Blinked his eyes heavily, slowly sitting up from where he had fallen asleep in the corner of Haddock’s room, pushing off the fur blanket over top of him. When the fortress had been destroyed, Stonegit had a small bit of the narcotic plants Blunt had given him in his pocket. Of course after that incident he wanted nothing more than to light it up, but he couldn’t, not while Haddock was in such immediate peril. So he had saved it. But the trauma of the battle, and discovering that he succeeded in keeping Haddock alive, but failing to save his legs, was too much for the boy. Not even the arrival of his parents had been enough to totally cause him to relax.
But now the King was stable, and resting, no threats would come that day, so Stonegit had hit the makeshift pipe hard, and burned through pack of opium the way a fire would eat up a thin pinch of straw. He had been out for a long time because of that, and had to drink a ton of water to re hydrate himself. As he drank from a bucket he paused to think, reflecting back. Something had occurred to him. That blanket...that was some nice fur...and defiantly not his. His parents where here, they had spent that first night just talking, but Stonegit was so revealed he hadn’t bothered to ask them how they even got there. But there was only one way...wasn’t there? And with that thought, Stonegit dropped the bucket and ran from the room.
Blunt was helping in whatever way he could around the dungeon and paused when he heard someone approach. Turning around, he saw Stonegit slowly walking over to him. The boy’s head was turned slightly, a curious smile on his face. He squinted at Blunt. “You...came...back?” he said slowly.
Blunt shrugged, spreading his arms. “What can I say? I prefer to be dramatic when I help out.”
“How did you even manage?” Stonegit said. “And Shovel...?”
“Flew me back to Port Krum he did,” Blunt said. “I had to stop by the wreckage to get the dragon nip. I got back to Krum and explained everything. We used the nip to lure in wild dragons. He roped them to our ships and flew them into the battle.”
“Oh my gods you crazy bastard...” Stonegit said, his smile widening. “But how on earth did you get there so quickly? I saw you sailing away and the battle happened so quickly?”
“I lightened by load,” Blunt said. “I tethered Shovel to the mast and had him fly, and then got rid of everything but the dragon nip and food.”
“What?!” Stonegit said, his hands dropping to his sides. “But! But Blunt your chests of wood beads! Your coin! The chest the cloths! All your stuff-!”
“Gone!” Blunt laughed, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe himself. “It’s all gone! Tossed overboard the stuff was holding me back...” he stepped over to him. “Besides...there were more important things than all that junk...although I did save a fur for you. To replace the old one.”
“Oh my gods!” Stonegit said, pacing in a circle as he gripped his head, his eyes shining. “Oh my gods you really are a good person! I mean Blunt...” he stopped and looked up at him. “You were...this whole time...” flashes of his actions against Akkey and the men on the battlefield came to his mind, and he shook his head. “And I’m just...”
“Just? Just!? Just what now!? I’ll tell you who you are!” Blunt said with a huge grin, grabbing his hand and spinning him once. “You’re the guard! You’re THE guard of the King of the Grounded Dungeon! And more than that! You are you! The boy who faced the scariest person in the world and never bothered to shrivel under him despite what how much he tried. You are Stonegit Elmiss! And I l- absolutely think you’re a pretty awesome guy!” With that Blunt bent down and scooped Stonegit up, spinning him around as he did so.
For the first time in a long time, Stonegit tilted back his head an laughed. His eyes were closed and the pain from all he had experienced in this long journey were evident on his face, but he was still laughing, and truly happy in that moment. The laughed calmed and he sighed. Blunt had stopped now and was just looking up at him, and Stonegit had to reach over to place his hands on his arms so he didn’t slip. He blinked as he looked down at Blunt, going quiet for a second. “Put me down...” he said quietly, not taking his eyes from his.
“Oh! Right!” Blunt said, setting him down and rubbed the back of his head and Stonegit straightened himself out. Blunt cleared his throat. “Well...I guess you got work to do.”
Stonegit brushed back at a bit of his hair. “Um...yeah.” he said. “But uh...If you ever want to chat, I mean, we have a lot to catch up on I guess...um....I’ll be with the King, I can step out every once in a while.”
Blunt nodded. “Cool...and uh...I put Shovel in the stable for ya...”
Stonegit gave him a small closed smile, hugging himself lightly. “Thanks for coming back Blunt.” he said, and then turned, hurrying off to get back to his post.
