A Moment in the Cabin

Gut Feeling

"Are you sure he doesn't know that we are here?" Rose implores to Alberta for the tenth time this morning. Dressed up in black to represent a Strigoi, Rose looks dangerous and extremely sexy, but the former is probably what others see more than the latter. Alberta waves Rose off as we approach the arena and get into position. Given that Christopher will be going last as his last name is Turing, Rose and I have been hidden away until the end. I decided not to participate in his trial as he would spot me right away, but Rose will blend in right away. Well, that is until she goes toe to toe with Christopher.

"Turing! You're next!"

I slip out of the tent as Christopher comes closer and I listen to Alberta lays out the final rules, and another Guardian steps forward to play Moroi. Christopher goes out and starts while Alberta and I walk towards the observation area. Christopher has improved even more since Rose and I were here only four months ago, and I am rather enjoying watching him go through his trial. He moves towards the final segment of his trial when Rose jumps down from where she was lying in wait for him, and he momentarily falters before he advances her.

The way the two of them move while sparring is hypnotizing and you can see that he is starting to tire, but in a flash he finds an opening on Rose and takes her to the ground, placing his practice stake over her heart. He moves to the end of his finish line just as Alberta and I get there, a bottle of water and towel in hand.

Rose catches up behind him and claps her hand on his shoulder. "Good job Chris! You kicked my ass!" Rose praises and Christopher turns around to give her a big hug. "Thank you. I didn't think you two were coming. Last week you said you couldn't make it," Christopher says as he lets go of Rose and takes the towel from me. He scrubs the towel over his face before wrapping it around his neck.

I shrug and hand him the water bottle. "We wanted to surprise you. We both were going to participate in your trial, but I figured you would spot me a mile away.

Rose snorts a laugh. "No, he didn't do it because he's an old man." I shake my head and lightly shove her shoulder making her laugh as she stumbles a little. Alberta shakes her head at our antics. Alberta congratulates Christopher before taking her leave and he, Rose and I leave the tent and head towards the cafeteria. Thankfully, it is deserted so we get food and sit down at one of the tables, digging into our food and catching up.

Christopher is pushing his food around his plate absentmindedly, gnawing on his lip. "What's bothering you?" I ask wiping my mouth with my napkin and putting it down on my plate. Christopher looks up at me with a slightly embarrassed expression. "I know that I did well combat-wise, but academically I struggled a bit. I'm worried that it will affect my allocation."

Rose looks at me and her lip quirks up at the side before she reaches around the table and puts her hand on Christopher's arm. "I just got by with my academic studies and look at the allocation I got. A Moroi isn't going to care about your academic score, they're only going to care about your ability to protect them." Christopher nods his head but still frowns. "Yeah, but you are a Hathaway, you already have some sort of reputation."

Rose bites on the corner of her lip before replying. "Hey, your name means something in the world too."

Christopher snorts and rolls his eyes in a very 'Rose' way. "Yeah? How so?" Rose smirks and scoops a mouthful of pudding into her mouth. "Well, you have the same last name as Alan Turing. He saved a lot of lives." Christopher and I look at each other before looking back at Rose. "Who is Alan Turing?" I ask.

"He broke the Enigma code. Practically won World War II for the British Army? He started the initial creation of the computer? You seriously don't know who he is?"