The following afternoon Maggie once again showed up at his apartment, this time knocking before she entered. He still had absolutely no intention of leaving his home, but Maggie insisted he joined the group for an afternoon training session followed by dinner. Asher was incredibly hesitant. However, after a stern look from Maggie, arms crossing over her chest, he gave in.

There was no doubt that he was feeling better. After Maggie left last night, he had managed to obtain at least a few hours of solid, uninterrupted sleep. It was an improvement, but his mental state wasn't stable yet, and he was worried his face would portray all of his concerns and grief without intending to. He had to keep his word to the Capitol that he wouldn't relay any information about his forced recruitment to anyone, including his friends.

As Maggie shut the gate behind them after stepping onto the training grounds, anxiety began to bubble in his chest. In the distance, he saw Hannah flailing her arms around as she lectured Will, who simply stood there with a pout on his face. Jackson was ignoring them, peeling an apple under the shade of a tree.

Seeing them go about their lives as usual while keeping vital information close to his chest, was a horrible feeling. He wanted to turn around and go home, hiding like the coward he was. The others hadn't noticed them yet, maybe Maggie would let him chicken out just this once.

"Come on," she insisted, grabbing his wrist and dragging him behind her, "you don't realize it now, but spending time with everyone will do you some good. Just trust me, okay?"

For a while, she was right.

He had been greeted excitedly by the group, each expressing their happiness over his return, and how glad they were Asher was feeling better. Apparently, Maggie had provided them a fabricated story in which he was ill and unable to leave his bed, thus preventing him from leaving home. She claimed to have gone over to heal him last night when she realized what was wrong. He gave her an appreciative smile for once again having his back.

"After laying in bed for so long, I'll bet you're glad to be up and walking around again," Will said, stretching his arms.

"Yeah, it's nice to finally see the sun," he chuckled.

Will slung one heavy arm around Asher's shoulder, making him grunt as the weight nearly caused him to topple over.

"How about we make up for lost time, and we spar like we were supposed to before Hannah messed everything up?" he asked, grinning widely.

"I didn't mess anything up," Hannah grumbled from a few feet away, pulling a bottle of water from a cooler.

"I'm sorry, Will, but I think I'll pass today."

"Oh, c'mon!" Will complained, frowning as Asher released himself from his hold and sat down in the shade beside Jackson. The boy silently offered him half of his apple, hanging from the point of his knife, which Asher gladly took.

"Don't be pushy Will, he still isn't one hundred percent," Maggie scolded, setting her bag down.

"Sounds like your healing skills aren't quite up to par then, huh?" Will taunted.

Maggie's head shot up, "Excuse me, Capital boy, but I am quite capable, and I think everyone here knows it."

"Prove it!" he challenged.

Jackson sighed and pushed himself off the ground, "I'll get the timer," he grumbled, making Asher laugh at his friend's exasperated attitude.

Asher remained in his seat as the others walked a few yards away, Jackson prepping the timer while Maggie and Will readied themselves to spar. He smirked as he watched Maggie walk with an air of confidence even as she spun to face the giant Drazok, stepping into a solid stance in preparation.

"Two minutes on the clock," Jackson said in a formal tone.

"Let's do this!" Will cheered excitedly, bouncing from one foot to the other.

Jackson rolled his eyes. "Begin in three...two...one... Start!"

Maggie immediately drew two small knives from seemingly nowhere, one in each hand. It was a sparring match, but because the Drazok Family has such naturally thick skin, standard blades couldn't injure them, allowing Maggie to thoroughly exercise her weaponry.

She rushed at him like a rocket, nearly invisible, jumping to his eye level as she slashed at his face.

Will leaned back just in time, watching with wide eyes as the tip of her blade scarcely evaded them, the single area a Drazok could be cut and thus blinded.

He grunted in frustration, seizing her wrists and flipping her to face the sky, hurling her down on her back with all his might, successfully creating a Maggie size indent in the dirt.

Asher's eyes widened, his heart pounding rapidly against his chest, but forced himself to remain in his place and not interfere. For a split moment, Maggie appeared dazed, likely suffering from a concussion or fractured skull, maybe even a broken spine.

However, almost immediately, she gracefully wrenched herself out of the large man's grasp, skidding to a halt after distancing herself by a few yards. She was breathing laboriously, wiping the dirt from her eyes as she analyzed her opponent. The speed of her healing abilities was truly incredible.

Will frowned as he watched her retreat. She remained a short distance away, waiting for him to make his move, and watching closely as he began to charge her.

She snatched specially made, poison infused needles from her pouch and shot them from her hands with high accuracy as he closed the distance between them. He continued to charge forward without hesitation, making her step backward reflexively.

"This is too easy!" Will yelled, throwing up a small, crystalline shield of energy to entirely block each individual needle as it neared him. The Drazok Family was made up of impenetrable beings, with the ability to summon shields of various sizes and at adjustable distances. If talented enough, they could be even be molded to mimic weapons with massive durability.

He chuckled as he closed in on her, knowing he had won this time. Maggie looked up into his eyes, pure shock, and fear evident in her glossy orbs.

"Will, stop!" Asher shouted, quickly launching himself up off the ground, but then Jackson, for some reason, raised his hand to make Asher back off.

Will took his final step and reared back his arm, but instead of landing a hit, he was abruptly sucked into the ground, only his head peeking out of the surface, eyes wide in shock as he worked to comprehend his situation.

Maggie's face dropped into a look of pure amusement, all signs of alarm instantly gone. She kneeled down and put one of her knives to his throat.

"I win," she smirked.

"What the hell!" Will yelled, thrashing about as he tried to free himself from his muddy prison.

Jackson laughed, "You always forget she's an element user too, idiot."

"And we're on a dirt field. She has all she needs to suck you into the ground," Hannah said as she pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers.

"Damn it! Get me out of this giant sinkhole before my head goes under!" Will screamed, looking at Hannah, who huffed in exasperation as she stomped over to free him.

Maggie turned to Asher and gave him a thumbs-up, smiling victoriously, and he couldn't help but grin in return.

"For the record, if I hadn't been holding back, I so would have blinded you," Maggie teased.

"Then, I would have just used my other heightened senses to find you and take you out!" Will snapped, Hannah dragging him out of the hole.

"Sure you would have, just like Maggie would lift that giant boulder over there and hit you over the head with it, and I would fly into a tree and lay an egg," Jackson said sarcastically.

Will snorted and grumbled to himself, making her girls laugh loudly as they watched his mud-covered self stand up.

"Thanks for this," he said to Maggie in a deadpanned tone as he motioned to his clothes.

"You're the one who challenged me!"

"Will, you gotta remember, just because someone is a Friarra, or a Drazok, or whatever their Family is, doesn't mean they adhere to only those Family's talents," Hannah reasoned.

"Yeah, how do you think Hannah almost knocked my teeth out the other day?" Asher chimed in from his spot in the shade.

Will groaned, "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Hannah's fancy because she's a Drazok, yet she's gotten speedy, and Maggie's a Friarra with elemental abilities or whatever," he grumbled, stomping back over towards Asher. He grabbed a towel and started doing his best to clean himself up.

"Can we eat now? I'm starving," Jackson complained, sinking to the ground and eyeing the cooler of food Hannah had brought along.

Hannah crossed her arms, "You've been eating apples since we got here, how are you possibly hungry?"

"Simple. I'm a guy."

"That's fair," Maggie laughed.

Hannah was one of the most skilled cooks Asher had ever met, and as she emptied the cooler, everyone couldn't help but marvel over the incredible looking meal she had prepared. The boys practically inhaled their meals, going back for seconds even, while Maggie and Hannah conversed as they ate their food more politely.

With a satisfied stomach, company, and lightly sunburnt skin, Asher felt the best he had in days. Maggie had been right, this was precisely what he had needed. He laid there peacefully, hands behind his head gazing up at the starry sky, and sighed contently, his friend's voices a distant hum in the background.

"Enjoying the view?" Jackson asked as he sat down beside him.

The boy nodded, "It's peaceful, nice to see a clear sky without the Capitol in the background."

Jackson smirked, "It's a view I'm definitely going to miss."

Me too, Asher thought.

He sat up on his elbows, his advanced hearing making him quickly turn his head to look along the treeline. He felt the odd sensation of being watched, sending a chill over his body and making him antsy.

"Woah, easy there. Everything okay?" Jackson questioned in surprise, attempting to follow Asher's line of vision, squinting into the darkness.

Jackson couldn't see anything, but with Asher's vision, another one of his few Friarra skills, he could see through the night a little easier. Tucked behind a tree near the edge of the nearby forest was a figure, merely standing there, watching him.

Asher's hands curled into fists, tearing grass out of the terrain as the realization hit him. He recognized the silhouette all too well. He felt the heat in the pit of his stomach, the fury he had struggled with days ago suddenly beginning to resurface. Taking a breath to calm himself, he laid back down, effectively removing the figure from his sight.

Shaking his hands to rid them of crumpled grass, he mumbled to his friend, "I'm fine. Everything's fine."