Monologue Of A Boy Dialectical Journal

It's finally here, a year after the finale of the first book. Sorry it took so long. As it turns out, I'm not reliable like at all.

Two years have passed since Freeman attacked the Registry, and things have changed.

If you haven't yet, I strongly recommend you go read Book 1 - Collared or you will have no idea what is going on.

Light streaked in the heavens as the pair made their way carefully over the uncertain terrain. The boy's footing was surer than the girl's, though both made good time, both were used to the sort of scrambling required to move quickly over the rocky hills, wary of unseen holes that threatened to roll an ankle. The boy was ahead of the girl, moving swiftly, threatening to leave her behind, if only because
she had to watch him to know where it was they were going. Another fleck of light flicked across the night sky, mocking the stars that were moving so much slower.
"A wayward star." The boy whispered, not wanting to break the serenity, though it was loud enough for the girl to hear. "Falling from the heavens." She added, took a breath, and scrambled on after the boy. Breeze gently floated through the boy's feathery black hair, and it whipped more noticeably against the girl's thicker locks. This far out from the town, the night sky was full of vibrant stars, a blanket of luminescence. The hills they were climbing over were farther from town than most of the inhabitants would usually dare venture, but the twinkling windows of warm homes could be seen in the valley below. "Didn't know you were familiar with that saying." The boy stopped a moment, waiting for the girl to catch her breath. "You're the one who told me. Don't you remember?" The girl added with annoyance, brushing her hair out of her eyes, trying in vain to get it to stay behind her head. She didn't have any cloth to spare for a hair tie. "Did I?" He said, holding out a blue ribbon for the
girl. "Why the Hell did you have a ribbon in your pocket?" She asked, but she didn't pass up the opportunity. She snatched the ribbon with nimble fingers. The boy waited as she tied her hair into a ponytail. "Being prepared is important. That's my first lesson."
"I thought your first lesson was this enjoyable night time cross country." The girl said with a raised lip.
"My second lesson, then." He said. When the ponytail was tied up, he started scrambling again without delay. An exasperated sigh escaped the girl as she started following again. It wasn't cold outside, but it was cool enough to keep from working up too much of a sweat. The boy didn't seem to be winded as he scurried over the rocky grassland. Unable to see the ground clearly through the plants, the girl was moving slower than the boy, but she didn't stumble or struggle as she followed. "Can I ask yet where we're going?" She asked. "I don't want to spoil it." The boy said, and he continued on over the hills.
Yet another ray of light slipped silently across the dark sky. Whenever one of the shooting stars passed, the boy watched them with wonder, though he didn't stop moving. The stars' beauty was not lost on the girl either, but she didn't let the boy know that.
"If we don't get there soon, I'll take the jail cell, thank you very much." The girl complained. They were far out from the town, but she wasn't worried about Thralls or bandits. She didn't want to give the boy the smug satisfaction he was enjoying.
Strapped to the boy's belt was a sword sheath which was attached at a second point to his leg to keep it from bouncing as he ran. "If you want me to throw you in prison, just say the word." He said it with a smile. "I think what I'm giving you here is the better option."
"You're delusional. You're the self-appointed sheriff of a lawless town. Also, you're like twelve." The girl said. Delusional as he may have been, the boy had skills, and he would've been able to lock her up if he set his mind to it. Given the choice between waiting out the week in prison and seeing whatever it was the boy wanted to show her, she took the less restrictive option.
"Incorrect on all three counts. It's not self-appointed if the townspeople don't tell me to stop. The town isn't lawless, I'm the sheriff. Also, I'm not twelve, I'm just small for my age." The boy corrected her.
The girl nearly crashed into the boy as he came to a sudden halt.
Standing taller than him, she would've liked to say she could get away from him in a struggle, but he'd shown her his sword skills once before and she knew better. In the dim light, in the quiet night, the boy was hard to notice. He had a talent for making himself less perceptible. Bugs chirped, the wind in the leaves of the trees rustled, and water babbled innocently somewhere nearby. The girl stood with her hands on her hips, waiting for the boy to say something. When he didn't speak, she began to feel self-conscious.
"I stole food. Everyone in the Brink steals food." The girl said, defending her own actions.
"Not everyone. The town has me to keep an eye out for bandits like you." The boy said.
He was wearing a uniform that had been patched and repaired so much there likely wasn't any of the original uniform left. The boy had taken in the size to make sire it fit him as well. Despite the condition of the garment, it was easily recognizable as a vintage uniform of the Registered Military. A lovingly carved wooden badge was pinned to the boy's shirt declaring him as sheriff, and the girl couldn't help but wonder where he'd gotten it (and how much she could get selling it.)
"I'm not a bandit. I'm just a thief." It was an important distinction. Calling her a bandit implied she had friends, and she had none of those. On purpose.
"You can't just go around stealing whatever you want." The boy said, crossing his arms.
"And you can't just pretend you're some lawman. The only reason I haven't taken off yet is that you've got me curious." She said. "Registered Military uniform and a sword. Some pretend Collar like you, why do you stay here? You could go become an actual Collar at some Registry somewhere. Then you wouldn't be here to annoy me."
The boy looked up at the occasional bolts of light that flitted across the sky. "I've got things to take care of here. Besides," He put his hand on his sword hilt, "I don't need an Indicia to make me a good fighter."
Silhouetted against the starlight, hand on his sword hilt, gazing up at the sky, the boy appeared to be a statue.
"Forget I asked, I actually don't care. What are we doing out here?" The girl asked.
"I caught you stealing food. My town needs that food, we work hard to get it. I know things have been rough since the way, but it's in the past now. We weren't even alive when it all went down, so you can't blame everything on the war." The boy said.
"Tell that to my rumbling stomach. Our parents didn't exactly leave us a shining paradise." The girl remembered she still hadn't eaten on account of getting caught. Her stomach felt like it was eating itself.
"I understand that you don't have any better options. That's why I brought you out here, to give you one. I'm going to teach you how to get your own food." The boy said.
"How sweet of you." The girl faked a smile. "Stealing is, actually, more my thing. So if you don't mind." She turned around.
By the time she finished turning, the boy was in front of her with his sword drawn. He was smirking, waiting for her to give him an excuse.
"I don't agree with your methods, so you'll beat me with that stick until I get the picture?" She said.
Stick was the word she used because a stick was what it was. A wooden sword. If a Thrall attacked them, the girl would've been relieved because she could have run away while the boy tried to fight it with no magic and a blunt sword, and she would've lived while he died like an idiot. She had never met a Thrall she couldn't outrun.
"You know, normal people fight other people with guns, not swords." She said.
"If you threaten someone with a gun, the weapon itself backs you up. You don't need skill. To threaten someone with a sword, you have to be confident in your abilities." The boy explain.
"I'm confident that you're a weirdo." The girl said.
"I'm trying to help you. Tonight, I'll teach you how to fish." He gestured to the river he had brought them to.