Frozen Plans

SHADE's POV

Tomas crouched behind a big Kwex Blackhaw tree, inspecting the ground. He trailed his fingers across the mud and rubbed a sample between his thumb and index finger.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"My family comes from a generation of hunters. They used to live among the wildlife in the jungles and knew how to detect animal tracks," Tomas said, brushing the loose soil off his pants.

"We aren't looking for animals. We are looking for our enemies and their base." My head swung in the direction of a scuffle I heard in the trees behind me.

"My abuela was a ferocious hunter," Tomas continued. Was that guy ignoring me? The 'Onzud'? "She taught me her tricks of the trade. Would always tell me that I had good ears. And that skill was very important for a hunter."

"Look, that's great and everything, but we don't have the time to talk about your grandmother, Tomas. Why don't we split up and find them. I'll go left and you go right, alright?" Shaking my head, I took the step to head towards my designated path.

"You're going the wrong way," Tomas stated.

"And how would you know that?" I was beginning to get irritated. And he wouldn't like me, irritated.

"The tracks. Just like animals, humans leave tracks. The mud showed me they walked towards the right," Tomas pointed to the light imprints of shoes on the ground. "Also, there are these insects that are traveling away from that path. These insects are bush damselflies. They flee when people are around them. And the last thing, I can hear thuds of footsteps on my right. It's not loud. A lot of people can't hear them. But I have good ears." Tomas smiled slowly before heading to the right path. "Come on, let's go."

Revisiting his facts, it might've seemed Tomas was right. Maybe, he wasn't just a brawny kid with no brains. Maybe, I should stop reading those jévon books Lexin keeps throwing my way. Following Tomas, I looked around. I had heard another scuffle in the trees, leading away from our path. Were we going on the right course?

I halted mid-step and crouched and re-inspected Tomas's 'track' notions and realized there was something off about it. "Hey, don't you think these tracks are too prominent?"

Tomas lifted a brow and crouched down beside me. Trailing his gaze at the road, he shook his head. "I don't think so. The mud is quite loose around the edges. It means they were in a rush. Like they were jogging. The pattern of the shoe size is around 8 to 8.5 inches with extra grip. Which usually leads to the rough edges," he said with confidence.

I stared at him in disbelief. How did he know so much about all this? And it wasn't surely because of his 'hunter' skills. Clearly understanding my confusion, he grinned sheepishly. "I watch a lot of crime procedural shows. My grandaunt was a cop back on Earth. I have watched almost all the seasons of Law and Order."

"I have no idea what you're talking about but you did mention something that may be of value," I said. "You said the shoe size is around 8 to 8.5, am I right?" Tomas nodded slowly. "Hyrad is a tracker. She uses her tracking abilities to create traps. Do you know anything about the other jév- I mean, other humans? Hayden and Meryam?"

"Not much. Hayden was a star basketball player at our school. It's a sport that is a lot like Demohoop. He's very athletic. His family were once very rich because they ran a business that sold home-security equipment. And Meryam, other than she is very reserved and rooms with Sumi, she's a gold medalist swimmer. Her skills in any water body are killer."

"Both of them are athletes?" That's odd. "What about others?"

"What do you mean?"

"The other humans?" I asked, hoping to confirm my suspicions.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious to know about my teammates and the enemies," I said confidently, hoping he would catch the bait.

Tomas stared at me for a minute or two before shrugging. "Well, you already know about Hayden and Meryam. And that I'm amazing at shotput. However, Nyla wasn't a part of any team. Though she was an excellent gymnast. Mostly an individual sport. Like mine. Same goes with Avery. Much to their dismay, they couldn't afford to have their own gymnastic team, so they were forced to join the cheerleading group."

"What is a cheerleading group?" I asked.

Tomas chuckled. "It's a group of girls, and sometimes boys, who cheer for the school's sports team, motivate the players, and entertain the audience who are watching."

"That's utterly derogatory and quite insulting to the women," I stated. "In short, all of you are athletes?"

"Kind of. Daxton isn't an athletic sports guy. He's more brains. He's an exceptional chess player. And Erik is a douche." Tomas concluded.

"A douche? What sport is that?" I frowned. I had never heard of that before. "Was it a very niche-kind of sport?"

"No, it isn't." Tomas smiled sheepishly. "I was referring to his personality. I hate that he's my roommate."

"I see." I scratched my nape.

"What about you?" Tomas asked as he stood up and stretched his back.

"Me?"

"Yeah. I know about your Nalins. They're your power source. You said Hyrad is a tracker. If you're going to know about us, it's right we know about you too, don't you think?" Tomas quirked up a smile.

I was right. He was definitely not stupid. "Yes, she is a tracker. Her Nalin is her nose. She can track people with their scent. And once she has got a whiff of it, she can track them anywhere and at any time. That's why I left Caseena with Nyla. Caseena's ability is to evade her own tracks. Perfect counter-attack to Hyrad."

"And Zerakh?"

Before I could answer Tomas's question, I sensed a rock being pelted our way. Tomas, with his innate hearing skills, heard the whirling rock coming towards us and dodged it while I ducked down. The rock knocked on the tree bark and fell on the ground. I observed the line of trees in front of me and zeroed in at the man lurking behind, trying to conceal himself.

"Come out, human," I hollered. Tomas pursed his lips, clearly not amused by my choice of word. Not that I care. Though he seemed better than the others, I had no interest in becoming friends with the Earthlings.

Hayden strutted from behind the trees with a wide grin on his face. Why was he grinning? Something was off. Activating my Nalin, I looked around and cursed inwardly. We stood in the middle of Hyrad's extremely elaborate trap. A slight move and the ground will cave in.

"How did you all manage to do this in such a short period of time?" I asked.

Hayden stuffed his hand in his pockets and cocked his head to the side. "I don't know. They don't like Meryam and I very much, as you know, because of what we are. They planned everything and effed off. Just told us to do one thing. Actually, two things." He began to stretch his limbs as though he was about to do something exceptional. "One, protect our base and two, don't let you get out of the trap. Personally, I wouldn't be happy about following their orders. But you've been spending a lot of time with my girlfriend lately and I'm definitely not happy about that."

My eyes narrowed before I burst out in laughter. "This is amazing. Are you jealous, human? Jealous of an Eybosnian?"

"Hayden, man, Shade is just her buddy. We all have been spending a lot of time with our buddies. That's what they're here for," Tomas tried to interject.

"I know he's her buddy, Tom. But I don't like the way he looks at her," Hayden said as he stalked towards us.

"And in what way do I look at her?" I was amused. Truly.

"You know how. Back off my girlfriend, Eybosnian, or else it won't be good for you." Hayden clearly believed his words that made me chuckle.

"You think I'm afraid? Your jealousy towards me comes from your incompetence," I stated as I crossed my arms across my chest. "Your teammates don't acknowledge you because they know you're not worth being a part of their team. And you, too, know it's the truth. You see that I'm very much capable and better than you and that's what makes you afraid that I'll take away your girlfriend."

"Shade, dude!" Tomas warned.

Hayden was pissed. His eyes blazed with fury as he glared at me. I smirked. "Don't worry, human, I usually don't take a lower man's sloppy seconds."

"You ass-" Hayden rushed at me. I grinned wickedly. He roared as he pulled back his left hand to punch when I activated my Nalin and moved aside a second away from being punched. I jogged back and stood where Hayden once stood. I looked at Tomas and Hayden and smirked.

Hayden looked down and realized what I had done. "Fuck!" he growled. Tomas looked between Hayden and me, confused.

"You were right. Everything about the bush damselflies and the footprints. But unfortunately, that was all a part of the ruse," I said it to Tomas.

"You don't have the ring," Hayden said. "Even if you get out, you would need your ring. Which Tomas has."

"How did you know I had it?" Tomas asked.

"I've been following you guys since we were sent to our bases," Hayden said.

"While you were following us, Hyrad and Zerakh broke the ground and laid her Spider-web trap. But you know the vital flaw in her plan?" I asked. "Me." My gaze slid to Tomas and my lips pursed. "Sorry, Tomas. I need to leave you with him. Don't worry about the ring, I've got it. Just keep him here, alright?"

Tomas sighed heavily. "Fine. I'll handle him. But just know this, I'm not happy about this. I thought we were a team. I'm so confused. I don't know what's happening."

"I'll explain everything once we win the game." I winked at Hayden before rushing towards the enemy base.

Tomas had been right.

Sure, Hyrad and Zerakh had made sure to leave very prominent marks on the ground to make it seem that they walked on that path because that's where Hyrad had laid her trap. Zerakh was exceptionally talented in breaking stuff. Especially the ground. A few tools and a gaping hole would appear on the ground. Hyrad's Spider-web trap held the rocks together just enough that it didn't break in upon weight. But it required the weight of two people. She must have calculated our approximate masses and laid down the trap. Though she didn't realize that Hayden and I were almost the same body weight. All I had to do was place him in my position.

I couldn't believe that Hayden was jealous of me and actually believed that I would even like a jévon girl. Especially that mouthy Nyla Richards. Nevertheless, everything worked out for good. Trailing behind the bush damselflies as Tomas had said, which neither Hyrad or Zerakh had taken in count or the fact Tomas had a vast knowledge about it, I noticed a girl sitting on the base platform of the yellow ring.

Meryam.

I grinned wolfishly and moved stealthy towards and quickly replaced their yellow ring with our green. Meryam turned and looked at me in shock. Her big, brown eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

"How?" she whispered.

I sprinted towards her and lightly tapped on her shoulder. She was tagged and could no longer participate in the game. "Sorry, Meryam. Now, off you go to the Frozen Lands."

"Shit! I barely did anything. I can't believe those three just gave me to protect this while they did everything," she muttered.

"What did you say?"

"What?

I moved closer to her. "Those 'three'? They planned this together?"

"Yea, obviously. We're a team?" She looked at me in confusion as though I was asking her something out of ordinary.

"Hayden knew their plan?" I asked.

"Knew? What are you talking about?" She cocked her head to the side. "I'm not stupid. I'm not telling you anything."

"I wasn't asking. Just confirming," I said as I escorted her to the Frozen Lands.

Hayden knew Hyrad and Zerakh's plan. That means he knew about the trap. And he knew I would replace myself with him and then go after the ring. With Tomas stuck in the trap with Hayden and me taking out Meryam, Hyrad and Zerakh could easily overpower Caseena and Nyla.

Dropping Meryam in the Frozen Lands that is situated in the middle of both our camps, I twirled to sprint towards our camp when Meryam grabbed my hand. "You figured it out right?" When I didn't say anything, she smiled. "Hyrad told us that you were a fast runner but even with your speed, you wouldn't catch up to them. Good luck, Eybosnian." Meryam smirked.

There was something wicked in her eyes and I didn't like that. Pushing her hand away, I ran. Ran as fast as I could. Precious time had been wasted. Wasted on catching Meryam and taking her to the Frozen Lands. I could catch up to them. Caseena is smart. She knows how to evade her tracks.

Wait!

She would be evading her tracks.

That would mean I wouldn't be able to find them either.

Onzud!

Activating my Nalin, I ran, keeping an eye to detect either Hyrad or Zerakh. Region to region, I leaped and dodged, I finally noticed Zerakh. Thank the Gods for him activating his Spatial Cognition. Just as I broke out of the trees, I watched the human leap at Caseena with her hands stretched out. What was she doing?