Phase Zero [4]

Sajuan's smile clung to his face like armor.

"Three heads are better than one, yes?" he said, raising his palms in surrender. The obsidian thread in his aura pulsed faintly—a flaw Aay's golden eyes tracked like a hawk sighting prey.

Mei, oblivious to their silent duel, said, "Let's start with rabbits—we can use the brambles to net them over that little cavern." He pointed to the cavern below the tree.

Both men agreed. They cut a long piece of brambles resembling a net.

"The two of you can hold the brambles and I herd the rabbits your way."

Mei said and bolted immediately to find the rabbits nearby.

Her hands moved with the clipped efficiency of someone raised on bluffs and survival, directing Aay and Sajuan through the bracken with gestures honed by years of hunting hares.

A snapped twig here, a tossed pebble there. The rabbits bolted as planned, their panicked zigzags herded toward the cave's yawning mouth as Aay and Sajuan chased them with brambles net for wider range.

The first task was complete.

"Twenty," Aay muttered, counting the glinting eyes in the shadows.

He knotted a vine across the entrance, the brambles strands pulled taut enough to sing.

"Guard them," he ordered Sajuan. "If even one escapes—"

"They'll stay." Sajuan sat and leaned against the damp stone wall, arms folded. "You can count on me."

Aay nodded, and followed Mei to capture the caterpillars.

The caterpillars were much easier; it didn't take more than five minutes to capture all fifty.

But when they returned, half the rabbits were gone.

Three parallel gouges scored the cave walls—too precise, too human. A golden feather lay at his feet, its edges sharp enough to draw blood.

"The bird," Sajuan said, too calmly. "It dive-bombed the entrance. I tried to shield them, but—"

Aay lunged, fingers grazing Sajuan's throat before Mei slammed her shoulder between them. "We're only down to 20 minutes! It's okay!" she said. "Aay—guard the rabbits. Me and Sajuan will catch the rest."

—

The forest breathed around them, each rustle of leaves a ticking clock. Mei moved like shadow given purpose, her boots barely disturbing the undergrowth as she scanned for movement. Sajuan trailed a step behind.

"There," Mei whispered, crouching behind a moss-crusted log.

Three rabbits nibbled lichen ahead, ears twitching.

She plucked a pebble from her pocket, gesturing for Sajuan to flank left. He hesitated—as if there was something on his mind.

He positioned himself behind a bush and waited for Mei's signal.

The rabbits froze.

Mei's pebble flew, smacking a birch trunk.

The creatures scattered, but Sajuan's outstretched arm hooked wide, herding them into a thicket, and Mei lunged behind, hands closing around warm fur.

"That's five," she said, as she secured the rabbit with a vine. Her eyes flicked to Sajuan. "Are you okay? Don't worry about Aay. I've known him just for today, but I know he's just being cautious about your presence. He doesn't mean any harm."

He didn't meet her gaze. "Don't worry, I know. He is right to be wary of me, and to be mad about the rabbits escaping."

"Yeah. You said you can heartbeat?" She stood, wiping dirt on her trousers. "Is that true?"

Sajuan smiled. "Yeah, I know it's unbelievable, but it's true."

Mei's curiosity sharpened her voice. "Is it your tribe's thing?"

"No," he shook his head. "It's just me developing it when I was a kid living in a cave."

"Cave?"

"Well, it's a tradition in my tribe—let's say I broke a sacred rule, so I was punished."

"Let's go." Sajuan urged, "We're down to half-an-hour already; we still need to catch that bird."

Shriek!

But before she could answer, a shriek split the sky.

The golden bird circled above the trees.

Mei's hands flew over her shoulder and hung the vines behind her back, ready for the bird's attack.

"Be careful! Its talons are sharp!" Sajuan warned.

Mei nodded before darting away.

Shriek!

But the bird was not far away, looming above the foliage, ready to strike at any chance.

"Go and call Aay!" Mei shouted. "I'm going to distract it while you two catch it!"

Sajuan nodded.

He turned around and returned to the cave.

—

"Where's Aay!?"

However, Aay wasn't thrilled that Mei didn't return alongside him.

Don't tell me she's dead?

His mind spiraled into the worst scenario. It hadn't crossed his mind earlier. Now he was on edge.

The possibility of a young kid dying due to his inadequacy would be hard to swallow. It would have been acceptable if Mei were from Rubb City, where she knew the risks of death, but she wasn't.

"You're misunderstanding, Aay! Mei is baitin—" Sajuan tried to explain the situation.

But his words fell on Aay's deaf ears.

"I'll kill you!"

Aay lunged at him with fury in his eyes.

The fight was a confession in motion.

Aay fought as the slums had taught him—dirty, desperate, teeth bared against the world, but with precision and skill.

Sajuan, on the other hand, defended with the restraint of a man shackled by unseen chains, parrying strikes but never clenching his own fists.

"Listen to m—"

Sajuan's attempt to reason was cut short by a punch to his head as he dodged to the right.

However, Aay was far quicker. He breached Sajuan's guard and delivered punches to his gut, chest, and cheek in a consecutive motion.

Sajuan's world spun. He clenched his jaw and backflipped to create space between them.

He's strong and fast! Even if I fight for real, I'm not sure I'd win. He swiped blood from his nostril.

He raised his guard in a defensive stance and steadied himself against Aay's slow approach.

"Stop!" Mei's cry split the air as Aay prepared to lunge into another offensive onslaught.

"Mei!" Aay's eyes glimmered with relief.

But it soon returned to a fiercer glare than before.

"Wait a moment. I'll finish this quickly."

Aay's mind was simple: Kill Sajuan and pass the test alongside Mei.

Catching the bird wouldn't be a priority anymore, as they'd already completed two tasks and were eligible for the next test.

It's been forty minutes. We don't have enough time to catch the bird.

Aay shifted into a lunging stance, ready to strike.

"Stop, Aay! We can still—"

Her words fell on deaf ears as Aay lunged toward Sajuan.

Sajuan defended himself but soon found himself cornered against a huge oak tree.

Aay's fist thrust forward—

Bang!

But it struck sturdy wood instead of flesh.

The tree shook violently but showed no sign of falling.

Rustle!

The foliage above rustled; an object fell from the tree.

A nest tumbled from the canopy—a woven cradle of thorns and branches.

Mei dove, her arms closing around it seconds before impact. Three eggs glowed within, alongside golden feathers mirroring the bird's plumage.

"Don't…" Sajuan rasped.

The warning came too late.

The bird fell from the sun itself, talons raking Mei's forearms as she curled protectively over the nest.

"Take them!" she screamed, thrusting it upward. Blood sheeted down her wrists.

Seeing her blooded wrists, Aay seethed with rage.

He kicked at the bird, but it dodged backward with agility.

"Aay, don't! They're her eggs—it's understandable why she's mad!" Mei said. "They're yours!" She locked eyes with the mother bird.

For a heartbeat, the creature hovered—a gilded specter with eyes like molten ore. Then it seized its young and vanished, leaving silence in its wake.

Jarek emerged from the shadows, his polished boots avoiding Mei's blood as one might sidestep a beggar. Yet his gaze lingered on her wounds, then on the shattered nest fragments.

"Sentiment," he said, the word ash in his mouth, "is a luxury killers cannot afford."

Mei pressed a torn sleeve to her arm. "Good thing I'm not a killer."

Something flickered in Jarek's scarred face—a tic beneath his eye, a twitch of his gloved fingers. When he spoke again, his voice lacked its customary sneer. "Follow me. The test is concluded."

Aay stepped forward, hands clenching. "But we didn't complete the tasks!"

"Didn't you?" Jarek didn't turn. "The Association doesn't care about rabbits or caterpillars. Only the question: What will you sacrifice to achieve your goal?" His glove rose, almost involuntarily, to trace the pitted scar running through his eyebrow. "Today, you answered… interestingly."

"Let's go," he turned around, "You three have passed." and walked towards the other end of the island.

As he walked away, Sajuan approached Mei. "That nest," he murmured. "We could've forced the bird to surrender and passed the test. Why did you give it back?"

Aay—patching her injury—nodded in agreement.

Though they had passed according to Jarek, they still opted to capture the bird just to be safe.

Mei scratched the back of her head. "Well, I don't want to extort a helpless animal. It's not my style."

"Also," Sajuan began again, "how did you know the bird had eggs? And why did you come back after luring it?"

Mei stood up. "The bird stopped pursuing when it heard Aay's scream and immediately changed direction. At that moment, I guessed it had eggs. Birds are territorial when nesting, so I followed it and saw you two fighting."

"Impressive," Sajuan said, amazed. "You're pretty knowledgeable about forests, huh?"

Mei accepted the compliment with a head scratch. She added, "Well, I wouldn't have figured it out without you."

Sajuan tilted his head. "Me?"

Mei smiled. "You said Examiner Jarek is kind. I concluded the bird wasn't just a wild animal but a protected species, and Mr. Jarek guards this place. Hence the bird's odd behavior."

Both men now tilted their heads. Odd behavior?

"Don't you see?" Mei explained. "The test seemed too simple—catch rabbits and caterpillars? An amateur could do it in half an hour. The real challenge was the bird. Its intelligence made it impossible to catch normally."

"Now I get it," Aay said. Now it make sense.

"The bird purposely freed the rabbits when Sajuan was guarding it. And due to my distrust for him, that'll give me the reason not to trust his words ever again. When he came back without you, I am a—well you know the rest."

"Exactly!" Mei nodded. "The bird chased me as if my plan was working—like it was all staged. But when its eggs were threatened, it overrode Mr. Jarek's plan."

Everything became clear. But something still nagged at Aay.

He glanced at Jarek and activated his unique ability.

A stormy gray aura swirled around Mr. Jarek.

Aay's eyebrow rose. Shame and regret?