"Is it me, or does this path feel like it's going down?" Leali said. They had been making their way down Lianne's chosen path for around ten minutes, stumbling and hauling themselves over huge rocks and piles of rubble. And, sure enough, the path was getting steeper and steeper, until it was at a slope.

"What's the problem with that?" Lianne questioned, jumping from the top of one rock to another just below.

"Well… if the Communication Tower is on top of a hill, we shouldn't really be going down, should we?" Leali pointed out.

"She's got a good point. Are you sure you know where you're going, Leonhart?" Skye frowned.

"Erm… yeah, of course I do! I can't believe you appointed me as your navigator and now you're doubting me!" Lianne said, hands on her hips.

"Let's just keep going." Alix said, stopping to rest briefly, short of breath. "How hard can it be to get there?"

"Very hard, if we go the wrong way." Skye said. "Fine. Just keep moving. But I swear, Leonhart, if you've taken us the wrong way…"

"Yeah, I get it! Don't sweat it, we'll get there." Lianne interrupted him, then carried on climbing down the path.

They continued on down for a further five minutes, before the path finally ended, and they came out into a vast, wasteland-like area. There was nothing and no one around at all, and the place stretched as far as the eye could see.

"Oh great…" Skye groaned, cursing under his breath. "You think we're gonna pass now!"

Leali shied away as Skye snapped, sensing his anger.

Alix sighed. "Looks like it's a long hike back up…"

Skye was fuming. Unable to keep his anger inside himself anymore, he took a violent kick at a loose boulder at the bottom of the path of rubble. With the force of the kick, the rock budged from underneath the others and a few rocks rolled down the path to land just in front of the group. Then, they all heard a faint rumbling in the distance.

"Uh… I don't mean to be the one to state the obvious, but do you think maybe we should get out of the way?" Lianne said, eyes fixed on the path.

"That sounds like a good plan right around now…" Alix said, as some of the larger rocks along the path dislodged and came rolling towards them.

All four of them dashed to the side as the boulders crashed downwards. But they came no further than the opening of the path – it proved to be too narrow for them, and they lodged themselves there, completely blocking the way back up that path.

Skye was trembling with anger when the rumbling of the rocks subsided. "Leonhart! You got us into this mess, so you can get us out of it too!"

"Excuse me! Who just kicked the rock, Einstein!" Lianne yelled back.

"That isn't the point! We wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you!" Skye retaliated.

"Well, I didn't exactly ask to be the navigator, did I? It was your fault for choosing me for that duty in the first place!" she shouted, eyes brimming with tears. She had wanted to be a SeeD for as long as she could remember, and suddenly and horribly, her whole dream was falling down around her. She kept thinking of what her father would say if she failed the exam, and what her mother would have thought of her. And not just that – no matter how much it seemed like Skye's fault at the moment, she knew it was all down to her, and if they all failed because of this, it would be her fault. But she wasn't going to give up and cry in front of Skye; she wanted to prove him wrong and make him take back what he had said to her. She was going to get them out of this mess.

"I will not tolerate you speaking to me like that! I am your squad leader, have some respect!" Skye growled, eyes flashing with anger.

"Fine. Okay then." Lianne said, calmly, dropping her voice to its normal volume. "You want some respect, you can have it."

Skye stopped in his tracks, confused.

"Well, sir. I'm waiting for your orders." Lianne said.

Skye looked at her for a few moments, trying to figure out what she was getting at. "You can start by getting us to the Comm. Tower. That was your duty, remember?"

"Right. Okay." She said, simply, turning around and scanning her eyes around the area they were in, looking for another route. "Well it looks like our old path's out of the question, so… over there'll do." She said, pointing over to a rocky road similar to the one that they had just come down.

"We gotta climb up again?" Leali groaned.

"Stop complaining, Kinneas. Thank Leonhart for all this." Skye scowled.

"Come on then, let's just go." Alix said, gesturing for them all to move on. Lianne led them all over to this new chosen path, and they began to climb, reluctantly and unwillingly.