The place that they called the "Arena" was dark and dingy, and it looked like an old run down hole-in-the-wall. They said that it was a decent place, though, where people went to test their fighting skills, but I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to do that.

They sort of dropped me off at the doorway and walked up to the person behind the desk. He smiled and they started talking, but I couldn't really hear any of it, thanks to the music playing over the speakers.

There was a child selling ice cream off to the side, and I thought about buying some, until I remembered that I didn't even have any money on me and I wasn't going to ask for any.

I was going to prove my worth and pull my weight no matter what.

"Hey, Leanne, come over here."

I looked and saw Zephyr wave me over.

Stepping closer to the desk, I heard Vashyron mention something about a new recruit and training. He motioned to me and the guy behind the desk nodded.

"You'll want him over there," he said, pointing behind him. Another man stood behind a different desk.

I didn't follow him when he walked over. Instead, I stayed where I was.

They talked for a few moments before the gate in the back opened. Zephyr walked past me and glanced over his shoulder, like he was waiting for me to follow. I took a deep breath and hurried after him.

The open gateway led into a circular platform. It looked dirty and boring with nothing but a stone floor to look at.

In the center of the area, there were two normal looking targets and a giant clown shaped one. At least, it looked like it was a target too.

I yelped and took a step back when the clown bobbed up and down. "Wh-what is that?"

"Your opponent," Vashyron said.

He reached for his gun holster and pulled out a small handgun. He tried to give it to me but I leaned away from it.

"But I don't want that," I said.

"Take it. You'll need it," he said.

"I've never even seen one used before."

He shrugged, aimed at the one of the targets, and fired once.

"That's all there is to it," he said. "Just make sure you aim so you're not taking out one of us. But just give it a try; you'll do fine."

I stared at it. I didn't want to give it a try.

"This is the best you're going to get," Vashyron said. "Come on. It's small and lightweight. You should be fine with it."

I held out my hand and he set it down in my palm. I closed my fingers around it and turned it over.

"Er, you'll want to use both hands," Zephyr said.

He was sitting on the little fence that surrounded the entire arena, watching us.

"Oh, okay," I said.

I held it with both hands and lifted it up to aim at one of the targets.

"There you go. Now, just pull the trigger," Vashyron said.

"Yeah, I know," I said.

I thought it would be easy to do, just pull the little lever at the bottom, but somehow, I couldn't make myself do it. I'd never shot anything in my life, and I'd never even held a gun before. I was a little scared to actually fire at something.

Zephyr rolled his eyes. "We're going to be here all day."

"Let her take her time. It's not as easy as it looks," Vashyron said.

Never had I thought it even looked easy. Everything about gunfire looked difficult and scary.

I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. "Ok, I'm…I'm gonna do it."

My fingers wrapped around the trigger again and I finally pulled it. The sound of the gun going off startled me so much that I almost dropped it. I looked up to see how I did, how well I fired the gun for the first time.

I didn't hit a single thing.

"Try opening your eyes next time," Zephyr said.

I glared over at him. "I know that."

He shrugged and looked away.

"Don't worry about it," Vashyron said. "No one's perfect on the first try."

When Zephyr had said that we would be at the Arena all day, I had thought he was just being smart mouthed, but what he said was really the truth.

They—or Vashyron, at least—had me there for hours, and I wasn't just firing single bullets. They had me running, sliding, jumping, and spinning while shooting. I missed almost every single time, but I was happy that I could at least do what they asked.

Vashyron said that a steady aim took time, and you had to develop the skill of "running and gunning," as he put it.

"You do realize we've been looking at the exact same targets this whole time, right?" Zephyr said.

"I'm trying," I said, looking at the ground.

"Like I said, it'll come with time. Sooner or later, you won't need target practice," Vashyron said. "But that'll probably be later rather than sooner."

He waved a hand as he started to walk away.

I sighed. I'd show them. I'd have to show them.

Tightening my grip, I spun around and fired at the same time. The bullet hit the target and it fell backwards to the ground.

I just stood there for a moment, staring at it. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe I'd actually hit it.

"Well, I gotta say, I'm impressed," Vashyron said.

"Did you see that?" I cried. "I actually got it!"

"Yeah, and it only took you all day," Zephyr said.

"But I got it," I said.

"Hey, maybe you'll be moving up to the big guns sooner than we thought," Vashyron said.

"Oh, you mean like the…um…"

They both turned to look at me, and I couldn't even remember what they were called. I knew what they were. They were bigger, and they fired bullets a lot faster.

I made a gesture with my hands, holding them up with a foot long space between them.

"The kind Zephyr uses," I said.

Vashyron chuckled. "The machine guns? Oh, no, no, no. Those are a little bit itoo/i big for you." He started walking back for the doorway, and I assumed he meant that we were done for the day.

"Maybe someday?" I said, following him.

"Well, maybe."

"Fat chance," Zephyr said.

"You're just afraid I'll be better at it than you."

"No, I just don't want you shooting something you're not supposed to."

"Like what?"

"Like us."

"As if I'd ever do that."

"You never know. You might just be having a bad day on the day we decide to let you give them a try," he said. "And then, it'd be shame on us."

I turned and elbowed him the side. I meant for it to be jokingly and a little bit softer than it really was, and I heard the crack of elbow against ribcage. Zephyr hunched over for a second, clutching his side. He glared at me and kept walking.

"Oops, sorry," I said.

He didn't say anything and it made feel a little bad about it.

When we walked back into the lobby, the guy behind the desk waved at us.

"So, you teach her everything you know?" he asked.

"Not quite. We'll get started on the real targets tomorrow, and dive into the real fun," Vashyron said.

"Real targets?" I asked.

"Yeah, the living kind. We'll start you off with the easy ones, like the dogs and gremlins."

"You're going to make me shoot dogs?" I said.

"Don't worry too much. They've gone rogue, anyway."