A small flickering light appeared, and the place was cast into ghostly shadows. The light was from a small fire in a clear metal round-shaped thing. The fire stung my eyes and gave off an unnatural heat even though it was tiny.

I moved backward, my back bumping into the wood, my eyes flickering from the six faces that watched me curiously. I pressed my back harder into the wall, and my skin through the thin cloth started to sting. One of the guys hopped off-platform he was on and walked towards me. The rest of the people went quiet.

The next thing I knew was I was falling backward onto the stones outside. The wood had swung open, and I was falling in slow motion towards the ground below.

I could see the panicked face of the boy leaping to catch me. I could see the wood panel flying back at me. I could see the many stairs below me growing closer by the second. The boy just managed to grab onto my arm, but it was too late. We both flew towards the ground together.

I grabbed his wrist, twirling my body to hit the swinging wood to take the brunt of the impact. I hit the ground hard, the rock stairs jabbing into my rib cage. I let out a grunt biting my tongue to stop myself from crying out in pain. The wood panel swung around just as I was turning my head to look back.

It sent me flying across the stairs, and I landly solidly on the ground. I heard and felt my shoulder pop out of place. Another grunt was let out of my lips, this one a lot louder. I sat there for a second, holding my arm breathing deep breaths. I shoved it back into place and let out a guttural yell.

I stood up instantly after swinging my arm around till it felt right. I walked up to the boy on the stairs. He seemed fine, as he should’ve been, because he landed on me. I looked down, a little bit of red spreading across his face. He didn’t even look up as he pointed to the empty bunk. He said some stuff, but all I understood was that it was mine.

I took a few careful steps into the place again avoiding all the gazes. I sat down on the tatters of cloth that the person had said was mine. I turned my back to the other people and lay down. The fabric sank under me, cushioning my body.

It reminded me of the mounds and fields of moss. The soft, rich green plant grew almost everywhere, but it was the most abundant in the cave. I missed the soft moss-covered ground. I missed sleeping on a weak basis.

 A small tear rolled down my face. It had finally settled in that I would never be able to return to the moss-covered cavern that had been my home for eight years.

I started sobbing quietly. I fell asleep that night, drowning in my sorrows and tears; by the time I had woken up, my eyes were swollen, and my mouth was dry as sand. I also had a splitting headache. It didn’t help that the noise was getting louder and the lights brighter by the second.

I curled into a tight ball, the blankets moving with me. Someone tapped my shoulder, and I shrank away, grumbling.

A person grabbed me, shaking me harshly. “Wake up,” he said, the words coming out as a hiss. I shook my arm, trying to detach myself from him. “Get up right now,” he barked, yanking me off the bed frame and onto the floor. I hit the ground with a thud staring up into the steel grey eyes of a boy. He said something about my eyes being swollen and then pulled me along. I was once again dragged along the gravel path.

This time we come to a massive white tent with a red-stained cross on it. The boy opened the flap of the tent and walked in—there were only three people inside, and they were all sitting in a circle talking about something. They stood up immensely and rushed over to the boy and me. He said some things that I really didn’t understand, and they all nodded.

The women then pushed him out of the white tent and sat me down on a small wood frame with the same white sheets as the place I had been before. They bustled around for a few minutes, grabbing random things, many of which looked extremely sharp.

They gave me a clean cream-colored tunic and dark brown shorts to change into. After many tries to speak and talk to them, I managed to get them to give me something to cover my eyes and something for my ears. They seemed to understand me even as I struggled to pronounce every word.

They gave me a strip of shiny dark black cloth and tied it around my head, covering my eyes. They also gave me these weird gummy-like things that were meant for my ears. They had already heard that I was hyper-sensitive from the man before, I guess because they already had the stuff ready.

Once I was ready, one of the women took me to this clearing in the middle of nowhere and left me there. The man from before, as well as the boys, were there. The man scoffed when he saw me then smiled. “Welcome,” he said, tossing a wooden stick at me. I tried to catch it, but I fumbled, and it landed on the ground. I bent down and picked it up. The stick was surprisingly heavy and was shaped oddly. The shaft even had a handle with tightly bound leather on it.

“Come at me, boy,” he said slowly, but just enough for me to understand. I dashed forward, the stick trailing on the ground behind me. The boys stepped aside, forming a loss circle around us. I threw the stick at him to his surprise. The boys started laughing, and the man frowned.

I lowered myself to the ground and flung myself at his head, latching on like a mosquito. I bit and scratched his head violently, trying to tear at whatever I could. He grabbed me by the collar of the tunic and yanked me off his head, my limbs still flailing around.

He hurled me across the ground. I somehow managed to land on my feet, but I scraped up my hands in the process. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists, and then charged again. I flung my arms backward and headbutted the man in the stomach. I definitely hit something, but I found that I had only hit his outstretched arms when I opened my eyes.

I opened my mouth and chomped down onto his figure. He swore a few times then tossed me to the dirt. He bent down, staring at me, his eyes boring into me. “You will call me Sir from now on,” he said as well as some other thing I didn’t understand. The language gap was really starting to piss me off now

He picked the weird stick off the ground and put it in my hand. “The first rule when fighting, never throw your sword,” he said, flicking my head.

So this was a sword. I had heard Weth talking about it to Rob before. It was supposed to be a sturdy weapon, and well, this was just a weird log. “Ace, your in charge of this one,” The man said, standing up and locking eyes with the tallest boy. “yes, sir,” Ace said. Ace, the boy from earlier with steel gray eyes, looked at me with a questioning stare then walked towards me.