Chapter I: Pegasi Falls Fleet Academy
#1 of When Worlds Collide
OK you all know the drill. My story, my characters. All similarities with any person/furson dead or alive, real or imaginary, is purely coincidental. Enjoy!
The History of Edenia:
By: Cadet Charles M. Pewter
The Empire of Edenia. A vast region of space containing many star-systems, surrounded by strong gravitational fields and stationary black holes, containing the furs that survived the Great Purge. The only safe way in to Edenia is The Gateway to Edenia, a safe zone where the gravitational forces are, for some unknown reason, weaker, enabling ships to travel in and out. To protect the only way in and out of their safe haven, the Council of Patriarchs decided to build The Gate. The Gate is a massive artificial planet, containing most of the standing military forces of the Empire.
Furries haven't always inhabited Edenia. In the year 2063 genetic engineering made a breakthrough, enabling humans to transform into furries. Many humans did so, something which caused a lot of objections from religious factions. The factions claimed it was both unnatural and immoral for a human to desecrate their body by turning it to something which wasn't neither man nor beast.In time however, furries were accepted as part of the human society, though they were heavily discrimined from all sides.
The Earth unified in the year 2103, forming the Unified Terra led by government elected from all over the world; furries weren't accepted in though. The governmental election of 2109 was a dark year for the furries of Terra. A strictly religious party won the election with a land slide, gaining well over 70% of the seats. They claimed furries were not created by God and as such should be terminated. A war broke out, a war known to furries as the Great Purge, during which almost 40% of the furries were eliminated, killed and hunted like animals.
As always, a hero rose amongst the ranks of furries. This hero, a panda called Katsuoki Shido, rallied all the furs to fight against the human oppression. In 2114, after almost five years of bloody warfare, the last remaining furs left Terra in hopes of finding a place where they could live in peace. The journey was long and filled with set-backs, but it was worth it, for in the year 2121(Terran calendar) the wandering furs accidentally found the place which was later to be known as the Gateway to Edenia.
The first furry colony was found in the beginning of the year 2122, on a lush planet very similar to Terra. The planet was named as Eden in honour of the religious human story and the entire region was named as Edenia, for to the furs it was a paradise.
Safely protected inside the loving embrace of the gravitational fields and black holes. The furries multiplied and prospered. New colonies were found on the nearby systems on almost yearly basis. The technology stolen and scavenged from humans was developed and upgraded even further. The furs knew, that in order to maintain their unity they would need some form of government and so the Council of Patriarchs was formed.
Meanwhile at Terra things didn't go too well. The highly religious party had usurped all power and coronated their leader Marcus Wallace as the Emperor of Terra. Not long afterwards a human explorer drone stumbled upon the gravitational wall protecting Edenia. The furs destroyed the drone quickly, but it was already too late: the drone had managed to send the location of Edenia back to Terra.
Deeply concerned of the safety of their sanctuary, the Patriarchs unanimously decided to direct the industry and development almost completely to military purposes. Thus the Gateway to Edenia was built. Armed with ten large orbital MAC's(Magnetic Accelrator Cannon), hundreds of smaller ground batteries and a standing garrison of a hundred-thousand troopers, the furs prepared for the inevitable: a second war against the humans.
The war began in the year 2247(Terran calendar) and it has now raged for well over a decade. So far the furs have been able to hold the precious Gateway, the knowledge of what would happen to their families and relatives should they fail urging them to keep on fighting. The fleets of the furries have managed to gain, with the aid of the Gateway's MAC's, several victories over the humans. Only very few humans have laid foot on the Gateway's surface and of those few all have been traitors, having abandoned the rule of Terra and joined sides with the furs.
Magrath sighed and closed the screen. He had been going through the historical essays for several standard hours. The lion sighed again and rubbed his aching eyes. It wasn't an easy job being a teacher at the Pegasi Falls Fleet Academy located on Aritha Prime, well, not easy with students such as those assigned to him.
Each class was of different size depending on how large a ship the graduated cadets would be serving on. One class always formed the bridge-crew. The Council and the military leaders had deemed it best not to separate cadets of the same class from eachother. If they were like a family, they would fight better. In each fleet academy, the classes were indeed like family to eachother: they ate together, attended lectures and training together, heck the students of the same class did EVERYTHING together.
"Damn this war! And damn the narrow-minded humans for causing so much trouble. Everything would be so much better if we all could just get along." Magrath thought grimly as he stood up from his chair. He had been the commander on a fine battlecruiser before getting transferred to the academy to train new recruits. The door slid automatically open with a silent hiss as he exited his office. His small office was located at the end of his "family's" dormitory hallway(the teacher was always the "father/mother" of the so-called family), which currently was almost completely dark. The metallic steel-walls had been painted beige. The class had voted for the colour and had, almost, unanimously decided to go for beige.
Magrath walked down the dimly lit hallway, reading the names labeled to each door: Hopping. Alan J, Hopping. Katie A, Graven. Jim J, Pewter. Charles M, Daktar. Marcus, West. Wesley R, Takira, Mendeza. Karl F, Bonesworth. Roy K, Evans. Susan J, Uchiza. Alicia C, Batista. Juan R (h), Underhill. Charlie L, Vourthaka. Damien, Webber. Daniel D, Emberglaze, Hall. Julienne, Redmoon. Lily L, Silvermane. Ruy R, Bradston. Edgar B, Shuriza. Nick and last but not least Magrath. Michael N
Before stepping in to his personal quarters, Magrath gave one last look down the hall. There, sleeping in their rooms were his students. One day, as soon as they graduated, he would get to be their captain on their very own ship. If only that Pewter wasn't such a rebellious and wild spirit...
Sighing deep the tan lion walked through the door. He found sleep waiting for him as soon as he lied his head on the pillow.
The mess hall during the breakfast the following morning was as noisy as always. The large hall was filled with long metallic tables, lined with cadets dressed in their blue uniforms. The slightly gleaming steel-walls did nothing to increase the cozyness of the hall, not that there was any need for it. The hall was to remain empty always except for mealtimes.
Magrath looked up and down the tables, searching for his students. It didn't take him long to recognize a very familiar, slightly annoying hyena-laughter. "I wonder what Charles is so exited about this time. Maybe Jim told one of his many jokes." he thought as he walked up to the group of cadets and smiles almost amusedly at Charles "What is so funny this time cadet Pewter? You are making quite a lot of noise even by the mess hall standards."
The hyena snapped a salute "Sir! Cadet Katie Hopping told me a joke about how three huma-"
"That is enough, thank you cadet." Magrath interrupted, whilst giving Katie a disapproving glance. He had enough to deal with with his newest student, who was scheduled to arrive to the first lesson.
Damien, a black panther, cleared his throat "Permission to speak Sir?" Magrath nodded and the panther went on "Sir, we all have noticed the previously empty room now has name on the door. When will the new cadet arrive and what does that small "h" after the name stand for?"
"Great! This is exactly what i don't need right now." The lion thought to himself before answering "Patience cadet Vourthaka. You will find out soon enough. Now hurry up you lot. The first lesson will begin in fifteen minutes."
Magrath was waiting for the cadets to arrive. He was leaning against his wooden desk in his classroom, his arms crossed over his chest, a barely noticeable frown on his face.
Susan, a stunningly beautiful white hare, was the first one to arrive. She was followed by the twin cheetahs Katie and Alan and Alan's best friend, a dark-grey rat, Jim. Next came Charles and his reindeer friend Marcus. They were then followed by the rest of Magrath's students, coming in ones and twos to the classroom: Damien, Wesley(brown stallion), Karl(german shepherd), Takira(white tigress), Roy(Labrador dog), Daniel(husky), Emberglaze(black dragon), Alicia(vixen), Ruy(wolf), Julienne(mouse), Lily(black leopardess), Charlie(fox) Edgar(skunk) and Nick(roo).
Magrath stood up and all the young cadets stood up too. Slowly Magrath let his gaze slide over each of his students. "Good morning cadets" and in perfect unison the cadets shouted out their greeting "Good-morning-Sir!"
Magrath nodded and for a moment there was the sound of chair legs scraping against the dull-grey stone floor as the cadets sat down.
Magrath remained silent for a moment, bracing himself. "Today we will be having a new student. He is a bit...different from what you are used to. I expect you to treat him with the respect and care you show towards eachother." The entire class was deadly silent. Seconds ticked by until there was a knock on the door.
Magrath felt an uneasy tinge go down his spine as he opened the door. "Cadet Batista welcome aboard."
Alan looked askingly at Jim when Magrath opened the door. Jim had merely shrugged as if saying "No idea who or what this Batista is. We just have to wait and see"
Alan's mouth fell slightly open as he saw the new cadet emerge from behind the massive figure of Magrath. Everyone in the class realized what the "h" stood for now: their new classmate was a human!
Immediately the classroom was filled with mumbling, which, by the sound of it, wasn't friendly at all. Ruy had actually bared his fangs and was growling rather audibly. The small human was clearly nervous, he was shaking slightly, not daring to look at the other cadets.
Alan leaned closer to Jim "I can't believe it. We got a human in our class? Wow...he is the first human to ever set foot in this academy."
Jim nodded, studying the human in front of the class with his always alert eyes "He is indeed the first human around here. But what the hell is the Council thinking? Sending an enemy cub here to study with us?"
Magrath closed the door, took a deep breath and roared out "Silence!" This sudden outburst caused each of the furry cadets to go absolutely still and quiet. Some were even holding their breath, for never before had captain Magrath been this angry. The lone human was clearly shocked and terrified by the hostile manner the massive lion behaved.
Magrath panted, he too was shocked and bewildered by his own actions. Never before had he shouted to his students. He coughed once before looking at the human. He even managed to make a feeble smile "Cadet Batista take a seat." He pointed at an empty seat by the right wall, right next to Julienne. The human replied meekly "Y-Yes Sir." before sitting down on the seat indicated to him.
Magrath's eyes were blazing as he glared at his cadets "I am deeply ashamed of you. I expected some of you to react this way, but for ALL of you to greet him with prejudice, hate and suspicion?" he held a pause, letting his words sink in and felt slightly clad seeing most of the furs to lower their ears.
"Cadet Batista is the first human to ever set foot in this academy. It is a great priviledge for us to have him in our crew. Despite his hairless outer shell, he is now one of us. If i ever hear any of you picking on him just because of what he looks like, you ALL will be cleaning the toilets for the rest of the year. Do you get me?"
Once again the cadets replied in perfect unison, though not as briskly as before "We get you Sir!"
Once more captain Magrath smiled at the human "Welcome Juan. We have all agreed to use first names as long as there are no one else around. As you know, my name is Michael Magrath and these are your fellow students." one by one Magrath pointed out each of his cadets and said their name. The human merely nodded shyly, still too terrified to look into anyone's eyes.
Having finished introducing the cadets he rubbed his paws together. "And now that we got past the introductions it's time to start the lesson. First in the schedule is theoretical physics, followed by math and then some gym. Since this is a special day we will be doing a double session, after which you have rest of the day off in honour of our new student."
Magrath prayed to the heavens the fact they'd be getting off with barely half of the regular schedule, thanks to the human, would help in getting rest of the cadets to accept the newcomer.
The following evening, back at their rooms, Magrath's cadets were enjoying their day off. Jim, Alan, Richard and Marcus were playing cards in Richard's dorm. The four had spent the whole day together, like they always did. Jim and Alan had known eachother for as long as they could remember and Marcus came from the same planet although he lived on the other side of it. They all had befriended Richard during the first week.
Jim was the calm, quiet and confident kind of guy. One who was sure to be Magrath's number-one as soon as they'd graduate and get their own ship.
Alan was quiet too, though it was because he was so horrendously shy. If it hadn't been for Jim Alan wouldn't have nearly as many friends as he had now. Alan was definitely going to be a science officer, for he had always enjoyed math, physics, science and chemistry above all else.
Richard was the wacko and general clown of the class. His 'I'll do it later' attitude and rebellious nature had gotten him into trouble on many occasions. But when he focused on something, a rare case, the results were excellent. Rumours had it that Magrath would assign Richard to act as weapons-officer if he'd graduate.
Last but definitely not least there was Marcus; the laid-back and compassionate guy, who was always more than happy to help and listen to others, giving them a reassuring smile and nod. Even when he tried to look serious, his brown eyes seemed to smile. Marcus' position at the helm was already secured.
Jim looked at Alan and grinned. "Your sis got chewed pretty bad by Magrath earlier today. She has always been a real human-basher and the fact we now have Batista..." at this point Richard snorted. "must surely be a shock to our becoming med-officer."
"Yeah, she seemed rather offended when that hu-uhh Batista arrived. She has spent the whole day with Julienne and Lily, whispering and throwing dirty looks towards our new cadet."
Richard was about to voice out his opinion about humans, something which usually ended up in him wishing all humans would die of gonorrhea, but Marcus placed his hand on Richard's wrist and shook his head "Please, not today buddy. Let us instead enjoy our freedom."
Calmly Marcus slapped another card on the table "Tomorrow's off also right? Any ideas on what we could do?"
Jim shrugged "I don't have an effin whiff. Guess we could play a few rounds of either SpaceCom or then Cityfight as starters. Maybe later we could make a trip to lake Silvanor and just relax."
Richard rolled his eyes as the rat made his suggestions "SpaceCom and CF. Sounds almost like work since those are our training programs. But alright, few rounds might do me good."
"Think we could get more players? Maybe out of other classes?" Alan asked, blushing almost instantly.
Jim smiled to his childhood friend "You know all too well no one will come as long as we got Richard in our team. Last time he took out the whole opposing team armed only with his sidearm."
The group burst into laughter and Richard stood up, grinning boradly, making almost silly bows as if he was a great speaker that had just ended a marvelous speech "Thank you, thank you, thank you. Yes I have always been a true sharpshooter when it comes to pistols and stuff, but for some reason I couldn't hit the ground if it wasn't for the gravity when it comes to rifles or grenades."
Jim snickered and pulled Richard back to his seat. "Yes yes, brag all you want with your 'leet handgun skillz' just don't do it whilst i'm around"
Jestingly Richard saluted "Yessiree. Everything for you boss ratta." Jim thwaped Richard with Alan's chemistry book square to the head.
Marcus laughed good-humouredly and separated the two before a brawl broke out. "Children, children do behave!" he said "But yes, I too have to agree Jim has a sound plan. Some simulatory combat training followed by a trek to the lake is indeed a good way to spend one's freetime"
Alan nodded "So it's settled then. Now on with the game" Just then there was a knock on the door. Leaning over Richard punched the button that opened the lock. Magrath stepped in and smiled to the boys.
Marcus was the first to react. "Officer on deck!" he shouted and all four stood up in a flash. Waving with his paw Magrath replied "At ease cadets. I came here to have a word with you boys and especially with you Richard."
Richard gulped quietly. "What is it captain Magrath?"
Magrath sat down on Richard's bed, his smile vanishing instantly. "It's about your history essay. I gave you D minus for it and even that was way too much." At this point Richard shifted uneasily in his seat, whilst Jim and Alan looked at the hyena and Marcus was blushing, knowing full well what was to come.
The lion went on "First of all you forgot to mention that there has now been a truce between us and the humans for almost six months. Secondly you have plagiarized your work from your friend Marcus here."
Marcus looked to the floor in shame. He had indeed allowed Richard to look at his essay to help the canine out.
"Marcus, what you did was definitely not allowed, but it shows you are willing to take big risks for your friends. Nobody gets punished this time, but may whatever god, goddess or deity you believe in have mercy on you if I catch you doing it again." Magrath narrowed his eyes as he spoke, looking most menacing. "Am I making myself clear cadets?"
"Yes you are Sir!" the four replied meekly and Magrath stood up. Before exiting the room he turned his head to Jim "Jim could you do me a favour? Cadet Batista is missing and i'm worried about him. Could you go and find him?"
Jim nodded "Yes Sir. I'll find him." nodding curtly Magrath exited. Jim felt his wrist was going numb and upon further examination he noticed Alan was clutching at it, looking terrified. "Alan? L-Let go off my wrist."
Alan looked at Jim for a moment before he quickly let go "Oh jeez sorry Jim...Magrath just scared me. I haven't seen him this tense for, well, ever."
Jim patted the cheetah on the shoulder "There there...the big bad lion isn't here anymore." this comment caused Marcus and Richard to burst into laughter and Alan to blush rather visibly.
Jim stood up and pulled his cheetah friend with him "I'm taking this kitten to bed and then I go find that human. G'night fellas, we'll own those losers from other classes tomorrow." winking playfully he walked out with Alan.
As the door closed behind Alan and Jim, Richard sighed deep and tossed the cards on the table "Sorry man...I got you into shitload of trouble this time"
Marcus merely smiled "Hey! It's alright, none of us got punished for it. We just have to be careful from now on." the reindeer held a small pause "I'd hate to see you expelled you know. You are always such a good laugh and you know how to cheer everyone up."
Richard opened his mouth to reply but Marcus interrupted "I'm hitting the hay. Good night Ric." With that he stood up and left, leaving the hyena alone in the room.
Jim had just said shoved Alan to his room and was now walking down a flight of stairs to the lower floor. "Aww great...the human can be anywhere in the academy and this isn't exactly the tinyest of places." the rat thought to himself as he padded down the deserted hallway.
All of a sudden he stopped. Noises were coming from the mess hall. Quietly Jim sneaked to the mess hall's door and peeked through a gap. What he saw there made him feel most offended: huddling in one of the corners was the human, surrounded by no less than six other cadets. Jim recognized one of them, a mean looking gorilla, as Alexander. Alexander had already got a big reputation as being a real rowdy.
"Oh great! Lex and his goons have gone human-bashing!" Jim thought to himself as he watched a large equine punch Batista, who was desperately trying to defend himself with his arms.
Jim couldn't take it anymore, human or not, cadet Batista was one of them, part of the family. "And family sticks together no matter what." Jim thought as he threaded silent as a shadow into the mess hall.
The gang was shouting insults at the small human. The gorilla raised a fist for a punch, but Jim grabbed it, twisted it around and hurled the abashed assaulter to the floor. Before one of them could react, Jim had kicked the equine square to the midriff sending it coughing on the floor.
"Leave the human alone!" Jim shouted as he took position between the furs and the roughed-up human.
The gorilla was back up and growled at Jim "Human-lover...we'll give you a whopping too for interfering with our business" And as a team they came onto Jim, who,despite brave efforts, was overwhelmed in no time.
One of the gang held Jim in a full-nelson whilst another beat him to the stomach. The rest were closing up on the human once more as suddenly the lights of the mess hall flared to life. Standing there in the doorway, fuming with rage, was the hulking figure of captain Michael Magrath.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE SEVEN HELLS IS GOING ON IN HERE!?" Magrath roared furiously and everyone in the room flinched, whimpering with terror.
Magrath's eyes shifted from the two roughing up Jim, to the four having a go at Batista. As Magrath poke, his voice was chilly, his eyes narrowed and his hands clutched to tight balls. "Let go off my cadets or I swear to God I'll beat you so bad you'll be eating you meals through a plastic tube for the rest of your fucking lives!"
Obidiently the assaulters let go off jim and the human, taking a few steps back and then standing in salute, rigid as planks.
Slowly Magrath walked to his injured cadets "Jim can you walk?" The rat merely responded with a whimper, his entire body shaking. Carefully Magrath picked the rat and the human up and slung them on his borad shoulders.
Growling audibly he glared at the othr furs "I am deeply revolted by your actions cadets...I'll see that you are punished most severly for this. Who the fuck is your instructor?"
The equine stepped forward timidly and saluted "S-Sir...our i-instructor is captain St-Steele."
Magrath snorted and the equine backed away "Steele? I'll have a word with him once I have made sure these two get proper medical treatment. Meanwhile the six of you are to report to general Lee and you are to give an EXACT recount of what happened here. And if you even TRY to give out such childish fairy-tales as this human attacking first...I'll personally make sure you'll be licking the toilets clean twice a day for the rest of the time you spend in this academy. NOW MOVE!"
The six cadets winced and literally ran out of the mess hall. Snorting Magrath jogged after them and directly to the med-office.
Jim woke up with a hammering headache the following morning. His eyes were closed but he was still awake. He heard voices, but they sounded like they had been far away.
"When will he wake up sir? Are you sure he'll be fine? Is there anything i can do?" Jim recognized the near-hysterical speaker: it was Alan, there wasn't a shadow of doubt about it.
"Calm down Alan. I'm sure Jim will be up in no time. He was really brave last night. Took on six other cadets all by himself. And all that just to protect Batista. GODDAMIT!" There was a loud bang, as if someone had hit a metal-wall with fist. Jim let out a soft groan and opened his eyes. The one who had shouted was none other than Magrath.
"Oh! He's up!" Alan said and grinned broadly.
Jim rubbed his face and blinked a few times before his eyes focused enough to see all those around him. "Well well well...seems like I drew quite a crowd." he said feebly as he looked at those around his bed and then at his body. His ribs were wrapped up as was his head. Standing around his bed were captain Magrath, Alan, Marcus, Richard and Katie.
The following thirty minutes went on whings whilst the six of them recounted the events of last night. All of a sudden Jim remembered something. "Captain Magrath! How's..how is cadet Batista?"
Magrath sighed and shook his head "His family took him out of the academy a few hours ago and I can't say I'd disagree with their decision. It's a pity we aren't ready yet to have humans amongst us. The events of last night just proved that we are not any better than the humans."
Katie looked at Magrath with her hands in front of her mouth "Sir! that is not true! We are better than the humans. Just because some of us go human-bashing, doesn't mean we all would do the same"
Jim groaned quietly "Oh man...my head feels like someone was pounding it with a hammer."
Immediately Magrath started to herd the small group out "Jim needs some rest now. you can pay him a visit later in the evening."
Alan looked rebellious and was about to start arguing, but his siter grabbed him by the ear and dragged him out. "See you later Jim!" were Alan's last words before he vanished out of the door.
Jim sighed. Now he would definitely have a reputation as a human-lover. And it sure as hell wouldn't help him one bit. "I'm SO screwed..." he said to himself before collapsing back on the blankets and falling asleep.
Later that day Jim got only one visitor. Alan had quietly padded to the room and sat down on a chair, waiting for Jim to wake up again.
Jim did wake up in an hour or so, during which Alan had just sat there, watching his friend sleeping peacefully. Looking at his cheetah friend Jim managed to flash a feeble smile. "Hi there kittycat, good to see you."
Alan smiled too and, for a reason unknown to him, started to purr. "Good morning Jim, or actually it's evening right now." the cheetah held a small pause "So how are you? Feeling alright?"
Jim closed his eyes and nodded, his head still hurt a bit and breathing was painful. "Yeah, yeah I'm alright. Every bone in my body is screaming for mercy but nevertheless I'm fine."
Alan looked immediately concerned "Should I get doctor B here? Maybe he could give you something for the pain."
Jim shook his head feebly. "Nah. I'm fine. What doesn't kill makes you stronger and I don't plan on dying to this little ache." Jim opened one of his eyes and looked at Alan "Are Marc and Ric ok? Seems like we didn't get to enjoy a day off together afterall."
Alan sighed "Those two are quite alright. They've spent the entire day in the dorm-section with the rest of the group. Everyone, even sis, feels bad about what happened to Batista...if only we had treated him better he wouldn't have gotten into trouble with Steele's boys and you wouldn't have gotten beaten up." Alan then hesitated for a moment, chewing on his lower lip "I uhh...I was really worried when I got to hear you had been roughed up."
Jim turned his head. He had noticed a change in the tone of his childhood friend. "Hey, I'm fine. I took a licking but I'll still keep on kicking and I'm getting out of here tomorrow so everything is fine." Jim chukled and grabbed a hold of Alan's paw "You really need to stop worrying kittycat. At this rate you'll get a heart attack in no time."
Alan tensed up as Jim grabbed his paw. During the time he had spent by the bed of his best friend, watching him sleep, he had noticed he liked his ratty friend...more than he probably should. He sighed and looked at the floor. He didn't want to tell what and how he exactly felt towards Jim. He was sure Jim would get angry and start hating him.
Jim looked deeply concerned at this point "Alan? Is...Is something wrong? You look rather pale."
Alan shook his head and kept his eyes fixed to the floor. This wasn't neither the right place nor the right time to tell. "I-I'm fine. You need to rest some more so you can get out of here tomorrow. I'll uhh...I'll come back tomorrow." With that Alan rushed out of the room, leaving perplexed Jim there. His heart was pounding as he ran down the corridors, up the stairs and into his room. Locking the door he collapsed on his bed and curled up, clutching his pillow against his chest like it was a teddybear.
The fear of losing Jim had made the young cheetah realize he had feelings for the rat, feelings that went beyond friendship. "But I can't possibly tell him...he'd hate me for it." Alan knew he could never tell Jim in fear of losing him. He hugged his pillow even tighter, feeling his eyes starting to water.
"Oh Jim...if only you knew how much I really care about you...and what it took to make me see how strongly I feel for you." It took long before Alan finally fell asleep, the pillow he was clutching against his chest wet with tears.
And this is just the first part of the saga ;) (Reposted due to change of account)