Wandering Affairs [Gempol]

[Gempol]

Illusion? I don't know what this girl is getting at, but it's obvious she just wants to get the best of me. I sigh. I think I want to start shifting my attention to training instead of bickering with this girl. Time is training, and I'm wasting a lot of time at the moment. I step closer to the girl so that we're face to face, inches apart.

"I've been training every day for my entire life. This isn't an illusion, it's reality."

I look to the side to where the worker is trying to pull out the knives. The worker looks so futile. So weak. Vulnerable. Easy game. I pull out my own blade, lick my lips, and fire. The knife hits the back of the worker's head, right at the spot where I wanted it to go. The worker stay still for a moment, shocked at the metal blade that's protruding out of his head. He collapses, bleeding profusely and staining the carpet. I imagine the Center as a forest, and the worker as an inferior tribute. It's almost exactly like the Hunger Games if you think about it. The strong destroy the weak. The weak die. The strong win.

A squad of white clad men rush and lift the body on a stretcher and cart it away. Things like this happen about a month or so. The workers are given higher pay because they have the chance of dying by the hands of a Career. The Center is quiet, although not for long. Everybody starts going back to their normal routine; as if nothing had ever happened. A few people pass me by and nod, or praise me.

I turn back to the girl.

"See you later."

[Aura]

Adelaide

He sighs, obviously exasperated with me. I feel infuriated, even though I know in the back of my mind that I'm being extremely unreasonable. Stepping forward, he puts his face closer to mine, so that we're inches apart. I glare at him, and then he tells me, "I've been training every day for my entire life. This isn't an illusion, it's reality." With that, he draws a knife, and my heart goes cold, sure he's going to knife me right then and there. Instinctively, I begin moving toward the knives strapped to my leg, but then I see him turning. What is he doing? And then I see him taking aim, and suddenly the knife is no longer in his hand - it's in the person's head; you know, the person who was working on getting my arrows out of that dummy. The worker seems frozen in time for a moment, and then he collapses, blood everywhere. My hand flies to my mouth.

It's not the death that bothers me. Death has never bothered me. When killing is going on, my mind becomes purely mechanical, not emotional at all. What bothers me is that I totally misjudged this Career, letting my arrogance and the fact that I was having a bad day get in the way. It wasn't his character I had misjudged, though. I'm pretty sure I was (and still am) dead-on when it comes to that. Definitely, though, he is stronger than I thought. A heck of a lot stronger. In my mind, I can still beat him - it just might be harder. Still, though, I find myself suddenly sure of three things: first, this guy could help me; second, I needed his help in order to get the Uprising up to par; and third, he was someone I definitely did not want to be on the wrong side of.

So when he turns around again to face me and says, "See you later," I panic a little bit. I realize this is someone I need, someone who can make my skills infinitely better than they already are. My pride hurts - I would rather admit that I didn't need him. Honestly, though, a good leader doesn't let opportunities like this pass her by. He hasn't started walking away yet, and quickly I think of what to say. I don't want to take accountability for this mess, so I say instead, "That was some superior knifework, there." I realize how stupid this sounds, so I continue on. "Listen. I realize there's a lot for both of us to learn. We could do a tradeoff sort of thing, if you'd like. I can teach you a few things, and you can teach me. All right?" He'll probably decline my offer, but, hey, it's worth a shot. And it makes amends between us, sort of.