Feet pounded against the pavement.

"I told you this was a bad idea!" Arya yelled, glaring over at her partner in crime as they skidded around yet another corner.

"The bad ideas are always the fun ones!"

"That's not the point!"

"They went this way!" A voice behind them made the pair of them stop bickering, the sound of numerous booted feet slapping against concrete slabs making them double their pace.

Arya sprinted forwards an odd grin on her face, her heart thudding in her chest as they ran around the school – the Black Division of the Disciplinary Committee in hot pursuit, much to her displeasure.

"You didn't deny it." Jake puffed. "Bad ideas are the best."

"Oh, shut up!" She growled, easily keeping pace with her blonde-haired friend.

Two hands grabbed an arm each, another blonde yanking them after her as they reached the four-way junction. "What are you two arguing about now?" Lydia asked, pulling them behind her as she ran away from the White Division.

"What're you doing?!" Jake scowled. "Now we've got the White Division on our tail as well!"

"Well, it's more fun doing a bit of early morning exercise with some company..." The blonde shrugged, a wide smirk pulling at her lips. "Besides... I think we're going to have some more company soon..."

"More company... just brilliant..."

Glass shattered rather suddenly, little shards raining down on them as they ran across the wide courtyard. Brown hair flew behind her as the incredibly familiar brunette jumped down from the first-floor window she'd just broken.

"Velvet?!" Arya blinked. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Oh." Brown eyes locked on her green ones. "Hey, Ari! Nice to see you too."

"Answer the question-"

"Whoa..." Jake peered back up at the broken window. "Velvet, what the hell did you do to get our lovely Vice Commander Dean on your tail?!" He stared at the second year with renewed respect.

"Oh, I was just grabbing some files." She said, pulling his attention to the large black file tucked under one slender arm.

One blonde brow arched. "Restricted files?"

"I'm surprised I even need to clarify that." She grinned. "Why do you think Dean's after me?"

"I knew you were gonna be trouble." Lydia grinned. "You know... The offer from last year still stands..."

"I don't wanna be part of your gang."

Lydia pouted. "But you'd fit right in."

"Maybe next year?" Velvet said. "I prefer not to have the boys in black and white on my tail..."

"I think you're accomplishing that without me." She laughed, running alongside the other three as they approached the next corner. "Woah, wait!" Lydia hissed, a sliver of fear creeping onto her face. "You do know where this corridor leads, don't you?!"

"You've got to be kidding?!" Jake and Velvet cursed at the same time.

"Huh?" Arya blinked, feeling oddly left out. "What's wrong?"

Jake wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm afraid this corridor has a rather unfortunate ending..."

"It's a dead end?"

"Nope." Jake grinned, giving her a thumbs up. "It leads straight to the Black Division Headquarters."

Arya paused for a few moments, before her hands slowly clapped of their own accord. "I applaud your excellent navigational skills."

"I suppose we might as well get this over with." Lydia sighed, glancing back at their pursuers. "At least this way we have a chance of lasting another fifteen minutes outside a cell." She shrugged, charging forwards without another word.

"She's right." Jake snorted, chasing after his fellow blonde.

"Why did I agree to this?" Arya grumbled, knowing she had no choice but to follow.

"Let's go, Ari." Velvet laughed, running alongside her.

"Tch."

Velvet laughed.

It was safe to say she wasn't laughing for very long, though, thanks to the four guys waiting in the corridor ahead of them who'd apparently just come back from some sort of combat training.

"And we're dead..." Velvet mumbled, flinching as a set of electric blue eyes locked on the file tucked under her arm. "Arya." She turned to the girl. "Hold this, would you." She said, slamming the file into her chest, sprinting out through one of the numerous archways and into the courtyard full of training equipment. "Good luck!" She called over her shoulder, throwing the nearest dagger back at her.

Said dagger buried itself in the wall right next to Arya's face, a small droplet of blood rolling down her cheek from the tiny cut.

"Arya?!" Flynn stared over at her, along with his other three friends who she vaguely recognised from their morning training sessions.

One eye twitched. "And this, children, is why we don't throw daggers..." She hissed, her gaze boring into Velvet's back as she ran across the courtyard. "VELVET!" Arya roared, making the girl turn around and grin at her. "You are SOOOO DEAD!"

"Arya..." Flynn strode towards her. "Just calm down and give me the file..." He said, freezing when her hand closed around the hilt of the small blade.

She wrenched the metal free from the wall, swinging the dagger in an arc until it rested comfortably in her hand. "Oh..." She mumbled, staring at the gigantic cut across the columns in front of her which hadn't been close enough to get hit by the blade.

"Arya..." Flynn mumbled, staring at the destruction the odd shockwave had made. "Put the knife down... Please?"

"She's not listening to you Flynn." The black-haired guy sighed. "So hurry up and disarm her – preferably before she does any more damage to the school."

"Nah. I'd give it another minute or two..." The one with the blue streak of hair laughed. "This looks like it could be rather entertaining..."

"Just get the damn file, would you?" The second black-haired one scowled. "Unless you'd rather I handle this?"

"No! I'll deal with Ari!"

"Don't go getting too attached." The first black-haired guy sighed, his brown eyes narrowing on his fellow Commander. "She's not Fiannan, no matter how much she might remind you of him."

"Blaine..." Brown eyes glared into the matching ones.

"She's mortal at the end of the day."

"Though she certainly doesn't act like it." The black coated guy muttered, blowing a few errant inky locks out of his eyes as he watched Arya chase her friend around the courtyard.

"LYDIA!" Velvet yelled, her eyes wide as she sprinted towards the blonde. "Help me!"

"Oh, for the love of all that's holy!" One of them muttered, blue and brown hair blowing in the wind as he ran forwards, drawing his own short blade just in time to meet Arya's charge head-on. "Give it up, kiddo."

"Never."

"Your loss."

Her dagger clashed against his, the sound of metal grating as they pushed each other back and forth.

"A contest of strength, huh?"

"Blu, stop messing around." Blaine sighed, standing by the three other handcuffed teenagers who were sitting rather reluctantly between the other Commanders. "We've already nabbed the others."

Crystalline blue eyes blinked. "That was fast..."

"You're just slow."

"Well, Arya is rather good at Defence..." Flynn said, watching as the two shimmied back and forth. "That's why she was moved onto Fast-Track."

"Wait..." Grey eyes bore into his brown ones. "You mean the kid is on the same curriculum as most of the Disciplinary Committee?"

"Yeah. Didn't you know?"

"Hmm." He shrugged, striding towards the fighting duo.

Velvet scowled. "Arya! Watch o-mf!"

Blaine glared down at the girl, keeping his hand clamped over her mouth as they all watched the First Commander of the Black Division walk forwards.

Arya knew better than to take her eyes off the enemy, so she didn't bother to acknowledge her friend's shout, which didn't exactly work out for the best seeing as how a foot slammed into her side without warning. "Two against one?" She grumbled, stumbling back. "That's no fair!"

"Life never is." The newcomer said, and then he was directly in front of her, having slipped under her guard.

Arya blinked.

He'd moved unnaturally fast.

Even she'd never managed to gain that sort of speed, and she was a Bonebreaker: Someone with inhuman strength and speed.

It didn't come as too much of a shock to her though.

After all, her old training instructor – the Monk – had moved just as fast whenever he wanted to slip past her defences and slam her into the ground.

And that was exactly what happened.

Arya stared straight ahead, an odd sense of nostalgia overcoming her as the building roof slowly came into view. She glanced at the steeped roof, eyes meeting the brown set that looked back at her from underneath the lacy black parasol as the girl sat on the fading black rooftiles.

Then time sped back up, breath rushing out of her lungs as her back met the hard concrete floor.

"Oww..." She muttered, wincing as cold metal snapped around both wrists, securing her arms behind her.

"Voila." The First Commander of the Black Division said, holding Arya up by the collar, not looking even remotely phased when she started squirming.

"Leggo!"

"Nope." He said, and with that she found herself being dragged a very short distance.

They were, after all, right outside the Black Division Headquarters.

Unsurprisingly, it was black. From the brickwork to the glazed wooden door that creaked open to admit them into the tall black building on the other side of the courtyard. Roofed pathways were the only thing that connected the scary-looking building to the rest of the school, and it was from under one of them that they were escorted inside.

"Ryker." Flynn ran up to the guy holding a squirming Arya by the collar. "Gimmi."

"I'm not some toy that can be passed around, y'know!"

Both of them ignored her.

"I need to see that cut on her face." He said, his eyes narrowed on the blood smeared across her face. "I don't want it scarring."

"It wasn't that deep."

"Let me see." Flynn sighed, licking his thumb, proceeding to start wiping away the blood on Arya's face.

"Ewww." Arya grumbled. "Flynn, I don't want your saliva on me!"

"I don't think anyone would." Jake remarked, moments before he was hauled further down the corridor.

"How bad is it?" Ryker asked, his grey eyes staring into the confused brown ones. "Does she need stitches, or something?"

"No..." He mumbled, his blonde brows drawing together. "It's gone."

"What?"

"The cut..." Flynn said, his voice soft, as though he couldn't believe what he was saying. "It's vanished..."