The Hunters

Chapter 11

Adriana

Becca examines one of the larger steel chakrams with curiosity as I carefully take the smaller ones out of my backpack, trying not to slice myself. The guys have gone elsewhere to discuss things and to fill Kellen in, so in the meantime, Becca and I will both try to figure out how to best use the weapons. It turns out that I hadn't been fooling anyone as well as I thought, as they pretty much all figured out that weapons were a foreign concept to me.

"You know, I think you may have hit the nail on the head with the frisbee jokes," she glances at a tree to our left before tossing the steel ring in its direction, exactly how you would toss a frisbee. It lodged itself in the surface of the bark, protruding at an angle.

Chuckling, I stand, walking over to the weapon and grazing it with my fingertips as it clings to the tree bark. It must be pretty sharp to cut through so cleanly. "How hard did you throw this?"

"Not hard. I actually thought it would bounce straight off. I barely even aimed the thing."

My eyes widen. Damn. If it can wedge itself so deeply into wood with minimal effort then how much damage can it do to an actual person? I shudder at the thought, not entirely willing to find out.

Deciding its best not to leave something so lethal sticking out of a tree trunk, I hesitantly grip it between my fingers, pulling gently at it. Lo and behold, it doesn't budge. Giving it a bit of a jiggle, I tug a little harder, being careful not to cut myself. Such caution proved fruitless however, since as it starts to dislodge, the skin of my palm is caught by the blade. I manage to remove it with no further injury, although I have always been a bleeder. Hence, there is now copious amounts of blood raining down onto the grass, appearing an unnecessary amount for how fucking tiny the cut actually is. I really have set myself up with this one.

"You ok, Ria?" Concern crosses Becca's features as I turn, looking down at my hand.

"Yeah. Just a little cut. It's not as bad as it seems," I set down the chakram, opening my hand to show her. Her gaze finds it immediately. "Body's feeling a little overdramatic, it would seem."

She keeps her gaze on my bleeding hand, gnawing on her lip. "Overdramatic?"

"Well yeah. It's a poxy little cut and yet it's still pissing everywhere. You got any tissues?"

Without looking up, she nods her head slightly, still gnawing on her now raw lip.

I wait a second, but she makes no move to get any. "Can I have some?" No answer. Scooting forward, I click the fingers of my uninjured hand in front of her face.

Her face snaps up and she blinks rapidly. "Yeah. Sorry about that."

Rolling my eyes, I grin at her as she pulls some out of her bag. "Squeamish?"

"Uh... Yeah. A bit," she hands me the tissues and I start to clean up. The cut has stopped bleeding now, but that hasn't stopped the blood going everywhere. Thank God it didn't get my jacket.

"So," I start, placing the tissues back in the little pouch to bin later. "How am I supposed to use the ones with no handle without that happening?"

"Ummmm... I dunno. Leather gloves, maybe? Or their might be a trick to it."

"Leather gloves? Wouldn't it just cut through them?"

She contemplates for a second. "Maybe not if you got those really tough ones."

I raise a brow. "Because I most definitely had those at home and packed them. Come on. There has to be some sort of knack."

"Look, it was just a suggestion. I'll ask Prince about it. For now maybe we should focus on the one with a handle."