Relena was counted as absent for several days and Natria wore her bruised
cheek with shame. No one mocked the girls at the time. They knew
something had happened and it would be best not to make any of the Lost
Girls upset. It was unsaid that no one was to mention any of the
happenings of the Lost Children's business. P
As usual, each day after school, the Lost Girls ran out and played on the
courts. The games started in another month and Relena had to heal quickly.
Their freedom depended on it. P
"Over here!" Catherine waved to Dorothy to pass the ball, but she was
elbowed none too lightly in her stomach by Hilde. She gasped and fell
back, landing hard on her side. Coughing, she stood back up and ran back
onto the court. P
"Geez, Hilde. You didn't have to hit so hard." Hilde merely rolled her
eyes. P
"Get used to it, because the real players we're against will do anything
and everything to stop us." Catherine glared up at her teammate, but she
knew that Hilde was right. Dorothy threw the ball to Catherine, but Natria
intercepted it first. She dribbled towards the hoop where Dorothy was
guarding. Seeing that Natria was unstoppable, Dorothy flung herself
forward and shoved her shoulder into Natria's ribs. The ball fell and
bounced a few feet. Catherine dodged for it and held it close to her
stomach as she ran back onto the court. As she turned to make a basket,
Natria ran over and pulled out a knife, holding it close to her throat.
Catherine rolled her eyes. P
"Put that away Natria. We're not out there yet." P
"Catherine, you're going to have to learn like the rest of us that this is
going to be dangerous out there. There are no rules and the players are
going to be just as desperate as we are." Catherine hung her head. P
"I understand." P
"Come on, let's try this again. We'll switch up. Me with Dorothy and you
with Hilde, sound good?" Catherine nodded. They were all winded at this
point. Dorothy clapped her hands once as a signal that she was ready. The
ball came flying to her and just as the ball was going to be caught,
Catherine jumped and half-heartedly nailed her in the side with her foot.
The ball was quickly taken for the opposite team. P
The game continued on even through Natria's bloody nose because of an elbow
from Hilde. It wasn't until Uthey/U showed up. A group of girls from
the school were walking by with their books in their arms. The ball rolled
in front of them and they stopped walking. Their eyes focused on the girls
and looked disgusted by Natria's blood around her mouth from her nose. Her
eyes narrowed and she purposely stuck her tongue out and licked away a
little of the dried blood around the corner of her mouth. The girls seemed
to gag and Natria smirked a little. Finally one of the girls, Shelly,
stepped over to the ball and picked it up. She seemed to have as little
contact with it as possible as she threw it out in front of a passing car.
The ball was thrown across the street by the wheels of the car, and it
finally landed in a huge pile of mud. The girls laughed. P
"Now the ball can be as dirty as you," said Shelly snobbishly. Hilde
seemed to growl as she took a step forward. The girls backed away, but
Dorothy laid a hand on Hilde's shoulder to hold her back. P
"I suggest you spoiled bitches get out of here before I turn my friend
loose on you." The fear in the girls' eyes was evident, but they stood
firmly in place. P
"Yeah? I don't think you can do anything to us." Catherine laughed
cynically. P
"Have you looked at our friend there?" She nodded to Natria and her bloody
nose. "If we can do that to our own friends, imagine what we'll do to
people we don't like." Now the girls were terrified and they turned slowly
as if to leave, they hesitated. Hilde and Dorothy pulled out their
pocketknives and spun them skillfully, yet threateningly in their agile
fingers. The girls ran. Catherine laughed at the backs that were
disappearing over the hill. P
"Hey, Natria, go get the ball, we're going to take a break." Natria rolled
her eyes at Hilde's lazy comment. She looked both ways as she was running
across the street and ran past the bunched trees that the ball had rolled
into. She reached for the ball and realized it was covered in mud. She
sighed and grabbed it full in her hands and started to stand up straight
when she bumped into someone who was standing behind her. She spun around
with her knife glimmering in the sun. Her eyes narrowed when she came face
to face with a young Chinese man about her own age. He eyed the
basketball. P
"You play Ancient Basketball?" Natria raised an eyebrow and ignored his
question. She turned and made to walk past him. He put out his arm to
block her way. P
"Were you the one who talked to Heero a few nights ago?" She stopped in
her tracks and pulled back to stare into his eyes. P
"No, why?" P
"Because a girl talked to my friend a few nights ago and now he's been
pushing the limits with our owner ever since." P
"Pushing the limits?" P
"He's a Lost Boy, one of the best in Ancient B-Ball, but it's like he's
asking for a beating. Our owner hasn't ever gotten into a rage before, but
he did a few days ago." Natria smirked. P
"Really? Well that's not new for my friend and me. She was the one who
talked to your friend. Heero. She was beaten because he kept her longer
and she was late coming back." The young man's eyebrow went up. P
"May I ask what happened to your friend?" Natria's eyes went dull as she
remembered the horrifying experience. P
"She's been at home ever since. broken collarbone I think a few fractured
ribs and a serious cut on her arm from the bottle." She closed her eyes to
the images. She turned and started to move past him. His arm shot out
once again. P
"I'm sorry that happened to your friend." Natria ignored him and remained
silent. "Your friend was right. We are sheltered." Her eyes shot up and
stared at him. P
"Heero came home and started to demand that we stay out during the day
right after school. Our owner was furious and ordered him to stay in his
room, but then Heero tempted him to beat him. Our owner only snickered and
said something about us being too valuable to beat. So he put Heero in a
room that was locked and bolted. We've never been hit by anything for our
owner's fear of hurting us too badly to play ancient basketball." Natria
sneered and eyed him up and down. P
"You're weak then." She made to leave for the third time but he swung her
around. P
"You listen to me. We are not weak. Every single one of us had a life
before we were bought by our owner. Each of us has been through pain.
I've been beaten and I can assure you that I'm not weak." Natria eyed his
face closely. It was handsome and full of a pain that she knew reflected
in her own face. Shaking her head, she looked away. P
"That may be true, but as long as you stay in a sheltered home, you'll
never have to deal with pain. The others will be wondering about where I
am. It was. interesting ." P
"Chang. Wufei Chang." Natria nodded. P
"It was nice having this little chat Wufei. I'm sure we'll meet again."
She turned and walked away. P
"Oh, one more thing. Heero did manage to change my owner's mind. The
others and I will be out in the streets during the day. I'm sure we'll see
each other." Natria nodded. "What was your name?" Natria shook her head.
P
"I don't give that courtesy out too often to strangers." Wufei's eyebrows
lifted up. P
"We'll see about that." P
"I'll enjoy seeing you try to become more than a stranger, not many people
succeed with me or my group." P
"I take it as a challenge then?" P
"If you'd like to consider it that," Natria said indifferently. She turned
and whistled as she walked back to the courts. P