25th February, 0020 RE.
Caris visited me alone today, thanking me for saving her again. I was a bit surprised at this, considering it’s been a while since the incident. I just laughed it off and told her that I got much more out of the deal than she did. She managed a weak laugh at that, which alerted me of something wrong. I looked away from trying to play around with two rocks like they were tops, and saw that her skin was flushed red. She was trembling, trying to hold back tears for some reason.
When I asked her what was wrong, she couldn’t hold it back anymore and jumped into my arms, breaking out into a fit of tears. I just held her for a while before she managed to calm herself down. I repeated my question, and she answered me by asking how everyone was so kind to her in the Orphanage. A question she’d asked multiple times already, but this time it seemed to have a special meaning to it.
Sighing, I told her how I was picked up by Anna, and what our goal is. Things she’d heard from others, no doubt, but that was all there was to it. Sometimes I wonder why people don’t get that not everything has a deep backstory. Some people are just kind, and Anna is simply the kindest woman alive. Her own past was not something for me to tell, Caris would find out in time anyway if her temperament is anything to go by.
It seemed to have effect. We just remained like that for a few minutes, before she’d recovered enough to be embarrassed. She immediately let go of me, and started to run away with widened eyes. It was almost comical. Is that still a word, now? Comical? I mean, no comics were found to have survived the storm, so we only know superheroes from word of mouth.
Anyway, just before she reached the exit of my ‘room,’ really just a small cordoned off space in the shelter for now, she tripped and was about to fall. I don’t know how, but I suddenly managed to stop her even though accurate velocity changes weren’t something I’d learned yet. When I got to her and got her back up, she just thanked me and ran away again. Well, I have known her for less than a month, so I guess it should be expected. She’ll open up soon enough.
Ah, that reminds me, I still have see about Evan and Caris! I’ll do that as soon as I’m able to replicate what I just did.
Excerpt from 'The Journal of a Failure'
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As the boy woke up, he felt like swearing, something he rarely ever did. He'd been asleep way too long for such a short fall, a whole two hours. Habitually, he reached behind his back to stretch a bit, trying to work away the stiffness in his muscles as he thought about what had happened.
Many questions popped into his mind. How had he even survived that crash? Where was he? How did that hole open up so fast? Who was Jordan? How did she seem so cunning at that age? Why did her personality seem to shift during the discussion? How this ? Why that? He felt a headache, more due to the number of questions than his injury which was nowhere to be seen. Of all these questions he had, he felt he'd get the answer to only one in the near future.
“Who are you?” he asked the strange person in front of him. They were dressed in a dark blue set of clothing and carried a lantern that shone in a soft yellow light. Their garments were wet at the thighs, sleeves and veil, although now it was only a few darker spots than the rest.
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The weird person hesitated for a few seconds, seemingly wondering whether to answer before a gruff yet somewhat warm voice sounded, “Trainer.”
“Mine?” Alex asked the supposed female, a call he was unveiling to make without further proof. He just eyed the person up and down for a few more seconds before realising he was being rude and turning to look them in the… veil.
“Yes. It's a training uniform, just like yours.” The voice was not as gruff when it came this time, and promoted Alex to look at what he was wearing for a moment. Suddenly, a thought came to mind: Who changed me?
A blush came over him, and he tried to pay attention to their surroundings to keep it down. The trainer seemed to be distracted, so he managed to keep them from finding out. If course, when he registered his environment, even a lovestruck little girl would lose her blush, let alone someone like him who was scared easily.
All around, there were bones of various small animals, from rats to rabbits. There was a stench of blood and raw meat in the air, something that almost caused him to puke. As he was trying to hold it in, he heard the voice of the trainer once more.
“Survival training begins now. You're to last a week in here, and survive off the inhabitants of this cave. Mind you, this is no ordinary place, you might just die here, and we won't help you. Also, if you want to back out, just tell me. We have no need for cowards, you can be… ‘replaced’.” Near the end, she drew a dagger out of the inner reaches of her belt threateningly before handing it to him and walking away.
Alex sat still for a few minutes, trying to come to terms with what he had to do. Eventually, he pushed his trembling body up and tried to calm himself down. “Nothing different here from the forest,” he told himself, “it's just a week, I'll be fine.”
*Grr*
Just then, he heard a lie growl and picked up the lantern the person had left behind and tried to set the dagger afloat, failing spectacularly with the doing dagger now attracting the interest of the hunting beast. For a few moments he felt like running back, but when his back touched a wall he knew he was at the end of a chamber.
With shaking hands, the young boy picked up the dagger and readied it in a defensive stance, the serrated edge facing the outside. Another thing to thank Vincent for, he thought.
Slowly, he calmed himself down and steadied his body, prepared for whatever came out of the depths. A small stone from the floor became a ranged weapon, although he still couldn't manage to make it float like normal.
A lion jumped out of the shadows, charging towards the stunned boy. He barely managed to jump away as it pounced onto the lantern he'd placed on the ground, shattering it and plunging the place into darkness. Then, it turned towards him and lunged forward, catching his ankle in its mouth. He was terrified of the situation, but even more confused. He'd expected the unknown beast to have killed him.
Just… it was a cub that didn't even have teeth yet.
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This is not a comedy, but this isn't a training dummy course either. The characters grow into actual fighting, and Alex will probably die if you put am actual lion in front of him at the start.