Tobias splashed the cool water against his face, relishing the feeling. It had been a rough match. The new student had actually made him work. Of course, that was partially because Tobias had been holding back... a lot.

Pulling his shirt off over his head, he paused for a moment. Carris really was magically gifted, but he still wouldn't have been much of a match for any of Tobias's siblings. After all, they were the children of the legendary Wolf; no one was as strong, magically, as they were... save the king, perhaps.

Just as he started to undo his belt, a voice called out from behind him, "Hey Toby! Heard you had a match today!"

That had been a feminine voice, Tobias realized, and one that he recognized. Quickly redoing his belt, he turned to see a pretty young lady in her twenties walking up to him. Tobias smiled, hiding an inward sigh. So much for getting that shower now! "Hey, Rosalie! What are you doing here?"

Rosalie Greystone brushed a strand of her dark brown hair out of her eyes as she sat on a nearby bench. "I'm talking to you of course, silly!"

Tobias continued to smile, replying with a small laugh, "Well, that, I can see! I meant, what are you doing in the boy's locker room?"

Rosalie allowed her eyes to gaze upon Tobias's bare chest for a moment, admiring the lean yet well-formed muscles there. At the age of 17, he already had a great build. Her eyes traveled up to his face. Boyishly cute, with big, soulful blue eyes, he showed the promise of being quite handsome in a few years time. Even his hair was wonderful: long, soft, and dark as a raven. Rosalie winked at him. "Hoping to catch a glimpse of a half-naked young man, of course! What else would I be doing in the boy's locker room?"

Tobias stared at her for a moment, then blushed and began casting about for a shirt. Quickly, he pulled the first one that came into reach over his head. Rosalie gave him a pout. "Sure, spoil all my fun!"

The teenager continued to stare at the ground in embarrassment. Rosalie laughed, then continued. "So anyways, what happened with the match? Some of the guys out there are saying you were actually having some trouble with this one!"

With a shrug and a small smile, Tobias sat down next to his friend. "Yeah, well, it was Carris's first match. He just transferred from Trissem, and their ranking system isn't exactly the same as ours. The master wasn't sure just how strong he was, so he chose me for the first match."

"Knowing that you can hold back if he turned out to be weak, and handle him if he was really strong, right?" Rosalie added.

Tobias nodded. "Yep. Turned out he was right on par with most of the other guys. Carris has a talent, all right. After all, he's only a second year student, and he's keeping up with the third years!"

His friend gave him a knowing smirk and nudged him in the ribs. "So, in other words, you were really holding back, huh? Heh, anyone tell this Carris kid that you're only a first year?"

"Nope, not that I know of," Tobias replied with a grin. "And yeah, I guess I did hold back a little. Otherwise, how else would I get a workout?"

Rosalie laughed. Just then, someone else walked into the locker room. "Hey, Tobias! You in here?"

Tobias looked up to see a boy with light brown hair and dark eyes standing there. "Yeah, I'm right over here, Carris! What's up?"

Carris smiled sheepishly, coming closer so he wouldn't have to talk as loud. "Well, Master Tiberon said you'd show me around the-" Right then, he caught sight of Rosalie and jumped. "Hey! There's a girl in here!"

"Why yes, there is," Rosalie agreed sweetly. "Is that a problem?"

"But... this is the guy's locker room, right?" the youth protested uncertainly.

"Yep, but Rosalie can go pretty much anywhere she wants," Tobias explained with a smile. He decided to introduce the two. "Carris, meet my cousin, Rosalie Greystone. Rosalie, this is Carris Finn. He's the one I was sparring with today."

Rosalie was giving Tobias a death glare even as Carris put two and two together. "Greystone? Wait a minute, you're not... Princess Rosalie, are you? Wow, that's so cool! Only my first day, and already I'm meeting royalty!"

The princess was still glaring at a rather sheepish Tobias. He knew that she hated for people to know she was a princess; she hated being treated as if she were better than everybody else. Suddenly, she gave Carris a far-too-sweet smile. "Yeah, wow, you must be having a very lucky first day! Not only have you met a princess, but you actually had your first sparring match with Tobias Cuyler!"

Tobias's eyes widened at the same time as Carris's. Of course, his were for a very different reason. His was out of horror; Carris was out of surprise.

"You're kidding! As in, son of Nicori Cuyler? The Wolf? No way!" Carris exploded, barely able to contain his excitement.

Tobias was far less excited. A faint smile on his lips, he nodded. "Yep, th-that's me..."

Carris suddenly crouched down in front of Tobias, eyes shining. "Oh man! That's so cool! You actually knew the Wolf! And not just as a mage or something, but you knew him as he really was! As a person... no, more than that! You knew him as a father! Wow! Come on, what was he like, huh?"

As Carris carried on, Tobias's eyes became sadder and sadder. He dropped his gaze to the ground, fervently wishing he were elsewhere. The question gave him a start, though. He looked up at his new friend almost helplessly. "M-my... father? What was he like? I, uh... I..."

Rosalie had watched almost proudly as attention was promptly shifted off of her. When she saw the change in her friend's entire demeanor, though, pride changed to doubt. It wasn't much longer before doubt turned into down-right guilt. Standing up suddenly, she exclaimed, "Oh, gods! I almost forgot! Toby, your mother wanted to see you! Sorry, Carris, but we've got to go. C'mon Toby, we don't want to keep her waiting!"

Pulling the surprised boy to his feet, the princess dragged him out of the locker room, leaving a stunned Carris behind. She didn't stop until they were in one of the many courtyards of Medarius University. Stopping by a stone bench, she turned to face her friend.

"Gods, Toby, I'm so sorry!" she gasped. "I didn't think!"

Tobias gave her a small, sad smile and sank down onto the bench. "Don't worry about it, Rosalie. I wasn't thinking when I introduced you, either."

"Well, it's kinda different with me, though," she pressed, sitting next to him. "It doesn't bring up any painful topics for me. Are you okay?"

Giving her another half-hearted smile, he murmured, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that... I don't know. It just seems that everybody knows my father - except me. I keep hearing all these contradictory views of him - Nicori the Mage, Nicori the Prince, Nicori the Great... Nicori the Forrest Child, Nicori the Naïve, Nicori the Innocent. I'm the only one that doesn't have any idea what he was like, it seems... and he was my father!"

Rosalie watched him as he spoke. He seemed helpless, hurt, and angry all at the same time. And yet, it was entirely focused on himself. It seemed he wasn't angry at anybody else. She reached over and gently touched his hand. "Don't you have any memories of him at all?"

Tobias shook his head. "I was only three when he died. I-I do have one memory. It's faint, and I don't even know if it's him or if it's even real, but..."

"Well, go on!" Rosalie prompted him. "Tell me about it!"

He sighed resignedly. "Um, well, I remember someone standing over me. I was... I was crying, and he suddenly appeared. I... I can't remember his face, but he was smiling. It was such a gentle smile." Tobias's voice took on an almost dreamlike quality. "He reached down to pick me up. There was such a feeling of kindness, of warmth and happiness, that simply seemed to radiate from him. I've never felt anyone have anything like that since. It was so comforting..."

He turned to look at Rosalie, a peaceful expression on his face. "Anytime I feel lost, or alone, or depressed, I just think about that, and instantly I feel better. That's how powerful that feeling was." He laughed and looked down. "And here, I don't even know if that was him... or if it even happened!"

Rosalie squeezed his hand. "No, that was definitely him! And I'm pretty sure that's a real memory," she assured him.

"Really?" he asked hopefully. "You think so?"

"Yes, I do!" she affirmed. "And that is exactly how you should think of him: as being warm and kind, and always there when you need a comforting friend."

Tobias gazed into her eyes for a moment, then smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. He is always there when I need him, even if it's only in memory. Thanks, Rosalie!"

Standing up, he dusted off the back of his pants, then leaned over and gave Rosalie a quick peck on the cheek. "And now, if you'll excuse me, Princess... I've got to get to class. I'll talk to you later!"

With that, he was on his way. Rosalie smiled, then gently touched where he had kissed her. He was such a sweet-hearted boy; he'd be a really heart-breaker when he was older. Waiting until he was out of sight, Princess Rosalie stood and headed off in the other direction. After all, she had classes to get to, too.