The sun had only just peaked above the horizon, painting the clouds in streaks of faded orange, the sky still an ash grey. The air was cold, not just from the chill of early morning, but from something deeper, a weight that settled on his chest before he even opened his eyes.
A sound lingered in the back of his mind, a sorrowfull cry, carried by the wind like a ghost lingering around the area.
Zeke sat up slowly. The fire beside him had burned low, only embers now. They flickered against the rocks like dying stars. The others were still asleep, Kaito snoring softly with his hood half over his face, Rian sprawled out like he tried to fight gravity and lost.
Zeke walked a little further away before trying to clear his mind, his hand drifted to his chest as if to quiet the echo inside it. That cry wouldn't leave him for some reason.
"What a depressing way to wake up" He shook his head, beating his chest a few times to try and wake himself up. "There goes my mood for the whole day"
The morning wind brushed against his skin, the sun slowly began to crawl higher painting the sky in dark hues of blue.
The faint shuffling behind him brought him out of his mind, the quiet gulping of water whispered through the air,
"You're up early," Kaito said, his voice groggy. He rubbed his eyes as a yawn escaped his mouth, swinging his legs off the side of the mat as he sat up.
Zeke didn't answer immediately. He stared into the horizon, where mist still clung to the trees like a shroud.
"Heard something in the wind," Zeke said eventually. "Didn't feel like sleeping anymore."
A tired raspy voice interjected before Kaito could reply.
"Ahh, I see your back in your edgy protagonist personality" A few moments later, Rian emerged from a nearby bush, shirt half on, hair a mess. "You two are up? Don't tell me we're doing another spar this early. My bones are still aching from yesterday."
Zeke smirked, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Didn't realize you had bones, you fought like a soggy towel."
"Wow," Rian said, mock-offended. "You come at me like that when I haven't even had breakfast."
Kaito chuckled at the exchange. "Keep crying little girl,"
Rian flipped him off with a grin.
The three stood there for a while, letting the cold wind pass between them. The silence wasn't awkward. It felt... earned. As if they were soldiers on the frontline clinging to rare moments of peace.
More sounds of shuffling and the movement of water sounded out behind them as more students were waking up. The morning mist thinned beneath the rising sun, creating a majestic view for the few students who were awake and admiring the view. As more students began waking up, the sound of talking and laughter began growing louder.
When the sun was fully visible above horizon the group of nearly a hundred students gathered near Zeke and his friends, Rian told them all to gather earlier, but they were still unsure as to what was going to be said, they didn't really like speaches as the last one they went to ended up with them being sent to a battlefield.
"It couldn't be Zeke right, maybe he wants to talk to us?"
"Unlikely, that guy doesn't even want to be our leader haha."
"No, no you got it wrong, his majesty finally has a big enough group, now he needs to pick out concubines to continue his lineage"
"Hey Rian, tell older brother Zeke that I can help warm his bed"
"Bahahaha, what the fuck"
The crowd fanned out leaving the speaker standing alone, everyone stood at a distance laughing at them.
"Come back I was joking, ahh you snitches"
Rian looked around incredulously, looking for the person who just spoke, eyes finally landing on a muscular figure who was singled out by everyone. Rian stared at the red faced, hunk of meat with a gaze of disdain
"Someone beat him up"
The crowd flodded back in before jumping on the big guy, overall the mood was great, everyone was having fun which was quite a rare occurance considering they were in the Wildlands. Another student turned to his friend, his gaze full of curiosity.
"Really though, maybe Zeke is gonna give us a speech."
A few of the nearby students nodded in agreement before Rians voice echoed out.
"Shhh, everone shhh, His majes-Bang- Zeke, would like to say a few words"
Rian walked into the crowd holding his shoulder that just got punched, making way for Zeke.
The crowd of students started laughing at Rians pain but were still quite suprised, Zeke didn't usually speak like this. Not to everyone at once. He seemed hated this kind of attention, atleast thats what everyone thought.
They all shifted their attention towards the figure walking towards them as he raised his voice.
"Hey everyone, first off, I would like to call out that old fossil. That crazy old man is the one who sent us here," Zeke said. "And now? Now he's out a barrier around us, trapping us with those hollowed creatures. He's literally trying to kill us."
"You know what I think?" He paused a devious smirk tugged at his lips. "Fuck him. Fuck the rules."
A few uneasy chuckles scattered across the crowd, most were nervous, they knew that guy was insanely strong and most likely the headmaster of the academy.
But before the crowd could continue laughing Zeke's face turned solemn.
"Look around you. Look how many we are. They didn't expect this. They didn't expect a group to get this big. This strong. We're not just surviving, we're organizing, We are not playing by their rules."
He looked out across the crowd. Students in torn cloaks. Dirt-smeared faces. Some wide-eyed, some steeled. But all of them listening silently to their leader.
"The whole barrier thing? It might be because of us. Because we're not dying like we're supposed to, because we aren't following the story they created for us."
Silence fell.
"But guess what... Fuck the barrier too."
All the students laughed out loud, although they knew his huour was a bit strange it was still a breath of fresh air. Zeke's voice rose once more.
"So in order to piss of those old guys we'll find more students. We'll make this group bigger. Stronger. We'll ruin whatever plans they had. We'll gather the students all over the forest and burn it, burn it all, the rules, the forest, Fuck if the old man comes down again lets burn him too."
The Students laughed now.
Rian leaned toward Kaito and whispered, just loud enough for a few people to hear. "Dude hates public speaking. Now he's out here sounding like he's about to start a rebellion, im seeing some similarities between him and that guy from germany-."
Zeke turned to him, deadpan. "Someone beat him up."
Immediately, Darius the shieldbearer and Bronn, one of the stronger boys of the group moved, grinning as they chased Rian across the clearing. Rian yelled something about unjust violence, but everyone was laughing now. The tension broke like a storm had passed.
Zeke waited. Then raised a hand.
Silence returned.
"Let's move," he said. "divide yourselves into groups of twenty. spread out through the forest, but stay close enough to regroup in the case that you run into too many beasts. Help survivors, there won't be many left, but we can still build our numbers. We don't leave anyone behind."
"A brief word of warning, watch your backs, we don't know who killed that camp we found, but we do know it was other students."
His eyes scanned the crowd. "And Finally. There is no leader here. I'm not your commander, infact if you see me walking past you, don't talk to me,"
"Literally don't talk to me I won't reply, ahem, anyways... are you ready?."
A choir of voices rang out across the clearing, echoing throughout the nearby area
"YES"
Rian, still being held back by Darius and Bronn screamed out.
"THEN RACERS...START YOUR-BANG-"
Zeke glared at him making him shut up before turning back to the crowd of students.
"LETS MOVE OUT!"
"RAHHHHH"
The students let out roars of laughter and cheered letting out a warcry as if announcing themselves to the whole forest. Everyone was fired up, the speech made all the students blood boil. Even the professors gave small nods in respect.
But then Professor Lira squinted. "Wait a moment... some parts of his speech sound familiar, from a movie maybe, still the rest was pretty good?"
A look of realisation flashed on their faces, a chuckle rippled through the adults.
The headmaster, watching with a dark expression, sighed as he rubbed his temples. "This kid is quite good... but did he have to swear at me like that?"
Back on the ground, as the students began organizing into their groups of 20, Zeke exhaled slowly, before moving away from the crowd, trembling slightly. "ahh shit im never doing that again"
Laughter mixing with cautious excitement set the atmosphere alive. Students helping others to their feet, checking gear, offering quiet encouragement. It wasn't perfect but it was alive. Moving. Breathing. Unified.
A few days ago, they'd been scattered, terrified, lost in the dark. Now… they stood side by side, an army born from the ashes of fear.
Zeke glanced around as Darius slapped Bronn on the back, both of them laughing at something Rian had said. Kaito walked by handing out spare rations, Tala's absence lingered like a shadow on to boys hearts. One that refused to go out, but they weren't the only ones missing people, nearly everyone was.
They were broken pieces.
But even broken pieces could be re-forged to kill.
Zeke stepped into the forest, boots crunching faintly over loose stone and frost-dusted grass. He looked around him, at the battalion of teens, survivors who had against all odds, chosen not to lie down and die.
A breath filled his lungs cold, stinging, full of purpose.
He let out a chuckle "Operation: Build an Army had officially begun."
And for the first time in days, Zeke believed they had a real chance. Not just to survive,
But to fight back.