"You gotta come, I don't know anybody else and Mika said I had to go with somebody," Arra begged.
"I've only gotten six hours of sleep," Larten protested.
"That's more than enough sleep," Arra yanked his blanket off.
"Fine, just gimme a minute..."
"Sixty seconds, okay."
"Fine," Larten grumbled. She was already outside the door counting.
"Welcome!" Vanez boomed.
"Hi!" Arra responded cheerfully, practically bouncing up to the group of half vampires, Wester and Larten trailing along behind her, half asleep.
"Are you three ready?"
"Yep!" Arra said.
"mmhm," Larten and Wester mumbled.
"I can't hear you," Vanez leaned closer to the two boys.
"Yes," They said, louder this time.
"Good!" Vanez began to toss staffs to each half vampire. "Partner up, first one to hit the ground looses! Go!"
Larten and Arra paired up, while Wester found a short, stocky, blond half vampire to be his opponent. Arra twirled the staff a few times, getting the feel of it. Then she struck, and Larten nearly didn't block the blow in time. They fought for about a minute, trading blows constantly, before Arra swept the staff under his feet and he landed on his rear end. She held out a hand to help him up.
Larten sparred with Wester next, while Arra beat another opponent. When the training session was over, she had seven wins and two looses.
"I wish Mika had brought me here sooner," she said to Larten as they were leaving. Wester had stayed behind, having found a new friend who hated vampaneze as much as he did.
"You fought well," he said.
"I'm going to keep training though, I had two losses."
"Do you want to get something to eat? I'm starving."
"Sure."
They made their way out into the food hall. Neither of them could remember what the real name was. Suddenly an unpleasant, drunken yell came from a nearby table. The comment was extremely rude. It made Arra pause for a split second, eyes widening. Larten put a hand on her shoulder and she kept walking. Angry at being ignored, the man kept yelling at her. He made comments about her body that were making her feel embarrassed and ashamed. He tried to block them out but something inside her whispered he's right you know.
Larten gritted his teeth, trying to wait until the man stopped. Then he yelled something that put him over the edge and he made to stand up.
Too late. Arra had beat him to it. She marched right over, grabbed the man's drink and poured it over his head. "If you even look in my direction one more time," she barked, "you'll regret it for the rest of your life. Shut the hell up." Then she began to walk out of the hall. Larten leapt up to follow her. Only when they neared their quarters did he realize she was crying silently.
"Hey, you're okay. You made him stop. That was brave of you." He tried to comfort her but it seemed to only make things worse.
"Why do I feel like he was right?" Arra tried to brush the tears from her face but they kept coming.
"He's not. He was a stupid drunk. Those words meant nothing."
Arra stopped by the door of her and Mika's room. "Is this how it's going to be every day?" she whispered. The prospect of it made her cringe.
He wrapped his arms around her, anger bubbling up in his chest but he kept it contained. "I promise you, they'll get tired of it soon. They'll move on."
"And then new vampires will come and it'll start all over again," Arra said bitterly. "Two losses. If it came down to a real fight, I can't lose. I can't do that again."
"I'm not letting anyone do anything to you."
"Well neither am I."
"Really? The Hall of Princes?" Arra's eyes shone with excitement.
"We've got a half hour. You can come meet them," Mika said.
"Lead the way," Arra said, and she followed her mentor down the twisting and turning tunnels. Once they'd gotten in, Arra stared in wonder at the walls. "They're moving," she whispered, placing a hand on the pulsing wall. "Vampires didn't build this, did they?"
"Your assistant is intiutive, Mika," a voice from the other end of the Hall called. Arra jumped, remembering there were other people in the Hall as well.
"And pretty," another voice said. She looked down, not sure whether to count that as a compliment yet. Mika led her up to where three other men sat.
"This is Paris," Mika pointed to the old one, "Arrow," the big one, "And Vancha," the one who looked like Hell threw up on him.
"Hello," Arra said.
"What's your name?" the oldest one, Paris asked.
"Arra Sails, sire."
"I trust you are beginning to acclimate? Have you been to the Hall of Sport yet?"
"Yeah!" Arra brightened. "Just this morning. Er... evening. I think."
Arrow laughed. "You will soon get used to the way time works here. I remember being confused when I first arrived."
"You're adjusting well. But if you ever get cold at night you could always come share a coffin with me," Vancha threw a wink at her.
Arra immediatly stopped smiling. Her gaze turned cold. "If you are going to look at me, sire," she spat, "how about looking at my face like you would anyone else instead of where you're looking now?" Vancha coughed, embarrassed, and looked away.
"Arra, that is no way to speak to a Prince," Mika whispered.
"What, so I just let him stare at me like I'm some object? There for his pleasure?" Arra snorted. Her mood had gone sour extremely quickly. "I learned from this morning believe me."
"What happened this morning?" Mika asked. Arra just huffed. Mika looked worried. "You weren't alone, were you?"
"No," Arra said. "I'm not stupid."
"Nobody thinks you are stupid," Paris assured her. "Not many females join the clan though, so I would advise you to be careful."
"Why do I have to be careful though? Can't they just learn what no means? I've honestly seen some dogs better trained than some of the men here."
"Arra," Mika hissed, glancing nervously at the Princes. But Vancha howled with laughter and Paris smiled.
"She has quite a big personality Mika," Paris said.
"Good luck with that," Arrow muttered.
"I have a feeling she'll be climbing ranks if she puts her mind to it," Paris grinned.
Arra allowed herself one small smile.
"If you would please treat them with more respect next time-"
"That green haired one is going to have to earn it," Arra growled. Then her gaze softened. "But I like Paris. He seems nice." She looked to her mentor. "The group is going to seem more... I don't know, complete with you in it though."
Mika smiled, relaxing a little. His assistant meant well. She was probably just scared. He wasn't letting anything happen to her though. Neither was carrot-top.
"So what else did you do today? Sleep some more?" Arra asked Larten over dinner.
"Ha ha, very funny." Larten punched her in the arm playfully. "I helped Seba with restocking a supply closet. What did you do?"
"I met the Princes."
"Really? What're they like?"
"There's a really old nice one, a really big kinda quiet one, and a smelly green one that I don't like."
"Only you would develop a grudge for a Prince on your first day at the mountain."
"I don't like the way he looked at me. Where he looked at me."
Larten put a reassuring arm around her as somebody from a ways off catcalled. She squeezed her eyes shut and sighed. "How about training again tomorrow?"
"Of course," he replied. "But maybe not so early?"