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I just misspelled sorrengail as sorengail and now somewhere Xaden “and it’s two r’s” Riorson is shaking his head at me

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I’ve just gone from oh fuck it’s raining to yay wet race at silverstone!

(I live really close to the track)

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Right imma shower, make dinner, then watch jjk and finish a wip

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I am now completely and utterly in love with mira sorrengail

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Hayfever is making me look like a fucking venin

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Wheat in Wartime —

Chapter Five: Too Little Too Late

word count: 2.6k

warnings: character death, swearing, ableism

a/n: shout out to @dusk-muse for sending me all the screenshots they had on gauntlet training and presentation day while my friend had my copy of fourth wing. you kept the momentum going, babes <3

masterlist | ao3

—

Don't let the Gauntlet intimidate you, Sloane. Unlike the Parapet, you get to practice going up this one. As long as you make it to the top, it doesn't matter what your time is. Your life is more important than your pride. — Unsent Correspondence of Cadet Liam Mairi

—

Dain looks over all of the first years over after morning formation, his eyes scrutinizing. He and the other second years in our squad look awful: Quinn has a cut above her eyebrow and a busted lip, Imogen's arm is in a sling, Cianna's been heavily limping, and Dain has a black eye on one side and a bruised jaw on the other. I have no idea how they all got injured, I just know they haven't shown up for challenges or Battle Brief for the last two days. All of the first years have no clue, but Heaton and Emery nod at the three of them whenever we're in formation, so it must be a second year thing.

Something to look forward to, I guess.

"Gauntlet training starts today," Dain tells us. I keep my own eyes on his two four-point stars on his collarbone to avoid any recognition. While I trust Violet hasn't recognized me and most likely won't, the jury's still out on him, and I'm not willing to take any chances. "For the next two weeks, you'll work with Emetterio to conquer it. Challenges have been put on hold until after Presentation, but I recommend keeping up your skills—everyone else will be." He gives us all one last look, then nods and walks away, leaving us to our own devices.

We all just look to Sawyer.

He sighs at us. "We're at the Gauntlet after lunch. Meet here and we'll go together, but I will not wait for you."

Tynan, Luca, Pryor, and Trina all walk off to grab their things for class, leaving me, Violet, Ridoc, Aurelie, Rhiannon, and Sawyer. As soon as the four others are out of sight, Ridoc wraps an arm around Sawyer's shoulders and grins at him. "You'll wait for me, won't you?"

Sawyer rolls his eyes. "Not a chance."

Ridoc grins and pinches Sawyer's cheek, and the blonde just swats his hand away. Ridoc relents and wraps his arm around my shoulders instead. "He definitely would."

Aurelie elbows him in the side with a grin on her face. "I wouldn't push your luck."

"Are you kidding? Luck's the only thing I have left to push. Zihnal and I are best buds at this point."

"How else do you think he got that second year to sleep with him?" Rhi says from behind us. "She is way out of your league."

"All I'm hearing is you think I've got game," he snarks back. His bronze skin crinkles around his eyes when he smiles, and I'm suddenly filled with envy—at how deep the wrinkles are, and at the ease in which they appear.

None of us eat much for lunch. Trina and Pryor nervously discuss the Gauntlet on my left, Luca rolls her eyes at the two of them across from me, and Aurelie can't sit still in her seat, she's so excited. After the meal, Sawyer leads us through a door in the courtyard that takes us to a tunnel that crosses the ridgeline to the Gauntlet.

The Gauntlet is death itself carved into the mountainside. The Parapet I could somewhat prepare for by walking the rails between turrets at the castle, but this? Nothing could prepare me for this. There are five ascents to it, with one-eighty degree switchbacks between each one that get tighter and tighter the higher you get. I feel like I'm going to throw up, and Aurelie is fucking bouncing.

"My dad used to set up obstacle courses like this all the time so we could practice, and Chase, my brother, said it's the best part of being here before Threshing." She looks up the ridgeline and smiles like it's her birthday, her black eyes dancing with glee in the sun. "It's a real adrenaline rush."

"It's a deathtrap," Violet murmurs from her other side. She looks up to the top of the ridge and her eyes bulge out of her head.

"He's with the Southern Wing, right?" I ask Aurelie, just to keep my mind off the obstacle course that looks worse and worse the longer I stare at it.

"Yep. Pretty much desk duty for all the action they see near the Krovlan border." She shrugs and points about two-thirds up the course. "He said to watch out for those giant posts jutting from the side of the cliff. They spin, and you can get crushed between them if you're not fast enough."

"Oh, good, I was wondering when it might get difficult," Rhiannon mutters.

Ridoc appears on my right and rubs his hands together. "Still not sure why they call it the Gauntlet."

"To ensure dragons keep coming to Threshing by weeding out the weaklings." Tynan sneers from Ridoc's other side, folding his arms over his chest as he casts a pointed look at Violet.

"Knock it the fuck off," Ridoc snaps, earning everyone's attention. I've never seen Ridoc lose his temper or use anything but humor to defuse a situation before, and it sends goosebumps up and down my arms.

"What's your problem?" Tynan shoves a strand of hair from his eyes and pivots like he's going to stare some intimidation into Ridoc, but it's not very effective when Tynan's half his size and half a foot shorter.

"My problem? You think because you made friends with Barlowe and Siefert that you have the right to be a dick to your own squadmate?"

"Exactly. Squadmate." Tynan gestures toward the obstacle course. "Our times aren't just ranked individually, Ridoc. We're scored as a squad, too, which is how the order for Presentation is decided. Do you really think any dragon wants to bond a cadet who walks in after every other squad in the processional?"

"They're not timing us for Presentation today, asshole." Ridoc takes a step forward.

"Stop." Sawyer forces himself between the two, shoving Tynan's chest hard enough to make him stagger back into Luca who is standing behind him. "Take it from someone who made it through Presentation last year: your time doesn't mean anything. The last cadet to walk in last year bonded just fine, and some of the cadets in the first squad onto the field were passed over."

"Little bitter about that, aren't you?" Tynan smirks.

Sawyer ignores the barb. "Besides, it's not called the Gauntlet because it weeds out cadets."

"It's called the Gauntlet because this is the cliff that guards the Vale," Professor Emetterio says, walking up behind our squad. "Plus, actual gauntlets are slippery as hell, and the name stuck about twenty years ago." He cocks a brow at Tynan and Sawyer. "Are you two done arguing? Because all ten of you have exactly an hour to get to the top before it's another squad's chance to practice, and from what I've seen of your agility on the mat, you're going to need every second.

"Sawyer, you're going to show them how it's done, since you already have the lay of the land. Then Pryor, Trina, Tynan, Rhiannon, Ridoc, Violet, Joan, Aurelie, and Luca." A smile curves the harsh line of his mouth as he finishes calling out every name in our squad, and we file into order. "You're the only squad to remain intact since Parapet. That's incredible. Your Squad Leader must be very proud. Wait here for a second." He walks past us, waving at someone high up on the cliff.

No doubt that someone has a watch.

"Aetos is especially proud of Sorrengail," Tynan says just loud enough that Emetterio can't hear.

But the rest of us can.

"Look, if you want to talk shit about me, that's one thing, but leave Dain out of it," Violet bites out.

"Like it doesn't bother any of you that our Squad Leader is fucking one of us?" Tynan throws out his hands.

"I think you're bothered that he's not fucking you," I sign, and Aurelie and Ridoc both snort into their hands.

Violet grinds her teeth on my right. "It's none of your godsdamned business who I'm sleeping with, Tynan."

"It is if it means you get preferential treatment!" Luca adds in.

"For fuck's sake," Rhiannon mumbles, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Luca, Tynan, shut up. They're not sleeping together. They've been friends since they were kids, or do you not know enough about our own leadership to know his dad is her mom's aide?"

Tynan's eyes widen, like he's actually surprised. "Really?" He swallows thickly at Violet's nod. "Shit. I'm...sorry. Barlowe said—"

"And that's your first mistake," Ridoc interjects. "Listening to that sadistic ass is going to get you killed. And you're lucky Aetos isn't here."

Professor Emetterio walks to the head of our line, cutting off all further conversation. "Here we go! You'll get your time at the top of the course, if you make it, but remember, you'll still have nine practice sessions before we rank you for Presentation in two and a half weeks, which will determine if the dragons find you worthy at Threshing. Any words of wisdom, Sawyer?"

Sawyer blows out a slow breath, his gaze following the treacherous course. "There are ropes every six feet that run from the top of the cliffside to the bottom. So if you start to fall, reach out and grab a rope. It'll cost you thirty seconds, but death costs you more."

"I mean, there's a perfectly good set of steps over there." Ridoc points to the steep staircase carved into the cliff beside the wide switchbacks of the Gauntlet.

"Stairs are for reaching the flight field after Presentation." Emetterio lifts his hands toward the course and flicks his wrist, pointing at various obstacles.

The fifteen-foot log at the start of the uphill climb begins to spin. The pillars on the third ascent shake. The giant wheel at the first switchback starts its counterclockwise rotation, and the posts Aurelie mentioned all twist in opposite directions.

"Every one of the five ascents on this course is designed to mimic the challenges you'll face in battle. From the balance you must keep on the back of your dragon, to the strength you'll need to hold your seat during maneuvers, to"—he gestures upward, toward the last obstacle that looks like a ninety-degree ramp from this angle—"the stamina you'll need to fight on the ground, then still be able to mount your dragon at a moment's notice."

He looks over all of us, at Pryor's slightly green skin, at Aurelie's grin, at Luca's skepticism. His face is just as stern as it is during our usual combat training. "Take your position, Sawyer." Sawyer moves to the beginning of the course. "After he makes it past the final obstacle, so everyone can learn from this cadet completing the course, the rest of you will start every sixty seconds. And...go!"

Sawyer is off like a shot. And gods, does he make it look effortless. He crosses the fifteen foot spinning log in four steps, then gracefully leaps from one granite pillar to the next. The spinning wheel gives him a small hang up, but an encouraging shout from Rhiannon bolsters him up to exit the wheel with perfect timing. He swings from one buoy ball to the next with ease and does the same on the next ascent with the three iron rails. His long legs help him get across the shaking iron pillars, and then he's at the fourth ascent, the log staircase.

Sawyer takes them at a run, then keeps his momentum up the switchback, all the way to the chimney. His height gives him a huge advantage, and he climbs up with unfair ease. Last is the ten foot ramp to the top of the mountain, and he takes off in a run as soon as he's out of the chimney, gets his hands to the top of the ramp, and hauls himself over the edge.

We all clap and cheer for him at the bottom of the course, including Emetterio.

"Perfect! Flawless execution. Do it just like that, and you'll have no issue on Presentation Day."

I look back up the ridgeline and shudder. "If I make it to the top, I'm getting laid."

Ridoc's eyes go from concerned to mischievous as soon as he understands what I signed. "Today? Or on Presentation Day?"

"Either. Both. Every time. I think attempting to climb this thing is dancing with Malek, so every success should be a celebration of life."

He smirks at me. "Can I volunteer?"

I look him up and down and smirk right back. "Sure. But you have to make it to the top, too."

He pats me on the back and winks. "Anything for you, Jo."

Emetterio gives everyone their promised sixty seconds, but all too quickly, it's my turn, and all of my thoughts come racing through my brain a mile a minute.

—don't slow down, bigger steps, watch out these are moving—

Once I get to the spinning wheel, though, it's all too much and I almost fall out of the opening when I try to jump over it. I wait for the right moment, then jump out of the wheel, but I trip, forcing myself into a roll so I don't break my ankle or my face on the gravel path. Before I attempt the buoy balls, I take a deep breath.

If my asshole of a brother could make it up the Gauntlet, then I sure as hell can, too.

That's the only thought running through my head as I cross the buoy balls and iron rails. It suddenly becomes my new mantra, and I repeat it to myself in time with my steps.

Aurelie cheers me on from behind. "Hell yeah, Joan!" She bounces on her toes before she goes for the iron rails and shaking pillars, absolutely beaming.

I watch the log stairs for a second to get a feel for their rhythm, then let my instincts take over and lead me over them. I lose my footing on the last log, but I push myself off and land on the path. My hands get cut up on the gravel, and I'm pretty sure I have dirt in my teeth, but I don't care—I made it across.

I turn around and see Aurelie on the other side of the logs. I give her a thumbs up, and she smiles back at me, then she starts on the staircase. She makes it to the fifth log—two more to go—when a roar sounds overhead. I jerk my gaze up to see the underbelly of a Green Daggertail as it flies directly over us, headed back to the Vale, but it drops when Aurelie cries out. She stumbles, slipping on the fifth post. I watch her eyes go wide with panic as she looks up at me before she careens forward, her belly hitting the next-to-last spinning log as if in slow motion.

I lurch forward, stretching my hand out to her. I vaguely hear someone shout, "The rope!" above us, but all I can focus on is keeping my feet on solid ground so I can grab her. I have to catch her. She can make it if she just grabs my hand.

Our eyes meet, shock and terror filling her black eyes as the post rolls her away from me and she falls to the bottom of the cliff.

She's not moving.

I fall to my knees right before the seventh log, my hand still outstretched. She didn't make it. She's dead.

Aurelie's dead.

—

a/n: rebecca killed her first, okay? reblogs and comments are always appreciated :)

taglist: @bookwormysblog @lagrandeourse @ginandbones @mariahoedt @fairchild06

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Heyyyy I’m back

I went on holiday for a few days and unfortunately did not get as much writing done as I wanted but I did start reading the atlas paradox so I might start writing for that (mainly nico because my god I love that man).

Also if you haven’t seen the posts I’ve recently been rebloging, I saw the f1 movie last night and thought it was utter shit (I am a big f1 fan), it treated women like shit, completely ignores everything people like about racing

As the drivers have said, you are more likely to enjoy this film if you don’t know anything about f1

This letterboxed review sums up how I feel about it:

Anyway I’m back to working on my fourth wings fics today!

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I really hope that f1 is about to find out how much of their audience is/cares about women via the f1 movie. like I hope it flops so bad and has a critic rating to match it. like to charge reblog to cast etc

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Okay in all the drama of yesterday's race I feel like we overlooked the F1 movie teaser and we need to talk about what the hell was going on in that.

So we start with 60yo racer Brad Pitt telling the audience and uh someone else that their car is beat on the straights by "Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston and now Mclaren" (as an Alpine fan I understand the plight) and that their only chance of beating the other teams is to battle in the turns and I quote "we need to build our car for combat" (never underestimate Americans and their ability to turn something into a war analogy)

After that bizzare statement the following exchange occurs:

Yeah fuck safety!! The FIA is actually involved with the making of this film if you're wondering.

From here on there isn't actually anymore dialogue and it's just a bunch of racing and track team shots set to 'We will Rock You'. It was here that it dawned on me that this movie is gonna be super bizzare. Despite all the noise about them filming on track at live race weekends it never occured to me the other drivers and teams would actually feature in it. I'm not even sure what I thought they were going to do but I assumed it would involve a lot of CGI.

But nope turns out this is actually just a strange self-insert film where an 11th team featuring 60yo Brad Pitt and his younger teammate will compete against real F1 drivers? The $300 million budget is starting to make sense - maybe they had to pay the other drivers a salary. I think one glaring problem with this is that it means there won't be other characters in the movie (excluding team members of the fake team) because the other drivers and team members are uh real people? Now that would be fine if it was a biopic like Rush where everyone are actors but here we have 2 actors and 20 real drivers (who are quite literally at work btw) and any interaction between them and the actors is gonna break the immersion of the film so badly.

Sidenote here's one of the Apex cars abusing a Williams - not the kind of behaviour that endears me to either of the fake drivers ngl. Probably should have picked a more disliked team to clown on.

Now I actually went and read an interview with the 2 directors to try and work out what is going on. At one point in this interview, Jerry Bruckheimer says: "It’s the only sport where your teammate is also your competitor, and that’s great drama in itself. Just think about that; you’re fighting with your own teammate for a place on the podium. And everything we use in the movie actually happened in an F1 race. Nobody can say: ‘That would never happen.’ It happened."

So in other words the teammates will fight and it will be based on real life events? Yeah unfortunately I'm getting Perez and Ocon in Force India vibes from that (those 2 shots pretty similar huh).

There was also this in the interview which is... I mean I don't really know what to take from this but it's certainly interesting. As an Ocon fan this quite literally strikes fear into my heart (why was he of all drivers named...) but we'll have to wait and see I guess.

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pierre calling the movie "a hollywood movie", charles saying that it doesnt represent how they live or what its like to be a f1 driver and isack saying the movie is good for ppl who don't know much abt f1/ kids...yea no one has any positive expectations from that movie

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btw

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not kimi giving the F1 movie the most damning review of all time: it was long

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so I was going to be writing for something for riorgail week but the fic ended up being more about Violet's relationship with her family and Tairn than with Xaden

gonna hold off on posting it because it's set in this whole other universe and I want to figure out the finer details before I decide to reveal it to the world

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so this obsession is back

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my entire family has fucked off to somewhere (I genuinely don't know) and won't get back until around 1 am which means I need to make dinner and all that stuff on my own (which I'm completly capable of) but I am so surprised that my parents (my dad especially) have't so much as texted me or left a note about where we keep food and instructions on how to not die

my dad has been very vocal about how he thinks that I can't cook (I fucking can) and that I'm going to die when I go to uni in a few months so part of me thinks that this is some kind of test to see what I do...

jokes on them I'm literally about to go to tesco to get ingredients to make jambalaya plus I need to get petrol so that's just a bonus

(also for reference I'm 18 and have literally just finished school)

oh and my godmother has left a tiny bottle of pinot grigio in the kitchen and I'm not sure if it's for me or not...

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I'VE FINISHED MY EXAMS

I'M DONE WITH SCHOOL (until uni but that doesn't count)

be prepared for fics to be posted a bit more regularly now!

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Wheat in Wartime —

Chapter Four: Guard Down

word count: 2.6k

warnings: implied/referenced child abuse, swearing, violence, sparring, made up dragon lore

a/n: if there's ever an opportunity to talk about how pretty everyone in this series is and/or not make myself write a fight scene, i'm taking it

masterlist | ao3

—

Alliances should be carefully weighed. Friendships should never even be considered. — Major Afendra's Guide to the Riders Quadrant (Unauthorized Edition)

—

A girl from Tail Section asks Aurelie to switch chores with her when she finds out she handles the food supply and deliveries with Sawyer. Not one to dissuade a person from getting laid, Aurelie agrees, and suddenly her mornings free up.

If I knew running could be this fun, I would have invited her to join me back in July.

I feel bad that she has to use extra lung capacity to keep a conversation going while I just have to use my hands, but she's repeatedly told me she likes the extra challenge, so I let it go.

"I like running with you," she admits after a particularly rough morning. "You're more animated when we run. It's probably really nice not being the one at a disadvantage in the conversation for once."

After that confession, I don't shut up. Aurelie is the first person since Cam that I feel I can be myself with. I don't have to meet a ridiculous expectation or standard with her, I just get to be Jo, and she likes me for who I am. Flaws and all.

She opens up, too. I wouldn't describe her as closed off before, but my openness with her emboldens her to do the same, and suddenly, we know everything about each other. Well, of course, not everything.

"You have three brothers, right?" It's almost curfew, but she forgot to grab a book for history and I know the library better than she does. "But you only ever talk about two of them. What about the third?"

I grab the correct book off the shelf and hand it to her, then tuck the loose strands of hair that didn't make it into my braids behind my ears. "He died two years ago."

Xaden Riorson killed him, but that's not really pertinent information.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"I'm not." The words come out before I can think, and then I'm scrambling to explain myself. "My brothers are heartbroken, and so's my dad, but he was an asshole, especially to me. I know I should, but I just can't ever get myself to feel bad for him."

She nudged my shoulder with her own as we walk back to the barracks. "You don't have to feel bad for him." Her black eyes meet mine, and I recognize the glint of humor in them. "I redact my statement. The bastard had it coming."

My shoulders shake with laughter all the way to our bunks.

—

In the classes we share, Liam and I always manage to sit next to each other. Squads stick  together, but since we're both in Fourth Wing, we sit at the edges of our respective squads and no one bats an eye. It's become such a habit over the last few weeks that Aurelie and Liam have become friends, too.

"You did not," she whispers across me in shock at Liam while we wait for Professor Kaori to start class. "You put worms in her bed? That's such a dick move."

"You see why your older brother is the one exception to the 'older brothers suck' rule?" I sign at her, my shoulders shaking with laughter. "You better hope Sloane is in your same squad, or else she'll murder you in your sleep."

He waves the hand holding his whittling knife in dismissal, a smile still on his face. "I'm not worried about it."

Aurelie whispers, "Famous last words," to me just as Kaori steps to the front of the classroom.

He displays the first of multiple green dragons willing to bond this year and gives us a general idea of a Green's temperament. "Green Dragons are known for their keen intellect and rational countenance. This makes them the perfect siege weapon, especially in the case of Clubtails." The image he projects shifts to an emerald Clubtail towering over the cadets from Third Wing. Then it changes once more to a Green Daggertail. "What is the best way to approach a Green Dragon?"

I know this is Aurelie's favorite class—Kaori doesn't write anything down, it's all just pictures, so she retains the information much better than in any of our other classes—and it shows. Her hand shoots up, and Kaori gladly calls on her. "You have to lower your eyes and wait for their approval."

"Correct, Cadet Donans. You should never back down from a Green Dragon. Wait for them to make the first move."

The Green Daggertail switches to a Red Scorpiontail, and at least one cadet in the front row backs up at the new form looming over the class. "Red Scorpiontails, like Ghrian here, are the quickest to temper." Kaori's mustache curves with his lips as he smiles at the projection. "So if you offend him, you're—"

"Lunch," Ridoc says from Aurelie's other side. The room breaks out into laughter. Even Jack Barlowe and Finn Gladdon, who have been staring at me and Violet all of class, crack a smile.

"Precisely," Kaori agrees. "There are three Red Scorpiontails willing to bond this  year." The illusion shifts once again, and a different Red Scorpiontail fills the room. "How does one approach a Red Scorpiontail?"

"Don't," Liam mutters under his breath, and Aurelie and I huff out a laugh.

A girl from Third Wing pipes up from the last row. "They prefer an approach from the left and from the front, if possible."

"Good." He waves his hand to change the projection again, but a voice from Second Wing stops him.

"Professor, is it true there are White Dragons?"

His eyes light up as he nods. I've never seen him look so excited. "Yes, it is true. They are extremely rare, and almost never bond." He waves his hand and a massive dragon—even scaled down to a manageable size—takes over the front of the class. "White Dragons are technically not white at all—they are one of two dragons hatched from the same egg: one pigmented, one not. This dragon here, Cadmus, was a Red Morningstartail. He was the last White Dragon willing to bond in the last two centuries, but has since died after nearly two hundred and fifty years of life."

Two hundred and fifty years? One hundred is about a half life for dragons, but to live on fifty years past the average expectancy, especially a  dragon this large, is completely unheard of.

"Dragons are not forthcoming with their laws, traditions, or way of life, hence why we know almost nothing about Feathertails and White Dragons, but we do know a little from the records kept when a White Dragon has decided to bond. There have been, in our history since the First Six, a total of four White Dragon riders. None of them lived to channel." The entire class bursts into murmurs, but Kaori presses on. "White Dragons have an unprecedented amount of power available to them, making them extremely  dangerous to bond. All four riders opened themselves up to the magic being channeled to them, and all four burned away instantly." The room goes deadly quiet. "Because of the high likelihood of death, White Dragons are very shrewd when it comes to picking a rider. That's why it's the highest honor you can be given if you're chosen by a White Dragon—you are seen as strong enough to survive. The tricky part is  proving them right."

"Are there any White Dragons in the Vale right now?" A First Wing cadet calls out.

"There is one, I believe, hatched in the last fifty years. Like I said, they're extremely rare; I don't think there's ever been more than two at the same time."

Finn sits up straight and smirks at the projection. "I'll be the first to survive channeling from it," he proudly says, his chest puffed out a little more than usual.

I can't help it—I snort out a laugh. His eyes snap to mine, but it's too late. The rest of my squad is already laughing, and the room is slowly  catching on.

"An admirable sentiment," Professor Kaori says to him to try and lessen the blow, but even he's smiling, though he's trying to hold it back. "Unfortunately, the dragon in question has shown no interest in bonding this year." Once the room quiets down, he waves his hand again. "Let's continue."

—

Aurelie, Ridoc, Sawyer, and I have a bet going for how quickly Liam takes out each of his challenges every week. Whoever wins doesn't have to get drink refills at meals until his next fight, and so far, Aurelie is kicking our asses. Ridoc is convinced every week Liam will beat the record for fastest challenge ever at fifteen seconds, so he's never won. Aurelie typically sticks around the minute-thirty mark and is usually spot on. Sawyer and I switch between under a minute or just under two, and it's always satisfying when the under a minute guess is right.

Seeing who Liam's fighting today, though, I claim the under a minute spot immediately. Because Liam is fighting Zane Burdril, and if I could get him pinned in forty five seconds, Liam definitely can.

Hell, he might even beat the fifteen second record.

"Gods, he's beautiful," Ridoc murmurs between me and Sawyer as we watch Liam step onto mat seven, just across from the fight we're supposed to be watching in front of us.

We really should be watching. It's Rhiannon and Oren Seifert, the same guy that vomited all over himself when he fought Violet the first week of challenges, but I know Rhi has this one in the bag.

"I know," I sign back to him. "It's always the pretty ones that are most likely to kill you."

"What does that make me, hmm?"

My hands don't hesitate as I answer. "Lethal."

Ridoc whistles under his breath, the air just passing over my ear and tickling my cheek. "You can't just say things like that to me, Jo, one of these days I'll take you seriously."

I look at him out of the corner of my eye and wink. "Fine by me."

"I'm definitely going to need more lessons, Jo," Sawyer mumbles. "Knowing only half a conversation is the worst."

"We were talking about how pretty Mairi is."

"Oh." Sawyer follows our gaze and nods. "Yeah, I agree."

"I'd question your taste if you didn't." Ridoc translates for me, and Sawyer rolls his eyes, but he's smiling all the same.

All of our heads snap to the mat as Oren pins Rhi. He's straddling her, pushing all of his weight into her legs to keep her from throwing him off, and pressing his forearm into her throat.

"Come on, Rhi!" Sawyer shouts, and it looks like the words make her head clear just enough to grasp the dagger near her hip. She lifts her legs to unseat him, but Oren holds firm.

Just like she knew he would.

She uses the distraction to plunge the dagger into his thigh, then grabs a second dagger from Oren's own sheath, and stabs that one into his calf. As his weight starts to shift, Rhi locks her legs around him and rolls them both over until she's the one on top of him. A third dagger appears in her hand and she holds it to his neck.

"Yield," she snarls. He struggles for a moment, but the fight's gone out in his eyes. He taps the mat twice, and she's off him in seconds. She pulls the two daggers out of his leg—one of her's, one of his—wipes them both on his uniform, and joins us on Sawyer's other side. Winded, but victorious.

I exhale sharply. "She's so fucking cool."

"Lethal," Ridoc agrees. "Definitely lethal."

Emetterio calls the match on mat seven, and Ridoc and Sawyer both groan. Fight time: twenty-eight seconds.

I win.

—

Liam finally has a challenge that's actually challenging, so he's hobbling around the tunnels beneath the college while we grab items to restock the general storage room. Really, I'm the one going from room to room and grabbing the new uniforms and ink pots and notebooks, while Liam tries to keep up with the cart.

I place the two piles of flight leathers on the cart and he looks me up and down. "You're not even winded."

"Runner endurance," I sign with a smirk, then go back to grab the last of the uniforms.

"Is that why you run every morning?" he calls after me as I disappear back into the uniform storage.

I close the door with my foot and pile the last uniforms on the cart, then brush my hair out of my face. "It's one perk, for sure." I walk ahead and unlock the next closet, then meet Liam halfway with the bed linens Infantry requested.

"If we add anything else, I can't push the cart," he begrudgingly admits. His hand brushes over his bruised ribs, as if to massage them, but thinks better of it at the last second.

"I can push the cart."

"I like talking to you more than doing our chores quickly." He waves off my signs and puts both hands back on the handle, then begins pushing back up the tunnel.

I roll my eyes. The key gets stuck in the closet door for a second, so he gets a decent distance away before I finally get the closet locked, but I catch up to him with ease.

For saying he likes talking to me, it takes a couple of minutes in comfortable silence for Liam to say anything else. "Why do you run, then?"

My eyebrows raise. "What?"

"If you're not trying to build your endurance, why do you run? I've seen you in the mornings, I know they're your least favorite time of day—seems to me like you'd rather get an extra hour of sleep than spend your time exercising."

He's not wrong. He's the first person to ever outright ask me why, and I hesitate to tell him, because it makes me vulnerable. And if there's one thing I've learned in the few weeks I've spent in the quadrant, it's to keep your weaknesses close to your chest.

I'm also learning, though, that there are people I can trust outside of my brother. That I can trust them with my fears and they won't use them against me.

Go figure I find them at a college designed to kill me.

"I can't scream." I glance at him out of the corner of my eye. His blue eyes are on me, but he keeps quiet, letting me go on. "I can't yell, or shout, or even raise my voice. The only way I can really express my emotions is by crying, and my tears were always discredited at home, so I run. I have to run to let out my frustration or else I'll start throwing things, and that only leads to punishment." I finally look at him, and where I expect to see pity in his eyes, all I see is understanding, and a weight I didn't know was pressing down on my chest suddenly lifts.

His eyes soften and the corner of his mouth quirks up just enough to reveal his dimple. "I'd pay good money to watch you throw a temper tantrum. I think it'd be very cathartic."

I let out a shaky breath. "For me or for you?"

"Can it be both?"

I roll my eyes and shake my head at him, but I'm smiling, and that seems to be all he was going for. We finish our shift and he doesn't bring it up again, and for that I'm grateful.

The next morning, Liam joins me and Aurelie for our run, bruised ribs and all.

—

a/n: made up dragon lore? it's more likely than you think. reblogs and comments are always appreciated :)

taglist: @bookwormysblog @lagrandeoursee @ginandbones