Capítulo 28: Day Before The Hunt (1)
"So… exhausted," murmured Talon as he lethargically moved alongside the other members of the special gifted division team.
"It can't be that awful, right?" inquired Rokara, who walked alongside Talon, grinning the entire time.
"I would try to hit you…" Said Talon, even his reaction was slow before he started again. "But I'm too tired to even do that."
"It's a convenient excuse, coward!" Rokara laughed hysterically, while Talon sighed uncontrollably beside her, his gaze fixed on the ground.
"Can't you leave him alone? And how are you not dead tired like the rest of us?" asked Orion, who clung to his brother's shoulder. His brother had the eyes of a dead fish, and despite helping him walk, Orion added, "No need to defend him, he is a big shot, studying under one of the huntsmen. He can probably endure someone as annoying as Rokara."
"Are you starting this again?" Asked Talon with the same dead eye like Quinn.
"Does it bother you? Please, don't tell it to your oh great teacher, I don't want to get dragged away." Said Quinn, his tone full of vicious mockery.
"Let me guess, your gift is being the perfect victim?" Talon retorted, his mocking tone slowed down by the exhaustion that permeated every member of the team.
"What's up with these two?" asked a voice that echoed inside Thorn's mind. She held the wall for support, staggering along the way. She didn't need to bother answering out loud; instead, she thought out her response that echoed back inside the mind of Aria, "I don't really know the details, but they started arguing. Quinn is probably feeling betrayed because Talon is studying under one of the huntsmen."
"It doesn't matter what my gift is because I would never tell it to the likes of you," said Quinn, which only seemed to anger Talon. "Who even cares about your stupid gift, you bastard?"
"Obviously you. You want to know it just so you can tell it to your hunter buddies," said Quinn. His fish-like dead eyes regained their vigor and now stared hatefully at Talon, who reciprocated the gaze with equal intensity. The tension between them started to become intense.
"Why don't you two just beat each other? At least it would be fun to watch. It's honestly pathetic to see all of you dragging your bodies…" said Rokara while laughing, irritating the other members of the team and breaking the tension between Talon and Quinn.
"Just shut up…" retorted Quinn, who decided to ignore Rokara for the rest of their way to the barracks.
"No matter how much it pains me, I have to agree with Quinn. You are too annoying for us to bear with right now," said Talon as he continued to drag his own body across the hallway.
"Don't ever agree with me; it just feels strange," muttered Quinn. Like all the others, except for Rokara, he continued to drag his tired body.
After what felt like an eternity to them, except for Rokara, who was fine all the way, they arrived at the barracks. Yet again, everyone except Rokara dropped their exhausted bodies onto their beds, falling asleep almost immediately, even though it was still barely noon.
Every one of them, even Rokara, was overusing their gifts as they trained under a regiment created especially for them by Damian and Paul.
With nothing else to do, Rokara jumped onto the top bunk bed above Talon.
***
With his head throbbing, Talon woke up, his throat dry, and his body sore. His eyes tried to adapt to the sunlight radiating inside the barracks. As he looked around, he saw that everyone was still asleep, except for someone he didn't want to talk to, Quinn.
"Good morning, or high noon, I don't know, don't care either." said Talon as he slowly got up from his bed. Immediately, he went to a vessel located at the far left of the barracks. Inside, it was full of cold water. Talon began to wash his face with it. The cold water helped him wake up almost instantly, the icy sensation jolting him awake with a pleasant shock.
"It's still noon; you barely slept at all," said Quinn, who walked to the vessel and washed his own face with the cold water inside it. Neither of them bothered to make eye contact.
With a shrug of his shoulders, Talon began to walk out of the barracks and straight to the canteen, hoping that he could still get served.
"Are you following me, you bastard?" asked Talon, shocked to find that Quinn was just behind him.
"I'm not following you! I'm just heading towards the canteen to eat something!" shouted back Quinn, annoyance clear in his voice.
'Perfect… now I have to bear with this bastard again,' thought Talon to himself, still annoyed at his situation.
The two of them reached the canteen in no time, and to their surprise, it wasn't just still serving hunters; it was almost packed to the brim with almost no free tables for the two to sit at, only one table with four chairs. 'I just woke up, had to deal with this bastard, and now… I even need to share a table with him.' Talon thought to himself, his throbbing head worsening as he began to walk towards the counter. A familiar face waved at him.
"Hello Jane!" greeted Talon as he picked up a tray and asked, "Is there still some of that lamb stew?"
His question elicited a small chuckle from Jane. "Yeah, there is enough for about two servings." Hearing that, Talon looked behind himself, just to see Quinn holding his own tray. Behind him, two hunters held their own trays.
"Then it will be the usual." Said Talon.
"A serving of lamb stew!" shouted Jane back into the kitchen, and once again, a shout could be heard in response. "A serving of lamb stew coming up! Only one serving left." After that, Jane put a good amount of the stew in a bowl, then placed that bowl on Talon's tray.
"Thank you, Jane!" Talon expressed his gratitude. With a satisfied expression, he went to the only available table, feeling unwelcoming glances from other hunters aimed at him and Quinn. However, he decided to brush them off as usual.
As he walked towards the table, he heard Quinn's voice asking for the same thing he did, claiming the last available serving of lamb stew. Soon after, the same shout could be heard from the kitchen.
Quinn, with the same expression as Talon, began to walk to the only available table, and when the two of them exchanged glances, both of their previously bubbly expressions soon turned sour.
The two sat down at the table, facing each other, as now, only two chairs remained, pulled away by the hunters who wanted to sit at the same table.
"Don't stare so much, you bastard, or you'll take away my appetite," said Quinn, who still stared hatefully at Talon.
"I would feel sorry, but my appetite was taken away by staring at that ugly mug of yours," said Talon, who still continued to glance at Quinn but decided not to bother anymore. He picked up his spoon and began to devour the delicacy before him.
He ate the exact same thing inside the canteen in the last week that he and Thorn arrived at the hunters' headquarters, but the feeling of delight never faded as the stew before him was always the highlight of his otherwise exhausting day.
Not bothering to say anything back, Quinn began to eat his own portion of the delicious lamb stew. The two were eating without a care in the world, not noticing that two hunters were walking towards them with hostile expressions.
"You two freaks have the last two servings," said one of the hunters in a furious tone.
"Hello to both of you, can't we just talk this out?" asked Quinn with a wide smile on his face. His blue eyes changed their color for a single moment, radiating an otherworldly light, but it faded just as soon as it appeared.
'He is too tired to activate it… that's bad.' Even if he did not know exactly what was the gift of Quinn, it probably could have helped them in their situation.
"Are you trying to use your gift on us you god damn freak?" Shouted the other hunter, demanding answers
"Of course I wouldn't," Quinn stuttered as he tried to climb out of the situation. Albeit, this wasn't something he could escape, as the hunters were already aware that he attempted to activate his gift on them.
"You've done it now, you god damn freak. I will carve out that accursed eye of yours," growled one of the hunters with a dangerously low voice as he pulled out a dagger from its sheath.
"Quinn, I don't care what problems do you have with me, but when I give you a signal, be prepared to run to the exit." Lightly whispered Talon as he tensed his leg and calmed his mind, ready to activate his gift.
With a reluctant nod, Quinn agreed, "I'm sorry that I tried, but aren't you two acting unreasonable?" said Quinn with a smile, but his attempt to repair their situation only seemed to worsen it as the hunters roared, "Disgusting freak, we've had enough of all of you! Just walking to our headquarters, eating our food, training in our training grounds… enough is enough."
Said the hunter as he rushed straight to Quinn, his blade swiped at his eyes, aiming to blind him and stop him from using his gift. Every hunter is quick to figure out how to stop a gifted from using their ability, once and for all, and the two standing before Quinn and Talon were no exception.
"Now!" Shouted Talon as he threw his plate at the hunter, and unlashed his gift, shrouding the entire canteen in thick fog.
"I don't see anything, where are those freaks?!" Shouted the hunter who aimed to blind Quinn, now he himself wasn't able to see more then the tip of his own nose.
Talon grabbed Quinn by the arm and dragged him out of the canteen.
Even after they got out of the fog and exited the canteen, they did not stop running, not until they reached the entrance of the barracks. To their surprise, the others were already wide awake, and not alone, because Damian was there with them too.
"Talon—" Before Quinn could say anything, Damian walked up to them, almost in a hurry.
"What were you two doing? I have something important to tell all of you," said Damian, his usual smile not as bright as most of the times. "Tomorrow morning, all of you will participate in the hunt that will be held at the Forest of Decay."
Regalos
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recibido Estado de energía semanal
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