Chapter 4: Midnight Training ("Eric… is stronger than I am…")

Sam POV

'Will and Platinum seem to be getting along great, even though Will just got here last week-' I stopped writing in my journal when I heard a soft knock on the door. I had been in the same journal every night, since I began to learn how to write. You could see the grammatical and spelling errors in the first few hundred pages. Eric didn't even stir, but I still waited a moment before getting up to open the door.

"Simon?" I whispered. "What's up?"

"Can you come to my room?" Simon asked. He led me into his red and cream colored room, and closed the door behind us. "You've been working at the café all this week, so Eric's a bit ahead of you. Luckily, we can do this training right here and now." He opened the window, and motioned me to look out. Through the thick night fog, you could just barely see the large flamed candles sticking out the sides of the DWMA. "I'm gonna throw you to the center red thorn at the front there. It's your job to turn human at just the right moment, and land directly on the tip. Then find your way down and run back. If your even a second too late, you won't land on the tip. If thats the case, just let yourself come back, and I'll throw you again."

"What's the point of this exactly?" I asked him.

"If you can run long distances, you can also be thrown longer distances before coming back. It works with both strength and speed. Soon, the two of you will be able to throw yourselves back. Since it's Monday, the two of you are going to do this Wednesday and Friday of this week. This is going to be done every other day during week days. Weekends will be used for other training. I know you've never attempted turning into human before coming back, and your weapon blood will argue with you and try to pull you back here, but be sure to fight back," Simon explained, and after a moments silence, he started giggling.

"What?"

"This is so cool! I love having weapons! Hehehe!" he giggled. "Are you alright with what your wearing right now? Can you run a few miles with that?" I looked down. I wasn't wearing a shirt, but even though it was early May; I was fine. I was wearing the same brown shorts that I used to wear in the circus.

"Yeah, let's do this!" I said happily, transforming into a silver boomerang. Sam Mathews was carved in fancy black writing. Since we began our training, Eric and I discovered that we had contractable razors on the sides of our weapon forms. Eric's were sort of wave shaped, and mine stuck straight out. I kept my razors in as I transformed, and Simon caught me.

"Ready?"

"Ready!" I exclaimed, as he threw me. A mile had been as far as I had gone ever, so on the second, I had to strain myself. By the time I could clearly see the DWMA, my sides were cramping. I took a deep breath. I can do this… I can do this… I told myself. Almost there…. almost…. NOW. I let out a yelp of shock and slight pain as I suddenly turned human, and landed smack-dab on the tip of the large red thorn. I winced as every bit of heat in my body seemed to be trying to rip out of my stomach. But reluctantly, I held my ground. After a minute or two, the pain subsided, and my stomach began to settle. I took another deep breath, and mentally prepared myself for the run back. Since we became Simon's weapons, I've been struggling more and more with training. "Eric… is stronger than I am…" I mumbled to myself. But I knew I couldn't quit my job. I was so used to having one, it gave my motivation. Motivation and money. Two very good things. But now was the time that I needed to prove my worth! I turned around and scanned my surroundings quickly. Around the corner, I could see a staircase. I ran to it, and went down them quickly. There were three ways I could go. The route that had the café, the route that had the orphanage, or the route that had the grocery store. Orphanage was the longest, so I chose that one. I began pacing myself to start off, and I noticed that all the stores I running by were open. Thats odd… I thought to myself, and I smirked. Hmm…. I stopped and looked around at all the buildings. One of them looked rather cheerful and bright… I blushed and face palmed. Thats where Blair 'worked'. Sometimes I had to deliver food at the café and I would see Spirit there. He wasn't there now though, but I definitely wasn't going in…

"Oh Sammy!~" I heard someone call. I turned.

"Blair?"

"Hiya!" Blair greeted. "What are you doing out here? It's past midnight you know."

"Oh, uh, just some training," I replied, and I could tell what she was about to say next.

"Why don't cha come in for a drink?" she asked.

"I'm fifteen," I pointed out, but she grabbed me by the arm and dragged me in anyway. She sat me down on the couch, poured me a strange looking purple drink that tasted surprisingly good, and sat down next to me.

"You seem upset," she told me. "What's wrong?" I sighed, and explained everything to her. "You're in quite the pickle!" she told me when I finished. "But don't worry. You just need to try extra hard when you get the chance to train, since you have less time! Like, run a mile a day or something!" the two of us talked for a couple hours, and when it was around 2:30, she motioned me to stand up. "So Sam, don't worry about it. In a matter of fact, why don't you meet me at Valentino's Chinese tomorrow? We can talk more then."

"…How old are you?"

"No no silly!" Blair giggled. "I mean, my brother Boomer was a boomerang too. I have some tricks I could teach ya."

"Was? Is he dead?"

"Actually, I don't know," Blair confessed.

"What happened to him?" I asked.

"I'm pretty sure he got a gender change and moved to Wisconsin."

"Great…" I trailed off. "Sure. I like Chinese. I'll meet you there. How 'bout 6? That good for you?"

"That's good for me!" Blair said, "See ya then!" she kissed me on the cheek, and slightly in a daze, I left.

"Well, that was an experience," I muttered to myself. "I never thought tha- EEP!" I jumped about a mile, as a flashlight was shined right in my eyes.

"Sam?" Simon asked, clicking the flashlight off. "Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!"

"I'm so so so sorry Simon!" I apologized. "You see, um, funny story."

"Hm?"

"I was forced to sit on a pink couch, drink suspicious purple alcohol, and talk to Blair. And now she's asked me to dinner to discuss my weapon form," I said.

"…Wait, what?"