Sky Full Of Stars: Ruby Redfort One Shots

Illusion

Hey guys, sorry it's been a while but I thought I'd write another chapter as it is stupid o'clock in the morning and I can't sleep lmao.

Bradley was sitting with his fellow trainees, talking casually and waiting for Sam Colt to arrive. They had been told that there was going to be a new kid coming to join them and they were all anxious for their arrival. It had been a while since they had had a new recruit, Byrdie being the most recent one which was 2 years ago. Bradley didn't know what to expect really. But the boy who walked in with Colt was nowhere near what he ha been anticipating.

He couldn't have been older than Bradley; his eyes were young and there wasn't a single sign of any age at all on his face. He had an unruly crop of jet black curly hair that, despite its lack of control, looked like its messy style was very planned out. He was tall, about 6,3 maybe 6,4. But it was his eyes that caught Bradley's attention. He had seen them somewhere before. In fact he was sure that he knew this boy somehow. His handsomeness was almost too memorable to forget. The boy didn't smile or introduce himself, instead he remained still and distant by Colt's side. He scarcely glanced over the others but when he did so it didn't seem as thought he was just taking in their exterior, but instead using some higher power to read their pasts and twist their futures. His steel grey eyes burning into Bradley as his gaze passed over him.

Sam Colt started the session as he always would; by telling them all how useless they looked just sitting around waiting for him. Well excuse me for having an instructor who can't seen to tell the time, thought Bradley as Sam continued to drone on about wasting valuable time. It took the man about five minutes to get on to the subject of the boy stood beside him.
"This is Hitch," said Sam, nodding his head in the boy's direction. "He will be training with you"
Hitch. Bradley pondered the name in an attempt to draw it from some sort of subconscious memory. Where have I seen this kid before?
"Now having only just met you 5 minutes ago," continued Sam, turning his attention to the boy. "I'm going to ask you some questions, ok?"
"Shoot," said the boy, his gaze shifting from the floor to Sam now, his face betraying no emotion at all.
"So, how old are you kid? 18? 19?" Asked Sam.
"I'm 15," replied Hitch, his tone very dull and with a hint of sarcasm Bradley recognised from LB.
"And where you from?" Asked Sam.
"Everywhere," said Hitch, the corners of his lips curling slightly into a smirk, clearly finding himself rather amusing.
Bradley and the others were pretty silent by this point. No one talked like that to Sam Colt without getting a hard punch to the jaw. It wasn't even what he had said, but the way he had said it. Dryly, his tone dulcet and bored. His vague information half intriguing, half infuriating.
"Got any experience fighting?" Asked Sam.
Bradley saw something then. A trickle of emotion visible for only a second in the boy's eyes. Fear? Sadness? Trauma? Bradley couldn't tell.
"I've had some practice," said the boy, modestly.
"Well in that case," said Sam, clapping his hands together, ready for the fun to begin. "Pick yourself an opponent kid,"
Hitch's eyes scanned the row of people, lingering in a few of them before he locked eyes, mockingly with Bradley.
"Him," he said as he nodded in Bradley's direction.
A rush of whispers raised from the group. This kid clearly hadn't been informed about who Bradley was. There was no chance he could beat him. Was there?

Bradley, feeling a little too big for his boots as the others parted to the sides of the room and Sam readied himself for the poor kid to bleed, said the words "Care to back down?"
The boy smiled, a menacing yet cheerful smile.
"Not familiar with the concept, mate," he said.

Sam blew his whistle and Bradley lashed out at the boy but, to his surprise, he seemed to have anticipated what Bradley was planning and twisted gracefully out of the way, the missed swing leaving Bradley slightly off balance. Before he really knew what was happening, the infamous Bradley Baker was pinned to the wall, hands pressed or either side of his head. The hands that held his were thin and slender, with long skeletal fingers and scars and marks littered over the surface of them. An illusionists hands, thought Bradley after he registered what had happened.

When he was a boy, he had gone to a fair once and seen a magician preform tricks with cards and coins. It had always fascinated Bradley as a child as it was something he couldn't learn to understand. One minute something was there and then, before he could blink, it had disappeared. He had soon learned that the magicians he looked up to as a five year old were the people who were most capable of picking his pocket now he was in his twenties. More capable of picking his door lock when he was sound asleep.

He eyes the boy suspiciously as his handsome face contorted strangely, as if Bradley's skin was burning his. As if he couldn't bare the contact. The boy let go and Bradley shook himself off. He was dazed and confused, not really understanding how the boy had done it. Yes, he had been off balance, but surely it would have been natural to pin him to the ground and not the wall. He couldn't quite make sense of it.
It's like one of his card tricks, thought Bradley, looking into the eyes of his opponent, you will never learn to understand why unless you know how first.

Bradley put out his hand for the boy to shake and once again he noticed that slight jolt of emotion in his eye. Was he afraid? Of fighting? Of contact? Of Bradley himself? He's probably just nervous, Bradley told himself, trying to remember his nerves on his first day. He's only 15.

Eventually, after what seemed like extreme reluctance, the boy shook Bradley's hand.
"I'm Bradley," he said. "Bradley Baker,"
"Hitch," replied the boy.
No mention of a last name. Bradley wasn't sure whether to like this boy or to fear him.
"You're a good fighter kid," continued Bradley.
"I had to be," said Hitch.
But before Bradley could question it, he had moved away and was clearly done talking.
Curiouser and curiouser, thought Bradley.

He had decided that he liked this kid. After all, he was an agent and mysteries were his job to untangle. So he would treat this boy like another one of his cases that needed solving. But Hitch was no bad guy, Bradley could see the goodness flowing through him. In fact he almost stank of honesty and loyalty. Bradley smiled as he watched the boy walk away. Hitch, he remembered. The boy who saved my life at the rapids.

Hey :) I hope you liked this chapter. I'm rlly tired rn so I'm sorry if it's messy and full of mistakes. Anyways, let me know what you think of it and if you have any other ideas for me to write about then plz let me know. Thanks for reading and stay safe xxx