Blend the Light

I'm Here to Help You

My head spins. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to get the pounding to go away. "Hey, Arrow, are you alright?" A voice speaks next to me.

"Hawk?" I ask in a strained voice.

"Yeah. Looks like you put up a fight." He scans the stone-walled room with Wasteland guards laying motionless on the ground.

"W-where's Jay?" I roll over to look at the shaggy, brown dog.

"He cannot be here."

"Why?"

"If we're going to escape, he still needs to be on the good side of all the Wasteland guards."

"I don't mean to sound rude in any way when I say this... but how... You just arrived at the Wasteland yesterday. How do you already know how to escape?"

"You know how there are the trucks that bring in the new Gladiators and how a thick, dark tarp covers the sides?" Hawk sits down.

"Yeah? I've seen them before." I frown.

"Well, Jay and I lucked out and were sitting at a side of the truck. The tarp had a tear in the side, though I'm not sure how, and the Wasteland guards didn't see it so the whole way to the Wasteland, we saw what the terrain looked like. Jay and I talked about how we'd escape."

"And the Wasteland guards didn't notice that people were talking about how to escape?"

"They knew we were talking, but they couldn't understand us."

"Were you just speaking in another language?"

"Yeah, Raydowninese."

"Ray down in these?"

"No, no, Raydowninese. One word. It's the language of the town of Raydowne. Jay and I grew up bilingual." Hawk laughs.

"Nice. What did the Wasteland guards think of your speaking Raydowninese?"

"They got a bit annoyed. Jay and I edged them on to fury. Believe it or not, they won't harm new Gladiators." Hawk shrugs.

"Need fresh blood as they say. Not surprised"

I rest my head on my paws and close my eyes. Hawk does the same but lifts his head when Jay walks in. As the blue-eyed dog pads closer, I crack open an eye and follow him as he sits down beside his brother. "What happened, Arrow?"

"The Wasteland guards tried to take me somewhere. I don't know where, but I didn't want to find out so I resisted and ended up fighting them. I didn't kill any though. I couldn't."

"I helped Arrow out after he nearly got knocked out."

"Well, yeah, there was that little part."

"Will you still be able to fight in the Wasteland?"

"Don't worry about that, I'll do fine staging my death. Won't be that hard; I'll fight Tremor and make a tiny slip up. Anyways, I'll refuse to let the medical personnel help me; it'll make my faked death more believable if I'm already injured."

"No one can know." Hawk states the words clearly.

"I'll be fine. Don't you two worry about me."

"Alright." Jay murmurs.

"Shall we train in the Pit?" Hawk rises to his paws.

"Sure. Wait, Jay, are you up for it?"

"I think... Could you give me a few pointers, Arrow? I'm not entirely sure how to fight."

"Yep, I'm your guide; I'm supposed to help you get your feet beneath you in preparation for your first Wasteland, or in your case, your only Wasteland battle." I lower my voice to a soft whisper at the end.