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Training was almost always harrowing now, involving certainty of major bruising and blood and the necessity of extra energy to heal if he wanted to walk away from the endeavor. Titan told himself that it was his lord's faith, a sign of Obsidian's pleasure, in him that things only got more and more difficult instead of easier. It meant Obsidian had already been going easy on him and was starting to take off the kid gloves.

Obsidian always smiled when Titan was bleeding. If he reacted to pain he was guaranteed that the General was about to do something to aggravate the wound- possibly even something sick like jamming fingers into the wound and pulling it open more and slowly while the Lieutenant flailed before trying to remaster stoicism.

If he was lucky, training wasn't with weapons, but with rare mentions of tactics and battles Obsidian knew about regarding senshi- and names of other officers would come up. Titan didn't write them down in his lord's presence, he was pretty sure he was supposed to memorize them offhand, but he wasn't smart enough to get them at a single go. He usually spent he walk back to the more common areas of Negaspace jotting in a little notebook things he needed to remember and go over another twenty times before he managed to- so it was he was passing the quota collection. There wasn't a long line at the hour, whatever hour that was in the sunlit world in the normal 'verse, but there were a few lieutenants and one very, very small, delicate looking general.

A general?
They had quota? If Obsidian had one, Titan certainly had no idea what it was or when he collected it. Except classes at Hillworth, he wasn't actually sure when the General wasn't in the Rift. But this other General was distinctive- one eye, bows, high boots and the colors of verte and sable. Titan flipped a few pages back in his little note pad, slowing to a stop to read- Spec-Ops, General Wolframite, green/black/small/eyepatch

Titan perked. He's one of mine! I should....I haven't met him yet. We're supposed to meet all our allies, right? But he's a general....he must be busy, ja?

But who's ever busy in the quota line? It will not hurt to say hello? Even if troubling the commanders is bad, or getting their attention may be bad, surely it is better to at least know them. If I know nothing, I cannot serve them properly. He nodded to himself, pocketing his little notepad, steeled his nerves and approached the small general. So as not to startle he offered a greeting first, even if he hadn't formally been recognized to be allowed to speak- it was a tough decision between traditional protocol and modern politeness, "General Wolframite, sir?"

He was recognized!
Titan approached to a respectful distance and bowed low at the waist, holding it for an emphasized moment. "Lieutenant Titanlåvenite, sir."

"I...am in Spec-Ops, and seeing you I thought about I'd not met you as one of my commanders, " He finally straightened, offering a very genuine smile, "And I've heard of you, a little, from my lord. "

"You've served the throne a long time, and are decorated...It's an honor." It was hard not to loom at his height over the tiny General, and looming over a superior officer was awkward and disjointed to Titan's personal sensibilities. By the same account, kneeling was only rightful to the Queen, the General Kings, and his personal lord- so a solution wasn't forthcoming.

How do I express deference properly??

"The battlefield does have other rules than the court. I have tried to learn them all, but it is sometimes hard to remember them all..." Titan quirked hearing the admonishment of rank- everyone could feel the power each wielded, so what did show of it really matter? Not to mention the weapons they each possessed in increasing deadliness, and the capes the commanders wore. True, though, Wolframite himself didn't seem to have one.

"I'll...try to remember it."
Or at least check with Obsidian. It doesn't make sense that rank and priveledge be subverted? A General known a General is in no more danger than he was before. They will win just the same as moments before.

"As for my lord, I oathed to General Obsidian. Maybe....he does not feel the same about it as I do, but I hope so. I followed the old customs of the Hirðskrá as much as I could- to be of his drótt, offered blood over his sword and kissed the hilt."

"He accepted the ceremony of it, it seemed...though.." Titan crossed his arms in discomfort, looking down at the stone between them of the ground, "He grows more and more erratic. I worry of it. It cannot be good to be so often in the Rift. I hope to ...put him at ease. "

"You've been around as long, ja? Do you remember what he was like before at all? Could you help me to understand him better? To help him heal? You are jarl as much as he, and as old in service. You must have great wisdom. "

Titan nodded obediently when the General indicated that conversation was better pursued elsewhere, and waited patiently and still where he was as the small youth took the privileges of rank in tow before returning and starting away from the more populous area. The Lieutenant fell in step to him, though more slow in stride on his longshanks than Wolframite's small, booted feet. He stayed one step back, though conversationally aside the commander.

He listened carefully first, as his better spoke- strange things. Titan had actually looked up 'erratic' in a dictionary thing that listed words meaning like other words from chaotic. Chaotic had seemed silly to use, since they all supposedly had something to do with Chaos in serving the Negaverse. 'Purified' was a strange term, and he remembered it from brief converse with one of the Sushi- Was it Lady Pomona? Someone had mentioned once that there was an officer who had purified, but his memory was not good enough to hold he details. He thought he wrote it down, maybe shared it with Colin at some point. But Wolframite kept going, so he abandoned the line of thought in favor of still attending his better's words. There were many names that he was completely unaware of, but as it sounded like a catalog of what was against what had become, maybe that was the point- they weren't around. They were 'called away or purified' as Wolframite had feared of Obsidian.

"If Obsidian is not at his classes as a teacher, or hunting for a starseed, so far as I know he is in the Rift. I do not stay with him at all hours, though, " He sounded sad of it- It was not proper for a vassal to leave his lord so long alone, especially with no other servants around of a menial or war party sort. "But it seems a good bet. He grows more thin than when I first met him, more than a year and a half ago, when I was just...I was not an officer. I do not think he eats food, much. "

"His speech will trail off, sometimes, mid sentence. There is a look he gets- smile too wide and looking far off. Then he'll turn and break crystals to shreds, or bury his sword an inch from me in the wall, or vanish into the hall to the Rift and my lessons are over. "

"There is no ...schedule to it. But it happens more and more. "

"He is not wasted yet, but yes, he is thinner. His strength has not become less. Only his lower ribs are becoming visible, but they do not yet show through his upper chest. It has been a long change."

"I worry how much difference is left in him, between a Youma and a man. I do not want to lose him." Titan closed his eyes. " I will not."

"Of his assignments...I do not know. It was only recently he let me know who he was outside uniform. He voice is silent on matters of himself or his history, but it is plain that something or things there chase peace from him and bother him. No...not right. Whatever wounds taken before have bled him and go unhealed. They bleed a trickle now, but that is all that is left. When there is nothing left, I fear it will be done, leaving him dead or ...like Bazzite. "

"Could a General learn another general's duties?"

"If I had not met Bazzite, I wouldn't have known to think of it. The hunger seems the same. " In the back of his mind, outside the crushing worry, he considered how difficult it would be to make a Wolframite doll for the winged ex-agent Youma to hunt down in the crystals of Rift space. The bows seemed like they would be the hardest part in tying.

Rare has Obsidian not had a starseed and crushed it between his teeth when we've met. Or just toyed one around his teeth, like a coin-over-knuckles analog. But the Lieutenant didn't offer that piece. It felt too personal of ammunition, and he had faith that another General of Spec Ops, even one so ...delicate...must have the strength to do something. "I am...grateful, General. I didn't hope for so much, only to meet you and hear stories."

"I can show you the place. It isn't far in. " He'd heard rumor Lieutenants weren't to go in the Rift without escort, but he supposed the General actively waiting for him was like escort. And now he had Wolframite, which was heartening for not getting chased, attacked or eaten on the main walkway in.

" I came from there, actually. " He pulled the collar of his own shirt and baldric aside to reveal a darkening bruise crossing the lower part of his chest and surely down his side. It was of a size with the flat of Obsidian's sword. "Have you ever sparred with him?"

Titan started towards the Rift's door and creepy hall.

He was at an impasse in dedications. This was a direct question from a General, and one he'd sought out and had gone to the trouble of asking help from. Duplicity was not something he enjoyed, nor was direct contempt in not answering.

Was it important?

How much I'm injured or not in practice doesn't seem like it would be too important compared to other information- I met him because he nearly broke my jaw. He has never been gentle. I asked him to forge me into a weapon worthy of this organization, and what metal wasn't made a weapon without fire and force from a smith? "I wouldn't call this the worst, but he's never inflicted anything lethal. I believe he would like to see me amount to something as much as I would like to be something. "

The meeting place was per force not far from the main path, safe enough for a lieutenant, but obscure- it required an acrobatic jumping sequence along side crystals from the mainway to an outcropping terrace off a stone-filled and flooded tower that had been swallowed by wall. The terrace was shielded from the direct glow of the old castle and city by proximity and other outcrops and growths of crystal, and so afforded some privacy and intimacy of purple rimlights. The old, twisted bannister forms were notched with weapon-marks, and there were plenty of scuffs in the dust to indicate the place had regular use. It had no terrace above it to limit its ceiling other than the cavern, so it was useful for practices without feeling hemmed in or tight with Titan's girth.

"You knew Konge Zinkenite as a captain?" It was hard to imagine Info's General King as anything aside his current station, with the presence he commanded (even small as he was). Privately, beyond considerations of rank, there was something cute in the thought of the tiny General King and equally tiny General walking side by side. Maybe to get tea or something. If commanders liked tea? Maybe coffee? Soda?

Titan couldn't tell. It was a relief, anyway, that Wolframite seemed concerned that Obsidian didn't much eat, which must mean the tiny General himself ....did. Which meant there was a good chance that Zinkenite, in fact, ate. And Titan himself, should he ever be promoted, wouldn't be expected to give up eating.

There should be a canteen. Regular soldiers get canteens and cafeteria.

"We meet here."

That the general would have any trouble navigating up to the practice place had not even occurred to Titan. He didn't know the effects an eye patch had, offhand, on depth perception. It was just a part of Wolframite- the little general wore a patch. He winced briefly, realizing it must actually have an effect and wondered briefly if there was an eye behind it or not. It didn't seem polite to ask.

"We spar once or twice a week. It isn't usually more since it takes time to heal, and he's been aware of my regular training as a civilian." He wondered if the little general knew? Did the generals know the civilian identities of all their subordinates? Or maybe just the Infos? It was all a mystery to Titan, much like the computer-crystal-database ...thing. "It is usually the only time I see him, though occassionally we'll run into each other at the gym. I've invited him to one of my competitions and he did come to it....it was when I learned who he was out of uniform."

Interpretations of Obsidian's thoughts were harder to come by- how did one try to find the consistencies in the degeneration? But there were some he'd come across. He offered the information with context, hoping it would come across clearly. "I was ...raised from the common class in March. I had known Obsidian already, but he was very plain that I was not worthy and only had potential. He wasn't at the ceremony after the Hunger Games. I looked for him- I thought he must have had some hand in it, that I would be pulled from the crowd."

"It wasn't so. "
"I didn't find, meet and swear myself to him until May. He was angry I was brought up by another and said he prized loyalty above anything else. Ah, also, every bruise and broken bone would teach me how to survive...."

"He's always been hard, that way, but it isn't bad. I understand it and appreciate it. If it hurts, but I am not dead, then he's very pleased with me. It was strange when he gave me a starseed and called it a reward. But...I think it was also a test if I woudl take it or not. If I would obey. I did. But it isn't black or white, that only one is true and the other not....I think he does eat them as reward or for pleasure. "

"I think violence is his way, and that is not the trouble. A war and a trainer has place for violence. It is that he loses more of even his fire to no feelings at all, or to bursts of ....wild. Pure wild, like the feeling in your blood after eating a starseed." Titan drew his hand along the bannister, "I am not so good at thinking, though. But as a Spec Op it is a job to look for such things? If of all people I am suspicious, it must be obvious, and then maybe other people can make more of it with better heads on their shoulders. "

"Do you think it is all good evidence that he may need help?"