Thousands and thousands of trees, only breaking every few spots. Dark shadows could be see flitting about through the dense foliage, followed by the whoops and yells as bigger, more prominent shadows chased after them. Laser bullets lit up the darks, illuminating the humanoid forms for a few moments before they receded back into the darkness. Footprints left in the dirty ground were swept away over time, being kicked under dirt from the feet racing off to continue the fight. Lights broke through the west barrier of trees and a large wall came into view, lit up with security lights.

The Guard Towers stood tall and bright as they surrounded the gate. The moonlight glinted off the snipers pointed out toward the foliage of trees. Humanoid forms stand at the edge of the trees, looking toward the towers in fear. One of the Sniper Guards, standing close to the edges, sees one of the shadows and fires off a warning shot. The hiss could not be heard at that distance, but the warning shot did exactly what it was meant to do. The shadows flitted off into the distance, disappearing from view. The sniper stood back, looking toward his partner with a cocky grin, who just rolled his eyes and continued a lookout. The bell chimed a six o'clock call, and the two men looked to each other.

On the opposing tower to them, a young woman pressed three buttons, in successive order, and the gate begins to open slowly. Different groups begin to approach, and dark shadows sprint out from the inside the gates, from behind the Wall. The groups whoop and yell, high-fiving each other as they switch off before the gates begin to close again, doing as they normally do: only be open for two minutes at a time. The new packs take off running in different directions, and sounds of terror could be heard through the dimming sky.

As the gates shut, the retired groups laughed and began walking down the pathway, heading in the direction of a tall, sparkling glass tower, one that was a half an hour walk away. They pass by short, stumpy houses and young farmers, who wave and smile to them as they do their final feeding. The Guards waved and smiled back, letting out yells to former friends, or cat calls to young women, who giggle and take it in stride. The road is the main road that no cars, except the rare government car or helicopter, was allowed to go on. The Guards hold onto each other, laughing and smiling as they approach the glittering tower. Lights flash on the inside, people preparing for the night.

Castle, as it was called, was the most protected building in all of Markson, being home to the Guards. It was the most fortified and had the most weapons out of anywhere in Markson. The groups walked up to the front doors, placing each of their hands into a small opening by a seemingly normal wall. The first one, a young man, cringed as the needle pricked his finger, but as soon as his blood was approved, the wall slid open, making a minor door for the young man to walk into.

The beginning foyer of Castle was close to a hotel lobby. There were couches where Guards would sit, waiting for their tours to begin, or play video games and hang out in between training and exercising sessions. Walking forward down a small hallway, the building then opened up a bit more, breaking off into three different hallways. Continuing straight would lead one to all of the meeting rooms, while if one were to turn right, they would head to six elevators to take them to their rooms or the training rooms on the upper floors of the Castle. This particular young man turned to head to the elevators, but where the fun really begins is going left and heading down a long hallway to a pair of double doors: the ballroom.

Tonight, it was lit up with multicolored lights and festive balloons and streamers. There was a snack table, a space made for dancing, a stage, and multitudes of tables filled with people, the front five filled with young Recruits who had just finished their training. The rest were filled with off duty Guards and the mentors who trained the young Recruits. A young man of a somewhat Asian decent approached the stage, going up to speak into a microphone...

---

Sitting at the front of most things was not unusual for her, but this time, it was all assigned. The first table was for the highest ranking out of all of the Recruits. She was at the head of the table, smiling softly, as she watched Nau, the head Recruiter for the Council and resident of Castle itself, make his way onto the stage. Nau tapped the microphone, then waited for the murmurs of the Recruits and other guests to die down. The room fell into a hushed silence and Nau began to speak.

"We gather here to witness the beginning of an era. These twenty students are about to step into the world of a Guard. They have trained, hard, from Day One. There has been blood. There has been sweat. And there has been tears. They have thrown their heart and soul into becoming a protector of this wonderful city of ours-" A loud cheer arose, with a chant of the city name, before Nau held up his hand the room fell quiet once more. "-and I'm sure they will give their lives to protect those that they love behind these walls. Now! Onto the acceptance, choosing of the weapons, and the random partner selection."

Nau began calling each of the Recruits, one by one, starting from the last ranked Recruit. They all went up and swore a speech that said, "I pledge myself to protect the city of Markson. Until the last breath leaves my body, I will hold my ground against the Anomalous. Until the last drop of blood hits the ground, I will protect those I love. This I swear." The oath was a little morbid, but what came next was even more so. A ceremonial knife, having to be sterilized in between each Recruit, was presented to the student. They would draw it across their palm and take their weapon of choice, thus symbolizing it was their weapon. It was gross, but no one else was going to use your gun, so it wasn't that big of a deal.

Ariella held her breath as Nau called her name last. She approached the stage, making her way to him. He smiled at her and asked for her to raise her right hand. She repeated the oath to him, the words rolling off her tongue with ease and passion, and she was handed the knife at her conclusion. She drew the sharp blade of her palm, sucking in a breath at the sudden pain, but she quickly grabbed the hilt and holster of a 76th Grande Pistol, her most favored laser weapon. Wearing a dress, she would not be able to put it on her waist until she began wearing her Guard uniform normally.

Walking back down the stairs, she took her seat once more, looking up to the stage. Nau took his place once more at the microphone and said, "Now for the partner selection. There is no ceremony for this, so you may remain where you are. First pair... Ashes and Fox." Nau continued through, until finally Ariella heard, "Ariella and Noah."

That couldn't be right. Ariella stared at the stage in shock as Nau continued. He finished only two more after that before saying, "Those people will be your partners for the first year. After the first year, you will have your choice. Now stand up and let's have some fun! It's a celebration!" Everyone stood up and immediately the tables were swept away by volunteers and music began playing.

Ariella didn't dance. She didn't want to. Out of all the people he could have chosen, how did she get stuck with Noah?! The one who doesn't even know his last name?! Moping, she leaned up against the wall and began watching the dance, keeping an eye out for her new "partner".

Noah was given some assigned seating for the event that he sat at, the second-most ranked table of the group at which he sat at the head. Most were surprised to see him there that noticed him, the young man cleaned up well. He was wearing the nicest clothes anyone would’ve seen him in, most likely ever. Noah clawed at his collar that he felt was too tight and his waistband which felt to constricting. However he kept his eyes on a swivel. One thing that most noted about Noah upon first meeting him was that he felt ready. For what; was another question. When Nau took the stage Noah clapped along with the others.

"We gather here to witness the beginning of an era. These twenty students are about to step into the world of a Guard. They have trained, hard, from Day One. There has been blood. There has been sweat. And there has been tears. They have thrown their heart and soul into becoming a protector of this wonderful city of ours-" A loud cheer arose, with a chant of the city name, before Nau held up his hand the room fell quiet once more. Noah always found it to be alarming, the sheer patriotism most people had towards Markson. Such blind devotion almost never ended well. "-and I'm sure they will give their lives to protect those that they love behind these walls. Now! Onto the acceptance, choosing of the weapons, and the random partner selection."

It was at this point in the ceremony that Nau began performing a ritual of marking one’s blood and weapon, tying it to them as an extension of one’s body. Towards the last third of the twenty or so of the new guardsmen Noah’s turn arose and a situation he had predicted arose. Before Noah’s name, every other participant was called up by their first and last name. Thusly, once Noah was called up it was just ‘Noah’. The room went silent, his inclusion in the guard program itself was controversial. His chair scraped the ground as he pushed himself out of his seat and walked up to Nau in order to be sworn in.

Noah walked, feeling as bare as he ever had as he passed by the table of the top tier of graduates. One woman seemed to catch his eye at first, but it was fleeting. He made it to the stage and climbed the steps up to Nau who put a hand on Noah’s shoulder. Nau motioned for Noah to repeat the oath, which Noah did. He took the knife in his hand and placed it on his palm, raking his skin and soft tissue with the knife. This elicited his crimson blood to slowly drip onto another knife that was placed onto the table for the recruits to choose their weapons. He grabbed it with his still bleeding hand and clenched his fist painfully around the blade. Nau nodded approvingly to Noah who threw the blade lightly into the air and let it fall perfectly into his back pocket. Showing off somewhat for the crowd. He returned to the seat and the ceremony continued.

It wasn’t long before partners were announced. Noah expected to be placed with someone near his skill group, it was typical for the middle to be matched up together. He listened intently and noticed that his potential partners were dropping, quickly only the best Guards were left. He was shocked by this wondering who he would be paired up with, glancing over at their table. He heard Nau speak “Ariella and Noah.” And noticed everyone at the higher ranked table glance over at one girl, that same girl who had caught his eye. As soon as partners were done being announced Noah watched as everyone arose to start the party, the least formal part of this event. Noah immediately arose and walked briskly through the crowd, past the high ranking table and out through the door into the night air. There he began to work on his basic knife movements, he didn’t believe that this was a time for dancing, people were losing their lives now.

Arielle watched as people began to dance and look like they were having fun. She shook her head, blonde curls falling out around her face and softly brushing her cheeks. She couldn't believe how people were having fun at this time. Not all the Guards were in. There were still some out in the Outlands, fighting to protect those that were inside the walls. She still forced a smile when one of her friends from her grid smiled and waved at her, dancing with one of their crushes. As soon as she turned away, though, she sucked in her cheeks and took a deep breath.

She heard soft footsteps approaching her and she turned to see Nau, a grave look on his wizened face. Sky Carlson, the Weapons Instructor, and Cru Nuella, the Defense Instructor, were both with them, decked out from head to toe in Guard gear. She turned immediately and stood at attention. It was rare to see all three of them together in one place, though it had been said that they used to all be in a Guard group together before Nau partially lost his eyesight. Now Cru and Sky were partners and were considered Elite Guards when they didn't have a Recruit class to train.

"You can relax, Ariella," Sky said with an exasperated tone. "You aren't in trouble. In fact, it seems to be quite the opposite." His voice was very forced and she noticed him exchanging glances with Cru almost every few minutes. Both of their handsome faces were drawn and quite pained, whereas Nau's was forced blank of any emotion that he could muster.

"Ariella, the Anomalous problem is arising very quickly," Nau said. "We need to get you guys some real world experience as soon as possible, and we are losing too many Guards to take out many at a time. You and Noah will leave with Cru and Sky tonight, on the midnight shift. You will run a normal tour, like a normal Guard, going six hours, and you will come back. This will happen multiple times over the next few days, even weeks, until Cru and Sky believe you and Noah are ready. It will be you four that will take out partners and train them in the real world, outside of those walls. This is the safest way we can assure that no one will die immediately."

Ariella was silent. She was a little surprised, but she had been noticing the decreased number of those who returned from tours. Many of them came from Recruit classes that were only a few years ahead of hers. They were trying a different way to see if they could be safer. She looked at them and nodded. "Good," Cru said, an answer to no question she asked or thought. He had a package in his hands. He handed it to her carefully, his hands shaking very slightly. "Take these and go change now, then go and find Noah and tell him the same. His are already on his bed." Cru paused snapping his fingers. "Oh yeah. Your rooms have changed as well. You two are now on the sixteenth floor, right next to each other. Your rooms are right next to the elevator."

Ariella nodded, taking the package from his hands. She then proceeded to walk out of the ballroom, looking around for Noah. She saw him walking outside and, kicking off her stupid high heels, she took off after him, running barefoot. She pushed open the door and said, "Noah!" Her voice echoed in the silent night air. "We're going on a tour. They need us to head upstairs and change. They've changed our rooms from our Recruit rooms as well." She waited for a response.

Noah loosened the tie around his collar and undid the buttons of his dress shirt as he felt them dampen with his sweat. He was matching his motions with an unseen, unheard fighter who was opposing him. They were vicious, but Noah was better with a blade. He spun, quickly using the momentum from their stab to roll past their blade and sink his into their throat. He stopped and thrust the blade absentmindedly into a belt loop on his dress pants, partially impaling his belt. He noticed that his brand new partner was chatting up some of the higher-ups. They all looked pretty serious, not so much like they were enjoying the party. Noah nodded, figuring they were already getting a mission. He swallowed deeply, forcing his dry throat to prepare for speaking.

Ariella came barging out through the doors, kicking off her heels and barged after the one-quarter-naked boy. He walked towards her and she heard her voice break the silence of the night as it rebounded off of each building that surrounded them, she said his name. She told him they were going on a tour. She pointed out where their new rooms were. Before he could respond he found himself in full march walking towards her.

“Roger.” He said quietly, putting a light hand on the small of her back and leaning down in one swift motion to pick up her heels. He felt something, he wasn’t sure why he did, but it was most certainly… Excitement.

They arrived at the elevator and Noah called it, pressing the round button for going up. He avoided the eye contact of everyone in the ballroom lobby, there were some civ’s, a couple other guards who seemed to be getting some ludicrous ideas about the nature of Noah and Ariella’s relationship, and about two employees. He noted their appearances, and realized why they all seemed to be staring at the pair. He had a hand on his lower back, and he looked like a mess. His hair was messy from the wind, he was sweating and his shirt was opened. Noah felt his cheeks flush briefly before buttoning up his shirt absentmindedly and hopping on the elevator as soon as the door opened. As soon as Ariella was in he was jamming the door close button.

The ride up was slow, too slow. He hated confined spaces like this and he found elevators to be some of the most unreliable inventions since explosives. He turned to Ariella, barely looking at her before quietly saying.

“Sorry about that, it was hot outside.”

By the time the elevator doors were open he followed his partner to their rooms and immediately entered his own and began changing.

Ariella noticed all of the looks from the people around them and just shook her head, as they made their way back inside. They were all in the room. They saw who the partners were. They honestly should have recognized what was going on. She was blushing, slightly, as he had his hand on her lower back. Once they got into the elevators, she adjusted slightly so she was farther away from him and he was no longer touching her back. The ride up was awkward and silent until he apologized for having his shirt open and it being hot outside. She just nodded silently, staring at the doors, waiting for them to open.

When the doors finally did open, after what seemed like an hour which was probably only a few moments, she stalked out first, heading to her room. Hers was the first closest to the elevator. She thought it was fairly funny, as in an emergency, she would be the first one on call from this floor, as she was closest to the elevator. She swung into her room, tossing the Guard gear onto the bed, and immediately stripped down. She tossed her beautiful dress onto the bed and grabbed the compression shorts that were in the package. The shorts had no room for underwear, so she just went commando and pulled them on. She pulled on a sports bra ad slipped the skin tight blue shirt on over her head, sliding her arms into the long sleeves. Once she got it situated tight, she pulled up her hood and touched a button on the side. A metal mask snapped over her nose and mouth. This would allow her to breathe easier with the run from back behind the gate out into the Outlands.

She slipped into some broken in tennis shoes and immediately walked back out, the whole changing ordeal only taking her a few minutes. Waiting another minute for Noah, she nodded to him when he walked out. She didn't look for too long, but when she turned away to press the button, she mouthed Wow! to herself. She had never noticed how good he looked before, and with the uniform being so tight fitting, it outlined almost every one of his muscles. Her eyes slightly widened, she made her way into the elevator and the doors shut once more.

The elevator was silent, yet again, on the way down, but once they opened, a bunch of drunken, slurring Guards made their way in, forcing Ariella and Noah to slide out around them without touching them. Shaking her head, Ariella led the way down the hallway to where Cru, Nau, and Sky were all waiting. Sky and Cru were still decked out in their uniforms, and Nau now had a communicator in his hands. He looked up as the two new Guards approached.

"Good. You two are here," he said. Pulling out another communicator, he handed one to both Noah and Ariella. "Take these. If you ever get separated, you can just pressed that red button on the side and it will alert someone to your position. They will help you out. Now you must leave. It's a fifteen minute run to the Gate, and you guys have twenty minutes to midnight."

"Yes sir," Ariella said and both Sky and Cru drew up their hoods, tapping the button to have their masks go around their faces. They both took off out the door, and Ariella and Noah followed behind them. They ran, nonstop, for the full fifteen minutes, until the large, looming, dark gate appeared in front of them. Cru and Sky did not say anything. Instead, they stopped and waited, looking at the Gate. Ariella looked at it closely. She had only seen it from a distance before, never up close. It was a lot more... intimidating up close.

She took a deep breath and looked over at Noah. "Six hours in the Outlands..." she said aloud, looking for some form of reactions, but not getting any. She sighed and turned back forward, but right then, there was a loud chiming coming from a nearby tower, and the large gate immediately began to open. Cru and Sky, with no warning, sprinted forward, heading out into the Outlands. Noah and Ariella exchanged a glance before they too both sprinted out after them. Two minutes was a short amount of time, by the time they got to the Gate running, it was already closely.

Cru and Sky were already out, and Ariella had to slide to get the rest of the way out. She was panting, hard, and she kneeled over, her hands on her knees. She didn't know it would be that hard. With the extra help from the mask, however, she was standing up right again, her chest heaving up and down only a little bit. She looked around. So this was the Outlands...

Noah got into his room and immediately chucked his dress shirt against a wall, kicking off his pants as well. He felt a heart attack coming as he realized he wasn’t sure whether the door had been closed or not, but to his delight, it had. He picked up his guard uniform but to his dismay, he realized that he was barely able to fit a pair of boxers on with the compression shorts, so unfortunately those were out of the picture. He sighed deeply, you’d think they could give you more room to breathe with these things.

Noah rejoined his partner wearing his guard’s outfit. He hadn’t really bothered to check until now, but he realized that his partner was most certainly not hard on the eyes. He felt blood rush to his cheeks and he immediately pressed onwards down the hall and back into the elevator. Before long they were joined by a couple of drunk men who smelled of booze and other less pleasant activities. Noah felt himself remembering what it was like when he lived with men and women who smelt like this, and spoke like this as well. He felt his fists bunching up, but soon the ding of the elevator brought him out of the mist of anger.

Ariella and Noah joined their commanders and were given a communicator, Noah could see that two higher ranking officers, Sky and Cru were fully decked out in gear, looking like the exact textbook definition of a guard. One could tell just by looking at them that they were trained to a ‘T’. Sky and Cru shook Noah’s hand he assumed they had already introduced themselves to Ariella as their debriefing began. Before Noah knew it, they were running, sprinting rather towards the gate. He would commonly make this run twice during his day when he was a recruit, and thusly found himself in perfect condition with the helmet on. His chest rising and falling at a steady rate, his knife rattling around on his waist.

“Six hours in the Outlands.” He heard his partner say from off to the side, looking at him. He nodded, but in hindsight he realized that he probably didn’t make it obvious enough that he had acknowledged her statement. It was true, six hours in the Outlands was not something most would be excited about, but he was. A chime sounded off and once more, they were sprinting, this time directly into the belly of the beast itself, into the Outlands.

They made it, they were there. This was what Noah had been a recruit for all this time. He offered Ariella a hand to steady herself as she seemed to be under quite a bit of duress. While they were both panting, Sky and Cru turned to them and motioned off to the west.

“We’ll be headed that way for now, the current plan is to meet up here at the hour, every two hours, is that clear?” Sky asked Ariella and Noah, they both nodded and before long, they were on their own.

Noah began walking out, expecting Ariella to follow him. The whole atmosphere, even the idea that they were out there in the Outlands, it was intoxicating like they could do anything. Yet that was not why they were there. They were there to keep peace, to maintain the will of the castle.
“Ari, what’re you thinking right now? Because I’m thinking this is…” Noah paused. What in god’s good name made him call his partner Ari? He didn’t know her like that. Hell, he didn’t know her. Noah wanted to take that knife and stab himself right about now, but he didn’t. “Incredible.” He said finishing his thought.

They continued walking for a while, in the distance was green, shrubs, bushes, trees you name it. But what they were walking on was nothing but a flat expansive desert. Noah could still see his superiors walking off towards the west. It was certainly interesting, the Outlands, didn’t seem quite as inhospitable as they had made it sound back when Noah was a recruit. He made sure to stick close to Ari that was proper procedure after all, you keep close to your partner and you make sure that whatever comes near the two of you either dies or wasn’t looking for a fight in the first place.

“I’ve got to say, this is something.” Noah said quietly to himself, basking in the energy that he felt in the Outlands, it was like nothing he had ever experienced before in his life. It made life back by the castle seem so small. This was… Massive.

The Outlands were amazingly different from behind the Gate and Wall. She was busy admiring all of the trees at the distance when Cru and Sky said that they were splitting off. Her mouth could barely form the word, "What?!" before they were already running off to the west. Her eyes were wide as she saw the disappear over the thousand foot span between the wall and the forest. Peering around, they were all alone. The other groups that came out on a midnight tour had taken off away from the two new Guards, leaving them to fend for themselves, for a lack of a better phrase.

Noah began walking forward and Ariella immediately followed him, having to take bigger steps to remain even with him. They were walking over the span of the thousand feet to get to the edge of the forest. “Ari, what’re you thinking right now? Because I’m thinking this is…” She cocked an eyebrow. Only her friends really called her Ari... Everyone else refered to her as Ariella or Ella. She had to admit, though, she didn't mind it all that much. She smiled softly toward the ground as he finished his sentence, glad for the mask around her face so he couldn't see her smile. He continued on to say how the Outlands were something. She had to agree. She had never been out here before. She had only seen glimpses in run through simulations.

"I'll agree to that," she murmured quietly, almost to herself. She peered around as they approached the forest. In the dark of the night, everything seemed to be moving inside of it. She could see some flashes in the distance from laser guns and the force of the sight forced her to draw her own, new pistol. Her hands were shaking slightly, and she kept a tight grip on her handle, making sure that her shaking wasn't noticeable. She took the point, moving slightly ahead of Noah, but making sure that she remained close to him.

"It's a lot quieter than I thought," she said, out loud. She looked around the darkness surrounding them. Taking a small breath, she stepped into the darkness of the forest. Almost immediately after her foot touched the ground, there was a rustling in the trees above them. She jerked the pistol up, looking into the trees above them. "This is fucking bullshit that Cru and Sky left us on our own," she growled, fear driving it out of her rather than actual anger.

Everything surrounding them went quiet once again and she proceeded forward once more. Her tennis shoes were almost silent on the fallen branches and leaves around them. They walked for a good twenty or so minutes before another rustle came above her. She jerked up again, staring into the trees. "It would be easier to see if we had flashlights," she said. She dropped her gun again, keeping an eye on the upper level of the trees."

She dropped her gaze turning to Noah. "We should probably head east, since Cru and Sky went west," she said, pointing east as she did so. "If we don't find any from there, we head north until a half an hour left, then head back to the Gate. Hopefully after that we'll finally stay together." As she was talking, she took no notice of the dark, slim, scorpion tail like shadown that descended behind her, glistening with poison...

Noah felt a smile creep forward onto his lips, out here he just seemed lighter, if not happier. Once they hit the edge of the wood, his partner took point. Noah drew his knife and flipped a small switch on it, crackling with electricity. It was a similar technology to that of the laser weapons that had been developed, but this time for knives. When they first stepped into the woods Noah heard a noise and both he and his partner tensed up. Frozen for a brief few moments Noah and Ari stood completely still, it was then that Noah noticed his partner very minutely shaking.

He stepped in beside her and put a reassuring hand on her wrist, “I’ve got your back.” He said in a grittier deep voice to avoid alerting anything that may have been following, or stalking them. But, as it did in the Outlands, it went quiet once more. The trees drew back from being ominous to being serene and Noah found himself feeling lighter once more. He and Ari began walking again, this time for about twenty minutes.

“Y’know, Ari” Noah began once more using her short hand “we probably lucked out on being partners.” Noah said motioning to the two of them with his knife. “We’re two of the only guards that feel the way we both do, I can tell just by looking at you.” Noah said referring to their intentions as guards, their abilities to do what was necessary. Ari turned to Noah and stated that they might as well go east as Cru and Sky went west. Infallible logic, really. Noah turned to check their flanks before turning back to Ari and seeing what looked to be two feet of solid death. It was a Scorpion’s tail at least, that’s what he could make out of it and it was glistening, most likely not with something that was good for the heart.

“Shit, Ari duck!” Noah shouted before taking one step forward and lunging towards the tail, grabbing on to it in a bear hug-like maneuver. He took his knife and stabbed into the creature, firmly dragging his blade along its length in order to fully slice the beast – or whatever it was. But as he sliced it, he felt a sharp pinch in his right side, one of the areas where the guards outfit was weakest by necessity. He let go of the tail once he knew that Ari was no longer in the way of being struck by it and slashed it twice more, lopping it off in it’s entirety.

He absent mindedly put a hand on his right side over where the pinch had been and glanced down to the wound. His armor was slightly compromised, and he felt a little woozy. “Ari, I think it stung me.” Noah said cursing but keeping his knife hand up waiting for the beast’s second strike.

"Shit, fucking damn!" Ariella swore loudly, scrambling to grab her gun again. She raised it, firing off two shots at the Scorpo Anomalous that stood over Noah's dizzied body. The force knocked it back, slamming it leathally against a nearby tree. Ariella stared in shock, not moving for two moments before scrabbling over to Noah, gently touching his side. The needle had been the size of a normal knife. There was a long gash in his side.

Panic filling her stomach and throat, she pressed her hands to it, getting pressure on it. She took deep breaths and said, "You'll be okay. You'll be fine." Keeping one hand pressed to it, she flipped out the communicator and pressed the button. The screen immediately lit up and she saw two dots on it, moving toward a red X, which is what she was assuming was her location. She flipped it shut and said, "There's someone coming. Don't worry." She was worrying, though, because those dots had been fairly far off. Any Anomalous could come at any time...

There was a rustling nearby again, and she immediately drew her gun again, taking her hand off Noah's side. She whipped around, her eyes wild. This was nothing like the simulations. In the simulations, the worst anyone got was a twisted ankle or a sprained wrist. This had blood and poison and actual pain. Her hands shook immensely, and she whipped around, looking for the intruder nearby. Those two dots were too far off to be here now. She turned rapidly, almost firing off her gun by accident.

She looked back over at Noah and froze. He was still, not dead as she could see his chest rising and falling, but there was an eerie purplish-blue glow around him. She could hear quiet murmuring and she raised her pistol, looking around near him. Slowly, a young woman, barely younger or older than Ariella, began to appear before her. Ariella was so amazed that she slowly lowered her pistol. The woman, her eyes shut and concentrating, was the one murmuring and she had her hands in the purplish-blue glow around Noah.

Remembering what lies out here and this woman is obviously different, Ariella jumped back into action and raised her pistol. "Who are you?! Stop!" The woman ignored her. Instead, she opened her eyes and sat back on her heels, looking down at Noah. Ariella looked down as well, and saw that Noah looked a little more... peaceful. She looked back up and saw that the woman was now standing. She looked down at Noah for another brief second, looked at Ariella, winked, and suddenly disappeared.

Ariella stared at where the woman had disappeared. Was it just her imagination or had that actually happened? Blinking slowly, she gently touched Noah's arm, and found that he was less tense than he had been before. Taking a deep, shaking breath, she sat back down, keeping her pistol out for protection, until the Guards arrived.

Noah’s vision was spinning, his hearing was muted, and he felt abandoned by his senses. He heard Ari tell him something, watched her shoot something, another person was there and then she was not. He couldn’t tell if he was hallucinating anymore. But he did know that when Ari was putting pressure on his wound, he felt warmer. His pain felt as if it was subsiding, he tried to stand and then he awoke face down in the dirt, Ari cursing above him not to try something like that again. He tried once more and failed again. Then once again, against Ari’s pleases he kept trying until he could not.

He awoke several times, being carried back by Sky and Ari, Cru watching their six. What a joke, their first mission, he was a liability to all of their safeties. To the safeties to everyone he swore to protect. Cru said something to Sky, who then patted Noah’s back, Ari kept her warm palm on his wound. He apologized to her, for bleeding on her guard outfit. There was nothingness and then there was the Outlands, nothingness and then the gate. He saw the gate clearly, but he couldn’t tell if it was his gate. Was he dying? Were these the holy gates, is that why they were shut?

He awoke once more, tubes were coming out of his body a nurse silently overlooking him as a farmer does his crops. Ari, asleep by his bedside. Dried blood all over her hands. At first he attempted to sit up, correct himself but the nurse stopped him, putting a steady hand on his toned chest and easily pushing him gently back onto the bed. He didn’t currently have the strength to leave. Though, the nurse informed him the toxins would where off sooner rather than later, no permanent damage other than some scarring. He laid back down into the bed, his chest rising and falling, sweat beading down his forehead.

“Ari?” He said hoarsely through a severely dried throat. He turned to look at his partner, she was beautiful when she was sleeping. “Is it just me, or is this exactly as bad as you imagined it being when you were a recruit?” Noah said forcing a laugh out of his battered lungs. He coughed a couple times afterwards as the sound filled the hospital walls, rebounding right back into his ears. He laid back down, staring at the ceiling and took her hand gently in his own, giving it a small squeeze. “Thanks.” He said quietly letting go of her hand and giving her a brief glance out of the corner of his eye. “You don’t have to stay, I’ll be back up soon, go get a good sleep.”

Noah, used to sleeping in hospitals, immediately got into a comfortable position and shut his eyes. What would his parents think of him now? Almost achieving such great things, being a member of the guard, paired with a girl like Ari. Torn down from such a graceful position, only to be caught by the first anomalous he encountered on the first patrol he was ever asked to go on. He’d be the ass end of every joke every guard told for the next decade. He found himself dreading getting released from the hospital and yet… For whatever reason Noah couldn’t tell, he was grinning ear to ear.

The night was long after the chopper flew Ariella, Cru, Sky, and the unconscious Noah back to Castle. Cru and Sky were getting told off by Nau at the moment for leaving them by themselves and Ariella was sitting next to Noah's infirmary bed, tapping her thumbs together in between her legs. If she would have been faster... Letting out a sigh, she sat back in the chair, gripping the armrests. Tilting her head to the side, she looked curiously over at Noah, who was fast asleep in the bed.

There was a soft knock at the door and Ariella looked up to see Cru and Sky both standing there. She nodded to them and Cru stated, "You should probably get some rest upstairs..." His voice was soft.

"I'm fine."

"Ariella..."

"I said I'm fine. I'm not leaving him," she snapped. Sky shook his head and backed out of the doorway, while Cru stayed a moment longer before disappearing as well. She sighed, leaning her head back in her chair. She shut her eyes for what she thought was going to be for a brief moment before she realized she was sound asleep.

She awoke to Noah's voice, telling her to go upstairs and sleep. But after she opened her eyes, she saw that he was still asleep, a smile gracing his face. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she saw one of his nurses. "Go, child. We'll take good care of him." She nodded and stood up, gently tracing her fingertips over the back of his arm before heading to the elevator. She made it up to her room, walked in, sat down on the bed, and was immediately out.

Noah woke up the next morning, capital meds be damned it felt like he had attempted to fist-fight a bus. Noah dragged himself out of his bed when the machines attached to his arm, chest and other body parts began screaming at him to do the opposite. A nurse quickly rushed into his room, saying words like delirious, hurt, among other things, he ignored her. He made his way over to a small chair that seemed to have his affects laid out on it and he picked them up before dragging himself to the front desk of the hospital. He signed himself out, picked up some more of his personal affects and headed back to his room. He made his way through the lobby, though each step was tried and tired. He managed to make his way into the elevator within which he was barely able to maintain consciousness. He glanced over at the newspaper reticle on the side of the elevator, it seemed he had been out for days now.

All the more reason to leave immediately and start back the next day. The clock in the elevator read 3 and he wasn’t sure whether that was in the morning or the night, he had just been outside but he wasn’t in a state of mind that could easily recall things, even if they did just happen. The elevator ride seemed to last an eternity. He was trying to remember where he had been when he was stung, the outskirts, but what had stung him. All he could remember was that it had targeted Ari. Ari, where was she? Noah couldn’t pull his mind together enough in order to bring these memories to the forefront of his mind and thusly he waited in the elevator in silence. When the doors opened he stumbled out into the hallway, fumbling with the door handle before realizing it was already open, he must’ve forgotten to close it – or perhaps Ari had visited, either way he wasn’t sure what was going on and he wanted to sleep.

He took two steps into the room before collapsing, the room smelled nice, like a combination of a sea breeze and flowers. He found himself snuggling up to the carpet, he hadn’t made it to the bed but the floor would have to do. That was when he glanced over to his side and noticed a closet slightly ajar. A cocktail dress hung in the closet. He didn’t remember buying a cocktail dress anytime in the recent past. That was odd, it wasn’t nearly his colors either. He was slipping off to sleep now. The dress could’ve been Ari’s colors though, it’d look nice on her. By the time Noah could complete the obvious thought that lay before him he was unconscious.