Cavall's Guide to Making Friends

     The Royal Cybunny smiled as she offered the colorfully wrapped box to a small Blue Cybunny. A Royal Usul looked on, leaning against the doorframe of Cathton’s bedroom.

     Cathton took the box, tore away the shiny paper and opened the flap. He gasped softly and lifted a wind-up Royal Cyodrake, painted in a regal shade of Purple and dressed in a little robe and crown.

     “It’s become harder to find toys you still don’t have, son,” the Usul remarked. He smiled too – a smug smile as though he had bought the gift as a reward for himself, or he was particularly proud of his gift-giving choices. “But this is the newest from the line of wind-up Meridellian Petpets. Quite lifelike, and it should come with some accessories in case you bore of how it looks.”

     “Thank you, Father, Mother,” said Cathton reverently as he began winding up the Cyodrake. His parents’ smiles faded as the toy skittered all over the floor, plowing into a small block tower and veering away from a stack of books before zooming under his four-poster canopy bed. The Blue Cybunny immediately gave chase to retrieve his present from beneath the bed.

     “Just…don’t get it dirty, honey,” the Royal Cybunny commented with a sigh. “Lifelike, with accessories…sounds like a pain to keep it together, Lotham.”

     “You can play until dinner, but remember your curfew, your accounting studies begin early tomorow,” Lotham said, watching Cathton pick up his new toy and brush a speck of dust from its little robe. “You are growing up to become the next Lord Wincott, and there is still much you must learn.”

     Cathton glanced at his bedroom window, covered by an oak’s branches and vines crawling all over the glass, before managing to meet his father’s eyes.

     “Yes, Father.”

     * * *

     “There is still much you must learn, Page Cavall. The Royal Archivist ought to have some lessons for you.”

     The Blue Cybunny blinked, slightly confused at first. Then he remembered that the Royal Meerca was talking to him, that Cavall was the name he was using now, and that a sealed scroll was thrust into his hands.

     “Are you listening? Take this message to her, she is expecting it today. You know where to find her. Good day.”

     “Y-Yes, Lord Alfe.”

     The Cybunny bowed before trotting down the halls of Meridell Castle. Though he knew he had an errand to run, he couldn’t help but glance around at the portraits, suits of armor and other ornaments he passed along the way. He had not been a page for long, and his duties usually took him to Lord Alfe’s fief, so the castle, its size and its trappings amazed him. His old home was large with many rooms to ensure that the Wincotts had everything they needed to raise their son without him ever setting foot outside, but Meridell Castle, of course, was bigger still.

     However, the one place Cavall immediately familiarized himself with was the library – where he would find Lady Lisha, Royal Archivist of Meridell. And he enjoyed her lessons far more than he did his parents’.

     Before he could think further about his parents, Cavall strode down one corridor and turned at the next corner. He knew the elaborate vase and the paintings detailing the history of the library, which told him he was headed in the right direction.

     Then he heard footsteps, and voices, and a tiny, mechanical cluttering sound.

     “I told you not to wind it up so much, Philip!”

     “But didn’t you see how fast it moved? That was so cool!”

     “If I lose it, my dad is gonna kill me! Those Cyodrakes are so hard to find now!”

     Cavall instinctively hid around the corner, the scroll clutched to his chest, and peered at the object that had finally slowed to a stop in the middle of the floor. When he saw what it was, his insides ran cold and warm at the same time.

     It was a wind-up Royal Cyodrake, resplendent in its robe and crown and purple color.

     He twitched as though wanting to approach it, but froze when he saw a brown Moehog whose cravat was partly undone, a green Zafara in a neat wool dress and tights, and a shadow Grarrl who was a head and a half taller than both of them. The Blue Cybunny recognized all of them as pages; he knew them, and they knew him too, from their classes and training and crossing paths with each other on their respective errands.

     But they didn’t know that his real name and identity was Cathton Wincott. Better that they didn’t, and Cavall was determined to keep it that way, knowing the kind of reputation his parents had among Meridell’s nobles. Though they were gone now, their reputation remained, and would likely rub off on him.

     “Why did you bring it with you, anyway?” the Zafara asked, bending down to pick up the Cyodrake toy and offering it to the Grarrl.

     “I get homesick whenever I’m assigned to Count Sadath’s fief.” The Grarrl looked at the Cyodrake fondly.

     “Aw, but you know you can ask him for time to spend at home, Mulligan. And ask Philip to not wind up your toy so much.”

     The Moehog snorted. “But that’s the fun of wind-up toys! Seeing how far they run when you – hey! What was that for, Joanna?”

     “You’re going to get in trouble one day when we’re not around to bail you out,” the Zafara said primly. “Imagine if Duke Justin – or worse, King Skarl – found this wind-up Cyodrake tearing up the castle.”

     “Mulligan will always bail me out, won’t you, Mulligan, my buddy, my chum, my pal?”

     As the three pages walked past Cavall’s spot, he inched several steps away, his back to the wall. He watched them chatting, watched Joanna clap Philip on the shoulder again, and listened to all of them laughing with each other. Cavall focused on his shoes as he listened to their conversation fade away into the distance. When they were out of sight, he continued marching toward the library, breathing a sigh of relief.

     But then he stopped, and he glanced over his shoulder toward the direction the other pages had gone. Sighing again, he strode into the library, searching among its shelves and tables for a yellow Aisha with red-rimmed glasses.

     She found him before he could find her.

     “Hello, Cavall. Are you here to borrow more books?”

     “L-Lady Lisha. Good afternoon.” He hastily bowed in response, the scroll clutched to his chest. When he straightened up, he offered the scroll to her. “From Lord Alfe. And…and he said…you had lessons for me?”

     Lisha took the message, unrolled it, and scanned it quickly before pocketing it into her robes. “Hmm, I was going to ask you to help me organize some records on the early Meridell knights, since you’ve been reading a lot about them, but seeing Mulligan, Philip and Joanna hanging around reminded me that you could use the time off, too. It’s only fair. Did you run into them?”

     “Uh…I saw them on the way here, yes.”

     “Did you talk to them?”

     Cavall shook his head.

     “Why not?”

     “We’re…they’re…not really my friends,” he mumbled.

     The Aisha’s brow furrowed. “Did something happen? Are you alright?”

     “Nothing happened. I just…don’t talk to them. Or the other pages.”

     Lisha crouched down slowly in front of the Blue Cybunny and rested a hand on his shoulder. “May I ask why?”

     A shrug. Cavall tried to make it look nonchalant, though he was certain his face was anything but. “I’m not very good at making friends, Lady Lisha.” He hoped she wouldn’t pry any further and find out that it was because he had been locked away from the outside world for ten years by his real parents.

     “Hmm. There are a lot of books in the library that can help you, but what helped me the most was finding something in common. There’s being a page; all of you are learning to become knights one day. But you could find out more about them. Their hobbies, their favorite games, their favorite food…”

     “How do I do that? I don’t even know how to talk to them.” But in the back of his mind, Cavall remembered the Cyodrake toy that was Mulligan’s.

     Lisha pursed her lips in thought, and then she smiled warmly.

     “Start with something you know that they probably know about too. And if you need more help…well, the books are in one of the eastern shelves, over there.”

     * * *

     Maybe I don’t need to really be friends with them. I’m just here to become a knight, start my new life, not be Cathton Wincott anymore. Cavall scratched his head as he searched for Lord Alfe to report back to him. I didn’t come here to make friends. Anyway, when we become squires – assuming I get that far – we’ll be paired off with knight-masters who’ll be teaching us for the next, what, seven years? We’ll barely see each other then. Maybe my knight-master will be someone who’s always away from the castle on some big adventure -

     Something bumped into his ankle before resuming its merry whir through the castle hallways. Cavall stopped in his tracks and watched as the wind-up Cyodrake veered into the wall and between two suits of armor. He looked around; he was the only one in this hall, which meant that Mulligan and the others hadn’t found the Cyodrake yet.

     The Cybunny remembered his own wind-up Cyodrake. No doubt it had burned along with the rest of the manor the day he ran away from home. And hadn’t Mulligan said that his Cyodrake was a memento of home?

     His ears twitched at the sound of feet clattering into the corridor. Cavall moved to run but found himself following where the Cyodrake had slipped behind the suits of armor. He could almost hear his father again, chastising him for getting down on his hands and knees to reach under his bed – an undignified gesture for the heir of the Wincott family – and then reminding him that he had extra tax lessons…

     “Philip, what did we tell you?” That was Joanna’s voice.

     “I didn’t wind it up that far this time!”

     “Hey, isn’t that – you’re Cavall, right?”

     Cavall immediately straightened up, the Cyodrake in his grasp. The Toy Petpet’s claws were still pumping the air as he faced Mulligan and thrust the Cyodrake toward him unceremoniously.

     “Um…yes…here. I saw it…when I was coming from the library.”

     “Oh, thank you!” Mulligan took the Cyodrake back and grinned; Cavall tried to focus on Mulligan’s eyes instead of the shadow Grarrl’s rows of sharp teeth. “This little guy is super important to me. It reminds me of home, and even the way it gets away from me reminds me of home. My siblings and I chased it around, my parents laughing…”

     The Blue Cybunny was silent. He used to think home was the Wincott manor, at least, until it burned down. Theodosia, who had taken him in, was not rich enough to buy him the kind of presents Lord Lotham and Lady Elesia could afford, but she created a warm home for him that he never experienced from his parents. Still, he missed some things from his old home, like his own wind-up Cyodrake. And he wondered if his mother and father had actually escaped the fire, despite all they had put him through to become their perfect heir.

     “Home” had become a more complicated word for him.

     “Cavall? Are you okay?” Joanna asked.

     “Did he space out?” That was Philip, thinking he had whispered softly enough for Cavall to not hear.

     “Ah, yes, I-I’m okay,” Cavall mumbled, blinking. He took a deep breath and looked at Mulligan. “I’m…glad you found your Cyodrake. It’s…it must be really special to you.” Then he shifted from foot to foot, staring from Mulligan, to Joanna, to Philip. He wanted to say something about having a wind-up Cyodrake himself, remembering Lisha’s advice, but no doubt they would start asking questions about how he could afford an expensive item, which would lead them to the truth about him.

     Instead, he turned away. “I better report back to Lord Alfe. I just delivered a message to Lady Lisha for him.”

     “Do you think Lord Alfe will give you another errand after that?” Mulligan asked.

     “Maybe not. Why?”

     Philip grinned and patted Cavall on the shoulder. The Cybunny flinched but didn’t lean away. “If you’re not doing anything else, why don’t you come join us? There’s a new burger place that opened at the market we’ve been dying to try.”

     “Huh? Me?” Cavall asked.

     “Yeah, you. Do you want to hang out with us? Be friends?”

     “Be friends…with you?”

     “You did give me back my Cyodrake toy,” said Mulligan.

     Joanna nodded in assent. “And we already see each other in some lessons, or when we do errands or training.”

     “And you’re a page like us, but we barely know anything about you!” Philip added.

     But that’s the point, was what Cavall wanted to say. I don’t want anyone finding out about who I really am. I want them to just know Cavall the page, Cavall from the streets, not…not Cathton Wincott… No, wait, they don’t have to know about that. Lady Lisha never said I had to tell them everything about me, as in everything. Just…what we have in common. Then we could become friends.

     Cavall breathed in and tried to smile a little.

     “I’m a page like you, isn’t that enough to know about me?”

     “Of course not!” the other three pages answered at once. They traded looks with each other before laughing, and before long, Cavall found himself chuckling with them, too.

     So this is how to make friends.