The sun was shining gently over the training fields where the freshman of the knight's college were gathered for their daily fencing practice. It was the first day of their new semester and the air was just beginning to warm with the advent of spring and the fresh feeling of the day had put a slight bounce in the step of each student. Argo felt the breeze from the sea and it reminded him of home, making him feel a little melancholy, as he reflected back on how far he had come from his home. So much had changed since then and he could tell that he was no longer exactly the same person he had once been. He could feel the muscles in his arms burning but the feeling actually bolstered his determination, as it was a mark of success in his exercises. He pushed himself to continue the drill, hacking away at the training dummy before him with his wooden practice sword, ignoring the bits of sweat that flicked back at him and began to coat his fur. Beside him Grant was going through the motions of the form perfectly and fluidly, and seemingly hadn't even broken a sweat. Conversely, Oscar was more similar to Argo, fumbling slightly and panting with exhaustion, drops of sweat scattering about his body.
A quick flash of movement from in front of Argo caught his eye and his vision tunneled on the dark furred figure in front of him, as he gained the upper hand on Professor Derich. Theo's wooden sword was gently placed at Derich's chest, where he would have thrust it all the way through had it been a real battle. The panther had an intense look on his face, one that reminded Argo of the expression he had seen the one time he had been with Theo during a real life or death battle. The cold and emotionless seemed to resemble the sea in the way it was eerily calm before a hurricane and it sent a slight twinge of anxiety and worry through his body and in his distraction, Argo fumbled his swing and the sword clattered to the ground. "Ah! Shit!" He bent down to pick up the sword and when he straightened up, he noticed Oscar had approached him, a look of concern on his face. "Argo, are you okay?" Argo forced down the bad memories that threatened to overwhelm him and pushed himself to his feet, nodding wearily as he did so. "I'm fine, just got distracted. I think I need a break though."Oscar gave him a weary smile.``Oh, good, I was hoping to take one myself, I neglected my training during the break so this has been taking a lot out of me."
Argo's eyes flickered back to Theo, as he slowly turned to move in the same direction as Oscar, noticing as he did so that the panther was looking in their direction. He did his best to give Theo a reassuring smile before their momentary contact broke then followed Oscar over to a tree near the training field. His friend slumped down against the tree's trunk,looking relieved.
Argo laughed. "Let me guess, you were in the library reading the break away, right? You should get out more, it'd be good for you" Oscar blushed. "Something like that" he mumbled. "I was researching Harshreich culture, I wanted to learn more about their nobility." He looked around to see if Derich was watching and when he saw that he and Theo were back to sparring, he slumped to the ground and let his hands fall behind him. "Did you find anything interesting?" Argo asked. "I mostly just confirmed that Harshreich conflicts over royal succession are just as brutal as Theo said they were." Oscar said as he looked over to where Theo was pushing back against a relentless onslaught from Derich, his face screwed up in an expression of intense concentration. "It must be terrible to have all that pressure on him, it's no surprise he lashed out at us at first."
Argo frowned as he sat down by Oscar. "I wish he didn't have to go back there, I'm really worried about what will happen to him, if only he could just run away from it all." A shadow fell over the two of them as Grant's booming voice interrupted the conversation. "Did I hear that right? You wanna run away with that stuck up prince? How romantic." Argo's face turned red immediately and he put his hands in front of his face as if he could ward off the embarrassment. "No! I didn't mean it like that." He laughed in spite of his embarrassment and the somber direction of his thoughts. "I just wish he could get out of that shitty situation, he doesn't deserve it." Grant nodded in a mock imitation of a sagelike manner. "You can say that again, he's as tough as they come but that'd break just about anyone. But there's not really anything we can do about it, it's his decision after all." Argo sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're right." He looked over at Theo again, who was doubled over with exhaustion from some exercise that he had missed. "I wonder though.."
Argo had no time to follow his musings out to a conclusion however, as Professor Derich, who was evidently done with Theo for the time being, bellowed over to them. "Hey! You've had enough of a break, get back to training. Argo,you may be my favorite but I still can't give you any special treatment, I want you and Oscar to spar with each other. Argo, fill those sails of yours with energy and get to it!" "Fine, fine, professor. We'll get back to it." Argo gave him a thumbs up before pushing himself to his feet in resignation and holding out his hand to pull Oscar up as well. The two of them took a moment to mentally prepare themselves before launching into a relatively even sparring match that only ended when Oscar stumbled over a rock he hadn't noticed and Argo had to grab his hand to keep him from falling flat on his back. Grant hurried over to help them before they both fell over and laughed uproariously, the convulsions of his body shaking Argo and Oscar, almost making it harder for them to regain their balance. Derich casually walked over to see what the commotion was, and after reprimanding Oscar for his failure to pay attention to his surroundings, said they were dismissed for the day. Argo and Oscar both sighed with relief, their simultaneous reaction only heightening Grant's mirth, who continued letting out snorts of laughter all the way back to the castle and their dorm rooms, eventually causing his companions to break into fits of laughter as well.
Theo took a few moments to take some deep breaths and collect himself from some sprints that Diederich had been making him do before sedately making his own way back to the castle, his eyes lingering on Argo's back as he laughed, causing a strange mix of loneliness and warmth to well up in his chest. The warm wind blowing from the sea carried the smell of salt, the same as it had been on that lonely island. It had become a scent that carried a combination of regret and hope to Theo.
Argo kicked off his shoes and leaned backward into his bed, staring at the ceiling. His roommate Paul hadn't come back yet and Oscar and Grant had gone to the library, in response to Oscar pulling Grant away to do some kind of research, so it was mostly silent in the empty room. He let his breathing and heart rate settle completely and reflected back on the day. He hadn't seen any of the cards recently, and while he wasn't yet entirely sure how his power worked, he supposed that meant that there was no opportunity where he might need their guidance for now, which was strangely relieving, but it left him unsure of what to do himself, as he had grown used to making his decisions with their help.
He also felt physically drained as a result of the day's training and he decided to take a short nap before deciding on what he wanted to do. When he awoke he saw Paul sitting at the desk the two of them shared, pouring over some notes he had made. A mischievous idea crept through his mind and he tiptoed over to stand right behind Paul's chair and in a slightly raised voice, said "Boo!" Paul jumped out of his chair and vanished for a second before turning around to face Argo, a startled expression painted on his face. "Oh! I didn't realize you were awake Argo, you scared me." Argo laughed. "The one who's a ghost is scared of little old me?" Paul rubbed the back of his head and looked down at his feet. "I suppose that is a little silly, yes. But I'm still the same person I was before...you know." A small feeling of guilt pricked at Argo's chest. "You're right, I'm sorry, Paul." Paul looked back up and smiled. "Ah it's fine, I'm used to it by now, it no longer bothers me." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, how did you sleep?"
Argo grinned back at him. "Like a rock. I forgot how exhausting Derich's lessons are." Paul nodded. "They're something a lot. I've got a knack for studying but the physical side of knighthood doesn't come to me nearly as easily." "That makes two of us." Argo said. "Speaking of studying, do you want to study together? I feel like I forgot most of what I learned over the break." Paul pulled the other chair out from the desk and motioned for Argo to sit down in it. "I'd be happy to, my friend, I'm sure you'll recall it all in no time!"
The sun had just set when Paul and Argo finished reviewing the topics Argo didn't remember and he leaned back in his chair with a yawn. "I think I'll be able to remember everything now, thanks for your help Paul." Paul placed his hand on Argo's shoulder with a smile. "It was no trouble, I was happy to help." Argo grinned. "I'll make it up to you by getting straight As this semester, I plan on really hitting the books in the future." He yawned again. "But for now I think I need to take a bath and then head to bed. You want to come with me?" Paul shook his head. "I took a bath earlier actually. Thank you for the invite. And if you are going to do some more reading, you should ask Oscar for help, I'm sure he has a whole catalogue of informative material in his head." Argo snickered. "Yeah he probably does, he's such a bookworm. I'll be sure to avail myself of his knowledge. He and Grant were doing something in the library today but they wouldn't tell me what it was,I'll have to ask about that again. But for now, see you, goodnight!"
Argo tiptoed to the baths, taking care to be quiet so as to not wake up anyone who may have fallen asleep. He didn't meet anyone else on the way and he thought the bathroom was empty when he arrived and he started stripping down and placing his clothes in a locker when Theo turned the corner from where the bath was. The two of them made eye contact for a moment before Theo's eyes widened in embarrassment and turned around, clapping his hands over his groin. "Hey Theo, good to see you." Argo said. Theo mumbled something that Argo couldn't hear. "Sorry, I didn't catch that, what'd you say?" "I said it's good to see you also" Theo practically yelled. "Sorry" he said in a quieter voice "I didn't mean to yell. Uh, could you turn around while I change?" Argo acquiesced with a smile. "Are you embarrassed? I thought after what we'd been through together being naked around me would be no big deal." Theo was silent for a moment before speaking. "But that was different, survival took precedence over privacy on that island." He hastily pulled his shirt on and scampered out of the room. "Goodnight Theo, sleep well" Argo called after him, before stripping off his own clothes and getting into the bath.
No one else was there and after letting the water soothe his tired mind and muscles for a bit, he let his gaze wander up to the sky above him. "The stars are so pretty tonight, it's a shame I never really had a chance to see them while on that island, I bet it would have made an excellent stargazing spot in better circumstances." He leaned backward and relaxed more, watching the stars and trying to make out the constellations. He knew the sky of his hometown relatively from navigation lessons, but the stars here were unfamiliar to him and he couldn't recognize any of them. "Yet another thing to study I guess" he said to himself as he stood up and got out of the bath. "Tomorrow will be spent in the library I guess, I hope Oscar isn't busy, it'd be nice to get his help with that." It felt like no time at all before he was blowing out the candle by his bedside and collapsing into bed, a dreamless sleep overtaking him immediately.
Elsewhere in Theo's room, the panther was staring at the ceiling and taking deep breaths to banish the last traces of embarrassment. He fell into his bed with the thought that Argo was right, he shouldn't be so embarrassed around him after everything they'd been through and such embarrassment was entirely unlike him. And yet in spite of his embarrassment, he could not deny that he wanted to remain in Argo's company, something about the wolf simply made him feel warm and banished the anxiety that followed him like a shadow. He did not understand these feelings, they served no purpose in his life. So why was it that they were happening now?
He reached out his hand and grabbed only empty air. There was no noise, as Oscar was a light sleeper and suddenly Theo's body and mind were alight with panic. He'd let his guard down, if only for a moment. With a great effort of will, he forced his feelings away and buried them once more behind the many walls he'd built. A single tear fell from his eyes and he lay back in bed, completely still in a way that did not suggest peace but complete and utter terror.