I was busy trying to figure out how to finish damming up the creek when Tigger walked up, followed by one of the punk unicorns.  This particular unicorn had a coat that had been dyed green, purple and orange.  He had hundreds of tiny bells braided in his mane and tail that played a song as he moved.  His left side had graffiti all over it, while his right side had a picture of an electric turquoise  dragon doing battle with a large mouse in pink armor.  "Hey furball," Tigger called out, "Tiberious says he's here to take you somewhere."

"That's him?" the unicorn asked in a surprisingly high voice, gesturing towards me with his gold-leaf covered horn.  Tigger nodded.  "I might have known.  This is going to cost them extra."  The unicorn turned to me.  "Ready kid?"

"Ready for what?" Tigger asked.

"Nothing," I said before the unicorn could say anything.  "I just have to uh..., take care of something."

"Riiigggght," Tigger said as the unicorn let out a snort.  "Cub, you should never try to be mysterious.  You're too open for it.  No worries, though.  I'll find out eventually."

I tried a couple of times to get on the unicorn and failed miserably.  "Don't think I'm going to my knees so you can get on," Tiberious grumbled.  "I'd never be able to get up again."  I didn't say anything but tried to get on again and failed once more.  "How do you think you're ever going to become a knight if you can't mount a steed?" the unicorn said with a snicker.

"Don't worry, Cubbs.  I'll help ya."  Tigger made a stirrup with his hands and boosted me up so I was able to swing a leg over the unicorn's back.  He looked up at me, squinting because of the setting sun.  "So you're going to go do that, eh?  I hadn't heard anything about that in awhile and figured you'd given up on it."

"I thought about it," I admitted, "but I had a friend wander by who showed me the light.  Anyway, I'm just going to check things out and see if they'll have me.  I'm scared to death."

Tig nodded.  "It's okay.  Good luck."

The unicorn must have figured that was the signal to take off because the next thing I knew he took off through the forest, trees flashing by in a blur and my hands white with the effort of holding on to the 'corn's mane.  "What are you afraid of anyway?"

"Are you crazy?  Look at me.  I barely look like a Lost Boy, much less a knight.  Don't think I don't know why you said you were going to charge extra."

The unicorn shrugged, which almost threw me off his back.  "I was only kidding.  I thought you boys were supposed to have a sense of humour.  Besides, you aren't that heavy."

The words might have been more comforting if they hadn't sounded so sarcastic.  Of course I didn't talk to a whole lot of unicorns, so it might have simply been hearing it from a equine mouth.  I didn't have time to give it much thought as almost immediately the unicorn skidded to a stop in a small courtyard in front of a castle.  "Okay kid, go show them what you can do.  I'll be back for you two turns after the sun falls below the peak."

I watched as the unicorn trotted away.  Even though I had a feeling he may have been laughing at me, he was still someone familiar and I wished he'd hung around.  I looked around the courtyard.  This was one I hadn't seen the last time I was at the castle.  There were about a dozen St. Klerkian elves standing around talking to one another.  The first thing I noticed was that they were all different ages, sizes and genders.  An older elf whose livery indicated a marshal of some sort glanced over in my direction and gave me a greeting nod.  I watched as squires and knights began forming up and practicing with each other.  One of the squires walked over to a group of three or four who looked about my age and started talking to them.  The elves walked over to a wooden pole stuck into the courtyard and started practicing striking it with practice swords.  The squire watched as they practiced, making a few suggestions every now and again.  A crash caused me to turn and watch as two armored elves met in a jumble of swords and shields.  I couldn't tell how old they were because of their helms.  One had what looked like an eagle on his shield and was tall and thin.  The other elf looked to be about my size and weight and had a rearing multi-coloured unicorn on his shield.  In fact it looked very familiar with the exception of graffiti.  They went at it for a few moments.  I was surprised as one of the elves suddenly went to his knees and started fighting from that position.

"They do that to simulate the loss of a limb," the marshal said as he walked over to me.  "It's easier to simulate it that way then to cut off a limb."  It was hard to see who was getting the better of the other and the second knight was suddenly on his knees as well.  There was another flurry of blows and then the next thing I knew both knights were on their feet discussing technique.

"Who won?" I asked the marshal.

"That would be Sir Baorsk." he said giving a not towards the elf with the unicorn device on his shield.

"How did they know?"  I asked, a little bit confused.  Even watching closely, I hadn't been able to see anything that would have indicated that one had won over the other.

"Sir Lordeliale told him he did.  Each participant tells the other when they've made a debilitating or killing blow.  You must be that Lost Boy I was told would be coming down.  You interested in doing heavy fighting, eh?"

I know I must have blushed as red as my hair.  "I dunno if I'd be any good at it," I finally answered, "but it looks interesting.  Someone tried to teach me about fighting once, but they told me I'd be better off throwing my sword instead."

"As would Sir Baorsk at one time," the marshal replied.  "When he first began, he was in a joust.  Alas he let his jousting pole dip a bit too low and ended up doing a pole vault.  It was a good thing he wasn't in  armor because he managed to end up flying into the moat.  He was a bit clumsy."  He gave me an appraising look.  "Sort of like you, maybe?"

I grinned.  "Yeah, especially when it comes to climbing trees."  I wasn't exactly sure where that had come from and it definitely seemed like a case of too much information, but he laughed and clapped me on the back.  "You and Sir Baorsk have a lot in common."  He spent the next couple of cycles telling me about how arms practice worked and what it entailed and a little bit about what I could expect.  He ended by asking me if I thought I'd be interested.

"It doesn't matter that I'm not an elf?"

"Course not.  It's not like Lost Boys aren't a bit of the sidhe themselves."  That gave me pause for a long moment.  I knew I was slightly less than human, but the way most elves treated Lost Boys that statement was the last thing I ever thought I'd hear from an elf.

"Uh, can I come back next week.  You know, just to watch and all and decide then?"

"Of course.  Tiberious will come for you next week.  You can watch again and decide.  I think you'd do pretty well."

"Thanks, I will.  Is Tiberious Sir Baorsk's steed?"

"Sort of.  They have an agreement with one another.  Sir Baorsk wasn't always of St. Klerkian.  He was something of an outcast as well.  They met in the North Woods and were somewhat good for each other.  Shall we say a week's time then?"

I agreed and stood watching the knights gather their stuff.  There was a lot of camaraderie between them which looked like the same sort Lost Boys shared.  There was the clatter of hooves on the cobbles of the courtyard and I turned to see Tiberious trot up.  I looked for Sir Baorsk, but didn't see him in the yard.  Luckily there was a piece of wooden box in the courtyard that I used to clamor ungracefully up onto Tiberious' back.  After the fourth time, with Tiberious doing incredibly exaggerated sighs, I finally got on.  He waited until I got a firm grip on his mane and then took off into the night.

The ride back through the night forest was incredible.  I love the forest at night to begin with, but I'm such a chicken I don't wander through it after dark too often.  The air was chilly enough to shiver over but not enough to freeze.  There was mist beginning to rise in the clearings which smelled of loam and leaves and something undefinable.  From somewhere in the distance the scent of wood smoke was arising.

"You're awfully quiet for a Lost Boy," Tiberious threw back over his shoulder.

"Just thinking about the woods," I mumbled as I thought about them and the elves and what I thought I should do.

"It's pretty awesome out here, isn't it?"  He asked it in a hushed voice and it seemed like I could tell that he loved the night as much as I did.

There wasn't any other conversation as we finished the trot through the forest.  It took a bit longer getting back, but I was glad of it.  When we reached the place he'd picked me up, he stopped and waited while I dismounted.  This somehow involved me ending up face first in the mud, but that was okay.  The 'corn just stood there patiently while I got to my feet and didn't laugh at all.  I wished I could have asked it why it thought it was an outcast and things like that, but Lost Boys never asked about stuff unless it was volunteered and I figured that was the way it probably was with punk unicorns as well.  The unicorn nodded a farewell and vanished at a slow walk.  Above me a shooting star suddenly bloomed and I knew the perfect wish to make.