A loud clanging noise wakes me up. I sit up, rubbing my eyes blearily.
Someone marches up to my bed and claps their hands in my face.
“Wake up, Ainsworth! We haven’t got all day. They’re not going to delay the introduction for you if you need your beauty sleep!”
It’s Chale. I dress quickly, unable to stop myself from yawning. I leave the dormitory and find Jesse stood outside. I check my watch before remembering it doesn’t work. I don’t even recall when it stopped but I kept it, as it is from my sister.
“It’s almost six, idiot. Hurry up,” Jesse snaps. Either he gets grumpy from lack of sleep or his general mood is like this.
I find myself sat in a metal seat in the dining hall from yesterday. The tables are all gone but the chairs remain, now lined up in rows. We sit in pairs, the girls on the left of the boys. I inch away from Jesse, who has an extremely surly expression pasted on his face right now. I catch my name, whispered behind me. A hand pokes my shoulder and Tana leans up to me, close to my left ear so she is further away from Jesse.
“Hey, is he being Mr. Grumpypants right now?” she giggles, gesturing towards Jesse. I shush her quickly, aware of the fact that he can probably hear her.
There is a rectangular podium in front of all the seats which we are all facing. It looks like a large wooden table which rises about a foot off the ground; it is about ten meters long in length and five meters in width. Standing upon this platform are Joker, Briana and Chale. He clears his throat, which echoes around the spacious room. Voices dwindle away until we are sitting in silence. Tana is back in her seat.
“In this room are all the newbies. You are all recruits, but a true member of Animus is someone who has been with us for over a year and has successfully won their battles,” he shouts. The word ‘battle’ sends an uneasy ripple through the crowd. A boy behind me murmurs, “We have to fight?”
“There are regulations even in Aequalitas, which is the most unruly group. We have our own rules here, and if you forget them then you won’t be told them again. To break one of them is to be punished-”
“How are we punished?” A girl’s voice rings out from the back, cutting across Chale. We all turn to see who it was. It isn’t exactly hard, as she is standing up. He scans the crowd and his eyes fall upon her. She has black hair pulled back in a messy plait.
“As I was saying,” Chale continues, ignoring the girl. Some people mutter about favoritism but he either doesn’t care or doesn’t hear them. “To break a rule means punishment. The first rule: you cannot leave Animus. This is a common rule that all groups share. If you leave your group, you can be put to death. Those in Concordia choose to forgive. But here …” His gray eyes harden so they look like shards of flint. “You will be shown no mercy. To try to leave is to be put to death. You chose us, therefore you foolishly underestimate us or you are weak and only chose us to look strong. Let me tell you this now: those of you who are expecting this to be an easy ride will get a shock.
“The second rule is one we and Aequalitas share. No cheating or cheap moves during fighting. This include spitting in your opponent’s face, gouging out an eye or feigning defeat. You cannot hold up your hand and say you are done, only to grab your opponent’s ankle and trip them. That is viewed as cowardice, not cunning. Breaking bones is permitted, but scratching or biting is prohibited. We are not animals after all, we are trainees.
“The final rule is something you will have been taught before: respect others. You do not backchat to your leaders. Insolence is not tolerated. You do not steal from others and you do not fight outside of training. Do you understand?”
