Broken Away

Shoved Off

Hello, reader. My dear friend, Chase, lived in the kingdom of Reslinton. Once every person turned 16, they were instructed to go to a training camp. At this camp, they fight each other. Battle for the best. It's every brave kid's dream and every nerd's nightmare. Only the best of the best are chosen. If you weren't, your family name became a disgrace to the kingdom. Chase never trained like her friends. She was still very intelligent. She was happy with herself. Until she walked into the training camp's grounds. Chase Never's story deserves to be shared. While she cannot do it herself, as she is in hiding, I am going to do it for her, hoping to inspire the teenagers being forced into battle. You do not have to stay. You can leave. Everything will be alright. I promise you. Chase found love and freedom. You will too.

Chase was disappointed that day. She had to leave her sisters as the guards rounded up all the 16-year-olds. She had to abandon the only life she had ever known. She wrapped her black hair in a bun on top of her head. She had on a ratty, white t-shirt and black leggings. Chase gripped the strap of her satchel. She walked into the line of 16-year-olds. Many of them were chatting amongst each other. Chase spotted one of her best friends since she was 11, Isla Le. Isla was talking to a blond girl. Isla also had black hair that was cut to her shoulder blades. It was let down, a look Chase had never seen on her before. Isla usually wore her hair up in a ponytail. She also wore clothes identical to Chase's, and everyone else in the line. Chase increased her pace to a slow jog and approached Isla. As she came in view of Isla, she raised her hand to say hi. Isla looked at her and rolled her eyes.

"Urgh," she groaned and led her new friend somewhere else. Chase's smile dropped along with her heart. She must've done something wrong. Looking around, her eyes landed on two friends she had known since she was 13: Arik Mislek and Reni Kellp. Arik had her hair cut short, strads of green, dyed ends falling onto her forehead. She had a large build. Doing good in the camp was very important to her. Her brother had failed before, disgracing the entire family. She and Reni, a sweet girl with black hair cut at her chin, were talking to each other under their breathes. Chase walked up to them.

"Hey, guys!" she started, "do you know why Isla won't talk to me?"

Arik growled, "you little witch, stay away from us."

Chase was very taken aback. She barely had anytime to process what had just happened as they entered the grounds of camp. The walls were made of electrical wire. The king's castle was ahead of them. Chase looked up the magnificent porcelain structure. Rumor has it that the King had killed his own son as he had refused to take part of the training camp. No one new the prince's name. If mention of the prince was brought up, King Montague would immediately sentence you to death.

The lead guard coughed, gaining everyone's attention, "hey, runts. Get in groups of four and sit down in a line. We're going to do an activity to single out the wimps and losers. You have two minutes."

Everyone was silent, not knowing if he had finished talking. After a few seconds of silence, everyone rustled around, trying to get with their friends. Chase walked up to Arik and Reni. Surely they couldn't be that mad.

"I can join your team, right?"

Isla walked up from behind Chase, a scowl on her face, "sorry, we already have four people," she said, gesturing at the blonde girl, "better run off now, wimp," she snarled the last word. Chase could feel her breathe hitch in her chest. She pushed down the panic and tears. She spotted some boys looking for one more person. She was good friends with them. She approached them cautiously.

"Can I join your team?" she asked, her voice cracking.

Landon, one of the boys, looked at his friends, Sean and Ryan. He shrugged hesitantly, "sure. Just don't mess things up for us."

Chase smiled widely, ignoring the last comment, "alright, sick." The four sat down in a line behind each other. Landon was at the front with Chase behind him. After approximately one and a half minutes, the guard banged on a dong.

"Escort the losers who couldn't find a team back to their families. Make sure their well known to have failed," the guard said, scanning the area, "the rest of you are going to wrestle each other. No rules. You just need to take down one person. The first two people in your line will start along with the third and fourth people. You will need to wrestle all of your teammates. If you don't win at least one, you'll be labeled a wimp and have to go to your mommy and daddy to cry. Begin!"

People in every line got up, including Chase and Landon.

"I'll go easy on you, Chase," Landon mumbled.

"No need," Chase breathed as she steadied herself on her heels. People started falling to the ground as their friends tackled them. Chase closed her eyes, refusing to see the amount of betrayal around her. The moment her eyes closed, Landon lunged, going for her neck. Chase didn't think like others. She listened and waited. She observed everything, including how Landon tended to slightly trip on rocks as he always stared straight ahead. Chase stepped to the side and stuck out her foot. Landon's left ankle connected with it, causing him to fall face first into the sand. Chase grabbed him by the back of his shirt just before he made contact with the ground. Then, she let go, causing him to softly topple onto the dirt floor. Landon grumbled as they waited for Sean and Ryan. Ryan slammed Sean onto the ground, pushing at his neck. Like they hadn't just attacked each other, Ryan picked Sean up.

Now, it was Ryan's turn to go against Chase. Chase could hear Landon and Sean's grunts as they tried taking each other down. Chase didn't wait for long this time. She immediately lunged for Ryan's waist, taking him by surprise. She pushed all her body weight onto him, even if she was lighter than him. As expected, Ryan was able to push his legs back against the dirt so that. he didn't topple back. At this moment. Chase brought her foot up and kicked at the back of Ryan's knees, causing his knees to give out. Ryan fell onto the floor as Landon tossed Sean over his shoulder.

Sean hadn't beaten anybody. Chase knew he would probably torture himself mentally if he didn't even make it past this stage. Sean breathed hard, his chest heaving. Chase sighed as she stood across from him.

"Ready, Sean?" she asked.

"Shut up, Chase. You don't have to gloat."

Chase grunted in response, tired of everyone making assumptions on how she barely trained. Chase took in a deep breath as Sean wrapped his arm around her throat and took her down right away. He whooped and cheered as Chase rubbed her throat. It would definitely have a bruise tomorrow.

"Good job, Sean," Chase said, getting up while still rubbing her throat. She felt nails dig into her arm as she was pulled aside.

"Listen here, Never. I don't know what game you're playing, but I will put you to an end if I have to," Isla snarled in her ear. Chase was fed up with everyone's trash. She grabbed Isla's wrist and wrenched it off her and held it in between them.

"No, you listen to me, Le. I never did anything to anyone. If you don't like me anymore, then leave me alone."

Isla wrenched her arm away and started walking off. Chase turned around, but didn't fail to hear one last thing Isla said.

"I never liked you in the first place."