Severance had a few questions.

The first would be, what was wrong with Dhin? This wasn't how normal people reacted after losing a parent.

Dhin had already punched him in the face. And he'd just effortlessly slammed Severance into the ground like a pro wrestler. Both of those were understandable things, and probably well deserved, but what Severance couldn't make sense of was the fact that Dhin didn't really show any anger or hatred, or anything of what Severance expected.

In fact, after he knocked Severance down, Dhin offered a hand.

Severance took it. Why, he didn't even know. He was hauled to his feet.

His second question was this: what on Eliona was going on here?

Oblivious to his confusion, Dhin moved back a couple of paces.

"Would you like to try again?"

No. No, he really didn't. Severance brushed the hair out of his eyes, growing somewhat frustrated because nothing was going the way he thought it should go.

"Why?"

And here were the rest of his questions: Why was he here? Why were they doing this? Why wasn't Dhin acting more upset at him? (Or was this his way of showing it?)

"Why not?" Dhin lifted a hand, making the universal 'come hither' gesture. "Now, come."

What was wrong with this game? Severance lifted his eyes skyward. He felt exhausted, like he'd been on the rollercoaster ride of his life. He didn't know what to think anymore. His heart hurt, his head felt heavy, and he just wanted to snuggle in a corner with Vast and–

"I'm going crazy," he muttered. That was the only explanation. It wasn't until Dhin made a "heh" sound that Severance realized he'd spoken aloud.

"That's a given," Dhin agreed. "Now, are you going to give this a go, or should I have another turn?"

Severance sighed. Fine. It was clear that the man wasn't going to let this go anytime soon. Might as well get it over with. Maybe once Dhin realized Severance was a horrible puncher, he'd give up and let him go.

He made a fist, walked up to Dhin, and half-heartedly slugged him in the gut. Or tried to. He hit nothing but air. His overreach threw him off balance and he staggered forward, flailing a bit until he regained his footing.

"What was that?"

He turned to see Dhin looking back at him with a strange expression.

"That was terrible."

"Of course it was," Severance retorted. "I've never punched anything before."

"I can see that." Dhin shook his head. "You're just flailing around. There's no power behind it. And the way you're making a fist, you're going to break fingers. Look, this is how you do it."

He demonstrated, closing his hand and tucking his thumb in against his fingers. Severance watched, feeling a bit out of place. Was he seriously getting a punching lesson right now? He might have laughed if he wasn't feeling so confused.

"See? Now you try it."

Resisting the urge to sigh yet again, Severance humored the guy. Maybe this was just his bizarre way of grieving. He made a fist. It felt strange, but a lot more solid than his first attempt.

"Good. Now punch me."

Knowing that Dhin would just dodge, Severance aimed at his face and swung. His fist hit and something gave away with a horrific crunch.

Dhin staggered back, one hand flying to his nose. "Ow!"

Severance froze, utterly shocked. Dhin was supposed to dodge! Why didn't he dodge? He watched as Dhin pulled his hand away, revealing a mess of blood dripping down the front of his face. It came from his nose, which looked a little off-center.

A tiny part of him cackled. Ha! Now we match!

The rest of him, however, was horrified.

"I'm sorry!" Severance blurted. Did he really just break Dhin's nose? And it was right after his father's funeral, for crying out loud! How could he have done such a thing? He was a horrible person.

"It's nothing," Dhin muttered, his voice a little nasally. He looked at his blood-covered hand and scowled. "I didn't think you'd actually hit that hard."

"You asked me to punch you!" Severance yanked his war fans out of his Inventory, hastily invoking Earth Dance. The least he could do after this disaster was heal the poor guy.

"I did," Dhin agreed. He watched as Severance cast a Mend, his lips twitching in amusement. "Relax, it's just a busted nose."

That did not make Severance relax. The fact that Dhin was laughing about it just made him even more worried. Maybe he'd accidentally rattled Dhin's brains. Oh man, what if he really did give the guy some brain damage? He couldn't let him return to the House like this!

He prepared to cast a second Mend. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Dhin reached out, and pushed Severance's hands down. "Sev, it's okay." He smiled, a small, but genuine thing. It was the first true smile Severance had seen from him all day. "I shouldn't have underestimated you, that's all. I just thought with your wimpy, non-existent strength, you'd never be able to actually hurt any-"

Severance's fist caught him in the gut. Dhin choked and doubled over. Then he laughed. Without straightening, he reached out and snagged Severance's wrist. A sharp tug made Severance stumble forward. At the same moment, Dhin kicked out at one of Severance's feet.

As a result, Severance fell heavily, knocking his head on the ground in the process. He hissed, more from shock than any discomfort.

"Jerk," he muttered.

"Idiot," Dhin fired back. He flopped down on the ground beside Severance. "Seriously, your fighting skills suck. Even a grandmother could beat you up with a laundry basket."

Severance rolled over onto his side, propping his head up on one hand. "I'm a healer, not a warrior," he pointed out.

"So?" Dhin looked over at him, giving him a look that told that he didn't give a whit about that fact. "You're a part of the Veiled. Even Tayci knows how to throw a punch."

Being compared to a little girl didn't exactly make Severance feel better. He frowned, picking at the grass idly. "I'm not good at punching. Or fighting."

"Ah, very good. The first step to improvement is admitting that you suck." Dhin pulled out some grass and tossed it at Severance's face.

Narrowing his eyes, Severance returned the favor. Except that a faint night breeze picked up his little bit of grass and flung it far from its target. How fair was that?

"Yeah? What's the second step?"

"That's easy. You ask me to train you. I'll whip you into shape in no time." With expert marksmanship, Dhin threw even more grass on Severance's face.

Severance hastily brushed it off. He considered trying to kick Dhin again, but he still felt guilty, so he dropped that idea. Instead, he regarded Dhin closely, wondering.

"Why aren't you mad at me?"

Dhin scowled. "Don't start this again. I told you, Sev. I don't blame you. None of us do. You're so stupidly soft that you couldn't even harm a bug if you tried. How can you even think you're the cause of my Pa's...? I mean, it's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"But-"

"He had a good death," Dhin's voice hitched. He threw an arm over his eyes, hiding them. "He faced the enemy, and fought right to the end. It's better than being stabbed in the back, or growing weak and helpless with age."

"I guess." Severance felt reluctant to admit it. Considering how the Veiled lived, it wasn't surprising that they found dying in battle to be honorable. Still, he couldn't just erase the guilt and shame of causing Rasin's death. No matter what Dhin said, it couldn't change that.

They remained quiet for a while, watching the stars sparkle and listening to the sound of nocturnal insects going about their life.

Eventually, Severance broke the silence.

"You'd really teach me to fight?"

"If you want," Dhin turned his head, and their eyes met. There was only steely determination behind his ebony gaze. "The Free Traders killed my Pa, Sev. I'm not going to let them get away with it. But you–"

"Yes," Severance said.

The zero hesitation took Dhin by surprise, to the point where he stopped and blinked. "You–what?"

"You're not going after them alone." Severance didn't even recognize the voice that spoke as his own, so full of resolve as it was. He wasn't going to let Dhin charge into danger alone. He wasn't going to let another clan member die.

This was his promise. He'd failed them before, but never again.

As for the Free Traders... something dark and ugly burned deep in his belly at the mere thought of them, and of what they did to Rasin. They'd murdered him. And then they'd laughed. He thought about that, and he gritted his teeth until fire rose and welled in his eyes as hot tears.

No, not tears. He didn't cry in Eliona.

He looked at Dhin and saw his own anguish reflected back at him. Yeah, there was no way Dhin wasn't going to fight them alone.

"I'm going with you. But, uh..."

"What?"

Severance felt somewhat embarrassed. He was very aware of his own limitations. Healing people back to full health from near death in a matter of minutes was no problem for him. But actually surviving more than ten seconds in a full on melee fight with no tank to shield him? It wasn't looking good.

"I need to get stronger," he said. He wasn't even sure if this was possible, but he was willing to try. He'd do anything he could to keep another clan member from dying. "So please, teach me."

Dhin watched him, his face unreadable. Then he plucked a few more blades of grass and tossed them at Severance. "Alright. Since you asked so nicely. But you have to realize, Sev. I can't work miracles. There's only so much I can do with a guy who's built like a twig."

Severance promptly tried to kick Dhin in the stomach. Both were on the ground so it should have been an easy task. Yet Dhin easily rolled out of the way, while Severance flopped about like a moose missing all four legs.

Dhin laughed, while Severance tried to figure out what he was even doing. He'd never been a violent person, yet here he was, trying to beat up a guy who'd just lost his father. Maybe Dhin's not the crazy one. Maybe it's me...

Despite it all, he found himself smiling. Just like Dhin, he was smiling, even though his chest ached and his face was wet and he felt like crying, like screaming out to the sky because pressure built and it hurt, and he didn't know how he was going to face the next day. All he could do was smile through the tears and push on.

Dhin shoved him back, and a short scuffle ensued where they tried to shove the other's face into the grass. It ended with Dhin being the clear winner.

"Twiggy," said Dhin, sitting on Severance's back.

Severance spat out a mouthful of grass and dirt. He gasped, "Jerk."

Dhin patted Severance's shoulder. "Well, that was pathetic. I can see we have a lot of work ahead of us."

With a groan, Severance rested his forehead against the cool ground. He lay still, finally letting go, just a little. The dirt beneath his face grew damp. Grasses rustled around him, some brushing gently against his cheeks.

He didn't deserve Dhin's kindness. But he was grateful all the same for it.