A/N: I think this story needs a little in way of explanation. This isn't one of my typical stories that I've posted here in that I haven't editted it for content or grammar. I'm going to be posting it as I go along, but if you see anything that needs fixing, feel free to point it out to me. This is basically a story for NaNoWriMo so the entire flow is going to be different than what I have done before since I only have a month to get it past 50,000 words. There won't be any chapters per se, but I will try to wrap things up as best I can with each update to make it easier to read. With that said, I hope you give it a read and leave a review letting me know what you think. It's fun to let the characters completely hijack a story every now and then and that's what I'm doing with this one. It'll be interesting to see what comes of it.

Faye

Faye looked around the practice room with a repressed sigh as more and more male participants strolled in and gathered along the far wall of the long and relatively narrow room, sticking together as if they’d been born brothers which in many ways was likely how they saw themselves. The whole point of such a position in the room was to be as far away from her as possible. To them, she didn’t belong and that automatically made her an outcast from their little coalition of maleness, not that she cared. She’d been alone too long to give a rip about what a bunch of men thought about her.

She shifted her gaze away from them group as she drew her long blonde hair back and knotted it into a braid to make sure that it stayed out of her way for the duration of the class. No point giving the guys any more reason to criticize her than they already had. With her hair taken care of, she began to run through a series of warm ups and stretches to prep herself for what was bound to be a strenuous class. Faye knew she was likely in the best shape of her life, the whole twenty-three odd years, but it never hurt to be prepared. There was no point in causing herself an injury because she’d been too vain to stretch in front of the others. She finished her set after a few moments and plopped down on the wooden floorboards to wait for the rest of the class and the instructors to gather.

Faye noticed a couple of the men on the other side of the room eying her and returned their lewd gazes with and offending gesture and a narrowing of her bright blue eyes. They seemed surprised by her straightforward response and quickly turned away, but Faye knew that that wasn’t going to be the end of it. Where women were concerned, guys never gave up. However, the threat of further pursuit was eliminated for the moment when the instructors waltzed into the room a few minutes later with an air of ultimate self-importance. Faye jumped to her feet and gave them a bow as custom demanded as the others spread out into lines within the long room, but even then, they were careful not to get to close to the ‘girl’. Faye ignored the exclusion and focused her attention on the teachers as they began to explain the goals for the day’s class.

They were to work swords. The instructors handed out a wooden practice weapon to every member of the class, giving the last and most decrepit weapon to Faye on the account of the fact that she was, you guessed it, a girl. Faye ignored the discrimination just as she had ignored the men before and settled herself into a fighting stance. From there, she ran through the forms that the instructors had just taught them and committed them to memory. It was impossible to know when such skills would be necessary. The world around them was no longer as safe as it once had been, and even women had to right to learn how to defend themselves as far as she was concerned. It wasn’t right for a girl to have to rely on a man, her man, for protection on account of her gender. In fact, Faye was almost positive that she could best almost every man in the room in a fair fight. She didn’t need anyone to protect her. She contented herself with running through the forms a couple more times and drove away the thoughts that had come to single her out in a world dominated by men who believed they were nothing short of gods.

It wasn’t long before the instructors ordered them to break off into pairs for sparring. There was much more to a weapon than forms—practical use was by far more important than looking graceful, though such fluid motion often developed when one was handy enough with a particular weapon. Faye dropped the tip of her wooden sword to the floor and watched as the men gathered in the middle of the room and proceeded to bicker amongst one another. They looked like a bunch of old ladies fighting over nothing, and the comparison brought a smile to Faye’s lips even though she knew their squabbling was about her. Their masculinity was being challenged by the fact that one of them was going to have to fight a girl. Oh heaven forbid!

About five minutes of such pointless action ensued before finally one of the instructors stepped up and issued what appeared to be an executive order. He pointed his practice sword at one of the guys gathered and directed him to take up his fighting stance opposite of Faye. The lucky guy didn’t look at all pleased with the decision, but he knew better than to argue with the instructors because in the past, such an argument had led to a deadly fight. The instructors at the school answered to no one but themselves.

Faye smiled at the man as he approached and got a cold glare in response. She shook her head in amusement when she saw that it was one of the guys who had eyed her earlier; it looked like he was going to get what he deserved after all. “The name’s Faye,” she said in way of introduction and extended a hand towards the black haired man.

He narrowed his green eyes at Faye and swatted her hand away. “Shouldn’t you be at some finishing school or something?” he inquired.

Faye just smiled and shook her head. “I don’t see why. There’s no point to such a place,” she replied easily, use to such questions. She’d been traveling down a seldom traveled path for the last five years of her life and many people had tried to dissuade her, including her father, though she didn’t much care about what he thought; he was a genuine asshole.

“There’s plenty of point. Women don’t belong here—you should be doing things that women do, not fighting.”

Faye drew the line there. She lifted her practice weapon and settled the point of the wooden blade against the hollow of his throat. “I think that women can do whatever they damn well please. We have just as much right to learn about the government of Lügen and fighting as any man,” she countered hotly. Even if she was use to the abuse, she still had yet to learn to take it lying down. She was made for confrontation.

The man snorted back a laugh and shoved her sword away with a broad sweep of his own weapon. “You’ll learn eventually, I suppose,” he commented and dropped into a fighting stance. “Let’s just get this show over with.”

Faye glared at him, completely unsatisfied with where their conversation had ended, but there were other ways to prove a point. She adjusted her position and went on the attack, determined to best him in this match and show him that women had every right to be a member of society. He blocked her attack with a quick counterstrike and moved in for a blow to her bare midsection. Faye dodged and swept her sword around her back, catching his wooden blade in the process. While his weapon was otherwise occupied, she turned back around and landed a swift but powerful kick at his bare torso. The man grunted and lowered his weapon, shooting daggers at her with his green eyes.

“Have I won the right to your name yet?” Faye asked coldly as she lowered her own weapon.

The man continued to glare at her but after a moment he gave her the smallest of nods. “I’m Tanner.”

“How nice of you to share,” Faye spat and turned away. She’d had enough of this chauvinistic attitude for one day, though she knew when the school started up in earnest she was going to have to deal with it on a daily basis and in an increased intensity.

Tanner wasn’t going to leave things at that. He was not about to let himself be embarrassed by a girl. He rushed forward towards her receding back and raised his wooden sword to strike her across the shoulders. He knew hitting her there wouldn’t cause any damage, but it would serve to prove that he was the stronger one and that she didn’t belong. He had no idea how she had gotten admitted into the school, but he knew it was up to him and the other guys to get her out. Tanner’s sword was scant inches from making contact with Faye’s shoulders, when the girl spun around with her own weapon up in a high block. The blow was deflected with ease and Tanner once again dropped his sword in surprise. “How the hell did you do that?”

Faye flashed him a thin smile and sidled up next to him, leaving only inches between them. “I’ve been working on my fighting skills since I was young, Tanner. And better yet, my mother taught me,” she informed him.

Tanner leaned away from her in disbelief. It took a moment for him to find the words to counter her latest statement. “That doesn’t change a thing. You being able to fight just proves how crazy you are. You can’t just come in here and show off and expect our approval,” Tanner returned and ran his eyes over her clothing. All she had on was a tight top that stopped just below her ribcage, a lost pair of pants, and a soft soled shoe.

Faye stepped back in consternation and looked at Tanner’s trim figure. “As if you’re one to talk. You don’t even have a shirt on!” she cried in response. She wasn’t going to take this—it was time someone fought back against the tyranny of men and the horror of a government in Lügen.

“I’m a man,” Tanner said as if that was the only answer necessary.

Faye laughed and threw her practice sword to the side. “I can see that, but that doesn’t give you any right to criticize me or what I do,” she retorted and stormed across the room. She paused at the door just long enough to give the required bow and then hurried out of the building and down one of the side streets to avoid attention; it wouldn’t do to cause a riot when she was alone. She didn’t want to end up dead; she only wanted a better life than what she currently had which wasn’t much of a life at all. Living in the shadow of all men coupled with the already oppressive atmosphere of Lügen was enough to drive anyone crazy; Faye was just the only woman who seemed willing to do anything about it. If a person didn’t act, how the hell could they expect anything to change?