Blade Song

Chapter 3- Lucky Number Seven

I awoke late that night, or maybe it was early the next morning, to someone singing in a loud, obnoxious manner.

"Rise and shine," the voice sang. "I'm bored and had far too much wine." His song broke off into laughter. "I made it rhyme, kind of."

I groaned and sat up on my futon, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. The voice sounded familiar, but it was too dark in that room to see who it was.

"Eight." I shook her awake.

She moaned and sat up next to me.

"Out in the hall." Masahiko's voice cut through the darkness. "All of you."

We obeyed and stumbled our way towards the crack of light in the wall. Once out in the hall, we all lined up as we did every morning, only Otsune was nowhere in sight. Instead, it was just Masahiko, Five, and the owner of the annoying singing voice, Hyobe.

I'd seen Hyobe a few times before. He was the son of another wealthy family and occasionally hung around with Masahiko. He'd even been to the pit room a few times. Hyobe had a lean build like Masahiko, but his hair was blond with a slender set of black horns and claw like finger nails to match.

I wasn't sure what time it really was. You lose track pretty quick without natural light. Since Otsune wasn't there and I felt much more tired than usual, I guessed this was not our usual wake up time, which was never good.

"To the kitchen," Masahiko ordered.

As commanded, we all started walking towards the kitchen in single file.

"Oh, come on. Come on." Hyobe clapped his hands. "Enthusiasm. Faster. Faster."

We quickened our pace to the small kitchen. Most of the back wall was taken up by storage space and the stone ovens. There wasn't a lot of room for all of us to stand because of the large wooden table in the middle of the floor, but somehow we made it work and lined up in our usual fashion. Five even joined the line this time.

I took note of the table, which was cluttered with leftover food and a few bottles with different colored glass. Otsune would never have left it this way. Apparently, our young master and his friend had been up for a late night snack and a little drinking.

Hyobe walked over to the table and sliced a little piece off of whatever giant roasted bird they had been eating that evening and plopped it into his mouth. "So, what were you going to show me?"

Masahiko smiled. "The apple game."

This was not the first time we'd played this game, but this was the first time I ever remember Masahiko attempting to play it drunk. The game was simple. You were to balance a piece of fruit on your head while Masahiko tried to shoot it off with a crossbow.

Without needing further prompting, all five of us sat down with our legs folded under us and our backs straight.

Hyobe laughed and sucked the juices from the bird off his fingers. "You've got them so well trained."

Masahiko smirked. "You haven't seen anything yet."

He grabbed a bowl of apples and went down the line, placing one atop each of our heads. I slowed my breathing, taking each breath consciously to keep them steady. If you flinched or the apple fell, you got beaten with a crossbow. The trick was to close your eyes when it was your turn to be shot at. It's much easier to stay calm if you don't see a bolt aimed at your face.

"You ready?" Masahiko loaded the crossbow.

Hyobe nodded eagerly.

His first shot was, of course, at Three. The bolt hit the apple dead center and embedded itself into the wooden cabinet behind us. The second shot hit Five's apple, but it was off, hitting the apple at its side, almost missing it completely. Chunks of apple flew everywhere. As far back as I could remember Masahiko's aim had been perfect. As frightening as the game was, he'd never actually hit any of us.