A Real Dummy (Robyn)
@rae-hood
Ever since Humphrey had become a part of the Lost Ones, he had done his best to keep his distance. Yes, he had his assigned space, but he’d also made his own place in the nearby forest on the edges of the haven. He did it to keep himself comfortable, and also because he didn’t trust them. If they didn’t know him well, his hope was perhaps they wouldn’t sell him out to Pan. People still saw him, and the ones there for a long time probably knew his name, but he didn’t want to be seen as a weird kid or a threat. His goal was to be occasionally seen, but not noticed or heard. It was a risky thing to do, because if the haven was ever attacked he would be on his own. It was what he’d grown accustomed to, and during the time when everybody else was training to fight he usually knocked around his personal space.
Today was different though, because for the first time in a long while he wanted to make himself do something productive. Instead of missing Casey and writing letters, he wanted to do something towards his goal of finding a way off the island. A futile endeavor people told him, because the only way off was by Pan’s good graces...as if that existed. No, he wanted to talk to the native people here, maybe the pixies, and if he could manage it form an alliance or at least get information that could aid him in his goal. Humphrey didn’t know enough, and though it was dangerous to ask questions he needed to. Before he went asking though, he needed to learn how to fight. There were real dummies at the main camp, but he settled for making one himself. It wasn’t as good as what the camp had, just loose timber tied together by vines and propped up sandwiched between big rocks, but it was better than nothing.
Taking a dagger that was sharp on both sides, Humphrey gripped it awkwardly in his hands. This was one of the moral dilemmas he’d been struggling with, learning how to fight. He was not a person to take a life on a whim, and had always run or hid on the island when he’d encountered something dangerous before. Now, he knew that it was time to overcome his fear and learn how to defend himself, and how to hurt others. He knew that he was close to losing it at times here, but he wasn’t completely crazy. No, he was well aware that he wouldn’t get let off the island without fighting his way out. Pan didn’t let people go, he either broke you, you died, or you disappeared. The last was the scariest option, because he didn’t even want to contemplate what would happen if he was taken captive by the monstrous boy. Gripping the knife tighter, he slammed the dagger towards the midsection of the dummy.
Upon the moment of impact, the point of the dagger twisted and his knuckles ended up slamming into the dummy after his blade slid along it, barely scratching the old wood. His dagger dropped from his hands, and it cut a thin slice on his palm as it dropped to the forest floor. Humphrey stared at the blood for a moment before licking it clean and spitting out the blood. He grabbed a small piece of dead vine and tied it around his hand firmly to slow the bleeding, if not halt it, and picked up his knife again. Angry now, he once again thrust towards the dummy. This time he had the weight of his shoulder and body behind it as he stepped into it, and stabbed towards the stomach, knowing it would drive into it if the dagger struck true. For once, he felt confident that this would be a good strike. Confidence in himself was something he hadn’t felt in a long, long time, and it was thrilling to him.