Inside the Beast's Castle

Chapter 19--Págoma

I am also childish and hate to lose. --L, Death Note
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I stood outside, smiling up at the blue sky. It had been a week since I was last "allowed" outdoors, and the feeling of freedom to me was overwhelming. I felt the sun against my face, the small breeze whip around me, the cool autumn--

A sharp twack sounded out as something hit behind my knee, yanking me unpleasantly from my happiness.

I yelped. "Ow! Watch it!"

Kvir walked past me, swinging his cane around like a baton. "Come on. You're the one who wanted to be out here in the first place."

I opened my mouth to say something back--trust me, it wasn't going to be nice-- and thought better of it.

Nope. Let's just be aggravating instead.

"So why do you even have that cane?" I asked, jogging up to catch him. "It's not like you need it or anything."

That was true. Whenever he walked around, he normally just swung his cane around in the air. There was only once I had actually seen him use it, and that was after he had taught me how to move a rock.

He sighed and stopped moving. "You're right, I don't need it. I just enjoy have an extension of my arm." He leaned down over me and whispered in my ear, "Makes it easier to hit inquisitive people."

I narrowed my eyes and backed away, mentally making a face at him. I had barely even seen the guy since a few weeks ago. The day I almost drowned.

The first day we had actually spoken to each other like normal people, not just screamed at each other.

Of course, the next few days made up for that. For three days straight, I would go and change the bandages around his hand--and clean the wound in the process. He had Raul by his side watching me work constantly, enough so that it got on my nerves.

At the last of the three days that I helped, our patience with each other had worn very, very thin. I wanted to talk to someone, and the one person I had to talk to wouldn't speak. I'd ask a question, and a low mumble would be my answer. Unless, of course, Kvir was complaining about "how badly I hurt his hand." when I bandaged it up. Then, and only then did he actually speak audibly.

Needless to say, it didn't go very well.

"Hurry up, girl," he called. I had slowed my walking to a snail's pace, and I was just strolling through the grass. Kvir had gone up further, toward a line of trees.

He stopped and turned around, waiting for me to get my "slow" self over there.

I took my time. Although I wasn't very far away, I somehow managed to make it drag out for five minutes.

"So, what are we doing over here?" I asked when I reached him. Excitement--or nervousness--was bubbling up inside me.

"You are going to learn--" slowly, he pulled a metal object from the pocket of his coat. "--how to use a knife."

I looked at him disbelievingly. "You take it and you go 'stabby stab' with it. Person or thing whom you 'stabby stabbed' goes 'Bleaagh! Blood, blood! And...death.' " With my final word, I moved the top half of my body to the side, then stuck out my tongue and closed my eyes.

When I straightened again, I saw what may have been a smile reach his eyes, but it vanished quickly. He held out the long, silver blade to me, handle first.

"Take it."

I sighed and took the knife. Kvir pulled out another one from his coat.

"Now, when you hold it, you want to have it like this." He quickly rearranged his fingers around the hilt of the knife so that they were almost in a fist. His thumb was pressing against the top part of the hilt where an arch was.