[b]Jace[/b]

“Ok, draw. Now, pull the bowstring just a little further… Hold… Hold… Hol—Dammit, Lacie, I told you to hold!” I barked as the arrow was sent flying prematurely and the hare escaped with its life. 

“What do you expect me to do, keep this drawn for 10 minutes?!” She barked back. “I don’t have your muscle, this is a man’s bow anyway!”

“It’s [i]not[/i] a man’s bow if it’s not a man holding it. And if you don’t have the muscle to hold it in a drawn position until you aim then at least learn to become faster!”

“Or do push-ups, right? Get all bulky in the arms.” She grumbled, passing the bow on to me by slamming it against my chest. I had to hurry to catch it before it fell – who knew when we’d be able to find new strings if these broke. “You do it then, master, since you’re oh-so-great with it.” I frowned at the insult – I myself had only learnt to shoot a bow once I came here and she knew that well enough. 

“Whatever.” I decided and crossed my arms. “We’ll just have to hope Zaiden’s got something. ”

We started walking back, me trying to ignore both the cacophony inside and outside my head – Lacie was making a fuss over me underestimating her and I tried not to think back to the times me and Zaiden used to bring meat “home” every evening. We didn’t get to eat meat very often nowadays. Lacie keeps insisting on me letting her shoot the game, Dwyer and Aimee were never much for hunting and--- agh! 

I look down at my feet, one of which has just been punctured by a freaking bright-pink thorn. With our luck it must be poisonous and gift me with a nice little diarrhea. I cursed, taking it out and slipping it in my pocket just in case Dwyer knew what it is. He’s been here longer than me and has [i]definitely[/i] had more accidents too. 

“Klutz.” Lacie attempted an offence but I just rolled my eyes. 

“Not as much as you are, Ms My-clothes-don’t-survive-longer-than-a-week.”

“That’s because I have more than one set in my wardrobe and can afford to lose some of them.”

[i]That bitch…[/i] 

“But don’t worry.” She continued. “My project is almost completed. Soon you’ll get some new clothes.”

I glanced at her wondering if that should be reassuring. Indeed, the thing she was wearing wasn’t half bad but… knowing her weird tastes I was worried about what she’d come up with. Well, we’ll have to wait and see. 

We reach the clearing where our meeting-point is and I see Zaiden leaning against a tree. His vacant stare pisses me off instantly and I strive over to him, punching him in the face without a warning. 

“What are you spacing out at, huh?! Where’s you crossbow, what if a beast found you, goofing around like that in the open, huh?!”

[b]Lacie[/b]

Jace is at it again. Leave it to him to sow senseless brutality around. I hope at least this time Zaiden whoops his ass so bad that he won’t try to provoke him for at least a week. I’m growing tired of trying to stop them, so this time I’ll just pretend I don’t care. 

That’s not that hard to do considering Dwyer is back and… he’s not alone. I blink. Beside him walk two new people, a tall and lanky… punk-like… hippy guy? And a nerdy girl with an equally peculiar hair-colour and ripped clothes. Judging by their looks it doesn’t seem like they’ve been here long. At least the guy, as his brown roots aren’t showing yet; I’m not so sure about the girl. 

“Is it them we’re having for dinner?” I ask as I approach, doing my best to appear dangerous and threatening for the fun of it. 

“Welcome to our merry little company. I’m Lacie, the designer of the group. Those morons at the back you can ignore as I assume within minutes one of them will be killed anyway, and let’s hope it’s the one in the suit.” I offer my hand for a handshake, wondering if any of them would have the guts to grab it after such a freaky introduction. It does occur to me that they might be shaken and displeased at being here but I find dwelling on that a useless exercise. The earlier they get accustomed to all this craziness, the better.