treading the edge

The nurse

I am prepared to dodge the arrow. Through the clinking metal, I will keep my head, thank you. I back up a bit, pull out a handful of throwing knives from my bag, and get ready to throw, when I feel something knocking the back of my head. My eyes roll up and I feel darkness coming over me.

"If she had just stayed away from the duo, she would be fine right now."
I open my eyes, slowly. Sure enough, standing over me is mr. complainer. Maddog.
He's arguing with Tracer, who must be furious about something because I've never seen his face that red before.
I'm no longer in that forest, anymore. Now I'm back in my bed, in my cabin. I almost expect to see my mother here, taking care of me. But who would I be kidding? Maddog, Tracer, and I... we're all orphans. One of the reasons we can get along so well.
My mother and father died when reefland blew up camp. Maddog's were killed in a skirmish with outsiders, who thought they could take over the place. They were wrong, but they managed to murder Maddog's parents in cold blood.
With Tracer, things were different. His parents were determined to save him when he was only thirteen. They fought hard with his kidnapper, and they rescued Tracer by trading him, for themselves. Their bodies weren't found, but you can guess what happened to them.

We all met in the forest when we weren't supposed to be out. The orphanage forbid it for us, and Tracer? Well, he didn't come from an orphanage, but he didn't like going into the forest at night. But we all went out on the same night. In different directions, fate must've had a plan.
I was fourteen.
I crashed into Maddog, who was fifteen at the time, and he thought I was an intruder. He pulled his pocket knife on me. I was prepared.
I had been carrying a sharp piece of rock with me ever since the orphanage kids started to get sneaky, and tried to steal your belongings.

I pulled it on him, and we circled each other.

"Hey pretty girl, what're you doin' out this time of night? Afraid of monsters are you?"
I was not afraid of monsters. Unless you call Maddog a monster. But I didn't show it.

"You wish, low down dog."

I lunged at him. He was surprised by my strength, and that gave me an advantage. I probably would have won the fight, but then came Tracer.
Good old tracer. When we first met, his stutter was pretty bad. Worse than it is now. Never once have I doubted our loyalty to each other.
So, Tracer (who was also fifteen), heard us, and broke up the fight. He has a way of talking to people in a way that makes them think. Yes, even with the whole stutter thing.
So after we had cut down on all the aggression, we all talked a bit. What else was there to do? We were out of the orphanage.

We all figured that we were pretty alike, and we eventually teamed up. From then on, we were like three peas in a pod. We rode into our first battles at sixteen and seventeen, and came out alive.

I'm eighteen now, and Maddog and Tracer are one year older. Funny, I'm the youngest, but I'm sorta the leader in our little group.

"E-Ember. This-s the n-nurse." Tracer introduces this young girl to me, and I have no idea who she is.
She looks like a reeflander, with her expensive looking outfit, makeup, and equipment. But I could be wrong. I'm probably right, but maybe not.
"Hi Ember." She smiles a fake smile, and turns to Tracer and Maddog.
"I'll just take a look at her head, and I'll see what I can do." She winks.
"Cutie."
Tracer blushes, but I feel bad for him when the girl pushes him aside, and grins at Maddog. How rude. I think.
Maddog just rolls his eyes and grabs Tracer, pulling them both out the door.
When the door shuts, the girl turns back to me.
"Hey. I'm Gabriella. Gabby for short. And if you must know a little bit about me, then you just must know everything about me!"
So I sit and listen to her useless gabbing and finally, after about ten minutes, lose it.

"Ok, lady. Are you here to look at my head injury, or not?"

She is a bit taken aback.

"Oh. Well I'm sorry."
She clears her throat and starts treating my injuries.
"I was once a reefland citizen." She says without looking up.
"How very wonderful for you." I say, sarcastically. She doesn't notice.
"Being and orphan at eleven isn't easy." She says.
I open my ears now. Did she just say she's an orphan?
"I moved from reefland to Dusland once I turned eighteen." She goes on.
"I'm not actually a qualified doctor. I'll admit it." She pushes her blonde hair behind her ear. I can tell she's not a real nurse, she just doesn't give off that vibe.
She finishes with my wounds and gets up from the chair she was sitting at.
"Well, you're all done, Ember. Just get some rest and you'll be good as knew in a bit."
She starts to walk out, but I call her back.
"Wait... Gabby." I call to her. She turns around.
"Yes?" She says back.
"You should... meet my friends. Get to know them." I almost regret my own words, but she could be a good asset to the team.
Usually, this isn't something I would do. Take a ReefLander in, oh what a jolly time we'll have! Ugh. But we need all the help we can get to destroy Reefland. And frankly, if this girl came from Reefland, she probably has some connections. Tracer could sneak her a pony and-- boy, oh boy! We've got ourselves a spy!

Maddog and Tracer come back in the room, and of course, Gabby is flashing glances at Maddog every few seconds as I explain to them. Gabby will stay with me, and then, when we prepare for the next battle with Reefland, Gabby will train with us. I leave out the spy part. You never know how people will react to those things.
Maddog and Tracer like the idea of another girl warrior on the team, and that's not surprising.
"Great! When can we start?" Gabby smiles up at the two. Maddog shrugs.
"Whenever you feel like it, miss reeflander." He says sarcastically.
"Tomorrow!" Gabby shrieks and scratches the back of Maddog's head.
"L-l-lucky s-son of a--" Tracer mumbles at Maddog.
She sure is numb. She wants to train right after she says that I need to bed rest? This is going to be interesting.