

So he was still stuck with nothing to do. Most days, he'd go see Baron and bug him if the older drake had no lesson to teach. Sometimes, he'd go see Rose and see how the hand-to-hand combat was going since he had been excused from his training sessions in order to heal. And since Spade hadn't been reprimanded for the break/dislocation (since it was purely an accident and the younger drake had been very sorry - he still apologized whenever he saw Duke and got the chance to talk to him,) Duke got to talk to him and see how his training had been after the incident.

But now the sixteen year old was stuck with another week of the stupid sling, with nothing to do. Granted, he knew that a dislocated shoulder took a long time to heal, but still! How the puck did a duck keep from going INSANE?

So, instead of another day of moping around, he figured he'd go see his master.

RVRVRVRVRVRVRV

"You shouldn't baby him Baron. He's a teenager now. He's even going to be pulling off his first mission in a few months!"

"I know that!"

Duke stood just outside his master's door, listening to Baron arguing with Ace. It seemed that over the last three years, the two had been more like blood-thirsty enemies than just rivals; before, it had just been minor arguments every once in awhile, but lately they'd practically been at each other's throats.

"Look, he's my student, let me do what I want!"

"The kid's not stupid, he knows something!" Ace yelled back. "Just tell the brat and be done with it!"

"GET THE FUCK OUT!"

Duke had to practically jump out of the way when the door opened and Ace stomped out of the room and down the hall. When he saw that the other master was gone, Duke gathered his courage up and stepped into the room to see what had taken place.

Baron was clearly distraught. He was currently pacing over by the kitchen area of his quarters, looking steamed over something. Duke looked around for any indication of what might have caused the bit of argument he (and he was sure the whole Brotherhood) had heard.

That's when his eyes fell upon the picture frame that Baron usually kept face-down on the nightstand table. The glass was smashed on the floor and it covered its own little area close to the kitchen table, but the frame was still face down.

Does this have somethin' to do with me? Duke couldn't help but wonder. I mean, I did hear Baron say "he's my student", so I bet it does. He wandered in a bit closer towards his master. "Baron?"

Immediately, the teacher stopped his pacing and looked at his pupil. "How much did you hear?" he asked darkly.

"Just the end of it," Duke said. "Does any of this hafta do with me?"

Baron sighed. "Yes and no," he answered cryptically. He went over and picked up the smashed frame from its spot on the floor. He frowned when he looked at the picture. "I've never shown you this in all the time we've been training. I think it's time you saw it." He sat at the table, frame still in his hands, just staring at it.

Duke's curiosity rose as he walked over to the table and sat down in the only other chair across from his master. He had never seen Baron distraught over something, and he was beginning to wonder what the deal with the picture really was. Sure, when he had first joined he had asked about the face-down frame, but after getting no real answer, he figured it was Baron's business and he'd tell Duke if he wanted to.

So he watched as Baron stared at it for another few minutes, then handed over the frame. Duke accepted it with his good hand and took a look at it.

Now, to the normal duck, there wouldn't seem to be anything particularly interesting about it. But Duke could see the worn out spots in the corners, the fading of color, and overall wear of the portrait. This picture seemed very important to Baron.

The teenager could only guess that it had been taken sometime before the older drake had joined because he saw a much younger Baron, sitting next to a young female he didn't recognize. They were both in awe over a hatchling that lay in her arms. Duke guessed that the baby couldn't have been more than a year old or so.

Either way, the picture looked like a normal family photo.

"I don't get it," Duke said, finally raising his head. "Why would you need to tell me about your family, if that's who these two are here?"

Baron sighed, focusing his view on the coin pendant that Duke never seemed to take off. "Because when you first came here, you asked about the portrait and I didn't tell you. Well, over the years, you've told me so much about how bad your life was or you'd talk about the few good memories you had. Lately…I guess I've missed my life before I entered the guild full-time, and Ace has been giving me a really hard time about it."

"…that's it? Really?"

Baron looked at his pupil. "Whaddya mean by 'that's it'?"

"I figured it was somethin' much bigg'ah," Duke said. "Ace sounded…odd when he was yellin'." That brought up a thought. "Why did he say that you need to stop ' babyin' ' me? I don't think you've done that."

"Not according to him," Baron said. "But then again, Ace doesn't know jack-shit about anything. I think he said that because he thinks you should be training, despite the fact that you could re-injure your shoulder if you did that right now."

"Then what about the smashed picture?"

The older drake sighed again. "Ace came in while I was looking at it, and he thinks I should tell you my past since you don't know it. So here goes."

Duke straightened up, having been wanting his master's history since he had joined.

"Before I joined the guild full-time, I was a journeyman with a side life, as you can see by the picture," Baron started, indicating the photo still in Duke's hand. "My wife and I got married when I was nineteen. I even told her that I was a part of the guild, but she didn't care. She told me that she loved me and it didn't change anything that I was also a thief." Baron chuckled. "She even said once that I had stolen her heart the moment she first saw me, so that should've been an indication.

"Some time later, we had an egg together and when it hatched, I couldn't help but feel the way she said she had when we first met. I remember the first night in the Incubation Unit; about an hour after our son hatched from his egg, I sat in a chair and just held him. He was a precious jewel to me and I didn't want anything to happen to him."

"But something did," Duke said, placing the frame back on the table. "Or you wouldn't be here now."

"…yeah, something happened," Baron agreed. "For a few years, I managed to be able to do what I did back then and have a family. All I did in the guild during that time was teach a few classes and pull some jobs for the council about twice a year. Otherwise I was at home, raising my son while my wife worked. She loved her job as a social worker, and I wasn't about to tell her she couldn't work." He smiled. "I got to spend so much time with my family that I guess it wasn't meant to last."

Duke stared at him for a moment. "What do ya mean?" he asked.

Baron sighed. "Around the time of my son's fifth birthday, some arguments were starting to arise within the council over the leader at the time and the one that's currently the head of the guild. But then again, those weren't good days for the Brotherhood. Males and females were forced to take sides, though no one really wanted to be forced onto a side.

"For about a year this went on, until the council couldn't take anymore. They ordered an official duel between the former and current leader, saying whoever came out on top was the new head of the guild-"

"Wait a sec, what's this gotta do with your family?" Duke interjected.

"I was getting to that," Baron said. "You see, before the duel took place, the former leader was looking into the members of the guild and seeing what they did to 'benefit the guild's prosperity' or some shit like that. He…he even went so far as to killing families of the guilds' members to 'set an example'."

"Which is why he had to be stopped, right?" Duke asked.

Baron nodded, looking at the picture again. "I…I couldn't stay with them. I didn't want my son or wife to be killed because of me. So when the time came, I abandoned them, as cowardly as that might sound, compared to others who ran from the guild and took their families with them or something to that extent."

"Doesn't sound like it to me," Duke said. "You were tryin' to protect 'em."

His master just sighed. "But even after the duel, I couldn't go back," he said. "I wanted to so bad, but there was still a lot of turmoil and division between those who supported the old leader and those who wanted a new order with the current leader. By the time things settled down…I found myself scared to go back."

Duke looked at him oddly. "Why? I'm sure they would'ah been happy that you were alive and okay."

"It's just…it took three years for the smoke to finally settle when the current leader of our guild took order," Baron explained. "I didn't think my son would recognize me and I wasn't sure my wife would forgive me. It wasn't until almost five years ago that I finally worked up enough nerve to go and find out what had happened to them."

"Do you know what became of 'em?"

His master was silent for a few moments.

Did he look like he was about to cry?

"My wife was not the same as when I had left," Baron said, his voice sounding shaky. "She was practically insane. She didn't even recognize our son. And he…"

"It's okay Baron, ya don't gotta tell me," Duke said, trying to comfort his teacher.

"I never wanted my son to be a thief. But he was stealing from others, just to survive."

That struck a chord in Duke. What…?

"I was going to fake my death and quit the guild before the turmoil started. But then the killing of members' families made me stop and I chose what I did instead."

Duke stared at Baron, who was looking at his hands, as if inspecting them. Then Duke looked at the portrait again, examining it closer this time.

That's when he saw two major things that he had somehow missed before. The coin pendant that was around Baron's neck and the gray plumage color of the young duckling.

Duke's eyes widened. Drake DuCaine! How the puck did I miss that? He looked back up at his master. "Baron…?"

Said drake looked Duke in the eye. "When the three of us were living our life together, I never wanted you to become a thief like me. My plan was that after I faked my death, I would take you and your mother somewhere else on Puckworld where we could live in peace, a part from the Brotherhood. And since my other area of expertise was in espionage and I had the physical training, I could be a cop. Odd career choice I know, but it would've been something else to do."

A few moments of silence passed before Duke finally did anything. He stood up from his seat, one hand on the table. "Liar."

Baron looked at him. "What?"

"You told me that my dad was executed in front of da whole guild!" Duke exclaimed. "Why'd ya lie to me, if you're actually him?"

"Because I was going to be executed!" Baron yelled, quickly standing.

Duke looked dumbfounded. "What?"

"I was about to be executed by the firing squad, within the hour of the decision," Baron explained, but he was clearly pissed. "But the duel between leaders took place during that hour and the current one won. When it came time for my execution, the leader came to my cell before the guards did and asked what I did that deserved to be killed. I answered that my only crime was having a family that I loved and felt like I needed to rescue from the clutches of the Brotherhood if I had to." Baron's face fell into a sullen look, but his voice still held a hint of being angry. "The leader just smiled and cleared my name. He said 'if that's all, I don't think it should be a crime.' Then he freed me."

Duke paused, not sure how to answer to that.

Baron turned from the table, back facing Duke. "Just…just go. Please, just leave."

The almost seventeen year old just stared at Baron, hearing all that sadness in his voice.

Then he walked out of the room.

Baron felt himself fall to his knees as tears fell.

He had almost wished Duke hadn't listened to him and stayed.

RVRVRVRVRVRVRV

Rose was beginning to get worried.

She hadn't seen either Baron or Duke for about five days. She didn't think much about it for the first two, mainly because Doc had told her about Duke's shoulder when she had asked about it and she figured he was just a bit bummed out. And since this was about the time of year that anyone with a Master ranking had to do evaluations on either the classes they taught, their apprentices, or both, she figured that Baron had been buried in paperwork since he had been running a bit behind with evaluations and some other things he usually worked with.

But when the third day came around, she started to get worried. Duke hadn't shown up to hand-to-hand combat sessions like he had been (even though he was watching/visiting instead of training) and Baron hadn't shown up to any meals. So she had gone to both of their quarters and knocked on their doors, receiving no answer from either.

When the fourth day came, she put trays of food outside each of their doors. When she came back later, Duke's tray was devoid of any food while Baron's hadn't been touched.

So as today was end of the fifth day, she was very concerned.

Once again, the tray she had left outside the kid's door had been empty. When she went to Baron's quarters again, she was upset.

He hadn't touched the food. Again.

So with no idea as to what had happened or what shape Baron might be in, she opened the door and went in.

And was not expecting him to be like he was.

She took a few steps in and closed the door. "Baron?" she asked. "Where are you?"

When no one answered, she ventured in a bit further of the medium sized room. Since it was in the style of a studio apartment, Baron had stuff separated off by screens or foldable walls.

When she saw his bed, there was a lump that she could make out in the dark room that was probably the other Master. Don't tell me he's been in bed for the past five days, Rose thought as she walked towards his bed. But then, what would've caused him to do that?

"Baron, are you awake?" she asked, coming up to the side of his bed.

When she did however, her eyes widened, a sheer look of terror coming upon her face.

"BARON!"