31st of Winter, 515
The boy glared up at the morning sky that hovered over the Pit. He breathed a stream of warm air into his cupped hands, still glaring. How dare the snow try to interrupt his plans. How dare it. The boy hated the stuff. Snow meant tracks that could easily be followed. Snow meant brightening the corners that would normally hold shadows. Snow meant cold fingers and cold toes and ruined plans.
The snow wasn’t going to ruin this plan.
Trudging through the thin white layer, Cor made his way through the fighters that dotted the pit. They were the more dedicated ones, everyone else being tucked away inside. The boy nearly turned back around, it was a toss up to whether the few that were there would mean he would be noticed more or less. It wouldn’t hurt if he just had a look. He didn’t need to follow through with his plan, but if he was at the weapon racks at least he could have a look for the fourth time that week.
One numb hand went into his coat pocket and the other reached out to feel along the blades. His fingers grazed the side of one sword and left him with the same disappointment. All of the weapons here were dulled. Still, a dull weapon was better than no weapon.
Just as he had previously, Cor was finally dragged to the row of daggers. They were the reason. One in particular always stood out to him and he imagined defending himself with such a weapon. His dreams were filled with him taking out armies of Knights with just the one dagger. If only he had a dagger then he would be unstoppable. The boy bit his lip and wrapped his fingers around the handle, lifting it for a better inspection. Sure, he could buy one. That was an option. Father’s visits were getting less frequent though and that meant the money with it. As much as he could go buy the most beautiful dagger he could find, it wouldn’t do much good if he and Pan went hungry. Gran could get a job, she’d be fine, but he needed more food than her. His fingers wrapped tighter around the dagger’s handle. It would be so easy to slip it into his coat, no one would suspect a boy just keeping his fingers warm inside his jacket.
Cor was snapped out of his thoughts as a voice spoke, obviously aimed at him. He nearly dropped the blade but managed to clumsily place it back down quickly as if it had grown a set of eyes.