𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧

Nine

Liana did not sleep well that night. No matter how much padding and fur she put on her cot, it was still extremely uncomfortable. It also might've been the fact that she was too nervous to sleep- she kept thinking about the flush she was somehow supposed to stop, and how if she failed her training she would let everyone down. Her constant tossing and turning became so frequent that she almost rolled off the bed.

She must've dozed off at one point or another, because soon enough light was streaming through the crack in the tent flap, and Liana had to get up to start training with her neck aching and her shoulders sore from a stressful night of sleep.

She washed her face in the basin of water by their tent door, tied her hair up in a sleek ponytail, and dressed herself in the Outcast's usual clothing that filled the trunk at the foot of her bed. 

Iris poked her head inside the tent, her hand intertwined with Travis's. "You ready for the hunt?" she asked as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Don't worry, I'll catch that deer," he responded, glancing over at Liana.

Liana had never killed an animal before, and she didn't exactly want to either. But if this was the Outcast's way, she'd have to learn to adapt to it, even if she was scared that she'd screw something up. "Don't I need a weapon or something?"

"We use bows or spears or throwing knives to hunt. Whichever works best for you. It's good to have an open mind- it might be your thing, but don't feel defeated if it isn't," Iris explained.

"It wasn't Carson's thing," Travis added.

"Who is this Carson person you're always talking about?" Liana asked, throwing her hands up in the air. "Is he really that bad?"

"YES!" they both screamed simultaneously.

"He's so annoying!" Travis added, as if that explained it.

"Guys?" a voice said from outside.

"Come in!" Travis shouted, and Iris covered her giggle with a cough.

Taylor entered their tent, a bow strapped over his back. She was glad to see that Travis and Iris had invited him along, per her request. He glanced at Liana thankfully. "You ready? Xina wants me to take you to the weapons room."

"I guess..." she fiddled with her thumbs and walked towards the exit. They ducked outside, and Liana could see that the sun was just barely peeking over the misty hill. No wonder she felt so tired!

Taylor led them into the main building, opening the door to a small room stuffed with weapons.

"I thought the mainlanders didn't give you weapons!" Liana said as she ran her fingers over the hunting supplies, admiring their craftmanship.

"We make our own. We melt silverware or any supplies they give us, and sometimes we make things out of sharp rocks and such. That's why we don't really have many swords." Taylor felt for his quiver, showing her that only three of his arrows had metal tips.

Liana spotted a set of shiny knives with leather hilts and picked them up, admiring the smooth balance of them in her hand. Back on the mainland, Blueboods were banned from touching anything sharp- even scissors. They feared that she would go crazy and kill a bunch of people or some stupid excuse like that- but here, she could finally learn to defend herself.

She turned around and threw the knife with all her might at the wall, where it bounced harmlessly off the wood.

Taylor snorted, but disguised it with a cough as Liana glared at him. "Oh, be quiet."

"It's not my fault you suck at throwing knives!"

Liana lightly shoved him, wincing as she realized they weren't that close yet, but he didn't seem to notice, so she said, "You should be glad I'm not better at it, because you'd be missing about an inch of hair by now."

"Ooo, death threats. Here, let me show you how to use them," Taylor picked the knife up from the floor. He twisted slightly to the side, placing one foot in front of the other, and spun the knife at the wall in the same motion one would use to throw a baseball. The knife spiraled once and embedded itself deeply into the wood with a thud.

Liana picked up a knife and tried to copy him, but once again her knife bounced easily off the target and clattered to the floor.

"You're not throwing hard enough," Taylor commented. "Imagine I'm the target."

Liana forced herself not to laugh evilly as the knife slid into the wall smoothly.

"You must hold grudges," Taylor smirked, his eyes wide. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

"You're already on it," Liana said, hurling another knife with a playful smile at Taylor to let him know she was joking. "Come on, let's hunt." she wrenched all three knives from the wall and stepped out of the weapons room.