(General P.O.V.) - January 25th, 900, 8:24 am in the morning-
Outside the shield of the castle/longhouse building is the group of United Talons plus Jasmine, having breakfast while the seven dwarves are currently packing up the camp.
Jasmine is playing with her food, her heart not in the mood as her head spun around of thoughts and concerns, glancing often through the shield, clearly worried about Logan, her best friend.
"Hey, mind if I join you?", asked a female voice, and Jasmine looked over to recognize Emma, and she shook her head lightly as Emma then took a seat upon the log next to Jasmine. "Not hungry, huh?".
Jasmine sighed heavily, "I don't have the appetite. How could I when he's in there, passing those tests?". Emma nodded lightly, "I don't blame you there, but you know that he can take care of himself. After all, he's a soldier.".
Jasmine looked at Emma, "That's just it. What if one of those tests is too much? What if he's hurt?". Emma blinked softly, "You are being negative, Jasmine. Don't stress yourself out over those questions. I know Logan wouldn't want you to be like this. He cares for you so much, you know.".
Jasmine chuckled softly, "He is stubborn. He was focused on fixing my guilt last night.". Emma shook her head gently, "Not just that...He wanted to see you smile again. One night, he confessed that seeing you smile at him, it makes him happy, and he declared that if you're happy, he's happy.".
Jasmine stared at Emma in shock, "He said that?". Emma smiled lightly, "He certainly did. And you know we are all trained to be perspective, so it wasn't hard to see that he may have feelings for you.". Jasmine exhaled softly, "Oh...How could you be sure of that?".
Emma smiled gently, "Because he's actually serious. You see, Logan is a gentleman, that's for sure, but he sure was lonely back home. When we had our stint of working together for the first time, he tried to court women a few times with the intention of being a romantic, but he couldn't find that spark that everybody talks about, you know, that feeling when you feel like you couldn't breathe, your voice dry and speechless, your cheeks warm, your heart beating like crazy.".
"Logan tried to find true love back there?", breathed Jasmine in surprise. Emma nodded, "He certainly tried, and when he told us that he felt stuck, it was then he decided to quit looking, and just focus on being a team, well, I can tell you that I was half expecting that, but still got surprised about it. Logan was and is one of the best soldiers anywhere, of course, but there was moments where I could catch him being lonely after glancing at other soldiers courting their girlfriends or boyfriends, wives or husbands.".
Jasmine looked thoughtful then, "So you say that he felt that spark when he came to know me?". Emma chuckled lightly, "He must have because otherwise, how could he have come to all this trouble? Comforting you, talking to you on sensitive matters that you trust him to hold in secret, helping you out in training and other things?".
Jasmine was silent, speechless when she heard Emma's point, and Emma continued, "Perhaps that's why he's willing to wait patiently to tell you one day once he sees you being comfortable and safe all around, healed from...well, trauma. You have encountered such horrible things that he doesn't want you to experience all over again, only wanting to see you smile and laugh with no worries in the world.".
Jasmine exhaled slowly, "I realize that I am trusting him well enough, but I am scared to say those words. Oh, I know I care for him, and really like him, but I don't really know if I love him yet, you know?". Emma smiled reassuringly, "Hey, healing takes time, and yes, being scared to say those fateful words is normal, especially with your past experiences with men, through Aladdin was the exception, wasn't he?".
Jasmine sighed heavily, "I hardly knew him, but there was definitely a spark of love, that feeling which was happening for a moment. Genie knew him somewhat more than me, but still, I never knew of his favorite things, his favorite food, his favorite hobbies rather than riding Magic Carpet, stealing, and surviving. He seemed to like apples through, and Abu was nice too, through he was a bit jealous, maybe.".
Emma nodded somberly, "You really thought he'd come save you, huh?". Jasmine sighed deeply, "For the first few months, I did, before Genie pointed out that Jafar must have thought to send Aladdin to someplace very cold where he couldn't survive. And when he said that, I strongly felt that gut feeling where it feels like my stomach dropped, you know, and I realized that even if Aladdin had survived in Agrabah all his life, he couldn't have survived very long in a foreign cold place through we knew somehow that he really tried to live by fighting the cold for us.".
Emma nodded lightly, "That certainly makes sense, and I don't know for sure, but I bet he would want you to move on, be happy again, to live.". Jasmine blinked softly, "You really think so?". Emma smiled softly, "To have done all those things to impress you, to get your father's permission, to being someone he isn't, he had a good soul, a good heart. I mean, he saved you from that market man, right?".
Jasmine nodded lightly, "Yeah... Aladdin wanted me to be happy all those times, and if Logan makes me happy, I am happy, and Aladdin's happy for me, for us up there, right?". Emma smiled warmly, "Hey, maybe Logan met Aladdin in there. I mean, you've heard Pippa's recounting of her adventure quite a few times.", gesturing to the building behind the shield, and the shield shimmered momentarily before resuming still.
"Yes, you're right. Magic, spirits, curses, it's the norm around here, yet I hope Logan gets finished soon. I know it has been almost three or four hours now, but I can't help being worried. Yes, Pippa got out of her adventure in slightly less than four hours, but what if Logan is in there longer this time?", spoke Jasmine anxiously.
Emma patted her shoulder gently, "Logan's past was very different than Pippa's past, perhaps that is the reason why it feels longer this time, but don't worry, Jasmine, we all know that Logan can take care of himself, and he has reasons to pass the tests, eh?", smiling slightly smugly with a pointed eyebrow at her, and Jasmine blushed slightly with a shy smile, nodding softly in understanding before sending a glance at the building, wondering what's keeping Logan right now.
Somewhere in the virtual reality aka mental test, in the desert under a full moon, is a young, scraggily dressed man, running for his life, his body a living skeleton of skin and bones, all shrunken to virtually no muscle.
Logan endured whippings, sunburns, stoning by rocks, and sexual assaults by men for many weeks, yet no means to know the exact count. There are scars, bruises, cuts, and wounds to show them all yet Logan knew he has to keep living. He knew he had to pass this test somehow, and he realized that escaping is part of that.
One night, he saw that his wrists are far too thin now, and with frost on the metal, he realized that he could use his body heat to carefully use the frost as a lubricate of sorts, and he slipped free of the wrists. He held them subtly as to fool people that he's still chained, and when one of his torturers came for the usual abuse, Logan somehow sought the last remains of his strength, and killed him with the chain by choking and cutting off his life of breath.
He hated the man, but he wanted to be clothed again, so he took the clothes of the dead man, and found the magnet lock key to his neck chain on the back, and freed himself, feeling powerful again. He snuck through the fence quietly and quickly, glad that the night is deep into midnight hours, and he realized that taking a horse would alarm the residents far quicker than simply walking out into the desert through tunnels of this cavern system.
Exhausted and weak, he still ran for his life, knowing with every step, he is a minute farther away from his torturers, his prison, and a minute closer to his friends, his brother, and especially Jasmine. Memories of Jasmine kept him especially sane, and he desperately wants that chance to tell her how he feels, but one day he will do it, knowing that he will need time to forget this test even if it seemed all so real.
He kept walking on, for what seems like two hours before he saw a door in the middle of the desert. A standing door of oak and stone with a glass window in the top middle, shaped as a heart, Logan was stupefied and amazed before realizing that this is the end of this test, and he passed it!
He ran to the door, grabbed the doorknob tightly, seeing a glow of whitish-purple momentarily before he felt the doorknob loosen with the click of that deadbolt freeing inwards, and he then opened it right up to see a meadow of impossibly green grass, and he then stepped through the door, into the meadow. He vaguely saw the door disappear out of thin air, and he glanced upon the meadow before inhaling and exhaling fresh air.
He laughed madly and happily, realizing that his body is back to normal, no signs of those scars, bruises, cuts, and wounds from his torturers anywhere, feeling incredibly healthy with a glance upon his old scars of war. He looked around in awe and curiosity before he saw a distant spot of gray in the distance near a large tree.
He walked closer and closer, breathing into the air, still awed that he had survived his mental test as it felt so much longer than the physical test. The spot of gray became clearer with every step, and soon enough, he's standing before a statue of a dragon, a sitting dragon with a paw holding some sort of object.
Logan blinked in confusion as he leaned closer, thinking he's seeing a symbol on the object, his hand touching it when the statue suddenly glowed white, and then on the gray wall behind the statue, he then saw writing appear in glowing white, the language plainly English which Logan is glad to see.
He read the writing out loud, "As the second test has been passed successfully, it's now time to have a new path. Follow the Spirits, keep believing in yourself, and remember who you are.", and the wall suddenly opened up, revealing a podium right smack in the middle of the room behind the wall, and there, floating above the podium is a purple gemstone.
He grinned, realizing that this will be his amulet of sorts once he comes out, and remembering Pippa's words, he then took a deep breath, and walked forward past the statue of the dragon, wondering who's waiting for him as he entered the room, instantly feeling a aura of excitement and hope.
He reached out with his right hand, feeling no pain, no fear, nothing bad as he leans closer, and as he finally grasped the gemstone, the aura of excitement and hope grows stronger, multiplying by 100 times, and under a minute, Logan knew nothing, blacking out instantly.