Gallant Weapons

"Are you afraid of me?"

"Do you… wanna get away from me?"

"How could you?!"

"I hate you!"

"Ow!" Hope yelped after feeling a jolt of utter pain go through her finger and up her spine. She immediately dropped the knife she was holding (the one she had used to accidentally cut herself) and quickly enclosed her now blood-covered finger in a rag that was sitting beside her. But, of course, the rag didn't stop the uncomfortable stinging. "Ow, ow, ow…"

"Hope!" Frypan dropped his own knife upon hearing Hope in pain. He ran over to her side and then scoffed at the blood he saw. "See?! I told you this would happen! You've been distracted all morning, Hope, and now you've gotten hurt!"

"I-I'm sorry…" Hope said in a remorseful tone. She had been cutting up vegetables for dinner, but now, they were covered in her blood. Guilty wouldn't even come close to describing how Hope was feeling. "I'll bandage myself up and continue prep-"

"No. Nuh-uh. Not happening," Frypan interrupted her with an angry shake of his head. "You're taking the day off, and you're going to the infirmary."

"W-What…?!" Hope instantly yelled. "N-No, Frypan, I can't! I took yesterday off, and I can't take today off, too! Trust me, this is fine! I'll stop being an airhead and-!"

"Hope," Frypan said her name sternly, "I respect your commitment, but I draw the line when that commitment causes you to get hurt. There's a lot of blood there, Hope. And there are dark bags under your eyes. You need to get patched up, and you need to get some rest."

"N-No…" Hope continued to agrue. "No, Frypan, I can't-"

"Hope!" This time, Frypan shouted her name and grasped both of his large hands around her smaller, bleeding one. He turned her body toward him, leaning down slightly so his face was right in front of hers. "Hope, please. Go do something for yourself for once. Or, if that doesn't do anything for you, do this… for me? It'll make me feel better."

"F-Frypan, I…" Hope sighed. "I-I don't know if I can…"

"Here, I'll walk with you," Frypan remarked, dropping one of his hands and keeping the other squeezed around Hope's bleeding finger. It was almost like they were holding hands. "C'mon. We don't want you to lose more blood."

Hope, not having the energy to argue any more, let out yet another sigh. "O… Okay…"

She didn't mean for this to happen. Last night, after Hope had spent about an hour with Newt, she took the risk of going to sleep. Her body was tired, her mind was tired, and she just wanted to rest. However, that mind of hers had other plans for her. The moment Hope had fallen asleep, another nightmare invaded her dreams.

"Are you afraid of me?"

"Do you… wanna get away from me?"

"How could you?!"

"I hate you!"

Hope had awoken in a cold sweat, and never went to sleep again that night. She just sat in bed, petting Hugo for comfort, and never closed her eyes again. When Hope needed to go to her job, though, she never thought that her choice of no-sleep would affect her this much. The entire morning, Hope kept making stupid mistakes during the cooking and the prepping. Mistakes that Frypan would need to correct for her. She felt like such a burden. And then, even worse, Hope cut herself with that knife, causing Jeff and Clint to need to spend their time helping her. Therefore, Hope felt like she became a burden to those two as well.

"Ah, damn…" Jeff cringed once he looked over Hope's cut. "I'm sorry, Hope, but this is gonna need stitches."

"Oh my gosh, really…?" Hope huffed in dissatisfaction. After Frypan had left Jeff and Clint to do their thing, Hope sat down on her bed and allowed the two to examine her. And yeah, this wasn't the answer she'd been hoping for. "Why do I gotta be such an idiot?"

"Hey, at least you didn't cut off your finger," Clint acknowledged, prompting Hope to show him a scared look.

"H-Has that happened before?"

"Tch," Jeff clicked his tongue, "more times than you think."

"Grrr…" Sitting beside her, Hugo growled into Hope's ear. This made the girl turn toward the dog and verbally apologize to him once more. Nevertheless, this only made Hugo let out an angry noise. "Bark!"

"Y-Yep…" Hope gulped. "You're never gonna let that one go, are you?"

"…Hope!" Just then, the infirmary door that led into Hope's room slammed open. With it, came the familiar voice and face of Chuck, who immediately ran to Hope's side the second his eyes met hers. "H-Hope, I heard from Frypan! You got hurt?! How?! Why?! Does it still hurt?!"

"Ch-Chuck, I'm fine!" Hope reassured him with a strained smile. "Trust me, it was just… a little… scratch…" However, Hope started trailing off the moment she noticed him standing at the doorway. Newt was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, and he had a very knowing glint in his eyes. "H-Hello, Newt."

"Hey, Hope," Newt greeted back. "How's it goin'?"

Hope shrunk underneath his intense gaze. "F-Fine, I guess."

"Says the girl who needs stitches," Clink said bluntly, causing Chuck to directly whip his head at the med-jack.

"H-Huh?! She needs stitches…?! But those hurt! A lot!"

"It'll hurt her more if we keep this wound open, though," Jeff countered and then stood up from where he was kneeling. "Wait here. I'll go get the supplies."

After watching Jeff leave the room, Hope directed her eyes back down at her hand. She felt the wound throb in anguish, and yet that wasn't what hurt the most. For Hope, what hurt the most was being hurt and being unable to do her job. Instead, she sat and let other people do the work for her. Hope hated that. She hated herself for being so careless.

I'm no good like this, Hope thought to herself. I'm no good at all.

"…Hope." But then, Hope felt someone sit beside her on the bed and a soft voice in her ear. She slowly looked to her right to see Newt sitting there, a serious look on his face. "I thought I told you to get some rest last night."

"I know…" Hope muttered apologetically. "I know, and I tried. I-I tried, but I just… couldn't."

"Why not?" Newt questioned, making Hope's mood only worsen.

"I don't know… Maybe it's just yet another thing that I stuck at."

"Do not blame yourself for this," Newt snapped. "It was an honest mistake. Anyone could have made it."

"No… No, it is my fault," Hope protested. "I-If I could simply go to sleep like a normal person, I would have been able to focus better. I wouldn't have made Frypan do all the work for me - I wouldn't have made all of you worry. I-I'm… I'm just a big mess."

"Hope, you…" Chuck shook his head. "You shouldn't be saying-"

"Okay! I got everything!" Jeff re-entered the scene before Chuck could finish. He walked back to Hope, kneeled down in front of her, and opened up his pouch of supplies on the ground. But before he took any of those supplies out, he looked up at Hope meaningfully. "Hope, you might wanna look away for this."

"W-What should I look at?" Hope question with an anxious expression. "What should I even do in this circumstance?"

"Just let us do all the work," Clint replied. "You don't need to worry about anything."

"What about her hand, though?" Chuck chimed in. "I mean, where should she even put it? How's she gonna stay still with a needle going through her-"

"I'll hold it," Newt interjected, and in the next moment, Hope suddenly felt a touch that had started to feel… familiar to her. Her eyes widened as she watched Newt's larger hand wrap around hers, feeling his warmth seeping into her. Hope shakily turned her head back toward Newt's once more, and there, those dark brown eyes of his… somehow… made her feel better. "I'll hold you, okay? I'm right here."

"Newt…" Hope whispered out his name. "Are you sure?"

"What are friends for?" Newt inquired with a lopsided smile. "Besides, you made me feel better last night, so… I'm just returning the favor."

"I-I did… what? When… did… I…" Hope lost her voice after the corner of her eye caught hold of something terrifying. Within Jeff's hand, he held a pointy needle that had a tail of black string attached to it. And that small, pointy thing wouldn't have been so terrifying if it wasn't going to penetrate her skin. "Oookay, um, I'm officially scared. A-Are we sure that we have to-"

"C'mere." But Newt flew in to save the day. He softly placed his finger against Hope's cheek, moved her face to point at his, and made sure that the only thing she saw… was him. Their faces were closer than ever before, and the proximity made Hope's throat go dry. "Don't look at them - look at me. Don't worry about anything other than me."

"…I'm going in for the first stitch," Jeff said while Hope felt his hand delicately hold her finger as well. "Just take deep breaths for me, Hope."

Hope took a deep breath as instructed. In… and… out her breath went. Nonetheless, when Hope felt that needle pierce through her skin, she couldn't stop herself from whimpering. "M-Mmm…"

"Hey, hey, hey. It's okay. Hope, it's okay," Newt cooed, soothingly tracing his thumb across Hope's palm. And somehow, the ticklish yet comforting sensation… made her distress lessen. Hope took another deep breath as her eyes focused on Newt's. "You're going to be okay. You're doing great. I'm right here. Just don't look away from me."

"M-Mhm…" Hope whimpered in pain again, but kept her mind locked on Newt. Instead of focusing on the needle, she focused on the way Newt's hands felt against her: the way his hand held hers, and the way his finger kept their faces close together, was Hope's main focus. Last night, Hope heard Newt's voice. His charming, almost melodic voice that drowned out the negative voices in her head. And now, she was feeling him. His calloused, warm hands that drowned out the physical pain she was feeling.

The needle hurt. Oh, it hurt really bad. However, Newt's touch didn't hurt. It may have made Hope's cheeks burn with bashfulness, but it didn't necessarily… feel bad. Seconds passed, minutes passed, and Hope merely continued to stare into Newt's eyes. Was this what friends did…?

"All done!" Jeff unexpectedly announced, prompting Hope and Newt's staring contest to ultimately end in a tie. They both snapped their heads down toward Hope's finger, seeing a perfect stitch there. "All we gotta do now is bandage it up, and you'll be good to go!"

"W-Wow… You're amazing, Jeff!" Hope gushed. "Thank you so much! You too, Clint!"

"It's nothin'." Jeff waved it off. "And you did amazing, too, y'know. Most of the boys here faint when we stitch 'em up. It's equally hilarious and-"

Thump! All of a sudden, the four teenagers heard a loud thump beside them. Each of them whipped their heads toward the noise, but whatever they were expecting, wasn't what they were seeing. Since, laying on the ground in front of them, was Chuck. Chuck, who had just… fainted.

While Chuck's fainted body was being carried by Jeff, Clint, and Newt to a bed, Hope decided that it would be her time to escape. She wouldn't allow herself to fall asleep like Chuck, so she needed to keep busy. However, knowing that Frypan wouldn't let her back into the kitchen thay day, Hope had to find something else to help with. She exited the infirmary, snuck around the back, and started walking through the woods. Furthermore, by using the trees as a cover, the girl was able to look freely out at the Glade.

Alby was conversing with a group of boys.

Zart was doing some weeding.

Winston was hurdling some pigs.

And Gally was… all alone. From where she stood in the woods, Hope watched Gally walk into those woods with a sled behind him. Hope knew that this sled was what Gally used to help him pull logs, and since there were no logs on it, meant that he hadn't chopped any trees down yet. Gally was just getting started, which also meant that… Hope could help!

"…Ruff!"

"Oh, don't be like that, Hugo!" Hope chided her doggy friend. Hugo had had this response after Hope started walking toward Gally's direction and away from the infirmary, where she was supposed to be. "This'll be good for me!"

"Grrr…" But despite Hugo's adamant dislike of Hope's actions, he followed beside her nonetheless. The two of them had become a packaged deal, after all. The two best friends walked into the woods to find Gally, being careful not to be noticed by Frypan or Newt. Similarly, Hope's white-bandaged finger hurt like a bitch, and she needed something to distract her.

To Hope, rest was not an option.

"…Oh! Hey! Gally!" Hope called out to him the moment she saw him. In response, Gally stopped walking and glanced over in her direction, seeing Hope and Hugo jogging up to him. "Good afternoon, Gally!"

The boy in question didn't acknowledge the greeting. "What're you doing out here? Shouldn't you be with Fry?"

"I-I'm… taking a day off."

"Another one?"

"Yep…"

"You don't very sure about-"

"W-What are you up to?!" Hope hastily interjected. "I see an empty sled there."

"And I see a weird girl with a bloody finger," Gally pointed out in the bluntest way possible. Hope hadn't even seen his eyes look down at her finger. "C'mon, Greenie. Spill it."

"I-I…" Hope then huffed in defeat. "I was cutting vegetables, but I cut myself instead. And now I got stitches and… no job for the day."

"Huh… So you're clumsy on top of the weird," Gally scoffed while shaking his head. "Either way, what's this gotta do with me?"

"Well," Hope felt her palms get sweaty, "I wanted to know if… there was a… job for… me here."

"You look like you can barely pick up a twig," Gally stated, making Hope deadpan.

"H-Hey, you act like you've never seen me do just that."

"My point still stands," Gally continued to argue. "And with a stitched-up hand like yours, there's no way you can use an ax, let alone chop down a tree with it. You need more muscle."

"…Then help me get some!" Hope proposed the second Gally almost turned to walk away. "H-Help me become stronger!"

Gally raised an eyebrow at the girl. "Why?"

"B-Because I… I hate being weak like this…" Hope admitted, and Gally's eyes actually widened slightly. Not necessarily because of her words, but more because of… the sadness in her eyes. "You're right, Gally. I am weak - physically and mentally. B-But I want to get stronger! Just like all of you! And I know how strong you are, so… could I please learn from you?"

Gally was right: Hope was weird. She said the strangest things, thought up the craziest ideas, and just had that personality where you never knew what was going to come out of her mouth next. It was true that Gally was weirded-out by her, but he could also respect her determination to better herself. Hope's desire to be a useful part of the Glade always stood out positively to Gally. Therefore, after letting out a long breath of air, Gally nodded his head.

"Fine," he said. "But I'm not gonna make you chop wood or do push-ups with that finger of yours."

"Th-Then what can I do?" Hope asked, causing Gally to shrug.

"Dunno. You got an idea of something light-weight that can grow muscle?"

"Umm…" Hope pondered over the question for a few moments, but nothing really came to her mind. Many of the Gladers had axes, machetes, and daggers, yet that wasn't really Hope's style nor would help her become stronger. So, Hope started thinking up other weapons in her limited memory. She thought and she thought until… a lightbulb practically lit-up above her head. Hope snapped her fingers in revelation, showing Gally an excited smile. "Gally, would you happen to know how to make a bow?"