the gauntlet discussion

Artemis had never been the type to wake up bright and early. If anything her name was basically a prophecy that she was meant to be a night owl but it seemed that the only time she would have some peace and quiet was if she got up in the mornings. Her first choice to train had been the Gym but all the morning people had already been in there and it was too crowded for her tastes. Luckily enough, the armory had been empty when she walked in. Good. Especially when those with no training where taking up space everywhere, it was rather annoying. She didn't need someone who didn't know how to handle a weapon to be coming in here and accidentally shooting her with the crossbow. She felt another dose of the never ending guilt at the thought. Matthew probably had no idea what he was getting himself into. She wondered if he felt lost or confused or if he was determined and confident when he came to Ainsley. Did he almost take someone's eye out in the armory? Her eyes closed briefly at the onslaught of thoughts surrounding Matt. No matter what she did or where she went, somehow her thoughts always circled back to him and it would lead to another hit of guilt or sadness, sometimes both. It was a never ending cycle these days.

Frustrated with herself, Artemis grabbed the first weapon she saw on the wall; a set of throwing knives. Her weapon of choice tended to be a spear but with nothing to stab through about a hundred times, she thought the knives would do a little nicer. She flipped a knife in her hand, grabbing it by the handle, and through one and then two, three, four, five, and six. And then she would do it all over again, it was almost frustrating how easy it seemed. She had all of this emotion bottled up inside of her and this wasn't getting rid of it. It was why she had wanted to go to the gym to beat the shit out of some punching bag or perhaps find an opponent. God damn it, god damn it, god damn it!

Juliet was a rare breed of human being- the morning person. The kind of person who liked to wake up and watch the sunrise and preferred to sleep nearly as soon as it was dark out. That's the way that life was mean to be lived, at least in her mind, so she'd already done quite a bit this morning. She'd woken up, she'd gone for a short run around the campus, gotten breakfast, gotten in some revenge glares, and now she was heading to the armory to practice a little with some real weapons. Since she couldn't exactly go fight it out at the gyms with her still recovering head wound. Honestly she couldn't believe the nerve of that Raemer boy. She wasn't sure which one. But she figured it didn't really matter, because could anyone really tell them apart? And neither had apologized to her either.

Rude.

But no sooner had she entered the armory than her eyes were zeroing in the back of a certain blonde's head. Artemis. AKA that 'too good for your poor brother so he should go to Ainsley and win the Gauntlet and then maybe I'll acknowledge his existence' Bitch. Of course, it probably wasn't the best idea to get into a fight with a girl who had a bunch of knives on her person. But who said Juliet was a girl of brilliant ideas? Scowling, Juliet walked over to the wall, picking up a bow and a bag of arrows. Might be fun to try her hand at this. And alternate between imagining Micah, Mitch, and Artemis on the target.

Of course, when she walked past that perky blonde she may have knocked the quiver into her a little, causing that last knife to go way off base. "Oops. Guess I didn't realize you were there." After all, what the hell was she doing here? She already had that rich family life. Why did she have to be here? She didn't need to win the Gauntlet.

In all honestly, Artemis was still trying to figure out why she was here in the first place. She was here for Matthew, but did that mean trying to win or trying to fail? The first competition she had leaned more towards failing which why she intentionally gotten herself disqualified. Her time had been high as she had been jogging more for afternoon lunch rather than a race. She might not be the fastest but she would have easily landed in the top fifteen had she been trying. Not that it mattered. She was a Lennox, just another family who always had a winner, meaning they would always be watched. She kind of regretted getting herself disqualified when she realized that the extra training would have kept her distracted. Really, she should have thought it through.

Pushing a few pieces of blonde hair that got loose from her ponytail, behind her ear, Artemis looked around the armory once more as if someone would magically want to fight her. Whatever. She collected the knives once more and had thrown four of them when she heard the door to the armory open. Whomever it was seemed to be keeping to themselves, good. There goes five. And she spoke too soon. In the last few seconds before she through knife number six, something pushed into her side momentarily, jostling her hand and costing her aim. She scowled, turning to face whomever had just walked past her, when she saw who it was. Great, the one person she would have second thoughts about bitching out. All because she was related to a boy who would not leave her alone.

The second Juliet opened her mouth and that mocking voice came out, Artemis had no qualms about being a bitch. She shouldn't, this was the sister Matt used to talk about so much, but she had been itching for a fight and if nothing, Miss "I-know-everything-about-my-brother-and-I-hate-your-guts" would provide some badly needed entertainment. "No worries. That Raemer boy must have hit you pretty hard last night. Have you gotten checked out? You should probably be looked at first before handling a weapon that you weren't trained to use." She replied her voice sickeningly sweet. If Juliet Donovan was above riches and wealth, why was she here in the first place?

As if she actually cared. As if little Miss Perfect Lennox actually gave a damn about anyone other than herself and her perfect family legacy. "Oh don't worry about me, Lennox. I'm fine." Where Artemis' words were sickeningly sweet, Juliet's were harsh and ground out through clenched teeth. Ha. She cared about training now did she? She cared about a Donovan now, did she? Now that someone had died for her grossly perfectly curled blonde hair and that stupid pout her lips naturally had. Now that someone had literally given their life for her she was all interested in being caring and sweet?

Oh gag me.

Juliet wasn't buying even a whiff of what Artemis Lennox was trying to sell. "At least the only reason why I did poorly was due to injury. Unlike you...who just sucked I guess?" Hmmm, guess that Lennox name wasn't all it was cracked up to be. That or little miss princess didn't want to break a nail on her 'destined to be a trophy wife' toes that night. She couldn't believe that she'd gotten stuck doing punishments for a week with Artemis. Or even roomed with her. The small brunette was still walking away though, putting as much distance between her and the blonde as possible. Maybe she could shoot an arrow in Artemis and say it was an accident. Just enough to send the pampered princess running home and as far away from her as possible.

If looks could kill, Artemis would have been dead five times over. "Oh don't worry your poor little head over me, I'm not worried about you. I'm worried about me. I don't need inexperienced hands handling a bow and arrow that would leave the arrow embedded into my arm. Accidentally, of course." Yeah, right. She had never actually seen the other girl, there was always a scowl on her face whenever they were within distance of each other and this goes back to even before Matt died. She really was a pretty girl, she should honestly try smiling more. As she yanked the knives out the wall again, she imagined Juliet would have a smile in her face if she did put an arrow into her.

"Such aggression. I didn't know that you were that worried about me that you're checking up on me. Really, you have my thanks," Artemis flashed her a full teeth smile that was all malice and no sincerity. "But really, as I said, you should focus more on yourself. After all, the Raemer boys are six feet tall, and they aren't exactly the quietest of the bunch. Hard to believe that anyone, especially someone of your caliber, would have missed one coming right at you. It's a shame really." The blonde had grown tired of the knives and had put them back on the wall. Her hands skimmed the different spears set up, before taking one of the wall, the familiar weight in here ands was welcomed. Especially now that there was something, or rather someone, that she could poke just about a hundred times.

Poke, jab, stab, same difference.

Poor. Yeah, Juliet hadn't missed how Artemis chose that word to describe her; probably the same word she regarded Matt with. Worried about me. Of course, because why would Artemis ever think of anyone else but herself. Rolling her eyes, Juliet turned her attention back to the target in front of her, trying to focus on that instead of the stupid blonde that she hated more than anyone else in the entire world. And man alive wasn't Artemis arrogant? Acting like public record was Juliet expressing deep interest in the girl. Meanwhile here she was spouting about the Raemer boys. Even the Raemer twins didn't seem to recall barreling Juliet into a wall but somehow Artemis knew of it?

"Stalk much?" Notching an arrow against the string, Juliet narrowed her gaze at the target, closing one eye before letting the arrow fly- and missing the target by about three feet. That's fine. She had more than enough arrows to practice with, and she notched another arrow, doing her best to try and forget about the spoiled brat in the room. Maybe if she pretended that Artemis didn't exist long enough....then Artemis really wouldn't exist. Then she could just wish her into non-existence. If she really really tried. But she couldn't shake it off and she released another arrow without any thought before turning to Artemis with a scowl.

"The hell does that even mean? Someone of my caliber?" Like what...because she was a freaking brunette she should have seen the rhino beast Raemer boy?

Regardless of not knowing her, Juliet probably thought Artemis was a snobby bitch. Within good reason and she wasn't exactly wrong either but she did not appreciate her attitude. The blonde was used to be the one usually giving the attitude, not receiving it. But obviously, Ms. Little Donovan here wasn't going to follow the normal order of things in her life. No, she was going to do everything in her power to spite her. All because she has some notion that she knew every bit of what happened between Matt and herself. She understood it, really she did and had she been a better person, she would have taken the aggression and insults in silence. As it turns out, she wasn't a better person.

"Oh, honey," Artemis laughed, "The entire academy knows about your little accident. Out of everyone here, only two weren't able to complete the race because of an injury." Really, because of the nature of her relationship with Matt, she hadn't known Juliet at all. Perhaps had things been different she would have gotten to know the girl and would have been on better terms with her. Or she would have always hated her for brushing off Matthew in the beginning for being poor because the reality of the matter was that she was a snobby bitch. If the Donovans had been in the same class as the Lennox's, she would have been interested in Matt from the beginning. She would have been able to be with him in public and he wouldn't have had gotten it into his head that he needed to run the Gauntlet being as unready for it as he was.

Artemis wasn't entirely sure if Juliet was playing stupid. Angry she may be, but she hadn't done anything to prove herself a great actor. "Caliber, someone of your... ability," she drawled out.

Oh Honey? Juliet found herself rolling her eyes again at Artemis' claims- she doubted the entire academy knew that she was on the ends with the Raemer boys. "I know that you don't have anything better to do with your life other than stalking me and all the glamorous exports of my life, like boys literally mowing me down because I'm so irresistible," Another eye roll. Hmm maybe Juliet should be careful, because if she kept rolling her eyes like this then she was probably going to have some sort of serious medical condition. Could your eyes get stuck rolled into the back of your skull? Cause that should have been a warning that came with spending too much time with Artemis. Caution: Prolonged exposure can cause multiple eye rolls leading to....etc.

"I mean, at least I was up there with the Raemer boys before my injury. Uh where were you Artemis? Too busy staring at Will's ass? Or maybe you were just afraid to break a nail." Yeah that last part wasn't a question. More of a dig at the spoiled Lennox brat. Sighing she turned away from Artemis, notching another arrow, and starting to take aim. "And once again you are being insanely stupid. You should have stayed home and kept practicing to be a housewife to some Guardian one day. Because saying someone of my abilities should've seen a boy running fullspeed into me? Not really an insult, Housewife. Now telling you that you're an attention seeking bitch, that's an insult." She let loose another arrow, this time barely missing the target and smiling a little to herself.

With practice maybe she could actually be good with this bow and arrow thing.

She turned her attention back to Artemis though, as if surprised to see the blonde was still there. "Oh. I'm sorry...did you think that maybe if you tried really hard you could make me not hate you? Because that's not going to happen. You strung my brother along, encouraged his ridiculous idea to come here, and then when he died you started parading around that stupid necklace like you lost someone who was really important to you. Well you didn't. Cause the only relationship you've ever had is the one with your own reflection," Definitely not the best idea to start shit in a room of weapons. But go ahead, Juliet was practically daring Artemis to try something. To give her an excuse to unleash all the anger and rage boiling under her skin.

"What can I say? Will does have a fine ass," Artemis shrugged. Bullshit aside, that ass was fine and she had a great view during the race. "I just figured that with all that training you've had, you would have noticed him coming right at you." After all, only an idiot or someone who wasn't trained enough wouldn't be aware of their surroundings, especially in a place like the academy. For all that anger, Juliet was not subtle. She was more like a little dog, one that you would see coming from a mile away. There was snaked here, snakes that you wouldn't see coming until they had landed a blow. Some of the more intense people here were more than willing to knock out the competition in the academy and making sure some threats never see the starting line of the Gauntlet.

"But that nice sight of Will's ass for two hours was just an added bonus. As always, you're right and thankfully, my fingernails are perfectly fine. It has been a while since I've gotten a manicure, those hand massages are just to die for." Really, an attention seeking bitch? She had been called way worse, some of them had been deserved, some hadn't. "I'm the attention seeking bitch? Last time I checked I've been doing my job as a housewife correct. I've been looking pretty, because that's what I trained my whole life to do. To find a husband who's family is as rich and has as much glory as mine does." Behind the sarcasm, hid the bitterness of her words. She couldn't care less about being called a bitch or a housewife but the truth of the matter was that she was expected to be with someone who "wouldn't tarnish the family name."

"Oh. I'm sorry, did you think I cared if you hate me? I thought you'd established that I was self centered by now. No? My bad," Artemis smiled at her but that smile turned frosty the second she spoke about Matt and the necklace. Big mistake, "I bet that must kill you. That some spoiled, attention seeking, housewife had your brother around her little finger. That your brother wanted to run the Gauntlet for me because your family wasn't good enough for him. How much did you beg him to stay? Did it hurt when he ignored your pleas?" She laughed, the sound was as empty as she was feeling but Juliet had pushed her when she a already been teetering on the edge. "Strung him along? I made my feelings quite clear to Matthew. I told him I nothing to do with him. It's not my fault that he wanted to be the husband to my housewife."

Juliet and everyone else will never know what she had lost, but she would always remember and she had been a fuze waiting to explode. "Or maybe I did string him along. Maybe I spent a night with him, maybe I promised him I would be with him. Do you ever think of why he would ignore what you wanted for me? Maybe you didn't know him as well as you thought." Artemis flipped the spear in her hand and readied it, pointing the head of the spear at Juliet. "Come on little Donovan, don't tell me you're afraid of a housewife."

God Artemis was such a bitch. All the training you've had, well sorry little miss Lennox that not everyone could afford the best tutors and private trainers in the world like your mommy and daddy could get for you. But here Lennox was, all 'wow Juliet maybe you should have realized with all that training' when she knew damn well that Juliet's family couldn't have afforded any trainers even if they had been encouraging about Juliet's decision to run the Gauntlet and apply to the academy. And now she was sitting there sarcastically going on with that fake voice of hers about how Juliet was always right and how she adored hand massages? What had Matt ever seen in this girl?

She was the most awful human being on the whole planet.

For a moment Juliet actually thought about letting go of this whole thing and just leaving the armory, avoiding Artemis as much as she possibly could and just going on with her life. At least until Artemis started talking about Matt. And then it was like the whole world kind of went red and this pounding just started up in Juliet's head with every word that Artemis spoke. Seriously? Seriously? She was going to stand there and laugh about how Matt had ran off to his death because he thought it might give him a chance with the girl of his dreams?

Her hands clenched, one tightening around the bow and the other curling into a tight fist as she lost what little control over her temper she had. "Oh I'm sorry, cause you have so much expertise when it comes to my brother?" Who knew someone could be so damn insensitive. If only Juliet had had more training with the stupid bow in her hands, she could've put an arrow in Artemis before the bitch could even think to use the spear against her. But no, she was standing there with a weapon she had no experience with, facing down against a girl who'd been trained by the best fighters and tutors money could buy.

The only good thing was that she had some distance between them and Artemis didn't look like she had the strength to lob a spear at her. It was such a shame that Juliet didn't just think more clearly, instead she notched an arrow, wasting no time before letting it loose. And while Artemis was stepping to the side to avoid an arrow that probably wouldn't have hit her anyway, Juliet had tossed the bow aside and grabbed the most spear like thing on the wall behind her - a trident. Who the fuck fought with a trident? The weight distribution was more awkward than what she was used to, but she was sure she'd have no problem figuring it out. "Bring it on, Lennox."

Yeah, there was no way she was going to miss the chance to mess up pretty little housewife's face. "Let's see how easily you can find a husband with a broken nose."

Alive or not, Artemis knew that this was not what Matthew would have wanted. He would not have wanted her to fight with his sister. He used to call them his two favorite girls and talk about how he couldn't wait for them to meet. He had always been a dreamer, you could tell from the moment you met him, just by looking into his eyes. It was funny, they're eyes had both been blue, but there was always an innocence within Matt's that she had loved. She would have rather never seen those same blue eyes another day, then see them filled with hatred and anger at her. Juliet held the same eyes as Matt, and she hated it. Her eyes were similar to her own, full of hard reality that life wasn't fair. She hated her for having those eyes, for making her wake up to them and seeing them right before she falls asleep.

It wasn't just the eyes. No, Artemis hated everything about Juliet. Being around her made her hurt so much more. Every second around her was painful, and she was tired of it. Why did she decide to run the Gauntlet the same year she had? What did she have to prove? Wasn't she happy with what she had? Matt had been happy. But he did it for her. This is what she meant. All this guilt was worse whenever Juliet Donovan was around. It was just her fucking luck that they both applied for Ainsley the same year and even worse that they had to room together. The second she saw that name she knew it was bound to be a shitty few months. They've just started and it's already a disaster.

"What's wrong? Did I hurt a nerve?" She smirked at her. "I bet that haunts you, doesn't it? To be in the dark about what went on between Matthew and I. Do you think about it often?" Artemis knew she had pushed far enough when an arrow was throw sloppily at her and she sidestepped. Please, she would have had better luck hitting her if she had been aiming a few inches to her left instead of rather than right at her. "You should really learn when to pick your fights. We wouldn't your family to have another accident."

Artemis laughed at her threat, striking the prongs of the trident with the head to the spear in an almost playful matter. It was obvious that she was mocking the other girl. The difference between their skill level was enough to make her back off but she wasn't in the mood to be the better person. No, she had wanted this fight from the second Juliet had come into the armory. Besides, she wanted this too, she really thought she could beat her. This time, she whirled the spear in the air, thrusting it towards Juliet, giving her enough time close the space between them and slashing down at her, the trident coming up just in time to block her. She looked straight at Juliet, smirking, they were exactly the same height giving neither of them the advantage of having a longer range of attack. This was going down to force and skill and she wasted no time in pushing against her, using the shaft to force the trident down, the weapon being the only thing from keeping the leaf blade on the top from cutting her. "Now tell me again what that was about breaking my nose."

Walking down the hallway of the training center, Artemis' voice was one of the last things Nate expected to hear. But hear it he did. And it wasn't just talking, she was...yelling at someone. Slightly confused but also intrigued, Nate poked his head in the armory door, and immediately wished he hadn't. Artemis and another girl were going at each other full throttle, and they both looked ready to kill each other. Better question: Why was Artemis even here at the Academy? She hadn't been married off to a Guardian bachelor by her parents? Nate could've sworn... But no, she was here, about to take some girl's head off.

Nate knew full well this was not going to end well for either of them. He had to do something. Why did it have to be him? Nate pushed through the door and moved as fast as he could towards the two girls. "Alright, break it up!" He yelled, grabbing Artemis around the waist and pulling her off the other girl. He took the spear from her hands and threw it in the ground, then practically dragged her out of the armory. The things he did for his family's stupid sense of propriety. This was it, this was going to kill him. He just knew it.

The entire campus area was large, it was surprising that Gillian found his way to the main office in order to finish the paperwork that he had sent in. He had not been allowed to participate in the first competition with everyone else because there were certain details missing in his application. Some of these important pieces involved signatures, those that weren't supplied by his father but due to his brother's perfect application, they waved that detail. A sigh left Gillian's lips, again, if it wasn't for his brother, he would probably be kicked out for not getting the proper signatures and information. He couldn't help it, that their own father didn't want him running in the gauntlet. Well, he didn't have to worry, winning wasn't his top priority, it was merely surviving.

Still, rode block after rode block met Gillian and he found himself lost in this campus. Not surprisingly, Gillian ended up walking into the armory, a place filled with weapons, anything handy really that could injure or kill a person. He did hear that the race wasn't the only place that people could die. In the academy, there were hardly any rules set for those attending, so if someone died, or got seriously injured, there wouldn't be a penalty or expulsion. It was as if the entire academy wanted the students to weed out the weaker ones in order to have a real fight on that land that would hold the race.

Where was he headed to in the first place? Well, that was easy, he was trying to find Harrison, his brother, but he doubted that he would find him here. Most likely he would find him in a quiet place or already talking to someone else. Gillian always felt that his brother had more of a knack at talking to others, he drew their attention. Gillian on the other hand, tended to not start conversations, avoided others and he hardly had a sense of being a playful tease. That last quality seemed to be the most benefitting when making friends, people could tell jokes, laugh and feel comfortable. Or atleast, a conversation would start with comments being thrown back and forth.

Gillian was about to step out of the armory when he finally took a look at his surroundings. The blades on the wall, were crafted by master swordsmen, Gillian had never seen anything of its equal. Certainly, the academy wanted to give their future Guardians the best of the best, and this was one perfect example. He took a step forward at the long edged sword and lifted it out, the weight of it surprised him just a bit but he adjusted his grip to accommodate it.

Suddenly Gillian heard footsteps behind him, and instead of reacting rashly and turning on the person with the sword in hand. He put it back carefully and turned around to face the person who was in the same place as him. Sure, his reaction could have been foolish, he could have given the other person enough time to attack him, but he noticed the footsteps were light and not rushed. He half expected the person who entered to be male but he didn't wear a look of surprise when he saw a girl, brunette, standing a bit shorter than him.

Colby had spent quite some time scoping out the Academy, it didn't take her long to learn most of the lay out. Or at least the location of the places she wanted to frequent, so there she found herself strolling off towards the Armory. She should have known that it probably wouldn't have been empty, but the sight of another person staring at the doorway caused her to stop for a moment, casting a glance over her shoulder before turning her attention back to him with a grin. "Were you expecting someone? I can come back at another time if you had something planned here?" Who knew. For all she knew he was coming here to hook up with someone....or kill them from the way he'd retracted his hands from a sword on the wall.

Maybe he was here to challenge someone to a duel to the death.

No judgement.

Okay, she minorly judged. "I'm not here to start any trouble or anything," She grinned again, sort of waiting for his permission to stay before she went over to the wall to mess around with the weapons there. She knew the basics of how most of them worked, but basics weren't good enough here. You had to be a master. Especially with all these whack random competitions. Like excuse her, what were these about? Were they trying to mentally psych everyone out and stagger who the winners of the Gauntlet were going to be?

it was certainly more intense than she'd even imagined it was going to be.

She smiled at him, making him feel more comfortable, and less likely to think that she was a threat. At least for the moment, who knew what would happen once the race started. Everyone would be looking out for themselves and take down anyone that was in their way. For now, everyone, he hoped, could be civil and not try to harm each other, but this was probably too naive of him to say.

"No, I'm not expecting anyone nor do I have any plans, are you supposed to be meeting someone here," he asked, returning her question. He didn't want to get in the way of a meet up, wait, were people forming alliances of some sort in order to benefit themselves. Gillian closed his eyes, thinking for a moment, don't be daft, this place wasn't so much for making friends.

Her words reassured him that she wasn't going to start a fight with him. Even though she held herself with confidence, she didn't look like she was ready to take down the next person who came her way. Perhaps she was here for another reason...this was an armory after all, she could be coming here to practice. If that was the case, he was impressed, women he came across where he was from usually didn't prefer to be anywhere near dangerous objects.

"Truth is, I seemed to have stumbled into this place without knowing where I was really going," he said, maintaining an easy distance from the girl in front of him. "I was looking for my brother, his name is Harrison Hughes, have you seen him around?" There shouldn't be any harm in asking, or even giving the name of his brother to this girl. What could she do with a name, besides identify who his brother was, but after all, they all were attending the same academy. Everyone was bound to know each other by face and name at some point. The things that needed to be hidden were his level of skill and motives, with those things, people could figure out his weak points and use it to their advantage.

With the confirmation that he wasn't meeting anyone, Colby stepped towards the wall, fingertips brushing over a few of the weapons displayed there before picking up a rapier. What an impractical weapon, but the craftsmanship was beautiful, the handle a swirl of silver with engraving and small jewels placed along it. "Hmmm, no, not meeting anyone, just thought that I would get a little practice in with some of the weapons," She threw another smile to the guy, putting the rapier back up onto the wall- wouldn't do anyone any good to be a master with the rapier. Not unless the next competition involved sword fighting. Then maybe it would be helpful.

Somehow she highly doubted that it would work out in her favor that way though.

"Your brother?" This guy didn't even know where his own brother was? "I'd probably check the dormitory hallways. Since all the names are listed on little plaques outside the doors......" After all that would probably be easiest, since Colby had no idea who his brother was. She didn't even know who this guy was. It's not like the first week at the academy had been full of orientation and making friends. But she did know how to get back to the barracks from the Armory, so maybe she could be helpful. "If you turn left outside the armory and head straight until you get to the courtyard with the statue of Guardian Levesque and then take a right you'll find yourself right in front of the dormitory buildings."

She held out her hand towards him then, in friendly greeting, "I'm Colby by the way, glad to be of some help,"

The way seemed simple enough, surely he wouldn't get lost this time around. Well, the first time he didn't really have an exact location he wanted to get to, he was more just looking and hoping he would find his brother. The dormitory was the best place to look, that much was evident, "My name is Gillian, and thank you, I'll go check there first." He made a move to go past her in order to get to the door but then he stopped. He was curious, no doubt, of how much Colby knew about swords and the like. She wouldn't be here if she didn't, she would most likely be under a tree or in the garden, but not close to weapons. But, he had been wrong before in a judge of character, this surely wouldn't be the first.

"Can I ask you a question," Gillian said, already know he was going to ask it even without her approval. "Can you fight, with swords, I mean." That was straight forward, surely he would get a yes or no answer from her, even if she closed off the conversation afterwards. It just dawned on him that he never met a girl who could fight, perhaps coming here was more of an experience than he thought it was going to be.

He remembered the last time he ever fought with someone was, maybe a week ago. That had been a short fight, a drunken man had ran into him while he was passing through on his way from an errand his father had him run. He wasn't going to continue the fight but the man persisted, calling names and curses, which wouldn't have bothered Gillian in the least. He didn't take people like that seriously, it wasn't until the man hit him that Gillian set the items to the side and knocked the man unconscious with one blow. Although, the alcohol that the man had intoxicated himself with would have done the job for regardless.

She probably shouldn't have been surprised by his question, after all the guys here at Ainsley still hadn't come around to the notion that girls could fight too. But she was- surprised that is- and she quickly covered it up with a smile and a laugh, "Yeah, I know how to fight with swords. Spears, daggers, bows, axes, too." She knew a little bit of how to use a lot of different weapons, the perks of having a dad who trained only the best of the brightest and liked to train his only child too for fun sometimes. "Do you know how to fight with swords? Or any weapon?" She turned the question around on Gillian, figuring that if he was warranted in asking her, then she was just as warranted in asking him. Not everyone who came here had the luxury of private tutelage and being trained by the best private trainers money could buy.

Nor did everyone here even have the slightest idea of how to use a sword other than 'pointy end goes that way'. Besides Gillian here really didn't look like he was the hardened trained warrior type, sure he had good form and decent definition going on with his physique, but he didn't look like he'd been professionally trained by any means. More like he had natural talent, which was good for him, because hey 'good on you kid', but also pretty clear that unless he started taking some serious training...and soon, he was probably going to get his clock cleaned multiple times here at Ainsley.

Especially if his biggest concern was finding his brother. God, Colby couldn't even imagine if she had to compete against a sibling in the Gauntlet. How did people even do that? That level of rivalry between siblings? Colby would never have the strength to do it, that's for sure.

It would be a lie to say that Gillian was caught off guard with her response. He expected a yes, why would she be here to compete in the gauntlet if she didn’t know how to fight. But he didn't know that she was this well equipped with the knowledge of how to handle multiple weapons. He thought about the idea that she may be stronger than him in certain aspects of the sword but what he lacked in skill he made up for in stength.

Gillian let out a small laugh, "I know how to fight, especially with a sword but a spear and a dagger can't be that much different. After all, they all have blades that can injure others." He walked over to where a rack of spears hung and he picked one up, the light weight of thr pole made the weapon flexible and easy to handle. "Do all women here know how to fight as you do," he said, ready for whatever answer she put in front of him.

Now he was sizing up the competition, he had realized that he was being too naive and underestimating the people around him. Women were tricky, their sweet faces could fool a man, leaving an opportunity for injury to occur, whether physically or mentally that was case by case. Gillian had never been hurt by a woman, he didn't plan on that happening, so he wanted to make sure he wasn’t surprised by anyone in the future.