TDS Short Stories

Molten's Training

The boy let out a shaky gasp of air as he slid back against the wall in the long hall of his grandfather Void's mighty castle. He felt the ivory patterned carpet brush against his fingers. He clenched his knuckles around the purple material as he stifled a sob. Tears rolled down his already burning cheeks as he tried to keep quiet. He messed up... He always did.. He never did anything right... Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"Molten!"

His muscles tensed at the sound of his name. It was his father...coming down the hall. He can't let him see his shameful self.. Swordmaster was right...
He was a coward. Nothing but a coward. Son of the prince of the Void Kingdom, grandson of the greatest Conqueror among all Titans...and he can't even lift a wooden staff properly... What kind of a son is that? What if, in the future, he had to take over the Kingdom? He can't babble out a coherent word when his nerves got the best of him. What good is he as royalty? What could he do? Nothing...He is no good at all.. or at anything..

"Molten, where are you?"

He held his breath as the steps got closer and closer. Upon seeing his father turn his back away from him, Molten creeped his way over to the nearest door, cracking it open and sneaking inside.
He breathed a sigh of relief as his father's voice echoed farther and farther. He looked around...it was the library he had entered. The room itself was nothing grand or spectacular, but the stacks upon stacks of books his grandfather had colected over the years sure were... Shelves lined every wall, covered in gilded books and inked manuscripts, some cozy armchairs sitting by a lit fireplace occupied the center most part of the library. Molten trudged away from the door, a tear or two still prickled his eyes. He rubbed them away, glancing forward just before jumping back in surprise. A figure had locked sight with him from one the wooden chairs near the far left corner, barely hidden by a bookshelf. The small table in front housing many papers with what appeared to be sketches of something... mechanical or robotic?

The young Titan rubbed again at his eyes to force the haziness away, finally being able to focus on the mysterious shadow. Green hair covered by the hood of a beat up black hoodie, pale skin lit up by red glistening eyes... Gravedigger.
He was an odd ball for sure, always alone, keeping his distance, it almost seemed like he was constantly walking on eggshells...Yet, Molten couldn't blame him, he just came into their family a mere month ago...Poor kid was probably horrified, raised by Towers who embed his head with horrible tales about Titans, now forced to live with them due to... harsh circumstances.
Those scary stories were ways to keep children away from the forests, he had been told, where many Titans had found their homes. Sheltered by the nature they felt most close to... after all, they were considered freaks of nature....

"What happened to you?"

Molten flinched at the sudden noise disrupting his thought. However, as he focused on it he realized, the mute boy, he had nothing but sympathy for, just... talked to him..? He wasn't expecting that...at best he had hoped Grave would have let him stay here as well...

"..I-I am ok!" he forced, rubbing at his now sore arm, a nervous tick.

Grave lifted some papers off the table as he muttered, "...you don't look ok.."

Molten felt the tears well up in his eyes as he unwillingly remembered that whole training lesson. Mindlessly he place a hand over his arm where an ugly cut was hidden behind his back.
"Just...a t-tough day i-it's a-all!"