Trigger warnings: Swearing, water, electric shocks, low self esteem mentioned and a mention of falling.  

"Now there's nothing stopping me from killing you," Kaiden said, menacingly.

"Except that you'd have to carry your own bag," Finley snapped back.

Kaiden didn't respond. He simply stood up and started walking.

Finley picked up their bags, and followed.

—-----

It was a few hours later when the duo reached a lake. They hadn't said a word to each other for hours.

Kaiden cleared his throat and read the sign in front of them, "100780, welcome to your first trial. At the bottom of the pond is something that may help you in the next part of the game."

"Is that it?" Finley asked, questioning whether it was really worth it.

"Whatever it is, it should give me a better chance of winning so you're getting it."

"What if I don't want to?" Finley protested.

"Well tough shit. There's no other way across and the boat is on the other side. That probably means we're not the first to get here."

"What if someone else has already grabbed the thing at the bottom of the lake?"

"It probably has a fingerprint sensor or some shit on it," Kaiden argued, "now go on."

"Kaiden, I don't want to do it. I told you I'm terrified of water. I don't even know if I remember how to swim."

"Oh fuck off Castel. Once you learn, you never forget."

"I still don't want to do it," Finley protested, dumping their bags on the ground. "If you want to go on by yourself, then kill me and get it over with. Just, make it quick."

"I don't need to do that," Kaiden said with a smirk. "I've got you to do the hard work for me."

Kaiden leaned forwards, and pushed Finley into the lake.

Finley couldn't believe what had just happened. Kaiden knew that he was scared of water, yet he'd pushed him in. The water was murky, and Finley couldn't see anything.

This is it. He thought. This is how I die.

Then, his hand hit something. Something cold and metallic. It was a metal box.

Finley picked it up. Then, he started trying to swim up to the surface. It felt as if it would never come.

Finley kept forcing himself up, until at last. He found himself almost blinded by the bright sun as he emerged. He was breathless.

The only sound was from Kaiden. "Nice job, Castel," he said, sarcastically. "I told you that you could do it."

Finley didn't respond. Instead, he swam towards the shore. When he placed the box down, he saw that it had a combination padlock on it.

"Three digits?" He said aloud, wondering what the combination could be.

His birthday? He tried nine, zero, six....nothing. His number? He tried the first three digits, followed by the last three....still nothing.

"For fucks sake, think Castel," Kaiden said, angrily.

"When's your birthday?" Finley asked.

"It's your box. The combination won't be my fucking birthday. Don't be stupid Castel."

"Just answer the question," Finley snapped, crossly.

"August eleventh," Kaiden replied, clearly not believing that it would work.

Finley changed the numbers to one, one, eight, and....the lock came off.

"Why would my birthday be the combination?" Kaiden questioned. "God, the game runners are so stupid."

Just then, Kaiden grabbed his wrist.

"Ahhh...fuck," he said, "it hasn't been an hour since the last one. The stupid game runners can't even get the time right."

It happened again.

"The game runners are obviously punishing you for saying anything bad about them," Finley explained.

"Shut up, Castel," Kaiden snapped, still clutching his wrist. "The game runners wouldn't be allowed to do that. They'll stop in a second when they've satisfied their sick minds. Ahh!"

This time, Kaiden's complaint was much louder than before.

"Are you ok?" Finley asked, slightly alarmed.

"Stupid question. No I'm not fucking alright. That was way stronger than every other time."

"Stop saying bad things about the game runners. They'll kill you if you don't stop.

"Don't be stupid. They would never kill one of the selected."

"They would if the audience hated you enough," Finley said. "They did it in the last Ceremony."

"Don't mention that, Castel," Kaiden snapped.

"It was the girl from our kingdom," Finley continued, "I think her name was..."

"I said don't mention her!"

"Fine I won't say her name. But she was killed because she said those horrible things about the game runners and the Ceremony itself. Everyone hated her. They literally made a fire appear behind her and burned her to death."

"I told you not to talk about it!" Kaiden shouted, and he jumped on top of Finley, pinning him to the ground.

"Why? Did you know her or something?"

"She was my whole fucking reason for living!"

"I was in love with Lydia Brooks, Castel."

"You had a crush on her?" Finley asked.

"Yes. I even built up the courage to ask her out, but she rejected me. I swore to myself that I'd never give up trying. Then, two weeks later, she got selected."

"Did you get to say goodbye to her?"

Kaiden shook his head. "No. Only family members are allowed to say goodbye to the selected, so I couldn't even apologise. I prayed that she'd be the one to come back. I don't think I could ever love anyone the way I loved her. Life without her is shit. It's like I have nothing to live for."

Finley hated his life right now. Because of Kaiden's attitude towards him, thoughts of his family, his dad dying. The constant reminder that he was useless, stupid and a failure. The one thing he didn't want to be was a failure, and yet he was most likely going to be killed and fail to save his dad.

"Win the game for her," Finley said. "Avenge her death."

"Surely a small part of you wants to win?" Kaiden questioned.

"Yeah, but we both know that I was never going to win this. You've always been the Champion. Before we left the farewell room, Cadence told me that 'Kyrah might finally have a Champion'. I thought she meant herself, but maybe she meant you. So give this all you've got Kaiden." Finley paused and took a breath. "And if we get to the end and you die anyway, you'll always be my Champion."

"Cheesy stuff, Castel," Kaiden replied, "but thanks. I don't think you're stupid by the way. I'm sorry I underestimated you."

"Wow, you saying sorry is not something I ever thought I'd hear."

"Well, now you have. Look, you told Adri and I about your dad, so here's a secret of mine." Kaiden sighed. "I have a sort of...self confidence issue. Like, I'm always told that I should be more like Raven, or that Raven's better than me. It makes me feel like shit. It makes me hate myself. Even now, when I think about how I acted, I only did it 'cause I was jealous."

"Jealous of what?" Finley asked.

"Jealous of the fact that you don't get compared to your sister. Or the fact that you're really smart. Or that you always think about other people before yourself. I'm not like that, and I don't know if I can be."

"Well, I can help you make a start. Let's try our best to help you win this thing."

"Thanks...Finley."

"You're welcome, Kaiden. Now, I guess I'd better go and get that boat."

"Fuck it," Kaiden said, and he lept into the lake and starting swimming towards the boat.

Finley stared in amazement. He knew that Kaiden was known for being good at almost any sport on the planet, but to actually watch him was a sight to behold. He swam across the lake, and returned with the boat in under two minutes.

"Your chariot awaits," Kaiden replied, giving a mock bow.

Finley laughed, "thank you," he said. He opened the box and pulled out the bag that was inside. He placed it into his bag, before grabbing their backpacks and clambering into the boat.

When he'd got in, he reached over the side to help Kaiden up. Kaiden began pushing the boat across the lake. Finley couldn't believe it. It was incredible. He'd always want to go on a boat but thought it would be impossible. He wondered what his family or Adrielle would think about Kaiden Lynch pushing him across the lake in a boat. They probably wouldn't believe him.

"Thanks," he said when they reached the other side.

"You're welcome," Kaiden replied, climbing out.

Finley reached for the bags, but Kaiden stopped him. In the process of taking them instead, he accidentally grabbed Finley's hand.

"Sorry," Kaiden said. Finley was sure that he was blushing slightly. Kaiden continued, "you've carried the bags for long enough, Castel. I'll take them now."

"Thanks, Kaiden," Finley replied. "And, for the record, I don't think you're as good as Raven."

Kaiden's face fell as Finley continued, "because you're so much better."

Kaiden smiled. Not a smirk, but a real smile. I want to see that smile more often. Finley thought. Wait, what? Why am I thinking that about him? Forget it. But, he does have a nice smile.

Kaiden started leading the way towards the mountains, looking back every so often to ensure that Finley could keep up.

—-----

As they reached the bottom of the mountains, the duo wondered how on earth they were expected to climb them. The bottom of the mountains was literally a wall of ice. There was no path, just a fifteen metre high wall of ice.

"What was in that box of yours?" Kaiden asked.

Finley had almost forgotten the box. He opened the bag that he'd retrieved from the box. Inside were two ice picks. Nothing else.

"Is that it?" Kaiden asked. He was shocked at how little reward Finley had gotten. Then again, it was his fault that Finley had gone into the lake anyway. He felt bad for pushing him in, but why? Why did he care? He was going to kill Finley later anyway. So what did it matter what he did to him? He was going to die, whether he wanted to or not.

"Apparently, that's it," Finley replied, lifting the picks out of the box. He tried sticking one into the wall. It stuck fast. Finley had to use two hands to pull it back out. He nearly fell backwards in the process.

"And where are you going," Kaiden teased.

For a moment, the two boys stared at each other. Finley stared at Kaiden's eyes, green, like emeralds. He'd never noticed before how nice they were. He could tell that Kaiden was staring at him too. Most likely he was waiting for him to get up. Finley blushed, feeling embarrassed that he'd looked at Kaiden for so long.

"Sorry," he said, quickly standing up. He changed the subject, "how are we going to get up there?"

"I've seen people do it in films and TV shows, but I've never actually tried," Kaiden explained.

Finley handed the ice picks to Kaiden, "you've got a higher chance of getting up there than I do."

"But, when I get up there, how do you get up?"

"You could use the rope to pull me up," Finley suggested.

"I'm not strong enough for that, Castel," Kaiden replied. Finley noticed that he didn't say his name with malice anymore. He wasn't spitting it out as if he was talking about something unpleasant. Finley liked it.

"Well, maybe you could tie it to something at the top. I don't know if I could pull myself up though. And how do we get our bags up there?"

"I'll take the bags. I'll try and find something to tie the rope onto at the top."

Kaiden placed one bag on each shoulder and moved towards the cliff-face. He steadied himself and took a deep breath.

"Kaiden," Finley said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Please be careful."

Kaiden stared at him for a little longer than Finley had expected. He waited for Kaiden to snap or shout at him. Instead he replied, "I will."

—------

Kaiden lifted his arm and stuck one of the picks into the wall. He wiggled it to make sure that it was stuck. It was.

He lifted himself up and placed the pick from his left hand into the wall. He tested it, then, he pried the first pick out. He did this a few more times. His arms were starting to hurt. He knew now that there was no going back. He wasn't even sure if there was a way to climb down.

"How much further?!" He called down to Finley.

"You're just under halfway," Finley called back.

Just under halfway? He couldn't believe it. He felt like he'd been climbing for hours.

Just then, there was a sudden gust of wind. Kaiden pressed his body against the wall to keep himself up. Something hit his shoulder. He glanced at it. A white flake. Snow. It was snowing.

"Kaiden!" Are you ok?" Finley's voice echoed.

"Yeah," Kaiden replied.

Another gust of wind. More snow hit him. It wasn't just snowing, it was a full on snowstorm.

"Kaiden, come back down!" Finley shouted. "It's not safe!"

Kaiden could barely hear him over the wind. His voice was lost in the storm. He was probably only a few metres below, but Kaiden could barely hear him.

"No!" Kaiden shouted back, "I'm not giving up now!"

Kaiden forced his hands to keep going. He kept putting the picks in the wall. Once, twice, thrice. It felt like forever. He couldn't even see his hands anymore. He wasn't sure where he was placing the picks.

He wanted the climb to end so desperately that he wasn't even testing whether the picks were secure anymore.

He moved his hand up for what felt like the fiftieth time, and stuck the pick into the cliff-face. He started to dislodge the right pick from the wall. It finally came free. He applied his body weight to his left hand, and...the pick fell out.

Kaiden fell. This is the end. He thought. Sorry, Castel. You'll have to win by yourself. I know you can do it.

The last thing he remembered was Finley screaming, "Kaiden!" Before he hit the ground, and blacked out. 

Well, that ended dramatically. How do we feel about our characters now? Do you think Kaiden is really sorry for what happened? What will happen next?