The Beast and His Tamer

Chapter 8: A Song and A Dance

"Everett!" Sebastian laughed as the small boy jumped into his arms. "You're quite the jumper, aren't you?"

"I heard that you were leaving!" the boy cried, hugging onto him tightly. He had a strong grip for a toddler.

"Well," he rubbed the child's back. "Not without saying goodbye, of course. Did you really think I wasn't going to say anything?"

"But I don't want you to leave!" Everett said, his face covered by Sebastian's shirt as he hugged him some more. "You have to stay!"

"I'm sorry, Everett," he told him. "But some things are better of just as the fates allow."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that some times people aren't meant to stay in your life forever," he told him. "Or you might meet them later on down the line. It's not meant to be seen as a bad thing."

"But if you leave then I'll have no one who can tell me stories!"

"The best stories are found through doing, you know. And the most powerful thing in the world is memory."

"I remember a lot," the little boy said. This time his voice wasn't so muffled. Sebastian lifted him up to where his little head lay on his shoulders. Now he was talking quietly as they walked through the backyard. Sebastian didn't get far. He wasn't planning to. He wanted to give proper salutations to Rhett and the pack that he had stayed with for three whole days before he just disappeared.

"That's good," he said, humming a little tune. Children were the most susceptible to music, which meant that Sebastian could calm him down a lot easier. "Whether those memories are good or bad, you should remember them. For those memories are what shape you when you get older. And, whether you like them or not, you need to accept them as a part of who you are."

"I don't like them," he sounded nervous when he whispered those words. "They make me scared."

"Well, you don't have anything to be afraid of," Sebastian said. "I assure you that. This place is pretty safe, and the forest loves the children in it. And you have a lot of people who love you and want to protect you."

"But they make me scared of people."

"You? Afraid of people?" he shook his head dramatically. "Nonsense! You've been the most outgoing person in this group of yours! Even more than Savannah, and she has been quite the talker."

Savannah was Noah's daughter, which shouldn't have surprised him. She had short black hair that was poofy and bouncy. Sebastian absolutely loved different hairstyles that people had. It was interesting seeing new ones on his travels, especially on kids. His whole family grew their hair out long. Not too many of them could grow it out as long as Sebastian could, but that wasn't the point.

"Sebastian," the boy spoke again. He was surprised he hadn't fallen asleep by then. "What are you afraid of?"

"What am I afraid of?" Sebastian asked. When the boy nodded, he stopped to really think about it. "What am I afraid of...hmmm....well, I would have to say that I do have one big fear that still pops into my mind to frighten me every once in a while."

"What is it?"

"Going bald," he told him. When Everett giggled, that was how he knew that he had calmed the child down. "Don't think that's a silly fear. You should see my father."

If there was one thing that no magic had been able to cure it was baldness. And their family still had a bit of history for men getting it. His father still tried to keep his long hair, even with it thinning out all the time. While the front started to lose more and more, he still tried to braid what was left of the long strands in the back. It didn't look too bad.