Number twelve: Children.
Pairing: None.
Disclaimer: See chapter one.
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"I can't do it!" Darren moaned, flopping down onto the ground and stubbornly folding his arms across his chest, giving the vampiress standing in front of him an annoyed glare.
Arra sighed, "You can do it. You just have to try harder."
"But I'm trying my hardest!" The little half-Vampire shouted, and he looked away. He was exhausted: for four hours straight he had been training in the Hall of Flames. He had been burnt and singed, he had felt fear at the sight of the flames and then frustration when he had failed to move out of the way quick enough. He wanted nothing more than to go back to his room and curl up in his hammock, "I can't do it." He repeated dully, running his fingers across the dusty floor.
Arra watched him for a minute, trying to figure out what to do: forcing him into more practice didn't seem like a very good idea, but he did need all the practice he could get. Some long-forgotten instinct was telling her to be kind to him, to let him have a break. With another sigh, she sat down next to him and watched his fingers tracing patterns in the dust. She had always given off the impression that she disliked children, that she couldn't stand them and had no time for them, but in truth, none of this was true: something about their innocence, their adorable mood swings and odd behaviour, she found all this to be strangely endearing.
Darren looked up, "Can we take a break, please?" He looked slightly worried about asking that, as if it was a forbidden question.
But in reply he got a smile, "Sure."
The little half-Vampire blinked, "Thanks." And he returned Arra's smile, feeling a little better. He closed his eyes and leant back against the rock wall of the cave they were in. The fire still hissed in the metal room opposite, and Darren could picture the flames billowing up, the heat as the fire swallowed him...he shivered and snapped his eyes open, just to make sure he was safe. He glanced to his side, to see if Arra had noticed, and to his embarrassment she had: she was looking at him with a puzzled smile, "Sorry. Just thinking about the...that." He waved a hand at the training room.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
The question threw Darren off guard: he hadn't imagined that Arra would ever want to listen to anyone moan about their problems, but he got the feeling that he was wrong. Her grey eyes were concerned, and he suddenly felt that he could talk to her. He nodded slowly, "It's just so difficult." He said slowly, trying not to sound like a small child.
"I know it is." Arra replied, leaning back against the wall as Darren was, "But that's why you have to practice so much. So that it won't be so difficult."
"Yeah. But if the training is this hard, then I don't even want to think about what the actual trial is going to be like."
Arra grinned in reply, "Then don't think that far ahead."
Darren gave her a look, "That's terrible advice."
They both laughed, "It worked for me." Arra defended weakly, but then grew serious, "I won't lie to you - it's going to hurt, a lot. The flames will be bigger and will come faster; there will be more of them. You won't come out unscathed."
Darren nodded, nervously glancing towards the room full of still sizzling fire, "It's not so much the pain I'm worried about. It's...it's the thought of burning to death..."
"You aren't going to die." The conviction in her voice was so strong that Darren actually believed her for a minute: but then he heard the sizzling fire again and doubt flooded his mind, "But it's impossible." He muttered.
"Of course it isn't!" Arra laughed, "How can it be if I've done it?" Darren let a small smile slip onto his face, but it quickly vanished, "Darren." She put a hand on his shoulder, "You aren't going to die. I won't let you, okay. And neither will Vanez or Gavner...plus." She grinned, "If you didn't make it, Larten would kill me."
Darren laughed at that, "I don't think he would."
"You sure? I'm in charge of you for this trial: if you do fail, it will be my fault." Darren thought about that for a while: so many people were going out of their way to help him, Gavner, Mr. Crepsley, Vanez, Kurda, Arra, Seba... They were all taking responsibility for him. He couldn't let them down.
And he wouldn't.
He suddenly jumped up, "Well, we better get back to practicing then!" He grinned when Arra gave him a confused look, "Moaning isn't going to get me anywhere. I need practice...I'm not going to let anybody down." He added quietly, but he knew Arra had heard him by the way she smiled, "Come on!" Darren hopped up and down on the spot, gesturing at the training room, "I'm ready for the fire!"
Arra laughed, "You're a stubborn little cub-Vampire, aren't you?" She stood and followed him to the training room, "You must get it off Larten." Darren faced her with a disgusted look on his face and they both burst into laughter. Before they entered again, Darren turned and gave her a quick hug, surprising both himself and Arra, "Thank you for not giving up on me." He whispered in her ear, and then let go with a grin, "Let's go!"
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A/N: I was going to get all philosophical at the end, but decided against it :P Reviews would be super-duper!