I jumped back as I turned around to see who it was. It was the same man who had grabbed me when I got lost in the crowds of Mansa in the beginning. 

He had short charcoal hair and tan skin; just his strange aura made me want to turn tail and run away from his as far as possible. I edged away from him, trying to find an excuse to get out of this situation as soon as possible before the man suddenly burst out in a chuckle. "There's no need to show that much displeasure on your face. I'm not a bad guy."

"That's what bad guys always say," I muttered.

"Oh that's true. But you can't judge a book by its cover, right?" he smiled, his charcoal eyes gleaming with amusement. I searched for any tones in his voice that suggested that he was playing with me, but there was none. He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something else, but the man's voice called again.

"Now let's begin!"

My eyes widened. "Oh shoot! Partner..."

I realized everyone had already paired off together into two and were looking confidently at the man with his whistle. The only ones who weren't ready were...

I massaged my temples and turned around to glare at the man standing behind me. He shrugged his shoulders and stuffed his hands into his pockets, grinning. Cursing silently in my head, I turned my attention back to Whistle Man.

First, we'll—" the man stopped when a man with long, unruly silver hair stepped forward and grabbed his shoulder. The man whispered something quickly into Whistle Man's ears who nodded quickly before turning towards the crowd. " We have something special today for the crowd's entertainment! Whoever ends up as the last two winning pair will have a sword fight! The last person still standing on their feet at the end will win the grand prize!"

The crowd roared their enthusiasm, but I noticed that some of the once confident participants had turned uneasy and pale. Obviously, they weren't expecting Whistle Man to pop up with that. Whistle Man then yelled above the crowd again. "If any of you aren't interested, you can step out now."

My mouth almost fell open when I realized at least half of the participants had left. Well, that does mean this will go by much quicker and easier. I frowned and bit my lower lip before turning towards the strange man. "Can you fight?"

My untrustworthy partner smiled in response. "If we're partners, we might as well introduce ourselves. The name's Gray."

I ignored him and tried to calm my thoughts down. I just had to get through this. As long as we don't trouble ourselves with this creep, we'll be fine. The last thing I wanted to do was make Justin and the others worry again. The next time I get in trouble, Justin might—

"Aren't you gonna introduce yourself?" Gray's voice suddenly sounded very close to my ear and I jumped back, covering my ear and glaring up at Gray. For some reason, Gray reminded me a lot of Justin. 

Carefree but definitely having some kind of hidden motive. But then again, it's not like it can any harm just telling him my name...right? No, no. Just keep your mouth shut, Sakura. 

"Hey," he tried again. "Are you traveling alone? Or are you—"

"Hey," I snapped. "Look, I don't know who you are to be suddenly grabbing me out of nowhere and then coincidentally we meet up here again, but I'm not your friend. Don't talk or ask questions to me like—" 

"Hey! What'cha doing there! Hurry and get into the game, ya dingle weeds!" Whistle Man yelled at us, breaking my heated words at him. Whistle Man reached us and gave the two of us a sideways glance. "You two...?"

Gray put a finger to his lips and winked before walking over to one of the two lines that had formed. I gave Whistle Man a deadpan look before following after Gray and standing behind him in line.

On the other side of us was another line where half of the other contestants stood. I glanced at the pair standing directly across from us and frowned at the sight of the two big men, who looked as if they could probably beat the lights out of me in just a flick of their finger.

"Awwww man. Those are some big guys," Gray frowned, eyes enlarging.

I kept quiet but stole a glance at Gray in the corner of my eye. This guy seemed way to carefree and innocent. There was something I couldn't place my finger on. All of Gray's expressions made me feel uneasy. None of them looked genuine.

"What's wrong?" Gray looked at me with wide innocent eyes. I didn't realize I was staring and looked away.

Whistle Man blew his whistle, signaling the start of a round. From our line, a man stepped forward to the line drawn on the ground and grabbed a dagger from a basket lying on the side. The target, lying around seventy yards from him, looked smaller than usual.

The man took his stance before pulling back his arm and throwing. The dagger didn't even make it half way. Immediately, jeers and shouts rose from the crowd.

I rubbed my arms. These guys were brutal. I heard a chuckle from besides me and glanced up at Gray, who also looked amused at the man's throw.

I sighed, looking at the jazzed crowd. Well, it was too late to regret now.

As the line shortened, and the participant numbers decreased, I realized with a cold dread that it was our time.

"You okay there?" Gray asked me. "You look a little green."

I shook my head. "I'm fine."

"Ignore them," Gray glanced at the crowd. "They might be shitting on you, but you're the one who stepped up while they're watching on the sidelines."

Gray glanced down at me. "Why do you look so surprised at me?"

"I didn't expect that coming from you," I muttered. 

Gray smirked. I took another glance at the targets standing in front of the wall of a building. There were five rings each smaller and closer than the next until the minuscule red dot in the middle.

"Now," the Whistle Man suddenly appeared in front of us. "The rules are simple. Don't cross the line and play fairly. Each of you have three daggers that you can throw. They must be inside the ring in order to count as a point."

"So no matter which ring we get," I clarified. "They all count as one point?"

Whistle Man's expression contorted into annoyance as if just the sight of me was causing him pain, but he nodded tightly. He pointed to the two men across from us who were currently using their own spit to clean the blade. "If they make more points than you, you're eliminated. Make the red dot, and you immediately advance to the final round. Got it?"

Gray and I nodded simultaneously. Nodding, Whistle Man tiptoed over to the other line where he tried talking as politely as he could and as far away without having them to lean in to hear what he was saying.

"So do you want to go first?" Gray asked, twirling the blade in his hands.

I watched his hands expertly twist and turn. "No. You can go first."

"If that's what you want," Gray shrugged.

Whistle Man came over with a coin in his hands. "Heads or tails?"

"Tails," I answered without waiting for Gray.

He flipped the coin. I watched it turn in the air before landing in Whistle Man's palm. He opened his hand.

It was heads. Welp.

"You guys can go first!" Whistle Man shouted to our opponents.

The first man walked up. The crowd quiet down as the man took his stance and threw the first blade. It hit the outermost ring with a thud. He spat on the ground and picked up the next blade. This time, it not only did not hit the board but went sailing past the board. 

Some people in the audience laughed. The man venomously stared at the crowd, shutting them up, before throwing his last blade. Thuck. 

The blade had stuck itself into the outermost ring again. He stomped his foot on the ground and went up to the target to collect his daggers.

"Two points!" Whistle Man yelled, blowing his whistle.

His partner was up next. He also made two points, but his daggers landed inside the second most outer circle.

"Damn it," I heard Gray mutter under his breath from besides me. " I actually have to try."

I rose an eyebrow at him as I tore my eyes off our opponents. What does that mean? I watched as Gray stepped up to the line with an expert air. His dagger was already flying in the air before I could blink and hit the second closest target to the bull's eye. 

I narrowed my eyes at him. Gray threw again, and the dagger hit the same spot again. Something started to poke around in my mind. Something about Gray...

He threw his last dagger quickly, and the dagger hit right next to the red dot with a satisfying thud. Why did I see...

"You're up next," Gray said, turning towards me.

"Ah right," I blinked, snapping out of my daze. In front of Justin and the others, I felt so comfortable even if I was getting my butt kicked around by Justin, but with so many people watching me like this...

I picked up a dagger from the basket and walked up to the line. I grabbed hold of the dagger and played around with it in my hands. Running a finger along the sharp side, I nodded slightly at the familiar sensation. Without looking, I could already hear the whispers from the crowd and feel Gray's stare burn holes in my back. In the corner of my eye, I could see our opponents grin confidently.

"Hey girl! Do your best!" a man from the crowd called out sarcastically immediately earning laughter to erupt from around me.

Gripping the dagger, I took my stance as annoyance bubbled inside of me. I blocked out the crowd's jeers, Gray's staring, and everything else. 

Only when I could hear my steady breaths and Justin's voice in my mind ring clearly did I throw. I watched my dagger spin end to end before hitting the board. It hit the outermost ring, but it was enough to shock the crowd into silence.

I snatched another dagger from the basket and threw, trying to keep my flow. This time, it dug itself into the second outermost ring.

I grabbed the last dagger and faced forwards. I turned my head slightly towards the man who had yelled out to me in the first round, catching his eye. He flinched when I stared at him dead in the eye as I smirked. Turning my eyes back towards the target, I let Justin's voice fill my mind.

You're too stiff! Lighten up! Your posture is bad! Fix it! You're holding the dagger wrong! It's like this!

I felt my vision sharpen, and my arm loosen up as my wrist tensed. An amused scoff escaped me as I threw the dagger. The dagger flipped end to end, hurtling fast towards the target. 

Thud. 

The dagger hit the red mark. I tilted my head and rose an eyebrow. I definitely didn't expect that...

I quickly realized how silent it was as I strolled forward to retrieve the daggers. Not a single person was talking. Then after as I reached the target, everyone started to scream and talk at the same time. 

Looking down at my hands, I realized they were shaking and sweaty and quickly wiped them against my cloak. In the distance, I heard Whistle Man's yell our advancement to the final round.

"Are you some secret spy or a paid assassin?" Gray's voice came to my ear.

"Tsk!" I turned around and glared at Gray, covering my ear. "Stop doing that!"

"No, really," Gray eyed me. "It's been awhile since I've seen someone hit the red dot. Especially from a young girl like you."

"I'm eighteen. I'd hardly call that young," I snorted as I grabbed the dagger from the board.

"Well young for someone to use a blade like that so expertly," Gray followed closely behind. "Say, are you sure you're not someone like an assassin? Your secret is safe with me."

"Even if I was an assassin, I wouldn't tell you that right?" I grunted as I tried to pull out one of my daggers.

"You're definitely lacking muscle though," Gray frowned as he poked at my arm.

"You know, you're a really brazen person right?" I moved onto the next dagger and tried to pull it out. "Ugh! Damnit! Come out you damn—woah!"

I pulled the dagger freed finally and stumbled back. Being the agile person I was, I tripped over my own feet and fell butt first to the ground. Gray hovered over me and make a clicking sound with his tongue. "Clumsy as well."

Ignoring his pestering, I got up and managed to pull the rest of my daggers loose. Trying to block my face from everyone's stares, I quickly dropped the daggers into the basket and threw my hood over my head.

"Hey at least tell me your name," Gray whined, trailing behind me.

"You..." I growled, drawing the hood closer to my face. Sighing, I glared up at him and smirked. "Fine, if you can make three red dots in a row in the final round, I'll tell you whether or not I'm traveling alone or not."

Gray seemed momentarily surprised for a second before suddenly breaking out into a smirk of his own. "Deal."

"See! It's that girl! Yeah! She managed to hit the red dot in the first round!"

Suddenly, I was much more aware of the crowd's whispers around me. Those whispers soon turned into shouts and screams. They carried far into the streets, and more people started to come over to see what was happening. Uneasiness crept up my spine as I watched the crowd grow.

I wished I had stayed closer to the group. Catherine—

Remember. Do not attract too much attention. Word can get around and it might reach some bad people.

Uh oh. I got way too caught up in the excitement and had completely forgotten about Catherine's warning. This was bad. Too many people were here watching. What if one of those people were connected with...? 

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. No, it'll be alright. Just keep your hood on and throw like what people who expect me to throw like.

I kept my head down so that my face was hidden and drew my hood even closer to my face. What if I ditched right now and said I suddenly felt like throwing up?

No...then the people who had already seen me throw would still spread rumors about me. I have to just show everyone that what happened before was like a miracle. That way, at least the rumors wouldn't be as certain as they were before.

"Hey," I heard Gray say. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I muttered. "Just tell me when it's our turn."

A few moments later, I felt Gray tap the top of my head. Looking up, I spotted two pairs standing in front of us. One of them...

I felt my stomach drop in surprise. A woman and a man were on the same team. But I wasn't surprised because she was a woman, but because the look on her face looked as if she was about to breakdown any moment now.

"Let's go," I felt Gray push me from behind. "We're facing off with the two men pair."

"What about the other pair?" I asked.

"You weren't watching were you?" Gray asked me. "The man on her team is really good. He managed to strike a red dot."

"So why are we the ones who have to deal with this pair?" I grumbled.

"Because I still have to get my info on you," Gray flashed me a smile. "After we finish off these guys, we have to fight against them."

I glanced at the woman again and connected eyes with her. Her scared eyes enlarged and followed me as I walked up to the line.

"Are you—" Gray started.

"Yeah, I'm going first," I said, tearing my eyes off her and reaching for a dagger. I had to clear up the air first. As I made my stance, I felt my senses sharpen again and frowned. This was happening recently anytime I held a weapon or was doing anything physical. It was the same with my practices with Justin as well...

I flung the dagger, and it brushed past the target. I threw again, and it hailed over the top of the target. Buzzes around the crowd started to rise again. I made it to grab the last dagger when a hand grabbed my wrist. I looked up to see Gray glancing down at me with a confused expression.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"That's my question," I said. "Why are you stopping me from throwing?"

"You don't throw like that. What are you doing?" Gray's eyes pierced through mines, amusement all gone. I avoided his eyes and felt a slight shiver crawl up my spine. It felt like he could read my mind.

"Hey," I jerked my wrist from his grasp. "Don't touch me like we're close." 

I threw the last dagger without much thought, and it didn't even reach the target this time. I could hear complaints in the crowd, but to my disappointment, no one was leaving yet. I quickly collected the daggers and dropped them back into the basket, carefully looking everywhere except Gray.

Gray grabbed a dagger from the basket as I walked back towards him and stepped up to the line. Just one second goes by and Gray had already flung the dagger towards the target. I watched in amazement as the blade tore through the air and dug itself deep into the red dot.

As soon as my shocked eyes met his solemn ones, a voice from the back of my head screamed at me in distress for ever talking to Gray.

"And now, we will start the special event you've all been waiting for!" Whistle Man's voice yelled from the side. "These four will battle against each other and whoever's left standing wins the prize!"

An enthusiastic roar ripped from the crowd. My eyes tore away from Gray's as I looked up to see the opposite pair walk towards us. I glanced at the woman again and felt something tug at the back of my mind.

Oh boy. This wasn't going to end pretty.

~~~~~

Hey my lovesss <3333 Life's going pretty well I think....hopefully it doesn't pop up with a surprise attack and ruin everything :///

Anyways, drop your thoughts down below! I love reading them, whether they are constructive or random, and they really motivate me to write. Again, thank you guys so much. Don't forget to hit the star!