King of Shadows

The Beast

I woke up the sound of birds. For the first time in my life, I wasn't sweating, I wasn't freezing and I wasn't being attacked. Apollo was snoring pretty loudly, and Leo was sprawled on top of him. Viper was already gone, so I got out of my tent to find him. I told myself that I wasn't going to find him to pick a fight, but I knew that he'd probably rile me up somehow and punches would get thrown. It was cool outside, and only a few people were roaming around, most of them headed for the kitchen where breakfast was being prepared.

I passed the kitchen, which was really just a tent where all the food was stored. Viper didn't sit at any of the tables with the other recruits, he was nowhere to be seen. I took one look at the food and called of my little search. I grabbed a plate full of food and sat, I tried to be civil, eating at a slow pace. It was truly an effort to keep from shoveling my entire plate into my mouth in a matter of seconds. I would've surely thrown it up anyway, I wasn't used to eating this much food, and halfway through, I had to stop before my stomach exploded. I was pushing the remnants of my food around my plate as Kanda Yuu sat down next to me. I gave him a curious glance, positioning myself away from him. His hard eyes were softer than yesterday, but I stayed weary, remembering that today was The Testing. I went back to my plate, and he finally spoke.

"You should eat as much as you can, you'll need it. Trust me," he advised. I suppressed an emotionless chuckle, I never got more than necessary. I never had the luxury of "too much food," it was only too little. When I didn't respond, Kanda raised an eyebrow "You know it won't kill you to talk." he muttered.

"You'd be surprised," I told him.

"Where are you from?" he asked, more focused on me than his food.

"I'm not telling you anything," I said, finally pushing my plate away from me, half-eaten.

"Why is that?" Kanda prompted.

"You'll use anything you can against me during The Testing, and i'm not stupid enough to think you actually care," I insisted, I put my plate up, and Kanda followed me. I turned around and nearly slammed into Viper, but I was fast enough to sidestep him, right before he tried to plow into me. I clenched my hands into fists as he snapped at me, "Watch it," He was obviously the one who wasn't watching where he was going. His face twisted into a disgusting expression of pure hate, but Kanda pushed his way between us.

"Save it for The Testing you two, it starts now." He ordered, "Go to the Clearing, and don't fight, yet."

I glared at Viper as the two of us walked over to where the others were waiting. We stood there for a few minutes before Kanda finally showed up. His eyes weren't so soft anymore, and I felt relieved that I didn't divulge any information about myself. "I'll start with combat, Apollo and Leo, please step forward." The pair went up to him, they both seemed nervous. Apollo was given a dagger, and Leo was given a sword. I clenched my fists, this wasn't going to be a fair fight. Apollo seemed to realize it pretty quickly, but there was nothing he could do but dodge every swing of Leo's sword. I watched carefully as the two circled each other, Apollo tried to lunge and catch Leo off guard so he could strike. Leo parried his attack with ease, and kicked his friend's feet out from under him. Leo was the winner, so he stayed, and Apollo left. Leo switched his sword for a dagger, and we went through everyone. When it was my turn, I was handed a sword, and I slammed my opponent to the ground. The last person left was Viper, and I got the dagger this time. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, Kanda had set it up like this on purpose. Viper and I circled each other, and I knew exactly how I was going to defeat him.

He swung his sword at me, I jumped back. "Is that all you've got?" he mocked. He swung again, and I dodged, it turned into a dance, and he had no idea what I was actually doing. I was trying to find a pattern within every movement he made. He swung right, I went left, in an attempt to get him in a headlock, but he switched directions. I ducked, and the blade grazed my cheekbone. I didn't waste time wiping away the blood that trickled down my face. "How'd you get that scar, again?" Viper asked, smirking. He knew exactly how I got it.