Solo Taffy

[Daniel Druva]

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3rd of Spring -> 7th of Spring

They say friendships are born from chance encounters, moments where common interests or goals bind two individuals tighter than a hangman's noose.

It could also be said that rivalries are born in the same way, if a common interest included a mutual hatred of one another. Such moments should
be prized just as much as a friendship, because while friends bring out the best in people, enemies bring out the worst. Inner monsters can only be
slain when revealed, so for that much, enemies should be thanked. These thoughts however, were not Daniel's the first time he met Taffy.

Daniel was vaguely aware that his mentor had another squire, in the same way one is vaguely aware of the floor beneath their feet, or of the stars in the sky.
Providing that nothing changes drastically, there's little point in dwelling too much on them, unless you happen to be a priest or an idiot. The same could be said for Taffy. Daniel had saw him on the first day he was in Sylfrey's care but he didn't truly meet him. He noticed that there was a sultry, loud young boy talking to Sylfrey, anxious to soak up their mutual master's attention. Daniel kept an eye on Sylfrey and ignored the boy, confident that there if he remained hovering in the background, there would not be any reason for the squire's attention to rest on him.

If only it were that simple.

Over the next few days, the squire paid no more attention to Daniel than on the first, and Daniel to him. Slowly though, Daniel uncovered snippets of information, the result of being in such proximity to someone. The boy's name was Taffy, his mother was some minor noble in the city, his father was never mentioned. He smelled like pastries and always arrived in the morning with dapples powdered sugar on his hands, a fleck of dried syrup on the corner of his lip. He didn't like to wait, but he answered Sylfrey's questions with an earnestness that gave him the old knight's approval. Days passed like this, with Daniel acting the silent page, observing the two
while trying to learn as much as he could. Sylfrey never asked Daniel a question, often never even acknowledged him except when there was a message needed delivering or if the old knight needed a glass of wine. Taffy's eyes glassed over during these interactions, as if Daniel was never even there.

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[Daniel Druva]

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It wasl on the 7th of Spring when Daniel truly met Taffy. The lessons had ended for the day and Sylfrey had Taffy had both left the apartment for the evening.Daniel found himself in the Sylfrey's training area, a small dank room in his abode that housed a hanging straw man covered in canvas as well as a selection of wooden swords. It took a while for Daniel to work up the nerve to go in there alone, a bit longer to actually touch and pick up on the swords. The wooden handle
felt big in his hands, and it pained his arms to actually hold it up, but he still went to the straw man in the middle of the room and swung widely, the side of the blade hitting the dummy with a muffled TWACK!
His grind widening, Daniel ignored the pains in his arms and swung again the dummy flailing madly from the force.

'What are you doing?'
The voice was quiet.
Daniel's ears pricked at the sound and turned around, but he didn't need to. The cloying sweetness in the air was enough to tell him who it was behind him with an arrogant smirk on his face. Taffy wasn't a big child, but he was fat and his weight made him a lot more intimidating in the the darkened room, Daniel felt his bones go to jelly.

'I was just.... just.' Daniel stuttered, trying to keep his voice even and steady.

'Just trespassing.' Taffy whispered.

He strode over to the rack where the practice swords were held. Tapping each one with a pudgy finger as he spoke.

'Pages aren't allowed in the training room alone... They aren't allowed practice with weapons.' Taffy turned to look at him.

'I've heard about you, the Kelvic Druva, the one Ser Christoph brought back from the wilds that he had with some... animal. he smiled at that, a dark light in his eyes.

Daniel felt his anger flair up, with his fear forgotten he felt his face go red with rage and embarrassment.
'Don't talk about my mother like that! She wasn't...'

'Wasn't she?' Taffy cut in, taking a small step forward, a heavy training sword resting in his hands.

'I've seen you during our lessons, Sylfrey pretends you're not there because he's ashamed of you, rumor has it you're a lion, but I've seen you sneaking about, coming and going where you're not wanted...'
He looked pointedly at him.
'You're more like a rat if you ask me.'

That's when Taffy swung, and truth be told Daniel wasn't expecting it. He recognized the possibility, sure. But he knew that Taffy wouldn't pull it off, he wouldn't dare risk offending Sylfrey by striking his page. Regardless, Taffy aimed for Daniel's side, while the practice blades were blunt, the wooden edge left a steak of pain as it cracked against his ribs. Daniel collapsed, vainly trying to lift up his own practice sword but it was so heavy... too heavy.

Taffy grinned indulgently and lifted his blade up. He was clever, he made sure not to strike the head or hands, nothing that would be noticeable. Nothing that would be permanent. Not yet anyway. Taffy brought the sword up and done striking his arms, legs and torso, punctuating each strike with a spoken word.

'Rat! Rat! Rat!'

Defenseless, Daniel yowled and turned, golden fur prickling from his skin, clothing abandoned as he shrunk. He leaped forward, evading the last strike hissing with fury.
Taffy looked taken back, but he recovered quickly, getting ready to strike again. The cub ran on all fours, evading the weapon and sprinted for the exit to the room, leaving
the dark room behind.

'Run away rat!' Taffy called.

'Run away!'

The words followed Daniel far longer than he thought, the pain lancing his sides he limped back to the page's barracks.

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