Messages From a Friend (Poofless)

14

~*Frags*~

People cast strange looks in my direction as I walk down the cobblestone paved street. To be honest, I don't blame them. It's not very often you see a guy walking around in the snow wearing only a t-shirt and jeans in a town like this. I'm not bothered by the stares anymore; I've been this way for as long as I can remember.

Shaking my head, I slow down my brisk pace as I near my destination. The post office here isn't anything special; it's just a simple, grey, building with a lot of windows. At least there's a place we can get mail...

I pull open the glass door, and I'm immediately greeted with a blast of warm air. "Close the door before you let all the heat out!" The woman behind the desk hisses as I step inside.

"Yes Ma'am," I mumble just loud enough for her to hear, closing the door behind me. Why does everyone here hate me?

"Military trainee?" I nod at the woman's question and she turns around to open a few drawers. "Graduating year?"

"7,671." I stare at my nails as she asks the usual questions.

"Close to graduating I see," the woman murmurs before pulling a large box out of the drawer, "What's your rank?"

"Fourth, but soon to be third." Just need to beat Mi'kai...

The woman lets out a whistle, "Mr. Elite right here. I don't see many elites around and about. Usually mid-ranking trainees come to get mail."

"Most of the other trainees are ill," I admit with a shrug, taking the box off the counter and placing it on my shoulder. By most, I mean pretty much everyone in the year. Only Benja, and I aren't sick. M'ayris insists she's healthy, but I'm not as stupid as people say I am.

"That's too bad." The woman shakes her head. "Well, I won't waste your time. I'm sure you need to get back to training. That'll be 35.50."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I drop the box of envelopes onto the ground in front of Benja. "Could you sort that out for me?"

"Y-yeah!" Benja states quickly, "Everyone's asleep." Doubtful. Woof doesn't fall asleep easily.

"What happened while I was out?"

"Not much. A few guys wanted to pick a fight with the twins, but Woofless intervened before anyone was seriously injured." Benja wasted no time to start digging through the box of envelopes. He's honestly the most organized person I know. He is more organized than Fvendal was! And that's saying something.

"Better Woof than you," I say with a small sigh, "Was he hurt at all?"

"Just a few bruises and a black eye from Behzinga from what I could see." I nod before leaving Benja to his sorting.

Our section of the camp was deathly quiet as I walked toward the barracks. The usually popular bonfire pits were filled with ash and frozen charcoal were completely abandoned, and seemed to have an eerie air around them. What if everyone else was actually dead, and Benja didn't want to tell me...

I shiver at the thought before walking into the barracks. As I take my first step into the building, I'm immediately greeted with a pair of arms pulling me into a hug. "Frags! I missed you," Woof murmurs into the fabric of my shirt, his voice rough and scratchy.

"I was only gone for half an hour," I state, gently pushing the older teen away from me before inspecting his face. Yep. That's a black eye.

"It felt like forever." He pouts before violently coughing. I couldn't help but feel sad as my boyfriend is in this state. His coughing sounds painful, but every time I offer him medicine he'll give it to someone else.