She was just a shadow. Granted, her shadow actually moved. Withered trees and crumbling stones left their black marks on the ragged, ruined earth, casting exhaustion all around. 

But she had a job to do. Or rather, a job to win. She did not let the stillness surrounding her affect the movement of her feet or the power in her legs as she ran and ran. Two years were on the line. Twisted ankles, papercuts, the gash on her temple from not ducking low and fast enough. Sleepless nights and a stolen clock tower. She had risked everything - absolutely everything - for tonight. She had earned tonight.

As she reached the start of the steep decline that would lead to the Entrance she became aware of footsteps behind her, falling heavier and faster than her own. It was probably one of her competitors, someone who could stand in her way of becoming a Huntress. Before beginning her descent, she glanced back and saw a tall, masculine figure about fifty feet behind.

"Lupe!" he called out.

"Pasco," she thought recognizing the honey in his voice. Even better, if she could beat him there.

Of course, he had an advantage. He'd already raced down the massive hill to the Entrance before, countless times. This edge was as far as she'd ever been allowed to go. One more step and everything would be new. Poised there on the edge between the boring familiar and the thrilling new, she immediately knew which side  she wanted to be on. Pasco called her name again. She looked over her shoulder, smiled, and waved.

Then she lifted her foot and ran. The incline wasn't horrible at first, but it quickly gave way to more dangerous slopes. The ground had become much more of a sand composition than the solid earth she was used to. There were no rocks or vegetative remains to give some friction to her flight, to help her slow down when she noticed her legs may not be fast enough to do as gravity demanded. She put a picture in her head, as she always did when she didn't think she could meet her goals or keep up with the pace of others around her.

There in her mind, she saw her feet barely touching the ground, lightly bouncing off. Her stride lengthening, her breath slowing. She focused on that, and she smiled. She was already half way down the hill, and she could see the entrance just beyond the foot of the hill. She relished in the picture in her mind. She flew, and almost reached th

"Guadalupe!" Pasco yelled, just behind her. She didn't expect him to be so close and she stumbled, just a little. Just enough.

Down she went, falling the last ten yards or so before the land leveled out. She wrapped her arms around her head and held her breath. Pasco must have reached out for her, because she was aware in those few seconds of his warm hand around her waist. One last bump at the bottom disloged his grip and she rolled a few feet away. Lupe simply laid there for a few moments, her heart still pounding in her throat and legs tingling from the sudden cessation of movement. 

She heard Pasco crawl over and, this time with a concern in his tone, he said her name again. "Guadalupe? Are you okay?"

A little smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she finally brought her arms down from over her face. Pasco was leaning over her, and she could see his brow trying to crease, but he was too young and too cheerful in general to have any evidence of stress on that strong face of his.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lupe sighed, trying to sound like she didn't notice Pasco's worry. "You didn't have to sneak up on me like that. Or grab me when I fell. Now we're both going to show up looking like we..." She blushed, but quickly recovered. "Like we fell down a hill."

"But we did," Pasco smiled, standing and reaching out a hand to help her up. 

"You may not see a problem with it," she said as she rolled to her knees and stood alone, "but it's hardly the kind of impression I want to give tonight."

"That's not the worst impression your appearance could give," he smiled, leaning over her and pushing a stray curl behind her ear. She didn't know what that even meant, but his closeness was quite suggestive of what was on his mind. Again.

"Close your eyes," she said, quietly. He chuckled a little, and closed his eyes with a wink. "You know what I think?" Lupe asked.

"No, but I bet you're going to show me," Pasco smiled.

"I sure am."

With that she kicked his knees out from under him, yanked his shoes off, and ran toward the Entrance. She heard him call out her name one more time but she could already see the other Scabs lined up, clutching various items in their hands, with the Hunters and Scavengers ready to examine them. Lupe wasn't the first one there, which wasn't quite according to her plan. As she came to a stop, skidding in the sand just past the row of her competitors, she smiled. She had beaten Pasco. 

Everyone stared at her with various expressions. The Hunters had hints of smiles, the Scavengers exchanged secret fives and handshakes behind their backs, and her fellow Scabs seethed with jealousy from their downturned lips and hands clenched tight over the various trophies of the entrance exam. No one else had managed such a great haul: shoes stolen right off the feet of their Mentor.

Even though she had arrived last, or rather, second to last, her first Hunt as a Scab was a complete and utter success. There was no way she wasn't going to be admitted straight to the Hunter class.

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Praesent pulvinar urna at lacus cursus, id lobortis erat viverra. Praesent ante neque, condimentum id viverra sit amet, malesuada eu erat. Vestibulum tristique justo eget ante euismod, nec feugiat nisi faucibus. Aliquam eget ligula vulputate, pharetra turpis ac, ultrices sapien. Phasellus consequat justo nisi, quis sagittis ante suscipit ac. Vivamus non neque odio. Donec ut turpis lacinia, hendrerit ligula feugiat, vehicula velit. Etiam a tortor id massa ullamcorper varius. Cras faucibus erat id nisl posuere viverra nec ut justo. Morbi commodo risus eu turpis molestie fringilla. Nunc scelerisque nibh a elit egestas, et dapibus felis tincidunt.

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Etiam porttitor quam turpis, in pharetra enim pulvinar eu. Quisque adipiscing sed nisi congue consectetur. Integer porta eleifend mauris, nec molestie ligula ultricies sit amet. Donec quis neque ligula. Nunc sed pellentesque turpis, malesuada volutpat orci. Nam at nulla lectus. Maecenas sit amet sem placerat, fermentum quam eget, faucibus nisl. Cras eleifend lacinia est sed cursus. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Nunc sed elementum purus. Vivamus in ipsum eget felis commodo interdum. Quisque sed lacinia quam, pharetra molestie diam. Ut dignissim lorem quis lacus suscipit malesuada. Aliquam sit amet pulvinar orci, sed elementum nibh. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus.

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Nam magna orci, fringilla a mi in, blandit fringilla massa. Sed vitae tortor urna. Etiam rhoncus pharetra mi, in vestibulum nunc dignissim vitae. Duis vulputate sapien diam, quis euismod lacus adipiscing ac. Morbi et purus sodales, tempor massa quis, auctor sem. Donec iaculis auctor neque sit amet cursus. Donec sit amet viverra mauris, tincidunt luctus diam. Mauris condimentum, tortor ac pulvinar consequat, sapien velit lacinia leo, vitae pulvinar magna ligula eget leo. Donec tortor tortor, tempor hendrerit libero vel, pharetra pretium neque.

Aliquam mollis dictum leo quis sodales. Nam pretium dictum eros, quis imperdiet tellus blandit in. Pellentesque ac accumsan risus. Donec fringilla, arcu ut scelerisque hendrerit, nisi urna consequat eros, eu cursus urna augue at lacus. Fusce ac hendrerit dui. Ut in quam fermentum, gravida erat id, aliquet risus. Etiam iaculis arcu sit amet laoreet pharetra. Morbi ultrices metus lacinia mi porta, sed luctus tellus vehicula.

Vestibulum in aliquam ligula, nec varius leo. Cras fermentum arcu volutpat, volutpat enim vel, elementum sem. Donec sed nulla sit amet lorem sagittis dictum. Fusce lorem leo, mattis quis diam a, mollis ullamcorper magna. Suspendisse malesuada arcu arcu, sed ultrices velit gravida a. Vestibulum libero nibh, suscipit vitae lacus et, rutrum blandit nunc. Curabitur nec aliquam tellus. Aliquam erat volutpat. Cras et urna vitae enim faucibus adipiscing. Aenean nec est vel augue hendrerit blandit sed non enim. Donec ut pellentesque eros.

In sed convallis mi. Curabitur ipsum velit, tempor nec porta in, tempus sed diam. Pellentesque odio mauris, commodo ac condimentum a, cursus eu metus. Cras aliquet justo sed purus auctor, quis ultrices neque placerat. Suspendisse aliquet congue nulla sed suscipit. Phasellus risus augue, egestas et felis non, gravida mattis arcu. Aenean eu nibh ut metus viverra tristique id et metus. Pellentesque auctor nibh ut tristique ornare. Cras vel tellus id felis ultricies aliquet vitae et diam. Duis id justo ac lectus luctus tempor vitae eget tortor.

Etiam at feugiat nibh. Donec quis libero laoreet, consectetur enim quis, gravida lorem. Suspendisse interdum molestie tincidunt. Sed accumsan pharetra nulla id tempor. Sed aliquam dictum nulla sagittis condimentum. Aliquam convallis rutrum nisi, quis auctor libero laoreet id. Duis laoreet nibh nec leo semper vulputate consectetur nec risus. Maecenas vehicula velit vel sollicitudin elementum. Aliquam consequat tortor dolor, vitae porta libero imperdiet eu.

Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Aliquam in egestas lorem. Phasellus vel tempor sem, non interdum velit. In facilisis ultrices fringilla. Morbi suscipit quam condimentum ligula ultricies tincidunt. Curabitur vel lectus ac neque suscipit euismod quis vel purus. Etiam vitae ipsum consectetur, dapibus libero at, mattis ante. Mauris et magna elementum, fermentum orci ac, venenatis nunc. Nullam lobortis facilisis ultrices. Integer tristique at lectus ut porta. Praesent eu urna sed orci elementum imperdiet eget a nisl.

Fusce sit amet massa varius felis vulputate auctor sit amet sit amet est. Cras suscipit, lorem id ultrices dapibus, dui odio congue nisi, nec iaculis dui purus et est. Duis quis justo augue. Ut vehicula dolor vel porta tincidunt. In nunc tellus, accumsan sit amet commodo sed, varius ut risus. Aliquam in bibendum erat. Duis adipiscing est ac quam vulputate, ac ullamcorper libero ullamcorper. Nam egestas tincidunt risus, sit amet semper arcu faucibus sed. Cras non cursus sapien.

Nam gravida elit enim, et eleifend mauris posuere in. Aliquam auctor lacinia erat quis congue. Nam ac ipsum ac enim fermentum pulvinar id sit amet erat. Donec a feugiat erat. Vivamus fringilla, metus quis pellentesque ornare, sem sapien elementum augue, eu adipiscing lacus arcu in tellus. Sed vel commodo odio. Ut sit amet commodo lorem. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Nunc luctus, arcu eget fermentum pulvinar, nibh quam pellentesque dolor, sed sagittis nisl eros id lorem. Nulla eu velit tristique, fringilla magna vel, molestie ipsum.

Suspendisse quis leo sit amet nibh egestas elementum iaculis vitae purus. Aenean a magna pharetra, interdum est quis, tristique erat. Ut id aliquet leo, eget consectetur leo. Sed at urna enim. Aliquam eget magna id est pellentesque tempor et eget elit. Vestibulum aliquam semper mauris at porttitor. Donec blandit dolor quam, sit amet ornare metus suscipit quis.

Donec quis tincidunt tellus. Nam ut nibh sit amet nulla vulputate cursus ut at dolor. Duis laoreet quam eget elit cursus, sed fermentum turpis posuere. Maecenas dapibus euismod velit et dignissim. Proin dapibus dolor arcu, eget tristique nisl porttitor at. Nulla egestas nibh neque, eu sollicitudin magna dignissim eget. Nulla nec nisl consectetur, pellentesque libero gravida, placerat justo. Etiam mattis, nulla at aliquet venenatis, erat odio bibendum erat, in porta nisi lectus hendrerit ligula. Fusce blandit vestibulum turpis, quis aliquam massa viverra vel. Morbi at convallis ante. Aenean ante leo, tristique nec tortor semper, auctor facilisis erat. Praesent commodo placerat porta. Aenean odio lectus, dignissim sit amet elit et, sollicitudin dictum nisl. Aliquam risus leo, vestibulum at convallis vitae, rhoncus quis dui. Phasellus luctus neque in orci lacinia fermentum.

Donec elementum condimentum diam ac suscipit. Suspendisse vulputate tellus at leo accumsan aliquam. Integer fringilla nisl ac mattis commodo. Aenean vitae dolor quis lacus imperdiet blandit. Curabitur eget lobortis justo. Pellentesque gravida scelerisque pharetra. Cras sit amet semper nibh. In laoreet congue arcu. In nec elit ligula. Nulla facilisi. Maecenas nibh magna, cursus sed metus eget, interdum facilisis metus. Cras sit amet lorem sed quam lobortis sodales vel quis arcu. Nunc dolor lorem, vestibulum sit amet enim id, vestibulum auctor nisl. Sed et mi venenatis, vehicula tortor ut, suscipit turpis. Sed hendrerit porttitor magna nec convallis. Nullam est purus, ullamcorper in dui quis, dictum placerat lectus.

Pellentesque cursus magna quis nisi tempor ornare. Pellentesque elit diam, elementum et turpis at, ultricies eleifend enim. Sed facilisis commodo risus eget faucibus. Pellentesque fringilla augue a nisl interdum, ac pharetra lectus consectetur. Proin hendrerit cursus mauris, quis consequat sem ornare non. Maecenas erat quam, semper sed tincidunt sit amet, faucibus in sapien. Phasellus interdum erat sed arcu mollis, ut venenatis tortor imperdiet. Proin ac purus libero. Nulla euismod volutpat erat eu mollis. Cras ac pulvinar lorem. Donec nec lorem aliquam, ornare felis eu, viverra augue. Sed suscipit, ligula sit amet accumsan rutrum, diam augue pretium lorem, eu blandit nibh lorem et nisi. Nullam pharetra, est at laoreet dictum, felis tortor sollicitudin libero, in feugiat nunc augue imperdiet elit. Maecenas mi ligula, interdum eget faucibus non, pretium sed nibh. Donec accumsan, magna vitae condimentum commodo, odio justo consectetur justo, porta cursus neque purus vel diam. In mattis sem risus, eu euismod diam tempor eu.

Integer eros mi, vulputate quis neque quis, malesuada feugiat tellus. Vivamus ipsum ipsum, sollicitudin ut ultricies ut, ornare at lorem. In ultrices pharetra tellus, ut consequat neque. Etiam at lorem tristique, viverra dui sit amet, tristique mi. Mauris ipsum felis, interdum vel lacinia in, sodales et nibh. Aenean a erat massa. Vestibulum dignissim viverra nisl. Nam eget euismod tellus. In vitae nulla tincidunt, consequat risus id, blandit mauris.

Mauris pulvinar nibh hendrerit quam laoreet, placerat lobortis erat dapibus. Curabitur eu adipiscing justo. Morbi pretium orci eu mauris iaculis, eu lobortis orci adipiscing. Aenean sit amet velit ac lacus auctor interdum et vitae diam. Duis ut leo metus. Morbi id tempor justo, molestie vehicula felis. Vestibulum nibh erat, consequat vitae ultrices ut, convallis eget turpis. Maecenas rhoncus lorem eget accumsan volutpat. In lacinia mauris ornare vestibulum tempus. Donec eleifend, dolor in ullamcorper lacinia, metus ante auctor massa, dapibus tincidunt dolor nulla sit amet turpis. Donec a tortor et nisl vestibulum dictum vel eget urna.

Nulla velit lectus, malesuada at neque quis, ornare vestibulum felis. Nullam dignissim accumsan orci ut tempor. Vivamus vitae leo vitae justo condimentum facilisis. Morbi dignissim nunc sit amet risus tempus convallis. Integer faucibus nunc dictum dolor mattis tincidunt. Sed vel imperdiet sem. Mauris accumsan, tellus non aliquam porta, tellus odio convallis lectus, id mollis urna dolor vel ipsum. Phasellus laoreet purus et accumsan egestas. Vestibulum feugiat urna vel vulputate ultrices. Vivamus pulvinar aliquet dui sit amet pharetra. Integer sit amet convallis nulla. Sed at nisi ut erat mollis lacinia nec suscipit lacus. Nulla ante dolor, lacinia nec consectetur ut, cursus vel est. Nunc sit amet orci et.

Henna lead them down the steps and though Pasco moved to be next in the line, Lupe held him back and let the others pass. Two heavily muscled men, who looked as though they could be related, pushed their way to the front of the pack. There were two girls, Mentors, who looked just two or three years older than Lupe, who were each followed by two young men. A dejected looking girl, no doubt Mentor Five, hung her head, followed the group down. She dragged her feet so pathetically Lupe was actually worried she might fall and hurt herself. After them there came a young boy, younger than Henna even, and a middle-aged olive skinned woman. She practically glowed in this light.

All in all, Lupe was surprised. The group wasn't hardly close to what she had expected of her fellow trainees. She thought she'd have been the most out of place, the weakest and the slowest. As it turned out, she thought she might be in the middle of the pack. There were the strong men and active teenage boys, all the other girls, and then the two children and the motherly figure. She might stand an actual chance! Before, Lupe had been worried that all her energy spent on positive thinking was a waste, but still she kept at it. The thought that she hadn't been far from the truth about her place as a Scab was thrilling.

"Hey, Pasco."

"Yeah, Lupe?"

"Do you think I'll pass?"
 
"Let's get a move on," he said, smirking and laughing a little. When she waited for him to go down the stairs first, he shook his head and pushed her forward. "No way you're going last, Lupe. I'm not about to pull a Five. You're staying right where I can check you out."

Lupe punched him hard on his upper arm. He recoiled a little and massaged his bicep. "I mean, where I can keep watch you and make sure you don't fall and get hurt!"

She shook her head and followed the rest of the group. At the first level they came to, they were split into teams, half of them on either side of the stairway. Henna still stood on the stairs, in between them so they could all hear her. She cleared her throat and rapped her staff on the stone below her to make sure she had their full attention.

"Okay, Scabs. First test is a race. We have to get you nice and tired for the rest of the trials. Now, I know I told you not to touch anything. That still applies, except for these." 

She opened her pack to reveal twelve balls, all different colors and sizes. Some of them were filled with a sparkling liquid and the childish part of Lupe hoped she'd get to keep one. It reminded her of the stars she rarely saw. 

"I've got two of each kind. You all get to pick one set, and give the second to your mentors. Come on, I said you get to pick one, don't be shy about it. There's not time for shy. And remind me of your names while I've still got you all here."

One by one, the Scabs approached Henna and took their ball. Now Lupe knew for sure which of their group was vying for a place among the Hunters. The olive skinned woman chose first, simply because she was closest to Henna and didn't seem to exhibit any fear of her. She took the smallest, a gold ball which jingled when she tossed it in front of her a little. 

"I'm OLIVE SKINNED NAMELESS."

Henna gave her a nod of approval and held out the remaining balls for the teenage girls. The first picked a pink plastic-looking thing that almost fit in her fist, and the other picked a strange brown oval-shaped thing. It must have been broken - there was thick white stitching on one seam. 

"My name is SOMETHING," said the first as she brushed a strand of blonde hair out of her face and behind her ear.

"And I'm SOMETHING ELSE," said the second, running her fingers over the texture of her ball.

"You twins or something?" asked Henna. The girls just shook their heads. "Then stop walking together and talking together and doing every single little thing together. Hunters don't rely on anyone else to help pave their way. You have to go out and explore and make your own freaking mistakes. You learn more that way. So split up. And one of you, change your ponytail, I'm tired of looking at both of you with the same exact style. Scabs. Anyway, who's next?"

The heavily muscled man chose his next, a dull, black orb that seemed too light. When he shook it, Lupe heard something inside, and he humphed at that ball.

"Name?" Henna prompted.

"DARK NAME," he replied before returning to his Mentor.

Lupe counted and realized she was the last one. That was surprising, given that she expected the little boy was a Scab. There was no way an eight or nine year old was already a Hunter - but there he was, just watching with big blue eyes.

"Ready when you are, princess."

Lupe looked at Henna and gave her a quizzical look before approaching her. When she did move toward the girl, Lupe made sure she stood straight and didn't fidget with the shoes. Nervous as she was, nobody else needed to know her heart was about to pound its way out of her chest. She looked inside Henna's pack and saw two pairs of balls - the first was big and would probably require both hands. It was a faded orange, marked with lines and textured with small bumps all the way around, like SECOND GIRL'S NAME. 

The other choice was clear, and suspended inside was some sort of silver mechanism. 

"Definitely the orange," came Pasco's voice at her ear. 

"Back off!" Lupe hissed. "You've jinxed it, now I can't pick the orange."

"Of course you can -" Pasco began, but Henna cut him off.

"No one else had trainer input. Her compass is solid. Take the clear ones. And hey, what was your name?"

"Guadalupe Ess. But I prefer Lupe."

"Whatever," Henna shrugged and gestured Lupe back to her place with Pasco. "Now, Scabs, hold on to your half of the set. Trainers, pass yours one to the left. Yeah, you heard me, pass them. No arguing, Van Alstyne, give it to Manor." 

The hulking man, who must have been Van Alstyne, tossed his lightweight black ball to the young boy, Manor. 

"Laren!" Pasco yelled. One of the teenage boys looked away from Bright, who he was flirting with, and reached his arm up to catch the ball Pasco threw. His friend stepped in between Laren and the ball as it flew, and it hit him in the chest.

"Dangit, Delton, I had that!" Laren chastised him.

"Man, look..." Delton held the picked up the ball and it lit up every color. 

Lupe looked at the matching ball in her hand and bounced it once on the ground. It, too, lit up.

"Stop messing around, guys," Henna called as Manor threw his little jingling bell to Pasco. "Now, Mentors, line up there on the edge. No horsing around, I do not want to call Claudia up here to sew your skulls shut. You guys may remember this from your trials. 

You're going to throw your, for lack of better word, opponent's ball wherever you want. Drop it straight down? Fine. Try to get it to land in the hat of someone walking down there on ground floor? Go for it. Your scabs have to chase down the ball that matches the one in their hands and the first person to bring their ball back is safe. Of course, you all may be safe. Depends on what you do to get your ball back. So Mentors, strategize. Scabs, keep your eyes peeled, wits sharp, and hands off anything else. Ready? Aim. Fire!"

Lupe almost glanced at Henna, but kept her eye on the ball Laren was throwing. Mercifully, he had bounced it a few times on the ground while Henna was talking, so it was lit up, flashing so many colors almost faster than she could perceive the moment of change. He swung his arm in a few circles, and released the ball. She thought it would go sailing straight out and get lost in the crowd of people five floors below. Instead, it knocked a candle off a chandelier on a nearby section of the second floor balcony. The flame fizzled out on the floor as wax splattered the shoes of people nearby, who stopped to gesture and yell at Laren.

"Isn't this dangerous?" I asked Pasco.

"Sure, no one would disagree that tossing objects into a crowd of several hundred people is dangerous. But what Henna says goes. Besides, this is a ritual. Gotta do it. And everyone knows that flying objects means new Scabs so they don't pay much attention when they realize what's going on. No go get that ball!"

She started to move toward the stairs and noticed the ball was flashing from the chandelier. "It's stuck!" she told Pasco.

"So get it unstuck," he shrugged.

"Scrubs, one more catch!" Henna called, a mischevious grin spread across her face. "No stairs. Now get a move on, time's wasting."

Lupe looked down over the edge. It was a twenty foot drop just to the next level. 

"No stairs..." Lupe repeated.

Suddenly she felt Pasco's lips on her cheek. She was about to turn and push him off so she could focus, but he had his arms around her so she couldn't move well. "Didn't you tell me you were climbing that clock tower to see if you could fly? Here's your chance." He 

kissed her cheek again and suddenly she was falling backward over the edge.

She squeezed her eyes shut tight and as she fell, she regretted ever climbing that dumb tower in the first place.