[(word)= authors note about text 'word'= character thoughts]
The kid stared at the blade pressed against his neck, then the man holding it, back to the blade, over to friends, and then the man again.This was how it had been for awhile now and the only one showing any signs of fear was the man. He knew they were all under sixteen and probably weaker then him, but the groups lack of fear and worry for their friends safety bothered him. That and they were all armed with weapons that marked them as apprentices of various trades at the castle, ones that where known for being, if one of the trade choose to be and hade enough skill, fatal to anyone who makes the mistake of getting on their bad side. He had of course not noticed this until he had already taken one of the boys hostage, threatened to kill him if they did not hand over what ever valuables they had and one of them had taken out a palace bow. He wasn’t sure if the kid was good with arrows, but at point blank he didn’t want to find out, he also didn’t want to let this good an opportunity for a profitable robbing to get away. So he kept the knife on his captive’s throat.
“Why am I always the hostage?!?!” The sudden out burst from the lad Garaue held prisoner caught him off guard, but not enough to make him move his knife.
“Maybe it’s cause you’re the smallest, or you’re just lucky Sam.” The speaker was, like the others, a wolf sacara with mostly white or silver fur, he had a red stripe going from the tip of his tail to the end of his muzzle, and four red marks around his right eye that, if he closed it, made an X. “Want me to shot this bast …”
"No!" This one was white with bright red marks going down his limbs and out from both eyes. "We don't have time to make it look accidental ...plus everytime you guys decide to kill who ever is hindering us I end up in trouble."
"Well maybe if you forgot that Calvary code you wouldn't get in trouble for it so much Swift, besides we have work to do and this guy is holding us up," X replied.
"At least we have a code, unlike you scouts." Muttered Swift.
To this X quickly got mad. His class had a code and they all knew it, of course it wasn't as long or strict as a knight’s code, but a code was code. “We have a code!"
"No you don't."
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Guys umm a little help here!" Sam called out to his friends. X and Swift continued arguing, the oldest of them wasn't even paying attention to either situation, and if Yumi was he looked utterly bored with both. “To hell with this."
Garaue watched the boys with growing frustration. They had gone from intimidating to irritating in the time it takes to slit a throat. In fact that wasn't such a bad idea. Suddenly Garaue felt pain as if his testicales were being shoved up to his throat. It took awhile to get over the pain to where he could stand, which gave him enough time to figure out the dumb kid had kicked him in his manhood. When Garaue looked up he had expected the kid to have run off, but he was still there.
Sam was unsure of what to do once he kicked the guy.His friends, X and Swift, were still at it, but at least Yumi was paying attention to the situation now. 'Knowing him though he'll just let me fight this creep.' He felt something knock the wind out of him and shortly after that a warm liquide feeling on his neck. Sam smelled blood, his blood! He saw a hand with a knife coming in for another try at his life. Once it got close enough he bit it. Now he could taste blood, and it tatsted good.
Next thing he knew Swift and Yumi were dragging him away from the crazy knife man, and X was trying to convince the guy not to tell anyone with any amount of power at the castle about Sam bitting him. The man just growled at them and left holding his injured hand. Before Sam knew it he was in one of the tower offices waiting for someone, his wounds fully healed, except for a scar where the knife had cut him that couldn't be seen unless you looked hard.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The room was of average size for an office or study. Which it was both really. There were shelves full of scrolls, books, and all forms of manuscript, lined the walls all the way up to the ceiling. An ash desk was in the middle of the room, on it were some models of brains, an actual brain in a jar, parchment, ink, a pen, and some documents. On one side, facing the door, was a decorative looking chair made of oak, and on the other side of the desk were three normal chairs made out of pine.
In one of the chairs sat a kid. He was staring at his shoes out of boredom and guilt. Nashumy closed the door behind him. 'I hope it's guilt and not something else.' With this thought he sat down in the oak chair.
Nashumy was the guidance councilor, so to say, at Sinal Castle, the highest capital city. One day he was talking with one of the four generals that ran the battle school and had brought up that some of the apprentices around the palace were having trouble focusing on their studies, especially the ones who where from other lands and some who he suspected where being picked on by the older students, and may need to see someone who knew how the mind functioned, so whatever was making it hard to focus could be dealt with. Of course Nashumy didn't account that he would be the one to deal with these teens and some more then others. Due to a habit of causing, or getting in, trouble in one way or another a few would be sent to him more frequently. This wolf sacara was one of those kids.
"So ... what did you do this time? Give someone a bloody nose?" Nashumy knew Sam had a knack for for getting in fights with some of the local boys and even one of the generals in charge of the school. His colors and markings made it more then obvious he was from out of the country.
Sam just shook his head. He wasn't in the mood to talk yet.
"Did you get in a fight of some type with a senor battle school apprentice again?"
Again the boy shook his head no still looking at the ground.
"Are you going to tell me or shall I keep guessing?" Nashumy hated guessing all the time like he so often did in his job. If only someone else had suggested a councilor position in the castle staff, then he could still be a teacher for the medics.
The kid looked up at the man in front of him with puppy eyes and said in a quite voice, "I bite a man in a fight."
Nashumy gawped at the boy. The fight itself might be excusable, but biting! That is whole different matter entirely."Where did you bite him Sam?"
Sam shrugged at the question as unimportant. "His hand. That pretty much ended the fight," he paused to think for a moment,"then Swift and Yumi dragged me back here."
"And what, if I may ask, was this fight about?"
"The guy tired to rob us and I was the hostage, as usaul," the last bit was said in an annoyed tone.
"This has happened before?"Nashumy had never heard of any attemps to rob castle apprentices. This was a new development. He wondered if any of their mentors knew of this.
"Almost every time we leave to get ...stuff, for the healers." Sam hoped he hadn't given Nashumy the idea that he, and his friends sometimes, were getting illegal herbs and odd itmes for the healers and advanced magic users. Which is what they were they sort of where doing.
