It was two days after seeing Puffy that Techno saw the first thing that really interested him in this sanctuary.

Of course, everything was interesting, it was a place of magic- but that was just general human (well, hybrid, he guessed) curiosity. This was different.

It was what looked like to be guards. 

He'd been assigned the job of berry picking with Velvet, and after two hours of working, he'd taken a break, leaning up against a tree and sighing. 

His hair was in a short and messy braid as usual, but he'd noticed it was growing a little longer. It was still difficult to braid, but not as much. Techno couldn't wait until it was long enough to plait properly. He was fixing it when he'd seen a group of older men walk past him, wearing clothes that looked suspiciously like guards. 

Their uniforms weren't exactly like he'd seen in royal guards that had passed through his old village, decked out in armour and fancy helmets. Instead, they wore yellow undergarments with metal shoulder blades. They had leather clothes strapped on top of it, and swords attached to their belts as they walked past.

Techno's eyes widened at the sight, and he tilted his head to the side curiously. For some reason, he hadn't expected the sanctuary to have guards. It had seemed like a peaceful, no fighting sort of place, but the more he thought about it the more he realised that was wrong. He wanted to smack his head at his stupidity, this place was constantly fighting Schlatt, of course they had guards.

He stood up carefully, glancing behind him where Velvet was writing in a journal and sighed. He could probably slip away for a bit. He'd spent hours on picking berries anyway, surely he could take a few moments away.

He nodded to himself, silently assuring himself in his idea, and set off to the path that the guards had disappeared down.

The forest, Techno had found in the last few days, was insanely large. It stretched far and wide and despite him exploring so much of it he still saw new places that he hadn't before noticed.

He stealthily followed the guards until they made their way under a structure. Under half of the structure, the floor was sand, and a roof was held up by stilts. Techno's eyes widened. This must be the training grounds!

He moved forward, ducking behind a tree when one of the guards turned his way.

He peeked out a moment later and watched from behind as they split off into groups and started sparring with each other. His mouth parted open in awe at their smooth moves and total control of their bodies. They reminded him of his lessons with the retired royal guard from his village. He'd found he was quite good at fighting and sparring, but after the man's death, Techno had never practised again. He wasn't as good as these fighters, that much was certain, but with the limited amount of experience he had, he could probably hold his own against them at least for a little while.

Suddenly, a hand was placed on his shoulder, and he jumped in fright, grabbing the arm of the person in self-defence and pushing it down and away from him, grip tight.

The person yelped, and Techno quickly realised that he was not under threat (well-) and that it was just Puffy. He quickly let go of her arm as she stood back up, rubbing it slightly.

Techno winced as she cradled it, but when she looked up at him she had raised eyebrows and a slight smile, causing him to frown in confusion.

"Wow, kid," she started, "you've got some quick reflexes." 

Techno went red slightly, so he cleared his throat and averted his eyes.

"Yeah, I guess."

She laughed, "No, really. You took me down fast, and it was only a reflex." 

Techno shrugged slightly, "I had some training a while back. Nothing special." 

Puffy hummed slightly, tapping her lips with a long finger before she grinned.

"What would you say if I moved you from sanctuary duty to guard duty." she suggested, and Techno's eyes widened slightly before he tried to make his face remain impassive.

"Oh- well-"

"Just say yes, kid." she cut him off, and he paused, before nodding stiffly.

"That would be cool." he said after a moment, and she smiled, patting him on the back. He narrowed his eyes at the unwanted contact, but let her guide him towards the training ground where the other guards had paused in their sparring to watch the ordeal.

The one in different clothing (what he assumed to be the captain of them) stepped forward and cocked his head to the side slightly.

He had long black rabbit ears that flicked up as they approached.

His dark curly hair shone slightly in the light coming from the parting trees, and Techno gulped slightly, feeling nervous. If Techno had to guess, he was somewhere in his twenties.

"Corpse! I've got you fresh meat." she laughed, tapping Techno on the shoulders.

Corpse raised his eyebrows, looking down at the teenager before looking back up at Puffy and then down at him again.

"Can you hold a sword?" Corpse asked after a moment, and Techno's eyes widened slightly at the incredibly deep voice that came from the man's mouth.

He recovered quickly from his surprise and nodded once, "Yes."

Corpse nodded, "Okay, show me." he said, gesturing towards the sand part under the roof and Techno moved forward.

He glanced back to see Puffy tipping her hat at him before disappearing again.

Moving forward once more, Techno made his way to a shelf that held all sorts of weapons. He grabbed a shining sword from the rack, admiring the gem in the handle, before swinging it in his hands lightly.

He had missed this. Before, he hadn't realised how much of a stress relief his old sparring sessions were, but now as he stood with a sword back in his hand, he let a smile flick onto his face.

He looked back up at Corpse, who had taken a defensive stand with his own sword, and gripped it tighter.

He copied Corpse's stand, and the other man smirked slightly.

"Okay, show me what you got."

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Hello friends!!

Sorry for not uploading yesterday, I was really tired. It seems after posting my old book constantly every day for two months that the exhaustion has caught up to me, lol.

Either way, i'll probably update every day, or every second day. Not sure yet.

Also, Corpse is aged up in this, so when Techno is older Corpse will be older than he actually is...for plot convenience.

Anyway,,, happy first of March!

Happy reading!!!

-Bee <3

(1/3/21)

Co-posted on ao3