I stir the next morning, and when I open my eyes, I'm nearly blinded by the sunlight. I blink my eyes rapidly. After hastily shutting the blinds, I change, and make my way to the cafeteria. Pancakes and an apple become my breakfast. I sit down across the table from Hawk. We don't talk for a while, and I drizzle syrup across my plate while he wolfs down toast.

"So. What are you going to do today?" Hawk asks around a mouthful of food.

"I'm not sure. Adrien hasn't asked me to do anything, and I don't have anything planned. What about you?"

"Vladimir wants me to help him in preparations for when Guthrie Harper decides to send his minions to attack us."

"We don't know for certain if he'll attack."

"Jay. There is no way he wouldn't attack if he could. He's known we exist in some shape or form for years, and he's been searching for just as long. It's, like, his lifelong dream or something to exterminate us. A bit of an odd lifelong dream, but a lifelong dream nonetheless."

"I know. I guess I'm just holding onto some tiny hope that there won't be an attack or something."

"You'll be disappointed if you keep thinking that, you know." Hawk skewers a square of watermelon and pops it in his mouth.

"I know, I know," I sigh.

I'm getting myself a glass of water when Lily walks up to me. "Jay..." She says slowly.

"Yeah?"

"Why did it take this long to bring me here?"

"I told you before. We had to make preparations, and make sure we were ready. As much as we wanted to, we couldn't just waltz into the Wasteland."

"This thing has been going for fifteen or sixteen years. I was at the Wasteland for well over a decade, so you had plenty of time to get me out of there. It wouldn't take ten years to come up with some plan, so why did you wait until I was about to snap to pull me from there? Why?" Lily's glaring at me, her green eyes blazing.

"Lily, please calm down. Take some deep breaths. We weren't ready, and we got ready as fast as we could. There's always a little bit of trouble that comes after we rescue a Gladiator, but there's more now since we rescued you. That's not your fault, and don't think it is, please. We know what we're getting into, and it was a unanimous decision to go into this."

"No matter how much you prepare or train or whatever you're doing, it won't be enough. If you kill one Wasteland guard, a dozen more will appear. You don't stand a chance."

"We want to bring down Guthrie Harper. If we only make a dent before we're gone, then hopefully we inspire others to take our place. All the Raydownians will know The Loyal Order of Thorny Devils does exist."

"That's cool that you believe that, but it's not going to happen. If it took you this long to be ready to take him on, it would take even longer if there was to be a second version of The Loyal Order of Thorny Devils, and he'd know and be actively hunting them every step of the way. Guthrie Harper doesn't care about any of the people. He'd kill them all without a second thought." Lily crushes her cup in her hand. Plastic crunches.

"Jay!" Adrien is speed walking towards me.

"What is it, Adrien?" I ask.

"Hey, Lily. We're guessing Guthrie Harper's going to attack within the next day or two. You're ready to fight, right?"

"Yeah. I'll probably spar with Hawk or someone in a bit. Do you need anything?"

"Just make sure you're ready. Are you ready, Lily?" Adrien turns his gaze to her.

"You don't stand a chance, but yes."

"What do you mean by that?" Adrien frowns.

"Guthrie Harper has countless Wasteland guards at his disposal. Like I said to Jay, for every one you kill, a dozen more will take their place. He'll probably will use the Clicks as well."

"A hydra on steroids... That's cool. Jay, ya wanna spar?" Hawk appears behind Adrien, a wild smile on his face.

"I just ate. Give me a while, and then I will. Are you coming as well, Lily?"

"Sure." Her voice sounds distant.

It's late morning, an hour or two before lunchtime, when I wind up in the basement, standing across from Hawk. The mats covering part the floor look similar to the fighting squares in the Pit of the Wasteland, though we face off against another member of T-LOOT-D rather than the robotic Clicks. "Ready, Jay? I promised I'd defeat you at the Wasteland battle, so here I am." Hawk narrows his orange eyes and smiles.

"You may win, you may not. Who knows."

"Aaaand... Begin!" Vladimir shouts from the side of the mat.

"When did you get here?" I frown.

"A minute or so ago."

I don't get to respond. Hawk's fist slams into my shoulder, and I tumble to the ground. He smirks, launching another attack, but I kick him in the stomach. A smile ghosts across my face as he groans from the impact. I run at him, tapping into my speed, and I go faster. Hawk throws up his arms to take the impact of the volley of attacks I throw at him. His foot pulls my leg from beneath me, causing me to fall. I land with a grunt on my back, and Hawk's over me in an instant. "Surrender?" He asks innocently while he restrains my arms with his hands.

"Let. Me. Go!" I strain against his grip as I try to curl my legs in and kick my brother again in the stomach. All my attempts fail and I make several more in vain.

"I could've killed you at least a dozen times by now. Surrender?"

An idea pops into my mind, and I smirk at Hawk who narrows his eyes. My arms twitch slightly. A growl rumbles in my throat as fur covers my body and I Blend myself into my dog form. Hawk jumps back to avoid my clawed swipe. He curses. I get to my paws. "What are you doing, Jay?"

"I believe it's called using your resources."

"B-but-." He sputters. I launch myself at him, knocking my brother to the floor. After a quick eye roll, Hawk Blends himself as well and we wrestle on the floor. I slash at his shoulder, carving a shallow wound. It'll be gone before tomorrow comes. He retaliates by tearing at the fur on my side. My jaws wrap around my brother's foreleg.

"Lily!" I hear someone shout. Hawk pushes me off him, and I willingly go. Sasha's sprinting to where Lily stands. I frown until I see her standing with a bow in her hands with an arrow drawn. A target's a little ways off. "Lily! Stop!" Sasha draws near, and Lily whirls around, the arrow clattering to the ground. In a fluid motion, Lily twists around, and the bow slams into the side of Sasha's face. I break into a run, Blending myself back to a human in the process.

"I-I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" Lily crouches by Sasha's side.

"Hey, what reflexes you've got. I swear I wasn't going to hurt you!" Sasha slowly sits up, a hand over her nose. A trail of blood runs from between her fingers. What happened? I frown.

"Sorry. I'm so sorry." Lily ducks her head.

"Seriously, it's fine."

"What happened? Why did you do that, Lily?" Hawk stalks up to us.

"I-I didn't mean to. I promise. It... It just happened." She's trembling, her eyes wide. I place a hand on her back. Lily draws in a shaky breath.

"Lily, don't worry about it. This happens. This is where we train, so if you expect to come here and not get injured, you're an idiot. I'll be back to normal in no time." Sasha smiles.

"Sasha, please go see Karla," Hawk murmurs. She nods and stands, walking through the doors.

"Now that she's gone, why did you do that? Why'd you hurt a member of The Loyal Order of Thorny Devils? Tell. Me." Hawk glares at Lily. Wowzers. He's not joking around.

"I-I promise I didn't mean to. I just... reacted."

"Lily, calm down. It's alright. I know it was an accident," I say.

"What's up with this I'm-so-terrified thing?" Hawk looks absolutely annoyed. No, beyond annoyed, but not in a seething sort of way.

"I... I-I drew the first drop of blood. I attacked first." Lily's trembling as she buries her face in her hands. I'd forgotten about that. At the Wasteland, she never fought anyone who hadn't attacked her first. Until they had drawn blood from her, she wouldn't attack.

"Calm down, Lily. It's alright," Hawk says.

"I didn't mean to. I slipped up. I'm sorry."

"I said it's alright. It didn't look that bad, just a lot of blood. Sasha will be fine."

We've just gotten to our feet when the alarm goes off.

Thank you for reading! Please comment and consider a vote! Sorry this chapter isn't longer. This was a good stopping place.

There's only one, maybe two, more chapters left in Jay's point of view, Raydowne!

What's the alarm for?

Why did Hawk get so mad when Lily accidentally hit Sasha with the bow?

Why do you think Lily doesn't have much hope for T-LOOT-D's attack on Guthrie Harper?

Thank you again for reading Blend the Light!

I'm a little sad that there's only one more part left in the story after the next chapter. Jay's point of view is nearly done.

-Werewolf14-