Sharpened [ On Hold Indefinitely ]

Chapter Nine

I result to telling Darky that I had stumbled and bashed my knee on a pointy rock, and I show her my scar. It is actually the scar I received from falling on the stone steps a few weeks earlier, but she's hadn't been there to see it.

"I'll get Sage, he can heal anything," Thunder says. Then she runs to the boy's tree.

"How much did it hurt," Darky asks sympathetically.

"Not too much," I lie. "It just stung."

I feel terrible saying all this to my friends, but I have to obey the Countless, or else Wolf could be destroyed. If the people of the Float manage to overrun the Countless, there would be nobody to protect the people of Wolf.

I just hope that Thunder and her gang aren't part of the rebellers.

Seconds later, Thunder returns with Sage at her side. He runs his fingers through his hair, then reaches into a his pocket, pulling out a small vial of greenish liquid. It looks like it was made from mushing different types of leaves together into a wet substance, which irony really want smeared across my leg.

Nonetheless, Sage bends down to examine the scar tissue on my shin. I hope he doesn't notice that it happened months ago.

"That's a pretty bad scrape you got, are you sure you got it from tripping?" He asks.

I gulp. "Well..." I stammer. "I just tripped and this rock cut it. I...I don't really know, it just hurts!" I give a small whimper. Hopefully he'll fall for that.

The boy nods, and Darky rests her hand on my shoulder. "It'll be okay," she whispers.

I crack a small smile. They believe me.

"What's happening?"

I look down and see Maple shouting from the ground.

Thunder leans out from the bunk. "Timber's getting treated."

Maple begins to climb the tree, the bark grabbing at her tunic. When she reaches the bunk, she hoists herself up onto the soft leaves. "What happened to her?"

"She tripped and feel on a rock," Darky answers for me.

+ + + + +

Later that night, we sit around the fire, discussing our fears.

Thunder says hers is spiders.

"How can you be scared of spiders?" Darky asks. "You live in, like, spider land."

"Don't remind her of that," Lumination says, laughing.

Thunder narrows her eyes at him. "How can I be any worse than Maple," she says. "She's scared of water."

Darky and I turn to the blonde-haired girl, who shrugs, smiling.

"I'm scared of space," says Sage.

"That, I can agree with," Lumination retorts.

Ignoring him, Thunder turns to where Darky and I are seated on a sycamore log. "What are you guys scared of?" She asks, inquisitively.

"Umm," I say.

"My fear is earthquakes," Darky cuts in.

"What's that?" Everyone asks in unison.

"Oh, it's this thing I read about in a Roots book," she explains. "The ground would shake a bunch, and things would come crashing down. Sometimes were even giant waves of water that killed hundreds if people! It was one of the things that the Countless pledged to get rid of."

That sounds terrible. I can't imagine the very ground we stand on moving! So many things would be destroyed. The walls, the buildings, the arenas! That thought just haunts me.

"Well," I start. "My fear, I guess, is...uh...terrorists?"

Everyone in the circle nods.

"I hate people who kill other people just for fun," Maple remarks.

"Yeah," Lumination agrees.

Everyone silently nods again.

Suddenly, a flaming price of charcoal comes flying out of the fire, right at Darky's face. She flinches, but in a flash, Maple catches it.

"Woah," I say.

"How did you do that?!" Thunder exclaims. She stares at Maple, who shrugs.

"Quick reflexes? She guesses.

"I think it's time we hit the hay," Sage says, standing up. We all agree and begin to climb the trees to our bunks.

As I settle in next to Maple on the highest bed, my mind is racing. How could she have caught the piece of charcoal so quickly, and without burning herself?