Wizardness

Tobias pulled himself out of the bush. He glanced about, confused. He glanced about, the island was back to a flatter landmass. The sky was brightening, but it was still before sunrise. He rubbed his face. He felt dried out. His head was mildly aching.
He returned to the barracks. The fire had burned low, so it was difficult to see. He could tell the beds were empty, except for Red’s. It looked like there was someone else in there with her. He smiled, good for her.
He found a pitcher of water and poured a mug for himself.
The halfings had left some bread and hard meat out over night in case any of Fist Epsilon got hungry. He grabbed some and carried his chair over to the fire. He stoked it and then enjoyed his snack. The bread was hard, so he had to dip it into his water to soften it up.
“Oh Shit.” he heard someone whisper.
He glanced over to see Raven sitting up on Red’s bed. Tobias started, he waved and settled back into his chair. He took a bite of the meat. He chewed it slowly as he processed what he’d just seen.
The Lord of the Stars doctrine didn’t have any writing about relationships. His local temple had frowned on unorthodox relationships, but that was his community. He’d never met any in a relationship like that. He didn’t even have words for it.
He sipped his water and crunched into his bread. She had chosen her over him. It wasn’t just because he was hammered the other day. She didn’t want him. Would never want him.
He felt a chill, despite the fire. He crushed the rest of his bread. He looked at the crumbs and threw them into the fire.
“Ah run, I need to go for a run,” Tobias muttered.
He got up and walked loudly to the door. He swept past Raven, intentionally ignoring her.
“Fuck.” She muttered behind him.
He flinched, but kept walking.
As soon as he was to the path he took off at a sprint. He wanted to feel his legs burn, he needed the exhaustion that came with a good run. He needed his body to feel as gutted as he did.
He was running at a rate his Fist could never hope to keep up with. He still didn’t feel anything. Just that he couldn’t move his legs faster. His breathe was even and calm. He didn’t feel much different than his walk.
He pushed off from the ground harder. He bounded through the air, faster and farther. He was suddenly at the barracks.
“Hey slow down!” Someone cried.
Tobias slowed and stopped. He was hundreds of feet from the barracks by the time he stopped. He toppled from the exertion. He’d run 5 miles in barely a quarter hour. He struggled to his back to straighten out his breathing. He was gasping for air, his legs burned. His ankle ached.
Giggles was suddenly next to him. “Are you ok?”
Tobias lamely shrugged.
“Are you training or something?”
“Mad.”
“Why?”
“Raven. Red.”
Giggles burst into his namesake. “Oh, I see. You finally learned about that. Guess that echo isn’t being made new.”
“You. Knew?”
“Oh, yea. Echos aside, it was pretty obvious to see. Why do you think they always wanted to run together? You made Red very uncomfortable, you know.”
“I do?”
“Yea, that handshake of hers was a big deal to her. You think you were the only man that fancied her?”
“No, I don’t.” Tobias was finally catching his breath, some.
“Good. You do know this isn’t about you. It’s about her and Raven. They are not yours.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Commander Lee.”
Tobias managed to sit up and look about, “Where?”
Giggles sighed, “No, the fight you had with Commander Lee. You have the power to dominate Red. Do you understand what that means to HER?”
Tobias gave a petulant shrug.
Giggles knelt and grabbed Tobias’s shoulder, “In our world, men are dangerous to women. They fear being attacked for rejecting a man. You, you never have to be rejected. You can just build enough of a relationship with them and DOMINATE them. Do you get it? You are terrifying. and not just to them, either.”
“What do you mean?”
“By the Stars, your innocent act can be grating. You’ve barely used your spark. You just overpowered a veteran Good God Damn with YOUR spark. You almost killed him with your spark. If you decide to dominate one of us or all of us.” Giggles shuddered.
“I would never…”
“You made an oath with Red. She marked you. If you break that oath, you will die.”
“Marked?”
“Your hand!” Giggles cried.
Tobias looked at his hands. The right hand, the one he shook with Red was no longer a dull red with silvery tipped fingers. There was a brilliant flame streaking from the index finger towards his wrist. His fingers mirrored his palm. It was as if he’d shook hands with a flame.
“I think she’s the third one to mark me. I have these shattered bones from Plain. I’ve got a bright line around my right leg on my hip, from you.”
“If you dominate one of us, we will stop you. You are being dangerous right now. You might be Order Boy, but you are still a boy. You need to learn how to deal with these emotions.”
“I’m used to having someone to talk to. Maybe I can talk with Red about this.”
“No, she’s not there for you to use like that. You need to figure this out. Here.” Giggles pulled out a journal. “Write in here. If it helps, write a conversation as if your adviser was responding.”
“Can’t I talk to you?”
“I, uh, got my own shit to figure out. Big man might be a better ear.”
“Ok.”
“By the way, you need to apologize to Red and Ronlique. If you don’t, Big man will toss you into the sea.”
Tobias started and looked up at Giggles. The madness was still there.
“Fine.”
Giggles and Tobias return to the barracks as the remainder of the fist are waking up. Giggles headed over to talk with Dar’kid and Plain they were were coming up from the coast, while Tobias headed inside.
Red and Raven were dressed and drinking at the table. They scowled at him when he walked in.
“You’re an asshole, you know.” Red said.
“That’s what Giggles told me. He told me a lot of things. Like that I’m dangerous and terrifying. That my ability and behavior leaving the barracks after seeing you. After seeing you to, made me dangerous to you.”
“He said that, did he?”
“Yes, he did. He also pointed out that you’ve marked me. I don’t know if you did it on purpose, but your spark would kill me if I broke my word to you.”
“But not Ronlique.”
“Yea, she and Dar’kid are the only two that haven’t in some way. I’m sorry I stormed off. I’m sorry if that scared you.”
“You know that’s not enough,” Raven said.
Tobias shrugged, “It’s all I can do for now. Giggles told me to work on my shit, that it’s not about me.”
Red leaned forward, “This relationship isn’t about you. It’s about Ronlique and me. You aren’t in it.”
Raven put a hand on Red’s shoulder, “What Rose is saying, is that if you’ve got shit to work out, do it somewhere else.”
“Yea. Yea. I’m sorry. I’m happy for you.” He stood. “We’ll get started with our day here soon. I expect we’ll do our run, then get started on the barracks work today. Let me know how you want me to manage our pace.”
He stood and walked out the barracks. He could feel their eyes on him. He could feel his mark flair with heat.