Day 1: We are stuck in a forest

November 24th, Amazon Rainforest, 9 pm

Sitting down on the wet ground, stuck in an unknown forest in an unknown location with the only way out of here destroyed and having to listen to five people yelling at each other and cursing their luck and the world, in general, was not how Cleandro had imagined the meeting would end.

''We have to get out of here! We can't live here!'' the older woman said to the others for the tenth time. Her features were calm but the tone of her voice betrayed the panic she was feeling, and justifiably so.

''You already said that Hyun! Do you have a way out of here?'' Alejandro asked the woman, now running his hands through his hair and looking around the dark forest.

''Oh mon Dieu, nous allons mourir!'' Corneille said and all eyes turned to him. He had fallen down, a few ways behind the group, back against a tree. He was trying to get up but was gasping too much, his labored breathing the only loud sound in the clearing. He was trying to get up but his entire body was shaking, along with his hands which were trying to push him upwards so he could stand on his feet but he kept failing, and he kept falling, hands scraped from the rough earth. With a startling realization, Cleandro understood that the kid was well on his way towards a panic attack, mumbling in French. ''C'est de ma faute! J'ai fermé le portail et maintenant nous sommes coincés ici sans issue!''

Everyone looked at the younger boy with a panicked look themselves, except Ezra whose face seemed to always be calm, and looked at each other with uncertainty. They didn't know the kid well enough to know how to deal with his panic attacks but they couldn't let him alone and just ignore him. Without another word, Alejandro took a deep breath, pointed at himself and slowly but surely approached the other.

''Corneille,'' he said with a steady voice and raised his hands in a non-threatening way yet the called upon man didn't seem to respond, ''We are safe and so are you. If you hadn't closed the portal they would have followed us out and we would be forced to fight and probably kill in order to protect ourselves. You did good,'' he continued. The labored breathing of Corneille seemed to calm down but it was not safe yet.

''That's it. Deep breaths. With me. In,'' he said and took a deep breath waiting till the other did the same, ''Out,'' he said and exhaled. They continued this exercise for a couple of minutes until Corneille relaxed. ''Good job. You did great and no one here holds you responsible okay?'' he asked him once he saw him raise his head and look at them. Alejandro smiled and Corneille offered a watery and tentative one in return.

''Good boy. Need a hug or something?'' the older man asked the younger and again Corneille nodded shyly. Alejandro didn't say anything and walked slowly towards Corneille, sat down next to him and let the other latch to his side. The younger sighed in content and buried his head to the older's chest before slowly he relaxed further. Not long after, his breath evened and he fell asleep.

Cleandro looked at all of this with a puzzled expression. He didn't know that Alejandro knew how to calm down someone having a panic attack but it appeared he did. With a sigh, he tore his eyes from the other two and turned to look at his other companions. They were all looking at the duo with different expressions on their faces, some with puzzlement like himself, others with exasperation and annoyance and Hyun was looking at them with a soft smile.

''Okay, we avoided a crisis but we still have a problem we have to deal with here.'' Ezra said with his distinct British accent, voice a little tight. He was right of course since they were still trapped in a forest God knows where.

''Izara,'' Hyun said and turned to look at the temperamental woman, ''can you maybe use your abilities to at least identify the forest and then see where we are?'' she asked.

Everyone turned to look at Izara whose hair looked frizzier than ever. The glowing of her eyes had died down to their normal brown color. She looked at Hyun and with a nod put a hand down on the Earth and her palm along with the place surrounding it glowed a faint green before dying out. When it did, Izara opened her eyes which were filled with disbelief, anger and slight panic.

''We are at the fucking Amazon!'' she yelled once again. Her scream echoed around the forest and in Cleandro's mind.

The Amazon?! Like the rainforest? Like, half-a-world-away Amazon? Cleandro ran his hand through his hair and looked at the others panicked. It seemed like that emotion was running rather high tonight amongst them.

''The Amazon?!'' asked Ezra looking at the girl with disbelief in his eyes.

''Yes, the fucking Amazon. I scanned the area and some of the plants that I recognized grow only in the center of the forest.'' Getting up, she groaned and looked at the others. ''What do we do now?'' she asked, voice tight and eyes wide.

''First of all, we do not panic. We must remain calm and reasonable.'' Cleandro said, trying to keep the others from spiraling down. He knew that they were in a shitty and one in a million kind of situation but worry and panic would not get them anywhere.

''Not panic?! I don't know if you heard but we are in the fucking Amazon!'' Izara said and turned furious eyes towards him.

''And by panicking we are doing what? We must remain calm and with a clear head if we ever hope to find a solution to this,'' he replied to her and threw a glare of his own towards the girl. He could understand their emotions and what they were feeling - as he was feeling them himself - but he was not going to accept being some kind of punching bag for her relief.

''Cleandro is right Izara,'' Hyun said and sighed. Sitting down cross-legged, she ran her hands through the long black hair.

''Okay, let's assess the situation we are in.'' Ezra said and started walking around them, ''We are stranded in a forest halfway across the world with no form of communication or transportation. We have no food, no water, nothing to sleep on, and sitting here like this and making noise may attract wild animals,'' he continued, finger on his lip tapping it before stopping and then starting again in what seemed like a pattern. His short black hair was askew, his clothes were dirty and what seemed like expensive shoes ruined, ''We have to find an area where we will be protected from the wildlife here and a source of clear water immediately. Food can wait since the human body can survive for weeks without it. Water is essential though and it must become our priority.'' he finished and turned to look at them.

Cleandro and everyone else was looking at him with astonishment. Cleandro thought that Ezra preferred the shadows and would rather let someone else lead. However, it seemed that the first assumption was not correct.

''Correct,'' Hyun said and looked around her so she could see everyone. Alejandro and Corneille were still leaning on the tree, with the older man having wrapped his arm around the sleeping boy who was resting on his side. Hyun was sitting on the ground a few meters in front of the duo, Izara and Ezra standing near each other and Cleandro sitting across from Hyun, ''We are exposed like this and we did not escape from there only to be eaten by the wild animals of the Amazon. We need to find shelter, water, and food. Preferably in that order.''

"This was not how I thought my day was going to go when I came to that meeting this afternoon." Alejandro groaned as he tried to untangle himself from the small French without jolting him. When he managed, he got up and stretched the bones in his body popping.

Truth be told, Cleandro himself didn't think that they would end up here when he got the letter to participate in this little rebellion. Being hunted like a common criminal, almost killed and then thrown to the middle of a forest with no ways of communication or a way out of this situation, was not something he thought possible when he woke up and went to the meeting this morning but here they all were and they would have to deal with the situation.

"I suggest we split up. We will cover more ground that way and we will be able to search for food, shelter, and water faster." Ezra suggested and all eyes turned to him, incredulous looks on their faces.

"You can't be serious. If we split up, we are going to be eaten alive pal. No, we stick together.'' Alejandro said firmly with a glare being directed towards the British man.

"Listen old man, I know that splitting up in this situation may not seem ideal but we have to cover some ground. Plus, smaller groups would be way more agile and quiet than 6 of us running around, taking and stomping our way around.'' Ezra defended, arms crossed.

"Ezra is right Alex," Hyun admitted with a sigh. Getting up, she dusted her pants and walked towards the older man. They talked for a few seconds, their conversation in hushed whispers and frantic hand movements. In the end, though, it seemed that Hyun won whatever argument they were having since Alejandro was seen seething and pouting at the same time, which was quite impressive if he said so himself.

''We will split up. Izara and I will go search for some food, while Alex tries to wake Corneille up and see if he can at least conjure up a dimension pocket,'' Hyun said as she was walking towards the rest of the group while Alejandro was moving towards the sleeping boy, "Cleandro and Ezra will go and maybe try to find some drinkable water. If any animals attack, run and if you can't only then you will go in the offense,'' she looked at each one of them, getting nods in return before turning her head towards Izara and soon after, both of them left.

Cleandro got up and moved towards Ezra who seemed to be as tense as he was in the meeting, maybe even more but he hid it well enough. Cleandro only saw it because of his numerous experiences with people. Besides, he couldn't really blame the guy, given their predicament but he really ought to relax sometimes.

''Come on, let's go.'' Ezra said, voice deep and tight. Turning around, he started walking ahead of him, not even waiting for Cleandro to catch up. With a roll of his eyes, he took out his phone and turned on the flashlight. He checked to see if there was any signal but it was a lost cause, as he had thought. With a sigh, he followed behind Ezra who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What? How do you plan to see in this pitch-black darkness?'' Cleandro asked but was not graced with an answer. Ezra turned around and started walking again, Cleandro catching up with him so they were side to side now looking for a stream or a river. Hell, at this point a lake would be nice.

It was a silent walk but not at the least a relaxed one. Both of them were on edge, looking and preparing for any attack that might come. Ezra didn't really seem like the type to talk much, no matter how many times Cleandro tried to start a conversation, Ezra would either shut him down or straight up ignore him. After a while, he stopped trying.

Time ticked by, the only thing signaling the passing of it was the ticking that was coming from Ezra's watch. For some reason, it was a calming sound and it soothed him, hearing something besides the whistle of the leaves or their own footsteps. The night was too quiet for comfort and danger was everywhere.

As they traveled deeper into the forest, the feeling of dread and danger became even more prominent. Spooked out, he took a step closer to the other male which earned him a scoff and something mumbled. Cleandro chose to ignore it and instead focus on the sounds of the forest. Some owls were hooting, leaves rustling, running water, the crunching of dried leaves under their shoes... running water. He could hear water!

Stopping in his tracks, he grabbed the trenchcoat the other was wearing.

''I hear running water. Don't you?'' he asked and pointed towards the direction he heard the sound. Ezra frowned and looked towards that direction the other was pointing and shook his head. He guessed that it was not as loud and maybe that's why the other didn't pick it up, ''Come on. From the sounds of it, it is probably a waterfall.'' Cleandro said and pulled the other towards the sound.

''I can walk fine by myself, I don't need to be dragged along,'' Ezra said, voice full of disdain, and pulled his hand away, tucking it inside the pockets of his coat. He straightened his back and looked ahead, but not before throwing a glare towards Cleandro.

''I'm trying to show you the way and keep us together man. Try to relax a bit.'' Cleandro replied, starting to get a bit annoyed with the others' whole attitude but he couldn't start a fight with him now. It was not the time nor the place.

"Relax. Of course! Like we are not in a forest with so many animals that could kill us and eat us for dinner. Maybe you should start taking the situation more seriously!'' Ezra turned to Cleandro to look at him, a heated glare already present on his features. The only expression he has seen on his face was annoyance since he met the guy. His body was pulled taut like a string. oozing annoyance and tension. Cleandro could sympathize but this attack is completely unnecessary.

''Okay, listen here. I know the situation is far from ideal and that we are all tired, scared, and pretty annoyed but that doesn't mean that you can take out your frustration on me! I am taking the situation as seriously as everyone else and for you to imply that I don't is-'' a hand was placed on his mouth and another pulled him down, his phone falling on the ground, hiding the bright light of the flashlight.

''Be quiet. God, you talk a lot.'' Ezra said from next to him. He had pulled him down on the ground, behind a big bush. He still had his hand over his mouth but he wasn't looking at him, rather over the bush. From what he could make out, they had arrived at their destination as the sound of rushing water was louder.

Cleandro pushed the other's hand away from his mouth and turned to look over the bush as well, trying to see what was so interesting. When he saw, he really wish he hadn't but now he understood why the sudden game of hide.

There, lapping water from the stream that was created was a black jaguar, so dark that if it wasn't for the streak of moonlight that fell through the trees, he wouldn't have seen it. It didn't seem to have noticed them as it was drinking the water from the stream relaxed.

"What are we going to do?" he asked quitely, voice as low as he could make it. Ezra threw him a glance and raised his finger to his lips, a universal sign to be quiet with a glare. Cleandro furrowed his eyebrows and showed him the bird with a glare of his own.

Ezra rolled his eyes and turned to look at the jaguar. Soon after, his eyes started glowing faintly and the other realized that he was using his magic.

Turning his eyes back to the jaguar, only to hear it yelp and whine, licking at its pawn and slowly leaving the clearing with a limp. Cleandro turned furious eyes at Ezra, whose eyes had stopped glowing, and smacked him on the shoulder.

"You did not just hurt that animal!" Cleandro said, still quietly as to not alert any more vicious predators their way but the tone of his voice clearly showed his anger.

"Not deadly, relax. I just gave it a minor cramp." the black haired man answered back as he stood up and started walking towards the stream, again ignoring him and walking on his own.

Cleandro swallowed a frustrated growl and snatched his phone, turning off the flashlight and marching towards Ezra. The man was seriously getting on his nerves, acting all high and mighty, like he was above everyone else. At the meeting he didn't give him too much thought as they were all together but now that he was experiencing the entirety of his attitude, it was starting to bother him a lot.

"That does not mean you have the right to injure a helpless animal! It was just drinking some water. It didn't even know we were here!" Cleandro continued, not letting out.

"That helpless animal would have torn us to shreds the moment it saw us with no remorse. You should feel grateful." Ezra answered back, not gracing him with a look. Just with the sight of his back. Cleandro bit his lip and took a deep breath, deciding to relent. For now at least.

After they had collected the water in a flask Ezra had and an empty water bottle Cleandro had in his pocket, they made their way back to the place they had landed. Again, in silence. Cleandro was still a little bit mad at the other so he didn't speak to him and Ezra simply didn't care enough to start a conversation. Yet, when they arrived at the place where they had arrived, Alejandro and Corneille were not there.

They were alone.