Another Tribute

"This rocks!" Ariella says as she slumps down on the pillows. Eli laughs.

"It is pretty amazing," he says. She smiles at him. She then suddenly looks curiously at me.

"What?" I ask when I see her staring at me.

"What did he do to you?" she asks, and now I see that she's staring at the X shaped scar on my face. I turn away from her.

"It's none of your business," I say harshly to her. She nods.

"Sorry, I was just curious..."

"Well stop," I say, staring her down. She suddenly seems surprised.

"Ok, sorry. I'm going to go out and get some...uh...water," Ariella says, leaving. Eli looks between me and her.

"I'm gonna go and refill the canteens," Eli says, grabbing them from the packs. I sigh.

"Well great. Now I'm all alone," I mutter to myself. I wish it was night so I could atleast distract myself by going to sleep. Then again that might end up in another nightmare. I debate this for about ten minutes before I decide to go out and see what's going on. After all, I might have been a little hard on Ariella. It's not her fault she didn't know anything.

"Really? He's much more of a sicko than I imagined," I hear Ariella saying as I emerge from the hideout.

"It was really hard to watch. But, like I said, I had to wait for him to get distracted."

"What if he never got distracted?" Ariella asks him.

"I don't know," Eli says. She nods as if she understands. I am shocked at this. He would have let me die, wouldn't he! Who can I trust here?

"It's nice to know that you would have left me to fend for myself. Just like everyone else," I say arngrily. They both look up.

"Auden, that's not what I meant..."

"I heard what you said, Eli," I say to him, my voice intensifying.

"Hey, you have no idea what we were talking about!" Ariella says, stepping to his defense. I suddenly get filled with more fire than I ever have in my life.

"I can't stand to be with either one of you! Have a nice life," I say, leaving. They both look stunned.

"Auden, wait!" Eli calls out. I turn around to face them one more time.

"Good luck with her Eli. When she stabs you in the back, I hope you come to your senses," I mutter, walking off into the woods to who knows where. Eli makes a move to follow me, but Ariella stops him.

"Let her cool off," she advises. Eli hesitantly nods, and I wander off into the woods.

I guess it's all me now. Nobody else to worry about or anything. What should I do?

As I walk deeper into the woods, I see something shining under the leaves. I move away the leaves to reveal a sword. The blonde boy's sword.

As I pick it up I feel empowered and strong. With this weapon in my hand, nobody would scare me. I wouldn't be afraid like Nico said I am. I will be fearless.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I feel myself changing as I sit in the tree, waiting for some unexpecting person to walk by. I'm not myself anymore. I'm becoming tougher and less emotional. This is a game, and I finally know that I plan on winning. Suddenly, I get my wish. A girl walks past under me, and I jump down in front of her like a beast from hell.

"Hello there," I say, shoving her to the ground. But as soon as I raise my sword to attack she quickly rolls out of the way.

"Hello, Auden Kwell. I was looking for you," she says, holding up her hands in surrender. I should have skewered her like a shish kabob, but the way she'd said she was 'looking for me' was too bizarre.

"Why would you being doing that?" I ask her, lowering my sword. For now.

"A little birdie let me know you had a fight with your friends."

"So what if I did?"

"I'd like to offer you a place in my group," she says, totally knocking me off guard.

"Why?"

"Because you and that sword make a good team. And we want your friends gone as much as you do," she says, grinning. I notice that her canine teeth look extra sharp. I wonder if that's natural or cosmetic.

"Or maybe, I should make an offer to you to chop your head off. Whatd'ya say?" I ask her, picking up my sword again. She doesn't look panicked at all.

"Auden, Eli Leone and Ariella Stone are both people that we want out of the way. They both were going to betray you anyways. The never cared about you! Get revenge by helping us kill them off. And get the glory of knowing you're stronger than Nico ever bargained," she says. The rest of it had me somewhat hooked, but the last part makes me speechless.

"You...know about...that?" I ask her. She nods and puts her hand on my shoulder. I'm not sure if I like it or not.

"We planned it together. However, I think he highly underestimated you."

"Really?"

"Truly," she says, giving me a smile. I don't know if it's fake or not, but for now it'll do.

"Fine. I will join you," I say to her. She smiles.

"Good thing you said yes," she says, snapping her fingers. The rest of her crew jumps out from the bushes. Oh wow, she's crafty.

"Wow."

"Welcome to the crew," she says, motioning to the group. I nod to them, and they all nod back. This is the beginning of an interesting alliance.