http://clampfix.fanworks.net/re-fix/bf5.txt </head><body><pre> Between Friends Part Five Lantis lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling restlessly. There was little chance of him going back to sleep, but his classes at the university didn't start for another three hours. In the interim, he had nothing to do. He could get up and practice his swordsmanship in the meantime, but that was his second class today, in any case. The teacher would probably assign him to spar with Eagle. Eagle was actually very good at sword play, about at the same level of proficiency as Lantis, so they often got assigned to work with each other. When he had first come to Autozam, Lantis hadn't expected the 'technological' world to have such things as weapons practice, let alone swords. Lantis sighed, closing his eyes as he remembered his arrival on Autozam. It was highly uncommon for anyone to have the strength of will to be able to reach between worlds, so the four known planets had little contact with one another. Those who chose to transverse the great void of emptiness between the planets were easily sensed, however, and Lantis' arrival on Autozam had been greeted with much fanfare, and large crowds, which had disquieted him and almost made him willing to return to the world he had just left, Fahren. Then a quiet blond boy had stepped out of the crowd and guided Lantis to the side, explaining that his name was Eagle Vision and he would really like for Lantis to stay. It had been surprising that someone from Autozam had been able to read his thoughts so clearly. Eagle had smiled and explained that what was known on Cephiro as 'magic' was known as 'mental energy' on Autozam, and 'accessed' through the use of various systems of 'programming.' Lantis had been intrigued at the unfamiliar vocabulary, and had decided that he liked the boy. He decided to stay. He had been shown around by Eagle, and dressed in Autozam clothing to make him less conspicuous. Eventually he had become enrolled in the same university as Eagle, and introduced to his friends, Geo and the eleven-year-old genius Zazu. Since then, life had been constant, if not boring. Until Eagle had confessed to being in love. Lantis sighed and opened his eyes again, sitting up on his bed. He might as well get up, he reasoned, since the chances of sleep were zero. Maybe he could go to the library and procure one of the books Eagle had been telling him about the other day, before.... Lantis sighed. He wasn't letting this go like he wanted to. However, having to face Eagle in a few hours made Lantis unwilling to resolve the issue within himself just yet. Besides, it was apparently something that would take a little longer than a few minutes to deal with. Eagle smiled as his blade met Lantis'. This was one of the things he was good at, sword play. But not as good as Lantis, he mused. He was positive the few times he had won against Lantis had been rigged, and that Lantis had let him win. "Be careful," Lantis criticized as the shining metal of his practice sword passed inches in front of Eagle's face. "You're too pretty to be scarred, remember?" "What?" Eagle asked, taken off-guard by the comment which was so unlike Lantis. Lantis' sword flashed as he knocked Eagle's out of his hand and pointed the metal tip at Eagle's throat. "That's cheating," Eagle mildly complained. "Hmm." Lantis was noncommittal as he picked up Eagle's sword and handed it back to him. Eagle sighed at his defeat. If only, he thought, they were allowed to use the advanced weapons in class, then he might have a chance of winning against Lantis. But the laser swords projected from arm guards had too much of a possibility of injuring students for the university to allow them to be used in class.... The set of chimes that meant the end of the class rang through the gymnasium. Eagle smiled at Lantis as the two of them put the blades away with the other students' and went to the showers. Lantis looked steadily back at him, then turned away. Eagle sighed. Lantis almost never smiled.... Lantis sighed and brushed a damp strand of his hair out of his eyes. It *had* almost been cheating, the method he had used to beat Eagle. Still, it had been effective. "Lantis," Eagle asked, shrugging out of his practice shirt, "am I getting better or worse?" "What do you mean?" Lantis asked, looking over at Eagle. Eagle smiled and shrugged his shoulders self-deprecatingly. "Whenever I win, I know it's just because you're letting me, so I really don't know if I'm still making progress or not." "Don't be foolish," Lantis replied, looking back away. "You're still improving." "You're just better," Eagle said cheerfully. <How on Cephiro can he be perpetually cheerful?> Lantis wondered. <I've never been that happy, have I?> :Unhappiness is stupid,: Eagle said softly in his mind. :Especially when there's an alternative.: Lantis looked sharply back at Eagle. Eagle simply looked at him, serious as the smile disappeared from his eyes, and turned and walked towards the showers. Lantis stood, disquieted, watching after the slight, retreating, form. </pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>