The Forest

*2 months passed*

Zane was sitting in the round table with the other nine children. It was his second month in the orphanage

Natalie sat beside Zane and on his other side sat Bennett. Mick, Aidan and the other kids sat around the family like a big happy family. And Eva's voice came telling everyone to meet her at the practice room.

All the children gathered in the room with Eva sitting in the front table.

"Okay children, I am calling out your names and as I do, please come forward and take a seat",said Eva, opening her diary. "Helen, status, a gerfin "

Helen went forward and took a seat.

"Mick, status, a hender",Eva called out and Mick took a seat beside Helen.

"Bennett, status, a gwentus. Alice, status,a perfa. Derek, status, a zawen. Laurel, status, a qirpelt. Aidan, status, a cozentrer. Emily, status, an aviatell.",said Eva with a glint of pride in her eyes.

Then she took out a sheet and half-heartedly sighed,"Zane, status,unknown. Natalie, status, unknown"

Zane and Natalie gave a big smile that seemed completely irrelevant keeping in mind the look Eva gave them.

Zane and Natalie of course knew what they were but they just didn't feel like it was the right time to announce that they were not only supernatural beings but also not from this very planet.

"So children, today we are going to begin our training in an extraordinary manner. Choose a partner and we shall begin",said Eva

Naturally Zane chose Natalie.

Helen paired with Bennett, Alice with Mick, Aidan with Laurel and Emily with Derek.

Eva took out five black bracelets and handed each pair one.

"Now,what you need to do is.....every girl is going to wear the bracelet and then, the boy is going to hold her hand. And, you are going to experience a stimulation. All of you are going to feel like you are in some other place. You will see things, although they are not really happening, it's a part of training. I will be able to see what you are seeing and doing in the stimulation and attention if you die in the stimulation, you will come back to reality and if you do, then you lose. You can not die before completing the mission."

"And what is the mission?",asked Derek

"Ah you'll see!",said Eva. "wear your bracelets girls! And boys hold the hands of your partner so that we may begin!"

The kids obliged and the males held the hands of their respective female partners.

All of them closed their eyes. Zane sighed and closed his too. When he opened them, he wasn't in the room with others. He was somewhere else. It was a forest. Natalie stood beside him and looked at him questionably.

"Where are we?",she asked

"I don't know",said Zane."This place doesn't look familiar to me"

Suddenly a piercing voice came,"Natalie and Zane, unidentified. You two need to get the yellow flags from inside the forest. There are two yellow flags deep inside the forest where horrific creatures live. You will go, rescue the flags and then, the flags will give you further directions. Try not to die, because if you die, you lose. You will be marked on your performance as to how you both overcome your dangers and how you work as a team. Good luck. You'll need it"

The voice subsided.

"And how do we know which way we are supposed to go?",asked Natalie.

As if to answer her question, a sign sprang up, which read,'Go left and keep going left'

"What sort of an instruction is that?",asked Zane

"Can't we get something more precise please?",shouted Natalie to no one in particular. But, unfortunately, this time, no signs sprang up or voice boomed.

"Let's go left then",said Zane, taking a turn. And Natalie followed.

They were mostly quiet the whole way until Zane stopped.

"What happened?",asked Natalie

Zane put a finger to his lips and mouthed,"Someone is here with us"

Natalie stopped walking a looked around carefully.

"I see no one",she whispered and suddenly a giant lion jumped forwards.

It was huge and left both Zane and Natalie mortified.

The lion roared and slowly paced towards them. Zane had the most horrible urge to transform into a wolf and just run, but he knew that if he did, Eva was watching him and she would know what he was. No, he wasn't ready to reveal himself yet. He felt Natalie's claws against his arm, as if she was transforming.

"Don't do it",said Zane.

For some reason Natalie obeyed. The lion seemed to be enjoying their fears. Feasting on them.

Zane couldn't come up with a plan so fast. He looked at Natalie with pleading eyes, for help. She gave him a I-got-this look.

Natalie let go of Zane's arm and shouted,"Hey big cat! Here!"

And she walked fast backwards in the other direction.

"What are you doin'?!",shouted Zane

The lion growled and pawed towards Natalie now. Natalie glared at Zane, warning him to run.

Zane shook his head and mouthed,"No!"

She looked straight into the lion's eyes and shouted to Zane,"I SAID GO! I KNOW HOW TO HANDLE THIS! JUST GO A LITTLE FURTHER LEFT AND WAIT FOR ME! "

Zane didn't want to leave her but she insisted, very fiercely.

Zane backed off and went towards the left side of the forest, but not too far away. He waited for her, it was about ten minutes when Natalie showed up.

Zane gasped and ran towards her and shouted,"DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN NATALIE SINCLAIR!!"

She was smiling.

"What are you smiling at ?",asked Zane

"That was fun!", declared Natalie.

"EXCUSE ME?!",shouted Zane."Which part of it was FUN actually?!"

"The part where I fought the lion!",said Natalie smirking.

"You what?....A lion?..."

Natalie nodded.

"But....but we don't have that much strength yet, how could you have-?!"

"Look, not everything is about strength Zane. Strength is overrated.",said Natalie, walking onwards.

"But then how did you do it?",asked Zane

"I will teach you, one day..."said Natalie, enjoying herself

Zane sighed dramatically and said,"Will you ever stop being so goddamn mysterious?!"

Natalie laughed and walked on ahead.

As they walked on, something moved behind them. They both turned around and saw a wisp of smoke, it felt uneasy but they approached it with caution.

"What's that?",asked Zane

Natalie shrugged, suddenly the wisp of smoke darkened

Natalie stared and gasped and shouted,"NO!"

"Hey, Natalie! What happened?", Zane said, holding her as she fell.

Zane didn't see anything but it seemed that Natalie saw something and she kept gasping for air.

"NATALIE?! ITS OKAY! WHAT HAPPENED?!",asked Zane

A drop of tear escaped her eyes. She wept and whispered,"Promise you'll never give up on me! Please"

Zane shook his head and said,"What made you think that?! Why would I give up on you?! You are my best and only friend!"

Natalie shook her head and said,"You don't know"

"I don't know what?!",shouted Zane.

"I saw something in that wisp", confessed Natalie."You didn't see that?!"

"No I didn't see anything, and Natalie don't believe anything you see here, it's just an illusion, messing with your head! Don't let it get in your head!",said Zane

Natalie tried to look confident and nodded.

She stood up and Zane asked,"What did you see?"

She hesitated and said,"Nothing...I- ummm...you said it yourself , it's just an illusion, don't worry about it. I just panicked."

Zane nodded but he kept an eye on her.

A familiar voice boomed,"So, Zane and Natalie, congratulations, you two failed. We have the winner . You two are the farthest away from the flags, which means you two lost. So, close your eyes I am going to bring you back. "

And they both were zapped back to reality.