Welcome to the War Games

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"I don't have everything," Addie replied, shrugging uncomfortably. "I'm not a noble. Besides, how do you know that...? I don't really have any friends here, and how do you know about my family?"

She frowned, shuddering as she waded into the water.

"And I do have to work. I have to do really well in my studies, or my family will make me go back to doing apprenticeships again, and I'm just not good at anything else. I mean, at least if you don't make it here, you've got a business to fall back on. I don't have anything. And my family thinks I'm weird."

And it was true. She'd failed at so many apprenticeship tests, and apprenticeships themselves, that her family was at their wits' end trying to find somewhere their daughter could make a living. Allowing her to come to the school had been a last resort, a final prayer that their awkward little giraffe might have some place in the world. It felt like, now, getting into the school had been the easy part. Addie at least hoped Leon would prove to be a friend, and maybe Henry. She knew, class-wise, she had more in common with Cy, but the boy intimidated her quite a bit; she liked people like Eddie better.

"I can teach you how to play volleyball too, it's easy," Addie said, hoping to change the subject. Just for once she wanted to try being a normal girl, confident in herself like the others.

"Hey Addie, could I interest you in a small deal?"

"Uh... I don't know anything about using a forge," Addie said. "And I don't like getting burned or messing around with melted metal and stuff. I'm not really all that strong. And I kinda want to play volleyball now. I don't think I'd be much help."

She felt bad turning him down, but Addie knew she didn't have the strength or skill to be much help to him, nor did she want to risk her studies by doing anything on the side. School was her last shot at finding a place she could succeed.
 
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"You left with your father didn't you? I was one of the last to leave, but I noticed you two leaving together." Leon said "as for friends, I don't see you having that much trouble making friends. And having everything I don't doesn't involve wealth or status. People matter more. I haven't had friends before because I've always been working hard. First as an apprentice, then as the real deal since my mother and sisters were butchered and my dad crawled into a bottle and got stabbed in the back while he was at the bar squandering what money came in." Leon said softly with a look of equal parts anger, pain and loneliness in his eyes "if I don't get these five hundred and sixty orders knocked out soon, the nobles are going to take my licence away and I'll have nothing. This academy is my backup, but if I don't keep the money flowing in I won't be able to keep attending this school."
When she offered to teach him how to play volleyball, the last raven sighed and said "I really need to finish these orders, but I'll play a little for thirty minutes. Any more than that and I'll fall too far behind and loose what I have left of what my family left me. And I wasn't going to ask you to carry anything too heavy. I brought some fireproof gloves and some tongs to move the containers of molten metal. Some nobles want an ornamental dagger while the vast majority of them want swords. But for some reason, they all want something with an edge."
 
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Sydney was ecstatic that not only was she not getting told off for the cannonball, but that Nadine was actually encouraging a second. “Sure can!” she chirped excitedly when asked for an encore. “It’s all about how you land.”

In not time at all she had climbed out of the pool and prepped herself to launching a repeat performance, shouting to give those who didn’t care for the ensuing wall of water the opportunity to get out of the way. Sydney came up spluttering this time, a substantial about of water having gotten up her nose. She didn’t even notice that this time she had also gotten a few people who weren’t even in the pool including Addie as she spoke to Leon.

A moment latter she very happily allowed herself to be roped into playing volleyball. “You’ll have to teach me!” she exclaimed jumping in the water to hand on Nadine as payback for her earlier near dunking, Not that tiny little Sydney could have much affect on the older larger girl. Still, they were there to have fun.

Henry, meanwhile, merely shrugged as Addie asked him to the game. “Sure, why not,” he called back, rising to his feet, pulling off his white t-shirt, and jumping into the water which caused his swim trunks to balloon around his thighs. Henry quickly smoothed them down and made his way over to where Agatha and Eddie were setting up the net for the game.

“Eight.” Henry stated when asked to pick a number.
“Five!” Sydney shouted excitedly over the top of him. “I’ve never played, but being a captain sounds fun. What does a captain do exactly?”

”How about you calm down and learn the rules before you go volunteering for a job you don’t understand,” Henry chided gently, though there was a smile twisting his lips as Sydney’s excitement started to feed into him.”

“I can learn as I go right? It can’t be that hard to learn? Can it? Eddie?” the tiny girl protested turning to her roommate for support on the issue.
 
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Lycus sreached out on the pool chair, relaxing his muscles after the run. He wanted to relax in his room, but the swimming offer was just too good to pass up. Add that to the fact that he wanted to meet people and make friends here, not drive people away. Oh well, he supposed, thinking on his talk with Jason. Perhaps he wasnt the best peoples person, but he should apologize for what he said, no matter what Jason thought about this school. After all, he was his roommate. He was excited about this oppertunity to meet people, and wanted to take advantage of it as much as possible. He sighed as he looked down at his clothes. They were just his old clothes; he didnt have swimming trunks.

He swung his legs out at the talk of volleyball. He jumped into the pool quickly, and then waved at everybody. "Three," he called out, in order to secure his place in the game, before turning to the others in the game. He swam over to the people playing, and saw a girl who looked like Emily. "Hey, you're Emily's sister right? Can you apologize to her for me? I don't think put first meeting came out the best, and would like to aplogize for whatever I did in order to make her mad."
 
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Quinn really didn't want to go to the pool, but she figured that it would make for some good exercise.

Well, that was her logic until she saw just how many people had the same idea.

And then some idiot splashed her as they so rudely did a cannonball into the pool. The solitary girl was not happy, but she knew that she couldn't have her temper leading her fist into someone's gut so close to the beginning of the year. So, she decided to just glare angrily at the girl whom soaked her clothes and made her way to a shady area to read her grandfather's journal of battlefield tactics and people watch. Being a single child to a single parent, she preferred to subtly watch people before she engaged in social interaction.
 
"Ten!' Addie shouted.

"I'm Agatha, yes," she replied to Lycus, looking a little dismayed that he'd only been interested in her sister. Not that it was unusual, Emily was always the one every wanted, for better or worse.
"I'm sorry about her, she's got such a bad temper. I can apologize on your behalf, but... I'm afraid it won't do much good. She's very stubborn. What's your name, anyway? I'm Agatha--"

"Okay, team captains are Addie and Henry since my number was 11," Nadine interrupted, causing Agatha to blush. "Team Captains, pick your members."

Addie chose Leon, Isaac, Eddie, and Sydney.
"Please don't run off," Addie murmured to Leon as they all took their positions on either side of the net. Nadine and Shan sat on the side of the pool to keep watch and score.
"I've only played this indoors with a balloon, so I could use the support," she finished, holding the ball to serve it.
"Ready, set, go!" Nadine yelled and Addie served the ball over the net towards Henry, suddenly hoping he hadn't taken too much of a beating to enjoy playing volleyball with them. A simple enough game, it wasn't hard to pick up how to play from watching a few volleys and for the first time since she got to the pool, Addie found herself having real fun. It didn't even bother her when she jumped to hit the ball and fell under the water, or that Isaac had to rescue Sydney from the same fate a few times.

The game ran on for an hour, each side scoring points on the other. Although not great at positioning those on her team, Addie proved to be surprisingly good at encouraging them and aiming her shots. On Henry's side, Cyril played the same way, although much more viciously than Addie. Agatha stuck close to Lycus, bouncing several shots over to him to get over the net. However, as the game drew to a close, one of the professors came to them and shouted that the new students were to get dressed and be at the obstacle course in ten minutes.

When they arrived the instructor began putting them in pairs. Addie ended up with Henry, Isaac with Lycus, Sydney with Cy, Eddie with Shan, Agatha with Leon, and Eric with James. As they stood in pairs, the instructor came and taped them together at the ankles and wrist with their partner, leaving them with the other set of limbs free like three-legged race.
"The course starts now!"

Along the course were a climbing wall, a tire tube run, a barbed wire crawl, a rope swing, and a set of poles to weave in and out of.
 
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Eddie, while being dragged from conversation to conversation and from dry-land to wet-land, felt much like she was a home that was being relocated. In the same way that a building would be moved from one spot to another; just hiked up onto a trailer, and bam, it was on it's way to a new destination. To be quite frank, Eddie was mighty nervous about being in the water. Not only did she feel as if any moment she would meet a wet demise, but she felt as if some people were out to get her.

While the game drew on and Eddie's nerves seemed to grow from her last one, she enjoyed herself eventually and fully. She managed to sink under water once or twice, but she knew it was all in good fun. The water was giving her a headache, and to tell the truth, she enjoyed the fact that she got to get out of it soon enough. She felt like she had been waterboarded, and dried off as soon as she crept out. The professor yelled loudly, telling the others that it was time for another activity.

Eddie went back and changed into some shorts and a shirt she had, and headed to the field to meet her new partner.

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Cy Vester, while not involved in the game, didn't take to any taunts into playing. He wasn't the type to swim on a whim, but he did like soaking his feet. He watched by the sidelines, his legs in the water and his eyes on the ball. He told himself that next game he'd join in, but by the end, it was a little too late to decide. Cy was shoved into a new set of goals that the school had provided. He was assigned a partner, and was to work in a set of obstacles. He wasn't excited to see what this held in store for him.​
 
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When Leon noticed how much time had gone by he felt like he had nothing left. An hour had slipped away. He could've had two bladed weapons casted already in that amount of time! The last raven wasn't too happy about the time he lost and took his frustration out on the obstacle course. He powered through the course. He was obviously worked up over it and knew he would have to redouble his efforts to catch up, let alone get ahead of schedule on his five hundred plus orders if that was even possible. He told Addie thirty minutes was all the time he could spare. Why she had him stick around past that was beyond him! He told her what was at stake for him! His training. His job. His very life hinged on him not falling behind schedule! ...okay, that was a little over-dramatic, but it did threaten his one and only source of income, which in turn threatened his ability to keep attending the academy due to the cost it took to go there.

Leo shot Addie a sharp glare for not listening to what he said, but didn't say anything to her. He had helped her during the fight before their names were announced at the ceremony and when she twisted her ankle and yet she told him she couldn't help him with his mountain of a work load and on top of that she kept him away from his work for twice as long as he told her he could spare!

Boy oh boy was he pissed off. You could practically feel the anger radiating from him let alone see it in his body language. His knuckles were white from how tightly his fists were clenched and his jaws were firmly shut. You wouldn't be human if you didn't feel even a little sorry for his poor partner. He dragged Agetha along and didn't slow down until it was over. He had tunnel vision at that moment and was too focused on running the course as quickly as he could that it took the instructor putting him in a choke hold for him to come out of his blind rage, but by the time he came down from his inferno of rage he was already clocking out from reality. As it dawned on him that something was wrong, Leon's world went dark and his body felt heavy and eventually slumped to the ground out cold and with tears running down his face in his unconscious state. The memories that haunted him, and that he had been trying to suppress ever so unsuccessfully, bringing the tears he had been holding back since he buried his family flowing forth. It was all from the pain he was dragging around.
 
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Addie couldn't understand why Leon was so angry, or why he didn't just leave if he clearly didn't want to be there. Usually people would leave if they didn't want to do something, and she hadn't thought she'd been commanding or anything. It was just volleyball, after all, surely it couldn't be that awful. Addie had made it through the game, but it hadn't been a lot of fun once she saw how angry Leon was. It was almost a relief to go back out to the training ground, even if she got tied to Henry. Not that she didn't like him, but Addie didn't like being tied to a boy. Her face was red the entire race, but not nearly as red as most of Agatha turned out to be.

Since Leon forged ahead without trying to work with her, Agatha ended up getting dragged and banged along the track. In his blind rage, and being so timid, Agatha couldn't get Leon to cooperate with her to help keep from being hurt until proctors forcibly grabbed him and untied them. The proctors dragged him back into the school and locked him in a small room near the infirmary, unsure of what could have possibly caused the outrageous and apparently unprovoked display of temper. Agatha was treated in the medical wing, and the rest of the students were driven around the track like cattle. Addie did her best to keep up with Henry, but most of her communication consisted of mumbles as she looked away. Shan, although impatient with Eddie's shortness, proved to be fairly merciful in helping the girl around the track.

They were eventually allowed to return to the school for dinner and then their dorms. Several students, including Quinn, Lycus, and James, found notes in their dorms, informing them of their release from the school due to problems with their tuition payments, but most were able to stay. The next weeks consisted of morning and afternoon PT with evening norming classes for students to ensure they were all at the same level of proficiency in geometry, chemistry, math, and other basic subjects. Everything moved along at a fairly steady clip for about three weeks until one morning when they were woken extra early and rushed out of their rooms and into trucks. The insides of the trucks were dark and they rode around for nearly an hour before the doors were opened and they were dumped into the Waste wearing only their school uniforms. A single pack had been thrown out with them, and it contained a few large knives, a water purifying system, a compass, and a plastic bag. Inside the bag was a small beeper and a note explaining that they could use it in dire situations and it would send someone to collect them, but if they used it, they failed out of school.

Out before them stretched hills, struggling trees, trickling streams, and the ruins of tall buildings divvied up by yellow-marked roads. In the far distance they could see an armless, vaguely woman-shaped structure. Agatha shoved the pack at Leon, still angry at him about the obstacle course, and Addie gave him a wide berth as well. Isaac shielded his eyes from the morning sun and pointed at the statue.
"Do you guys think there might be something useful there? Maybe a checkpoint?"
"Or Nomads," Addie replied flatly. "We don't know what they'll do to us if they catch us."
"Nomads aren't that bad," Shan shrugged. "They're mostly Exiles from the city, right?"
"And people get exiled for a reason!" Addie replied, to which Isaac grumbled 'not always'.
"Let's get a consensus on what to do," Isaac said a bit more loudly. "Statue, follow the stream, or check out the buildings?"
 
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Leon caught the bag without a problem and pulled out a pair of knives that he tucked into his belt. He didn't expect anyone to forgive him too quickly for his berserker rage on the track. He had been very specific and asked not to run off before the game ended. He stuck around and it cost him valuable time.

"The instructors obviously want to see who has what it takes to do whatever it takes to survive. Even if it means killing someone out here. Look, I don't expect anyone to forgive me for what happened on the track." Leon said before he looked at Agatha and said "I'm sorry for taking my anger out on you. I'm under more pressure than most people here. I have a business that was left to me and the stress of all the orders had been adding up. You were not the one I was angry with. And it wasn't just anger I was feeling. I was also feeling a sense of hopelessness. I have nobody to fall back on. I'm supporting my own way through this school through the only trade I know. If I didn't get my five hundred and sixty orders for a new sword or dagger filled, my chances to keep coming here, let alone working a forge ever again, would be gone quicker than an early morning mist in the first rays of dawn. I seen everything vanishing right before my eyes and I know that's no excuse for losing my temper like that." he then looked at the others and said "whatever everyone decides, just be ready to fight for your life when the time comes. Nomads or mutated creatures can be deadly. We don't know how long we are going to be out here. And I'm not going to try to lead this group. I know nobody trusts me after my outburst. And I know it will take a long time to get back that trust."

The last raven had somehow finished his work load despite his time in the brig and his classes and contacted his customers and got paid for the work he did. He had said his peace and didn't know how the others would react to his words, but he knew for a fact that if worse came to worse he would use the knives he tucked away to defend not only himself, but the rest of the group. He just prayed that it didn't come down to that.
 
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Was Leon a fool? And should he really be the one with the knives? Not all of the knives were for each other, or even for Nomads. They were tools, not weapons. Looking at the array and types of knives the bag contained; a small skinner knife, a hunting knife and a trench knife. The trench knife, with a rusty handle guard, was the only one meant to be used on people. Should the need arise. They would fare better if they avoided other people all together. Though finding survivors would mean finding their source of water and food too.
"I don't know what the rest of you will do but I'm going to the statue," said Eric. "A human can survive three days without water and three weeks without food. If the weather gets bad and we have no shelter then we won't make it more than three hours out here." He looked to Eddie, hoping that she would agree. The group would do best to vote on what they had to do rather than each dividing themselves up and doing what each thought best. They had only the one bag between them so splitting up was a very bad idea. But Eric wasn't the best at making plans or controlling a situation, neither was he a survival expert. To him the thought of leaving the group didn't entail his diminishing chances of survival. His only concern of going solo was of getting lost and being all alone. "And if there are Nomads then it means that they have water, food and shelter. Maybe we can trade with them." It was a naive thought and they didn't have much to barter with.
 
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"Eric's right," Henry spoke up a moment later, trying to shake the panic that had set in during the cramped ride in the dark truck. He unconsciously reach up to rub his nose, grateful the school had waited until it had nearly healed before sending them out here. Not that he believed they were waiting on him, just that it was nice to face this mostly in one piece. even the bruises were nearly gone.

"Food and water are necessary, but they'll take some time to find. We can manage for a short time without if we have to, but out here -- shelter should be our first priority. The statue or the ruins are our best bet for that, and the ruins are the first place anyone would look for us should they decide to pilfer our supplies. I'm willing to bet we aren't the first group of students sent out here. That means the statue is probably safer. Splitting up is also a bad idea as we have no means for communication and based off everything so far, the school probably wants us to stay together."

The mention of nomads had stirred something in his heart. If people could survive out here then maybe . . .

"I - I'll go wherever you guys say is best," Sydney's voice piped up, for once sounding as small as she was. The girl's eyes were wide as she took in the wild surrounding them and it was clear she was out of her element. They all were. "But, Leon," she continued, "Let's not kill anyone okay? If we meet someone and they think we're going to hurt them . . . maybe if we're nice like Eric says they'll give us help instead . . ."

"We're not killing anyone," Henry confirmed. He wasn't even going to entertain the idea. Their best chance, the best chance of getting everyone home in one piece if they met other people, was diplomacy. He could see it in his mind, a hundred strings connecting everything and everyone, the school officials set up like a spider in her web watching a group of flies struggle to break free. Each twitch of a thread leading to multiple possible reactions. Henry's mind raced, trying to seek out the best path home, or at least one that wouldn't get them all killed.

"Right now the plan is to find shelter, and then figure out our nearest water source." Henry's voice somehow conveyed a sense of calm he didn't quite feel, and that in a situation where most were fighting back fear and uncertainty lent him a bit of authority as well. He might not be right, but he was clear-headed. "We've got the filter contraption so even a small trickle will do. And if we find water we might find some edible plants or something as well. I sure hope someone's better at botany than I am."

Henry surveyed them all sizing them up, recalling what he could about their abilities before nodding to himself. "All right everyone lets get going, no need to waste daylight. Leon, when you start to get tired of the pack give it to me. We'll carry it in shifts so no one gets too tired."

He set out then, leading the way, giving no time for further argument. They could not afford to waste time here, and he could not ask them to go where he would not go himself. With each step he felt his mother's bible thump against his leg from the pocket he had hastily stowed it in when the proctors had come to collect them. Perhaps a blessing, that he had already been awake, up, and dressed.

Unconsciously what he had been reading that morning floated through his mind. “I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods." - Ezekiel 34:25. Not for the first time he wondered how his mother could put stock in such fairy tales, but at the moment he found it comforting such tales existed. And as they walked he found himself rolling through everything he had read in the past three weeks since school had started. It was quit simply easier than facing the harsh reality of what lay ahead, and it kept him calm. He needed to be calm right now. He needed to keep his mind off of who else might show up.

"Sydney, and this goes for the rest of you as well, If anyone needs to stop or rest, or needs help, go ahead and speak up. We need to take care of each other out here."

It would take some time, but with each step the statue, and their destination, grew gradually closer.
 
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"Never said I'd attack them first. If the Nomads are hostile, we need to be able to show them we are not to be taken lightly and not to be messed with. The staff dropped us off out here to see if we could work together and do whatever it takes to survive. That may mean killing someone that means us harm." Leon said before he looked at Henry when he said to pass the pack off to him if he got tired. "Alright, I'll do that. But if we are attacked out here I'm not going to hold back." Leon had a pair of Bowie knives tucked into his belt and without another word, followed the group at the back. He would make sure nobody got to anyone from the back of the group.

The last raven had heard stories about the nomads from various customers and people passing by. Some said they were criminals, others claimed cannibals. But no matter what they said, the general view on the nomads was that they were dangerous. Leon had a small number of throwing knives hidden on him. A side project he had for himself just in case things went from bad to worse. Right now, things were bad. They had no food, no shelter and a small amount of gear.

As they walked, Leon kept looking around when he spotted movement to their right. "Hey guys and gals, we got company to our right. Grab a knife and be ready to fight if whoever or whatever is out there is looking to fight or steel from us. But if our guest isn't hostile, keep the knives handy but don't hold it where they can take it as hostile."
 
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" Kill people? Are you kidding me?" Nadine grumbled as they trekked over the sandy, dead-rooted soil. The waste stretched out before them, a sad mockery of what it must have once been. She had agreed wholeheartedly with Eric about reaching the statue, figuring the school had obviously chosen this part of the waste because it conveniently gave them a goal to work towards: the statue. Shan and Isaac had been much more dubious, believing the statue to be a trap or trouble in general; Isaac seemed especially convinced, but neither made an effort to strike out on their own. Addie had been quiet, following Sydney closely. She was thankful her glasses were transitional lenses and had become sunglasses for her. Addie had rolled her eyes, but otherwise kept silent at Leon's tirade, again, about his family. It wasn't that Addie didn't feel bad for him; it was an awful thing to have had to go through. But this was about the second or third time she'd heard it, usually as part of him either acting out or asking for something. It was getting old as a defense of shitty behavior, she thought, and had been avoiding him since the Agatha incident.

About an hour into the trek Nadine hoisted Sydney into her back, saying the girl looked tired, and Addie gravitated towards Eric instead.
"Do you really think we can trade with the nomads?" she asked quietly. "I've always heard they're savage, don't speak English, kidnap people--"
"That's a load of shit!" Isaac snapped. "They're people, just like us, sometimes really like us. They just don't have technology and all. That's it."

Addie bit her lip and was quiet, looking up at the statue approaching on the horizon. As they got closer, it seemed to be wearing some sort of crown, although a smelly haze had begun to set in, making it harder to see. Nadine had eventually taken the pack, and the knives, from Leon, distributing them and shouldering pack herself after letting Sydney down. It grew even darker as they approached the ruins of something long and tube-shaped. Parts of it had broken up to the sky, but other parts created tunnels. Everywhere there were blue plush seats scattered about, and Addie had been about to sit on one when Leon spoke. Shan grabbed his knife, looking around wildly, while Isaac remained fairly calm, looking around them. Nadine cracked her knuckles, moving towards the source of the sound, a quick shuffling.
"Henry?" Addie whispered. "S-should we fight?"

A weak light spilled into the tunnel and around the corner came a young boy of about eight. His dark blue hair was wavy and fell down in his eyes, and his small hand clutched the weak flashlight. His large silver eyes scanned them and he tilted his head.
"Students?" he asked finally. "More students?"
"Solomon! Solomon, where are you?" a man's voice called from outside the wreckage and the boy darted away.
"Should we follow him?" Nadine asked after a moment. "They might be able to help us."
 
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"They may be able to help, but they could also be hazardous to our health." Leon said. It was obvious he didn't trust the nomads. Too many horror stories were told about them around him, so Leon had his mind made up about them. But true to his word, he didn't make one move against the stranger. But boy was he ready to attack if things went south.

The last raven was indeed surprised that it was a kid that didn't look too much older than anyone in the group. "I'm starting to think we should've went for the ruins instead of the statute. Looks like the nomads were banking on anyone being dropped off out here going for the statute. These tunnels make a good ambush point. Even someone who isn't that good with strategies can see that." Leo pointed out. "Again, I'll go with what the group says but I'm still going to be on guard."

Leon had both Bowie knives unsnapped and ready to be drawn from their sheaths. But he would refasten the snaps when he was proven wrong about the nomads. The people of the wastes had numbers on their side and outnumbered the students a thousand to one and that made the lad nervous and on edge. If the stories were true, the last raven had every reason to be ready to fight. But if the stories were false, he wouldn't make one move against the exiled people.
 
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