The Southern Army Temple was, in my eyes, constructed like a flower. The pyramid like building, which rose over 3 hundred feet (approximately 91 meters) in the air, was the center of the compound. That was basically spilt into twenty sections of housing (platoons are sectioned together). The second floor was many laundry rooms, kitchens, libraries, studies, observatories, and work-out rooms. The largest rooms, however, were the Priestess's studies, where she went whenever she visited there. The third floor was entirely dedicated to the General. No one was allowed up there, the jerk had told me. At least he had stolen the smallest floor (the building was built like a triangle, so the surface area of each floor shrunk as you rose higher. I heard rumors that there was a basement, but when I was on the tour, which was unfortunately led by Zeno, I had requested that we go and explore it. Zeno had stared at me oddly before telling me that there really was, honest to God, no basement. I frowned, but kept my mouth shut. Rumors were outrageous sometimes.

Onto the flower; outside of the pyramid was a radius of 100 feet (approximately 30 meters) of training grounds sectioned off from each other and numbered (1-16). The forest began where they ended. I automatically associated these with petals on a flower, and had decided to call them that from now on, even though Zeno whined to me and complained that 'Petals' sounded too weak and girly. I told him to shove it somewhere highly inappropriate.

But since there were twenty petals, and only sixteen around the base of the Pyramid, the next four began in what was like a second layer. They began where the forest started and stretched back about two miles (approximately 3 kilometers), so they were more for survival training than fitness or combat training. I would be training with Zeno and Diarra on Petal 17, although Diarra won't join us on my first session. I had yet to figure out why.

I felt nervous as Zeno led me out there, silence claiming him. I had never seen him so quiet, not even at the meeting in front of The Bishop, but I hardly knew him. It frightened me to be alone with him. My feet began to ache before we even got to the Petal, but in my defense, my foot was still injured. I couldn't wear shoes because it was bandaged too thickly, and Zeno had said that only wearing one would throw me off. Luckily, I had convinced him to readjust my forehead wrap so that I could see out of my eye. This time I made sure my hair would not come loose from a bun (a ponytail or braid would probably still reach the ground. I was glad that I had much more appropriate clothes today: A black tank top and black cargo shorts, so I wouldn't over heat like before.

We walked past the forest and continued for many minutes until I was certain we were in the center of the Petal. I had to sit down on a trunk because I could hardly breathe. That little trip had been nothing compared to the one I had made four days ago, but I had spent the entire time in between that laying around. I don't know what I would have done if Zeno hadn't allowed this rest (I would probably pass out for another three days), but thankfully he waited until I rose to my feet again. He wasn't in a very athletic stance (crossed arms and leaning against a tree trunk) so I began to wonder if he was going to start working anytime soon. Instead he began to speak. To be honest, I thought he was going to yell at me for sleeping through my first training session, since he had brushed it off much too easily, despite saying he was pissed. However, he seemed to have forgotten about the whole thing because that wasn't the case.

"You're really weird," he commented. I glared at him, but even I had to admit it was weak. Why did he say that all of a sudden? "No, seriously." he continued, pushing back against the tree and standing straight. He was probably two feet (approximately 0.6 meter) taller than I was, but for some reason he didn't appear as frightening as earlier (and he was still less terrifying than the other Generals then, too). His expression was one of confliction.

"You complained to High Hell about running, though you walked, to the Temple, but even when I purposely left you behind, you never gave up or went back." I blinked at him. Of course I'd known he had gone further ahead on purpose, I hadn't realized he had been trying to get me to call it quits. I had assumed he just wanted me as miserable as possible. I felt irritated that he thought I would ever do that, even though I probably would have if I had realized I could. Sometimes I could be very dense.

"And the strangest part," he continued, almost as if I was no longer there, and he was speaking about me to somebody else, "was that you never cried." I couldn't stop my surprised face. Crying? I hadn't thought about it, but I realized I never actually had. And I hadn't felt the urge to do so until I was right in front of Zeno, and he had been insulting me. More importantly...

"How would you know that?!" I demanded hysterically. Zeno waved me off.

"I had men following you so you wouldn't die. I'm not surprised you didn't notice, even though they were all novices-"

"What was the point?!" I shrieked. Okay, knowing that someone had watched me stumble, fall, pant, and curse for so long was way more than humiliating. I wished I would never know who it was who did so, because I would probably never be able to look them (any of them, since it was apparently more than one) in the eye. I prayed they were all female.

"If you had died, I would have been in deep trouble." Zeno waved me off again in order to change the course of our conversation. "But anyway... Did you know that that was also a test?"

"What?" He nodded and lowered himself to the ground. I guess this would take a while. I find myself sitting down on the fallen trunk again.

"Every new platoon that is sent here and every new trainee... I put each one through a test. I call it 'The Trial of Tears'. Get it? Trial? Trail? Anyway, I put each member under their own personal pressure, and wait to see if they cry." I frowned, because this sounded cruel to me. Crying didn't mean that you were weak, or emotional, it just made you human. Besides, the amount of work Zeno claimed he put into that test seemed unrealistic. I was told he was a very busy person, but he seemed to have an awful lot of time at his disposal.

"So if they cry, you send them back to train more under General Barnabus," I figured aloud. Training in the Temple Army goes in a cycle: General Barnabus teaches the military basics as well as hand to hand combat, and when he passes you (or your platoon, which is usually about fifty to one hundred soldiers), you travel to the next Temple to train in Weaponry with General Melanion. Stealth was afterwards because it was a skill you combine with the previous two classes. Alone, it is not efficient. Alchemy is last because most soldiers never end up using it in battle (and lately, as in the last twenty years, no one had dared oppose the Temples), mostly because it was a survival skill. This process was widely known for being strict, so our soldiers our therefore known to be the best. Master once told me that their reputation was the biggest reason the Center Temple had no enemies.

Zeno nodded at what I had said. I frowned up at him, purposely making him know I didn't approve.

"I don't expect you to understand. Stealth isn't just about staying hidden from your enemies' eyes. It can also be about blending in or remaining inconspicuous." He paused for a moment to see if I was listening. "Say your mission is to act as a spy in a group of traveling murderers. If your job was to play along and gain information on them, you would have to stay with them as long as possible until your superior says otherwise. If the murderers wanted you to help them kill innocent people, that's what you'd do. Now, if you started crying, do you think the killers would still believe you were tough enough to be one of them? The next thing you know, you're dead and the killers got away because they were expecting our ambush." I didn't say anything. That made sense, but if that were the case, wouldn't that be a part of the Zeno's training? Or was he 'too busy'. If he cut 'The Trial of Tears' he would certainly have enough time to add that into his training. Or was it that everything he taught the soldiers had to be approved by The Council? That was probably the issue; lack of communication and understanding. I decided not to voice this opinion, for Zeno would certainly take offense to it. Instead I crossed my legs.

"But why would you pull the test on me? It's not like you could send me back if I failed, so what was the point?" Zeno scratched the back of his head, appearing very nonchalant.

"As I said before, it was to make you quit. Not many can take the pressure. This is why I want to ask why you did take it." I crossed my arms and stared at him blankly, trying to annoy him. I wasn't sure if it worked. "Why do you want to become High Priestess so badly? Money?" I scoffed. All the money given to the Priestess went to the church, and he knew it. He wanted me to crack and yell at him for accusing me of being selfish. Then I would proudly reveal my charitable motives. Too bad I truthfully didn't have any motives, whatsoever. Actually... Could my motive be survival? It couldn't be, because if it were I would have declined taking the Hunter Exam and become an acolyte. Now that I actually thought about it, there was no guarantee I'd be accepted as an acolyte. I remember Diarra telling me that several were kicked out because the sleeping quarters were too crowded. So since I didn't have the right training, would I have been kicked out?

In theory, that sounded like it made sense. However, I was the apprentice of the High Priestess, and that stood for something... didn't it? I suddenly found that I wasn't so confident in my title, especially since Zeno had been insulting me so frequently. If I were kicked out of the Temple, I would starve to death. That was a given. So, I guess my motivation was survival, in some twisted way. It actually seemed like I was risking my life while I was trying not to risk my life. I felt very confused, so I tried to drop it. If I thought like that all of the time, I would go mad. I decided to go with the motives of wishing to discover my motives, even though that was as equally confusing as the other one.

I hadn't realized Zeno had been talking the whole time I was running in my head.

"Hey," he finally shouted, reaching my ears for the first time. "If you don't tell me your reason, I'm not going to train you!" That was an empty threat, but I saw no reason not to tell him. It wasn't very personal to me.

"I don't know what they are."

Zeno frowned and rubbed his temples. "Look, I get it if it's personal, but then just tell me that," He sighed, apparently taking my response as further avoidance of the question. I guess my manner hadn't been very sincere. I tried to right that by changing my tone and looking in his dark eyes.

"I'm serious. I really don't know why I want to be Priestess. I guess I'd never really had a reason to not want to be it." The look I received was skeptical.

"That's really boring. So why didn't you cry?" He pushed.

"I just didn't think about crying. Everything is happening so quickly: the Hunter Exam, the training, the journey, that it doesn't really feel real. It's like I'm in a dream, and this is all happening to someone else." I realize how true those words are for me in the puzzled silence Zeno provided afterwards.

I couldn't have been more surprised when he suddenly changed the subject.

"You have a better chance of passing the Hunter Exam than you think." I opened my mouth in surprise before I blushed and closed it.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you don't actually have to do better than Theron or Reut. If you simply focus on passing the exam, and not the two of them, you'll be better off than most," he elaborated. "The majority of the examinees are completely in over their heads. And on top of that, you have Diarra." I frowned for what seemed like the millionth time that day.

"What about Tatiana and Keoni?" I pointed out. "They are both older than me, and are probably stronger."

"The chances that the two of them offensively attacking you in the exam are very low. The examiners hardly ever pit examinees against each other 'cause there's usually one or two of them there that'd kill everybody." I think Zeno was trying to comfort me, but he just made me break out in a cold sweat.

"If you just avoid them, you should pass. That was my strategy."

"You're a Hunter?" I gasped. Well, I suppose it made sense that a General took the Hunter Exam, but I still hadn't expected it. Like I said, I can be dense sometimes.

"Yes, Aris, I'm a Hunter, which is why you'll probably pass in three years. Hardly anyone at all who takes the exam is trained by a real Hunter. They won't know what to expect, or which areas to train in. That's why your situation isn't hopeless. Most phases I went through weren't about fighting one on one." I sighed in relief. "If you master Stealth in the next three years," Zeno continued, uplifting my spirits, "You'll get a Hunters License without breaking a sweat."

"After you almost kill me every day," I finished under my breath. He grinned and nodded.

At the time, I hadn't realized that that had been the first time Zeno and I had had a real conversation and hadn't yelled at or insulted each other. Over the years, our relationship continued to improve until we were actually friends. Yes, his training was the most difficult thing I'd ever had to endure, but by the time I was fourteen I no longer had anything on my body but muscle. The first half of my training had been getting my body in shape. Zeno said that all four apprentices were allowed to at least stray that far from their classes; otherwise any of their lessons would be completely useless.

The most surprising thing I'd learned over the three years was how truly strong Diarra was. When she had first run ahead with Zeno in The Trial of Tears, it hadn't occurred to me to ask how well she had kept up. It turned out she was a natural survivor. She was twice as fast as me, and she learned more quickly. When our sessions had finally been combined, she easily kicked my ass in every category. Zeno just made my sessions more difficult.

If you don't ever have to train with that maniac, don't. Once he made me spend an entire month off of the Petals in solitude so that I would become familiar with silence. After that month was up, he though Diarra and I should learn how to live together, so he sent her with me for another two months. We had been living together as long as I could remember, so I saw no reason to that other than to get rid of me for a while.

I was kept so bust that I forgot most of my Priestess studies. I even forgot how homesick I was, that is, until I received a letter from Jakarran. Since then, I write to her frequently. Eventually I stopped studying and spent most of my days out in the woods or sleeping. Zeno had said that there would be plenty of time to learn all of that when I passed the Hunter Exam. Besides, most of it was reviewing seasonal things that I'd known already.

The years had changed my appearance as well. Of course I had grown taller, but most of the baby fat on my face seemed to have melted off. I was leaner and more muscular, and I felt more confident with my step. Even though they had healed long ago, the scar above my eyebrow was still there, and it was very visible against my tanned skin. I use to be very fair, and compared to Diarra I still was, but the color of my skin had changed drastically. Unavoidably, my hair had grown even longer. I didn't know what to do with it because it had grown ratty and brittle. Diarra explained that, since my training began, I put it up more often. That broke the hair and damaged the ends. I had Diarra slice about two feet off in secret, so it went to my mid back. Zeno seemed to be the only one who noticed, but he assured me no one would notice because it was still so long.

Once fitness training had ended, Zeno said he'd begin to help me in specializing in Stealth. I had to learn the basic defensive maneuvers in case my pretend cover was blown in a mission. Then I had to study to learn how to use many different weapons incase my cover called for it. That was Zeno's clever way of introducing me to weaponry without it becoming a problem. I learned how to hide knives and daggers over my body and how to discreetly draw them without anyone noticing me. That had taken the most time. I began to feel guilty, but Diarra reassured me that the other apprentices would be doing similar things, so we went along with it.

I hadn't really kept track of time, so when Reut's twelfth birthday arrived I felt as if I'd been slapped in the face. The three years had gone very slowly, but I still felt like there wasn't enough time. The Exam was about three months after Reut turned twelve, so I had that long to polish my skills. Zeno had said he wasn't worried, which made me feel a little better.

Then I found out I was invited to the birthday party, along with Tatiana, Keoni, Tatiana, Theron, and Amaranta, her escort from the night of the meeting. It was slightly more fun than I had thought, because for so long I had been thinking of these people as enemies, when really they were my friends. Tatiana didn't seem to absolutely hate me like before, but she still didn't talk to me much. She was now engaged to Keoni, so there had been a pleasant surprise. Her face and lips were fuller, and her skinned glowed. Womanhood had suited her well.

Theron had morphed in a similar way to me. He her was braided again, but I cot tell she had cut it from the straight ends. Her arms were thicker than mine, but that was understandable. She still greeted me with a smile, which I was happy about.

Reut had changed the most, however. Her curly red hair had grown so thick that the curls had straightened out. Her eyes had shrunk to fit her head and her chest had grown a considerable size. Her personality was the same, though, because she still jumped up and down with an energy she seemed to pull out of thin air. Her godfather had passed away, though, from old age, so there was a sad air surrounding her whenever there was silence. He wouldn't have gone to the Exam with her anyway because he was too weak, and it was too late to teach him anything. I was glad to know he had gone peacefully.

I hadn't seen any of these people for three years, but it barely felt as if we had been apart for a day. I wondered if we would all come back from the Exam alive.

Diarra had spent the whole party catching up with Amaranta. I had forgotten that they had grown up together as sisters, and slightly felt guilty. What would either of them feel if one were to wind up hurt? I would I feel if Diarra died? I laughed at myself, because I would die before Diarra.

After the party, the months flew by.

And that what takes me here, waiting in a large mass of Hunter Applicants in a cave, a number tag with the number 113 on my chest. Diarra is at my right, the tag 114 tapped on her shirt.

The Exam might begin in a minute, or in an hour, since it's hard to tell.

Let's just hope we make it back alive.

AN: Umm... wow. I finally made it to the exam. And seriously? No reviews? You're killing me, Smalls!

So, the prologue is officially over. I hope my very few readers enjoyed it, because the next chapter might take a while. I have... DUH, DUH, DUH... School. Ugh.

Any who, If you have any questions, just ask me. I love Critiques 'cause they make me a better writer, blah, blah, blah. Oh, and I've gone back to my previous chapters and fixed all the mistakes I could find. Nothing in the plot has changed, so you don't have to reread if you don't want to. If you see any mistakes in this chapter, please tell me so that I can fix it (just ignore the mistakes in the An. I really don't care in this part). And if you don't review, I can't change something you don't like. I seriously need feedback, people. I realize that sometimes it can be very difficult to click a button. So, yeah. Review. Please. Please. Please.

~MaoIsSleepy