"The Crimson Pineglade…" Kiara comments, taking a breath.
"You must have been here plenty of times, Kiara." Anby acknowledges.
"You could say so," Kiara smirks. "It's still a hotbed for Elusives in this area."
"What do you mean still?" Anby asks.
"Today is a team-building effort," Zhang explains, cutting in. "We will stay here all day, so make sure to build fortified tents."
Alwin tips the brim of his hat, his cloak swaying in the wind. The spring leaves flow through the surroundings as if they were on a moving river.
"So what do we do?" Kiara asks, raising her hand.
Her peers peek their heads in unison, eyes wide with disbelief.
Zhang tilts his head, lips pressing thin.
"You all don't know each other that well. I'll search for any straggling Elusives in the area, but trust me–have fun. You only have each other to survive the night."
"Survive the night," Anby smiles, clenching her temple. "I told you guys Zhang is always searching to build our discipline—"
Adam smacks Anby in the back of her head.
"Remember to ask each other for help," Zhang explains, hands wrapped behind his back. "The day is all yours, so try to talk with one another."
Zhang and Alwin slowly disappear into the forest, almost as if the trees ate them alive.
"Ain't no one questioning that our supervisors just left us," Adam remarks, his palms exaggerating his words."
Zhang's voice bounces off the trees around. " I did not leave you. I'll only be around twenty feet away at all times, as well as checking in every hour."
"So what do we do now?" Adam casts a glance.
"I think we should gather all kinds of trees," a floppy-haired boy walks forward, gloved hands clapping against one another. "We need tree branches or saplings, guys. Of course, cross beams. Cross beams."
"How long do the tree branches need to be?" Anby asks, shooting out her hand.
It was not even a math equation. No reason for that hand to raise that quickly.
"Hmm. You're correct," the boy ponders, holding his patterned wool scarf. "6-10 feet maybe?"
"On it, Doran!"
A ginger-red-haired boy in a burnt suit jacket strolls forward, fingerless gloves pointing at a nearby tree.
"That one looks kind of flammable–I mean usable. One branch ready to go!"
"No. No. Nooo!" Doran screams, already knowing the consequences of his actions. "Stop it, Perry. Perry—"
"It's going to be a long day, isn't it?" Seth acknowledges.
As the morning started—not what everyone expected— the recruits started to spread out to make wooden tents to survive the night. Classic man vs nature reality TV, except less dramatized and way more pathetic.
In just under thirty minutes, someone already got bitten by a snake. That same snake, somehow, was promoted to a shrine god. One guy carved a tiny wooden crown for the snake–all sanded and perfectly crafted.
Pretty sure it's a rattlesnake. It kept wagging its tail like a dog because it was threatened by like twenty people kneeling in a circle. How did this happen–no idea. That's what happens when everyone is mostly raised in a secret organization in a temple up in the mountains.
You go kind of insane.
Anby heals the boy. Adam explores the area, searching for more wood with Perry. Seth was just–well, he couldn't do anything, but he was too small and weak. Yet he somehow did more work than the generic bully group lounging around.
How do you do less work than the lazy kid?
"That's not how it works!"
Kiara carefully wraps a knot around a branch, slipping off like a failed mess — much like one might when tying their shoes.
"Do you want me to help you?"
"Thanks. I don't need any help though," Doran says, looking up, "I could say the same thing for you."
The knot snaps. The tent collapses in on itself like a dead carcass. It's now a sad, chaotic pile of sticks and branches.
"Eh. We all have to start somewhere," Kiara shrugs, smiling warm and radiant.
"I guess," Doran squints, blinded by the light Kiara is radiating. "But sometimes it's smarter to stay in your lane. Don't mess with things that you can't quite handle."
"That's a terrible way to see the world," Kiara grins. "That's okay, everyone got their roles. I just don't like mine."
Doran looks on with a blank, annoyed look–you know the type that looks at you like you said something dumb. He casts a glance at Perry.
That lunatic arsonist was too busy cutting down trees in his own usual self. Searing off branches from the tree tops, somehow avoiding the dry bark catching on fire.
"Yeah, I need less of you guys," Doran quietly mutters.
Meanwhile, deep in the Crimson Pineglade, two bumbling idiots are somehow tasked with wood collecting.
"We need strong wood," Adam dramatically ponders as if he were some ancient philosopher. "Normal wood."
"So what kind of wood are we getting specifically?" Perry asks, glancing at the pile he has already gathered.
"Who knows?"
"Maybe Doron wants smoking wood to create campfires," Perry suggests.
"You're a genius, Perry," Adam high-fives.
"Look, food," Perry points at the clearly poisonous patch of mushrooms. They even glowed faintly.
"We got lunch for everyone."
"It could be energy mushrooms. Pure spiritual energy is known to seep into vegetation," Adam explains as the two boys look over the patch. "It's either that or you know, just poisonous."
"Interesting," Perry softly nods his head, loudly chewing on a mushroom. His lips smack and slurp the contents inside. "I feel tingly. I think it's the spiritual energy or the poison."
He randomly starts doing jazz hands. "Woaahh. I feel powerful."
He then starts to lick the tree barks. A squirrel wanders by, visibly concerned.
"Let's take you to Anby," Adam says
As the two boys walk back to the camp, Doran has set up tent-building competitions and trust falls for everyone. The latter was the definition of disorganized.
One dude fell into an angry bush of chipmunks. Kiara cheerfully volunteers first—too bad her partner was Laz, and he lets her crash into the ground. Anby writes down everything, acting like she is writing a psychology paper.
However, the tent building competition went much more smoothly.
Adam and Kiara mash and connect any piece of pine tree and bendy twigs into their own lopsided masterpiece. Seth, with the help of Anby, insulates his tent with moss. One of the more cozy tents. Anby decorates hers with homemade leaf garlands.
Kiara donates pinecones to the rest of her peers.
Seth offers his leftover moss.
Anby helps Perry tie a proper ridge knot, but that damn ginger boy kept talking like he didn't have a clamp on that thing. A breeze passes. He manages to mimic her loop. Finishing the beam knot together, fingers brush for a moment.
By the time the afternoon strolled along, everyone was covered in mud and dirt. Kiara's group looks over their masterpieces—one of the tent roofs was caving in on itself. It was Adam's and Kiara's.
A singular bird gently lands on the wooden roof; the sudden weight causes the tent to shake and rumble. Kiara crosses her arms, Adam thinly presses his lips, Anby and Seth awkwardly watch as the building caves in and destroys each and every one of their tents.
"Wow," Adam acknowledges. "We're bad at this."
Kiara chuckles, shaking Adam's shoulder. "Yeah. They were pretty terrible anyway."
"I mean mine was the best," Seth cuts in, trying to gloat.
"Yeah, it kind of was," Kiara smirks.
As Perry and Doran walk forward to help the group rebuild their masterpieces, the rest of the camp erupts in a full-blown conversation on how to build a better structure.
"I win because mine actually stands on itself."
"I built mine up in a tree. You can't beat that."
"Obviously mine is the best—"
Zhang watches as the students talk, laugh, and argue over each other for the best tent design. For once, no one sharpened their blades or posture to prove one another.
"No one has to be alone anymore," Zhang mutters, barely audible, exhaling just enough for the cold air to leave his chest.
Alwin watches in the distance, face half covered by a tree trunk. Eyes glaring like a new pair of kitchen knives.
Meanwhile in the camp, Doran helps secure Kiara's tent's framework, and Anby and Seth help bring over materials.
"Oh, looks like we're out of the right kind of wood," Doran says, slowly counting off the pile. "I'll be right back."
As Doran dives into the forest, Laz swaggers over to Kiara's group. "Is that your tent? It looks more like a homeless hut to be honest."
"You took all the good wood," Seth cuts back.
"Who asked for your opinion, kid?" Laz presses his finger on Seth's head, pushing him down.
"It's not my fault that your guy's structure fell apart. Maybe if you use a bit more brain power, it might have stayed upright."
"Didn't he get beaten by the janitor?" Kiara mocks, innocently pointing out.
Laz's friends chuckle behind his back.
"He caught me off guard, okay," Laz embarrassingly cuts back.
"This might catch you off guard as well," Kiara says.
"Hey, Perry. You can light his tent now," Adam orders.
"Huh?" Laz's eyes widen with fear.
"Fire?" Perry's lips tug into a wide grin. "Let's go."
As flame and ash spiral and swirl around his arm, it all bursts over Laz's beautiful wooden tent.
It wasn't that good anyway.
'Ahh, our tent!" Laz screams. "Violet, put the fire out."
Violet puts her flat palms forward, and a jetstream of pressured water shoots out like a bullet.
"Wait, don't do that," Anby screams. Too late.
The fire expands and explodes, and burnt chunks of wood fly out as mere casualties.
"Ahh! It's even worse," Laz cries out.
"Yeah, I was going to say that," Anby says in mere defeat. Seth dodges as a flying chunk of wood nearly decapitates him.
"I got some more wood for the—what the hell happened?" Doran stops midtrack, nearly dropping the wooden planks.
"Ahhh! The fire is spreading," Kiara shouts, as half the group starts stomping, fanning, and panicking in circles.
"I want to go back to my barracks," Doran mutters.
Over the rest of the day, Zhang watches as the group creates new competition and activities to satiate their boredom.
Meditation under the towering pine trees. Blindfold walks test coordination and trust.
A scavenger hunt drags unwilling recruits to search everywhere from the grime of rock bottom to find a single clue. Teams scramble, calling out to each other with playful taunts and sharp encouragement.
Seth steps forward, giving Kiara a boost up a low-hanging branch.
"One down," Kiara says, grinning. "Two more to go."
Zhang had to keep changing his location, trying not to be seen by everyone.
Adam and Anby huddled by a small creek, taking in their environment. Picking up a flat stone, Anby triumphantly holds it up before Adam suddenly scares her, showing off a fat frog in her face. She falls into the creek, softly laughing.
"I got one item," one boy yells out.
"Come on, it's got to be somewhere," Laz orders. Violet checks the nearby stream while the rest of the group searches harder. Nearly tripping over a root, Violet nearly trips over.
"You need to watch your steps," Laz shook his head.
"Oh shut up," Violent shoots back, nudging him gently.
"Got it!" Perry calls out, waving a bright red feather. He jogs over, half-exhausted, giving it over to Anby.
Back at the clearing, Doran kept watch of the time, urging the teams onward.
As hours passed, Zhang found himself surprised by the inventive ways they came up with.
Alwin watches in the distance, meeting where Zhang is. A burst of flapping flies over him–fast, sharp, and directional. A flock of birds veers mid-air, panicked. Short, high-pitched screams echo in the distance.
"That doesn't sound great," Kiara comments. Everyone looks up at the sky, trying to find out where that sound is coming from.
"That wasn't thunder," Seth mutters. "Something must have spooked them bad."
The fireplace crackles, illuminating the evening sky around. A collage of red and oranges flourishes in the forest in its warm colors.
Adam's short, jagged hair catches the fire's light like frosted glass. The glow traces deep shadows over his skin. His piercing ice blue eyes glance in the distance, sensing something unseen.
"This has been so terrible," Kiara comments, sitting on a log. "Yet so much fun."
"It really has," Adam says, shortly sitting down. "Kiara. You think about this assassin's plot. Have you ever stopped to think about what your grandfather really did to deserve this?"
"Eh," Kiara rolls her eyes, brushing her hair through her layered hair. "I just never cared to know why. Too busy worrying about not being killed myself."
Adam's eyes grew icy cold. "We're targeted alongside your grandfather, Kiara. Someone thinks we're threats. They won't stop until we're gone."
Kiara shrugs, a half smile tugging on her lips.
"Enemies, threats, whatever they call them now–I'm not afraid of them. I won't let anyone threaten me or anyone else."
She glances at Adam more seriously.
"There are only so many seats I can save for others that I can't make a mistake. If I do, then what good would I be for everyone else? Stop or be stopped."
A flash of Kiara's childhood rings in her head—her parents lying dead in their room as an Elusive chases her through her home.
Kiara stays quiet.
Alwin looks through the bushes, tipping his rice hat. The shadows cover his face; only a side of his V-shaped jaw peeks through the shadows.
Adam awkwardly waves at Alwin, but he pretends not to be a stalker and disappears back into the bushes. It was like he was daring them to catch on—an open secret.
Suspicious.
Definitely a wolf in sheep's clothing--I mean, he's snooping in the back of bushes.
Adam and Kiara lock eyes, pretending not to notice Alwin being suspicious. Something is definitely off. Definitely.
The rest of their friend group trickles back from the forest, chatting as they collapse to the campfire.
"Who got the weirdest find?" Seth asks.
Doran brandishes a muddied squash leaf as a trophy. "These are y'all prizes."
The rest of the group gives him disappointed looks, almost fake disgust.
"Guys," Doran says, raising his brow. "We're in a scary forest. The sun is drawing down, of course, I don't have an actual trophy."
Adam snorts. "I have a rock shaped like a frog. Totally better reward."
Anby flicks a twig out of her hair, as well as picking one out of Perry's hair. "Is this what kids feel like at a camp?"
Kiara shrugs. "You could say so. Less bruises, of course."
She smiles, brushing dirt off her shoulder. "Maybe. I wish you guys could have more moments like this. Feeling like kids again."
"We're not adults," Doran says, cutting off the emotional moments.
"You know what I mean," Kiara says, annoyed. "It's not about the age, it's about not worrying about being killed every day."
Adam glances at her, approval clear in his eyes.
Kiara leans back on her log, watching her friends.
"Let's hear about scary stories, everyone." Perry leans forward with a mischievous grin. "Kiara, what do you have?"
Kiara looks at the warm sky above them–a bit early for scary stories.
"Okay, I got a scary urban legend," she says, pressing her hands together all mysterious, "It says that if you whisper your name into the forest when it's foggy, you can see a figure peeking through the mist. Try to call it out one more time, it disappears."
Anby shivers, Seth nervously laughs, and Doran sheepishly hides under his patterned scarf. Adam stayed mostly bored, not impressed.
"When you wake up the next morning, you see boot prints bigger than your own and a hand print on the tree bark," Kiara continues, all ominous. "Ooooooo."
Silence draws.
A crow croaks in the distance.
No one made a sound.
"Boo!" Perry coos, arms raised like a banshee. Reacting instantly, Doran smacks Perry right in the face.
"Ah! Doran–" Perry mutters, clutching his nose.
"Sorry. Sorry," Doran apologizes. The rest of the group, however, laughs at the sudden outburst. Anby giggles, covering her mouth to suppress. Seth nudges Doran slightly as Kiara shakes her head with a smirk.
Zhang watches in the distance, stern-faced, yet a small, reluctant smile shows.
As his students laugh amongst each other, his expression hardens. He looks at Alwin standing by himself, cloak swaying in the cold breeze.
It's time.
The plan that was created just before leaving for the Crimson Pineglade.
Zhang was in his chambers, making sure everything was up to plan, until Edward entered.
"I want you to bring Alwin Dubois on this team trip," Edward recommended.
"Why?" Zhang questions. He pondered, almost searching for the answer himself. "Do you think he is the one responsible for this bounty on you?"
"I've faced many enemies, Zhang," Edward explains, eyes somber before burning with determination. "The worst kind are those that infiltrate and blend in with you. I've only faced one of those back in my day, and I swear to never try to let that happen again."
Zhang's expression stays neutral. He casts a glance at Alwin standing rigid in front of a pillar. He looks back at the paranoia painted over Edward's eyes—it wasn't a look of madness, though.
"All right," he says flatly. "Let's test your theory on this guy."
Back to the present, Zhang walks over to where Alwin was sitting. He was busy sipping on his canteen, but he still cast a judgmental look at Zhang.
"You seem tense," Zhang says, sitting across from Alwin. The voices of the recruits' teambuilding echo in the distance.
Alwin blinks. "Really? I am?"
"You should know I killed Thomas Maloum–The Acid King," Zhang utters, not looking at Alwin. "The one that infiltrated our temple. Freed his comrade. Escaped through 8 floors of a locked corridor."
Alwin's eyes sharpen like a kitchen knife. His fingers stop moving.
"The Acid King? Good that an assassin like him is out of the picture," he exhales, barely perceptible. He smacks his lips together, not knowing how to deal with the sudden information. "We still need to look for the man who hired him, however."
Zhang's voice calms.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"Why did you try to kill Kiara?" Zhang's words cut through the stillness. Alwin doesn't respond.
"I'm sorry. I got carried away," Alwin apologizes, voice tightening. "That was unlike me."
The crows encircle the forest top, gazing on the two men.
"You pointed your blade at her neck," Zhang questions, finger dancing around his hilt. "Don't you think that was a bit extreme for training?"
"I wasn't thinking," Alwin says, taking a sip from his canister. "Why are you telling—"
"That's a lie," Zhang bluntly cuts off. "Your heartbeat spiked."
Alwin stares, his expressionless eyes dilating.
Zhang remembers Kiara's words:
"You think there was a mole…someone who let the assassin in."
"We have to be careful who we associate with."
The words echo and reverberate in his head.
Alwin's hand claps into fists over his lap.
"You joined the American temple, didn't you?" Zhang snaps back, cold and measured. "You weren't raised here. Now tell me, Alwin—are you really here to protect us?"
Alwin stares, eyes dropping to his hilt. Zhang's eyes follow shortly. They stare at each other. Stillness draws over the forest top.
"I dare you," Zhang warns.
"I guess I now have a reason to kill you," Alwin cuts back, steel inches away from Zhang's face. Zhang calmly swings his hand, summoning his katana.
Sparks cascade and bloom like fireworks.
The two lock eyes as their weapons kiss one another.
The forest ripples from their attack, with flocks of birds flying away in the opposite direction.
"You hear that?" Kiara remarks.
Her friends stop laughing, taking notice of the distant sound of blades clashing.