WHO IS TALLER?

The group found themselves back in Africa, nothing much had changed except for the place having been cleaned up before they could arrive.

Edith stretched her hands with one across the other, and Terra stretched his legs. Out of the whole group, these two were the most energetic.

"Why are you so happy?" Cyrus asked with the memory of her constantly falling off a tree.

"It's because ever since I tamed that giraffe, she's been so good to me, do you have any idea how beautiful it is to ride a giraffe? It is such a wonderful sight!" Edith said as she threw her hands in the air and Cyrus was fairly certain he saw sparkles in her eyes.

"You are just happy that you finally get to be taller than somebody when you ride it," Cyrus smirked and pulled up his glasses.

"Please, I am not that much shorter than you and I am even taller than Dawn,"

Cyrus shook his head, "That's because Dawn is always slanting as he moves, he might actually be taller than me. Only slightly though."

"No way! You're lying!" Edith yelled.

"Me? Lying? Why would I ever have to stoop so low just to prove a point?" Cyrus asked.

"Alright then let's bet on it," Edith said.

"Make it interesting and then I'll listen," Cyrus replied.

"The loser has to do one thing that the winner decides on, and it has to be something that is within their capacity that will not bring physical harm to others," Edith answered.

"Cyrus thought on this and then said, "Deal."

The two of them were a little bit separated from the rest of the group as Vito and Terra were helping Dawn unpack some supplies from the track and Dawn was just standing lean by a tree.

"Dawn, let me talk to you for a second," Cyrus said as he took Dawn to the side.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Edith questioned pointing her fingers at him.

"I'm simply fixing his posture, there should be nothing wrong with that. Right?"

Edith didn't like how Cyrus was always teasing everyone in the group. Especially when he did it to her, so she wanted to use this opportunity to mess with him so he would think twice before doing something like this again.

'For a so-proclaimed detective, he is more troublesome than reserved. I would expect a detective to be more respectful too, he acts like a know-it-all.

Cyrus had returned with Dawn and he looked disappointed when he came back, while Dawn was still slouched just the same as before, this made Edith wonder if Dawn had chosen to avoid listening to any advice from Cyrus.

This put a smile on her face.

Edith rushed over to where John was handing a crate to Vito who passed it down to Terra.

"John, would you be so kind as to come with me please?" Edith asked.

John was confused at the sudden request but figured it shouldn't be something difficult, so long as she didn't plan on asking for another all-you-can-eat experience at the end of the day. He was getting nervous just thinking about it.

"Yes Edith, how may I assist you?" He asked politely.

"Can you help decide who is taller between me and Dawn?"

"You and Dawn?" he muttered, "But Edith you are obviously taller."

"Yes I am aware, but may you please just come check, Cyrus wouldn't believe me when I told him so," she pleaded as she led him towards Dawn with Cyrus still trying to convince him to stand properly.

John couldn't understand what was going on but he would be the Judge reluctantly. He felt like he didn't have a choice. Though he wondered, 'What is Cyrus planning?'

"Well, are you ready?" Edith asked.

Cyrus turned to look at Dawn before he could say, "Yes." And it wasn't a confident one at that.

"Alright, may the two of you stand by each other and we will measure who is taller by shoulder height. Can we agree on that?" John said.

"Yes!" Edith answered first while Cyrus merely nodded.

"Before we begin, Dawn I would like you to do something to fix your posture," Cyrus asked in the background.

"You are still on about that? Fine. What is it?" Dawn replied.

Cyrus smiled when he said that and enthusiastically told him what to do.

1. Keep your shoulders back.

2. Pull your stomach in.

3. Put your weight mostly on the balls of your feet.

4. Keep your head level.

5. Let your arms hang down naturally at your sides.

6. Keep your feet about shoulder-width apart.

Cyrus went ahead and listed down a set of instructions for Dawn to do. Dawn found it as a bother but decided to do it anyway.

Edith was impressed with how many instructions he gave but she suspected him to do this much for him to be confident enough to say that Dawn was taller, and still more she wasn't that short. She was at least 5'9 if not taller and Dawn looked to be 5'4 when he was slouched.

There was no way he would gain 5 inches if he stood properly, at most he would gain 3 or maybe something closer like 4 but he would still remain shorter than her.

Dawn let out a sigh and did all that was told to him and stood as tall as he could.

Now it was time for John to deliver the verdict.

"Mmm, we have a winner by a slim difference in height. Between the two of you, Dawn is the taller one," John said.

"What!? No way! That is a lie!" Edith yelled.

Cyrus was laughing in the background at this sight, he didn't know just how much he would enjoy the look on her face.

"No, he must have cheated! or something I can't be shorter! Vito, Terra, get over here," she yelled.

When Vito and Terra got there, they too had given the same answer. It wasn't a huge margin but it was there. There was a clear difference between them.

"It must have been the shoes, they must be different," Edith said as she lifted her boots to take them off.

"Oh Edith, don't you know? All of our shoes are the very same height. Ask John if you do not believe me." Cyrus gestured towards John who was standing right in front of them.

"He is right, though I'm not sure how he knows this but yes, all the shoes you are wearing though in different sizes all provide you with the same height. We prefer to keep them at a certain level for a type of outdoor activity that you will be doing someday in the future to ensure fairness," John explained.

Edith couldn't understand it at all. Her hand was placed upon her head as she pondered whether Dawn was truly a giant in disguise or she had been duped.

"Alright Terra, Vito we still need to finish unpacking, can you help me out again?" John asked.

They both agreed and walked away while Edith stood there in disbelief.

Cyrus walked up to her and placed his arm around her neck as he spoke softly in her ear, "I will tell you the favor later," and walked off with Dawn.

In his mind, he said, 'That's what you get for the hug in the morning.'

After the two of them had walked some distance away from the group, Dawn couldn't help but say to Cyrus, "You truly are cold-hearted, I'm sure the devil is scared to have you in hell because you might just freeze the place."

"I did nothing wrong, I did not lie and she didn't say what was and what wasn't allowed in this friendly match," Cyrus said.

"I only agreed to do this because you promised to buy me the latest game of Zelda. Don't forget and don't bring me into your evil schemes, I feel dirty."

Cyrus nodded at him, "A deal is a deal. I'm just glad I stopped it before she took off your shoes."

What Edith was unaware of was the fact that Cyrus had placed two inched cloth into the boots of Dawn when Edith had turned to call John for them. It was subtle and discreet. No one saw a thing.

"I didn't lie, but I have experience in deceiving people. Life isn't fair after all, she should learn that," he said with an innocent smile on his face.

****

Coming back to the site where everyone was, John had gathered them up to give them advice on today's training.

Everyone was happy to be there, everyone except the one girl who was there. She had wished that she never made that stupid bet in the first place. She had wished she could go home.

And she would be as she would need to check in with her father as usual later today.

"Today is an exercise day, you will all be training with the animals you have tamed so far. There are a multitude of supplies here such as brushes, fruits, meat, and much more. Grab what you will need and begin practicing what tricks you can do with your animal. At the end of the day, get to know them as much as you can."

"And as for you Dawn, I will accompany you personally."

Dawn was a little taken aback by this because it felt like preferential treatment. He didn't see himself as valuable or important and he wasn't even the representative. So why would John be caring about him out of everyone else? Maybe it was because he failed so badly at taming the Hippo the other day. Perhaps that is why. Out of pity.

But for John, it was out of care. He saw the state in which Dawn was and was worried he might back out of the exercise or that something else would happen. He wanted to watch over Dawn and mentor him more personally than the others because he wanted to help him catch up to them.

"If you will need me, I will be at Dawn's site. Now you may all grab what you need and disperse."

Cyrus had grabbed a case with short grass, herbs, shrubs, and a brush. Edith grabbed a brush and some fruit. Vito grabbed some meat and a ball to play around with and Terra grabbed two cases of meat. Nothing but raw meat.

"I am sure they will love this," Terra said smiling.

"Don't just give out all the food, try and make them earn it," John said.

"Yes!" Terra nodded respectfully as he waddled away.

"Alright then, I look forward to seeing you all again soon, this training exercise has already begun," John said as he took off with Dawn.