Hello again! Chapter 2 is here! I'm currently working on Chapter 11, and it's going to be maybe one or more chapter than i intended.

I woke up the sound of birds chirping cheerfully. For the first time in my life I wasn't sweating, I wasn't freezing and I wasn't being attacked. Apollo was snoring pretty loudly, and Leo was sprawled on top of him. Viper was already gone, so I got out of my tent to find him. I told myself that I wasn't going to find him to pick a fight, but I knew that he'd probably rile me up somehow and punches would get thrown. It was cool outside, and only a few people were roaming around, most of them headed for the kitchen where breakfast was being prepared.

I passed the kitchen, which was really just a tent where all the food was stored. Viper didn't sit at any of the tables with the other recruits, he was nowhere to be seen. I took one look at the food, and called off my little search. I grabbed a plate full of food and sat, I tried to be civil, eating at a slow pace. It was truly an effort to keep from shoveling my entire plate into my mouth in a matter of seconds. I would've surely thrown it up anyway, I wasn't used to eating this much food, and halfway through, I had to stop before my stomach exploded. I was pushing the remnants of my food around my plate as Kanda Yuu sat down next to me. I gave him a curious glance, positioning myself away from him. His hard eyes were softer than yesterday, but I stayed weary, remembering that today was The Testing. I went back to my plate, and he finally spoke.

"You should eat as much as you can, you'll need it. Trust me," he advised. I suppressed a emotionless chuckle, I never got more than necessary. I never had the luxury of "too much food," it was only too little. When I didn't respond, Kanda raised an eyebrow "You know it won't kill you to talk." he muttered.

"You'd be surprised," I told him.

"Where are you from?" he asked, more focused on me than his food.

"I'm not telling you anything." I said, finally pushing my plate away from me, half-eaten.

"Why is that?" Kanda prompted.

"You'll use anything you can against me during The Testing, and i'm not stupid enough to think you actually care," I insisted, I put my plate up, and Kanda followed me. I turned around and nearly slammed into Viper, but I was fast enough to sidestep him, right before he tried to plow into me. I clenched my hands into fists as he snapped at me, "Watch it," He was obviously the one who wasn't watching where he was going. His face twisted into a disgusting expression of pure hate, but Kanda pushed his way between us.

"Save it for The Testing you two, it starts now." He ordered, "Go to the Clearing, and don't fight, yet."

I glared at Viper as the two of us walked over to where the others were waiting. We stood there for a few minutes before Kanda finally showed up. His eyes weren't so soft anymore, and I felt relieved that I didn't divulge any information about myself. "I'll start with combat, Apollo and Leo, please step forward." The pair went up to him, they both seemed nervous. Apollo was given a dagger, and Leo was given a sword. I clenched my fists, this wasn't going to be a fair fight. Apollo seemed to realize it pretty quickly, but there was nothing he could do but dodge every swing of Leo's sword. I watched carefully as the two circled each other, Apollo tried to lunge and catch Leo off guard so he could strike. Leo parried his attack with ease, and kicked his friend's feet out from under him. Leo was the winner, so he stayed, and Apollo left. Leo switched his sword for a dagger, and we went through everyone. When it was my turn, I was handed a sword, and I slammed my opponent to the ground. The last person left was Viper, and I got the dagger this time. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, Kanda had set it up like this on purpose. Viper and I circled each other, and I knew exactly how I was going to defeat him.

He swung his sword at me, I jumped back. "Is that all you've got?" he mocked. He swung again, and I dodged, it turned into a dance, and he had no idea what I was actually doing. I was trying to find a pattern within every movement he made. He swung right, I went left, in an attempt to get him in a headlock, but he switched directions. I ducked, and the blade grazed my cheekbone. I didn't waste time wiping away the blood that trickled down my face. "How'd you get that scar, again?" Viper asked, smirking. He knew exactly how I got it.

"Oh, that's right, that was my father-" He stopped mid-sentence as he blocked my jab. I pretended I didn't hear anything he said.

Viper lunged at me, and swung again, but I was much faster, I jumped out of the way, and pressed my dagger against his throat once I got behind him. He dropped his sword, and Kanda nodded approvingly. I kicked my opponent in the back of the knee and he buckled.

I bit my lip as Kanda issued another task. "Run around the tents until I tell you to stop. Anyone who does without my signal will be sent home, and branded Untouchable." Being an Untouchable meant you were shunned, and could be killed by anyone who deemed it fit. You were a human grease stain that anyone was allowed to get rid of. You couldn't return to your village, and you couldn't move to a new one. I smiled. I was one-step away from being an Untouchable, so the threat landed on deaf ears. I ran anyway. I was drenched in sweat by the time he finally order everyone to stop. We moved on to the next task.

My body ached, and almost everyone else seemed to be on the verge of giving in. He lead us to an obstacle course, which looked like a torture device. I was fine for the most part, I balanced on the wooden beams. Then I came up to the ropes, they swung lazily through the air, there was a huge knot at the end of the three ropes, probably barely big enough to place my feet on. Thunder rumbled in the distance and I knew I'd have to finish this up quick. I grabbed the first rope and swung gently forward before grabbing onto the next, struggling to keep myself upright. I swung to the next one, my arms shook with the effort of holding my body weight as I dropped onto the platform leading to the next obstacle.

After the ropes I did pretty well until I got to the C curved wall. This is where everyone failed. Right before the finish line. Lightning struck somewhere, lighting up the sky, before rain came pouring down, soaking me in a matter of seconds. I stared at the menacing wall, maybe I would fail too. I backed up to the edge of the platform I was standing on and charged up the wall, grabbing onto the ledge just as I reached the top. I hauled myself up, nearly slipping on the rain water. I got up, and crossed the finish line, wheezing. "You...assshole," I breathed.

"Well done, you're the only two that made it to Phase Two," Kanda told me. I hadn't proven myself just yet. My body ached with every movement I made, my throat was raw from exerting myself too much. Every breath was an effort. Viper stood behind me, apparently he'd made it too.

"What now?" I asked. Viper had his arms crossed, and he looked very proud of himself. I glared at him, and he glared back.

"We continue." Kanda said. He lead both of us away from the group to a small tent away from camp. He ushered us inside, in the middle of the tent were two wooden chairs. "Sit," I kicked Viper on the way to my chair. He hissed at me, and I smiled.

"The first phase was to weed out the weak. The second phase is the real test." Kanda said, standing in front of both of us with his hands clasped behind his back. "It lasts three days, with three Trails. You two will work as a team."

"A team?!" Viper shouted, "I'm not working with him!" I couldn't agree more.

"You'll work as a team or you'll be executed." Kanda snapped. "There's no way out of these Trails, and you most certainly die if you don't work together!" Viper opened his mouth, and closed it. All the color drained from his face. As much as I hated this life, I wasn't prepared to die.

"There are bags full of everything you'll need in your tent, go get them." He gave us a curt nod and left. I glanced at Viper and he looked as confused as I felt. We both got up from our chairs and went to our tents. I grabbed my bag, which was sitting on my cot, Apollo and Leo were nowhere to be found, it was eerily silent.

"Why is it so quiet?" Viper wondered aloud. I paid no attention to him as I went through the contents of my bag. No water, no food. There was a dagger, which wouldn't do much of anything, and first aid supplies. I frowned, this was virtually nothing. I was about to ask Viper what was in his bag, but everything went black. "...Welcome to Phase Two…."

A very loud, bone chilling roar woke me up from my sleep. I was on my feet before my eyes were open, and what I saw was more terrifying than that roar. It was black, and it's red eyes gleamed. It was taller than any human should be, and it's teeth were jagged and sharp they were longer than my arm. It's arms were thin, it had claws for fingers most likely for ripping it's prey to shreds. It clutched it's head and roared again. "SCREEEEEE!" It ran towards me, but I couldn't move. I was too terrified to do anything. Blood dripped off it's claws and teeth. It swung at me and my body sprung into action. I ran and hid behind a tree, fumbling with my bag to get my dagger. I could hear it crashing through the trees behind me. I couldn't out run it. Finally I found it, just as the thing found me. My whole body shook with terror. I was sweating profusely, I scrambled away, the dagger in my hand was useless. Shit.

It swiped at me, and I was barely able to block it. I turned and ran, it sprinted after me. I couldn't even think straight, but I kept going. It screamed at me, and I sobbed. My legs burned and I tripped over a thick tree root. I cried out, this was not the time to be falling over while a flesh eating monster was chasing you. It landed on top of me, and its long claws ripped through my shoulder like it was nothing but air. I dug my fingers into the damp earth beneath me, my back arched involuntarily, it was like nothing I'd ever felt before. Pain ripped through me like a living thing. It burned. I screamed until my throat was raw. White spots formed in my vision, it's claws retracted, and I didn't wait for a second strike. I rolled away, slamming my shoulder into a tree.

I used it to haul myself up. As soon as I was on my feet I was running. I burst through the trees and into a clearing. A few feet away, Viper was standing, going through his bag. He saw me and blinked. A roar shook the ground. "What was that?!" Viper asked. I didn't stop running, I just screamed. "RUN! YOU IDIOT! RUN AWAY!" I kept going, using my hand to put pressure on my wound, everything below my shoulder was numb. I couldn't feel anything. Viper followed me.

"RAAAAAAH!" Viper's eyes widened. The monster ran after us, and we kept running. Up ahead there was a tower, I ran faster. I shoved him inside and shut the door behind me and the whole room was engulfed in darkness, and the door disappeared.

"What was that thing?!" Viper shouted, eyeing the door.

"I don't know," I snapped back.

"Was it our first task?" he asked.

"I don't know!" I shouted, removing my hand from my shoulder. It was covered in blood. A chill ran up my spine. "Shit...shit...shit," I ground my teeth together.

"Viper."

"What?" he looked at me and swore when he saw the blood on my hand.

"Get the first aid kit out of my bag," I told him, "Please," He shuffled over, and pried the bag off of my back. He got the kit out of my bag, and ripped my shirt off, peeling the fabric off my blood slicked back. I sucked in a painful breath.

"Even though I'm helping you, I still hate you." Viper said, as he pressed some gauze on my back. "I have to stop the bleeding first," I groaned, my eyes felt heavy, I couldn't stay awake any longer.

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