[center][img]http://imagesmtv-a.akamaihd.net/uri/mgid:file:http:shared:mtv.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/tumblr_nolrk3ZyLq1tjtthyo1_500-1442266127.gif[/img]
[color=#bf565c][h1]Noah[/h1][h3]Outside the Ballroom - Ballroom Lobby; Castle[/h3][/color][/center]

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.