Shanti watched as Gatti slept. It had taken ages to convince the injured Dragon Slayer to lie down; he had to make sure Shanti was alright first. Guimel had been so mad that Gatti wouldn't rest... Now Guimel dozed, sprawled in a chair in the far corner. Shanti looked back down at Gatti, and saw his eyes were flicking beneath his eyelids.
'Are you dreaming, Gatti?' he whispered.
***
'Am I dreaming?' Gatti looked around him, seeing nothing but an empty black void. He suddenly became aware of the lack of pain. He looked down and could see no slashes across his chest, no searing ache from his bruised ribs. Gatti looked around in a mix of amazement and fear.
'Am I dead...?' he wondered aloud to himself.
Don't be stupid, Gatti. You didn't spontaneously die in your sleep. Suddenly, from directly behind him he heard a soft rustle. Gatti froze. 'Who...who's there?' No sooner had he spoken than he felt something brush past him. Speechless, he watched as it floated in front of him for a second or so, then fly off.
A black feather.
Slowly, Gatti turned around. His heart skipped a beat.
***
Shanti stared hard at the sleeping Slayer. His lips were moving slightly, as if he were talking. Shanti took his glove off, leaned close and felt Gatti's forehead.
'Gatti...' He felt warm. Shanti paused, thinking to himself.
Can I trust you?
He hesitated, studied the other for a long moment, then slowly bent to Gatti's ear.
***
'Who... are you?' he whispered, realizing as he spoke he felt no fear...only curiousity. There, before him, was a great mist that glowed and sparkled from some unknown light. Peering closely, Gatti watched as the mist started to swirl and take a form. Before he could say another word, a voice spoke - soft, like the movement of feather against feather.
'Can you keep a secret?'
Gatti found he couldn't reply. With a soft sigh, a winged figure emerged from the cloud, and moved towards the Dragon Slayer. Near as it was, the figure was still like a shadow, showing no exact details. He stood still, either unable or unwilling to move, as a softly glowing hand reached out to touch his face. He felt a sense of peace as its dark wings surrounded him. Suddenly Gatti found himself staring into eyes... dark eyes, flecked with green and gold, that stared back in such a familiar manner...
'Are you an angel...?'
'No, Gatti...' Just as sudden, a face slowly took form. Recognition struck him like lightning. Shanti!
'Gatti, you are half-dreaming. Wake up.'
'I don't want to wake...' Shanti smiled faintly at the other's pouting tone. Gatti's eyes were already half-opened, he was just caught between the dream world and waking world. Shanti gave the disoriented Slayer a few moments to fully awaken. Gatti blinked a few times, and looked at Shanti.
'I had the strangest dream, and you were in it...' As Shanti was about to reply, they both became aware of Guimel, who was quite awake and staring at them strangely. It suddenly occurred to Shanti why, as he hadn't bothered to sit up yet, and was still leaning over Gatti in what could be a very misleading way. Shanti quickly stood up and tried to hide the redness in his face.
'Weel, I best be off... I need tae take care of a few things,' he mumbled, his accent more prominent, as he went for the door. Guimel watched him leave, then shrugged and looked at Gatti wryly.
'So, sleeping beauty, what was your dream about?'
***
What was I thinking? WAS I thinking? Shanti walked quickly through the hallway. Eejit.
Suddenly... behind him!
'BWAA!' In one fluid movement Shanti spun around and unsheathed his sword. A split-second later his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. 'Master Dilandau!' He quickly sheathed the sword, Dilandau's gleaming eyes watching his every move.
'Twitchy litte thing, aren't you?' the commander asked, the corner of his mouth pulled back in a feral smirk that bared a canine.
'Forgive me, sir. I... I did not know it was you,' Shanti stood frozen at attention as the deep red eyes regarded him. Without a word, the taller youth brushed past him and was gone. Shanti could only stand as he was, hardly believing he could be so stupid...
'Shanti?' Poke, poke. 'Hello?' Blinking, Shanti turned to see a blond boy slightly shorter than himself looking at him. Shesta, his name was. 'Are you alright?' he asked in a concerned voice.
'Yes. Sorry, I was just,' Shesta cut him off with a relieved smile.
'Well, as long as you're fine,' Shesta peered closely at Shanti, his tone suggesting he expected the other boy to suddenly tell him exactly what ailed him. 'You look a bit stressed.'
The shorter blond boy took Shanti's arm.
'Come with me. I'm going to meet Guimel and them in the recreational room.' Before he could say a word, Shanti found himself being dragged down the hall by Shesta. The fiery-haired Slayer blinked in surprise. Gatti had told him about Shesta - he seemed created for the sole purpose of making those around him happy. Shanti paused and glanced behind him, with the strangest feeling he was being watched. Shrugging it off, he turned back to the boy in front of him.
'You dinna have to pull me, Shesta. I'm coming,'
*****
'Look, it's the walking stick.' Dalet smirked as he saw Shanti enter the room behind Shesta, who gave him a stern look. Both he and Shanti sat down, though it seemed, Shesta thought, that the other seemed ready to flee.
'So, Guimel, how's Gatti doing?'
'Oh, he should make a full recovery,' Guimel caught Shanti's eye and winked knowingly. Shanti blinked and looked down in embarrassment as he felt redness come to his face again. 'Actually,' Guimel continued. 'he said that his ribs weren't hurting him as much. Personally, I think he's only saying that 'cause he's bored of being in that room.'
'Did the medics say when he would be able to return to his duties?' Shanti remained quiet and withdrawn as the conversation continued. Presently he noticed the other Slayers giving Shesta strange looks. Shanti glanced at Shesta with an interested expression as the smaller boy fidgeted.
'So, Shanti...' he began. Shanti had the feeling the other Slayers had set the poor blue-eyed boy up to this. 'How long is your hair, exactly?' Shanti looked upon the expectant faces of the rest of the group, then slowly he reached behind his head and pulled out his neatly braided hair. The tip of the braid touched the top of the bench he was sat upon as he straightened his back.
''Tis a wee bit longer than this down...' The other Slayers were silent, an aura of awe surrounding them. All of a sudden, Guimel held out his hand triumphantly.
'Pay up, boys!' he crowed. As the rest fumbled around for some gold coins, Shanti looked at a slightly embarrassed Shesta curiously.
'You had a bet?' Shesta scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.
'It was Guimel's idea... ' he glanced over at a joyful, and slightly more rich, Guimel. 'And we were all somewhat curious...' Shesta looked back at Shanti. 'You aren't mad, are you?' Shanti couldn't help but smile at Shesta's genuine remorse.
'Dinna worry about it, Shesta.' The smaller Slayer's smile widened, glad that Shanti wasn't upset. Indeed, the lithe Highlander seemed greatly amused that there was a bet on his hair-length. Now intrigued, the other Dragon Slayers bombarded him with questions.
'Have you ever cut it?'
'How long did it take you to grow it that length?'
Shesta noticed that as Shanti answered what questions he chose to, he appeared to be losing his urge to run. A sparkle was missing from his eyes, making him look dead.
But, Shesta thought to himself. That can be remedied.
*****
'Awake, are you? That's good. Here, sit up.' Mikyla held out her hand to help her patient, but he ignored it and struggled to upright himself without aid. Mikyla rolled her eyes at his stubborn disposition. She knew very little more about him than she did when she and her mother found him in a dark alleyway. He had nothing but his black pants; obviously thieves had found him first. 'Alright, then. You know the drill.' He looked at her with an exceedingly unthrilled expression. In order for him to eat, a small tube had to be inserted through the nose and down the esophagus to his stomach. Of course, he was awake for the entire process. Mikyla noted his discomfort and tried to distract him as she put the tube through.
'What'll it be today? Mush, mush with goo, or just straight goo?' The boy held up three fingers. 'Straight goo? A risk-taker, are we?' Her reply was an unimpressed look. Mikyla stood up and went to make his 'meal'. Returning a few moments later, she sat down with a syringe full of unappetizing green goo and began to slowly push it through the tube.
'So how's your leg doing today? Does it still hurt?'
Enthusiastic nod.
'I'll put a salve on it when you're finished, alright?'
Shrug. He guestured to the tube in his throat.
'You want to know when that will be out?'
Very enthusiastic nod.
'We'll see. In a few weeks, if all goes well.'
By the way his shoulders slackened, Mikyla saw that a few weeks was too long for him.
'You really want to leave, don't you? What's so important?' she asked, setting the now-empty syringe aside. The look in his eyes said it all. Mikyla took his feeding tube out and went to clean it. Before she left the room, however, she turned around and looked back at the boy. He was looking off with a far-away expression. Mikyla noticed a hint of a tear forming in his eye, and decided to leave him alone.
Don't worry, whoever you are, she thought as she cleaned out the tube and syringe.
I'll do the best I can to help you get back to wherever it was you came from, no matter what.