Chapter 8 The Trumpet

The next day, after the daily morning training, the trio sat at their usual spot during breakfast. Despite almost running a full marathon that morning, Zoe still felt sluggish from staying awake all of last night.

"Oh, Colson!" Zoe said suddenly, "Did you tell Ivy about the training tonight?"

"Oh gosh, that's today?" Colson groaned, still sore from his morning training.

Ivy perked up, "More training?"

"Well, " Zoe said, "once every two weeks or so, there are team scrimmage games or some type of physical or mental game. Capture the flag is tonight, I think. The Exam game…there's also death week, but that's something else."

Ivy's eyes lit up, "Capture the flag? I love games like that!"

Zoe smiled; she knew Ivy would get a kick out of hearing that. "We get some weapons and go into Highwood forest over there," she said, pointing out the window at the forest they went to the other day. "Each team chooses a place where they want to put their flag, and the other team attempts to capture it. There are obviously rules around weapon use, but if you don't maim, kill, or cut off anyone's limbs, you're in the clear. But it all depends on how the teams are picked."

"What do you mean?"

"If you're on the bad team, you'll get crushed. So you just need to hope to be on a good team."

"Huh," a thought popped into her head, making her smile; she cracked her knuckles looking at Zoe and Colson, "so who do you think would win if we were on opposite teams?" she asked playfully.

"Well, I know this forest inside and out pretty much. There'd be no contest, really," Zoe said, feigning confidence. 'Truthfully, though, it may be a coin toss. I feel like she'd absolutely murder me if we went against each other,' she thought.

"I could take you. Easily." Colson said matter of factly.

"As If! I'm gonna find the largest battle axe they have," Ivy mimicked a swing, "I think I'm gonna take your right arm first."

"Not gonna happen. You're just too slow."

"I'm faster than you!"

Colson laughed, "You really aren't."

"An axe to your leg will slow you down, then."

"Well, you're gonna be too slow to hit me. Also you're not gonna get one."

"Why can't I?" Ivy groaned.

"For one, they don't just have those lying around. You'd have to ask someone to make it for you, which would be a lot. Also, I don't think Crater would give a weapon to someone like you."

"Someone like me?" Ivy had a confused look on her face. "What does that mean?"

Zoe's eyes flicked back and forth between them, forcing a grin on her face, "Yea, Ivy," she said quickly, "There's a storage area where you can look through weapons, or if you have enough CCs, you can go into town and have one custom made." She looked at Colson with a look that said, "stop." Looking back to Ivy, she went on, "They probably won't let you run around with a weapon like that, but who knows."

After rummaging through the armory closet, Ivy found four weapons of interest: a massive sword—the blade was as long as Ivy was tall; a smaller circular blade that was the size of a dagger but its ends split off in two; a bright red war hammer; and two nunchucks, she didn't know how to use them, but to her, they looked cool. The rest of the shed was full of knives and hidden blades.

She practiced using the weapons on some rubber training dummies for the next half-hour. The nun chucks were a catastrophic failure as she hit herself more than the trainer. To everyone's surprise, she could use the bastard sword and swing it around, but it became blatantly evident that a blade like that wouldn't fit her fighting style.

Frustrated, Ivy started digging around in the very depths of the closet. She found a set of dusty knuckle dusters in a drawer that looked like it hadn't been opened since the start of the bronze age. "Are these good?" She asked, walking out of the closet and showing Colson and Ivy. The shiny gold-tinted objects fit her hands perfectly.

Colson shrugged, "I don't know, try them out. I personally wouldn't use them, but you do you. Also, the dinner bell is gonna go off soon, so you should probably just pick something. You can change it if you don't like it."

While Ivy messed around with the weapons, she noticed how light they were and how fluid her motions became. "I wanna use these." She held them up in the air, the dim sunlight giving the knuckles an orange tint.

"There's a reason they were sitting in a drawer instead of being used," Zoe mentioned. "You'll be pretty disadvantaged with range and protection. If you used daggers like I'm using, you would have a slight disadvantage but would have other benefits that swords don't have. Sometimes I use a slingshot as well." She showed off her two weapons. One was a smaller silver knife; its blade was wavy with an odd number of curves and an asymmetrical base; the whole thing was slightly under five inches. The larger one was a few inches longer and resembled a machete, with a golden hue to the blade's edge.

"What do you use?" Ivy asked, looking at Colson.

"I have a wooden sword back in my dorm; the actual name for it is a 'bokken.'"

"You don't use a real sword?"

"A real sword?" Colson looked offended, "Look here, the issue is that normal swords are expensive, they dull easily, and are fragile...At least the ones I've tried are. But a bokken is pretty indestructible; it can easily break bones, puncture skin, and kill if needed."

"Can I have a gun?"

"No."

"Do you even have them?"

"Yes, we have guns," Zoe said.

"For obvious reasons, you can't use them in the scrimmages," Colson said. "You'd need to find a gunsmith in town and pay them to make one for you."

After dinner, everyone gathered at the east forest entrance. Neph stood in front of the group. He was wearing a grey suit with black dress shoes. The kid from the cabin, Marcello, was standing behind him with his arms crossed, a sour look on his face. Neph stepped forward and cleared his throat, "This will be a game of capture the flags. Yes, I said 'flags,' not 'flag.' Both teams will have five flags; at the end of thirty minutes, whichever team has the most flags will win. There will also be flags randomly placed throughout the forest for you to find. Now for the fundamental rules: there will be no torturing of any kind, do not kill anyone, and no amputating will be allowed." He glared at a boy in the crowd, who laughed and shrugged.

Neph pointed to another boy, "Mason, as usual, you will be the team captain for group B." Mason smiled and nodded. Neph turned to another named Trenton. "You will be the other team captain."

As Mason walked past, he fist-bumped and waved to everyone he knew. He smiled and nodded toward Zoe, whose cheeks turned bright red, and she looked away. He fist-bumped Colson, "Hey Colson," he made eye contact with Ivy, "What's up, new girl? I never caught your name."

"Ivy." She said while getting a fist bump from Mason.

"Ivy? Cool name. I'll remember that," he kept walking until he reached Neph.

Trenton went first and picked a boy in the crowd. Reiza rolled her eyes and walked over and stood next to Mason, "Alright, I'm on his team." She scowled at Trenton, who shot her a confused look back.

"What'd I do?"

"No one picks me second," she shrugged.

"Really, Reiza?"

"I'm not about to be second pick," Reiza snapped back.

Trenton sighed, "Whatever you say, your highness."

The two team captains finished picking the rest of the teams, with Mason picking Ivy, Colson, and Zoe.

Mason turned around and yelled to the group, "Alright, everyone! Follow me!"

As they followed him, Ivy turned to Colson and asked, "So why do we do this? Is it like a team exercise?"

"Sorta," Colson said. "It's a way to get used to high-stress situations and irregular combat in a quote-unquote safe environment."

"Neph wants us to be able to fight?"

"No, from what I heard, he's actually against a lot of this stuff, but Orion is the one who pushes all this physical dangerous stuff. Maybe he gets his kicks watching kids get hurt or something? Either way, he's the big boss, so he makes the rules."

"I guess that makes sense," Ivy said.

"You should know, it's a dangerous world out there. Especially on some of those missions people go on. It's kinda crazy what people have had to do."

When they were deep enough in the forest, Mason had people scatter the five flags on the left side of the woods. He split the group up where one-third of the group would hunt the flags, one-third would be in a defensive role, and one-third would be specifically guarding the flags. Ivy was on the offense team along with Colson, while Zoe wanted to take a tactical defense approach and stay on the defense role, but ended up going with Ivy as Colson wanted to go by himself.

To signify her team orientation, Ivy wore a blue jersey over her white jacket and had put the same color war paint on her face—a crude drawing of a skull covering half her face.

Colson found it odd how Zoe wore the same thing, as she had never done so before.

The horn blew, which signified the start of the game. Whoops and yells came from the forest as the colonists charged through it. Swords clanged as they met shields, and knives sliced through armor and skin, the sounds of which emanated through the woods.

Colson and Ivy quickly devised a plan to run around the opposite outskirts of the forest and meet up behind the other team at the back. Colson took the left side of the forest, while Ivy and Zoe took the right.

Zoe guided Ivy along the path of least resistance. She knew the general spots where people would sit and wait for ambushes‌. She pointed out the many random landmarks on the way—a large concrete pillar covered in moss, a row of tires, each larger than Ivy and Zoe put together, and something resembling a large termite mound.

They came upon a group of four kids who wore dark yellow running right toward one of their flags. Both Ivy and the group stopped and regarded each other. "Hey, I think they're alone," one said. They began to surround them, holding out their weapons. As they fanned out around the two, Ivy could see their armor and weapons glint as the bright moonlight shined upon them.

All except one looked nervous; the others' eyes were frantic and their hands fidgety; they slowly moved in. She turned until she found what she was looking for; his eyes were shifty, and his hands shook. He couldn't meet her gaze; his eyes bounced from her muddy shoes, messy black hair, and white jacket that seemed to reflect the moonlight.

The calm one stood back, holding an odd shape in his hands.

Zoe slowly took out a dagger from her sleeve, trying to conceal it from the moonlight. She carefully studied them, finally settling on the kid in the back. He was taller than average, and his hair was messy and long. She'd seen him around Crater a few times, but he wasn't in any of her classes.

The boy in front of Ivy took another step forward. His eyes left her and moved to gauge the reaction on his friends' faces. As he did so, a dull pain was felt in his right temple, and his vision turned blurry. The last thing registered was the glint of a small brass object firing at the side of his head.

The following person had a weapon that was clearly too heavy and too big for proper use. Their arms trembled under the weight of the reinforced wooden club. Going for maximum power, an overhead strike was attempted. It was easily dodged, and its grey-steel shell slammed uselessly into the mossy dirt. The frantic wide eyes widened even further as they made eye contact with Ivy. It didn't take much more than a light jab to wobble the legs causing him to trip over a root and collapse, the wind knocked out of him.

The third boy slowly stepped away from Ivy, his spear pointed at her head. Ivy couldn't note his expression as the overhead leaves cast long dark shadows over his face. The making of an idea popped into his head, causing a grin to form. Before he could say anything, the staccato, wet, squishing sounds of feet on damp moss approached him quickly. All he managed to do was hold out the spear and squeeze his eyes shut. Another set of footsteps, a few inches to his right. He felt something cold and sharp across his neck. He slowly lowered the spear to the ground before pushing Zoe away and sprinting into the treeline.

"Well, that was fun," Ivy said.

"One left," Zoe reminded, looking at the boy, who had been leaning against a tree the whole time. An amused look in his eye.

"I guess it's my turn." He said, lifting up the object to his lips.

It was hard to see in the shadows of the forest, but as Ivy kept squinting, trying to see what he held, an odd look crossed her face. Zoe couldn't tell what that look meant.

"What?" Zoe pried, studying Ivy's face.

"Is he holding a trumpet?" Ivy asked, trying not to laugh.

Zoe turned and looked again. 'The outline does kind of resemble one,' she thought. Before she could think anymore on that subject, something whizzed past her face, almost impaling her in her left eye. Before she could get out of the way, an incoming volley of small shapes erupted from the end of the object, embedding themselves into her arm, torso, and leg. She looked down to see needles protruding from her body.

Ivy sprinted to the left, ducking and weaving.

As Zoe moved back to hide behind a nearby tree, she noticed her vision was blurring, and she felt sluggish.

The boy lowered the trumpet-looking object. "You know, if you were my target on an assignment, you'd be dead right now. All it takes is a couple of needles to enter your bloodstream, and that would be all she wrote. Too bad Neph has these rules," he sighed. "You can only use the relaxant needles," he mocked.

Zoe collapsed to the ground; her left leg and arm went completely numb. She tried to push herself to her feet, but her arm hung uselessly by her side. It was as if someone had filled her veins with cement.

Ivy pivoted, sprinting diagonally toward the boy. He quickly brought it to his mouth again, firing a few more needles. She hopped out of the way as a spike grazed her right shoulder. Flipping and rolling backward, she ended up near Zoe's tree. She quickly scooted behind it, standing over Zoe.

"Oh hey," Ivy said, rolling her shoulder, trying to get as much blood flow as possible. "I never expected something like this." She held out her hand.

"I should've warned you. Most people use swords and the like, but a few use abstract weapons such as…whatever that is." She took Ivy's hand, pulling herself to her feet. Her arm and leg were still useless, so all she could do was balance herself on her good leg and lean against the tree.

"I've never seen something—"

"Hush," Zoe interrupted, listening intently. They both heard it at the same time. The sound of boots walking on wet leaves. It stopped as soon as their voices died down. "He's circling around us. Walking whenever we talk to mask the sound."

Ivy poked her arm out from behind the tree, retracting it as a wave of needles flew by.

Zoe saw what she was doing. They now knew where he was standing and what angle he was at. "We could both rush him. He would definitely hit us, but we would be able to reach him and knock him out before the muscle relaxer takes effect. All three of us would effectively be knocked out. Suboptimal. Also, I really hate needles. What else can we do here?" Zoe's eyes shifted around the clearing, hoping to spot something they could use.

Zoe winced as she removed each needle stuck in her body with her good arm.

"Huh," Ivy said, picking one out of Zoe's palm and examining it under a ray of moonlight. "It's hollow."

"Well, yeah. That's how it delivers the poison."

Ivy held it in front of Zoe's face, pointing to the middle of the needle.

"Oh," Zoe said, finally understanding what Ivy was telling her.

The middle of the needle had a small and empty glass panel. It had been manufactured that way to show the boy if the contraption was loaded or not.

Before Zoe could react, Ivy flipped the needle in her hand, leaning out from behind the tree and flinging it like a throwing knife at the boy. It all happened so suddenly that he could barely react, lifting up his hand just in time. If he was a millisecond too late, the piece of metal would have embedded itself into his esophagus.

"Ow!" He screamed and yanked the needle from his hand with a grunt. "Damn you, that hurt!"

As Ivy spun around, crouching back behind the tree, Zoe saw a glint of something in her hair.

"Wait, Ivy, stop moving."

"Huh?"

"Hold still," she carefully ran her fingers through Ivy's hair until she felt something cold and metal. "Alright. You've just given me an idea."

It had been a minute since Ivy had impaled the boy. He tapped his foot impatiently. 'A bit of a stalemate. I can't get closer, but they can't get close to me. But I hate waiting!'

"It's still loaded," Zoe described, studying the needle in her hands. "It must've been stuck when he shot at you earlier. Since it was stuck in your hair and didn't go into your skin, it didn't excrete any poison."

"Okay?" Ivy said.

"Ivy, we hit him with this, and we win."

"Oh, that's a good idea. So I just need to throw it at him again."

"Well, maybe. But for this to work, we need to corner him. Make it so he can't dodge or deflect."

"If we just blitz him, he might not be fast enough to get us, and one of us can just stick it in the back of his neck or something."

"That would be the easiest way," Zoe mused. "But, if we miss or he gets lucky, then we lose."

"So, what should we do?"

Zoe crouched down to the ground, spinning her hair between her fingers, deep in thought. 'If we had more time, I could think of something better, but this will have to do.' She strained, lifting her left arm. "It's wearing off quickly. In a few minutes, I can run again."

"Okay," Ivy smiled, "What do you want me to do?"

The trumpet-boy noticed that the girl's hushed whispers had stopped for some time. Curious, he slowly inched his way forward, delicately placing each foot in a spot that would make the least noise. He lifted his weapon to his lips, ready to shoot at any perceived danger. He moved counterclockwise, gaining more visibility from behind the tree. As he continued pushing forward, he braced himself. 'I'm gonna have to be quick, like real fast.' He had come up with a few plans on the fly.

If they were to run at him: He would back up, quickly firing at the girl with black hair first, as she seemed quicker and stronger than the shorter one. Once a significant amount of needles were to impact each of them, he would retreat. If the boy had to, he'd run into the surrounding forest, weaving between trees until the relaxant took effect.

If the girls split up and tried to rush him from either side: He would use his needles; he would retreat, forcing them to either retreat themselves or to follow him where he could pick them off one at a time.

An uncontrollable grin crossed his face at the thought.

He crept forward; the corner of Ivy's white jacket stuck out from behind the tree. "Just a bit farther." He jumped forward, blasting several needles into the girls.

'What the…' He examined the scene.

Ivy's jacket was stuck into the tree using one of Zoe's knives.

The boy looked around, 'Did they somehow manage to sneak off? They couldn't have run off without me seeing them or hearing them move.'

He wasn't sure what it was that alerted him. It may have been a slight whistle in the air. Maybe the moonlight cast a shadow. He quickly jumped back; as he did so, Ivy fell from above, landing right where he was standing from overhead. Her knuckle dusters in her hands. 'What! If she connected, I coulda been knocked out. Nah, it would've been so much worse than that. I might not have been able to step away from that. I'm just too good for them to sneak on me like that.'

As he lifted up his instrument, Ivy sprinted towards him. Holding the trumpet out in front of him, he blocked a punch, causing sparks to fly, briefly lighting up the area. The boy switched his stance, putting his left foot in front, swinging the object like a baseball bat. Ivy kicked forward, pressuring him and using the momentum to dodge the swing.

Zoe shimmied along the sturdiest branch she could find several meters above him. In her mouth, she held the needle, careful not to poke herself. When she was in position, she waited for the perfect time.

Ivy's eyes flicked upwards briefly, watching Zoe descend from the tree. The boy saw this; he glanced up, only seeing a dark blur inches away.

Zoe hit the ground behind him and, with all her might, shoved the needle into his spine, right between his shoulder blades.

He let out a shriek, whirling around, smacking her in the head with the instrument.

The boy attempted lifting the trumpet to his lips but found that his range of motion in his arms was already heavily reduced. It wouldn't be long until he was totally immobile.

Zoe moved back quickly, holding the side of her head, a trickle of blood running down her temple, her ears ringing. 'I would be knocked out if I hadn't hit him in the right spot. This hurts a lot, though.'

Ivy watched as the boy slowly sunk to the ground, his limbs giving out. Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore and fell face-first with a low groan.

"Wow," Zoe said, breathing heavily. A smile crept across her face, "We won!" Her body still hadn't fully recovered from the relaxant. "Colson is probably waiting for us; we need to go."

"I completely forgot about that," Ivy said. "Which direction is it?"

"It'd be west. Which is that way," she pointed to the back of the forest.

Behind them, the boy struggled to his hands and knees. Sticking out of his leg was another needle—a light antidote. He took a sharp inhale. Ivy spun quickly but was too late.

"Yellow team! They've got our flags! The two girls have our flags!" His voice was ear-splittingly loud.

"Uh oh," Zoe mumbled.

As if on cue, the forest around them came alive. The shrubs and trees shook. The sounds of footsteps from both teams thundered toward the clearing.

"Come on! They're getting away!" He kept screaming, making sure everyone could follow his voice.

A girl wearing a ghillie suit, and holding a large metal bat, appeared, launching herself from the forest, swinging as hard as she could at Zoe. Ivy was faster; she reached over, pushing Zoe out of the way, and knocking away the bat mid-swing.

Just as Zoe recovered, two more kids from the yellow team appeared, charging at them.

Mason and a few more blue team members materialized into the small clearing on the other side.

More kids would jump out of the forest every second that passed, trying to take or secure the imaginary flag.

"Zoe!" Zoe heard her name called over the commotion. "I'll meet you west!"

"Okay!" she screamed back, unsure if her voice could be heard over the fighting. She ducked under the fist of a boy, scampering away as fast as she could, disappearing into the forest.

Colson had been waiting longer than he wanted to be at the meeting spot. Swearing under his breath, he rose from the bushes and made his way forward as silently as possible. 'Where are they? I don't know what's happening over there, but this would be the perfect time for a distraction...' His thoughts cut short by the hushed whispers ahead. Peering around a large pine tree, holding his breath, two girls were pacing outside what looked to be a dilapidated flower shop. The front brick wall was long since destroyed, faded letters reading "Auntie M ne" on the inside back wall. He soon realized they were near a flag, listening intently to their hushed giggles and whispers.

Unsheathing the wooden sword from his back, he confidently walked into the clearing, pointing it right at them. "Don't make any sudden movements or loud noises," he hissed. "In fact, don't say anything; only nod and point." They both nodded. Colson noticed the tension in the air shift as their body language stiffened, "While we're at it, look at the ground. If I suspect any plotting, one of y'all are getting cut." They both did as they were told, nodding profusely. Colson felt the tension in his shoulders subside, 'I'm actually pulling this off! If they were smart, they'd realize they could just turn on me. This would've been a lot easier if Ivy were here, but oh well. I'll get this flag and be the hero this time.' The thought had him internally grinning. "You, stand by me," he said, pointing his sword to the girl on the right. "And you, lead me to the closest flag."

While walking, Colson kept turning around towards the back of the forest nearest the perimeter wall of the colony. 'What am I hearing right now? It sounds like something's sniffling.' The longer they walked, the more bothered by it he became. It sounded like a bloodhound aggressively smelling the ground to pick up a scent. No human could make a noise like that. He looked around, seeing the girl in front looking back, eyebrows knit together.

The one next to him asked, "You hear that too, right?" Her eyes wide with fear.

Colson nodded, "If this is some kind of trick…"

They shook their heads profusely, saying they had no idea what that was. It was evident by the tone of their voices that they weren't lying. The sound was coming from twenty yards away. Colson kept them marching forward, leading him to the flag. It had been ingrained in him to never be distracted from your target. One of the girls caught sight of something through the trees, the moonlight not bright enough and the line of sight too thin to see anything more than a blur.

"It has to be a deer," the girl in front murmured; it sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else.

Several meters behind them, a deep earth-shaking scream ripped through the forest along with the sound of a tree being snapped in half. No more words were exchanged between the three; they all took off running in different directions.

His lungs burned, and his heart hammered; long sticks whipped at his arms and legs as he barely dodged bushes and trees. Tripping over a rotting table from a building, he ended up face first in some gravelly dirt, his sword spiraling out several feet away. Picking himself up, pebbles stuck to his face, he continued his sprint. Blasting past a group of opponents, he screamed at them to run. Some listened, some didn't.

Arriving at a clearing, Ivy skidded to a stop. In front of her, a figure of a girl was standing, staring directly up at the sky. She looked down, hearing Ivy's footsteps. When the girl saw her, a baleful grin crossed her lips.

"Oh?" The voice was Reiza's. "I was hoping I'd see you," her grin grew wider.

"Oh hey, Reiza. Is there a flag nearby?" Ivy looked around, antsy with anticipation.

"Oh, I don't care about that. You wanna fight me?"

"Am I missing something? We're on the same team, right?"

"Yeah, but I just want a little friendly sparring."

"Maybe later, but I'm supposed to be meeting up with Colson and Zoe right now."

"You aren't better than me. You know that, right?" Now less than four yards away, she stopped. Reiza closed her eyes, her smile disappearing and replaced with a grimace. Her fists balled as she concentrated, feeling a tugging in her gut. The wind picked up and whistled slightly as it breezed through the trees. A jagged electric blue aura spiked around her frame, crackling with anger. Opening her eyes, a calm smirk came across her face. "This is a trick my dad taught me a while back," she said, looking into Ivy's wide eyes.

Ivy's hands squeezed tightly around the brass knuckles in her hands to prevent them from shaking.

'She's scared! No. That look isn't one of fear; it's a look of...excitement?' Before Reiza decided what to do next, a heavy commotion was heard in the forest a ways away. Screams, shouts, and what sounded to Reiza like gunfire.

A bright light illuminated the entire forest; for a brief second, all the sounds of screams and footsteps stopped. As if the sun had risen from the heart of the woods. As the light bathed over them, a feeling that could only be described as drowsiness washed over all of them. The whole forest seemed to be still for what felt like minutes; no breeze rustled the trees or grass, no animal moved, and every living thing in the forest seemed to hold its breath collectively.

Everything seemed to snap back to normal as if nothing had happened. Ivy seemed to have lost interest in Reiza. Her eyes had a blank curiosity in them as they gazed behind her into the dark woods.

The sound of a loud horn cut through the air, signifying the end of the game. A loud murmuring rose from the middle of the forest. A curious buzz filled the air, the presence of people moving toward the area where the light came from.

"Well," Reiza said, regaining her composure, "This girl really thinks she's better than me? That's just crazy to me. If you don't want this…maybe I'll go find Zoe, see what she's up to." A mischievous smirk crossed her face.

Hearing this, Ivy lifted her fists in front of her, putting herself in a defensive position.

The smirk on Reiza's face turned into an enormous grin, noticing the flare of anger in her eyes. "Gotcha."

Before Ivy could react, a fist connected to her face, sending her flying several yards back, one of her boots coming off her foot in the process. Reiza chuckled, "I guess we can finish this another time. But then again, that kinda decided it." The blue aura around her dissipated as she strolled toward the center of the woods. "Oh," She turned back to Ivy, still lying on the ground, barely conscious. Crouching over her, Reiza's voice barely above a whisper, "If you're able to get me, just like that, I'll accept that you belong here. That's my challenge," She got up and disappeared into the treeline.

Neph stared down at the beast. Behind him were two four-star colonists. Hearing the screams and the loud commotion, they rushed in to eliminate the issue. One of the four-star colonists had used chains to subdue the creature, which lay unconscious on the ground.

Neph, who had studied the flora and the zoology in the area, had never seen anything like this. Its long thick legs, quadrupedal frame, and thick black tar-like sticky fur; the image made his stomach churn.

Producing a glove from one of his pockets, he inspected the creature; his gloved finger seemed to be absorbed by its skin as he poked and prodded the beast. Touching its fur was akin to sticking a finger into thick wet cement.

"Any idea what it is?" One of the quadruple-star colonists moved forward to get a better look at its face. "It must be some kind of mutated CharCharCat or something."

The sound of rustling bushes and footsteps came from all directions; curious whispers and hushed voices drew closer.

Neph forcefully pried open one of the beast's eyelids, seeing a yellow iris staring back. Moving to its mouth, he saw that the fur was red and matted surrounding the sharp maw.

Neph took out a plastic bag and placed the glove inside. It had been covered in a translucent slime from the beast's fur. He stood up, "Call the stable masters and see if they have a cage large enough to hold this thing for the time being. And you," he pointed to the other colonist, "we need to do a headcount of everyone here." The colonist nodded, removing the large horn slung over his back and blowing into it.

Ivy had her knees to her chest inside a nook of a large oak tree. Her cheek was a swollen purple from being completely knocked unconscious by Reiza. Ivy knew that she was utterly helpless against a power like that; alone in the dark, she sat, her eyes wet and stinging as she glared forward.

Calling Ivy's name, they still heard no response.

"This was the last place I saw her," Reiza had an innocent smile, "she was fine then." She took a small cylindrical object from her pocket and put it to her lips; a few seconds later, a small cloud came from her mouth.

"Yo, where'd you get that?" Colson asked.

"Eh, you know," she shrugged, holding it out to Zoe, asking, "You want a hit?"

Zoe eyed the object warily, "Uh, I'm good."

"I'll take it," Colson said, reaching for it.

"Get your own!" Reiza snapped, quickly pocketing the object.

Colson turned to Zoe, "She said that she would be around this area here. Knowing her, she could have gotten distracted and wandered off, but I doubt it."

"Maybe she was eaten," Reiza said with a helpful tone.

"The only one who would've been eaten by anything is me," Colson grumbled while shouldering his sword and jumping up towards a large tree branch. Continuing to climb up the giant tree, he got as high as possible, scanning the area. He heard voices in the distance calling for other missing people as well. Five people were missing in total; three have been found so far. Most of the kids had returned to their dorms; a few had stayed to help find the ones that went missing.

"Hey, Zoe," Reiza said, trying not to laugh. 

Zoe didn't respond. 

"Remind you of anything?" Reiza pointed to a family of squirrels scurrying up a nearby tree, she cackled. "You gettin' hungry?"

When Colson had climbed back down, Reiza was gone, and Zoe was alone.

"Reiza said she was bored, and then she left."

Colson scoffed, "Of course she did. The only reason she gets away with half the stuff she pulls is cause Aye is her dad. If she was just…." His voice trailed off when he saw Zoe's face. "What's wrong?"

Zoe's face was dark, but her eyes were wide, her voice came out shaky and meek, "what if Reiza was right? She's dead!"

"Zoe, stop. I'm sure she's fine. This forest is pretty big, though; she probably just got lost and can't hear us. Plus, if what she said was true about that serpent, she's not gonna be eaten by some random animal."

"Yea, you're right. I'm sorry." She quickly turned away, wiping her eyes, hoping Colson didn't see.

The horn cut through the quiet night air causing Zoe and Colson to flinch. It had been fifteen minutes since Reiza had left.

"They must've found everyone! See? What'd I tell you?"

Zoe took a sigh of relief; with that breath, the butterflies in her stomach dissipated. The tension in her shoulders fell.

At the mouth of the forest, a small group was waiting for them. Reiza was off to the side, absently chatting with one of her friends. Ivy was on the opposite side of the group holding a pack of ice to her face, while Neph talked to everyone else. Seeing both Zoe and Colson, he announced that everyone had been accounted for. "Everyone under two stars shall head back to their dorms or houses this instant."

Ivy didn't say a word as the trio began to walk back together.

Zoe noticed that her smile was gone, 'I wonder if she's mad at me. I hope I didn't do anything wrong.' They continued walking until they reached the dorms. They split off and went to their separate rooms. Zoe kept glancing at Ivy; she wanted to say something but was off-put by the fact that Ivy seemed to have a permanent scowl plastered across her face.

After she took a shower, Ivy went straight to bed and fell asleep instantly.

Colson sat down next to Ivy at the cafeteria table; Zoe was stuck in a particularly long line waiting for her food. Ivy still had her usual heap of food piled on. He noticed she wasn't eating as much as usual and seemed distracted by something happening at the table where Reiza and her friends ate at. Her face had mostly healed, but there was still some light bruising. She kept shooting looks over there, but from what Colson could see, nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

"Ivy."

"Hm?" She mumbled between bites.

"Did something happen last night? You've been really quiet and acting a lot different since we split up." Ivy stared blankly ahead. Colson continued, "Zoe has been pretty nervous about it."

"It was Reiza."

"What! What'd she do now?"

"I ran into her, and she said that she wanted to fight. She did something; I'm not sure what, but she turned all blue and threatened to attack Zoe if I didn't do anything." Ivy finished explaining everything by the time Zoe arrived with her food. "I'm so angry at myself; I couldn't do anything against her," her body shook as tears dropped from her face onto the floor.

Zoe looked at Colson, who mouthed the words, "I'll tell you later."

A small smile appeared as Ivy wiped her face with her sleeve, "When I woke up, I was just angry and miserable. It was pretty bad," she laughed. "It just sucked knowing that I wasn't strong enough to do anything. That's why I'm glad that you guys are my friends," she looked at Zoe and smiled.

Ivy's contagious smile spread to Zoe.

"Oh! Yo, Ivy," Colson said, the thought suddenly popping into his head, "did you see the giant animal that attacked last night?"

"No? What animal?"

"I didn't really see it, but it chased me throughout the forest for a good while," Colson gingerly touched a large red welt on his forearm.

"You should have been close enough to hear it," Zoe said. "The noises it made...I could hear them from where I was standing."

Colson explained his encounter with the beast, leaving everyone at the table awe-struck. Ivy's eyes were wild with curiosity.

Marcello exited through the front doors of the guest house in the heart of Crater's town. He walked onto the street, observing the bustling market right outside the home's front doors, which had been a good source for people watching from the upstairs window. Marcello walked up and down the street, looking at every stall.

He noticed people were giving him odd looks. He knew he stood out from the average citizen of Crater. His clothing style and complexion were a dead giveaway on why that was.

Producing a folded pillowcase from his pocket, he bought several cans of food from the street vendors. He placed them all inside the pillow, slung it over his shoulder, then walked out of Crater. Promising to never return.

Zoe steadied herself as the private room rocked to the side. She sat crouched on a cushioned chair across from Ivy with a white circular table between them.

"The ferry will arrive on dock two in approximately five minutes," the captain announced through the crackly speaker embedded in the ceiling. The speaker made a clicking sound as the quiet classical music resumed.

Ivy held the book close to her face, reading slowly, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." She looked over the book, staring at Zoe.

"And what do you think that means?"

"That we shouldn't give up 'cause it might not be the right time?"

"Write it down," she pointed to the pencil and paper placed in front of Ivy.

"Is it right?"

"Possibly," Zoe muttered, holding a chicken nugget in front of her face, slowly examining it.

"I thought you said you'd help me."

"I am!" Zoe said, offended. "I'm not going to do your homework for you."

"I'm just asking if you think it's right."

"If I said it was correct, would you write it?"

"Yeah, of course!" Ivy answered.

"Why?"

"I trust your judgment, and you know a lot about this."

"That's interesting. You shouldn't rely on others to figure out things for you. 'Why' is more important than 'How.' It aims for the root. Metaphorically speaking, you don't need to reinvent the wheel every time you come across something."

Ivy grumbled something and wrote her answer. "Why do you never study?"

"I don't have to."

Ivy gave her a confused look, "What? I thought you said your grades weren't great."

"They aren't, but it isn't from lack of studying," Zoe said, shoving the chicken nugget in her mouth and wiping her fingers on a napkin.

"What is it?"

Zoe pointed to her head, "I have no problem learning or retaining the information. I remember pretty much everything I hear or read. The problem is orating or writing down what's in my head. Especially with material like this—oftentimes, I take things quite literally, so comprehension was always tough to understand. If I really try, I can get it out, but I do just enough to get by."

There was a long silence as Zoe stared at Ivy, who squinted slightly, trying to grasp what she was saying.

"How about this," Zoe said, grabbing the book from Ivy's hands, flipping through the pages. "Tell me what you think this says here," she pointed to a line on the page.

Ivy read it aloud, "Let beer be for those who are perishing, wine for those who are in anguish!"

Zoe stared forward, "Do you think you're only allowed to drink unless your arm is severed?"

"Um," Ivy clicked her tongue, "No?"