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Disclaimer: I do not own Cherub, or any of the characters, and unfortunately, that's not going to change.
Hope you enjoy, and sorry for the delay!
Cherub...
Nothing To Lose...
Sunlight slithered in through the windows, the heat concentrating and baking the whole canteen. Cherry walked steadily in through the doors, her stare bored and uncaring on the outside. She was good at suppressing things when she needed too. It was a strange feeling, knowing that every single child here had no parents. The fact that she was the only one who had no one to sit with made her feel all the more alone. She walked quickly to where they were serving the food. None of the food made her particularly hungry today, despite the very clear fact that it was probably better than any food she'd had in a while.
"Can I just have some water?" Cherry asked, trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible.
"Are you sure? We have lots left over…" The lady at the counter said, grabbing a bottle and handing it to her.
"No, thank you." Cherry said, walking off. She looked around the canteen, hand tapping the bottle subconsciously. She tried to ignore the stares and whispers that the students directed towards her.
"That's the one who beat up Bruce Norris!"
"Oh my god, look at her hair!"
"Wow, she's so tiny!" Were a few of the most common whispers. She grimaced, for once regretting the fact that she stood out so completely. Not that she would change for them, which would be admitting she needed to change for society to accept her. Cherry spotted and empty seat far enough from any group of students so that she would not be associated with them. She sat in it, sipping from her water. Cherry didn't know whether it was the stares that alienated her, or the fact that absolutely no one came to talk to her, but she felt oddly unaccepted here. She felt an odd urge to run away from this place. She got up and walked towards the canteen door. On her way out, she saw a boy. He had coal black hair that was perfectly straight, besides an outward flick at the end. A large side fringe swept to the right covered one honey coloured eye so dark it was almost amber. He was pale, but not as unnaturally so as Cherry. His eyes met hers, and she felt something. Not an instant shock, but something deeper, like the gradual shift of the earth as the continents drifted away from each other. She shook her head, expelling the odd and irrational comparison. But she could still feel his eyes on her back as she walked away.
She made her own way to the next test, barely remembering the directions Mac had given her before lunch. On her way there she finished off the water. Cherry pushed the door open and walked in. She saw a cage with a small white bird in it. It took her a moment, but she realised it was a chicken. Why would they have a chicken? She looked at Mac, a question in her eyes.
"I suppose you're wondering what the third test is?" Mac asked her, and she nodded, eyes wandering back to the chicken.
"Do you like chicken?" Mac asked.
"The animal, yes." She answered. Mac looked at her quizzically.
"I want you to kill this chicken." He said. Cherry blanched at stared at him in shock, her mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she managed to get a proper answer out of her mouth.
"How?" She choked out, blinking several times. He handed her a biro, opening the cage and pulling the chicken out. It clucked uncertainly before settling down. Mac handed the chicken to Cherry.
"Stab it in the neck with this, it will die almost instantly. I'd advise to hold the chicken away from you." He said. She nodded, turning the chicken around. Clutching the pen tighter, she drew it backwards. Cherry plunged the pen deep into the chicken's neck, ignoring how the contents of its intestines spilled onto the floor. The chicken went stiff for a moment, then limp. She handed it back stiffly to Mac, who put the poor thing down on a table. He smiled at her, and she shakily returned the smile. He headed off outside.
"So, what's the next test?" She asked, her hand wandering to her ribs. The pain was very sharp… Like being stabbed. She shook her head, knowing they were either broken or badly bruised, easily fixed and forgotten. She noticed the sun slowly climbing down
Mac took her a little ways into the woods, and pointed upwards. At the top of a very large tree, a small child in a red shirt stood, clinging to the wood. Blocks of wood had been secured to the tree so that people could climb up. She wasn't sure from this distance, but the child looked terrified. Then again, so did she.
"We need you to climb up there and collect the little girl up there, she's too scared to use the zip wire by herself." Mac said. Cherry did a double take, finally noticing the zip wire. She looked pale, very pale indeed.
"I can't, it's too high." She said, shaking her head and crossing her arms around herself. But her feet had already started moving towards the tree. Cherry didn't know what made her start to climb, fear of failing the test, or leaving the little girl up there. The logical part of her mind told her that they would have people more experienced than her to help the little girl down, but still she began to climb. When she got halfway up, she craned her head down. A small whimper escaped her throat, and she began to shiver slightly. Hands clinging to the tree, she couldn't move. Her breaths came out shallowly, and she felt as if she couldn't breathe. Her hand slipped, and suddenly she was hanging off the tree, one hand clinging on for dear life. Adrenaline kicked in, and she managed to somehow swing herself back around, until all four limbs were clutching at wood. Adrenaline still pumping around her body, the rest of the climb was surprisingly easy. At the top, she could tell that the adrenaline was gone and it was only pure willpower that had kept her going. Before she gave herself time to think, she scooped the small crying girl into her arms, hopped onto the zip wire, pulling the child onto her lap, and they were zooming towards the ground together. She screamed in terror, where as the young one cried out in joy. A tinge of annoyance invaded Cherry's mind. The whole thing had been an act, the child was fine. When they reached the bottom, she dropped onto the mat rather clumsily and sat there stunned with herself for a moment. She got up, and her legs felt strange and jelly-like. Cherry was afraid she would fall over, but she managed to keep her balance as she ambled over to Mac.
"That, was insane." She gasped, and Mac chuckled, as if the hundred foot drop were nothing. He began to walk off again, and Cherry hopelessly followed.
The assault course went fine, except for two things. The first problem was when she had to do the jump. The instructors said that she would do it without thinking if she were on the ground. Cherry replied that this wasn't on the ground, and the instructors laughed at that. It took a further 10 minutes of persuasion for her to finally make the leap. She was fine, which surprised her. At the end though, when she saw the drop, she simply refused to do it. No way in hell would she make that drop onto the blue mat. It looked so bloody far down. She would break her leg, or her neck. After an hour that seemed like an age, they had to get a ladder up the tree and have someone carry her down, she was in such a state.
"Go see a nurse about your ribs, and then get some rest. We'll talk some more tomorrow he said, looking up at the dark sky. She could tell that she had taken longer on the assault course than he had expected. She did what he said, going to see the nurse. Her eyes were puffy and red, where stray tears had escaped from a near panic attack. She was still shaky, and the day had taken it's toll on her. In the waiting room, she got a better hold on herself, though she still looked a mess. A nurse wandered out and saw her.
"You should have said you were out here, silly." The nurse said kindly, beckoning Cherry into her office. She took a look at Cherry's ribs, concurring that one was fractured, and four others badly bruised. At least none of the bone had splintered, which was good. She didn't have to have surgery. The nurse bandaged her side, and checked over her other sore places. There was nothing horrific. She walked wearily back to her room. As she pushed the door open, she saw the boy she had seen in the canteen today, heading for the door next to hers. Before he could see what a state she was in, Cherry ducked into her room. All he saw of her was her tiny boots disappearing in the door way. He smiled at the thought of having a new roommate before disappearing into his own room.
Cherry collapsed wearily onto her soft bed, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the mattress. She hadn't even bothered to change first.