[He] entered this existence, blue and still. By the time life breathed into him, the one who bore him had long died.
[He] was told the survival of his birth was unnatural and unwanted, and [he] never observed otherwise.
Perhaps…that was why he became an empty child with empty wants.
The first touch he learned of was of [pain].
It wasn't until he was older—after witnessing the variety of life outside the stone castle—that he realized there existed more than [that] which hurt him and others.
Yet…by then…he had long accepted his [place].
He, who was never taught to yearn, never learned to hope or expect.
He, who was an empty husk of flesh meant to overfill with others' commands and desires, rarely struggled or defied.
Why would he? When he, the master's [whore], knew of nothing else?
"P…pl…ease… …p…please…" the person he had captured and tied gagged out.
"You won't die now," he told the person, clasping his hands over their bloody face to muffle their begs. "Once finished here, you and your companions will be guided outside the city gates," he continued, pressing down even further. "Flee. Never return. You'll die if you do. Heed this last warning."
…
Only when silence answered did he release them, their body joining the rest on the blood-soaked ground in front of him.
…
Now…to prepare for the [next] task…
║║║║║║║║║║
"Let's leave him!" Winston insisted, referring to Callous who was still unconscious back on top of the secluded hill.
Winston and I were at its base, arguing whether we should wait until Callous awoke before leaving.
"Trial registrants are being targeted, remember?" I reminded him. "What if we leave and they find him defenseless? In that case, I'd claim partial responsibility since he fainted because of me!"
"But…it's not [our] fault he's weak…" Winston grumbled, glowering at the ground.
He continued doing so for the next half hour as we sat against the trunk of a tree off at the side, waiting for Callous to reappear.
"…No one should find this place…" he was still muttering, "…so why spare any guilt…? Let's just end this by waking him…"
[…]
I patted Winston's head and tousled his hair when he began protesting.
"…You're doing this just 'cause you're bigger, aren't you?" he demanded softly, grabbing my wrist but still allowing me reach.
I laughed.
"So, you finally accept I'm taller?!" I heartily teased, reaching over to ruffle his hair with two hands this time. "You're finally admitting it aloud!"
"Only 'cause I'm not far behind!" Winston quipped, narrowing his brows even though he was grinning with laughter as well. "You just wait!"
I would have teased him further had we not heard footsteps thumping down the hill.
We turned, spotting Callous trekking down with a fierce expression, while behind him followed—
I pulled Winston into the shrubs behind the trees the same time he did to me, the hairs on the nape of our necks stiffening as we assessed the unknown, fourth member.
Even hunched, the…[person] trailing Callous loomed as tall as the shortest surrounding trees. They were ghastly lean, much like skin and muscles taut over bones, and the sides of their head were shaven, leaving only dark tuft to line the center.
That uncommon hairstyle wasn't what grounded Winston and me, however.
What kept us riveted was the [instinct] we felt at the mere sight of this person.
…
[Danger.]
…
[This person is [dangerous].]
From the pair, we heard Callous's heavy footfalls and unrestrained breathing as he continued storming down the hill, yet—from the other—
Whispers.
Only the whispers of the grass underneath their feet parting and squirming and the whispers of their limbs slinking forward with a rickety gait could be heard.
Nothing else.
And as both reached the bottom to pass where we crouched—
"…Callousss…" a wiry voice slithered from the fourth member as they jerked to a stop, jolting me and Winston.
"What?!" Callous snapped, glancing over his shoulder without stopping.
The fourth member turned their head to stare in our direction, and I held my breath as a deathly stench engulfed us.
"Two sneaky [pupss]…" the fourth member hissed, their sunken eyes staring directly down at us. "There are two sneaky pups nearby…"
[…]
"Enough with that!!" Callous shouted in the distance while Winston and I readied ourselves. "This isn't your time to hunt! Stop that and hurry up!!"
…
"Ohhh…" the fourth member breathed with false disappointment, still staring menacingly. "It seems…we'll be meeting [later], then…"
…
"…[Dumb] pupss…"
[…]
║║║║║║║║║║
We didn't see Callous after that.
And with only a week and a half left until the Trial…Winston and I agreed it was for the best.
We kept an eye and ear out for him though, as we were both afflicted with a foreboding feeling.
That mysterious fourth member…
How had they appeared at the top without us noticing?
The only path leading uphill began from where Winston and I waited at the base, so we couldn't have missed such a presence slipping past.
Unless…
…they traversed up the treacherously steep hillsides to avoid attention.
If not…perhaps they arrived hours before Winston and I, generously hidden among the trees dotting the hill, watching and waiting. If so…how often had they observed us passing time with Callous? From the start? Or…long before?
[…[Dumb] pupsss…], the fourth member had grinned.
As if to reward our uneasiness—
Not two days after Callous disappeared, a thief snuck into our house in the middle of the night.
I was in my room, fast asleep on the second floor, when I suddenly awoke to the phantom sensation of hands coiling around my neck.
I barely registered the sight of a dark figure leaning over me before I grabbed their outstretched arms, pulling them as I twisted out of bed, causing us to tumble onto the floor with my bed sheet covers in-between.
The person underneath immediately struggled, and I pinned their wrists against the floor even harder, pressing my knee into their torso to ensure they wouldn't move—
"—A-Airee…!!" a familiar voice gasped with pain.
[!]
I ripped away the covers and instantly collapsed backwards when I realized who it was.
[…]
"… …Sorry, Winston…" I breathed, covering my face with my hands as relief and guilt replaced the adrenaline. "I didn't know it was you—wait. Why're you here?! What's happened?!" I asked, lunging back up as I realized he wouldn't be here without reason.
"I heard…noises from your room," he said as he sat up, wincing as I grasped his face to check for bumps. "I knocked and called your name…but you never answered. I thought something was wrong, so I entered without permission. I didn't mean to scare you… I'm sorry, Airee."
I sighed, releasing the rest of my tension while gently pressing his wrists. "That's alright. And…I'm usually a sound sleeper; I wasn't having a nightmare, and I'm sure I don't walk or talk during sleep. That means…what you could have heard was…"
I paused, assessing the state of my room.
Only now did I realize my window was swung open and the small desk and chest inside the room in disarray.
In addition to that—
Winston and I both swiveled towards the open window, both hearing soft shuffling from the outside. The sound didn't carry from below or above but seemingly from the room over—
I bolted to my feet, Winston scrambling to his own from behind as I sprinted across the hall through both sets of double doors separating our rooms, bursting through the entryway to his bedroom before seeing—
A moonlit silhouette standing at the sill of Winston's open window, their back facing me as they angled forward to grab the outside ledge of the roof with the tip of their fingers.
At the sound of me, they merely glanced over, giving me a peek of dull, yellow eyes, before gracefully swinging their legs up and over onto the roof, something glinting and clacking at their hip as their torso swiftly followed—
I lunged across the room and shot through the window, catching the intruder by their disappearing hands before pulling with all my might.
A solid thump echoed from above, and I began dropping as my weight dragged the intruder off the roof.
We fell.
The distance between me and the ground wasn't as far, so I landed first and rolled to recover.
The intruder did the same, but I jumped on them before they could flee.
Slamming them back onto the ground, I gripped the back of their neck and twisted their hand behind their back before they could stab me with the blade they deftly pulled from their person.
"Air!!" Winston shouted, bursting through the front door behind us.
"Tell Shelly to inform the gate watchmen about a thief!" I responded as I wrenched the intruder's shoulder back, causing them to release their dagger. "They're the nearest guards, and they'll—"
I stopped speaking as a familiar stench engulfed me.
Releasing the intruder, I barely had time to scrunch in defense before a wooden beam shot from the darkness, batting me from the side before flinging me off.
My arms and shoulder exploded with pain, and the side of my head where the wooden beam aimed throbbed excruciatingly as I crashed into the ground.
Winston ran to me, and I stifled my shout as his voice jabbed painfully in and out of distance.
By the time the pain ebbed and I was helped to stand, only Winston and I remained.
[…]
"…Ah…Sorry, Winston…" I croaked as he brushed my ear in fear, his hand coming away bloody. "The Trial tags… There were several tied to their belt… …but I… …I couldn't retrieve any…"
…
=====
"We underestimated those pupss," Snare uttered as they glided between the houses and alleyways with [him]. "Poor Callous will scream at our failure."
"…Not completely a failure," [he] responded, revealing the one tag with [06] etched onto it.
"Ohhhh…" Snare hurred. "Yess… This is enough to—"
Twitching, Snare quieted and stopped just before the opening of the backway they were in—well in time to avoid getting slivered by a steadfast sword.
"Aww~" a voice drawled before them. "Just a little more, and I would've gotten you!"
[He] stepped closer to Snare, and Snare assessed the situation as multiple footsteps echoed in the alley behind them.
"Oi," the voice from earlier called out, and Snare stared as a muscular, yet agile, young man stepped into sight.
Snare observed the careful pattern and symbol engraved along the hilt of their sword as the young man coldly uttered, "You big piece of [timber]. We'll cut you where you stand."
"Hehh…" Snare huffed as they reached into their person to unsheathe a long and hefty cleaver. "Musst you?"
Though the young man smiled, the vein on their neck burst as they uttered, "[Yes]. [You'll die for who you've touched]."
Calculations fired in Snare's mind as another group joined the young man, each carrying a similar, symbolic sword as well. "Don't be hasty, Shire," one of them whispered to the young man. "If you want to help the [young lady], we must finish this quietly."
Not doubting their intentions to kill, Snare rushed the group, attacking the young man first with the cleaver while leaving [him] to defend against the rest charging at the back.
[…]
[He] and Snare had done much to beget retaliation, but none so recently connected to a [young lady] that Snare could dredge up—
[?]
"Ohh…" Snare breathed, realizing as they countered several swords at once. "That scarred pupp just now…?"
Bloodlust flared from all around, and Snare inhaled the air, smiling with pleasure.
"Ahhh… I certainly underestimated those two…"