"What the hell is Shadowthief?" I asked Samaria from where she sat on a nice recliner. Perched under a gigantic umbrella at the top of the hill leading down to the sparring field, she sipped on a cold drink as she took a look at the black paintball gun I had in my hand.

"Only the most fun game ever that we only play like once a year, and my stupid concussion has taken me out of the fun!" She groaned. "You get to shoot people with paintballs! How fun is that?"

"How do I play?" I asked, gripping the gun in my hands.

"There are two teams, one headed up by Cybele and the other by Finn. There are five flags scattered on either side, and the goal is to try and replace the other team's flag with yours. You start by each team taking two of their flags as they try to maneuver over the territory line and place their flag in the flag holder while the defense tries to steal the other team's flag in order that they don't put it position. Once you steal a flag from another team, you can try and run it back over the line to put it back or hide it so that it makes it more difficult for the team to find the flag and put it in the opposite flag holder. The team who puts their five flags on the other side first wins! Dammit, I want to play so bad! I fucking slay this game! Finn better get ready because his MVP is on the bench this year."

I blinked, not really sure if I'd gotten all the information. "Those are the rules?"

"I mean besides no hitting people in the eyes with paintballs or smacking people with the guns, then no. There really are no rules, so it gets pretty wild." She cracked her knuckles. "One year I managed to steal the other team's flag by pushing one of the guys into the quarry. We won that year because I buried the flag. Yeah, we never found it so it was a clear victory! I think it's still out there somewhere. Maybe you can find it and cheat your way to a win."

"I'm not going to dig around the entire time like a gofer." I said with a laugh. "Are you just going to stay up here by yourself?"

"No," she sipped her drink, stretching out across the chair while adjusting her sunglasses. "Raphael's staying up here too because of his arm. Secta I guess counts too since he'll be up in his house; he usually doesn't play. I can just irritate Raphael to keep bringing me drinks while playing up my concussion. I can get him to break, just you wait."

A horn blew as the clusters of Guardians out on the sparring field began to descend into the forest as I glanced to Samaria. "Wish me luck. I have no clue how to shoot with one of these."

"Ask Gabriel. He's on your team, right?"

I shrugged, which made her snicker as I walked down the hill towards the woods, following the path of Cybele's team towards the right side of the forest. I shuffled through the trees, catching up with Charlie who turned out to be on this team after all.

"Charlie!" I said, making the guardian turn as he gave me a small smile. He still wasn't himself, but the game seemed to distract him for a little while. "How do I shoot with one of these things?"

"Slid that back like this, push that button when you're ready, and pull the trigger." He said, pointing out the different spots on the paintball gun with ease. "Are you ready to win, kid?"

I grinned, "yeah, let's kick some ass."

"Kate!" Cybele's voice made me turn as she grinned at me, coming over with her gun in hand. "Do you know the rules or do you want me to explain?"

"No, I'm good. I already got all the information. When do we start?"

A horn rang in the air once again as Cybele laughed with excitement. "Now! Everyone, put on your goggles and let's go!" She handed me a pair of clear goggles before strapping her's over her eyes. Around half of the guardians charged forward into the forest, the other half spreading along the area as defense.

Slipping my goggles over my eyes, I followed Charlie as he flagged me on behind him, the two of us jogging through the trees.

"Can you technically 'die' in this game?" I asked as I hurried behind him.

"Nope. You can get hit as much as you want with the option to concede where you opt out of the game. I wouldn't recommend that though; no one ever tends to opt out around here. Take the pain and persevere."

I ducked under a tree branch as massive wooden structures started to appear around us. Guardians hunched behind them as they waited with their guns pointed out through holes in the planks. There were even some two story towers that stood high up in the foliage as Charlie kneeled behind a wooden shield on the ground level.

"Right past those orange markers is the territory line."

"Does it really serve a purpose since you literally run your flags back and forth with no rules whatsoever?" I asked.

"The flags have to be past the center line so yes, and it makes it a hell of a lot more fun to run the flags back and forth with paintballs falling everywhere like rain." Charlie stuck his gun through one of the holes in the wood, watching intently through his clear goggles. "No sign of anyone yet."

I edged forward, glancing through the hole as I looked around the empty forest. I didn't see a single thing out there...

Charlie's gun sounded as he pulled the trigger, a paintball flying out from the barrel as I jumped in surprise. There was a yelp of pain from across the territory line as I began to notice more figures moving through the wood.

"Woohoo! First hit! Bang bang, motherfuckers!" I heard someone on our side yell as more paintballs started to fly back and forth across the line like an untamed snowball fight.

After many, many failed attempts at shooting anyone with a paintball, I aimed and pulled the trigger, hitting someone in the shoulder as they ran through a gap in their own wooden shields and towers. "I hit someone!" I screamed to Charlie, who had managed to hit over fifteen people in the time it took me to hit one.

"Nice work, Kate! Look over that way! Hit that person!"I turned, aiming at the person crouched in the bushes. After missing a few times,  I managed to hit them somewhere as suddenly wings began to beat everywhere. "They're airborne! Let's move!" Charlie yelled as dozens of guardians took to the sky with their guns in hand, flying above wildly in circles now as they chased each other back and forth while shooting nevertheless.

I glanced around now, realizing that I was one of the few left on the ground floor. Dammit, all the fun moved into the air, and I lack the wings.

"Move through here!" I heard voices across the line as a cluster of guardians from the opposing team filtered into the center. I paused, waiting to see what was next. Shouldn't they be up in the air too?

Or maybe the air fight was just a distraction. Well played, Shay.

"Split and move in three groups towards the flags." Just as I'd thought it, I realized that Finn was among them, ordering his party members into three forces as they began to split up. The groups had their flags in hand as they divided themselves.

Gripping my gun, I stayed low as they moved along, not noticing me crouched behind one of the wooden planks among the bushes. They glided silently through the trees as I turned to look around in their wake.

Finn was still in the center of the territory line, watching his team disperse with crossed arms. Why wasn't he going for a flag as well? Shouldn't he be heading up a group to go and replace a flag?

Taking his gun in his hands, Finn turned around to walk back, but I wasn't going to let him get away from me too easily. I wanted to get a hit in, and he had pissed me off for too long.

And I really, really, really wanted to shoot him in the ass for being one himself.

I stood to my feet, holding the gun up in my hands as I came into full view. I aimed at his back, feeling my hands tremble as I pulled down on the trigger. The noise of my gun sparked in the air as the paintball flew.

Finn jumped in surprise, turning as the paintball exploded against a tree trunk. Dammit! His eyes settled on me as I stood frozen, still holding the paintball gun in my hands I met his stare.

With his cold expression, I pulled the trigger again, this time hitting him square in the chest as he stumbled backwards in shock.

Mission accomplished! Time to abort before execution!

He looked utterly furious now as I heard him let out a feral snarl, but we were interrupted as all the guardians at once hit the ground. Paintballs were flying everywhere as I lost sight of Finn. It didn't matter now though because I knew he would be looking for me. I'd started a world war with those two paintballs.

"Kid, duck!" Charlie was back beside me as he shot off paintballs, and I kneeled beside him.

"They sent a group in to get the flags while you were all up in the air."

"Finn, the sneaky bastard." Charlie hissed as he shot another guardian.

"I hit Finn with a paintball." I confessed.

"Well, you better clear out of here then. He is very serious about his Shadowthief victories. He's won the past five years. Head back towards defense if you want to avoid getting shot. He doesn't miss often."

Reflecting on how absolutely angry he looked when that paintball hit his chest, I figured getting far enough away would be a reasonable idea. "He did look pretty angry."

"Run along, Kate. He'll be pissed, especially that you managed to hit him with barely knowing how to hold a gun!" Charlie said with a chuckle as I slowly pulled back away from the wooden front. Holding my gun in my hand, I pushed through the tree branches and bushes, hurrying back towards where we had started for the paintball game.

Ducking under a tree limb, I turned around the curve of a tree just as a paintball exploded on the branch above my head. I let out a scream in surprise as I lifted my head just in time for someone to step out ahead of me.

My mouth went dry as Finn glared at me from a few feet away, his gun still pointed at me. I froze, looking up as I waited for him to shoot at me again. He was replicating what I had done to him just moments ago: one on a tree and one on me. Those blue eyes shined through his clear goggles as we watched one another.

"Are... you going to shoot me?" I asked, and then I was shot. But not by Finn.

I jumped in surprise, letting out a yelp of pain as a paintball struck me in the shoulder. I heard Carter's distant laughter. "Got ya, Kate! I've been hunting you down all day long. Why don't we fool aro..."

Finn shot him straight in the neck with ease as Carter choked on his words, falling backwards into the bushes with a giant thud. 

"Fates... you're a shot!" He managed to say through coughs. My eyes widened; I guess he'd missed Finn behind the trees. 

"I'm sorry!" I shouted back, taking the opportunity of Finn's distraction to hurry off through the bushes. He'd been watching Carter instead of me, and as I dashed through the branches, I knew Finn would be back on my heels in no time.

He'd shot Carter in the neck! Fates, he was so intense! Why had he done that? Wait, isn't Carter on his team? That makes even less sense!

Ducking under branches, I clutched my gun tight to my chest. This wasn't over yet as I took quick peaks over my shoulder. If Finn didn't mess around during Shadowthief, then there was no doubt he'd be coming after me now to give me a final paintball shot of my own medicine.

Why had he shot Carter? Had he done it because... because Carter had shot me? Because Carter mentioned 'fooling around'? The thought made my heart beat so hard in my chest as I couldn't resist a small smile from spreading across my lips.