This book contains real events. Places, names, and dates may have been changed to protect the identities of those involved. Any names that may seem that are any form of trademark 또는 celebrity is completely coincidental. This is a preview, and is subject to changes. I take no responsibility of interpretations of this writing.

War. Well, war just never changes; always for money, power; for the stupid things of life. For what can easily be resolved, but instead is fought over for years and years. This is human nature, to want, and want, but never to give anything of benefit to one 당신 don’t know. Those who do the opposite are defying human nature, and thus are helping to save the word from the ever-lurking darkness that looms to destroy it. Those who have common sense know the burdens that will hold them down in the everlasting days in their life after death will try and try and try endlessly to fight against human nature. However, war is not always about power, depending on which end of the blade 당신 are. If 당신 are on the offensive end, 당신 simply want money, power, popularity, 또는 any other way to satisfy your endless greed. If 당신 are on the defensive end, 당신 are fighting to maintain yourself alive; 당신 try to bring order and sense to those who are on the offensive side.

However, right now, I need for 당신 to understand better the gravity of the situation at hand, and this situation is about war.

I’m going to tell 당신 about a group of children who managed to pull off the impossible. I was one of these. They actually, accidentally threatened to destroy the world, in the perspective of some, yet ended up saving us all, 또는 at least are trying to in their dimension. Yes, this story may sound rather typical, but trust me: in the story I’m about to tell you, the word “typical” does not exist.

“So, what are we going to do again?” asked a 12 년 old child. His name is Noctus… well… Noctus, and that’s pretty much all of his name. Much like his friends, he doesn’t have a last name. If anything, his 프렌즈 are his only family left, so he doesn’t need a last name. He wears a blue 재킷, 자 켓 with draw strings that is zipped almost all the way up so that 당신 could just see his white 셔츠 that is under, which barely looks like white anymore. He has white shoes, 또는 at least that’s what they are supposed to be like. Instead, his shoes have been covered in mud and dirt because of what he had just been through. His hair is rustled, and so he has a 침대 head style. He has light blue eyes that are almost never seen anymore.

“We aren’t going to do anything,” spoke the eldest of them all at 20 years old. His name is Gatege. Since he’s the eldest, the rest of the children in the group often look up to him for 조언 또는 leadership, so 당신 could say that he was their leader; he kind of was. He wore a black sweat 셔츠 and dark blue jeans. He has a silver molar, but that is everything he has that distinguishes him. He has a curly mullet, and wear is supposed to wear glasses, but almost never does.

“Okay.” This was said 의해 Menae; 11. She has short hair; most of the time, and has her hair brushed off her face. She also has a blue 셔츠 on with white seams, and dark jeans. She wears white sneakers that are much whiter than Noctus’s, though they do have their fair share of dirt and mud.

“What if we starve?” demanded Cooro at 13. He also wears a green schemed camouflage 재킷, 자 켓 that has a lifted collar. He wears jeans for bottoms, and is the only one of the group of adolescents who wears a belt, apart from Noctus. His hairstyle is a black, regular cut, though his hair is fairy rustled.

“What do 당신 think, Tenemae?” asked Noctus.

Her hair is spiked with a black tint and hazel eyes. She wears a black 터틀, 거북 neck with a lifted collar, and a scarf covers his mouth, which makes her look like a ninja from many Japanese animes. She bares a black 재킷, 자 켓 and dark back sweat pants with black boots.

“Gatege is right. If we run for it, they will stop us, turn us in, and when they find out who we are,” she made her hand look as if she were holding a gun to her temple, with her nose still in her ever-present book. She then lifted her fingers off the side of her head with a soft gunshot sound, signifying that the police would kill them, needless to say, still stuck in that book of hers.

“But aren’t they usually the good guys?” Menae asked.

“Have 당신 ever heard of police brutality?” Noctus pointed out.

“Can’t I convince them to let us go?” Cooro asked, looking rather scared at the thought of imminent and inevitable death. Then again, anybody would be scared out of their mind if they knew that death was imminent, and inevitable.

“You can’t negotiate as the criminal,” Tenemae stated.

“If we stay here, won’t the police find us anyways?” Noctus wondered out loud.

“That’s why were staying here, so that the police don’t find us.” Tenemae snapped.

“Look, everyone, we’re staying here, and that’s final.” Gatege yelled loud enough for everyone to hear, but low enough so the police searching the streets wouldn’t.

“Fine 의해 me.” Menae stated, and walked back into her room.

“If we stay here, how are we going to feed ourselves?” Cooro asked.

“We won’t resort to cannibalism, if that’s what you’re afraid of. It’s time we all felt a bit of hunger for change,” Gatege said, standing his ground with his decision.

After this, Tenemae went to the attic, where he somehow prefers to sleep, and began to make preparations to go to sleep. Gatege went to his room, while Cooro and Noctus both went to sleep in the living room. Noctus and Cooro both went to their rooms.

How did everything end up this way? Noctus asked himself before he went to sleep. Why do they want us dead so bad? What have we done that deserves death?

The 다음 morning, Noctus awoke to the shaking from Cooro.

“Wake up,” He told Noctus “It’s time.”

"What for," Noctus asked. We aren't going to do anything; Gatege said so."

"Well, he changed his mind. Let's go 또는 we'll miss the briefing." Cooro stated, waiting for Noctus impatiently.

Noctus didn’t want to wake up, but knew he had to. The meeting to commence the raiding on the warehouse was going to begin, and he needed the full briefing. Luckily, 의해 the time the two 프렌즈 reached the area where Gatege was beginning to give the briefing, Gatege had waited for the two to arrive.

“Okay, now that everyone is here, let the briefing commence.” Gatege stood up on his feet, and so did everyone else. Tenemae was already standing, but looking away; keeping watch, while at the same time still listening. “We need food, I’m well aware of that. In the warehouse across the street, there’s food; plenty of it. We’ll need to make the supplies in the warehouse last before we have to 옮기기 again.”

“Didn’t 당신 say we were going to stay?” Menae asked.

“Yes, but I was thinking about how this situation would play out if we stayed here,” Gatege admitted. “If we are going to make it out of here, we need food, that’s a given.

“We’re going to be nomads?” asked Noctus.

“I’m not going to lie. Yes, we are,” Gatege sighed.

“What if someone already has raided the warehouse?”

“Then we 옮기기 again to another place.” Gatege stated bluntly. “But look, if 당신 find anything, do not take it for yourself. If 당신 do take anything 당신 find for yourself, and we can prove so, 당신 are going to go without eating for today. Are we clear?”

“Yes!”Almost everyone yelled, except for Tenemae, who simply blinked, and Noctus, who simply nodded in acknowledgement.

“Then let’s go.”

Everyone was following Gatege’ lead. Before they could reach the warehouse across the street, a faint, voice could be heard. The voice said “near the one”.

“Did 당신 hear that?” Cooro asked Noctus.

“Yeah, but I can’t understand what it said. ‘Near the one’ maybe?” Noctus asked, skeptical of his own understanding.

“Maybe…” Cooro echoed.

As the group was closing the distance between them and the warehouse, the voice was now saying “hear the drum”.

“Hear the drum?” Menae asked. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know,” Noctus answered.

When the group could finally make out what the voices were saying, it was too late. The voices were screaming “here they come, here they come”.

“Menae!” Noctus and Cooro both screamed as they both broke into a dash. Moments before, the 초 was fired, a voice from the 상단, 맨 위로 of the warehouse laughed, saying “I never miss”. Noctus managed to push Menae out of the laser aim, but put himself in the aim in the process. There was a sharp pain in the right side of his head, but the pain left almost instantly, replaced 의해 panic and adrenaline.

I then sat up on the ground. The ground. In the house I lived in, along with everyone else. How I ended up having such a dream, I can’t say. But what I could say is that the whole experience was a dream. There was no police after us, there was on sharpshooter at the 상단, 맨 위로 of a building, and most importantly, Menae and Cooro were untouched.

My skin was sweaty, so I needed a shower. I picked out a pair of underwear and a yellow 셔츠 from the drawer in the living room. Then, I went to the shower, and washed away all my worries. Afterwards, I pulled out an MP3, and 콩 to listen to my 가장 좋아하는 tunes. As I was drifting away into sleep, I caught a glimpse of a familiar figure in the room as well. I pulled off my headphones, and turned to the figure. The darkness of light didn’t let me see her much, but I knew well enough who she was.

“Hi, Sanae.” I greeted, still rather groggy. “Can’t sleep?”

“No. I heard the 샤워 on, so I decided to see who was still awake.” Sanae told me.

“So, 당신 stayed up all night just to see me?” I teased, though Sanae couldn’t tell.

“It’s not like that,” she muttered. “I woke up with the sound of the shower.”

I knew she was lying, so I pressed on with, “Why were 당신 awake?”

She hesitated a little, then answered “I-I needed time to think,” in a quick rush.

“What’d 당신 need to think about?” I asked and repositioned myself; intrigued in the conversation.

“You know, stuff…” she attempted to explain. I now knew she was trying to hide something, but I simply let the situation slide.

I was too tired to continue with continue with this conversation, so I simply ended the conversation 의해 telling her how tired I was, and that I needed to sleep. She seemed suspicious at what I had said.

When Sanae left, I looked around in my thoughts and in my room, for what had made Sanae so suspicious of what I had said. Eventually, I found what I was looking for: a clock. The clock read ‘6:02’. I never go to sleep so early, so I guessed that was what made her so suspicious. If I was going to tell Menae about Cooro, I needed to make sure there were no witnesses. Not that I’m going to ‘take out’ Sanae, but that I needed to make sure she didn’t know about Cooro’s feelings towards Menae. I needed to be careful.

The 다음 morning, Gatege was making a breakfast for everyone, with help from Emanuel. The meal was scrambled eggs with hot dogs. I simply let Cooro take my hot dog; I can’t eat red meat (or I get 음식 poisoning), and finished what I could eat.

Since I’ve mentioned Emanuel, I might as well explain him. As far as I know, this particular person brings up everything bad there is to bring up about a situation. He claims it’s to make sure nothing will go wrong, but everyone else still looks at him like a pessimist, because he is a pessimist and a horrible liar, meaning he can’t lie that well, almost because he never tries. He has blonde hair with freckles on his face. His hair his greased back slightly, but not so much that he looks like a ‘hotshot’. He wears jeans that are worn on the front, but are perfectly fine on the back. He wears black cloth sneakers with white tips.

Anyways, as I was saying, Afterwards, I needed something to do, so I went to my room.

After reaching my room, I gave a quick look around. I gave a quick look in the mirror that turned into a long stare.

The image that stood before me was a being like none other that I could remember. This figure was averagely tall, skinny, and insignificant. Manipulate able hair, much like his being. Light blue eyes that no one seemed to have. Average fingers accompanied 의해 average hands. Pale skin, though inside I hide traces of Spanish heritage. No one was like me, I realized. I’m my own being, but why do I seem so insignificant? What do I have to do in this life? With this group of “wandering” kids? How am I any good to anybody?

Depressed, I popped myself on my bed. I delved myself into deep thought, and I eventually overcame my depression to continue with the day.

The rest of the evening was actually really pleasant. I actually managed to sleep, even after I had just recently awoken. Just goes to show 당신 how much of a procrastinator I am. I should be trying to bring Cooro and Menae closer, but instead I am simply seeping the days away. I needed to grab a hold of myself, but sleep grabbed me first.

In a cave…dark, damp, musky… nowhere to go to; lost. Why is he to be here? Why can’t he be somewhere else? Can he not be in a peaceful pasture like the others? Here, the cave walls… bare, rigid, cutting edge, dangerous…deathly. A liquid ran cold through his feet. He had no sense of sight, due to the pure darkness of the area, but this allowed for his sense of smell to flourish. After sniffing the air, he came to a startling conclusion: the liquid that ran past his feet was blood. Only blood. Rivers of blood coming from some end of the cave.

If liquids go down, I must follow the blood “upstream” to find a way out, he thought.

However, what is giving off such quantities of endless blood? Whatever the being may be, he may share its fate.

I awoke in my bed, 심장 racing, still adapting to the fact that I’m in reality now. I had no real fix as to what I was going to do for the day, so I needed some sort of activity. Then, I remembered what I had set out to do: Tell Menae about Cooro.

Sliding out of 침대 took some real will power, though I know there are others with better mind power than me, this was a new record for me. I rolled out of bed, and landed with a smothered thud, thanks to my blanket that fell before me. Because of this, no one was aware that I had awoken yet (I usually wake late, and so the others had grown accustomed to wait, because eventually, I would wake up). I woke early today, much earlier than usual, so I had the advantage of surprise on my side.

I walked down the stairs without making the slightest sound. When the 벽 became the hand rail, I lowered myself to a prone position so that the base of the rail covered me. Of course, the rail only covered me from the right, so I was exposed from above, the left, behind, and in front. Thankfully, no one was present in any of those directions. I gave a brief thanks to God, and continued my crawl.

At the base of the stairs now, and I am at a loss. I didn’t know where to look first. This just goes to show 당신 how much I lack the ability of planning. I tried the dining room, but heard voices before I entered. I couldn’t blow my cover, so I decided not to go that way. I could’ve checked her room, but that would call for turning around, and going back up the stairs. Doing that could cause unwanted noises, and bring unwanted attention. The left was empty. At least the room was before Tenemae entered. She grabbed a book, one that she usually reads, regardless of the infinite amount of times she’s probably already finished that book, and sat down in front of the fireplace, and read away at her usually ever-present book. Maybe I would look into what that book contains, but I decided to do so later. What I had set out to do what 더 많이 important to me that what a book contained.

These circumstances left only one direction: forward. Luckily, the door was just recently oiled, so no annoying squeaking would happen. Another brief prayer of thanks to God, and I started for the door. I crawled slowly, but with progress. Eventually, after a grueling and exhausting 3 초 of crawling, I finally reached the door. I turned the knob of the door, slowly to open the door, while the door knob gave off small, annoying squeaks. Fast fact: although the door had been oiled, the door knob had not. I pulled open the door, with the knob still turned, and went outside the door. On the other side, I pushed the door back into its original position, and slowly turned the knob so that the knob eventually came back to its original position as well, without making the usual ‘click’ sound. I walked off into the adjoining forest, looking back every once in a while to look at how…um…shrewdly I had snuck out of the house.

I had spied on Cooro and Menae once each. Cooro likes to have things done quickly, but peacefully and is always working on something, but is usually in his room. Menae is 더 많이 liberal, and usually goes out into the forest to draw sketches of the things she sees. I’m after Menae right now, so I need to find her before I can find Cooro.

I walked further into the forest, and heard some natural sounds. Birds singing, leaves being blown, the trees looked so magnificent. I was, for some reason, completely oblivious to everything around me. I only took a few 더 많이 steps before I fell into realization: I was reliving what I had dreamt. This wasn’t new to me, but every time this happens, I become stunned, for some reason. I simply shook for the vision, and kept walking.

I saw a shadow in the distance. Instinctively, I lowered my body to a prone position. Too late, I inferred, because the shadow was now walking towards me. I BLEW MY COVER! I needed someplace to hide; quickly. I was a great climber, but climbing a 나무, 트리 now would make me 더 많이 obvious than a black rock on a white 침대 sheet. I could run, and that was my best bet. I stood, and began to run as fast as my feet would take me. Once I used all of my energy, I threw myself onto the ground, exhausted, right back into a prone position. I had 로스트 the shadow’s line of sight. I was in the clear. Still in a prone position along the ground, I lifted my head so that I could barely look over the leaves and the 잔디 that were on the ground. The shadow was gone. Good. Chances were that the silhouette was Menae, and so now she knows someone is following her. I really had to keep my head low then.

I continued to crawl, and had no sight of her. However, when I was getting closer to a rockier ground, I saw her. She seemed rather paranoid. I couldn’t blame her; I’d be freaked out as well if I knew someone was stalking me, but didn’t really know who- 또는 what, for that matter, was following me. Sooner 또는 later, I had to expose myself to her, and let her see that I was following her. That way, she wouldn’t do something that I would call stupid, because if 당신 compare what I call stupid to what 당신 call stupid is like comparing a rock to air. Yes, that is how different our opinions are.

So, as I was saying, I needed to expose myself, but earlier was not the best time. I could see Menae; clearly. Unfortunately, for Menae, she had no idea where she was, given the fact she was running all this time, close to The Cliffs. I came in closer, careful I didn’t come too close to startle her too much. Now, I stood, and spoke.

“Hi, Menae,” I greeted, 연기 as nonchalant

Menae jumped startled, as she tried to look around for whoever spoke these words; yours truly. This was when she came far too close to the edge of The Cliffs.

“Menae, be careful!” a voice yelled.

I turned to see who spoke, but heard Menae scream. I turned back to look for Menae. She was nowhere to be found, but I could easily hear her voice. She had fallen over the edge of The Cliffs.

“No!” that voice yelled again. “Menae!”

A figure came dashing out of the bushes, with an arm outstretched. I could guess who the figure belonged to, but I don’t like to make assumptions. I heard a splash, as the figure jumped over the edge as well. I was surprised, yes, but curiosity took over, and I ran to the edge of The Cliffs as well. However, I was the only one of the three who didn’t fall over the edge. I looked over, and saw the figure still falling, but soon enough broke into the river down below with a splash. There was a slight delay before I heard the slash. Me being a small safety nut, I decided it wasn’t worth it to jump down with Menae and the other person, so I decided to run as fast as I could, which is not as fast as I would like, but is suitable for this situation, to the river mouth. Hopefully, the two won’t implode because they had to break the surface of the water, so I would probably meet up with them at the river mouth.

I turned to dash towards to direction of the river mouth; and dash I did. I eventually reached the river mouth, and began to look for Menae and the other figure. No sign of the two, so I decided to go up river. Along the rugged river bank, I couldn’t see anything that could lead to the duo, so I was about to quit. About to. That was when I heard voices in my head:

“Shut up, and stop you’re moping; 당신 have a mission, and 당신 need to carry out your mission.”

I saw no person who pronounced these words, but I clearly heard these words pronounced as my own voice. I pondered on these words for a short while, but later shoved these words to the back of my mind. Unlike most of my dreams, these words had some use to me on the spot, so I gathered my will, and continued to search.

Destination reached: The Rapid’s Delta, 또는 RD for short. I could clearly see Menae and Cooro clung onto some rocks in the RD. I wanted to dash toward them and offer them help, but Cooro slipped.

“Oh, no 당신 don’t!” Menae screamed over the rushing waters, and grabbed Cooro’s hand.

“Don’t let me go!” Cooro screamed in terror.

“Are 당신 crazy?” Menae screamed. “I wouldn’t let 당신 go unless knew were 당신 were going.”

I didn’t know the area much, so I had no idea what the two were so worried of.

“Oh…that’s it,” I sighed as my shoulders dropped and sagged. Further down the river was a waterfall. 의해 the way the water sounded, the fall was fit for a giant. How was I to save them in a situation like this? Not that they are a burden to save; like I said, I’m new to this area, but also to this group of children. I don’t really know how many times these two get into life-risking trouble, so I can’t judge them, especially Menae, because Cooro doesn’t get himself in problems like these often.

“There’s a rock further down the river,” Menae yelled to Cooro, which also got me out of my thoughts. “I’m going to let 당신 go, and 당신 grab onto that rock.” She whipped her head towards the direction of the rock as best as she could. “Then, there’s a branch past that rock. Grab onto that branch, and pull yourself to the bank.”

“What about you?” Cooro protested loudly.

“Don’t worry about me; I’ll be fine.”

I looked further down the river, and there were the rock and the branch Menae mentioned. My shoulders rose a little. Maybe the two could save themselves. Maybe I wouldn’t have to risk myself.

Menae let go of Cooro. Cooro flailed for a little in the water, but mustered his nerve, and swam as best he could against the current, in which I won’t lie; his ability to swim was better than I expected. Maybe this was because he knew he could die if he was pulled over. He reached the rock, but slipped, and decided to swim towards the branch further down the river. He latched on. Success! His left hand slipped. Failure! The branch was now beginning to flex.

“Cooro, pull yourself to shore!” Menae screamed, partly of worry, partly of fear.

Cooro turned his head to Menae. Too late. The branch gave way with a sickening snap, and splinters flew, though none reached me. 3…he tried to swim, but couldn’t. 2…he tried to yell something, but water filled his mouth, though I could guess what he said. 1…I couldn’t see his head anymore. 0…Cooro was over the edge.

“Oh, no 당신 don’t!” Menae yelled, and let go of the stone she was latched onto. She then swam to the edge of the water fall.

“Menae!” I yelled, though a little too late. “Don’t do it.” She turned, but already fell over the edge.

Without a doubt in my mind, I jumped in the river after her. The moment I jumped, doubt surged into my mind. I tried to swim to anything I could hold onto; anything at all. Failure. I was facing the fact that the icy cold waters of winter were going to pull me out into my possible end.

“No!” a voice yelled. I tried to turn, but I’m not that great of a swimmer. My head was alternating between above and below water level, which made it a complete miracle that I heard the voice at all.

“Wha-” I tried to say, but then became a scream once I had fallen over the edge.

I was falling I knew that much. All I could hope for was that I didn’t belly flop so that I don’t implode. Wind screamed past me. Everything blurred past. Everything was slow, yet 빠른, 스위프트 while I braced myself for impact.

Break! Water filled my nose, and ears. Everything was black and blue. No air, no way to breathe, no way to survive much longer. My skin stung and burned. Maybe I was already dead. Maybe I was still alive. What if I was somewhere in between? I needed air. Air; now. Again, as I had said, I’m not a good swimmer, so I used ton of effort to reach the surface. A huge gasp, and my lungs were satisfied once more, but I sunk once more. Another surge of force, and I was above water level, but not for long. I sank under again and with one 더 많이 surge, I was above water again, but this time, I could feel land. I could feel land! Land! Finally, land! Grabbing on quickly, I pulled myself to shore. I laid there for what felt like hours. I needed to recover my strength to complete what I had set out to do for the moment: survive. I closed my eyes, and quickly went to sleep, tired after the force I had placed into swimming.

In the middle of my sleep, I saw a group of children; 3 to be exact. I couldn’t tell who these were because these were facing away from me. Two were holding hands, but one was crying, but whenever it would cry out, no sound came out. I walked towards the two who were holding hands. Weirdly, a thud sounded, though that seemed to be rather insignificant. But, the crying one was also being pushed further away while the two holding hands were being pulled closer to me. I decided that the one crying was 더 많이 important, so I began to walk towards the crying one, and so the crying one was pulled closer to me, but the two holding hands were pushed further away. I walked around the being, but when I tried to look at the being’s face, I saw no face; no mouth, no nose…no eyes, yet tears still streamed its face. I fell to my knees, and fell completely over.

I awoke in the same position my dream ended: on the ground, needless to say, nonetheless. I sat up, and looked around to get a feel of my surroundings. Everything was the same, except for one thing.

“Hey…” I whispered. “Wake up…” I shook the body on the ground. The body moaned, but neglected to awake. “C’mon, wake up.” I said with a sharper edge. Another moan, and another denial to awake. “Wake up!” I yelled, almost slapping the figure, but holding back. The figure moaned one final time, but decided to wake.

The person’s face was filled with mud, but, I could read the identity of the person like a book.

“Sanae!?” I asked taking care not to yell. “W-what are 당신 doing here?”

She looked embarrassed, and turned away her face. “I-…” she began, but couldn’t continue.

I stared at her, expecting some sort of an answer. I even craned my head to the side, much like a dog, still expecting an answer.

“Never mind…” she concluded, but I wouldn’t let her win; not this time. I wanted to know why she had come down too. I could guess, but again, I don’t like to make assumptions.

I rolled my hand, as another attempt to receive an answer. Failure. I decided to use reverse psychology, and try to leave. Maybe, this would drive Sanae’s mind to tell me she came.

“Well, if 당신 aren’t going to tell me, I have business I need to attend to.” I stood myself up, brushed off any mud that I could, fixed my miniature sideburns, and went on my way.

“Wait,” Sanae demanded. Success. About time I made some sort of a success.

“What?” I said with a slight edge of annoyance, simply to add to the effect of realism. I needed to look as genuine as possible.

“I…I wanted to know if 당신 were okay…” Sanae said. Then, she seemed rather confused, and asked, “Why do 당신 want to know?” which caught me off guard. I’m used to being on the offensive side of an interrogation, not the defensive side.

“It’s all about science: to know,” I explained, hoping that this would make any sense at all. “I just want know.”

“Well, maybe I just don’t want to tell you. Maybe I don’t want 당신 to know. How about that, hmm?” she was being defiant, needless to say, though it’s not like I have some sort of an authority over her, so I guess she’s not necessarily being defiant, but ‘hard to work with’ 또는 ‘difficult’ as Cooro would say. Regardless, I had to seem genuine, and thus I couldn’t continue this interrogation. Otherwise, it would seem like I was begging for her to tell me, which would kill the purpose of this whole reverse psychology scam.

“Eh,” I began, “fine 의해 me.” I turned to look, for a way to see if I could find Cooro 또는 Menae. Failure. I had no idea where I was, and less so of where Cooro and Menae were. My chances of finding Cooro 또는 Menae were zero to nothing. Only one thing-err, person could help me out of this.

“Hey, Sanae,” I said “do 당신 know where Cooro and Menae are?”

“What?” Sanae asked. “Why do 당신 want to know where they are?”

“Because that’s the only reason I jumped into that river in the first place!” I yelled, but realized too late of how harsh my tone was. “Oh, uh… I’m-I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean it that way.”

“No, no, no.” she began as nonchalant as she could. “I understand.”

“But seriously,” I began, attempting to change the subject, “do 당신 know where Cooro and Menae are?” A spring of hope was filling in me.

Sanae sighed, and said “No” in a sort of disappointed voice.

“What’s with that tone?” I asked.

“Can 당신 stop with the 질문 already?!” she asked in a tone as sharp as my own. She also realized how sharp her tone was.

“Oh, I’m-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. It’s just that all this stress, and your questions; It’s gonna make my hair fall out…”

“It’s okay,” I assured her. “I understand,” I said, quoting her words back at her. I managed to crack a smile on her face, yet I couldn’t read the type of emotion that was on that smile. I looked up to see if we had any time to look, 또는 if we had to prepare for a shelter. The sky was turning red and orange.

“We’re going to need to make a shelter soon.” I said.

“For what?” Sanae asked. “We aren’t animals.”

I chuckled at the irony of that quote.

“There are plenty of things that are in the wilderness that can kill you. I’ve lived in a forest fairy far from here that was filed with constant threats with Cooro, so I know how to live out in the forest. Simply follow my directions, and we’ll have a shelter in no time.”




...



“Are these sticks okay?” Sanae asked, coming up from a distance behind me. I turned to look at her ‘haul’.

“Yes, those are fine.” I turned back to the shelter Sanae and I had had made. “And I think that’s enough.”

Sanae looked at the shelter, and knowing nothing about living in the wild, she simply had to take my word as final. I mean, sure I wouldn’t mind any extra sticks, but these were enough.

“So, Noctus, what do we need a shelter for?” Sanae asked.

“To protect us from rain, and anything else of the sort. This won’t do much, but if we work the moss in thick layers, no water will get through.”

“Will it rain?”

“You do know we are right beside a river, right?”

“Oh. That’s right.” Sanae thought for a moment, and then continued. “So, will we both be sleeping under the same shelter?”

“Yes, unless 당신 want to be 노래 in the rain. Why, are 당신 claustrophobic?”

An undeniable stare of confusion told me everything I needed to know.

“Are 당신 afraid of tight spaces?”

“What? No, why.”

“Just asking,” I said, and then turned back to the shelter. I just needed to patch and tie on extra layers of moss to make sure we don’t get wet when it rains. I also needed some sort of bedding for inside the shelter; 더 많이 moss.

“Are we going to sleep in there?” Sanae asked. She sounded insecure, though I don’t think that ‘insecure’ is the right term.

“Yes, unless 당신 can find a better place to sleep.” I couldn’t contain myself any longer. “Look, if you’re going to criticize what I’m working with here, you’re welcome to sleep outside. I know we aren’t in Kansas anymore, so just deal with it and try to survive. A shelter is our best bet, and it’s going to rain soon.” My tone was harsh, yet true, which made my tone even harsher.

“Oh my, I-I didn’t meant to yell. It’s just that I hate it when people criticize my work. I just hate it,” I said regretfully.

“It’s fine. 당신 burst, I burst, and we all burst at some point 또는 another.” She said nonchalantly.

I felt small droplets plop on my pelt. Rain had begun to fall.

“It is time. We needed to get inside.” I said bluntly.

“But it’s not done yet,” Sanae complained.

“We have to deal with what we have, but I’ll finish the final layers from the inside.” I crawled into the shelter, and felt quite at home, given my history. But you’re going to have to come in as well.”

Sanae came in as ordered, and I began to place the final layers. Hopefully these layers would hold.



Rain was pouring like liquid hail. I was lying down face up with my left hand behind my head, and I used my free hand to do miscellaneous things. Sanae was to my left lying on her side, supporting her head with her right hand, having her left hand as her free hand. I began to hum to one of my 가장 좋아하는 songs:





Da-ango, Dango, Dango, Dango


Da-ango, Dango, Daikazoku


Da-ango, Dango, Dango Dango


Da-ango Daikazoku



“What song is that?” Sanae asked.

“It’s called ‘Big Dango Family’,” I began. “It tells of a family of 100 and how happy that family would be. Sadly, no one has ever reached such a number. Not even my father’s Militia could meet such a great number.”

“Where’d 당신 hear that song?” Sanae asked.

“My mother would sing to me when I was little. As I grew, she still sang that song to me. Even after her passing, it’s as if that song connects me with my mother and father,” I explained.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Sanae said sadly.

“No need,” I said. “I know that they’re in a better place now.”

“So, how do 당신 know so much about survival?” Sanae asked.

“After my father was…well…murdered and turned into a part of a weapon of mass destruction to irradiate the Militia my father was a part of, my mother couldn’t 곰 the news. The rest of the Militia couldn’t help her with her depression. This was after I was born just so 당신 know, because that was when she committed suicide. The Militia broke up, and everything fell apart. A friend of my father’s who I can’t remember his name, took care of me. When I had learned about what happened to my mother and father, I was afraid, and ran away. That was when I met up with Cooro. As far as I know, Menae is fine with Cooro 의해 her side, though he always was the ruthless one. Then, I noticed Cooro was missing. I looked around, and there was the house. Not even a week later, and I’m back out here again.”

“What is it with 당신 and Cooro and Menae?”

“Sorry, but I took an oath of verbal silence on that,” I said bluntly and quickly.

“Is Cooro in 사랑 with Menae?” she asked in astonishment.

“Well, at least I didn’t have to break my oath.” I noted.

“How come 당신 haven’t told Menae?” Sanae inquired.

“I’ve been trying to tell her. That’s the real reason I jumped into the river.”

“Oh, Okay. Well, I think I should be going to sleep.” Sanae noticed. “Goodnight, Noctus.” She settled in closer to me, and hugged my arm. She fell asleep that way. Probably just to share body heat, I excused because didn’t want to believe something without some sort of proof. Maybe her own words.

“Goodnight.” O said softly, brushing my fingers through her hair. Her hair was clotted with mud, twigs, and moss, so sometimes I would pull on a piece of debris to hard, and wake Sanae from her sleep. ‘I won’t believe it.’ I thought to myself. ‘No matter how obvious it is, I won’t believe it without proof.’ I then fell into a deep sleep.

I was back where I was in my last dream, but the being that was crying stopped crying, and the two figures that were holding hands were now hugging. The being that was once crying now had a mouth. The lips were familiar, but I couldn’t nail whose lips those were. The lips moved in the English language, but spoke in a foreign language. What the being said, I cannot say, but it said something. This pushed me closer to the being which now smiled. The smile was not creepy 의해 any means, but the environment around me made the passionate smile on faceless face creepy. The pushing was making my knees quiver, and so I fell to my knees. I then fell over, and was pulled back into the real world.



I looked around for Sanae, and of all places, she could be, she was under me. I yelped in surprise, which woke Sanae. I was looking into her eyes, panicking.

“We didn’t…” I asked, hoping I wouldn’t have to finish the question.

“I sure hope not…” Sanae answered, with a slight hint of disappointment. “Well, that is if we are talking about the same thing.”

“I’m talking about the ‘Special Hug’,” I told her.

“Oh,” she replied. “Then we are thinking of the same thing.” Her face was turning red with blush. She looked cute with the blush, so I didn’t 코멘트 about it.

“Were 당신 hoping we did the ‘Special Hug’?” I asked.

“No!” Sanae answered, flashing a look to the left.

“Well, anyways, we need to get back to looking for Cooro and Menae,” I noted.

“Do 당신 think they can find their way back?” Sanae asked.

“I don’t know, and so that is why I am going through with this.” I answered.

“Can we do something else?” she asked.

“Well, I don’t want to do the ‘Special Hug’, so that’s out of the question.” No argument from Sanae. “If 당신 want to leave things to chance, be my guest, but I’m still going to look for them.”

“So, what are we going to do?” Sanae asked.

“We look for a way back. I’m starting to see your point. After all, Cooro did find the house before me, so he has a better idea of where the house is than what I do. So, we are off to look for a way back to the house.” I explained.

“Great! Can I take the lead?” Sanae pleaded.

“Do 당신 know the way?” I asked.

“Like the back of my hand.” She bragged. I hoped her arrogant words matched her sense of guidance.

“Good, but we may have to stop at the shelter again; it’s getting dark.” I mentioned.

“Okay.” She seemed to accept the fact that the night hours were coming. “I guess we could do with a good night’s sleep.”

We set off to where the shelter we had left behind was. Luckily, for us, no wild animal had come 의해 to take that shelter from us. We went back inside, and lied down.

“Noctus, when do 당신 think we’ll be back home?” Sanae asked.

“I don’t know,” Responded. There were various x-0factors that could cause us to slow down, so I wasn’t ready to give an exact time. “Tomorrow, hopefully.”

“Do 당신 think that Menae will ever realize Cooro’s feelings for her?” Sanae asked.

“I’m not going to make any assumptions 또는 predictions, but so far, I think that Cooro may have told Menae the truth,” I responded.

“Maybe I should say the truth,” Sanae muttered in a volume too low, I almost didn’t hear her.

l'd say the truth,” Sanae muttered in a volume too low, I almost didn’t hear her.

“Never mind,” she said. A long disturbing pause followed, and Sanae freed us from that 의해 speaking again. “Do…Do 당신 think we might meet up with your father?”

“W-what!?” I asked in surprise. “My father has been dead for as long as I’ve been alive! Why do 당신 think he’s going to come back?”

“I don’t know, okay?” she protested. “It just slipped out.”

I let the predicament go past, though this for some reason caused me to raise my guard.

“You should be going to sleep,” I told her, and later fixed my words. “Then I’ll follow.”

“Okay,” she said, and curled up closer to me. This made me rather uncomfortable, but I didn’t protest. Why, I had no idea.

“Hey, Sanae,” I called silently.

“Hmm?” she responded. Trying to go to sleep I would presume.

“What have 당신 thought about this venture?” I asked. I instantly doubted my selection of words, but Sanae took over the conversation before I could.

“I would this has been different,” she said.

“What made this different?”

“I-I dunno…” she stuttered. There was something else on her mind. I should be careful as to how hard I squeezed for the information.

“But what made this different. Something must have been different,” I said.

“I guess it’s just that we’ve been outside for so much time…this all is just so new to me…” she said hesitantly.

“Anything else?” I pressed on.

“This has also been the most time I’ve spent with you,” she noted.

I realized this was true, and so I recoiled slightly. I tried my best to not show surprise, even 의해 hiding my face from view, but my cheeks being the color they are, I couldn’t help but blush a little. Not that I wanted to, of course, but I didn’t want to give away my feelings. I don’t like giving my feelings away. Directly, at least.

Anyways, point being that I didn’t want to show anything that could be interpreted as ‘affection’. This is why I tried my best to hide my face.

Regardless, we can’t dwell on this any longer. We are near to the area that I needed to show you.



“Who are you?” I asked the figure at last.

Figure’s mouth moved, but no sounds came out of that mouth. The figure did have a nose, and was gaining facial features. The being then smiled at me. This was rather creepy, given that it had no eyes. Nonetheless, I returned the smile with a forced smile of my own. Now it was waving at me, and I waved back. The being was content; happy, and walked around as if it could see. This is a strange world that we’re living in today…but something got a hold of me. Something heavy was pulling me down, heavier than anything that I had ever tried to lift. This enormous weight pulled me down easily, because I knew I couldn’t lift such a thing. I fell into a prone position on the ground, and was now fast asleep.

“Wake up!” a voice called. The voice was a distant echo, but as the voice continued to call, the voice grew closer and 더 많이 solid. “Wake up Noctus!”

“Gah!” I cried when I was startled to know that I was back in the real world. “What’s going on?” I asked bewildered.

“I don’t know, but something is going on outside!” The voice belonged to Sanae, and she seemed tense and anxious.

I crawled out of the shelter, and looked 또는 where the house was. There was no doubt about it: something was going on over at the house.

“Did 당신 go over there to see what was happening?” I asked.

“No, why? Did I do the wrong thing?” she asked, hoping otherwise.

“No, no, no,” I assured her, and continued with “you did well.”

“So, what do we do? We can’t just stay here, we have to help them!” Sanae proclaimed. She was right; we couldn’t just sit back and see what happened. But there was one problem, and calling the problem small would be understating it; drastically.

“I see your point,” I agreed, “but how do 당신 propose we scale that wall?” I asked point to the edge from which we fell, which also had the waterfall.

“I…I didn’t think that far ahead…” she admitted.

“That’s okay, we’ll figure something out,” I assured, though that assured Sanae 더 많이 than me.

“Noctus,” Sanae began, “are we trapped?”

My eyes widened at the hearing of those words. “What!? We are NOT trapped. There IS a way out and when we find that way out, we will escape this wilderness. Until then, we are not trapped. We are simply…contained in a specific area.”

“Trapped…” Sanae said, pretty much restating what I had said just a 초 earlier.

“No, we’re not.” I said, and then asked “Can 당신 climb?”

“I’ve had my share of training, but I’m still not that good…” she admitted.

“Well then, we better practice,” I proposed, and pointed at a 나무, 트리 that was fairly tall. “Climb that tree.”

“That one?” she said, doubtfully, pointing at the one I was pointing at.

“Yes, that one,” I confirmed.

“Okay…” she said and walked up to the tree.

She placed one hand on the 나무, 트리 and another on the 나무, 트리 as well. She then hopped onto the tree, placing both legs on the tree. She then began to scale the 나무, 트리 using both arms and both legs. She was scaling the 나무, 트리 faster than what I remember I could. She had some astounding grip on the tree, and the branches only made the 나무, 트리 easier to climb for her. I mean, sure, she rested every so often, but she climbed the 나무, 트리 fast. Soon enough, she reached the top.

“Good,” I yelled from the ground while Sanae was still atop the tree, “now climb down so that we can get out of here!”

“This is the part I was talking about when I said that I couldn’t climb trees very good. It’s not the climbing part, but the getting down part!” she yelled back.

“Just climb down to the last branch, and drop down,” I said.

“Okay,” she said, and began to climb down using the branches slowly. Then, she stopped.

“Why’d 당신 stop?” I asked. There was no need to yell, since she was much closer now.

“I can’t jump that drop,” she complained.

I sighed silently in annoyance, but hid my annoyance and said “Don’t worry, just jump; I’ll catch you.” I had regretted saying those words. I’ve read my share of books, so I found this situation ironic. However, I regretted the words because I knew that I was opening myself up to her.

“Okay, 당신 sure?” she asked.

“Yes, now just jump, everybody’s waiting.”

Sanae jumped, and I positioned myself to catch her. Success. I caught her, and I didn’t falter surprisingly. Sanae and I stared at each other for what felt to me like an awkward moment, so I let her down, hoping I wasn’t being rude at all.

“Now, let’s climb that wall,” I said. Sanae gave a brief nod of approval with a stern look.

We walked to where the 벽 stood strong. The 벽 was going to be hard to climb, but not impossible.

“If we climb on the area of the water fall, we’ll be 안전한, 안전 from a fall, but the rock will be weak and slippery. If we climb from the ground, the rock will be hard and easy to climb, but if we fall we could die…” I mumbled considering our options.

I finally came to a conclusion and said “We’ll climb the dry rock.” I turned to Sanae after examining the 벽 and said “there are a lot of thorns coming out of the wall. You’ll want to be careful of where 당신 put your hands.” I turned back to the wall. “Okay, here we go,” I muttered to myself, and placed a hand on a protruding rock. I placed my other hand on a higher crevice, and pulled myself up, which I placed both feet on different footholds. I continued like so in a grueling, but progressive climb.

Halfway up, and I was having some problems with not only my energy, but also my will. Sanae was also having problems with her strength.

“I’m getting tired…” she complained.

“So am I, but we have to continue,” I ordered.

Almost there, and I was doubting if what I would find would be friendly enough to even let us reach the top. 3…I placed one hand on the ledge, and pulled myself up, but still couldn’t see over. 2…I placed my feet on two new foot holds. 1…I place my 초 hand on the ledge, and pulled myself up. O…I looked over the edge. I saw nothing, but a figure on the ground, breathing heavily. I climbed completely over the edge, and raced towards the figure.

“What happened?” I asked the dying person. He was Emanuel.

“SWAT…came after us…I was…in the way…others fled…I’m dying…” his voice was scratchy, but a voice was still a voice, and I could still hear him loud and clear if I put my ear to his mouth.

“Where’d the others go?” I asked.

“Not far…bushes after…the boulder…there’s a cabin… Ga-tege was shot…still alive…last I saw…Menae…Cooro… holding hands…happy…” he said, with a smile on his face that showed happiness, but 로스트 regret. His last breath was slow, but meaningful. If I didn’t act fast, the pretty picture Emanuel had placed in my head about the Coo-nae couple would be ruined; Coo-nae being the couple of Cooro and Menae.

I pushed down his eyes, so that they were now closed, and hid his body as a makeshift burial, but a yelp for help told me Sanae was in trouble. I rushed to the ledge to see if there was anything I could do.

“I-I can’t go on,” she said. “I just can’t go on.”

“What, what is the matter?” I asked.

“If I climb up, you’re going to see me,” she complained.

“What a silly excuse. Come on now, climb up, and let’s be over with this.”

“You’re going to see me,” she continued to plead.

“What makes any different now what I am going to see of 당신 than what I saw of 당신 25 분 이전 when we began to climb that wall?”

“My…my pants were caught on a thorn…” she muttered, though loud enough so that I could hear her.

“So how come 당신 didn’t go get your pants?” I questioned.

“I already told you, I’m good at climbing up, not down. 의해 the time I had realized the thorn had caught my pants, it was too late, and they began to slip. I can’t climb down to get them…” she looked like she didn’t know what to do.

“So what are 당신 suggesting, that I go down and get your pants?” I suggested, but thought carefully about what I just said.

“That’s not a bad idea; I’m not going to deny it. Unless there’ someone else who can seem to grab my pants, you’re the only person that can grab my pants.” Although for me this sounded kind of multiple meaning, but everything is a game of perspective.

I jumped back at her offer. Me? Go under her to retrieve her pants? From UNDER her!? Was she mad? I don’t know what had gotten into her, but whatever the case, her story ringed true, and if I could lean just far enough over from the edge, I could see one of the leggings flapping in the wind. I guess a thorn really did snag her pants. But as far as why her entire pair of pants were still clung onto the thorn, I had yet to look into. Regardless, Sanae seemed solid on letting me climb down, and grab her pants, so I was going to do so.

I swung my legs over the ledge, and turned myself around so that I could climb down. After a couple of stones of climbing down, I was side 의해 side with Sanae.

“Please, don’t look up,” she said. I looked up, and saw nothing but a blue sky. “Not now, but when 당신 are under me…”

“Really?” I asked. “No undergarments?”

Sanae simply looked down as if in shame, but when she looked back up at me, some sort of emotion was on her face. I don’t know what the emotion was, but all I could saw was that this emotion was some weird form of love. This made me uncomfortable, so I hastened to complete the task at hand.

I climbed blow Sanae’s level, and there were her pants. In order to keep my promise that I wouldn’t look up, I tried to be as far away as possible from being directly below her, so that curiosity, wouldn’t drive me to look up. Unfortunately, the pants were just out of reach. I needed to be closer. I moved one rock closer, and looked up to make sure I wasn’t directly under her. I wasn’t so I went against to reach out for her pants still too far. I moved one rock closer, and looked up to make sure I wasn’t directly under her. Failure. I quickly grabbed the pair of flailing pants that were still on the thorn, and climbed the 벽 again. I reached the top, and waited for Sanae to reach the top. She stopped mid-way.

“You’re going to see me half naked,” she protested.

“Oh, come on, just put on the pair if pants already. Besides, I already saw what 당신 wanted to hide, so there’s no point in hiding it any longer,” I pointed out. I was surprised at my own words. Why was I being such a pervert? Since when was I ever like this?

“Fine, but go into the bushes 또는 something. I just don’t want 당신 to see me like this,” she said.

I complied, and left the pants near the ledge for her to take. Then, I went to some bushes that were not where the rest of the group was hiding, so that she could put on her pants. After she had said that she was ready to continue, I came out of the bushes. Luckily, she had her pants on this time.

“Thank you,” she said, snagging her pants from my hand. Why don’t girls wear underwear anymore? I mean, seriously? What good does doing such a thing do to you?

“So, can we go now,” I said, after Sanae had slipped on her pants.

“Yep, let’s go,” she said happily, contrasting her emotions a 분 before.

We both walked to the cabin, and looked around for anything suspicious. Nothing was suspicious, but visions of what I had just seen were still stuck in my head. I tried shaking these out, but nothing would get these sights out of my head. I felt like I was going crazy. What is happening with me?

“No, I won’t let that happen…” I muttered to myself.

“What?” Sanae asked. She had heard me mumble, but not what I said.

“Oh, i-it’s nothing,” I threw up.

She shrugged, and I went on the follow the path Emanuel had told. Eventually, like Emanuel had said, there was a cabin. The 선실, 캐빈 was run down, but it was a 선실, 캐빈 nonetheless.

“So, this is where the others are supposed to be?” Sanae asked. I had forgotten to tell her about Emanuel. I had hidden the body, and so Sanae never saw the body. I then explained to Sanae what Emanuel had told me.

“So…so Emanuel… Emanuel is dead?” she asked, trembling a little in fear.

“I’m not going to lie to you; he is dead,” I confirmed.

Sanae placed her hand on her mouth, and her eyes welled with tears. She began to cry, and loud wails were sent echoing through the air, as she fell to her knees. Not to be rude, and not to rain on this dramatic parade, but why was she so sad over his death? Personally, he was just another pessimist who bit the dust.

“Ha-had I ever t-told 당신 about my brother…?” Sanae asked. I already guess where this conversation was going, but I just wanted to be sure.

“No,” I said. “Never,” I corrected myself.

“Well,” she said, seeming to be 더 많이 calm now, “ w-when I was born, I had one brother. My mother was very religious, so she named my brother Emanuel, after Emanuel the Baptist in the Bible. Since I was the younger one, my mother had told Emanuel to be good; to always follow the path of the lord…then my mother passed away, and my father remarried. My brother never liked the idea of adultery, so he was distant with my father ever since. The only thing that kept me close to Emanuel was that we were of the same blood. Although it never seemed like it, he was always very proactive of me. 당신 just weren’t long enough to see him do so…”

Her words rang true; I was only her for about a week, so I never knew that Emanuel was even related to Sanae.

“If only I’d known…” I spoke to myself, actually feeling guilty of his death.

“You can’t feel bad. He always just wanted make everything as perfect as possible. Because of this, and his 사랑 of God, he didn’t have many friends.” She wiped her eyes, and stood herself up in an upright position.

“Well, he’s dead, and that’s all there is too it. If he died for me, I’ll die protect what I have left,” she said sternly.

“If 당신 want, I can help,” I offered. I had grown fond of Sanae, and was used to her company.

“Okay, but don’t hold me back if 당신 think I’m going to be doing something stupid, okay?” she said turning to me, her face as straight as I would ever see her face.

“I…don’t know about that…” I admitted. I already saw one person dead; I don’t think my mind could withstand another.

Weirdly, Sanae smiled, as if she knew something I didn’t and she was just mocking me.

“Okay, I won’t blame you,” she said, and went beside me to follow me.

WHAT A HYPOCRITE! She just said she didn’t want me to her back, and two 초 later, she okay with it? What is going on here?

“Okay then, follow me.” I commanded. “We need to help the others.”

I walked towards the cabin, and around the cabin. Sure enough, there were the bushes Emanuel had spoken about. This is where the rest of the group must be. We pushed aside the bushes, and looked into a deep, dark cave. Only the sound of whistling air came out of the cave.

“After you?” Sanae offered.

“Gee, thanks,” I said sarcastically.

I guided myself with my hands and Sanae had a finger in one of my 벨트 loops to guide herself. This made me uncomfortable, but I just had to abide this situation a little longer. I would soon be out of this. Hopefully.

A couple 더 많이 paces, and I saw a light. A light at the end of the tunnel, but this was real, and literal.

“I see a light!” I shouted in excitement, happy that Sanae would soon have to let me go.

“Let’s go in!” Sanae shouted, also exited.

The light was blindingly bright, but was also relieving. I went to enter, and everything came into distinguishable pieces of matter.

“We’re…” I began to say, but instant memory cut me off. “We’re in the cabin!”

Wood floorings and wooden walls was what made up the cabin. Some windows were broken, so shards of glass were on the ground. I needed to watch my step. One wreath was hung: in the center of the room.

“And there they are!” Sanae shouted, and rushed to where Tenemae, Gatege, and Menae and Cooro were. I rushed to where Cooro and Menae were.

“By God, I though 당신 two were dead; 당신 had me worried sick!” I complained, but still happy to have this reunion.

“Us?” Menae shot back. “Don’t 당신 remember it was 당신 who pushed me off The Cliffs 의해 startling me?”

“Correction: 당신 fell over on your own because when I spoke, I startled you, then Cooro jumped over, and I followed,” I said. I didn’t mention Sanae’s name just to not arouse any weird interpretations 또는 suspicion.

“Don’t forget that Sanae went ‘overboard’ as well,” Cooro added. I recoiled.

How did they know about Sanae? They would only know about Sanae if…if…if they planned everything out! This was all just a scam!

“Now, now, don’t be surprised,” Menae said. “Sanae already had told us that she had a crush on you, so we took it upon ourselves to bring 당신 two together.”

“What!?” I shouted. “But I’ve spent all this time trying to bring 당신 TWO together!”

“That’s why we thought that this would be a little tough to pull off and to understand, but right now we can’t talk,” Menae said. Cooro pointed out the window, but advised me not to look directly outside. So, I picked up a shard of glass that was already on the ground near the entrance, and used its reflection to see outside the window without peeking out.

Outside the window, I saw men wearing black bullet proof vests with the letters “S.W.A.T GROUP” painted onto them in white. These were equipped with pieces of equipment that I had never seen before. The men outside, although some were women, were waiting for us; 총 pointed at the window. Some scrambled around to try to get the best view, while others were slowly closing in.

“We can’t just let them in!” I protested in my lowest voice possible, just above a whisper. “We have to do something!”

“We all were part of a Militia, Noctus,” Gatege spoke. “Not the same Militia, but a Militia nonetheless. These Militias have always fought against the S.W.A.T Group for as long as the Malumtis Empire was created. I fought against the S.W.A.T Group once, and I had to flee. I was the only one left alive at that time. But now, we out power them, even though they outnumber us. Because we were all part of a Militia, we all have special abilities. I, for example, can block anything, including bullets, but only if I can withstand the pain. Emanuel…” Gatege said, with a deep regret in his voice. “Emanuel could set himself on fire, and now burn himself, but if her gets to angry in that form, then her begins to burn for real. Tenemae can 옮기기 swiftly enough so that we don’t see him, but she tires easily. Menae can use her TK (telekinesis) abilities to 옮기기 anything within her 10 yard reach, 또는 decide to cut anything in her range. Cooro, from what he’s told me can break anything with just touching it, 또는 he can use brute force and destroy anything he wants to. Now, as for your abilities, I don’t know. 당신 were part of a well known Militia, but no one ever said anything about two survivors from that Militia.” I jumped back a little in surprise. Everyone died in a battle but me? “Do 당신 know what 당신 abilities are?”

I shook my head no., and Gatege gave a sigh.

“Okay then, we’ll just deal with what we have. If 당신 find out 당신 ability, tell me after this battle, okay?” Gatege asked of me. I gave a brief nod of confirmation, and delved into my thoughts.

I remembered being suspended in the air, but that was about it. I don’t know if I can do anything as helpful as the others. I don’t think I’m as significant as the others, in fact.

“Wait, so we’re going to fight them?” I asked.

“Yes, but not now. We’re going to fight them when night falls. The S.W.A.T Group can break their heads trying to break in; they won’t,” Gatege assured me.

Something had been nagging at me ever since Gatege mentioned everyone else’s abilities: he hadn’t mentioned Sanae’s ability.”

“Hey, Gatege, does Sanae have ability?” I inquired.

“Yes, and no,” he said, but later explained himself. “You see, she knows what the ability is, she just hasn’t developed the ability fully yet. If 당신 want 더 많이 details, 당신 best speak with Sanae yourself.

I nodded my thanks, and walked to Sanae. She was talking with Menae in a separate room in the cabin. I walked into the room. Failure.

“Hi, Noctus,” Menae greeted. “Did 당신 and Sanae get together yet? 당신 haven’t told me.”

“I don’t know what you’d consider ‘got together’.” I replied bluntly, wanting to simply know what ability Sanae partially had.

“You know,” she said with a smile on her face I usually see. “If 당신 two have kissed yet.”

“W-w-what!?” I screamed.

“Shut up before they hear 당신 Gatege scolded me

“Sanae, do 당신 know what your ability is?”

“No, not really,” she answered, sounding as frank as possible.

“Oh, okay,” I replied, disappointed.

Night fell, but I could still se because of the light. We could all see because of the light, yet the light was dim. The S.W.A.T Group was camping outside of our cabin. The light was dim, but I could still see as if the light were bright as day. Some even began to sing army songs, while others still had handguns and rifles pointed a