Chapter 9

As the sun was sinking into the horizon, Ralley plodded home with John slumped in the saddle, too tired and sore to ask for a trot.  In the stable, energist-powered lamps were on, the only light left in the cool of night outside.  John un-tacked Ralley, checked his water and trudged into the house.

John went to the kitchen and found it empty.  He sighed, turning to leave when something caught his eye.  He looked at the counter and found a folded paper with his name written neatly in the center.  He picked it up and unfolded it.

When you didn't come to lunch and dinner you worried the girls and I.  Ravvel didn't put you right to work, did he?  You must be starved so I left your dinner in the stove.  Be sure to turn it off after you take your dinner out.  Don't worry about cleaning up.

                                                                                                -Aunt Rena

John smiled in gratitude and knew he needed to thank her in the morning.  He shuffled over to the stove and pulled the kitchen towel off the stove's handle and opened it.  With the towel carefully wrapped around his flesh hand he reached into the stove with both hands and pulled out a tray.  On it were baked vegetables and some sort of roasted beast.  He set it down on the kitchen table and went back to turn off the stove.

After some searching through a few drawers and cupboards he was armed with a knife, fork, and a glass he filled with water.  He sat down and started eating his heated dinner.  He realized that this was the first time he ate by himself.  Before, at least Lindsey and Brittany had always accompanied him if Sarah happened to be helping her mother.  He found he did not like being alone while eating, but this too felt familiar.

Despite Aunt Rena's note, John washed and dried his plate, utensils, and glass and put them back in their places.  He turned off the kitchen light and walked to his room.  He was very tempted to just crawl into bed, but went against it because he needed a shower.  He pulled out his sleepwear and took it with him to the bathroom.  He locked the door to the bathroom and placed his sleepwear where it would stay dry them stripped himself of his sticky and dusty clothing.  He let them drop to the floor in a pile and turned on the shower.  He briefly closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the tiled wall under the showerhead.  He cleaned himself with soap and shampoo and after he rinsed himself off he looked longingly at the tub, but dried off and dressed in his nightclothes.  His bare feet padded down the hall back to his room.  He enjoyed feeling the cool wood on the soles of his feet that had been released from the hot, confining boots.

John entered his darkened room, dropped his things on the floor and flopped onto his bed.  He was too tired to pull the blankets over him and soon fell asleep.

Sometime later, he wasn't sure when because he was barely half awake, he felt the blankets being tugged out from under him and then brought back up to cover him.  A gentle hand brushed back his hair away from his face.  His partial awareness was fading at the soothing strokes.  His groggy mind barely registered soft lips press against his forehead.  With one last stroke to his head someone padded away and a soft click was heard.

The next morning John woke up with a moan as the pre-morning light hit his face.  He had been too tired to remember to close the curtains the night before.  He pulled the sheets over his head and huddled on his side trying to go back to sleep.  With a sigh he threw the covers back and sleepily got out of bed.  He knew he had work to do, which seemed to be the only reason for him to wake up this early.

He got dressed, stopped by the bathroom, then drug his feet to the dining room.

There were few early risers in the dining room.  John spotted Sarah who looked ready to fall face first into her cereal.  He walked over and as he sat down in a seat across from her he said, "Good morning."

"G' mornin'," she grumbled with half closed eyes as she mechanically shoved spoons of soggy cereal into her mouth and swallowed.

The corners of his lips quirked up.  He leaned over and reached for a box of cereal and a bowl then reached for the pitcher of milk, all of which were on a nearby table.

Aunt Rena came sometimes to cook breakfast.  She was primarily there for preparing lunch and dinner.  Which was why John and Sarah were somewhat surprised when they saw the elderly woman walk into the dining room.

"Oh my poor child!  I can't believe Ravvel didn't let you come back for a lunch break!  I hope he was only testing your stamina and that it won't happen again," she said to John.

"Good morning," both Sarah and John said.

"Why are you here this morning?" asked Sarah, finally finished with her cereal.

"I came here to make John a sack lunch since I'm not sure if Ravvel will let him come home for lunch."

"You didn't need to bother yourself with that," John said, a little concerned for the old woman and flattered that she thought of him with such motherly attention.

"I wouldn't be doing my job if I let you starve."

With that she left to go to the kitchen to prepare his lunch.  When she came back she said, "You didn't have to clean up, but thank you.  Here you are."

Aunt Rena set a small bag down beside him on the table.

"Thank you very much."

John really did appreciate Aunt Rena and felt rather pampered.

"Well, I need to get going, Mr. Peronel is expecting me soon."

"Don't overwork yourself," Sarah said.

"Don't worry about me.  I hope to see you this evening, but I'll have to see when the sun sets.  Luckily the days are getting shorter since Mr. Peronel has me from when the sun rises to when it sets."

The two weeks passed quickly, the changing days hardly noticed by John as a routine was set.  Every night he came home weary, and despite the days cooling down he and four others working for Mr. Peronel sweated under the sun in the fields.

At night, half-asleep, John would feel a gentle hand soothe him.  Sometimes, if the presence felt daring, soft lips would touch his forehead or cheek.

After the first week John realized an unmentioned advantage to all the tiring physical labor, it developed his muscles to their former condition, possibly more than before.

John and the other four hands at Mr. Peronel's were given a day off before the last week of work.  This allowed John to sleep in until around ten in the morning when two girls hopped onto his bed and woke him up.

"You didn't go to work today?" asked a happy Brittany.

"No," answered John groggily.

Small arms slid around his neck.  John looked down to see it was Lindsey as he rapidly got rid of his sleepiness and rubbed his eyes.

"I'm glad you're here.  We don't get to see you anymore," Lindsey said softly, looking up at him with wide, rainy grey eyes.

"I'm sorry I haven't been around you girls this past week," he gathered the girls into his lap as he sat up against the headboard of his bed.  "But I have one more week and then I'll be here for a bit before I go out for some more work."

"Why can't you just stay home and play with us?" asked a stubborn Brittany, who had crossed her arms in front of her chest and pouted.

John smiled at her behaviour and hugged the girls to him.

"Because adults need to work."

"Why?" persisted Brittany.

"So they can take care of themselves and others."

"Oh."

Brittany looked down at her hands, which were loosely fisted, resting on her lap.  John gently squeezed the girls to his chest and kissed each one lightly on her forehead.

"Tell you what," he started after he loosened his hold on them once more, "After I get dressed I'll come play with both of you."

"Really?"

"Really.  And after this week I'll have some more free time, that means you'll be able to have me all to yourselves."

The children's expressions were delightful and John knew this was all right, playing with them was preferable to the backbreaking work he had been doing.

"What about Ms. Sarah?  Will she play with us too?"  This question came from the quiet Lindsey whose light eyes were hopeful.

"Yes I will," an unexpected voice answered.

"Ms. Sarah!" exclaimed the girls as they scrambled out of John's lap to hug Sarah as she walked into the room.

"Good morning sleepyheads, or rather hyper kids," she said as she bent down and hugged them, then stood up straight.

"How are you feeling John?"

"Tired and sore," he answered with a sigh.

Sarah stooped down, bending her legs, so she would be at eye level with the girls and said, "Why don't you girls run along?  We'll be out in a few minutes."

Brittany and Lindsey nodded solemnly and walked out of the room with Lindsey reaching up to close the door behind them.  Sarah had been watching them, but then she turned to look at John and walked to him.

"John?  May I take a look at you?  I haven't seen you all week so I don't know much about your physical condition."

"Go ahead," John answered as he slid his legs over the side of the bed so he was sitting, facing Sarah.

Sarah drew up a chair, sat, then held up John's organic arm and examined it carefully.  Traces of very thin red lines were scattered across the inner side of his lower arm.  She also spotted some splinters.

"Doesn't this sting?"

"Yes, a bit, but I have gotten used to it."

John's arm fractionally pulled away when one of Sarah's fingers grazed a scratch.  One disbelieving eyebrow arched up at John.  She spread out his hand and scrutinized his palm, seeing that calluses had developed and hardened, yellow pads were visible.  She put his hand down and reached for the bottom of his shirt and started pulling up.

"Sarah?"

She paused and looked up.  "Yes?"

"What are you doing?"

"Taking your shirt off," she deadpanned.

This was very obvious to John and the matter of fact way that she said it was a little amusing since he knew that she knew what he meant.

"Why?" he asked, slightly exasperated.

"To give you a massage.  Didn't you say you were feeling sore?"

She finally pulled his shirt over his head and put down his arms.

"No, that's okay.  I was just saying-" he interrupted himself with a groan when Sarah rubbed a sore spot on his shoulder.

"No more arguing.  Why don't you lay on your stomach so I can get to your back?  I bet lugging all that hay did a number on it."

He slowly complied.  He hung his metal arm off the edge of the bed while the other lay under the pillow his head rested on.  Sarah began kneading his back, interested in the feeling of soft skin over hard muscles and bones.  She started to massage around his shoulder blades when she felt a knot of muscles right between his spine and shoulder blade bump her hand.  Sarah furrowed her eyebrows as she felt a second one by his other shoulder blade.

'Are these some strange growths?  They're not cysts.  Too solid to be that,' diagnosed Sarah in her thoughts.

John noticed her pause and felt the tightening of muscles in his back as Sarah's fingers gently probed the two lumps on his back.  Suddenly the area between his shoulder blades spasmed.  He heard a startled gasp come from Sarah and felt very light and fuzzy things land on his back.

He opened his eyes and sat up.  Ash gray feathers floated down and he saw Sarah standing stalk still, staring at something beyond his shoulders.  He caught something at the periphery of his vision and turned his head.  What he saw utterly shocked him.

Two gray feathered wings protruded from his back.

Sarah stared wide-eyed at John in awed shock.  Never in her dreams had she thought that angels or Draconians existed.

'A dream!  This must be a dream!' she realized, but when she felt her heart thumping within her chest and her clenched hands she knew that this was no dream.

Silence reigned the room until John's wings fluttered then stilled.

"I-I'm a freak…" John stuttered.

Sarah snapped out of her shock and carefully walked the three steps back to John.  She slowly reached a hand out to an enormous wing and touched it.  The wing twitched at contact then stilled.  She traced the outer edge of the wing near the base and John almost shuddered in pleasure.  She looked down to warm red eyes that were waiting for her judgement.

"Oh John!" she cried out as she bent down quickly to hug him.

He was surprised at her actions.  He thought she would turn away in disgust, maybe even scream, but not embrace him in affection.

"I don't know what you are, but don't ever call yourself a freak.  We'll figure something out.  Your wings are lovely, really, they are…" she mumbled into his ear as she hugged him fiercely.

John was still a bit dazed but managed to snake his arms around her waist and his soft gray wings folded gently around them.  Sarah almost jumped when she felt John's wings enclose them.  Her words were sincere, but this made her wonder if there were anymore startling secrets they had yet to discover.

Sarah pulled back a bit and stroked a wing, which stretched out in response to her gentle caresses.

"You can't go out of this room with wings.  Do you think you can…retract them?"

"I'll try."

John hadn't any idea as to how he could do that.  These wings had just popped out without any thought it seemed.

'Perhaps…perhaps if I think them away,' he thought hopeful and doubtfully.

He concentrated on the thought of retracting his wings and surprised himself when it seemed to be working.  The muscles in his back shifted around as they pulled in the wings.  He stretched his back, wings now gone, and noted the strange sensation that was dispersing.

Sarah reached out with a hand and picked up a light gray feather from John's bed and studied it.  It was as long as two hand lengths and very tangible.

"If it weren't for all these feathers I would have thought I was dreaming just now," she commented, looking up from the feather to meet John's eyes.  A mischievous twinkle entered her eyes as a thought occurred to her.  She voiced it for John's benefit.

"I never thought of angels molting."

A small, nervous smile stole across his lips.  He stood up and silently gathered the feathers that were littered on and around his bed.  Sarah stooped down and helped.

Soon a neat, fluffy pile of feathers about two feet in diameter sat in the middle of the floor.

"What are we going to do with all these feathers?" asked Sarah.

"Let the girls have them if they want, otherwise we should throw them out."

"Umm…"

"Yes?" he said as he looked up to her and found that her head was bowed, trying to hide her blushing face.

"May I…ah…may I keep one of your feathers?" came the meek request.

Slightly stunned and puzzled he wondered why she would want something that would only remind her of what an aberration of nature he was.  He finally asked, "Why?"

"Just for something to remember you by."

"Ah…yes, go ahead," John said, a little awkwardly.

'Something to remember me by,' he thought. 'I did say I want to travel around spring.  Most likely never to return, since there's no reason to.  Sarah…'

He mentally shook himself and saw that Sarah had chosen a feather of similar size to what she had been holding earlier, she was carefully tucking it away in her apron.

They were both startled when Brittany's impatient voice broke through the silence.

"Can you grown-ups hurry up?  Me an' Lindsey's been waiting forever!"

Sarah smiled at the child's tone and walked to the door.

"Get dressed, we'll be waiting for you in the dining room," Sarah tossed over her shoulder as she exited John's room.

Author's Notes:  Thanks again ArtemisMoon for editing!!!

A little note about my take on the energist: I think of energists as a battery, remember when Van defeated (in my opinion he defeated them) Nariya and Eriya in Atlantis?  Hitomi and Van saw Varie (Van's mother) who handed him a green energist and he put it in Escaflowne's heart/jewel.

Spelling: I just noticed that I spelled a word the English way (meaning England English).  I'm so used to reading them either way that I spelled "behavior" "behaviour".   I'm not going to bother changing it for now because it's still correct in my mind, just not American correct.  Yes, I'm an American if you didn't know.

I have inconsistencies in the length of my chapters because I write a bit first then I figure out how to chapter them.  It's so hard to do that because I'll be reading a little looking for a good place to put a chapter break and then I find that maybe I should let it go on for more, or something like that.  That is why some chapters may seem rather short in comparison to other chapters.

grammar

just to let you know, in the begining of this chapter youthe tense format you used sounded awkward.
You refer to things that are current situations saying:

I mainly suggest finding a tense and sticking to it. If you're going to write present tense do it, if you're going to write past tense do it. Mixxing works but must be done with care.
Just a note from your friendly fellow author and reader. You can disregard this if you like or learn from it, thank you very much either way.

Thank you for taking the time to write in the corrections.  It's just that when I write I just write.  Because of this I don't think carefully.  There's also the fact that I don't seem to keep track of what tense I'm in.  I very much like learning from my mistakes and have made the corrections on my copy of the story.  I have been informed of the same problem from someone who reviewed this story on mediaminer.org for my prologue.  At the moment I will leave it as it is.  I'll worry about changing the tenses on the version on ff.net when I'm finished with this story. 

To you and anybody who's reading this, if you spot a mistake I'd be happy to know what it is and will make any needed corrections sometime in the future.

Thanks again.

To Otaku Pitcher- Yeah, I love seeing familiar titles too.  A lot of the ones I read either finish up or take a long while to update, at least in my opinion. ^_^

Thanks to Kartos, louie, M*Y*S*T*-*L*A*D*Y, ShadowShapeShifter, Kay Noel, and Teal Huskie for leaving reviews!

I hope everyone didn't mind how Folken's wings came out.

-LSR_7