After we told the adults what happened, they called for my father to treat me. When they told him that I was bitten by a crystals host, his face turned white, but I quickly told him that I kept well away from the crystals, and there were no crystals in the mouth. He calmed down, but he still gave me a very thorough checkup, which I appreciated. He then quickly treated my wound, using magic to heal the damage and close the wound.

He did most of this in silence, but as he was closing the wound, he spoke to me.

``Nathan, did I ever tell why you got your name?'' [Shale]

``Hm? Yes, you told me it means gift.'' [Nathan]

``That's true, but it's not the whole story. We named you after my best friend. I grew up with him, and he was a lot like you. Very intelligent, very mature. He did not really want to go out too much, he always had enough in fiddling with his own things. For you it is the mana crystals that Alfred is teaching you about, for him it was paintings. He could draw and paint the most amazing things.'' [Shale]

My father has a special spark in his eyes that I have never seen before, and a slanted smile on his usually rigid face. At the same time, I have never seen him sadder than he is now.

``But Nathan was lazy. He did not want to go out and experience hardship. He just wanted to stay at home with his paintings. Now Nathan came from a long line of skilled swordsmen, and his parents were very skilled as well. They insisted on training him, and he too was extremely talented. I could never beat him, I could never even lay a hand on him.'' [Shale]

My father takes a break, seemingly reminiscing about the time spent with his childhood friend long gone..

`Because he was talented, his parents allowed him to slack. They did not put him through the painful parts of training. Did not force him to build his body up when he would not do it himself. One day, he got in a fight with a monster. Usually, a monster of that caliber would be no match for someone with that amount of skill with the sword. But it was the kind of monster that you needed to wear down to kill.

He did not have the stamina for it. Instead of him wearing it down, it wore him down and started inflicting wounds on him. Because he was so unused to pain, he started panicking and eventually he tried to flee from the beast.'' [Shale]

His gaze turns distant.

``It killed him right then and there. Tore his body clean in half, and he bleed out crying for help in agony. The rest of us managed to kill the beast, but by then he was gone. He was all alone, surrounded by his best friends as he cried for us to help him. We all lost a part of ourselves that day. I have lost many comrades over the years, but nothing hit me as hard as that.'' [Shale]

My father, long finished with my treatment, leans back in his seat and looks out the window.

``I had to tell his family. I had to tell them that he died to something that should have been a walk in the park. Because they had been too forgiving with their training. His mother wailed for hours. His father never forgave himself, and his oldest little sister cried for days. After that, their father put the two girls they had remaining through a much harsher training regime than was ever traditional in their family. The youngest girl, who was too young to remember her brother, never understood why she had to suffer like that, but the eldest remembered, and she endured. She knew what happens to those that turn their back on a monster and run.''

He turns to face me, and stares me right in the eyes with a soft gentle look.

``And that's the story of your namesake uncle, Nathan Bluefin.'' [Shale]

``It was.. Mothers brother?..'' [Nathan]

``Yes, it was. When she heard you had been severely wounded by a small animal that you could have defeated if she had started training you earlier, she broke down. She never wanted to put you through the same training that she received, and it pains her incredibly much to do it. She was never a hard person, and treating others, especially her own child, like this is beyond her. But she does it anyways. Because she loves you too much to lose you like she lost her brother.. Because she knows that in this world, you have to fight and survive. As you did today. As she taught you, for your own sake...'' [Shale]

His face warps in anger and hatred, emotions I have never, ever, seen within him.

``And all you give her in return is contempt.'' [Shale]

He gets up and walks towards the door before he stops to look back, his face once again emotionless.

``I did not want to tell you about this, it is between you and your mother. But I cannot endure hearing my wife cry every night as she sleeps. Think about what I said, and talk with your mother. She is waiting for you at the docks. I'll go treat your friends for bruises and scrapes before we leave.'' [Shale]

He turns back and walk out the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

... He's right.

I knew that my mother was doing this because she wants to help me...

But I hate it. I never cared for sports or fights, and being forced to work out for hours and hours on end every single day makes me angry. Being forced to wander through the cold wet rain makes me angry. Being hit over and over to get used to pain makes me angry. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!

.. I have to endure if I want to survive. This world isn't the one I'm used to. If I don't prepare myself and my body, I will face a situation that will kill me very painfully.

The one best equipped, and willing, to prepare me for that is my mother.

And I treated her like shit for it.

I get out of the bed I was sitting on, and walk over to the wall. I put both of my hands on the wall to lean on it. I then lean my head back and-

BANG!

-smack my forehead against the wall as hard as I can. Which hurts like shit.

Argh. Damn this was stupid. I don't feel more enlightened or ready to talk to my mother, and now my head hurts. Fuck.

.. Time to face the music.

I walk out the door, and head towards the docks. My mother is sitting on the edge of the docks, looking out across the water, her long green hair swaying in the wind, revealing the sapphire streaks.

I take a deep breath, and walk towards her. As I put my foot on the pier, she turns around and see me. She slowly get to her feet, and turn to face me. I stop a few feet from her.

``.. I heard you stood up to the beast this time.'' [Jessica]

``... I did.'' [Nathan]

``Good. When your father get's here, we are leaving. Once we get back home, you are going to practice the swo-'' [Jessica]

I rush to hug my mother. Wrapping my arms around her waist, and hugging her with all of the power I can muster.

``Wha-'' [Jessica]

``Thank you mom. Thank you for protecting me. No, thank you for teaching me to protect myself. Without you, I do not know what would have happened.'' [Nathan]

My mother stands frozen, caught entirely by surprise and incapable of processing what just happened.

``I used the daggers mom. I used them to defend myself because you taught me how. I ran up slope fast enough because you made me fast. I endured and kept my calm when it bit me because you made me tough.'' [Nathan]

At this moment it hit me. It hit me just how close I was to death. When the boar attacked me, I didn't feel this afterwards, because it left on it's own. But that fox was going to kill me. It would either kill me or infect me. It was so fucking close. If it hadn't used it's paw to lever me down, I could be infected. I wasn't afraid of it when I was fighting it, but now.. I'm so terrified I could collapse. If I wasn't holding on to my mother, I would have.

I-.. I almost died... I almost died again..

Tears start overflowing from my eyes. Everything hit me at once. How much what my mother did for me meant, how closely I escaped, and how badly I treated my mother when she was trying to save me.

``I-I am sorry mom. I am so sorry. It was so scary. I was so scared.'' [Nathan]

My mother puts her arms around my shoulders and hug me close to her.

``Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for saving me mom. Thank you so much.'' [Nathan]

We just stood there for a while, my mother quietly holding me while I wept.