"Tsugi!" Master Lumes called from across the field. "Heal that one over there!" She pointed to the creature sprawled on the floor. Tsugi quickly rushed over to the small furry creature that was breathing rapidly, crying and meowing like a little kitten. It looked like a tiger, but it had a horn on its head and little wings that weren't quite ready to carry it yet. It was abandoned by its family when one of its legs had been crushed in the stampede. It was slowly dying.

“Oh, the horrible reality of nature.” Tsugi grumbled and placed his hands on the little creature that could easily fit in his hands.

Tsugi quickly healed it with little effort. Its leg will never regenerate, but Tsugi was able to at least clean and close the wound. "Now we just need to transport you back, and administer antibiotics little one." Tsugi muttered and picked it up into his arms. It was so tiny, it reminded Tsugi of when he first found Ruzo.

"Getting very good." Master Lumes was looking over Tsugi's shoulder. "You've improved a lot in just four years."

Tsugi stood to his feet and beamed at her, feeling highly accomplished, after healing fifty creatures in one day. "I still have a lot of energy, I can still keep going."

Master Lumes shook her head, "let's call it a day. We still need to bring this one back for rehabilitation."

Tsugi walked over to Ellie and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to look at him. Her long green hair flung across her shoulder and her dark blue eyes gleamed at him. He stuck the small sleeping creature into his shirt.

{Come. We are going back now.} Tsugi gestured and signed with his hands. {We're done for today.}

She smiled and nodded her head in acknowledgement. {Is this the only one that needs to go back?}

{"Yes."}

Ellie stood and dusted her dress before they both ran to catch up to Master Lumes. Ellie was another one of Master Lumes pupils. She was born deaf and mute, but she has a wonderful talent in healing. She was abandoned by her parents when they found out she couldn't hear and speak. Master Lumes had discovered her in the middle of the woods, healing an injured rabbit at the mere age of six. Tsugi and Ellie had become very good friends over the last four years and she had taught Tsugi a lot.

They dropped off the creature at the enclosure before returning to the mansion.

{I'll meet you in the great hall for dinner.} Tsugi gave her a polite bow as he escorted her to her room before returning to his. They were Master Lumes only pupils, so in the enormous home with fifty rooms, Tsugi and Ellie had their own room.

Upon entering his room, he was attacked with a face full of slobber. Tsugi had been out training all day so they haven’t seen each other. The maids and butlers took care of Ruzo, by taking him out to feed and exercise whenever Tsugi was busy.

“Hi, bud!” Tsugi reached to pet Ruzo on the face with both hands. Ruzo had grown a lot in the last four years, he was now the size of an adolescent pony and starting to look more like an oversized wolf and not so much like a puppy anymore. “Soon, you won’t be able to stay here with me. We may need to get you your own stable, and you might need to stay with the horses, or maybe in the enclosures. I don’t know about letting you roam free in the city, I don’t think very many of the villagers will feel very comfortable about that.” Tsugi chuckled.

“I hope you had a good time with the maids and butlers today. I had a pretty good and successful day myself.” He smiled smugly to himself. “I have to get ready for dinner, bud. I don’t have much to do tomorrow, so I will take you out and we can go do something fun after I’m done with my morning routine.” Tsugi patted Ruzo on his ribcage and went to grab some clothes.

Tsugi hopped into the bath and looked down at his body. His chest was getting bigger and hips were beginning to widen. The keloid scars on his body had now begun to flatten with his growing body and stretching skin. The muscles were now starting to become a little more pronounced as he approached puberty. His body was growing all disproportional where his limbs were growing longer and certain parts of his body were bigger than others.

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He scrubbed his body with soap and ran them over his tender chest, causing him to wince a little at the soreness. He wasn't a big fan of growing pains. He felt like a puppy going through their growing stage of awkwardness where everything was out of balance and weird.

After getting dressed he promptly headed down to the great hall.

"Tea, Master Tsugi?" Serbin, the butler, bowed politely.

"Yes please. Thank you Serbin."

Master Lumes is very wealthy, so her mansion was very big and she had maids and butlers that attended to everything. Tsugi was still uncomfortable with all the attending to him, but he was starting to get used to it. Back in Keryth, even though it was a very big castle with many servants, he was never lucky enough to be treated as such.

Upon arriving, Tsugi was very shocked as he was trained into proper etiquette and had to learn quite a lot about the political world and how everything worked. He hated politics and wanted nothing to do with it. Every time he thought about it, it just reminded him of his father, which brought him into one of his panic attacks that left him out of it for months at a time, only remembering pieces here and there.

Master Lumes had been working with him and he was getting better, but they are still very careful to not bring up anything that could trigger it.

{I'm proud of you Tsugi.} Ellie signed to him. {You've come a long way. I can see you are even using the right fork for your salad.} She teased.

{It's still so confusing and I hate it. Why so many rules!} He signed angrily. {Why can't we just make it simple and use ONE fork?! So infuriating!} He sneered with vex.

{You're so funny.} She chuckled, shaking her head at him.

{Why do we have to learn all of this anyways?}

"Because it will help you get further in life. Knowledge is power." Master Lumes said as she sat down at the table.

"I understand that." Tsugi rolled his eyes. "What I don't understand is the reason for the million forks we have to use."

"First of all there aren’t millions. Second, I don't expect you to follow the rules here but when you go out you should at least know which ones to use on which course of your meal. Nobles hold their noses very high, and will tend to sneer down on you for the little things. At least be knowledgeable to give them no excuse to belittle you."

Tsugi narrowed his eyes and pressed his lips into a thin line. "It's stupid." He muttered and stabbed at his salad angrily, stuffing it into his mouth.

{You also need to work on that temper of yours.} Ellie signed and raised an eyebrow at him which only made him pout more. Even though she couldn’t hear them, she was very good at reading lips.

"Have you heard anything from Lugo and Jenene?" Tsugi asked, pushing his salad around.

"They are in Mount Likijo right now. According to Jenene, Lugo's training is going really well too."

Tsugi smiled, feeling happy for his friend's progress.

After dinner Tsugi returned to his room and pulled out the ocarina. After twirling it between his fingers for a moment, he lifted it to his lips and blew into it, perking up Ruzo’s ears as he laid quietly next to the bed. Tsugi had been practicing everyday, discovering new tones and putting notes together to create a beautiful melody.

He had found the music to be his solace and always found it useful to help him sleep better at night.

When he first came here and had one of his episodes, he requested for them to make the tonic for him, but when Master Lumes discovered the ingredients, he got a good scolding. The tonic was a very addictive drug that was not meant to be used only in emergencies and especially not on a child. It relaxes the mind, but it poisons the body, which explains why Tsugi had a hard time mustering up energy to heal.

After they weaned him off the drug, he had improved a lot in his healing ability. Master Lumes had suggested calming music to help him instead, and so far, it has helped.

He played the melancholy music through dusk, before finally setting it down on the nightstand. Tucking himself under the duvet, he leaned over and blew out the single candle that had dimly lit his room.

Tsugi woke up to a stomach ache and blinked dazedly, looking around. He was sitting at the table with an assortment of food in front of him, each of them at least half eaten. His hands were covered in crumbs, as with evidence on the table around him, and on his face. He could taste chicken in his mouth along with mashed potatoes, asparagus, the sweet tang of apple and strawberries and many other flavors.

Oh, damn it all. He had been sleepwalking again. Last time he did this, he had consumed a whole five blueberry pies and six tarts, not to mention the several times before that too. He sighed and wiped his mouth of the evidence and downed the goblet of water next to him. He groaned and shifted uncomfortably before cleaning up his mess. It was a good thing, it was in the middle of the night and no one else was awake to witness his midnight snack, or more of food murder if there were such a thing. Drowsiness began to settle in as he groggily made his way back up to his room and crawled under the covers.