And just so it's not as confusing (hopefully), the spaces between lines are actually supposed to be indents.
Comments are welcome! Any input would be appreciated.
-----------------------------------------------------“Any last words?”
“Actually, yes.” Justis knocked the man’s arm away, sending the knife to the ground and catching him off guard. He sent a fist into the man’s jaw, then pulled out his gun.
“You should always keep your guard up.” He leveled the gun at the man and pulled back the hammer.
“Justis, wait!”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a young woman running toward him, her dark brown hair streaming behind her.
“Arias, stay out of this.” He kept his gun trained on the man’s chest.
“Don’t shoot him.” She pushed his hand down, still breathless from running.
He pulled his hand away and pointed the gun at the man again. “Arias, I can’t let him get away with this.”
She grabbed his shoulders and turned him to face her. “You can’t just go around killing people like this. It isn‘t right!”
“Lots of things aren’t right, but they happen anyway! Arias, you don’t have to tell me what’s right and what isn’t. I know what’s right! But you know what? People don’t accomplish things by doing what’s right. Things only get done when you worry about what needs done and not what’s right. Does the king do what’s right? No. People who are cruel to others are the only ones who ever accomplish anything. I’m not trying to be cruel, but I also don’t have time to stop before every move and ask myself if it’s right!”
“It may not seem like it, but the people who do what’s right are the ones that live happy lives. Do you think the king has a pleasant life, ordering people around like this? No, because he always has to watch his back. People are constantly plotting to kill him.”
“You know what? I hope someone succeeds. I hope he dies in the most painful way possible.”
“Justis--”
Before she could finish, Justis pushed her out of the way and blocked the knife aimed for him. The other man had picked the knife up while Arias and Justis were yelling at each other, and had tried to catch Justis off guard. However, Justis was always wary of his surroundings. He wrestled the man to the ground and managed to smash the man’s hand on a rock, causing him to drop the knife. Justis quickly grabbed the knife and stood up. He put the knife in his belt and once again pointed his gun at the other man. Before Arias could stop him, he pulled the trigger, and the man’s body went limp. Arias screamed. Justis looked very satisfied as the smoke cleared. He put the gun in his belt alongside the knife, then turned back to Arias. He saw her running back toward the village, and ran after her. Catching up to her, her grabbed her arm and spun her around.
“Arias, what’s wrong?”
“You just killed that man in cold blood!” She was in tears, and didn’t really want to argue with Justis right then.
“You saw him try to kill me. There was nothing else I could do!”
“Oh, so that’s your excuse now, is it?”
“Arias, please. It had to be done.”
“Why? Yes, the king is cruel. But why did you have to kill that man?”
“Because he works for the king. He helps that cruel man oppress us.”
“That isn’t a good enough reason.”
“Well what kind of reason do you want? You don’t understand my motives anyway, so I don’t see why I should waste my time trying to convince you that I’m right!”
“You can’t convince me you’re right because you aren’t. There are better ways to settle things than to go around killing people.”
“Like what? Walk up to them and say they are being unkind? All that’s going to get me is an early death.”
“You’re impossible.” She turned to walk off.
“You know,” he called after her, “you are one of the strangest women I have ever met.” He smiled to himself as she stopped.
“And why is that?” she asked without turning to look at him. When she heard no reply, she turned to see him gone. She started to walk toward the village again when she ran straight into him.
“No particular reason.” He grinned, almost tauntingly. She knew she wasn’t going to get an answer out of him.
She pushed him away, then stormed off. He laughed as he watched her go. She was so easy to tease.
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