The Accident

It was shortly after I had started living at the village; I was around nine years old and started training for the knights. At the time I was against fighting others even when provoked I couldn't draw my blades to harm someone, instead Zero would come to my rescue, but then something snapped.

I remember everything so vividly.

The instructor had everyone into groups, close combat and range. He would train one group one day and the other group the next day, rotating between us.

I was in the close combat group with Zero and a few other kids.

There was a student in my group he kept looking and making comments about me because I used two swords instead of one. He got a lot of the other kids to join in even ones from the other group and those that weren't training. His name was Jacob, he was ruthless and selfish.

I told my aunt but she said to ignore him so I did, but then one day when we had to break into pairs Jacob got in an argument with Zero who wanted to partner up with me. He got to the point that he threatened Zero, he eventually agreed.

"Let's see how well you handle yourself with those swords." A whistle blew and he ran right for me, I put my swords up to block him. I could tell it made him mad because he wasn't even listening to the instructor, he kept trying to land hits on me.

He managed to put a few scratches on me before Zero came to my rescue; he pushed Jacob to the ground then came to me and wrapped me in a hug protecting me.

"If you land another hit on her or even think about touching her I will fight you, not her, me." Zero hugged me tightly while watching him.

A couple weeks had gone by and Jacob hadn't been at practices. Neither was Zero, turned out he and Jacob had to miss practice, they weren't allowed near the training grounds. Zero had pleaded with our instructor to not give me any punishment since I didn't fight back and he agreed.

Of course that just made Jacob angrier and made Zero more protective of me. If they weren't friendly towards me Zero wouldn't let anyone near me.

I appreciated it at the time, but things were about to turn for the worst.

A year later we were about to finish our basic training and we were to break off into pairs and fight each other. Our instructor had very strict rules because of what happened a year prior, Zero and I were to go against each other and Jacob couldn't be near us during our match.

Shortly after all of the matches I noticed he had been staring at me. When the instructor gave our results I ranked in the top five with Jacob below me. Zero was slow when it came to combat so he was in the lower ranks.

Knowing he was below me Jacob was not happy; he started provoking me and spreading rumors. Eventually his friends stopped harassing me and tried to stop him from doing it as well.

Throughout advanced training it just got worse, our new instructor knew about the incident but didn't seem to care enough to stop him. He'd pair up with me and strike me; there were times I'd be in the medical building for days because of how deep he'd cut me.

I had to tell Zero to not do anything; if he were to do anything it would just make things worse for me.

My aunt and Zeros mother insisted I try talking to him to find out why he's been harassing me for the past year, but every time I'd try to he'd attack me.

We had a test one day, it determined whether we'd move to the next phase of our advanced training or if we needed more practice. Whoever passed the test would start training with the rangers; whoever failed would focus more on close combat.

The day of the test Jacob came up to me and said. "If you pass and get a higher rank than me I promise I will kill you. No matter who stands in my way."

Lucky for me I didn't have to go against him during the test

Or at least that's what I thought

The final part of the test was a fight, two against two.

It was my partner and I against him and one of his friends, one of the few that had harassed me as well.

During the fight the two didn't pay my partner any attention and went after me. My partner used that to their advantage, while I was on the defense my partner worked on backing me up.

They were ranked next to Zero when it came to combat, but strategy wise I could tell they were very smart. They managed to get behind Jacobs friend and hit the back of his knee cap to make him fall to the ground and he was out the rest of the fight. Now it was one against two. With my partners' strategic mind and my combat skills we were easily capable of winning the fight.

A couple hours had passed and the test results were out. The instructor went over the test and how everything had been totaled up to determine who would pass and who wouldn't.

The test consisted of six parts: power, speed, balance, flexibility, endurance, and a fight. We all had to do certain things for each of those, for instance we had to run around the training ground in a certain amount of time, endurance we had to keep moving whether it was running, striking a dummy, or doing jumping jacks or push-ups we had to keep moving for as long as we could. The fight consisted of all of those and was the main factor in determining if we passed or failed.

After the instructor explained the test he gave the results. I was ranked number six and passed, Zero was number seven, and Jacob was number eight. Even though he passed I could tell he wasn't happy that I ranked above him in the test.

While I talked to Zero and a couple of other kids about the test he approached me and in front of everyone said. "Two hours, meet me at the park so everyone can watch me kill you." Those around me were surprised that he would be so straight forward except Zero and I we were used to how he was.

After the test I went home to my aunt and told her everything that happened she urged me to stay home, but I couldn't. He was so ruthless I knew that if I didn't show up things would just become worse.

While my aunt was busy cleaning I snuck out of the house and went to the park, there I noticed people were huddled together talking amongst themselves. Zero must've seen me because he ran to me with a worried expression.

"You're not really going to go through with this are you?"

"I have no choice, he'll just keep harassing me if I don't do something. There's too many people I don't think he's going to actually kill me."

Zero nodded in agreement and handed me his sword. "I noticed you didn't bring yours so you can use mine."

I took his sword and walked past all the people, there were adults and children younger than us, and some of the elderly were there as well. I managed to walk past everyone and saw that Jacob was waiting for me.

"So you came, I was worried you wouldn't show up."

I stood there waiting for him to make some sort of move but he didn't.

"Zero going to step in for you like he usually does? Can't fight your own battles but you're training to be a knight. You know you have a sad life I almost feel bad for you. You're grandmother got murdered and now you are going to be killed too, but on the bright side you can join her in hell-"

That's it.

That's when I stopped listening to him.

That's when I snapped.

He was running straight at me with his sword pointing at me.

I didn't even know that I did what I did.

It's like I blacked out.

All I could hear were people around me screaming while others were crying.

Zero grabbed me by the shoulders and snapped me back to reality a horrid expression on his face.

That's when I realized what had happened.

That's when I realized…I stabbed Jacob.

The sword had gone straight through his heart and through him.