...

Note at the end

°~°°~°°~°°~°

Tom's P.O.V

°~°°~°°~°°~°

It was the morning after the fight I had with Minx, and I was pissed. Although she seemed to be a lot more mad than I was.

Time to take out my rage on everyone else.

"Alright fuckers, apparently, at the meeting, we were assigned to check the woods. Kill all the rouges, end the lives of guards, blah, blah, blah. All the groups will take charge of this each day, until we've gone through all the groups and as many areas that were thoroughly checked. Me, Minx, and Arin will be the first ones to search." I exclaimed, venom lacing my voice, though I was trying to hide it. I didn't want people to worry over me, jobs are more important than that.

I went on, giving everyone else their jobs for the day. Mark and Jack seemed unusually close today, but that's the least of my problems. If an affair does happen, the lord have fucking mercy the same thing does not happen as it did to Cry.

I gave the opposites little jobs, since I didn't exactly trust them. Although one of them seemed to be missing, I gave no attention to that as I went on over to the southern part of the woods- the area by the castle.

°~°Fuck U Time Skip°~°

"Haven't we searched long enough? We've been looking for like two hours and only found two rouges. There aren't that many dumb ones that choose to stay by the castle, waiting to be shot by a guard," Arin complained as we walked ever so closer to the castle.

"Maybe if you would stop complaining and get your ass to looking for rouges we'll be done faster," I growled, but he just shrugged it off and lied down on the grass.

"Can I kill him?" I asked Minx, who just glared at me and kept silent.

"Are you still mad at me from last night?"

Silence.

"Minx. Answer me."

Silence.

"I said ANSWER ME!"

She looked at me, her eyes filled with less rage and more sadness.

"Are you?" She asked.

I looked down and didn't answer.

"Uh, guys?," Arin said.

We both stayed quiet, looking down at the ground and just... Thinking. We thought about our emotions and life instead of survival.

"Guys," Arin said again, sounding more urgent.

Still no response.

Suddenly a scream filled the air. Minx's eyes went from anger to sadness to pain in a flash, and then fell to the ground, an arrow in her head.

"NO!" I screamed, running towards her body, searching for a pulse.

There was none.

I remembered why I never reflect on life- you should never think, it'll only distract you from the moment you are in.

I heard a laugh, one that was all too familiar, yet I had no idea who it was from. My mind was just one huge mess, trying to process what had just happened.

Then I saw them. A hooded archer running off, their blue cloak whirling in the wind.

And then it was just me, Arin, and a corpse.

°~°°~°°~°°~°°~°°~°°~°°~°°~°

Me and Arin got back to camp early. Neither one of us had said a word. Once we were back, I took the corpse of my best friend and went into our cabin. I placed her on the bed, looking at her peaceful position.

Then I decided to think again. I couldn't help it, I had always thought of life as killed or be killed. It wasn't often that someone close to me has died, yet there Minx was. My best friend from the start.

°~°°~°°~°°~°°~°

Le flashback

°~°°~°°~°

"Tom," my mom said quietly. I groaned and rolled around in my bed.

"Tom, you start training today," she said much more strictly. I ignored her once again, not wanting anything more than to just lie there all day.

"Please, Tom. We really need the money. Alice is so sick... We need you to do this so much."

I sighed and got up.

"Thank you," she said with a smile, leaving me alone to get ready.

Only for you, Alice.

°~°°~°°~°°~°

I got there, seeing many more kids that they were turning to guards. It was your typical poor family kids hanging out and talking, only seeing a few snobs in the mix.

I quietly walked away from the crowed, noticing a girl and a boy sitting far away from all of them. I decided to join.

"Hi! I'm Tom," I said to them, hoping I didn't come off as enthusiastic cause I would prove wrong almost right away.

The boy smiled and the girl just nodded.

"I'm Jordan! My mom's the instructor so she's having me take these classes to be the best guard some day. Although, I'm not that interested... Oh, am I talking too much? Sorry Minx, you can introduce yourself," the boy said, laughing nervously at the end.

"I'm Minx. Not much else to say about me," the girl said, moving her dark brown hair out of her face.

I smiled. They were my friends.

°~°°~°°~°°~°°~°°~°°~°

Skip up for a few years

°~°°~°°~°°~°°~°

I was pissed. I couldn't make enough money. She died. Alice. She's gone. She battled for so long... It was treatable... Damn it if only everyone did their fair share, no one would die.

That's when an idea hit me.

"Minx! Jordan! Over here!" I whisper-shouted. My two best friends walked over, and at that moment I was certain they would go through with this plan. 5 years of hard work seems to pay off in friends, but certainly not in money.

"I want to make a group. Ya know, right outside of the city. I want to make them pay and show them how unfair life is here. I want them to understand what this group stands for... I want them to understand that change is needed. This may involve a little killing and some stealing, but we need this. This whole kingdom needs this. Ya with me?"

Minx nodded quickly, her situation was even worse with her being on her own.

Jordan just looked at me. He looked at me, and his eyes seemed to light up, but he shook his head.

"I... I can't," he said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"I made a promise... Listen, I wont tell anyone but I can't. And if you two go, I wont see you guys again... Not for a couple years, at least."

"Jordan..." Minx said, her eyes tearing up. We always did everything together. We were the trio, we'd stick together no matter what.

"I'm sorry," he said and walked away. Little did we know that was the last time we'd ever see him.

We went on, recruiting other people in the training area. We soon had the most skilled people among us.

Me and Minx wet happy. We made a promise to be together until Jordan got back. Both of us had to stay alive...

°~°°~°°~°°~°°~°

End of flashback

°~°°~°°~°°~°

And now that promise was broken.

For a little while I just sat there, staring. I cried most of the time though. Soon enough I knew I had to tell the others. Soon enough she mad to be buried. And soon enough, I found the note on the end of the arrow when I took it out of her head. A note declaring war.

°~°

Incase you haven't noticed the lack of updates, I'm sorry for making you wait so so long.

All of my drafts were deleted, including the ones for this book and many others that I was working on. I'm stressed out all the time from school and sports, I just feel pressured 24/7.

I'm trying to work on this, and I've recently got a device to write on, although it's v shitty I have to work with it.

Again, I'm sorry. I'll try for an update this week. Ily guys so much. Thanks for sticking with this book for so long <3