A Sister in Distress

Alt

It was weird for Zen to take so long to come to lunch, he normally hurried and was the first to arrive with an anxious smile on his face. Alt walked the hallways to go find him, thinking maybe he was still in the training room. He looked up from the floor a second and saw a man and a woman against a wall. He looked away instinctively, trying to grant them their privacy. From what he'd seen the man was a Dark he wore a green and black coat that Alt had seen before. And the woman was wearing both black and white with green. 

Alt looked at them again. It was Jia. He saw the black and green sleeve wrinkled up to her elbow. The man had his face on her neck, covering her face, and was pressing her hard against the walls, his legs against hers. Alt remembered where he'd seen the coat. It was Dun's, the Green dark snake squad leader. The one that had almost punched her to death in the examination. 

He couldn't quite understand if it was voluntary or not and then he realised it wasn't. He saw her left hand strongly gripping his right, trying to pull it away, her legs struggling to escape, her entire body trying to wiggle out of his grip, and he saw her face, a clear expression of pain and fear, underneath the constant deep frown. It was the most expressive he'd seen her yet. 

He ran to them and pushed Dun off Jia. Knowing what he was risking when he did, but Jia was his partner now, and partners were family, they were to be protected. It was what Zen had taught them. It was what he lived for now. Jia made a gasp when Dun let go and caressed her neck with her hands, the neck was bruised and red. He'd been strangling her Alt realised. He looked to Dun who staggered a few feet back. Dun looked at him with raging eyes and ran to attack. Alt hesitated, it was forbidden to fight Darks in Ruda, the penalty was death. But Jia was his sister now. 

He put a protective arm in front of her and readied for a fight, but before he could dodge or stop Dun's blow, Jia had put herself in front of him and had stopped Dun's blow with her arms, which she put crossed in front of her, fists up. She opened her palms and grabbed his hand bringing it towards her by twisting her wrists and kicked out with her left leg, which landed on his stomach. All in three fast movements that Alt had trouble following. He staggered a few feet back and touched his stomach, smiling wickedly and the turning to look at her. It was a scary smile. Everything about him was. He'd never seen Dun so up close, and he'd never seen him fight either. As he looked at him now, he could tell how strong he was. He'd seen Jia throw Nuk into the air with a kick and yet the same kick only made Dun move a few small steps back. 

Dun darted towards Jia again and Alt's anxiety grew. If they caught them fighting they'd both be sentenced to death. And that was if he didn't kill her before they were caught. No, he wouldn't let that happen. Alt readied his stance, ready to intervene in the fight, Jia took a few steps forwards and kicked up towards Dun's face, Dun had his fist clenched, ready to punch Jia in the stomach, but none of them finished. They were stopped in their steps by Zen. 

He appeared out of nowhere and stopped Jia's kick with his right hand, with his left hand he'd stopped Dun's punch. Dun's rage grew and he prepared another punch, but Zen had anticipated him, he'd pushed Jia's foot away making her stumble a little, and had gone for Dun's shoulders, pushing him against the wall. 

- "You do know the penalty for fighting between Darks and Lights, right?" Zen spoke, his expression aggressive, his tone serious. Alt knew Zen more than most people, and he knew that expression. Zen hated the guy and was trying hard not to let himself loose control. 

- "You can dress her up all you want but she'll never be a Light!" He groaned and pushed Zen's hands off his shoulders with his hands. Zen let him and just stared at him with his angry expression. Dun and him exchanged an angry look for a while until Dun looked away, he looked at Jia furiously and then stormed away. Alt immediately relaxed but it took Zen and Jia a lot longer to do the same. 

- "Are you okay?" Alt turned to Jia worriedly, Jia nodded as she straightened her sleeve down. Alt looked at Jia, she wore her serious frown again, as if nothing had happened. He remembered Lin's words saying she'd done the same after having almost died at Dun's hands. How she'd worn the same face when him and Zen had gone and picked her up at home and her family had treated her like trash. Alt's heart twisted, how many people had hurt this girl? How many times? What had she been through that they didn't know? It made him shudder to see such a little girl be so cavalier after almost having been raped. Alt could see Zen felt the same way, he was looking at her with pure agony in his eyes. But he hadn't seen what Alt had seen, and yet he was still hurting. 

- "You shouldn't have done that." Jia said, both to Alt and Zen's surprise, they looked at her with puzzled faces. 

- "So we should've just let him kill you?" Zen said, perplexed and angry. Jia shrugged and shook her head.

- "He would never kill me." She said, Zen and Alt looked at her like she was crazy. Was she protecting him? 

- "Well I'm sorry if I find that hard to believe considering how he would have done it in the examination if the healers hadn't come!" Zen said, his anger rising. Jia shook her head.

- "He knew I'd get healed." She said, Alt's puzzled look increased. Was she crazy? The man had beat her like a pulp and then almost raped her, how could she be defending him? Zen scoffed and shook his head, clearly as confused as Alt, he passed a hand through his hair. He did that when something made him nervous. "And anyways, that's not the point. He'll have a grudge against you now. And he doesn't play clean, you shouldn't have done that." Jia repeated, Alt and Zen's expressions shifted. She wasn't protecting him, she was protecting them from him. Alt looked at Zen, he was looking at her with a devastated look, Zen was hurting for her and then he smiled.

- "I doubt there's anybody he doesn't hold a grudge against." He joked and then put a hand on Jia's shoulder, she was surprised by it and looked up at him with wide, bright eyes. "Besides, you're our sister now. We'll always protect you." He said, his voice deep and mature like it sometimes got. Alt looked at Jia, she looked at Zen and her frown relaxed a little, not enough to say it disappeared, but it did a little. She was moved by it, by him. And Alt knew this because he'd been in that position many times. Zen was that way, he had that impact on people.

They walked to the dinning hall together, when they reached it they parted ways, Jia went with the other students and Zen and him went with the rest of the Squad and Tribe members that were in the Academy. She was probably going to get shunned and ostracised. The students were unlikely to accept her and want to dine with her, and she was gonna get terrible looks from everyone, but from what he'd seen from her it was Alt's guess that it probably didn't bother her that much, that she was probably used to it. 

They reached one of the tables were the rest of Wolf Squad members were, Lin was there too with her squad members. She looked at us curiously, clearly surprised by our tardiness. Alt sat in front of her and Zen did so beside him. He reached the food, served himself, smiled and laughed like he always did, but Alt could tell that what had happened bothered him. He passed the bowl with food to Alt and he put it on his plate as well. Lin was looking at both of them studiously. She, like Alt, noticed something was bothering Zen. 

- "Why are you late? It's not like you to be late for lunch." She said, Zen looked at her and smiled. 

- "I got distracted." He said and grinned before shoving the food in his mouth. Lin looked at Alt, clearly not buying the fake smile. 

- "You know how it is, new members and all…" Alt said, subtly referring to Jia. Lin nodded.

- "Yeah, I guess… So is she giving you too much trouble?" She asked, Alt noticed more people listening in, clearly interested. They'd already been interested when they saw them arrive. The whole Dark gone Light thing had brought the Wolf Squad to the spotlight. Alt could only imagine what it was like for Jia. Then again, she was much stronger than him. 

Alt looked at Zen for him to answer and could see he was trying not to give it importance, paying more attention to his food than to anything else. But despite Zen's breezy and careless attitude he was always aware of everything around him. 

- "Not really, she's an amazing fighter. I think we can aim for number one Squad this year." He said and looked over the table at Gho, he was already listening in, he was the Dragon Squad Leader, the highest squad of the Tribe, he scoffed.

- "Keep dreaming." He joked. But under the joke Alt could notice the resentment. It had taken some time for people to respect Zen as a leader, his young age and careless behaviour meant he was often mocked and disrespected, it also meant he was underestimated, he'd won his respectful place after his first year when the Wolf Squad increased in ranks and went from the lowest Squad to being in the highest five. Last year Wolf Squad had come number two in ranking, beating Lin's Tiger Squad, the Snake and Lion Squads. He'd earned everyone's respect after that. But the whole Jia thing had put the Wolf Squad under a new light. People had already started bad talking about it, and slowly the Wolf Squad was losing respect. But Zen was right, Jia was a great fighter. The way Alt had seen her fight, he doubted any of the members that had seen it were doubting her skills. What people did doubt and would continue doubting was where her loyalties lay. Basically, even if the Wolf Squad gained respect it was going to loose lots of trust. Lights never trusted Darks. Gho's expression showed that was exactly what he was thinking.

- "Oh you'll see us beat your a*s, don't worry about it." Zen said and stuffed another spoonfull in his mouth. A little while passed and Zen turned to Alt, talking quietly so as to not let anyone else hear. "When you got to them were they already fighting? Or did you see what happened to make them act that way?" He asked, looking at Alt with a serious and mature expression that he was wearing too often lately. Alt thought of how he'd found them and for some reason didn't want to tell Zen about it, at least not there in the middle of the lunch room. Alt knew Zen had had trouble keeping himself from attacking Dun just because he'd seen them fighting. If he knew that it was much worse than that, who knows what he would do? Alt hesitated.

- "Nah, I don't know." He said and looked away so as not to be caught in his lie. He noticed Lin looking at him, she'd noticed he was lying and Alt knew he'd have to fess it all up once they were alone, not like he could ever even try to keep anything from her. Zen nodded and took another bite of the food. He looked at his watch and opened his eyes wide, he put all the food he could fit rapidly in his mouth and swallowed. 

- "Oh, s**t. I have to go." He said, he stuffed another spoon in his mouth and stood up. Alt and Lin looked at each other confused and then looked back at him. 

- "Where?" Alt asked, confused that Zen would leave lunch soon. Zen gave him a grin.

- "Things to do." He said with a smile, Alt narrowed his eyes suspiciously and Zen laughed. He waved and then left jogging. Alt turned to Lin and lifted his eyebrows before returning to his food. Lin laughed. 

- "Something's definitely on his mind." She said, Alt smiled. "And you are definitely going to tell me what that is later, aren't you?" She said, giving him a deadly look. Alt looked at her beautiful big eyes and her lips. How could he ever resist?

- "You're not fair, you know?" He said she grinned and Alt shook his head as he smiled. 

Zen

Zen thought of the girl, how much was she willing to sacrifice of herself for others? How could she defend and protect that man? It seemed odd to him that anybody would. Zen wasn't a bad person, but when people screwed him over he was done with them. He didn't forgive and he sure as hell did not forget. He didn't believe in revenge or in getting even, but when someone hurt him he didn't let them keep on doing it. He protected himself from it, it was how he coped with it. But this girl was something else, Dun supposedly cared for her but he'd tried to kill her twice in two days, who knows what more had happened back in Naia… but it was probably nothing good. 

It angered him, all of it, the scars in her arms, the way her family had treated her, the way Dun had, they way everyone looked at her, even the words Gurah had said. It angered him and it hurt him, so much he didn't even understand it. What was it about this girl that had him so fixated? It was something about her strength and something about her fragility.

Maybe it was just that he wanted to see her smile. Who knows. Zen found himself in Tukarwon, looking around the shops. He was in the East side so all the people there where either citizens or Lights, he wasn't sure what he was looking for but he kept walking around. Going in and out of shops, when he finally found it. He saw it and smiled, went in the shop and left with it in a bag. He got in the car and drove back to Ruda. 

Jia

Jia was used to receiving cold looks, but something about them coming from every single person and being with more intent than usual made her nervous. Back home she was used to being considered a failure, a loser, a disgrace, an embarrassment, but this was worse. It was hate. They all hated her. She stood between the Darks and the Lights at first, for a second not knowing where to go, when he saw the Green Lights she went to where they were seated. She sat in a free seat, all eyes digging on her. She ignored them and reached for a bowl of food, but before she could get it someone pushed it away.

- "Don't you touch that with your filthy hands." One of them said. It was a boy from the Green Tribe but not one of her Squad partners. Jia sighed. She looked at the boy with her usual look, she regarded him looking all smug, looking at her with a disgusted face. Jia stood up and reached for the bowl again. The boy annoyingly pushed it away from her. Jia wanted to strangle the kid but she avoided doing so out of respect for Zen. She sighed tiredly and went for the bowl one last time. The boy reached to push the bowl away again but Jia stopped him, grabbing his wrist firmly in the spot. The boy looked enraged, Jia ignored it and pushed the hand away, grabbing the bowl and pouring the food onto her plate. She sat back and grabbed the spoon, ready to eat but was annoyed again. The girl beside her poured her water on Jia's plate. 

- "Oops." She said, sending laughs along the table. Jia looked at them all unamused. These people were idiots and she was hungry, she hadn't even had breakfast that day and she was already someone with a large appetite. And she was getting annoyed, very annoyed. She closed her eyes and tensed her jaw, trying to calm herself. The only reason she wasn't attacking them was because of Zen, but she wasn't sure how long her resolve would last. Jia opened her eyes, everyone at the table was looking at her. A few people away were a few members of her Squad, but they looked as angry and hateful as the rest, in fact some of them even more. A boy walked to her. It was Gurah.

- "I thought Zen told you to take that off." He said. Jia didn't even bother to look at him. She looked at her plate and ate what had been saved from the water. The boy's rage increased and he walked closer to her and put a hand on his shoulder so as to make her look at him. "Hey! I asked you a-" Jia got up before the boy could touch her. Everyone stared. "What the hell is wrong with you, you freak?" He said. The girl that had thrown the water stood up beside him. Jia rolled her eyes and walked away. If she was going to make it without fighting she had to stay away from them. She walked and caught a few eyes she knew from Naia, including Dun and most of her family. The first day of training all Squad Leaders came to the Academy to meet the new elected, along with most of it's members. This wasn't something that happened any other day, Squad Leaders left for battles and missions mostly, rarely stepping foot in the Academy. Jia kept walking and as she did she heard a step and then a grunt and knew someone had thrown her something. She ducked, the bowl of food clashed against one of the walls and everyone that had not been looking now were. Jia stood up and, not bothering to look back kept on walking. A girl that was sitting in the table spread her leg out trying to make Jia trip. Jia stopped abruptly and looked at the girl. She was a Light with blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked afraid and that amused Jia. She came near the girl, her face only inches away. The girl swallowed in fear, Jia got closer to her and the girl leaned back. Jia looked at her menacingly in the eyes and then reached her hand out to grab the bread that was behind the girl. She stood up straight and continued walking chewing on the bread. The girl breathe out relieved. Jia left the lunch room, attempting to ignore the disappointed angry looks of the Darks and the hateful angry looks of the Lights. She chewed on the bread and ate it, went up to her room and put her running outfit on after which she left the building and ran through the streets of Ruda. Running was like medicine to her. She needed it. It was the only way she could survive. She could channel all that she felt into running as fast as she could. Her anger, her pain. If she didn't do it, she would explode. Everything she felt disappeared on the road as her feet hit the floor. Everything about Dun, about her family, about the Darks and Lights, about the stupid kids, about stupid traditions, about her memories, about the war, everything. It just evaporated in the air as she breathed out. She ran for quite a while and then jogged back. Two hours had passed since lunch and there were hardly any people in the hallways, which Jia was grateful for. She turned to head for her room and found four boys waiting for her in the door of it. One was Gurah, the other was Vuth, another one of the wolf squad, the other two Jia didn't know. They smiled devilishly when they saw her. Her frown deepened as she walked towards them, knowing they were up to no good. They got near her, the two she didn't know going behind her so they had her surrounded. Jia looked at Gurah, who was clearly the one in charge. He walked with his jaw tensed and fists clenched and a menacing posture. It didn't menace Jia at all. He got near her, standing only inches away from her. She stayed still and looked up at him with her usual frown, he was a head taller than Jia and a lot wider. 

- "You don't speak much, do you?" He said, annoyed. Jia tilted her head to the side, Gurah scoffed annoyed and prepared to push her but Jia stopped him, she grabbed his wrists with her hands. His annoyance grew. One of the boys behind her took a step towards her to push her and Jia dodged it by letting go of Gurah and jumping to the side. Their annoyance grew and they started to attack, throwing punches that Jia easily dodged. She could finish them off easy, she knew that, but she didn't want to fight them. For Zen's sake. So she kept on dodging, jumping and docking. They grunted, every time louder and more annoyed. Jia tried to think of a way to stop them without fighting but could only think of one she didn't like. After a very long time she could see them all tiring out. Jia was tired to, but dodging doesn't tire as much as attacking. Still they kept attacking and Jia decided to finish it. She saw Gurah's punch come towards her face and she let it hit her, stopping in her place. It hit her left jaw and she staggered back, expecting to fall on the floor as she let herself fall to find herself in somebody's arms. She looked up, it was Zen. He had an irritated look in his face mixed with a curiosity. He stood up straight making Jia stand. She looked at the boys who were now straightened out and obedient. 

- "The two of you leave now." He said to the boys that were of another Squad. They looked at Gurah and Vuth and then ran away. The boys looked at their leader with a mixture of fear and respect. Zen let go of Jia's shoulder. Making Jia realise how easy she'd found it to be touched by him. It startled her. Zen got close to the boys.

- "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He said. They both looked down ashamed, jaw tensed. Gurah spoke.

- "She's a dark!" He said, shooting a disgusted look at Jia. Zen shook his head.

- "No, she's not a dark. She's your sister." He said, the boys looked at him with a frown and a puzzled face. "I don't know how it works for you back home, or how you treat or what you do with your friends. I don't care what other Squads do or think. In my Squad we are a family. Every member is a brother and sister. And we protect our family. With our lives if needed." He said. Jia looked at him with wondrous eyes, there he was again with those words and tone that believed the words with every inch of its being. It gave that much more strength. It made Jia feel warm and fuzzy inside. It made her feel so strange. The boys looked confused still, but a little of what Jia felt had gone through them too. "I know the situation is complicated, but you're gonna have to deal with that. Because wether you like it or not, we are all in this together. If she's attacked, we're attacked. And you're gonna have to work hard to protect her because everyone out there is against this. But not you. You can't afford that. Because this Squad is where you belong. And this Squad is family. And we protect our family." He said. Jia watched him and then looked at the boys, they wanted to believe him. He'd almost convinced them, it was amazing to see. The boys looked down, guilt ridden. Zen took some time until he spoke again. "I hope you learn to understand this, now go." He said. The boys dared a guilty look his way and then looked at Jia with confused feelings. They walked away and Zen turned to Jia and gave her a wide grin. It stopped her heart for a second. It was a beautiful thing, such an easy, breezy, happy smile, it made her feel light, like she could sore through the skies. He gestured to her room and Jia followed him in. He looked around the empty, boring room. 

- "Why did you do that?" He asked without looking at her. Jia looked at him confused, he turned to watch her. "Why did you let yourself get hit?" He said, a curious look in his eyes. Jia was surprised.

- "How did you know?" She asked, curious herself. Zen smiled and shook his head.

- "I've seen you fight, that's how I know." He said and turned around walking to the desk where Jia's bag was lying. "Besides I saw you just stand still and take the punch." He chuckled. And the sound was as breezy and warm as his smile. "You sure are something. It takes a lot of guts to do that." He said and turned to her, leaning on the desk. "To just stand there and let yourself be punched in the face knowing that you can easily dodge it. It takes a lot of self-control too. To force your body to ignore it's instincts." He said, his tone impressed and amazed. It made Jia blush a little. "So, why'd you do it?" He asked again and looked attentively in her eyes.

- "I didn't know how else to stop them without engaging." Jia said. Zen lifted his eyebrows. 

- "Why couldn't you engage?" He asked, Jia hesitated.

- "Because of you." She said, it took Zen aback, he wore a small smile and looked at her with surprised eyes. Jia blushed a little. "I mean because of what you said." She said, Zen narrowed his eyes and frowned, curious, and smiled crookedly. "You said we had to protect each other." Jia said. Zen's smile grew and his eyes lit. 

- "And you're protecting me by letting yourself get punched?" he teased with a smile. The smile made Jia feel safe and warm, and it was feeling she hadn't had in a very long time. In fact she didn't even remember the last time she'd felt safe. It made her frown lighten without her even noticing. 

- "I've already gotten you into lots of trouble by just being in your Squad. If I got in fights I'd only make it worse." She explained. Zen smiled wider he bit his lower lip and then smiled again, nodding. Jia didn't understand how anybody could smile so easily. 

- "But it wasn't your fault that your in my Squad." He said, in what seemed like a teasing tone but that left Jia confused. He laughed a little and stood up straight. "Nevertheless, I do like that you don't want to get into fights." He said with a crooked smile and took a few steps closer. "But you know, everything has its limits. Getting yourself punched isn't protecting me, trust me." He said, in a low tone, looking Jia deep in the eyes. It was the open way of everything he did that left Jia perplexed. He didn't hide or cower, when he looked at her he really looked at her, with his big green eyes paying full attention. Jia couldn't take her eyes off him, and for a moment a small hint of a smile appeared on her lips. She recovered from it and looked away, feeling slightly uncomfortable and at the same time never having felt more comfortable. Zen took a few steps closer. "By the way, I bought you something." He said and showed her the bag he had in his hands. Jia's frown deepened in confusion. Zen gave her a wide grin, showing all his teeth. "Take the sweater off." He said. Jia hesitated but then did as he asked and took her black sports sweater off, standing in only her black and green sports training bra, black sweatpants with rubber bottom at her ankles, and her black and green trainers. She put the sweater over her bed where the uniform she'd worn in the morning lay messily put the way she'd taken it off. Zen put his hand inside the bag and got a pair of white and green gloves out of it. He looked at Jia and reached for her hand. "May I?" He asked. Jia looked at the gloves wide eyed. Her frown disappearing and watched as Zen slipped it on her hand. They were fingerless long, white gloves that reached above her elbow and tied around her thumb and middle finger. They had two parallel green lines on one side on the pinky going all the way to the other end. Zen let go of her hand and Jia inspected it, a smile escaping and drawing her lips.

Reviews

[Created to Write]

Cool!

You should reread this chapter and the last chapter. There are a few places where there is a he instead of she or a phrase that makes no sense.

[Evey]

Okay! Thank you! I'll keep it in my mind and change it later, I did upload them in a rush without rereading them, and I don't have a lot of time now because I have my final exams, so I'll do it when I'm done with them, but thankful for the review, as always!