As she pretended to scan the crowd for a third person that was not Madock Holliday, Yrhen's full attention was on the boy behind her. She didn't need to see his face to know he was upset from her reaction.
Who wouldn't be? Especially if he remembers that day in detail. Several months and hundreds of other customers may not be enough distance between us like I hoped.She made it seem as if she was ignoring him as he pointed out that the recoil issue was brought up at the time, and that they would have been happy to make any changes then and there.
Stars be damned, he remembers everything! He did say that, for sure... I just couldn't bring myself to ask at the time. She felt a sudden rush of blood to her face and quickly turned away from anyone close enough to see.
By the time she got her color back under control the Holliday boy had already excused himself. It was a relief and just what she had hoped would happen; but the mix of confused irritation and sad dissappointment in his voice was not lost on her. She felt a sharp pang of guilt which she had to spend the next half minute burying. With that ordeal over for now she went back to actually trying to find a third person, though she hoped Alex might have taken care of that on his own before-
It was too late. Professor Brovak called the time and even openly shamed those that had not formed a full team, and Alex was standing there alone, still her sole teammate.
No... I'm such an idiot, I can't believe I just let this happen! Wait, maybe if I just grab Holliday fast eno- But that thought was cut short when she turned to see the boy she had just rejected already with another girl. She had to stop herself from physically recoiling when she saw that it was the pale girl she had noticed earlier. The one that looked perfectly normal and friendly otherwise. The one that still set her on edge.
She heard a name, Mat Harken, assigned to her and Alex and a sense of dread washed over her.
Oh please, if the universe knows any mercy, don't let this be the worst case scenario. I don't care if I can't stand this Harken character, not anymore, just please don't let them be useless. She turned to the boy that had been decided for them and in just a few seconds of assessing him her face froze in a grimace.
Fuck you, universe.Her hopes crashed down around her and she glared at the new boy in front of them as if this was somehow all his fault.
He's scared. And he doesn't have a good handle on that fear would be my guess. A shiver went down her spine.
There are few things more dangerously unpredictable than a scared human. This boy could get us killed or worse... She turned away from Mat with an openly digusted expression. She tried to calm down by focusing on Professor Brovak's instructions.
Fortunately, the new equipment that manifested in front of them was quite the distraction, as was the method of delivery. She had never seen magic used to make solid things like this appear, though she knew it was a simple thing for professional mages. Not only that but this was the first time she had ever held a semi automatic rifle, as they were rare and too expensive in the kind of places she had lived. She started gathering the harnesses and securing the uncomfortably tight things over her coat. She ground her teeth as they pinched in several places but she knew it couldn't be helped. The extra knife and revolver were a welcome addition as well since she didn't need to worry about how much weight was on her today. Taking her time to learn what she could about the new rifle her eyes narrowed and her movements slowed as the professor began to outline the details of their objectives.
Hunt... people? She did not succeed at fully disguising the shudder that went through her in that moment.
We have to hunt down and survive against intelligent people using guns and magic. And we can't just run away, we have to fight over an objective. She stared at professor Brovak as his face visibly grinned under his extensive bandages and he continued talking. He then began a countdown with no other warning.
'Three,'
Traps? On top of everything else?!'Two,'
We're all just applicants, we're not even students yet! Just what do you expect out of a bunch of clueless kids?!'One.'
Even I'm not ready to pull the trigger on another person just like that, and I've been killing to support our family for years!The scenery abruptly vanished with a loud pop and a sickeningly uncomfortable and disorienting sensation throughout her entire body all at once. The shock was intense, she had never experienced teleportation before, and her stomach roiled. She clamped a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes, barely managing to not vomit.
He did warn me this would be harsh, didn't he? I guess I forgot, for a moment, the most important lesson i ever learned. This world is cruel.
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