"Tsugi? Tsugi?"

Tsugi stirred awake.

"Mommy he's awake!" Rygo yelled.

"Ugh...What happened?" Tsugi said groggily. His whole body ached like he just took a direct hit from his father.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you." Yahni came running from the kitchen. "When you heal, you expend a lot of energy because you are actually pushing it into the people you heal. Here..." Yahni handed Tsugi a little jerky, "...eat this. You'll feel better."

"I passed out from healing a little bird?" The thought made him feel so weak. 'I can't even heal a little bird without collapsing.' He frowned at the thought and took a bite out of the jerky.

"Well, you barely had enough magic built up. You see why you need to work on it more?" He nodded. "It's okay, the more you work on it, the easier it will get later. At least you were successful!" She smiled.

"I will definitely work on it." He has a long way to go if he wants to be able to heal properly. "I can't use the dark energy to heal? It has to be earth only?"

"Your dark magic and earth magic are separate. Just because you have a lot of dark magic, it has its own purpose, you can't use that to heal. Same goes for your earth magic, you can't use it to summon."

Tsugi slowly nodded and munched on the jerky. With every bite his energy was slowly returning. "Is there a way I can build it faster?"

Yahni shook her head. "The more you practice, the more you will progress and accumulate more earth magic. There's no quick way to achieve anything young master. Only through hard work will it pay off in the end."

Disappointed, Tsugi sighed, nibbling on the jerky. "How long have I been out?"

"Just a little bit."

"Oh okay." He was content that at least he hadn't wasted his liberty away.

"Can you play with us now?" Rygo pleaded with his big, glistening, puppy eyes.

"Who said I would turn you down?" Tsugi chuckled and Rygo's eyes lit up.

"Yes!" He shouted gleefully. "Let's play hide and seek first!" Ryna followed them and they ran and played in the woods for the rest of the morning.

"Come inside and eat!" Yahni yelled out the door.

"Coming!" They yelled in unison and raced back to the house, pushing and shoving each other.

After lunch, Tsugi quickly stood up. "Thank you for lunch! I have to go."

"Awe." Rygo pouted. "Already?"

"Sorry Rygo, but I have somewhere I have to be. I'll come back and play with you again though, okay?"

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"Okay." He hung his head and pushed his food around.

"Thanks again Yahni! See you all next time!" He rushed down the hill and to the village. He had someone waiting for him that he was very eager to see.

"Hi, Tsugi." The elderly farmer had recovered from his illness and was in the middle of cleaning his barn.

"Hi Mister Jember!"

A wolf pup, the size of a medium sized dog, ran out of the stall and jumped on Tsugi, pushing him off his feet and landing him on his butt.

"Ruzo! Hi buddy! How are you? I've missed you!" Ruzo covered Tsugi's face with slobber and turned in circles pushing himself into Tsugi. A generous laughter erupted from Tsugi and tears of joy brimmed his eyes.

"He's been such a good boy. He's helped me pick up things off the ground, he even brings me the things I need or forget."

"I figured I'd train him to help you, since you allowed him to stay. Thank you for taking such good care of him, Mister Jember."

"No problem at all. He helps out so much, he deserves a place to stay." He continued to clean. Ruzo hopped off of Tsugi and ran to Mister Jember, allowing him to reach down and pet him on the head.

"Here, I will take over Mister Jember. After I'm done I'll lock up the barn." Tsugi grabbed the pitch fork from him.

"Oh, thank you Tsugi." He limped unsteadily back inside his small wooden house.

"Let's finish up and go play for the rest of the day. Would you like that?" Tsugi knelt down and playfully ran his hands through the fur on Ruzo's face, scrunching up the loose skin as he pet Ruzo's neck and ears.

While Tsugi raked the stalls and put in new straw bedding for the horses, Ruzo picked up tools off the ground and placed them against the wall.

Ruzo was still growing, so his head and paws were still abnormally oversized for his body. If he were to grow up to be as big as his mom, he still had a lot of growing to do.

When they finished, they strolled through the village.

"Ruzo!" The villagers loved him, and he enjoyed the attention. They would throw chunks of meat to him when we walked by the food stands. Ruzo would pick up the food and frolic about with his muzzle high in the air.

"Goofball." Tsugi chuckled.

"Hey Tsugi!" Vinni, the burly blacksmith, was waving at him from down the road.

"Hey Vinni."

"Taking Ruzo for a little exercise?" Tsugi nodded. "How're those daggers treating you?" Vinni asked.

Tsugi's smile disappeared and sadness filled his heart. Vinni was probably the one that Mare had instructed to make the daggers. With all the hard work Vinni put into it, Tsugi couldn't bear to tell him the truth.

"Good! They are the best!" Tsugi grinned from ear to ear.

"That's awesome!" Vinni gave him a thumbs up as Tsugi and Ruzo headed further down the road.

He still hasn't even told Mare that his father melted the precious daggers. His heart wrenched at the thought. He has to tell her eventually, he just didn't know how he would approach it. He thought about all the intricate designs and love that was poured into making it. He hung his head feeling the overflowing with sadness fill him.

When Ruzo noticed the anxiety emanating from Tsugi, he ran back and nudged Tsugi's hand. Tsugi snapped out of his thoughts and petted Ruzo on the head.

"Thanks buddy." He smiled softly and the sadness slowly left him.

They strolled through the village until they finally reached the outskirts and Ruzo darted off into the fields running back and forth. Tsugi followed right after him, feeling the wind across his face and listened to the whistling of the wind reaching his ears.

His smile was so wide the heavens could see it. His laughter was so loud that even the spirits in the underworld were shaken. His heart was so light, the demons in his mind dissipated.

Ruzo always managed to bring a smile to Tsugi and lifted his spirits at his worst moments. Their unconditional loyalty to each other was only something people could dream of.

This day was by far the greatest day of his life, for everything was perfect. The sky was clear, the breeze subtle and cool. He earned the day off, he learned to improve his magic abilities and he was able to share this moment with his best friend. He couldn't have asked for anything more.

As the day wore on, the sun set upon the horizon, flaring beautiful colors into the sky, imitating the paintings Tsugi saw in books. The sight was almost hypnotically soothing. It was so amazing that it even brought tears to Tsugi's eyes, melting his worries away.

They sat upon the hill and enjoyed the sunset, while Ruzo slept in Tsugi's lap, exhausted from the small adventure that day.

Tsugi gazed upon Ruzo and stroked his furry head, tilting his ears side to side. The pup snored quietly letting the light massage soothe him into a deep slumber.

"If only this moment could last forever." His voice was soft with a hint of sadness. He knew all too well that this day would soon come to an end.