River was stunned by the strange mans words. As if that was not enough, by the time he recovered from his shock, he discovered that the strange man had disappeared, and that everything had returned to normal.
He looked around, wondering if he'd been suffering from some kind of exhaustion induced delusion. He had taken the oath, and talked to the man, yet he'd felt no different. Nothing had changed - his body still hurt, he was still weak, and there was no indication that he would ever recover from the destruction of his meridians.
He looked down at his hands. To be specific, he looked at the ring finger and tip of his middle finger. What if it was a dream? Could he really mutilate himself over a dream? That thought arose in his mind as he looked at the fingers that had accompanied him his whole life.
But what if it was real?
