Knowledge and Power: Reincarnated Into A Society That Only Values Strength. (A weak to strong fantasy story)

'Well… I guess the stables are out… Better to steer clear of him…' I stared up at the sky, slowly lifting a hand to my jaw and feeling the dull ache as I moved it. 'But… I really did want to see Fritz… And I really hate the idea of running away…'

I sighed, slowly picking myself back up, nearly tripping as my feet compressed the snow under me.

"Geeze… So cold…" I muttered, jumping out of the bank and back onto the cleared path accidentally stumbling into another guard. My breath escaping me as we collide.

He didn't budge an inch, instead pushing me back onto my feet, making sure I stayed upright. "Are you alright?"

I awkwardly took a step away, moving a hand through my cld hair and grabbing at the hem of my dress. "I'm fine yea… Just tripped a bit."

He let out a soft snort. "I meant your face."

"O-oh…" I lowered my hand from my head back to my jaw, simply nodding.' How did I not see him? Is my head really that far in the clouds?' "Uhm… Mhm…"

"That's good then. You should still see Catherine though."

"Nillous…" I said his name softly. 'As vice captain he probably has more important things to deal with but… Maybe He'll know…' "How… Is Fritz…"

His face slowly relaxed as his smile lessened. "Same as always. She won't eat unless you feed her… Always more snappy when she gets hungry. I bet she's picking a fight with your brother right now."

As if on cue a crash of snapping wood echoed through the air from the stable. "Fritz!" I sharply inhaled, taking a step closer before he grabbed my shoulders and held me firmly in place.

"Calm… He'd never dare try and take her on. By now he probably knows most of us put money on the horse."

"Wouldn't that just make him mad! What if he really tries to kill her!" I tried to jerk away, but it was like I couldn't move at all.

"Calm…" He said again. "He wouldn't do something like that… Believe it or not he holds a high value for life… That's why he developed such a dislike for weak things."

"I don't care! I…" I paused, calming down and freezing still. "Calm?" I repeated, glancing back at him.

He smiled back. "Right." Slowly letting go, he knelt down next to me, brushing the snow out of my hair and rustling it a bit. "I'm sure she's hungry, you should go and see her."

I couldn't help but let out an uncomfortable groan as I turned away. 'But what if he gets mad… Fritz would protect me, but what if he hurts Fritz?'

"I've got to go see Catherine now anyway, I'll let her know you're coming by."

By the time I turned to face him he was already halfway to the barracks… 'He wants me to go to the stables… Alone? When Bhaltair is there? Maybe… I can just not get caught? He's pretty strong, but he's not as sharp as Air'

I hesitantly approached, creeping around the side of the stables and peering through the stall windows. The snow was so high piled around, and my weight so light as to not compress it, that I was able to just barely reach the ones that were left open.

"How are the warbeasts?"

"Come on man, how do you think they are? I've been taking good care of them of course. The mournclaw has reached full maturity, it's just waiting to link souls. The other one… Well he's a bit slow, but that's normal for that species."

'Is that Finlo?' His eyes tracked to me for just a second, making me gasp, covering my mouth to not let out any noise as I sank beneath the window. 'Of course… Everyones back, even father, SO it makes sense he'd be back too…'

"And that crazy horse?"

"You mean Fritz? Boy she does not like you."

He growled. "Is she the same as ever too…"

I heard the gate to the warbeat pin open and I couldn't help but take another peak. It was somewhere I was never allowed to go… 14 years and I had never even seen the so-called monsters that Finlo tamed. As I peeked through, there he was, staring at me with a grin and a soft wave as my brother pushed open the heavy stone doors, his back just barely turned.

"Yeah, Fritz is never going to change, Oh, Lu tried to ride her once, but she got bucked off too. Siya really is the only one she doesn't snap at in one way or another."

He sighed, crossing his arms as he stared inside. "Well it's fine… I'll take it as a sign the girl isn't hopeless… They look big, that's good, they'll need to be strong."

"Well, need or not, they could certainly hold their own."

"That's all I wanted you for, good work today."

"Yes sir." He said jokingly as he gave a halfhearted salute, pounding his fist over his chest before quickly relaxing again, heading inside the pen.

'The war beasts…' I just had to see them. Climbing up into the stall window I scrunched myself onto the sill and froze stiff as my mothers horse turned around, its face only a couple inches away from my own. "Nice horsy…" I squeaked softly.

I could have sworn she rolled her eyes, pressing her nose up against me until I had no choice but to hold onto her if I didn't want to fall. By the time I was set back down… I was on the stall door… My heart racing. "Oh, thanks…" I quickly looked around, jumping down to the floor and leaning way to the side to see Bhaltair collecting large sacks of feed. Before he could turn around I was already inside the beast pin, sneaking along the inside edge and finding a nice stone post to hide behind as I spied on them. There they were… The war beasts… And Finlo… Sleeping?

The first was a massive six legged panther with gorilla like muscles It's skin clung to it like thin black tar, and it's eyes shined like moons, showing now pupils.

The second, the one Finlo was sleeping on, was a massive beast with a body shaped like a wide rhinoceros horn. With every breath I heard its stone-like skin grind against each other, softly moving like a granite door sliding open. Each one was larger than life… Big enough the saddles didn't even have seats, but rather harness to lock your feet into place.

It gave me chills. I stepped up closer to the panther, unconsciously unable to acknowledge that it was real as it stayed still as a plush toy, not even blinking, its eyes tracking me with an expressionless gaze.

'What did he say earlier? Soul linking? This is the mournclaw right.'

I stepped up to its stall and jumped up on top of the gate, kicking my legs over the side as I sat on top of it. "You probably wouldn't want to link with me though. I don't think you'd get anything out of it…"

As I looked closer I saw its body move with its breath, paralyzing me with fear. 'It's… It is real… Of course, it's real! Wait… Why did I get so close!'

My breath suddenly caught in my throat as its eyes locked on mine. The deep purple hue glowing with an intensity that seemed to almost burn.

It didn't seem hostile… But it wasn't exactly relaxed either. Without a visible movement of its legs, its whole body moved like a foggy blur, yet somehow still moved slowly. Before I knew it, it was on its feet, staring right at me a hair's breadth away. "N-nice kitty…"

It suddenly let out a mouse-like sneeze, and with it Its face softened to a degree that seemed impossible from how stern it was before. As its brow widened it revealed just how massive its eyes were, but suddenly the sense of danger vanished, now looking like a giant plushy… A giant, muscly plushy… It actually kind of weirded me out if I was being honest. "Alright… So…" A sudden jerk tugged at my chest, and pulled me into the air like I had been grabbed by a passing jet, pulling me off the gate, but the beast caught me, my whole body trembled, struggling to keep itself upright. In a moment it all passed and I was back on the gate as if nothing had happened, or as if it was all in my head. "Nice… Kitty?"

"Finlo!"

My brother's voice startled me, making me fall backwards off the door, barely catching myself with my hands. 'Hide, I have to hide. He's gonna kill me!'

Without any better place I leapt over the stall door and placed my back firmly against it, raising a finger to the beast's curious glance. "shhh…"

"Finlo. Hey, get those hides tanned and sent to my room by tomorrow."

His words grew closer with every breath I took, my heart beating faster and faster.

"Finlo… Are you asleep?"

Suddenly everything fell silent, breath, words, footsteps… I couldn't hear any of it over my own heartbeat until the stone dust scraped against a boot just outside the stall… I almost started to cry, scared to even open my eyes. 'Go away go away go away.'

As if my prayer was heard, the footsteps slid away again, but my heart never calmed down as my skin stayed tightened to goosebumps and my hair stood on end.

"AGH!" A growl roared over the stall door that stopped my heart completely for a moment. 'It… it's… Not him?' I timidly looked up, afraid to confirm it. Sure enough, it was Finlo. Hesitantly raising my hand I gently waved. "Busted…" I muttered, my voice as quiet as my breath was shallow.

The mournclaw growled, taking a single rushed step towards him and knocking him back off the stall door before softening its face and lowering its head back down to me.

'I-it's ok… No, He's fine. The other one is scary.'

We couldn't understand each other but… It was like… I could feel its emotions, and it could feel mine. "Good kitty…" I smiled, holding back a laugh as I felt its sudden urge to protect me. More confusing than that though was an overwhelming sense of… reverence… Or something similar. Though, oddly enough, I wasn't sure it was towards me.

"Kitty…" Finlo mumbled as he approached again, opening the stall door and letting me fall on my back, staring up at him.

"Yeah, well it's a cat, isn't it? What's wrong with calling it that!"

"Technically speaking, I think it has more gorilla in it, but kitty is fine. It does look similar to a water panther."

I slowly swallowed, having no idea what he was talking about. "So…"

He jumped up and seated himself on a hay bail, pulling a knife seemingly out of nowhere and flipping it through the air. "So you linked souls with the Mournclaw…"

'So I did… Wait what! How does he know!'

He rolled his eyes, offering me a hand up after getting tired of staring at me on the floor, hands tightened to my chest.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

I nervously took it, standing back up in the cold air as it wafted through the open room. "Thanks…"

He started looking over me as if inspecting every inch of me… "You're a complete mess Siya…" Before I could move he grabbed my shoulders and started moving me around, continuing his inspecting gaze as I only felt the tension in my body growing. "Finlo!" My voice cracked as my eyes closed again and he pulled me front and center to stare right at me. "P-please stop touching me…"

He nervously retracted his hands with an awkward smile. "I guess old habits die hard you know…"

'What does that even mean in this context…Wait… Do I want to know? Should I ask? Would he tell me? He would… I shouldn't ask…' "Why… Are you… Like this…" My voice got quieter with every word until it was only an uncomfortable mumble, barely leaving my lips as he swung his cloak around me.

"My bad, hands are probably still cold from holding my polearm."

"Thats…" 'that's not the main issue here…' I slowly looked around my shoulders, my brain barely able to keep up with the conversation, much less his actions on top of it.

"I've got some time if you want me to untangle your hair…"

I slowly looked back to him to see his face looking even more uncomfortable than mine. 'Its weird that it bothers him more than me…' I raised a hand through my hair, my fingers instantly getting caught. "Won't it… hurt…"

"I got pretty used to this sort of thing when I was in the circus so it should be fine… The girls were really picky about me not pulling too hard… And yet they always came back with dried blood in there hair all the same…"

"I have so many questions…"

He gently shook his head with a smile as if remembering the good old times, pointing to the ground, gesturing for me to take a seat.

'I… never actually agreed to this though…' I slowly walked over and sat down, crossing my legs underneath me. 'Though I guess I might as well have at this point…'

"Sorry again about my hands." He said softly as he sat down just behind me.

I heard him rubbing them together before he blew warm air on them. His breath passing through and reaching the back of my neck, making my hair stand up on end. "Finlo…" I groaned.

"What?"

"Forget it…"

He got to work and what felt like hours passed until I actually relaxed, staying warm because of his soft fur cloak, and my scalp slowly feeling actually kind of nice… Though still really sore. It was the first time I could ever remember being relaxed with someone else in the room and a silence covering it at the same time.

"There we go. All done, it's super cute now."

I flinched slightly. "I-it's what? What did you do!" Pulling my hand up from inside the cloak I felt it tied back into several thick braids intertwined with a leather strap and pulled into a ponytail.

He stood up and brushed his hands off on his pant legs before forming a rectangle with his thumb and pointer fingers. "Yep, perfect, a girl's hair should always be pretty, even when it's dirty."

"What? Where do you even hear these things…" I sighed, trying not to blush as I sunk my face under the cloak's collar. 'He really acts like a child sometimes… But… I guess he's only a couple years older… Sometimes I forget since he looks so much more mature…'

"I used to help the girls with their hair, so I got pretty good at it, if it wasn't perfect they'd get pretty mad. Your hair was really dirty, but it was surprisingly easy to deal with. I thought for sure you'd yell at me for pulling too hard. I guess tangles and dirt are easier to get out than dried blood and clay."

I wasn't sure which of the two things he mentioned confused me more. 'Maybe it's better I don't ask about the blood though…'

I knew he had just as many memories he didn't want to revisit as I did, probably a whole lot more. But… Since he brought it up I could only hold back so much… Not to mention, finally seeing him again after a couple years of him being away made me realise how little I actually knew about him.

"Clay?" I muttered, Turning around and feeling my hair swish for what felt like the first time.

"Yeah, a lot of people use it to help hold their hair in whatever style they want. In other places, they use lime, or animal urine as they wash it. Clay is generally the preferred option."

My whole body shuddered at the thought. My hair was already bad enough, any of those three options sounded awful.

"Are you still cold?"

I let out a timid chuckle. "No, I'm fine, that just sounds… Really gross…"

I heard a thud as he leaned back against the wall. "Right. I can't imagine it smells good either, of course, the clay was really dusty, taking care of that was its own problem. Luckily we were pretty well off, so we only ever used clay."

I slowly turned and leaned against the wall with him, nervously putting my hands in front of my waist as we both stared off at the large… Gorilla… Cat?

I suddenly remembered the first time I saw him. He was even muddier and dirtier than I was when he walked through the front gate. His eyes were sharp as knives, and his body was so thin I was amazed he could even walk.

'What brought that to mind all of the sudden.' I looked over at him, unconsciously staring. 'He looks so much better now. It was nice that that kid got a happy ending…'

All the dirt was replaced with a clean-shaven face. Even covered in sweat his pearly skin shined clean. His hair was still wet, but that only enhanced its white sheen. His clothes and heavy armor made it hard for me to not think of him as a noble himself, and his lime-green eyes carried a warm softness that sharply contrasted the daggers I saw in them when we first met.

"What are you staring at?"

I felt a small smile come to my lips. "It's just good to see you're doing so well."

"Ha, wish I could say the same."

"Pft, whatever. I'm alive aren't I?"

His eyes suddenly grew distant and the color faded as he looked down. "Barely."

A long silence hung in the air before I of all people broke it, surprising even myself. "How… Did you become so strong…" 'I mean… It's not just that he tames beasts… My father trusts him to deal with the most dangerous monsters… He's not captain, but he's the strongest fighter among them… And he's almost my age…'

"My mom had a kid with an elf so she could use them in magical experiments and force their mana to exponentially multiply in exchange for their life force, giving me the lifespan of a human but with much greater power."

I slowly blinked, unsure of where to start… Or if I even should…

Eventually, he just continued filling the silence. "It won't work on you. You would need training in magic and alchemy or someone who had a lot of it. That's a pipe dream in this country. Then you'd also need to sacrifice like half your life span at least."

"Oh…" 'Pipe dream…' I sighed. Slowly getting my bearings back. "Well, in that case, can you make me taller too?"

He squinted at me, confused.

I rolled my eyes and relaxed again. "You said it was a dream right? If it's a dream, I want to be taller. Oh and give me lots of muscles and curves too. I want to be just one inch taller than Lu at all times so I can rub it in. It would really solidify my position as older sister you know."

He snorted, covering his mouth with a fist. "Siya you look fine, don't worry about any of that stuff. It's all overrated anyway."

I shrank against the wall, trying to hide my face by pushing up his cloak. 'So… He doesn't think I look like a kid? I guess he's pretty small too, relatively, at least…'

"Come on, what are you embarrassed about now?"

"Nothing…" I groaned, turning away and hiding my face again.

"Oh. Sorry." He cleared his throat. "My lady, you appear to be unwell, you haven't been poisoned have you?" It was obvious he was teasing me from his voice.

"That's not funny…" My words were muffled by his cloak as I continued hiding, hoping he would just let it be.

He let out a small laugh. "It's kind of funny."

"Ok… maybe a little bit," I muttered, tucked under the cloak, staying facing the other direction.

He let out a soft sigh. "Since I wasn't an elf I could go through soul forging without my body dying, and since I wasn't a human, more than halfing my lifespan wasn't the biggest issue… It's the same kind of process that made the warbeasts actually. The mournclaws ability to soul link is a side effect."

"Cool… Cool…" 'Hey wait… Can I do that? like… what's the fatality rate? How do I ask without–'

"Don't you ever think about trying it ok… You're not a half-elf."

'Yeah well… go figure…' "Please, if I wanted to kill myself I wouldn't go through all that trouble, I would just get some rope… No, actually it might be faster if I just stabbed myself in the neck." I ran my finger across my neck with a half-hearted grin that slowly faded. 'Actually… Both would probably be really hard to actually commit to doing…'

His eyes narrowed as all semblance of a smile instantly vanished from his face. "That's not funny."

My blood ran cold and chills covered my body. 'He actually said it?' I didn't know for sure, but I had a feeling even my father would have laughed at that joke. From what I knew, he had the same dark sense of humor Mara did. "It's… Not?" I muttered, quiet as a mouse, scared of his intense eyes, but at the same time wanting him to say it again.

"Promise you won't actually do any of those things ok." His eyes were deadly serious, angry even…

"O-ok, I promise."

He let out another sigh, leaning back against the wall, and pinching the bridge of his nose, seemingly getting lost in his own thoughts.

I did the same, my mind going almost completely blank. I was always the one that made the jokes about me killing myself, or dying, but I had always secretly hoped someone would tell me to stop… That it wasn't funny… When no one did I continued on because, well, honestly I thought they were a little funny…

Out of everyone though, I never expected it to be Finlo… I always thought he was just as dark as I was. Nobody ever said it, but it was pretty obvious the so-called circus he was a part of was more like a ring of assassins, or human traffickers, or… Well, it wasn't a circus…

"It… wasn't even a little funny?" I mumbled, my voice getting even smaller as my mind continued to drift off. 'I should feel bad, I made him angry… So why… am I smiling?'

He didn't turn, or even so much as open his eyes. "No."

The abrupt response made me feel on edge like the conversation had not actually ended.

I awkwardly tried to keep talking, only managing to get out a single word. "O-oh…" My voice was still shy, and it echoed some of the sadness I felt from having made him look at me the way he did. Despite even that though, my smile only grew wider. 'Is that so…'

A warm silence filled the room and the only sounds I could hear were those of the war beasts breathing. It didn't bother me so much, having gotten used to his presence. I was perfectly content. It seemed like it was something so small that it shouldn't have mattered. Yet, For some reason just thinking about his reaction made my chest feel flushed.

"That warbeast there… Her name is Jayjay… She hates that name though so maybe you can come up with something better for her now that she's yours… Soul linking basically just means that if you die she dies, though it only works one way so you don't have to worry. You'll be able to feel her emotions, and she will be able to feel yours and protect you with its life… Sense your life and it's life are the same to it now…"

He slowly stood up, placing his hands in his pockets and hunching slightly forward with a heavy sigh. "Now that you've got your new pet, make sure you don't forget about Fritz…"

Before I could respond he lifted out a large key, clanking as it slid on the metal keychain while he walked away, showing it to me before throwing it atop the lock at the entrance, leaving without another word, leaving me there alone with a strange lingering warmth. It wasn't until a while later that I realized… That warmth wasn't just a feeling… It was his cloak… That I didn't give back…

After a short moment sitting there simply feeling the warmth I stood back up and looked over to my new friend. "Hey kitty… So you don't like your name huh… I can't say I'm that attached to mine either… If you ever hear the full version you might get why…" I sighed, but the beast simply lowered its head, jumping its front legs onto the stall door and lifting its right paw towards the gate to the pin.

"Really, we linked souls and even you want me to leave…"

Its eyes softened with a sense of pity, but it turned around and again I felt the sense of reverence grow even stronger as Fritz neighed and cracked her hooves against her stall again.

'Reverence… For Fritz? That doesn't make any sense. She's a runt like me…' I slowly walked over and peaked my head out to make sure my brother had really left before struggling to try and close the gate… To no avail. I pulled and pulled, finally it started moving. I closed one, then the other, but all the while something didn't feel… Or I guess it sounds right. Letting out a sigh I bent down to pick up the lock, turning slightly to see Fritz standing next to me, making me jump. "FRITZ!"

She let out a soft snort at my flustered twitch, puffing a shot of air in my face before grabbing the lock with her mouth and putting it on for me. 'Well… She might be a runt… But… She's not exactly a normal horse…'

"I missed you too," I said softly, but just as the words left my mouth she turned and went back into her stall kneeling on the ground so that I couldn't even see her. "Hey! Fritz!" I pouted. "You're supposed to be happy to see me!"

She scoffed, which was weird coming from a horse, but just as hurtful for some reason.

"Fine, what if I give you some bananas?"

She scoffed again.

"What if I… Cover them in honey?"

No response, which I took as a good thing. Even my mouth was watering, so I figured I'd just eat them if she didn't.

'Sometimes these little differences between worlds remind me things used to be different…' I grabbed a jar of honey, thinking about the bees that were at least 5 times larger… The honey they made had an extremely low melting temperature, so if it was cold out all I had to do was hold the jar with my bare hands and it would melt into a smooth liquid in no time. The bananas though… Not only did they grow in the cold, instead of the tropics, but they didn't ripen or go bad unless cooked.

By the time I was done gathering them Fritz was already staring at me intently, drool coming from her mouth and stomach growling, I couldn't help but laugh. "Sit tight, I'll go get everything for you. But you have to forgive me in exchange ok?"

She rolled her eyes at me, letting out a puff of air.

Gathering it all up with Finlo's cloak, I brought it all and sat next to her stall and scooped some grain into a bucket before mixing it all together While the honey warmed up between my legs. By the time I was done, the honey had melted enough for me to pour some of it in to finish it off.

I mixed it again and voila. 'The consistency is a lot thicker than normal… Is it cause it's so cold? It's more like porridge now… Still tastes good though.' "You know, I wish I had someone to spoil me…"

She raised an eyebrow before sticking her face in the bucket.

'That's another expression I've never seen any other horse make…'

I slowly stood up and washed my hands in a nearby basin before the honey froze on my hands. When I got back she was already done with it all and resting with her back turned. "There, you ate it all, that means you forgave me right? It's not like it's even my fault I passed out and had to recover… Well… Ok so it is kind of my fault…" Suddenly overcome with exhaustion I trudged inside dragging my arms and plopped on top of her.

Suddenly she pulled her feet under her but didn't actually stand. 'That's weird… She only does this when she's inviting someone to try and bust her… "You wanna go for a ride?" I asked nervously. Sliding off and kneeling at her side.

"You… you know I can't. Or maybe you don't…" I looked down at my hands, shaking at just a thought of breaking Mara's rules and getting on the horse she deemed too dangerous… Technically I wasn't even supposed to be inside the stall, but I wasn't going to get caught… If I actually got hurt, who knows… She doesn't actually do anything… Pull plows or fight… They might even be looking for an excuse to put her down…

She neighed again, whining.

I rolled my eyes, "It shouldn't be this easy to communicate with you, you're a horse."

She made a noise that sounded like a laugh, only bringing a smile back to my face as though she had melted away all my worries, if only for a moment.

My heart raced as I hesitantly climbed up once again. In an instant she was standing, shaking me around. Adrenaline pumped through my veins like a fire that burned. "N-no no no no!" I screamed jumping off. Luckily, Fritz somehow stayed calm the whole time and didn't move an inch… But it was only something I thought of after my feet hit the ground. "Sorry… I can't. What if Mara gets mad and puts you down… And… Not to mention whatever she'd do to me…"

As my body calmed down I collapsed backwards against the wall again and sat down resting my arms on my knees. "I really am useless aren't I…"

Frits kicked over the bucket of food.

"Still hungry? Guess it has been a while hasn't it."

She kicked it across the stall.

"I said I'm sorry alright? Geez, I'll get you some more. I used up all I could find already though so it'll just be oats this time." As I walked over to grab the bucket she knocked it away again and snorted, putting her head to my chest. "Fritz… I get you trying to tell me something… But I'm not getting the message if it isn't I want more food." She pushed me back against the wall and I sank to the ground as I was sitting before. "Now you're just being mean!" She waved her head like she was rolling her eyes at me and snorted again. "Fine, I'll sit down." 'What made her act like this all of a sudden? If it isn't food it must have been something I said. What did I say? Oh… "Fritz… Are you just mad because I said I was useless?"

She snorted, confirming my suspicion. I wasn't sure how or why she was able to understand concepts and emotions so well, much less communicate like she did. It was almost more like she was a person reborn as a horse rather than anything else.

'Could it… no, that's impossible right?' I paused, wondering about whether or not that might have actually been the case. 'Maybe Agis would know.'

I slowly pushed myself up again. "I guess you're right, I'm not useless. I'm the only one who can feed you after all. But that's just because you're as stubborn as a mule, it has nothing to do with me."

She kicked the wall behind her.

"Ok calm down, it's not like I said you were a mule."

She kicked the wall again and snorted like she was about to charge me. I knew she was just joking though so I couldn't help but laugh.

She was surprisingly clean for not being taken care of for a few weeks and despite the commotion earlier, she was calm. By the time I had finished, my arms were exhausted yet again. I looked down at them. Life was beginning to return to my skin, but my fingers were still so slender. I held the brush in my hand and lifted it away from my face.

'Have I gotten bigger? Well, children do grow rapidly until they reach adulthood right? Even more so during puberty. Still though, isn't it kind of exciting?' A big smile slowly crept across my face. A bigger body meant a stronger body, it also meant it would be easier to eat more, meeting Mara's requirements for me. "Hey Fritz, what do you think, am I taller?"

She placed her chin on top of my head, making me feel like I was the but of a joke. "Hey! You don't have to be so mean about it, you're a horse, I know I'm never going to be taller than you…"

Pushing her head away from my own I saw the sun falling in the sky out her stall window. 'It's already so late… On the last day…' My spirits suddenly dropped as a wave of what almost felt like nostalgia washed over me. 'My last day off… Some day off it was… Oh right… I was supposed to go see Cathy and have her check my wounds. My face feels fine, but my arm kinda worries me…'