"Hey, Mom, can Benjamin stay over for the weekend?" Andrew asked.

Helen paused considering the request. "I don't see why not. You'll need to make sure it's okay with his parents first though."

"Yay! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Andrew exclaimed, rushing over to the phone to call Benjamin and let him know. Andrew was now ten and ever since that first day of school, Benjamin had been his best friend. They were both a little weird, so the rest of their grade kept them at arm's length, but they had each other, and they'd grown close because of it.

Benjamin's parents didn't see anything wrong with him staying over either, so Friday Benjamin packed a backpack full of everything he'd need and brought it to school, planning on just getting off at Andrew's stop instead of his own that afternoon. Unfortunately, the bag wouldn't fit in his locker, so he had to spend the entire day lugging it around. It was sitting next to their table at lunch, when the older boy from that first day grabbed it.

"Oh? What's this Dorkjamin? Preparing extra clothes in case you wet yourself again?" The boy jeered as his two cronies chuckled behind him.

"Give it back, Eric!" Benjamin exclaimed, reaching for the bag. "And I never wet myself! You poured a bottle of water down my pants!"

"Likely story." Eric scoffed. "Let's see… Oh! Nutty bars! Swiss rolls! That's some good stuff, Dorkjamin! How nice of you to get them for us!" Eric pulled the snacks out of the bag, before dropping it and walking off.

"Hey! You can't steal Benjamin's snacks!" Andrew got to his feet, yelling at them.

"Oh? And what are you going to do about it, huh?" Eric sneered.

"I'll tell the teacher on you!" Andrew growled, clenching his fists.

"Tell them what? That I have snacks? Who's to say they weren't mine to begin with?" Eric retorted.

A slight cough came from behind them and they all turned to see a teacher standing there with a frown. "You three, return the snacks and report for detention after school." The teacher ordered in a stern voice, before turning to the young girl next to him. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Cathryn."

"You're welcome, teacher!" Cathryn chirped cheerfully. Cathryn was the same girl who'd commented on Andrew's tigermonkey that first day.

Eric rolled his eyes, tossing the snacks at Benjamin, before walking away with the other two. The teacher left as well, while Cathryn approached Andrew and Benjamin with a smug look. "Thanks, Cathryn." Benjamin thanked her with a smile, packing his snacks back into his bag.

"You're welcome." Cathryn nodded with a smile, before turning to Andrew, looking at him expectantly.

"What do you want, Cathryn?" Andrew frowned at her as he returned to his seat.

"A thank you would be nice." Cathryn replied, crossing her arms.

"Thanks. Bye." Andrew waved her away. Every time he talked with Cathryn he'd end up arguing with her and he wasn't in the mood right now.

"Ugh, you're so rude!" Cathryn exclaimed before stomping away.

"Why do you antagonize her like that?" Benjamin asked, frowning at Andrew.

"How do I antagonize her? She antagonizes me!" Andrew exclaimed in frustration. Every time Cathryn came up to him he could sense that weird expectation she had towards him, as if she wanted him to perform for her. Like she wanted to poke him to see what would happen.

Benjamin raised an eyebrow at him. "All she wanted was for you to thank her. She helped us with Eric and them, it wasn't unreasonable."

"We didn't need her help. I could have dealt with those three myself." Andrew growled.

"But you didn't have to, because Cathryn took care of it!" Benjamin retorted. "It's like if I went up and got food for you. You absolutely could have done it yourself, but I did it for you, so you thank me, right?"

Andrew frowned, before sighing. "You're right. It's just- she just rubs me the wrong way. I don't get what's up with her."

Benjamin shook his head. "I don't get what's up with you. You have a weird sense of pride for someone who gets picked on just as much as I do." Andrew grunted, going back to his food, unable to explain. How could he tell Benjamin he could literally toss Eric across the cafeteria one handed?

Benjamin sighed, shaking his head. "I just can't get over how nice your house is."

"It isn't that nice." Andrew replied as they walked inside.

"You literally have an indoor pool." Benjamin commented.

"But I don't like to swim." Andrew argued back.

"But you have a pool. Whether you like it or not is irrelevant!" Benjamin retorted.

"How is that irrelevant? Having the pool isn't nice for me, so it doesn't contribute to my house being nice!" Andrew countered.

"You're ridiculous." Benjamin grumbled, shaking his head. "Come on, what do you want to do? I brought some games, some movies, and you know, snacks."

"What movies did you bring?" Andrew asked curiously. As much as his parents bought nice stuff, they were ancient creatures, so they hadn't quite caught up with the rapid development of entertainment. They considered sitting around playing board games to be the height of culture, and the kids just could not convince them otherwise. They did have a tv with a dvd player, but they rarely used it.

They quickly delved into the various pieces of entertainment Benjamin had brought, but by Saturday afternoon, they'd consumed it all, including the snacks, leaving them with nothing to do, except maybe dig into Andrew's parents' board game collection. "Well, we could go explore the woods." Benjamin suggested as they were thinking of what to do.

"Uh, I-I'm not so sure about that…" Andrew muttered, sweating slightly. He always went into the woods in one of his Beast forms. He wasn't sure how safe it'd be for two ten year old boys. Andrew could certainly take care of any danger but not without revealing his secret to Benjamin.

"Don't you go back there all the time? Come on, you can show me around!" Benjamin insisted, dragging him into the backyard towards the forest. They headed into the trees, Benjamin boldly striding forward while Andrew followed him nervously, watching out for any life signs that could pose any danger. "So, where do you usually go?" Benjamin turned to ask.

"Huh? Uh, nowhere in particular. I kinda just explore, you know?" Andrew explained with a shrug. He went over all the places he knew that were around here, before deciding on taking Benjamin to his territory, a small clearing with a nice big tree and a small creek not too far from here.

As they walked, Benjamin suddenly stopped, eyes widening. "Whoa! Andrew, check this out!" He exclaimed, waving Andrew over to look at something on the ground. Andrew looked over with a frown, before realizing what Benjamin had found. It was a massive paw print. Andrew's paw print. From his Tiger form. "What do you think made it?" Benjamin asked in wonder as he crouched down, studying the impression in the mud.

"Uh, a bear?" Andrew responded, cursing himself.

"A bear? What bear would leave a print this big! No, this must be a bigfoot track!" Benjamin exclaimed excitedly.

"Bigfoot?" Andrew exclaimed in bafflement.

"You know, sasquatch! A big, bearlike monkey man thing! He hides in the woods and only occasionally can anyone ever find a sign of him! This must be his footprint!" Benjamin elaborated.

"Uh… sure." Andrew nodded along, giving Benjamin a strange look. "Uh, we should probably keep going though. We wouldn't want to disturb him, right?"

Benjamin frowned. "Yeah, that'd probably make him angry." He got to his feet, before clicking his tongue. "Man, I wish I'd brought my camera."

They continued on until they finally reached Andrew's territory. He let out a comfortable sigh as they did, enjoying the welcome feeling the territory always gave him, as if he was coming home. He could always sense his territory, but there was something different about actually being there, feeling the space around him, the sturdiness of it, as if he could fall into it and it would catch him. Of course, due to his ability, he could. One of the first things Tigers learned to do was solidify space, creating barriers within their territory. If he wanted something really sturdy, he'd need to spend a lot of time and effort to do it, but something that would just hold his weight was nothing and he could do that instantly.

"Wow! This place is nice!" Benjamin exclaimed as they arrived, looking around.

Andrew grinned in pride. "Yup! There's some small fish in the creek, along with some crawfish and frogs. There are ant hills over there and over there and occasionally they'll fight, which is fun. And in the tree- Oh!" A black shadow darted from the the tree, rushing over to land on Andrews shoulder with a *Caw!* "Uh, there's a crow." Andrew grinned sheepishly, petting the large bird's chest lightly.

Benjamin's eyes looked like they were about to pop out. "You have a pet crow?!?" He exclaimed in wonder.

Andrew frowned. "I wouldn't say he's a pet. He's my friend."

"Isn't that the same thing as a pet?" Benjamin asked, confused.

Andrew raised an eyebrow. "Are you my pet?"

"No, but I'm human!" Benjamin argued. "When a person is friends with an animal, that means they're their pet! That's just how it works, like me and my dog!"

"I'm pretty sure being a pet implies having some sort of dependence on the other person. You know, a pet and their owner kind of thing. I don't own Gregory, so he isn't my pet. He's my friend." Andrew responded.

Benjamin paused. "I suppose… so, then, how did you two become friends?"

Andrew shrugged. "I like to hang out here, he likes to hang out in the tree. Just kind of happened really." He couldn't really explain how they'd built their relationship through Andrew's emotional communication ability, so that was the best he could do.

"You're going to need a better story than that when you bring him to school." Benjamin retorted, shaking his head. "Something like he broke his wing and you nursed him back to health!"

Andrew frowned. "And why would I be bringing him to school?"

"To show everyone! Can you imagine bringing in a live crow? Everyone would love it! You'd be the coolest kid in school!" Benjamin exclaimed.

Andrew's eyes widened slightly. "Do you think so?"

"Duh! Everyone loves animals! Remember how much people loved it when John brought in his new puppy? If you brought Gregory, it'd be at least ten times cooler!" Benjamin answered.

Andrew paused, considering it. "I guess I could." It wouldn't be bad to feel cool for once, would it?

The next Monday, as Andrew walked into class, the teacher jumped in shock, backing away. "A-Andrew, w-what is that?!?" She exclaimed, pointing shakily at the crow standing calmly on Andrew's shoulded.

"This is Gregory!" Andrew exclaimed. "He's a crow!"

"Andrew, you can't just bring wild animals into school! Put it outside!" The teacher demanded.

Andrew frowned. "But I brought him all the way from my house… he can't just fly home! I promise, he'll behave, right Gregory?" Andrew sent Gregory a hopeful questioning emotion along with calmness and agreeableness. Gregory cawed in response, puffing out his feathers proudly in affirmation. He was a good crow! The best!

The teacher was unwilling, but eventually sighed and nodded, unable to actually tell Greg no. As long as the crow wasn't actually disruptive, she didn't have an excuse to send it away. Greg grinned in triumph, heading over to his desk. All the kids watched him, wide-eyed, as he did, some feeling a sense of wonder, while others were clearly nervous about the large bird.

"Where did you get it?" One of the other boys asked as he sat down.

"He lives in the woods behind my house." Andrew explained. "I met him back there."

"Can he do any tricks?" Another boy asked.

Andrew frowned. "He isn't some kind of circus act, he's my friend! I don't make him do tricks."

The boy got a strange look on his face. "You're friends with a crow? What, could you not make people friends so you had to resort to animals?"

Andrew scowled. "What's wrong with making friends with animals? Can you make friends with animals?"

"Why would I want to make friends with animals?" The boy retorted. "They're dirty, ugly, and gross!"

"Hey, my dog is not gross!" John piped up, glaring at the boy.

"Yeah, and my parakeet is very pretty!" A girl added.

"My ferret is dirty, but he's still really cool!" Another boy called out.

The boy was slightly stunned by the backlash, shrinking away as Andrew was surrounded by the animal lovers, asking if they could pet Gregory or give him treats. Gregory was nervous at first, but after Andrew repeatedly calmed him down, assuring him that none of the children were dangerous, he slowly began to enjoy the attention, puffing himself up proudly as they pet him softly. Eventually though, the teacher had to start class and everyone returned to their seats. Through the lesson, Gregory remained calm and composed, hopping between Greg's shoulder and the desk occasionally, but otherwise just calmly accompanying the class, though a large part of that was due to Andrew's constant emotional messages. He knew if Gregory was disruptive, the teacher would make him take him outside.

"See, I told you it'd go well!" Benjamin exclaimed proudly as they headed to lunch.

"When you're right, you're right." Andrew nodded with a grin, enjoying the attention he and Gregory were receiving even now. "I should have done this years ago!"

They queued up into the lunch line, ready to grab their food, when that voice that pierced his ear drums and sent waves of fury through his chest called out. "Andork, what is this? You got yourself a stuffed crow?" Eric called out, reaching for Gregory. "Gah!" He suddenly cried as Gregory pecked at his hand, yanking it away. "I-it's real?!? How did you manage to get a real crow!?!"

"Why do you care?" Andrew growled, glaring at Eric.

Eric scoffed. "It's just a stupid bird. Just let me see it!" He demanded, reaching out, only to have his hand pecked again, yanking it back with a pained yelp, glaring at Gregory angrily. "Stupid bird! Let me pet you!"

"Leave him alone!" Andrew yelled, pulling Gregory away, using one hand to keep Eric at bay, trying not to use too much strength in the process.

Eric was getting increasingly frustrated as no matter what he did, he couldn't grab Gregory and every time he got anywhere close, the damn bird would peck his hand again! "Ugh, fine! I don't want to see your stupid bird anyways!" He finally exclaimed, walking away in a huff, rubbing his hand which was now covered in tiny red marks.

Andrew watched him go with a glare, before snorting, continuing through the food line. "What a jerk." Benjamin muttered from behind, glaring after Eric as well. They got their food and found a place to sit down, but unlike usual, they weren't left to continue their meal in peace. Kids kept coming over to see Gregory, giving him little pieces of food, petting him when Andrew said they could, and otherwise gawking in fascination as they ate.

Eric glared at the bustling activity around Gregory with a bitter, angry frown. All it was was a stupid bird? Why was everyone getting so excited about it? Didn't they remember how awful those two were? Getting a dumb bird didn't change any of that! He was busy fuming when suddenly his friend nudged him, taking something out of his backpack and showing it to him. "A slingshot?" Eric asked, eyes widening slightly. "Why are you bringing it out here?"

The friend snickered. "Don't you think Andork's bird would be the perfect thing for target practice?" He explained, pulling out a few nice rocks as well.

Eric was stunned for a moment, before a wicked grin spread across his face. "Give it here!" He insisted, grabbing the slingshot and a rock, slowly taking aim at Gregory. "Stupid bird." Eric growled, before releasing the rock, which shot across the room in a flash, hitting Gregory square in the head with a solid thunk, a pained squawk, and a burst of feathers!

For a second, the entire cafeteria was silent. Andrew just sat there, not even processing what had just happened as his spine went numb. A moment later, he scrambled out of his seat, kneeling down to pick up Gregory's floppy body. "G-Gregory?" He stammered as he chest tightened, knowing that the crow was dead. From across the room, laughter erupted from Eric and his friends, and suddenly his chest felt like it was on fire as pure rage burned through him! With a roar, he grabbed the fallen rock and with all his strength, he threw it at the smug, laughing face of Eric. Eric didn't even have time to react before the rock hit and his head exploded!

The entire cafeteria fell into a stunned silence once again, as Andrew stared wide-eyed at the gruesome scene he'd just caused. "No… no no no no no!" Andrew panicked, running as screams began to erupt around him, dashing out of the cafeteria, his heart pounding in his chest. He didn't even think as he ran through town, straight towards the forest, and into his territory. He didn't even know how long it'd taken him as he huddled against the tree, pulling the space around him as he created barrier after barrier, hiding himself from the world.

Helen was in the basement, focusing carefully as she etched strange symbols into a bracelet when the phone rang, breaking her concentration, causing her to make a slight error in the symbol. She let out a frustrated sigh as she got to her feet, stalking over to the phone with a grumpy expression. "Yes?" She asked as she answered the phone in a slightly too terse tone.

"Uh, Mrs. Stone? This is Mrs. Atkinson, from the elementary school. Th-there's been an incident involving your son, Andrew." Mrs. Atkinson explained in a nervous tone.

Helen frowned. "Something happened with Andrew? Is he okay?" Helen asked, concern clear in her tone, forgetting for a moment that nothing at an elementary school could possibly harm him.

"He's fine! At least, we think he is… Mrs. Stone, your son- oh God, your son, he- he killed another boy! We-we believe it was an accident, b-but he's run off and we can't find him anywhere! The police are looking for him b-but… d-do you know where he might be hiding? He isn't in trouble, we just need to find him." Mrs. Atkinson explained, her tone becoming more and more nervous as she continued.

A cold chill crept into Helen's spine. "I-I don't… I'll see if I can find him, just- I'll call you if I find anything!" Helen stammered, before quickly hanging up the phone, panting heavily. She paused for a moment, before picking the phone up again, dialing a number. "Stephen? You need to call Elder Barry. Something's happened with Andrew." Helen began to explain, telling him what the school had told her. "Emilia is already searching the forest for him, but… you know that isn't her strong suit." She finished.

"Sebastian is already on it." Stephen replied in a hard tone. "I'll call Elder Barry immediately. Don't worry, we'll take care of this." He assured her before hanging up. Helen let out another nervous breath as she hung up as well, looking off in the distance with a worried look in her eye, hoping Andrew was okay.

Andrew curled up inside layer after layer of space, tears streaming down his face as he blocked out the rest of the world, sobbing for Gregory, for the fact that his family would have to move now, and even for Eric. With his abilities, he knew Eric was just hurting and angry at the world, lashing out for little to no reason. He hated being the victim of it, and he didn't like Eric, but he didn't hate Eric for it. He didn't know what Eric had gone through to make him that way, and he had absolutely no idea how to fix it, but he knew it wasn't really Eric's fault. Why did he have to kill Gregory though? Why did he have to make him so angry!?!

Guilt, sorrow, frustration, and anger mixed within him in a miserable whirlpool, sending him deeper and deeper into himself in a spiral that seemed ready to drag him down to hell itself, when a questioning, concerned emotion brushed against his mind. Immediately Andrew sent rejection back, too ashamed to even look towards where Sebastian and Emilia were standing at the edge of his territory, blocked off by the multitude of barriers. "He's too deep in it." Sebastian sighed, shaking his head. "Can you break through these?"

"I can, but… it would hurt him. To break this many in a short period of time… it'd be like breaking every bone in his body." Emilia sighed.

Sebastian groaned, turning back to Andrew. "Then I'll just have to try to slowly convince him… this will be hard without being able to talk to him." He explained, sending emotions of concern, acceptance, and comfort towards Andrew constantly, slowly trying to wear through the spiral of dark emotions he'd shrouded himself in. He could have directly manipulated Andrew's emotions, but that would simply result in a harsher backlash once he stopped. Unless he wanted to permanently control Andrew's emotions, he had to take it slow, only subtly pushing him towards healing, not directly taking him there. Slowly, hours passed and Andrew slowly broke down under Sebastian's continued proding, until finally he released the barriers, rubbing his eyes and sniffling as he stumbled towards the two Beasts.

Emilia and Sebastian breathed sighs of relief, rushing up to him, hugging and rubbing against him, before picking him up and dashing towards the house. Sebastian delivered him to the back door, gently placing him in Helen's arms as she hugged him tight, rocking gently back and forth as he clutched back at her, light sobs echoing from him. She then carried him inside, where Stephen waited with a strange man Andrew had never met before. Stephen stepped forward, hugging both Helen and Andrew at once. None of them had any idea what to say, just resting in the comfort of each other's embrace. Eventually they released, letting Andrew down, and he turned to look at the strange man.

Elder Barry smiled kindly at Andrew, crouching down to eye level. "Hello Andrew, I'm Elder Barry. I hear you've had a rough day. Do you want to talk about it? Tell me what happened."

Andrew sniffed. "I-I'd brought my f-friend, a-a crow named Gre-Gregory, t-to school t-to show everyone. Th-then during l-lunch… E-Eric used a s-slingshot t-to- he hit- he killed Gregory!" Andrew cried in pain. "I-I just- I was so angry, a-and I grabbed the s-stone and I just… I threw it… I didn't mean to- I just wanted to hurt him, not- I-I shouldn't have-" Andrew stammered, not even knowing how to explain. He knew he shouldn't have tried to throw the rock in the first place. He should have gone to a teacher, or the principal, someone and let them take care of it. He just… he didn't think, and he'd killed a boy.

Elder Barry nodded. "I understand. This is something we all have to go through at some point. Unfortunately, you came to this point much younger than most. As Bonded, we are gifted with great and powerful abilities, yet if we use them carelessly, the people around us get hurt. For other Bonded, they have time to grow into this strength, only slowly growing more powerful as they develop their ability over tens, hundreds, or even thousands of years, slowly getting used to the terrifying power they can bring to bear. However, for you… you reached this point as soon as you were born. You've never been weak, yet everyone around you is so fragile, and you can't even tell the difference between you. You have no real concept of how truly fragile they really are, how careful you truly need to be, how important it is that you control yourself." He explained sadly.

"I'm sorry." Andrew croaked, hanging his head in shame. "I- I'll accept my punishment. Just… Please, don't make my family move. I-I'll take the punishment myself. I-I don't want to ruin my family's life."

Elder Barry couldn't suppress his grin as he patted Andrew's head. "That won't be necessary. Everything has already been taken care of. The boy's death was a freak accident, the rock hitting just the right point where the boy had a congenital weakness in his skull, causing that level of damage. You could not have known about it. No one could have known about it. You're simply the victim of a cruel twist of fate. You'll be suspended for a week for the incident, then you'll return to school and continue on with your life."

Andrew's eyes widened. "Th-that's it? B-but I killed someone! Sh-shouldn't I go to jail o-or something?"

Elder Barry raised an eyebrow. "What jail could hold you? Besides, you're a child. Even a normal boy wouldn't go to jail for something like this. You just need to take this time to get yourself under control, and put yourself back together. By next week, hopefully this will all just be a bad memory that everyone will slowly forget."

It didn't exactly sit right with Andrew, but he nodded slowly, accepting Elder Barry's explanation. He really hoped everything could go back to the way it was. He just didn't think it was possible.