A/N: I know I need to be working on the next chapter to the Lights that Guide My Hearts...but this was stuck in my head and needed to get out. I wanted to put it into LtGMH but I wasn't finding a good place for it. So here's a little chapter for my readers interested in that...

Leon was brushing Sir Heinrich's horse Blizzard. It was a magnificent animal with a snowy white coat and creamy mane and tail. Much taller than most other horses in the stable, the stallion was a perfect knight's mount. It was Leon's daily duty (among others) to see that Blizzard's coat was curried, he was fed and watered, and his stall was cleaned. Granted, being a stable boy was only part of his duties. Just as Helia had told him, he was more or less an errand and chore boy for Sir Heinrich, with knight's training in between. It wasn't as heroic as he imagined and the droll of everyday duties seemed too long. He truly wanted to move past this and gain his knighthood. But, as he was so often reminded by older squires and younger knights, he had to earn his way.

Though he wasn't met with open hostility from the other squires, Leon could tell he wasn't part of the group. He was still the "new guy". The only one who gave him a hard time was Neil, a taller, dark haired, older boy who was on the cusp of becoming a knight. Leon wasn't sure why but anytime they interacted there seemed to be subtle rivalry bubbling.

So, he was surprised when Neil approached him with five other squires.

"Hey! Hey, Leon." He called out casually.

Leon turned from Blizzard's brushing, "Yeah?"

"You done brushing your girlfriend or what?" he joked.

The other boys snickered.

Leon sighed and rolled his eyes, "Gotta get Blizzard brushed before I head over to the smithy to get Sir Heinrich's new shield."

"Well...aren't we dedicated?" He tapped his hands along the stall beams, "But how dedicated?"

Leon looked at him, "I swore an oath to Sir Heinrich to be his loyal squire."

"Of course. We all took that oath too. But did you ever pass the squire's challenge?" he asked enigmatically.

"Squire's challenge? What's that?" Leon was confused.

"Just an initiation. You know, to prove you're brave enough to become a knight?" Neil gestured. "We've all done it."

Leon was curious, "Well...what did you do?"

"Me?" he pulled out a primitive bone knife, "I snuck into a goblin camp and stole this."

Leon frowned, "Knights aren't supposed to steal."

Neil shook his dark hair, "It's a test of bravery." He pointed to the other boys, "He jumped on and rode a tiger hog, he stood in the North Woods for two hours, he swam across the Green Ribbon...stuff like that. What brave stuff have you done?"

It sounded exciting. But standing in the North Woods would be nothing. He'd lived there his whole childhood.

"I could stand in the North Woods for two hours."

"No. It can't be the same ...it has to be longer...or better." Neil corrected.

"Like what?"

The boys seemed to think until Neil said, "Meet us right before sunset...we'll find something."

Though it sounded a bit strange, Leon couldn't resist the temptation of adventure. Especially if it could gain him friends.

...

After his duties were done, Leon snuck off to meet the six other squires for their challenge. They were all on horses.

"Hey! You showed up. Come on." They called out.

What would he have to do?

Together the boys rode off down the road. Leon knew immediately they were heading for the North Woods. None of the boys knew Leon lived there so he was probably the only one who wasn't nervous. It wasn't too long before the towering tree wall that started the woods stood before them like an impenetrable wall. The boys all stopped their horses, just staring at it.

But then they heard and saw something very unexpected. It sounded like...breathing. Really loud and deep. Through the trees one of the boys made a quiet noise and gestured wildly, pointing.

"What?" Neil asked.

The light-skinned squire shushed him desperately and pointed hard into the trees with big eyes. Soon the boys all saw what he did. It was the Gray Shadow, sleeping just inside the border of the trees. He was massive and laying peacefully on his side, snoring gently.

"Oh...no way." Neil whispered.

He and the other boys had never seen the Gray Shadow in the flesh but they knew the danger of being even this close.

"Let's go...let's get out of here." one boy urged.

"Why?" Leon asked, clearly not on the same wave of thinking as the others.

They looked at him as if he grew a second head.

One of the squires whispered intensely, "That's the Gray Shadow! If he wakes up, he'll kill us and eat us!"

"Nuh uh." Leon argued.

Leon squinted. Off and on he'd heard men in Sir Heinrich's estate bring up the Gray Shadow (aka Mr. Kendrick) and nothing said about the giant was good. Since Leon lived in the North Woods for the entirety of his young life, he didn't get exposed to the views of others on the topic like he did now. Part of him wanted to speak up and defend against the horrible things beings said about Mr. Kendrick, but he also knew his father had told him to keep their association with the giant a secret. He truly didn't understand why but he did as he was told.

But before the argument could progress, the leader Neil jumped down from his horse. With quiet steps he stepped into the border of the trees about ten feet.

"Neil! What are you doing?!" one of the other boys hissed.

He turned and spread his arms, "Any of you think you can get closer?"

The small group began to piece together the game. Whoever could get closest to the sleeping giant was the bravest...the winner. There were a few looks shared amongst the group. They weren't so sure they wanted to play this game.

But one of the squires named Ben, jumped down from his horse and followed after Neil. He walked past him and got a few feet closer. The boys were still several hundred yards from the sleeping giant. Another boy, not wanting to be left out did the same, getting a few more steps closer.

Leon watched a moment. He was internally baffled and a little more than amused by this "game". He wasn't completely ignorant to the fact that most people were afraid of Mr. Kendrick but he truly didn't get why this was a test of bravery.

Neil had moved closer than the last squire before gesturing to Leon, "Come on, Leon. Let's see how close you can get. OR are you going to run back to the stables?"

The blonde boy gave a subtle grin and got down from his horse. With slow, unhurried steps he walked into the trees, past the other boys. But he kept walking until the gap between he and the Gray Shadow was very small. Neil got a shocked look, not believing how close this new kid was getting. Leon eventually stopped when he was at least twenty feet from Kendrick. He turned and spread his arms as if to say, "Anyone want to get closer?". At first there was a long staring pause from the other boys, no one willing to challenge his dominant closeness.

But soon, Neil took a step and then another, trying to be as quiet as he possibly could. He gave Leon a challenging stare as he took a few steps closer, although he wasn't taking his eyes off of the massive sleeping giant for more than a second. He licked his lips, breathed, and approached the giant's boots. Suddenly he darted forward, touched the leather boot, and scampered back to where the other squires were. The boys darted back out to the edge of the trees. Neil turned back, looking like he was on the peak of his adrenaline rush.

He'd touched the Gray Shadow!

At first, he was feeling as if no one could beat that but he was astonished to see Leon hadn't run back. In fact, he was moving down the length of the giant's body toward his head. The group of boys were staring in stupefied horror as Leon approached the Gray Shadow's face. The giant was still asleep, sprawled out on his side as Leon drew closer and closer. Finally, the blonde squire reached out and actually touched the end of the giant's nose. The boys gasped, amazed. But suddenly the gasp went to horrified when suddenly the Gray Shadow's hand seemed to awaken before he did and wrap fully around Leon in a fist. A low deep growl rumbled from the behemoth as he awoke. The boys ran as fast as they could, jumped on their horses, and high-tailed it back to the Sir Heinrich's land.

...

Kendrick gave a short growl when he was awakened by a small touch to the end of his sensitive nose. His hand moved immediately and grabbed a small human body. He had been sleeping so nicely...who dared to wake him?

"Hey! Mr. Kendrick?" Leon's voice came out of his fist.

His hand opened quickly as he lifted his head. "Huh? Leon?"

The teen stumbled upon being released from the powerful grip.

Kendrick was a bit perturbed, "The Hell are you doing here? I could've killed you, you know? What are you doing?"

Leon gave a smile but then looked a bit embarrassed, "Just...winning a game."

"Game?"

The boy gestured to the outskirts of the forest, "Yeah. Touch the giant and run, I guess."

Kendrick balked, rolling his eyes, "Really? Dumb game..."

Leon shrugged again, "I know but I knew I could win."

The giant huffed a laugh, "Yeah. I guess you would."

"What are you doing out here anyway?" Leon asked.

Kendrick rolled slightly, reached away from behind him, and lifted up a pair of large tiger hogs, "Hunting. But I needed a nap before walking back."

"Oh. Are Twillow and Kimi doing good?" he asked.

Kendrick granted a smile, "Yeah. They're both good. And how about you? Are you a knight yet?"

Leon frowned, "No...not yet."

The giant made a noise in his nose that sounded like he wasn't surprised.

"Well..." he reached up and yanked a few hairs from his head then handed them toward Leon. "Maybe this will impress them?"

"Your hair?"

Kendrick smirked, "You know anyone who owns some of my hair?"

Leon shook his head and took the really long strands that were almost as big around as a necklace chain, "Ok...well, thanks Mr. Kendrick."

"No problem."

Leon was jerking the strands of hair in opposite directions, testing its tensile strength when a thought decided to leave his mouth, "Why are people scared of you, Mr. Kendrick?"

The giant's head moved as he looked at his large stature and gestured to it, "Well...I'd think that would be obvious."

Leon's lips dipped inward, "Have you...killed as many people as they say you have?"

Kendrick blinked, obviously blind-sided by the question coming from Leon. True the boy knew he'd nearly eaten his own father when they first met and he saw him get shot whilst mapping the trade road years ago. But for the most part, Kendrick had kept that darker side of him hidden from the boy and hoped to keep it hidden. He truly wanted to lie.

The giant sighed deeply, "What have you heard?"

Leon shrugged, "That...there used to be towns inside the North Woods. But you destroyed them and killed everyone." He shifted in the giant's hand, "That's not true, is it?"

And there it was. The door to his secret was opened and being stared at.

"Do you think it's true?" Kendrick tried to redirect.

But Leon redirected in turn, "I need to know if it's true from you."

"Hm." Kendrick grunted, realizing it was either blatantly lie or answer truthfully.

Finally, his head nodded, "Yeah. Yeah, it's true, kid."

Leon had a wide-eyed look as if he was expecting to hear something else, "You...did?"

Again, the giant nodded, "You remember my father?"

Leon nodded.

"He was blinded by humans. I probably was several years older than you are now, comparatively when it happened. And I was enraged by that act. So, I took out my rage on those villages and now...they no longer exist." He explained quietly. "I hated humans for that and never wanted to forgive what they had done and I did everything I could to keep them away from me and my father. It wasn't until I met your father and mother and later Twillow almost one hundred years later that I began to see humans a little differently."

Leon listened and his expression seemed to hold sympathy but also shock for what he heard.

Now he understood what all those men meant and where all the bad stories came from. Suddenly his mind went back to the time after the festival when those men attacked them and Mr. Kendrick disappeared for a time. His parents wouldn't give a straight answer as to where he went.

"Then...you killed those men that day after the festival?" Leon guessed.

Kendrick's lips tucked in slightly and he nodded.

"But I thought you signed a peace treaty with King Dunlam?"

Kendrick nodded again, "Yes...I did. But when someone hurts or threatens the people I care for, no treaty can stop me from doing what needs to be done. Those men knew about my wife and your father using magic. If they told anyone about that...bad things would've happened to them."

Leon was thinking but somewhat nodding. His father's magic was the family secret. It nearly got him killed.

Kendrick frowned, "I know that's not the "Mr. Kendrick" you wanted to know about. I didn't want you to know about. But it's the truth and you're old enough to know the truth." He raised the boy up, "You know that you are my friend, right?"

"Yes. You're my friend too, Mr. Kendrick."

The giant gave a short smile then disappeared, "And you know I'd never hurt you or anyone you cared for?"

Leon nodded.

He gently ruffled the boy's hair with a finger, "Good." Very slowly he lowered him to the ground, "You'd better get back before the stories of your imminent demise start."

"Yeah." Leon laughed a bit, "No one's going to believe me though."

Kendrick shrugged, "Just say you yanked out some of my hair and it made me drop you...or something? I dunno."

"Ok. Bye, Mr. Kendrick."

"Bye, kid." He gave a short wave and slowly stood up to be on his way home as well.

Leon's horse wasn't around but the walk wasn't terribly far either. He glanced back to see Mr. Kendrick disappear back through the trees. Somehow, despite the blatant admission, it was still hard to believe the giant had truly done those ghastly things. Not that he could fault him for protecting his family. But it certainly made him feel all the more special knowing he'd made friends with him and hoped it would last his lifetime.