The wounds from the airship crash have slowly begun to heal, although a ragged-looking Aelfin doctor still visits the human in the morning to check on his bandages, cluck a few harsh-sounding words at him in a language Baddock doesn't understand and then step out for the guards to give him his twice daily meal.

An anklet and a chain of stone hold the boy firmly to the wall, betraying his status here for what it is – a prisoner. The anklet is Aelfin sized, which means that it fits the boy's foot perfectly as well. Through the stone walls there have been noises that sound a bit like workmen, digging and shouting. There was a moment when some kind of celebration was going on, but that seems to have faded now.

Nobody has bothered to visit the boy, beyond the doctor and the guards who push a bowl of porridge under the door twice daily. Except for today – Today someone is apparently paying Baddock a visit. The boy can hear a few strains of muffled Rephidim Standard outside the cell, and the rattling of his door as the guards let the visitor in. It's too late for it to be the doctor, and much too early for Baddock's second meal.

Sitting quietly by the wall, Baddock opens his eyes and looks up as he hears the sound of the cell door being opened.

The door opens and a bookish-looking Cervani enters. The stag ends up having to duck through the doorway (which is almost a foot too low for him) while the Aelfin guard angrily chatters a few words to the new arrival. The guard points a finger at Baddock, points at the Cervani, and then holds his hands apart. The Cervani shrugs and nods his head and a moment later the door is closed behind him.

Removing a pair of spectacles from his vest pocket, the stag polishes them before placing them on his nose. "Badd-ock… Your name is Baddock Shen, I presume?"

Not moving from his spot on the floor, the young boy hesitates a little, then responds with a slight nod. "Yes… Yes, I am."

The Cervani nods his antlered head and glances down at a slip of paper in his hands. "I am Advisor Cog. On Rephidim, I might be what you call a lawyer, but my job won't be to defend you. I have a few questions for you, if you could spare me a moment?"

Baddock sighs softly, looking down towards the floor. "Do I look like I've got much else to do?"

"I am attempting to be polite. You'd be wise to do the same." The advisor looks at his paper again. "First I need to know from which country you hail from. Your homeland."

Baddock nods a little, turning his gaze back up at the Cervani. "Yeah, sorry… It's just… well, the last few weeks haven't been so great for me. I'm from the Shinryuu Temple. But… I don't know what country it's in. All I know is that it's in some mountains, and there's a country called Sylvania near it. That's where I met my mom and dad after I left the temple… "

"Very well. It is probably a good thing that you are not from Babel like the rest of the pirates. There's been word of executions as of late." The Cervani clears his throat. "But that is beside the point at the moment. I am here to prepare you for what might be considered your trial. You are to be brought before the counsel here and given the opportunity to explain your deeds, as they are brought before the counsel in turn. If you explain well, they may set you free. If not, then it will be up to them to decide what is to be done with you, unless your homeland wishes to prosecute you themselves."

The advisor's words puzzle Baddock considerably. "Deeds? I'm just here as part of Master Whiptail's training. But everything's gotten so confusing… " The boy looks down and sighs. "I don't know… Maybe I'm not ready for this training. I probably should have stayed at the Sanctuary back in Bosch."

"You are being accused of trespassing, vandalism, theft, assault, attempted escape, piracy, and the slaying of the only known breeding male of an extremely rare species. It took a great deal of negotiation to keep them from accusing you of murder, but the dragon was not sentient. It is probably that and that alone which may keep your head off the chopping block." Cog's antlers scrape the ceiling and he ducks his head down in surprise. "In the course of the trial, you will be asked to explain each of these accusations in turn. Was this Whiptail one of the Babelite prisoners? Perhaps we may negotiate a plea bargain."

Baddock shakes his head at the Cervani. "Whiptail's no prisoner. He's my new teacher. He lives in Rephidim. For my first training assignment, he wanted me to gather some leaves from those trees in the orchard, eggs from some aviary in Babel, and… um, well, I don't remember the last thing he wanted me to bring back. It had a funny name, and I was supposed to go to some place called Abu Dhabi to get it."

The Advisor blinks dumbly for a moment and then presses his hand against his temple. "I do not think that will be an appropriate explanation for the counsel, unfortunately."

The boy gives a slight shrug. "Well, that's the whole story… I don't know what else to tell you."

"Did this master of yours also tell you to break the law? To attack monks defending their sacred ground? It sounds as though he was training you for the Assassins' Guild." The Cervani clucks his tongue as he rolls the scrap of paper up and deposits it in another vest pocket.

Baddock blinks. "Well, no… He didn't say anything about the orchard being sacred ground. Besides… they weren't defending. They attacked me. I was the one who was on the defensive."

"That is not the story they tell. Apparently when you were surrounded by the orchard guards, you leapt upon the head of one and then tried to hit him in the stomach." The Advisor adjusts his spectacles. "And you are reported to have deliberately antagonized them after escaping their initial attempts to subdue you."

Baddock gives the Advisor a funny look. "So… they didn't want to spar with me? They just wanted me to leave?"

Shaking his head, the stag pulls the scrap of paper from his pocket and draws a line through a couple of the items on it. "So why did you join with the pirates?"

The Cervani only seems to be confusing the young boy even further. "What pirates?"

This causes the stag's brows to pinch together, hinting at a mixture of frustration and something else. "The ones you escaped with. The ones who burned the orchard down, attacked the monks, and slew the Guardian of Seasons."

"Escaped with… ?" Baddock finally seems to comprehend. "Oh… you mean the bats? One of them offered to give me a ride to Babel on their ship, so I decided to go with them."

"And the fact that they were wildly fighting with everyone, burning down trees, and firing volleys of arrows from their ship didn't make you wonder about the intentions of these people?" The Cervani starts to crumple the piece of paper in his hand.

Baddock shrugs, shaking his head a little. "Wasn't any of my business. I just needed a ride to Babel."

"I see. Very well then. I suggest you get a good night's sleep. Your trial is tomorrow. Unless you have anything further you would like to discuss, I will bid you good day." The Advisor starts to rap on the wooden door.

"Okay," Baddock replies. "Take care."

Advisor Cog shakes his head and exits through the door. The guard shoots Baddock a glare before shutting it, and a bit later all is quiet again.

The next morning comes all too soon, and Baddock is taken from his cell into a large cathedral-like chamber in the monastery. A flaming cauldron sits in the center of the chamber. On one side of the cauldron is a podium where Baddock is brought up to. His foot is chained securely to the base of it.

Across from the boy are seven of those strange Aelfhem creatures. Each of them holds a flute in one hand and a scroll in the other. Farther back sits the counsel – monks in embroidered robes who hold their heads down, simply listening for now.

Behind Baddock are a few gawkers who managed to get in – mostly more of the Aelfhem creatures, although there's a smattering of other species as well.

A monk blows on a trumpet and chants a few words… which unfortunately make no sense to the boy. Thankfully Advisor Cog is there to translate:

"Brothers of the forest, we are here today to see to the punishment or redemption of Baddock Shen. May his words save him if he is innocent, or condemn him if he is guilty."

If there had been a time in his life when Baddock had been more thoroughly, profoundly, confused… he sure as heck can't recall it. At any rate, he doesn't count on this being much of a fair trial. He figures that he is the only one in the room who even cares if he lives or dies. Baddock imagines that Cog would probably get paid either way.

The first of the seven Aelfin steps forward and blows a note on his flute. He speaks out and his words are translated by the Cervani. "Baddock Shen. You are accused of the crime of trespassing on the grounds of the Sacred Grove. How do you defend yourself?"

Baddock looks over at the Cervani, distraught. "I don't know. No one told me it was off limits. I guess there was no way for me to know. Sorry about that."

The Cervani utters a few words in Aelfin to the first, who looks at Baddock and responds with an even stream of his own tongue.

"We have the testimony of a Captain Mountainglade who claims that when you asked him for directions he told you that this was a Sacred Orchard on a Sacred Mountain. That meant nothing to you?" Cog translates.

Baddock shakes his head. "The Shinryuu Temple is sacred, but it's not restricted to outsiders."

After Cog's translation reaches the first's ears, he bows and blows on his flute again. The Aelfin steps back and his spot is replaced by a second who repeats the process of the first.

The second of the seven Aelfin steps forward and blows a note on his flute. He speaks out and his words are translated by the Cervani. "Baddock Shen. You are accused of the crime of vandalizing the trees of the Sacred Grove. How do you defend yourself?"

Baddock shrugs. "I used to practice on the trees back home. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to touch the trees in the Grove."

"And you were practicing on the trees when the monks observed you hacking off limbs and jeering at them?" the Cervani translates.

"They had me cornered," Baddock replies. "I guess I just got desperate."

The second Aelfin nods, blows a note on his flute and is replaced by a third.

"Baddock Shen. You are accused of the crime of assault on the guardians of the Sacred Grove. How do you defend yourself?"

Baddock sighs, a little sick of hearing his name recited in such a monotonous way. "Five of them rushed me with weapons drawn. I thought they wanted to fight."

"They surrounded you. You made the first attack," comes the reply.

Baddock nods. "If you're outnumbered that badly, you don't let your opponent get the first strike."

Some of the members of the "audience" behind Baddock start to murmur to one another, but are silenced by the sharp sound of a horn blown by one of the monks. Meanwhile, the third Aelfin changes places with a forth.

The Cervani continues to translate, "You are accused of the crime of attempted escape while in the custody of the monks of the Sacred Grove. How do you defend yourself?"

Baddock shakes his head. He knew he was probably going to have to try something desperate before the day was out. "I guess I can't. I didn't want to stay, so I went to get my things and leave."

This causes a few arched eyebrows, but there are no further questions along this line. "You are accused of theft of the leaves of the trees of the Sacred Grove. How do you defend yourself?" asks the fifth Aelfin.

The boy's shoulders droop a bit, and he sighs. What mind-blowing arrogance. The whole planet could be gone tomorrow and the rest of the cosmos would keep right on spinning, and these little #@$%s are ready to bust a vein over leaves. The way they are going on, you'd think the entire universe revolved around the country of Aelfhem. Heck, the self-righteous little punks probably think it does. They might as well accuse me of practicing witchcraft while they're at it. "I'm sorry I took your leaves. I didn't know I wasn't allowed to, and I wasn't trying to hurt anything."

The Aelfin's face turns into a frown. Apparently Baddock's thoughts are visible enough to be read in his face and in the tone of his voice. It's obvious that they're quite aware of his disgust for them. The fifth accuser steps down and is replaced by a sixth.

The translation continues. "You are accused of piracy by joining with the forces of the pirate captain Dagon and his crew in your escape from the Sacred Groves and the damage caused therein. How do you defend yourself?"

Baddock shrugs. "I didn't join forces with anyone. I didn't even know the captain's name until you mentioned it just now. I was offered a ride to Babel on an airship, and I needed to go there. I didn't know anything about the conflict that was taking place when I arrived."

The Aelfin says more, and then the Cervani translates. "You mean the sword-fighting and rampaging that was occurring all around you when you came out of the Guardians' cave? You were unaware of this?"

"That's not what I said," Baddock replies. "I saw the fighting, but I wasn't going to get involved in any of it unless my own life was in danger. The conflict was taking place between two groups, neither of which I knew anything about. It wasn't my place to intervene."

The sixth Aelfin looks as though he's going to question this point further, but he is cut off by a sharp flute blow from the seventh. The sixth shrugs and steps back, leaving only one last accuser and only one last charge for Baddock.

This last charge is translated, "You are accused of causing the death of the Guardian of Seasons. All of the captured pirates have accused you of firing the killing shot. How do you defend yourself?"

Baddock looks the Aelfin accuser square in the eye. "Three times." The boy nods. "That's how many times that creature tried to kill me, without being provoked. I was acting to defend my own life. If the so-called Guardian of Seasons had not tried to kill me, it would still be alive today. It wanted to destroy me, and I didn't want to die." Baddock begins to quiver a bit, not sure if he wants to cry or tear the place apart. "That's what it came down to. How dare you try to tell me I should place no value on my own life?"

"Yet you walked into its lair and antagonized it!" comes the translated response. "The groves were its territory, which was being threatened by your trespassing and the pirates you joined forces with."

Baddock speaks directly to the Aelfin with a quiet, vicious whisper. "Look me in the eye… and tell me that you think its life holds greater value than mine. I KNOW you believe it with every ounce of your being, so just SAY IT."

The Aelfin shakes his head and steps down. All seven of them play a series of notes from their flutes and step back, while the monks behind them confer and whisper to one another.

"JUST SAY IT!" Baddock screams at the top of his lungs. "For once in your lives, admit to yourselves what arrogant creatures you are!""

The boy's shouts go ignored for now, until finally an older looking monk steps forward. He leans on his staff and focuses on Baddock. His hoarse words echo through the silent halls, further echoed by the Advisor's translating. "Baddock Shen, you appear to be a youth trained in the art of combat by this 'monastery' you came from… yet there is no evidence that any attempt was made to teach you respect for the property or values of others. You appear to exist solely for the purpose of fighting, without giving any thought as to who you fight, or why. Content to pursue your own agenda – whatever it might be – you show total disregard for the safety and well-being of others. Ignorance is no excuse. You are a danger to free and peace-loving people."

"You have no respect at all for authority, or even for others beyond your own selfish ends. If you wanted leaves, why didn't you just come to the monastery and ask? You chose to take things into your own hands, and now you must accept the consequences that your irresponsible decisions have brought you. It saddens us that one so wayward should prove so singularly talented in destroying others' property and killing good-willed creatures tasked with responsible duties. To this end, we have made our decision regarding your sentencing."

The monk bangs his staff against the floor. "You hereby have all your privileges as a citizen of Sinai revoked, and as of this moment are property of the Monastery of the Sacred Mountain for a period of servitude until you have paid your debt to society. You will not be killed, beaten, or abused unless your behavior offers no other alternative. We shall leave it up to the Winterhind to decide if you will serve out your time here caring for the damage you helped to cause, or if you will serve better elsewhere. That is our decision. This trial is over."