Hey guys! I need reviews! I might've been clutching my knees shivering in a corner until I realized some people if it's just an update soon!

Thanks to our beta, who still edits this, even though she had a weekend of games.

STEPHEN

LET THE GAMES BEGIN! Drillmaster Hawken devised tournaments for us to duel in. It was divided into three teams groups that were first year, second year, and third year. We used our drill swords dipped in paint to show hits. He had said, "It's a nifty trick I learned from a friend who watched the Toscan legions train. If you get hit, you lose your match."

Our compulsory weapons for the fight were our hickory drill swords, and shields. Everything else, like our armor was our choice. I chose to wear my stiff leather boots, some wool trousers, hardened leather chest armor, and some arm thingies called "bow bracers."

My first match was against, what do you know, Harold. We drew our swords, and waited for the elated, "BEGIN," from Drillmaster Hawken.

He yells it, then we shuffled forward. My sword rose slightly, then as my foe raised his shield to block an overhead cut, I lunged at him. He parried it with his sword.

"Good, good!" Hawken sounded like he was having the time of his life, watching the fight.

Harold then shuffled backwards, and I ran at him, then tried a side opponent stepped to the side and stuck out his foot. I fell, and as Harold sliced his sword at me, with two hands gripping the handle after dropping his shield, I rolled over, and kicked his shin.

The bully drops over and clutches his shin, and I take that opportunity to get up. I swung my sword at my opponent. He was able to dodge it but ended up dropping his sword as he did it.

I bashed my shield against the top of his head, and he crumpled to the ground. I look over him, a shadow passing over his head then I looked over to the crowd standing by. I raised my sword, and listened as they started to chant.

"Do it! Do it! Do it!"

I accepted the crowd's call, and sliced downward, brutally smacking the boy.

"And Stephen wins!"

Hawken was still excited. The crowd, loving every moment of it, screamed my name again and again as I walked calmly into the waiting area for the next match.

The progression of the people I knew was as follows:

Henry vs Some Guy, Henry wins.

Arthur vs Shortie, Arthur wins.

Sir Karel's son, Paul, vs Tall guy, Paul wins.

The next match was Henry against me. He looked rather panicked.

Of course, he would be panicked. Anyone would be, against me. I just raised my sword and he already flinched, and dropped his. He ran around the arena, screaming, until I caught up with him, and poked him. It took just a minute more to secure that victory.

The match after mine though, was really brutal. It was Arthur versus Paul. It started off rather evenly. Both Paul and Arthur were hacking at each other, and both were blocking every hack of the sword. It all changed though, when Arthur kicked Paul's changed everything.

The Battlemaster's son doubled over, shield over head in an automatic reaction. Arthur wasn't expecting this, so he put all his force into the stroke, and was dazed by the jarring crash of sword and shield. Paul, following up on that, walked slowly forward, until Arthur looked back.

It was seemingly over. Arthur tossed away his shield. Paul looked stunned. He stalked over towards Arthur, and gave a fierce side cut, but that's when, of course, the unexpected happened. Arthur stepped backwards, and Paul was sent reeling after meeting no resistance. As his foe was recovering, Arthur stabbed him, and it was all over after that.

"Arthur wins!" Hawken said, not changing in excitement or volume but the crowd was somewhat quieter than I remembered. One person yelled a halfhearted, "Yay Arthur!"

The next few matches were a daze. Both Arthur and me won all of our respective duels.

It didn't take too long for us to reach the championship round, and in about an hour, we would fight.

It was when I was getting ready for my fight did Paul confront me.

"The guy fights dirty. Play it safe," He warned.

I shrugged in reply. "I've been watching him for seven matches. Of course I know he plays dirty."

"That's good to know." Paul said then he walked away. I put on my last piece of gear (Hey, that stuff was uncomfortable. You'd take it off sooner or later too.) and prepared for battle.

"Begin!" How can the man STILL not be out of breath? I waited for Arthur's next move, and he stepped forward. I moved to meet him, and he clanged his sword against my shield.

"Engarde!" Arthur yelled.

"Shut up," I snapped in reply then tried a backhand cut. It was barely blocked by his shield. I then kicked his shin, and as he doubled over, I hit him with my shield.

Consequently,he crumpled to the ground and I cut him on the head with my sword.

"Stephen wins! Again, Hawken didn't seem to be dropping in volume anytime soon. Arthur had gotten up to his feet, but now hung his head in shame. I raised my sword, and the crowd roared.

The next hour was filled with congratulations. After that, there was a banquet until it was almost sunset.

Paul patted me on the back. "I knew you had it in you." He exclaimed proudly.

As I reached my quarters, I then realize Paul slept on the bunk above me. How had I not noticed that, I thought.

A rough voice eventually rang out,interrupting my musings.

"BANDITS! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!"

The entire battleschool snapped up. Jogging single file to the armory, we arrived there shortly after the second years. Sir Karel and Drillmaster Hawken were handing out swords, while Drillmasters Julius and Alexander were distributing shields.

Karel pulled me to the side.

Afraid, I asked, "What did I do?" He shook his head, and presented a scabbard. He unsheathed the sword inside, that had gold inlaid in it, and an emblem on the pommel. It was a pair of crossed swords. He explained, "This is yours. You won it in the tournament."

He turned around, searched a bit, and found a shield, with the same emblem.

The Battlemaster came up to me. "Go get your armor, and form up with the rest of your year group.

Shortly after I arrived to the stables, the rest showed up. We mounted some horses that were lent to us then charged into battle.

The battle was brutal. I killed at least five men. After killing the last one I had that day, I saw another man charge at me.

It was only when he was nearer that I noticed that he looked eerily familiar.

I searched through my memories, and it clicked. He was my father.

DUN DUN DUN! Will Arald try to recruit Stephen? Would Stephen accept? Who is Hawken, and his friend who has been to Toscana? What happens next?

And why did I sneak a Hunger Games reference in there?

BETA NOTES

Notes:Great chapter so far! That was a good cliffhanger! I made sure to keep the consistency between present and past tense. Keep an eye on that. I changed some words since thay didn't sound natural. Also a few dialogue and grammatical error. Good chappie though!