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In fact it took more than a week before her eyesight had fully recovered. Karl had, of course, received suitable punishment for casting such a spell untutored, but it was nothing compared to his own self-recrimination. During that week he was at Kreet's side constantly. 'The Blind Gator and the Dumb Gimp', Brand labelled them, but only when they were alone and even then without malice.

But finally things had gotten back to normal and Kreet found herself spending more time with Brand actually. Karl was turning out to be the better magic-wielder of the three, and Kreet learned as much from him as her Master. While she was competent, compared to Karl she felt lost a lot of the time. Brand, on the other hand, was turning into a real Martial Artist. Once Kreet's lessons with her Master had progressed far enough, she began to love sparring with Brand. Since their "sessions" were much less structured, she felt like she could really let loose on Brand as he was good at countering her moves. She learned to dart in and out too, as Brand wouldn't hesitate to crush her in what he called the "grab and squish" tactic. Basically if he got a good grip on her at any point, she was practically doomed. The Master wouldn't do that, but a real opponent certainly would. So she kept herself moving and kept her tail from straying behind with quick, random lashes back and forth and up and down.

Brand was no heavyweight. His own beard was just beginning to come in, but even so he possessed more of a tall, stringy-muscled form than burly. Yet even at his relatively meager 160 pounds he dwarfed Kreet quite literally and once he got a good grip on her, she simply hadn't the mass to overcome it. Of course she could have wielded her claws on a real opponent - that she would never do on Brand - but still she had to yield once his arms got wrapped around her. The lone exception was the rare occasions when he grabbed her lower torso. Then her powerful leg muscles could be brought to bear and, even without using her talons, she could kick her way loose. His usual counter-attack was to wrap her lower legs and feet up in his arms and hold on for dear life.

Fortunately he seemed to enjoy their sparring just as much as she did, and as the days grew colder later that year and the sparring ground was used less frequently, the sound of the two fighting in the yard were often the only sounds around while the other monks stayed indoors.

"Yield?" Brand was saying as they lay sprawled in the dirt.

"Yield," Kreet puffed out, breathing hard and making a steam of breath that haloed around her head.

The boy released her and leaned back against the wall, himself breathing just as hard.

"Gator, if you'd have smacked me with that tail one more time," he admitted as she sat beside him, "I probably wouldn't have been able to hold on anymore honestly!"

"Really? I should have kept at it," she said between breaths.

"Looks like everyone's inside. I can see the dinner hall lights from here. You ready to go in?"

"In a minute. It's kind of nice out here when it's quiet. And I'm too hot for the cold to bother me yet."

Brand nodded. "Where's Karl anyway?" he asked.

"Probably with that laundry girl again," she replied, making a face of disgust that translated quite well to Brand.

"He better be careful or he's going to become Daddy Gimp!" Brand said, concerned look on his face.

"No kidding. Last he talked to me about her it sounded like he had gotten to third goal, and he doesn't talk about her anymore," Kreet said, her eyes going wide.

"Not surprised. She's a slut."

"Better not let him hear you say that. He's in LOOOOOOVE!"

"In love with a slut. I'm glad I don't have to worry about you, Gator."

She sighed, "No, you don't have to worry about me. I'm a perma-virgin."

"Well, you never know. I seem to see just a hint of booby there don't I?"

Kreet looked down at herself. "I don't know if that's boob or if I'm just getting fat."

"Do you get boobs?" Brand asked. Of course they'd been over this topic before. Kreet was the boys' entry into the world of the Female without the consequences of being embarassed. But she didn't mind, since they were hers into the world of Males and humans in general too.

"Some do, some don't. No nipples though. My mom didn't have boobs I don't think, though I don't remember her very well anymore."

"Well I don't know why you'd have them at all really," Brand said, leaning on her. "Not like you make milk or anything."

"Wanna hear a legend about that?"

"Ooo! A kobold legend about boobs! Sure!!!"

"It's not one I remember as a child or anything, I read it in a book on kobold myths. You know how most kobolds say we come from dragons, right?"

"Sure. But without wings and fire it's kinda stretching it don't you think?"

"Yeah. But it's just a myth. Anyway, this one goes that there was once this ferocious dragon and this guy goes out to kill it dressed in full plate mail."

"Ha! You'd get roasted like a turkey in full plate against a dragon!" Brand laughed.

Kreet snorted. "It's a myth, okay! That means you don't take it literally!"

"Okay, okay. Go on..."

"So anyway the guy goes to slay this dragon, but the dragon is a female dragon, right? And she's in heat, and this guy comes in..."

"Oh, I can see where this is going!" Brand said, making an obscene gesture with his fingers.

Kreet nodded, "Exactly. They fell in love and had babies. But the babies came out as kobolds. Some of them had more of the dragon side and could breathe fire, and some have more of the human side. So some get the boobs, and some don't."

"Wait, don't you lay eggs?"

Kreet nodded. "Yeah. What's your point?"

"So the babies don't actually 'come out' I mean," Brand pointed out.

"Okay then, they hatch. Does that make you feel better? Anyway, so that's why some kobolds have boobs and some don't."

"Good an explanation as any I guess. Friar Guit has boobs and he's a guy!"

"I know! Have you ever seen him in the shower? His boobs are bigger than his..." Kreet said, but then the dinner bell rang and they got up to go inside.

Meanwhile, Karl was hard at work on the laundry girl.