Not all was well within the Emerald Forest. While everyone has been paired off, the true trial was only about to begin for the new students. As everybody began to wander blindly around the woods, people started seeing why New Beacon chose this as its Initiation.
As time passed, the first pair finally made their way to the Central Temple. As Razz and Cherie made it to the temple, they noticed that none of the relics had been taken yet. They were taken aback by the first view of the relics Headmaster Pine had laid out. The center of the temple was a wide limestone courtyard, encircled by marble pillars, on which rested the relics. However, there was something off about the relics.
The relics on the marble were nothing more than humble carvings of gold and ebony, etched into the image of a chess set. "Razz, we should wait for the others. Considering there are two of each, I think they may play a part in the decision of teams. Let's make sure we grab the same one as the twins."
Razz responded softly. "How do you know the twins are together? For all we know they could've been separated in the launch."
"We are talking about the girls who would jump in front of the tractor just because the other got in the way, right? There's no way they got separated by the launch. We'll just wait for them."
As they continued, they took one of the pieces representing the white queen. Suddenly, there was a rustling in the bushes behind them. After clearing the shrubbery, two figures appeared before the girls. They were men, one in green, and one in orange. Cherie, in an instant, recognized the one in green. "Oh! I know him! This is the klutz I told you about from the other day. I see you fixed the cloak."
"Well it was easy once I untangled it from your horns. What are you guys doing here?" Verse asked, not realizing that he was surrounded by the relics. "Well, it's good to run into you guys again."
Razz hastily spoke up. "Well we came for the relics, but they're just chess pieces. Now we're waiting for some other friends of our. Who are you guys?"
Orion walked over and quickly grabbed a relic resembling a white rook. In his haste, he knocked over the podium on which a black king was resting. The piece fell to the ground and shattered on impact. "Crap. I knew I should've sidestepped that. Anyway, I'm Orion, and this is my partner Verse."
Without notice, two more girls came from the eastern path. Both were thin and blond, and they looked eerily similar to one another. Once they came down the path, they caught eye of the others and started running. The twins ecstatically wrapped Razz and Cherie in a hug, nearly crushing them to death.
Cherie broke the initial awkwardness of the embrace. "So I see you two got paired together. We already have our relic; try to grab one that matches." Sage immediately claimed the matching white queen.
"God, Razz! Remind me not to hug you again. Your quills aren't exactly comforting to the touch!" Nyanza let go of the others and winced in pain.
"It was your fault for running right into them, Nya!"
Their reunion was broken up when once again people came down the east passage. The other white rook seemed to levitate on its own. Verse looked around and took noticed. He eventually realized that a shadow was lifting it. Before he could respond, the shadow picked the piece and returned it to the man controlling it. He looked up to see who it was, when he was greeted with Lyla and the man she sat with at breakfast. As Lyla went forward, she and the man started to chat with Verse and Orion.
Even though they they had finally come together, the eight students were not alone in the Emerald Forest.
TO BE CONTINUED
