December 20
Hunter walked into the arena a little nervously, making a quick scan of the place to find it empty. With a sigh of relief, he made his way to the weapons racks where he grabbed a spear and a knife, carrying them over to a dummy. He had pretty much stuck to a sword since he got to camp, but now that his sword was in the forge that meant he couldn't use it which meant other weapons. He could use a new sword, but he had been familiar with his for so long, it would be like starting over. He set the knife on the ground and grabbed the spear, taking a fighting stance that he had learned early in camp.
It was still early in the day, so there really wasn't any competition for the arena. It was still a little dark out and the camp was silent. Eerily quiet. He imagined that this was what it was like being in a school at night. He wouldn't know having never been inside a school at night, but he didn't like schools in the daytime, so it was a logical leap. He only went to school for 3 years and then he was sent here. When he closed his eyes, he could still imagine walking home from school with his mom every Friday. Everything was so different now, but he still had the memory. He would always have the memory.
He shook himself out of his reminiscing and gripped the spear again. He jabbed into the dummy then slashed across the dummy's chest. It rocked backwards a little and Hunter put the shaft of the speak in its neck and pushed back, then put uneven pressure, swinging the spear into his face.
"Dammit." He said, rubbing the quickly forming welt on his cheek.
"That was smooth." Hunter looked around and saw Marina walking into the arena toward him.
"Thanks. My opponent would never expect that, would they?" He said, raising an eyebrow at her. "They'd be so surprised that they would expect a surprise attack like this!" He said before swinging his spear into the side of the dummy, but was too close so the shaft hit it, vibrating into his hands making him drop the spear. He shook the pain out of his hands and tried to ignore the laughter from Marina before kicking the spear away and picking up the knife. "Yeah. Okay. Okay. Just...let it all out," he said with a sigh as he leaned on the dummy, waiting for Marina to regain her composure.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," She said breathlessly, waving her hand. She finally stopped and put her hands on her hips, taking deep breaths. "Okay. I'm done." She said with a couple last guffaws. "Sorry, please. Continue with your practice. You don't mind if I watch, do you?"
"Well, I didn't, but that hurt my feelings, so if you could please leave..." He said, waving his hand dismissingly, adding in a few sorrowful sniffs for good measure. She scoffed and sat down, leaning back on her hands. "Oh, well now I'm nervous." He said, looking back at the dummy. He drew the knife and spun it in his hand once before taking a deep breath and gripping the knife to attack. He slashed upward at the shoulder then stabbed into the neck, dragging the knife across the front of the throat. He pulled it out then backed away a step then took two quick slashes across his chest.
"Wow. You're not bad with a knife." Marina said, sounding surprised.
"That sounded reassuring." Hunter said, turning to her. She laughed for a second and stood up, brushing her hands off on her jeans. "I doubt you're much better." He said with a challenging smile.
"Oh, is that right?" She said with a giggle, walking over to the weapons rack and selecting a knife. "Well, why don't we found out, then, Mr. Reed?" She walked over and took his hand, leading him to the center of the ring.
"I don't want to fight you, Marina." Hunter said, starting to walk away.
"Oh, no, no. No way, buddy. You challenged me. You put your foot in your mouth." She took a fighting stance with her dagger. "It's time to prove it." Hunter sighed and took a fighting stance across from her.
"I'll take it easy on you this time. Next time, you'll have to deal with full power." He spun the knife again, laughing at the look on her face. He took a step forward taking a quick swing only to be blocked by Marina. "Good. You're paying attention. Now, try this!" He said before thrusting his knife at her. She dodged then spun the blade out of his hand, twisting his arm behind his back. Her knife went to his throat then she pulled him down to her height, so she could put her chin on his shoulder.
"You said something about full power next time?" She whispered into his ear with a giggle. He turned his head towards her and they locked eyes a moment, both their cheeks turning red. He cleared his throat then pulled away from her, grabbing his knife.
"You ready? See, I let you win that one."
"You let me kick your butt? Oh, why, may I ask?"
"Well, see it's all part of my strategy." He turned the knife around, holding the blade pointed at the ground. She raised an eyebrow at the new grip and changed hers with it. "You see, I let you win, so you'd think I was incapable. And after that, now I'm explaining my strategy, so you have that moment where you believe me and you mimic me, thinking that I actually do have a strategy. I do know that you're not familiar with this grip though." He said before attacking. She squeaked a little and managed to block it, but she had to step back to quickly change. "I can't believe you actually thought I had a plan!"
"I don't know! It was possible!" She said with a laugh before running at him, slashing forward with her knife. Hunter caught it in his and they both pushed forward, locking eyes, each giving the other a grin. He could feel her warm breath tickling his face and he could smell the forge in her hair. They pulled back then charged once again, Marina's dagger lined up at Hunter's throat. "Ha. I win again." She said with a wink. He laughed at her.
"Oh, did you?" He said, looking down at his knife which was aimed at her heart. She took a breath then they both stepped back. "It seems we're even, so this decides the victor."
"Fair enough." She said before slashing at him. He dodged and made an attack of his own, slicing upward. She knocked it away and they both went back and forth like this for several minutes, striking and blocking, trading turns making attacking only to be parried by their opponent. Hunter stabbed at her and she caught his arm under hers, pulling herself close to him. She held her knife gently at his stomach, but it fell to her side and she leaned up toward him. Hunter panicked and put his leg behind hers, tripping them both to the ground, holding himself over her.
"It looks like I won." He said quietly, looking down at her. Her breathing was heavy and she was looking up at him intensely her eyes never leaving his face. Hunter's eyes roamed from her hair which was sprawled out on the ground around her head, coal black waves spread in all directions. Her forehead, softly glistening with sweat and her cheeks slightly red. Her lips slightly parted in hopeful anticipation. Finally her eyes which looked up in adoration, two chocolate brown pools staring into his eyes. He felt her legs wrap around his middle and she pushed to the side, rolling and ending up on top of him.
"Now, it looks like I won." She said, leaning down toward him. Hunter quickly grabbed her hands and rolled, pinning her to the ground, her hands trapped above her head. His stomach was twisted and his heart was beating out of his chest, but he didn't want to take that step yet. He wasn't sure why. He didn't feel confident again. It took a lot of courage to be ready to ask talk to Arabella the day before she left, and it felt like he was rejected. He did want to rush into this. He really did like Marina, but he wanted to be at 100 percent. He felt her legs wrap around him again, but he didn't let her roll this time. He started to stand, but her legs stopped him for a second and then relented, letting him up.
"Good fight, but we all knew who was going to come out on top." He laughed a little and pointed to himself, making an attempt at cutting some of the tension. He helped her up then picked up his knife sliding it into the sheath. She looked around nervously, fiddling with her hair a moment before looking up at him.
"Yeah. Good fight. Umm...I have to uhh...I need to check something. I'll see you around, Hunter." She said before walking out of the arena. As soon as she was gone, Hunter buried his face in his hands.
"Why did this have to be so difficult?"