Whoosh! I dodged as a blade passed within mere inches of my face, the whir heralding its dangerously close passing. I quickly propelled myself into the air, swinging both legs at my opponent in a powerful drop kick. They fell to the ground in a cloud of dust and I leapt on top of them, a dagger in my hand as I covered their throat with the keen blade.

"Enough!" A voice yelled from the sidelines. I stood and offered my hand to my opponent, a dark-skinned girl the same age as me, nineteen. She took it and narrowed her walnut brown eyes, an expression I had become quite familiar with by now. Our trainer, a short, muscle-bound man who was completely bald save a dark topknot, walked into the dueling ring, the stormy glare he gave revealing that he was not pleased.

"Layala, you were... sloppy, to say the least. Rukil, you were a little too slow, but I feel like it's because you weren't actually trying." He spoke with a harsh accent typical of those from southern Rhun, but his tone held a surprising lack of emotion. Layala, my opponent, looked down in shame. I turned back to our trainer, raising a gloved hand defensively.

"She's merely tired, she will do better next time. And she nearly bested me with that swing," I countered, instinctively protective of my training partner. Our trainer looked at me skeptically.

"You always say that Rukil! 'She'll do better next time,' or 'her leg was injured!' Enough excuses! I cannot have weak fighters for the Pit, you know this!" With that he looked at Layala with a slight amount of sympathy, his only concession to any sort of emotion at all, then turned, stalking away to no doubt reprimand other fighters.

Layala and I made our way back to our tent, her shoulders slumped slightly in disappointment. We entered and she dropped her weapons at the entrance, moving to her bed and sitting down on the side of it, staring blankly at the wall of the tent.

I went and sat beside her, saying nothing as I silently wondered what she might be thinking. She wasn't a fighter, and we both knew it. She tried as hard as she could, but in the Pits, trying wouldn't do.

I looked over at her sympathetically.

"Layala, I-"

She cut me off. "No, Rukil! Don't try to make me feel better! Not this time. I know I'm terrible at fighting. And there's nothing I can do to change that. They'll send us both to the Pit in a few weeks, and..." She trailed off, and looked at me with fear in her eyes.

I tried to appear confident as I replied. "Layala, you'll be ready. But we have to practice more, all right? I'll make sure you leave the Pit unscathed."

She smiled uncertainly at me. Her smile always melted me. But it also made it difficult for me to think. I looked at her for a moment, trying to focus and figure out what to say next. But she spoke before I had a chance.

"I know you'll do what you can. But very few leave the Pit alive. You know that as well as I do."

I rested a comforting a hand on her shoulder. "Then let's make sure that we are some of those few."

I stood up and grabbed a bamboo branch that was propped in the corner of the tent, the familiar smoothness of the haft natural in my worn hands. I picked up another and tossed it to Layala. She caught it and laughed, for a moment forgetting her fear. Her laugh made my heart leap, but, as always, I kept it from showing. I grinned roguishly back.

"Let's train, shall we?"

===============================
We trained all day and late into the evening, hours passing like minutes as we danced under the hot desert sun. By the time it disappeared behind the western dunes, we were both drenched in sweat and our heavy breathing was the only sound that broke the silence of the desert that was quickly falling asleep.

"You're improving!" I exclaimed as I rubbed a bruise on my arm. She had only beaten me once, but overall her performance was significantly better than before.

"Oh stop," Layala laughed as she punched me lightly in the shoulder. "You know you weren't giving it your best. You let me win," she raised an eyebrow challengingly.

"No I didn't!" I acted indignant, watching her expression change to a grin.

   "Well you were using a mace, which you yourself said was your worst weapon."

   "Perhaps. But you still won handily." I twirled a bamboo staff in my hand and laughed as I watched Layala scrunch her face up.

"Next time give it your best," she smirked and walked past me.

I shook my head and followed her back to the tent. It was still strange sharing a tent with someone else. I had only left home a month before, and I had lived in a tent of my own there. In fact, it was unusual having a friend of any sort. Most of my life, I had been alone.

It was even stranger to think that I had only known Layala for a month. She had quickly become my best friend, and we spent all of our time together. Not that we had any choice. The two of us had been assigned as each other's partners, and when the time came to fight in the Pit we would fight on a team.

   "More practice tomorrow?" Layala looked over at me curiously.

   "Of course! And the day after that, and the day after that, until you are completely sick and tired of being around me," I chuckled as I set my staff down in the corner of the tent.

"I highly doubt that I would tire of your presence," she assured as she made her way to the entrance. "I need to talk with our trainer, I'll return in a little while. Try not to get into any trouble."

"How could I when you're taking all the trouble with you!" I retorted with a mischevious grin.

Layala snorted and rolled her eyes, turning away and disappearing through the tent flaps.

I let out a tired yawn and leaned back on the pile of furs I used for a bed. After a moment, I lazily reached under the furs, producing an elegant necklace that I had hidden there. It had cost nearly a years' wage, but it was beautiful. The chain was made of silver, and a pendant hung from it that was made of a large sapphire surrounded by two saber cat teeth.

Now just for a good time to give it to her... I thought for a moment. Giving it to Layala during training would be odd, to say the least. I wanted the moment to be special. We rarely had time to do much else, but every once in a while our master would let us go to the nearest town to pick up supplies, and those were the days I cherished most. 

Aha! I thought as the beginnings of a plan sprang into my mind.

No sooner had I decided upon a course of action when Layala returned, an exasperated look on her face. I opened my mouth to speak but she beat me to it.

   "I don't understand why he wants me to fight in the Pit! He himself said I'm the worst fighter he's trained in years!" She seemed on the verge of tears. It was difficult for me to understand how she felt. All my life, I had done nothing but fight. It came naturally to me. But despite this, I wanted to help her feel better in whatever small way I could.

   "Layala, it's alright. I know you never wanted this, but you'll get through it. We'll get through it." I closed the distance between us, lowering my voice in an attempt to reassure her.

   She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. "Why does it have to be this way?"

The innocence I saw there... It was unlike anything I had seen before. She didn't belong here. She had never told me much about her past, but I knew that she hadn't been born into one of the warrior tribes like I was. She had been sold into this way of life. She was too good for this world of suffering and hardship... And I knew that I wasn't. I looked down, unsure of how to answer. "I don't know Layala. I don't know..."

Taking me off guard, Layala put her arms around me and rested her head on my chest, her tears staining my supple leather armor. My heart skipped a beat and I awkwardly put my arms around her, hoping that somehow she would feel a small amount of assurance in my embrace. 

I had never felt the comfort of someone's arms around me. I had been raised to shun this sort of closeness with anyone, for closeness was a nothing more than a liability to a warrior. It was a wholly new experience, and it was one that I didn't mind, despite the circumstances. 

We both stayed motionless for a while, sharing in the companionable silence. After a moment I spoke.

"I won't let anything happen to you. You'll be safe." I whispered the words softly, with much more confidence than I felt.

She pulled away just enough to look up at me. "That is all I need to feel safe."

I smiled reassuringly at her. "Do you want to take a break from training tomorrow? I thought perhaps it'd be nice to go into town. I'll ask Master Dakil if we can in the morning."

Layala's face lit up with a smile, and she carefully wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'd love to."

I let go of her and made my way over to my makeshift bed. "Get some sleep then, you'll need your energy. The nearest town is a ten mile walk from here."

She let out a tired sigh. "That's quite a distance." 

"It'll be worth it, I promise," I assured her, closing my eyes as I stretched out on the furs. 

A moment of silence followed before she spoke again, her voice softer. "Thank you for making me feel safe, Rukil." 

I felt my heart skip a beat at her words. I had never felt this way before, and, though it was foreign to me, I welcomed it. As I drifted into the calming embrace of slumber, I promised to myself then that I would keep her safe... no matter what happened.