The girl stood in the freezing wind, her long dark hair flying around her body, pulling free of her hood. She took a deep breath and stepped into the building in front of her. It was comfortable looking; chairs strewn around as if it were a waiting room at the doctor’s office. She stepped up to the counter in front of her and pulled one of her hands from her pocket. It was thin, tan, and scarred but in the center of her palm there was an almost complete golden star. She pushed it under a small scanning device and let it recognize her. Suddenly a tall black door opened and her body moved inside. A tall, thin man greeted her, “Ah, yes. I was expecting you’d come. Now tell me; why would you save this for last?” He looked about 25 years old with dark blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. The girl only smiled and grabbed a knife off of a nearby table. It was silver with gold words written in Latin across the handle. It translated to ‘Stay alive for those who care’, which was very cheesy but she shrugged and snapped her wrist forward. The knife flew about 50 feet and sank into the wall just at the tip of a large poster. The man turned and looked at her with sheer amazement, then smiled. “Now it’s time for a challenge miss Evan.” The girl turned and stared into his bright eyes wondering how he could possibly know her name. He must have noticed her confusion because he gestured to her hand, “You are the only young gold in this world. Every other minor has only a simple Copper or Bronze with an occasional Silver and few are even close to Gold. You, on the other hand, are the youngest advanced Gold star in this world. You are very dedicated to your training.” She nodded as her words had failed her. “Now, shall we begin?” He asked, looking at her with admiration in his clear blue eyes. Evan nodded and smiled, a real smile, one she hadn’t used in a long while. So that day was spent training the girl even harder than she expected and before either of them could tell, it was time to leave. They both smiled at each other and the man grinned and said, “Congratulations, you passed.” She looked at her hand and saw the gold star, now completely filled in. They left the training center as acquaintances, or maybe even friends. He looked at her one last time and smiled widely, “Good luck in the outside, it’s tough but you’ll get through,” was all he said before turning and walking away, not even waiting for a response.
