At a certain part of the Swamp of Mystery, even if morning was soon to come, one area was still as dark as midnight. Daniel crawled out of the cold, uncomfortable wooden tent and found himself in the midst of a cool, invisible mist and towering trees. He picked up his glasses, making sure they didn't fall. The moon had hid itself, and there was no mystifying orb of the sky now. Stars twinkled in the fabric of darkness, like little needles that poked holes into the darkness blanket.
Daniel sighed. He had a feeling that this week would be hard… really hard. Soon, his two teammates crawled out of their gross, wooden tents as well, feeling the cool air brush against their own dirt caked faces. Kenneth stretched and gave a loud yawn as his arms were hung high in the air. Teresa just looked uncomfortable, remaining silent as always. "Good, you guys weren't late," Daniel notified. "We can get a head start,"
"Remind me why we have to wake up before morning to move around again," Kenneth insisted, his eyes tired and heavy, half open with laziness spread all over his face. He didn't feel like waking up so early. They had only about four hours of sleep anyway. That was barely enough for someone who always expected to sleep a lot whenever they did fall asleep.
Daniel sighed. He didn't like repeating himself. Walking towards the foresting trees, he answered his brother's question. "We can't stay in one place too long, it'd be foolish to do so," he began, placing his hand over a tree's trunk and looking left and right, searching for any suspicion. It was a reluctant search, really. "We don't know if someone is following us, and we can't just lie around waiting for the enemy to attack. We have to give ourselves the upper hand, even if it isn't a good one."
"But what if we actually run into an enemy while we're moving?" Kenneth asked, his eyes now wide open with alert. His icy, blue eyes matched with his blank, empty expression. It seemed as if he hadn't a thought at all.
"That's a chance we're going to have to take," Daniel sighed, glaring hard into the darkness before them. "We should get closer to the gate, so we'll head that way," the Life Minor said, pointing into the bleak darkness ahead. Kenneth gulped at its ominous appearance. "Once we get there, we're going to have to make new camps. You don't mind, right, Teresa?" he asked, turning back to face his vulnerable stare at the purple haired Minor.
Teresa looked up, her cheek caked with the brown, icky dirt. Her eyes were pleading, sad almost, like a child's innocent pupils. She seemed to disregard his words, and nodded slightly, her stare falling back to the mushy ground beneath her steady feet. Her eyes were full of thoughts Daniel wondered what they were.
The empty sky held no god at this time, seemingly empty of purpose now. The only active movement was the twinkling of stars and the light breezes every now and then that seemed would always come – but really, never came. "Let's go," Daniel said, turning back. With a jolt, he jumped to a nearby tree branch, and began taking off towards the darkness. His two teammates followed suit.
"So, did you plan out our meal plot for the rest of the week?" Kenneth asked his brother, catching up to him, feeling the cool, damp air brush against their faces.
"Yeah," Daniel said, rushing past branch from branch, the filtering air running through his clothes like curious little demons. "We've got twenty-thousand calories worth of food. I may have miscounted the first time, so I double checked. This amount of food is going to last us a full week."
Kenneth nodded his head, acknowledging his brother's words as he kept his eyes on his back. Daniel didn't turn to face his brother as he went on. He seemed to be the leader of the group, rushing ahead of everyone else. "A regular human diet consists of two thousand calories a day, but with three people to feed a day, a regular diet for us would be six thousand calories finished a day," Daniel went on. "With that in mind, if we did have three meals each day, we would only last about two more days with food. However, if we narrowed it down to fifteen hundred calories a day instead of two thousand for each of us, which would give us a total of forty-five hundred a day. Still not enough," Daniel explained thoroughly.
As he went on, Teresa seemed to stare off into space as she rushed by easily from branch to branch. The trees seemed to lay out her branches for her. Daniel's voice buzzed on, stopping to clear his voice, the only silence heard for a while. "With forty-five hundred a day, we would eat all our food in a matter of four days, which isn't so bad, considering we lasted one day all ready without food, we would have two days without food in the end, but it's still not enough," Daniel explained. "But, if we lowered our diet to a thousand a day, we would finish off three thousand a day, and that could last us about six more days without two hundred calories of food left over, and since we all ready lasted one day in here without food, we should be fine."
"Great!" Kenneth replied, smiling and clenching his fist in a victorious way.
"Not really," Daniel muttered. His brother's words washed the victorious look off his face. "With only eating a thousand a day for each of us, we're just cutting our regular human diet in half. That means one full meal, and a half of another. I don't know if we can really thrive on that for the whole week, but I suppose it's possible to accomplish," Daniel explained, still rushing past the darkness. The ebony seemed to brush backward as the team neared it, as if it were afraid of them, backing up into its own faraway, tiny little corner.
"I see," Kenneth muttered in acknowledgment. He seemed less enthusiastic now. Now, he just solemnly brushed by tree after tree, jumping like a frog from lily pad to lily pad on a pondering lake.
"Also, if the threat of a gluttonous enemy comes up and it gets to our food resources, I don't know what we'll do then. We'll most likely starve," Daniel explained, giving his brother a shock. Teresa just stared bleakly into space. She never seemed to listen to Daniel away.
"Hey," Daniel muttered, turning his attention to Teresa. She muttered quietly as she lifted her violet eyes, finding the fluttering back of Daniel's clothes. Her mouth was open unknowingly, a sort of shock overtaking her for a second. "What's with you?" he muttered. Teresa gulped, as if to ask, "What do you mean?"
The rushing trees seemed to pass by even quicker, like the scenery was running away from the team, afraid of them. Everything seemed to be afraid of them. They wouldn't be surprised if the world just split apart with them in the middle of the empty space. "Those eyes," Daniel said, turning his face back to meet glares with Teresa. His green stare was somewhat accusing. His red hair fluttered solemnly. "They're hiding something. I know," Daniel told her.
Teresa continued to remain silent, as if she were in shame. She just continued to watch Daniel's back, wondering what he was trying to get out at her. She didn't really want to deal with him right now. She wanted to keep herself to her thoughts, the sooner the better so she could rid herself of her life-long problems. "That guy, Eric…" Daniel said quietly.
Teresa's eyes went into a widened, shocked state. Now, she really disregarded her problems and really wanted to find out just what this guy was saying. She didn't know why she just suddenly changed at the mention of Eric's name. Didn't know at all. "You fit his description perfectly," Daniel noted. As if answering Teresa's thoughts, he began to explain. "One time, during the first part of training when you were really injured, and the rest of the Minors were waiting for my brother's fight to end, he came up to me, and asked me a question," Daniel piqued Teresa's interests.
What does he mean? Teresa thought carefully. Why is he telling me this? "It went something like this," Daniel spoke loudly.
"Hey," Eric had come up to Daniel who sat solemnly in the barely comfortable sofa chair. He walked by dragging his feet, a kind of vibe to him that couldn't really be figured out.
Daniel looked up to find brown eyes intertwining gazes with his red ones. He immediately caught his attention, somehow someway. Eric read the question in his eyes, the hard, protective stare always locked tightly in his friendly gazes. "A few people here have some sort of problem they're dealing with. A problem that holds them down from something. Their problem shows from the look they give in their eyes, and they might not know it, but it's obvious. You have that same exact look right now. So tell me, what's wrong."
At first, Daniel thought, what's with this guy? Why does he care so much about other people's problems? But that stare he gave him… it was just so inviting, so tempting. It was like he all ready wanted to tell him his problems. "Well," Daniel began, not sure if Eric would understand. He didn't even know why he was about to talk to a complete stranger. All he knew was his name. "I guess, I'm just worried about my brother's fight. He's taking the longest and… well, I don't know. I don't know what to think," Daniel spilled out.
"I see, is that right?" Eric said friendlily. 'Don't worry," he insisted. "I'm sure your brother's doing fine," he reassured Daniel. Daniel didn't know what it was about him, but just the way he said it and the way it came from his voice – it was so reassuring, that, he actually believed everything was going to be all right, and all his worries just dissolved like salt in hot water. It was something so crazy, so magical.
"I don't know what it is about that guy, Eric, but he seems to have some kind of power," Daniel continued. "Call me crazy if you want, but, it's like he can erase all your problems just by talking to you long enough. He really is something, that guy," Daniel muttered to himself.
Is that so? Teresa thought. She was suddenly reminded of Eric and the talk she had with him.
"So tell me," Eric had spoken so strongly. "If what you're saying is true, and that bonds just end up making you get hurt in the end, then let me ask you one thing."
Teresa had looked up to him and found his serious, yet friendly stare. A stare that wanted to help and protect. It was mind-blowing, in fact. She nodded slightly in her awe to indicate her thoughts. Eric continued. "Say two people have a connection. If they both realize that the other one is going to hurt the other one, and start believing what you're saying, then obviously both of them won't want it to happen, so both of them definitely won't willfully depart from the other one. If such a thing happens, then who's the one that gets hurt in the end?" Teresa widened her stare, a new, fresh thought flashing in the back of her mind, unnoticed, yet causing her expression blank.
"And you…" Daniel continued with his calm voice, still speaking to Teresa. Teresa looked up, more willful to acknowledge her teammate now. "You fit his description perfectly. Along with the fact that you haven't spoken a word since we got here." Teresa looked down in a sort of shame, watching the ground as the tree limbs rushed by, blocking her sight for seconds, the only thing reminding her that her legs were moving.
Kenneth looked confused yet solemn. Suddenly, there was a loud, humming noise. It seemed to near the group and came from behind like a buzzing hummingbird that rushed through the air. The same thoughts flashed in the teammates' minds as some sort of flying disk rushed past the trees, glowing with an ominous, mechanical red. The disk flew by and caught everyone by surprise, making a direct hit on Daniel, slicing through his back, slashing through his clothes.
"Brother!" Kenneth cried out, his eyes widening in shock. Teresa's face filled with panic. Daniel cried out in pain as the humming, glowing red disk protruded from his back and wisps of the fabric of his clothes flew through the air. The energy seemed to drain from him as he was about to fall to the floor, but suddenly, his appearance faded away into nothing but thin air. "What?" Kenneth cried out in confusion.
As the red disk flew back through the forest, the two teammates stopped in their position on two separate tree branches. The humming disk returned to another person's wrist. "Oh? Copy bait? Interesting," a female voice sounded.
"Who are you?" Daniel's voice returned, his appearance rushing out of the trees and coming back to the rest of the team. He used a clone made of his own life energy just in case an enemy made a sneak attack while we were heading through the darkness, Kenneth realized with a bleak face. A smile soon grew on him. That's brother, always thinking ahead.
"Your opponent!" a booming voice cried back. The female sound echoed through the trees, and seemed to rustle them in fear. Damn it… where is she? Daniel thought, gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes beneath those square glasses.
"Teresa," Daniel called out, turning to his side. Teresa muttered quietly in shock. Why was he calling her now? "I need you to spread a force field around the area to clear off the trees so we could see her better. Can you do that for me?" Daniel asked, his voice fast and panicky.
Teresa thought. If I don't, I'll probably end up dying myself as well, she figured. Fine, as you wish, she thought conclusively, her eyes turning a bright, demonic purple, many strands of her hair beginning to defy gravity, traced with an ominous purple color. Her teeth tightly grit, wavering force field energy began to surround her, and with a burst of energy and a cry of confident anger, the energy molded hard and began to spread out, just as angry as her cries of bravery were. The loud, crashing purple waves pushed back the trees and dirt, dust flying everywhere like a parade of power, trees being shoved away as if being towed. The bright purple energy glowed in the darkish night and consumed the three teammates, taking them away from their opponent's sight.
"What's this amazing energy she's giving off?" the opponent whispered to herself as diverging winds spread through the forest, violent gusts brushing her hair backward, her body trying hard to stay in place. She peered to the crazed power of the force field, her eyes narrowed to protect themselves. Her arm held in front of her face, she watched the blistering explosion of glowing violet push away all the forest life and dust, clearing a large, circular way in the middle.
As the dust finally began to clear away and the wisps of thick purple died out, the new threat peered hard into the piles of rising dust and found nothing but a wide, open area of dirt. Damn it! she cried to herself. They got away!
In the foresting trees surrounding the large area of empty space, the three teammates hid behind respective trees, watching their new opponent as she rushed out of the canopies and into the middle of the dirt area, looking around her to find any clue of their whereabouts. Damn it, Daniel thought. I didn't think an enemy would come by so quickly. I'll have to stay and observe her a while before I can do anything about her, though.
Kenneth watched his brother peer into the empty space before them, staring hard with those hard thinking eyes and that still, calm look. Ha, he laughed to himself in his head. Knowing my brother, he's probably thinking up some amazing plan by now, he thought with awe. You're amazing, brother.
Okay, got it, Daniel thought in his respective mind. "Guys, don't do anything for now, just stay back and keep your distance," Daniel whispered to his two teammates. They nodded in agreement, respecting their teammate. All right, first, let's test her defense, and then her speed, Daniel thought to himself, rushing away to the nearby trees, jumping away to another area.
"Come on all ready, stupid brats," the foe smirked, looking around from left to right continuously, keeping a cautious eye. Suddenly, to her wishes, a rush of three soul energy spheres zoomed out of nearby trees to her right. The orbs seemed to glow ominously as they left a trail of dragging energy with them. They rushed by, and gave a cute, yet threatening look to their opponent. "Not good enough!" she cried out as she put out her right arm, the arm with the disk wrapped around her wrist. Suddenly, the disk began to spin violently, the red glow growing on it again. Its hum and rotation was so intense, when the spirit spheres bombed toward her, they dissolved as soon as they touched the spinning, disk surface.
It spins? Daniel thought from his place behind a tree where he examined her every move. His eyes narrowed as he added the new piece of information to his calculations. It spins with a red energy… strange. Let's try this then, he thought, sending spirit spheres to her left. They trailed in the forest, glowing ominously until finally they emerged into the open space. She seemed to spot them before they came out and reacted quickly. Putting her right hand out again, the disk began spinning wildly with the metallic hum, blocking the spirit spheres. "What did I tell you before, brat!?" the foe grinned.
She blocked it! Daniel thought, not believing what he had just seen, not accepting it one bit. "How could she see it from behind her? Impossible… Daniel calmed himself down. Other than that, her defense seems to be a clockwise rotational defense using that disk that turns a red glow when it starts. As for her speed, she seems like she can sense attacks before they come up to her, before she could possibly see them, which is impossible. I'll have to keep an eye on that. There must be something else to it. For now, let's test her attack, Daniel suggested to himself.
"Hey!" Daniel cried out, jumping from the tree canopies and into the air. "Over here!" he called out, waving his arms as he landed on the top of a tree, revealing his identity completely.
"What the hell!?" Kenneth cried out comically. "Is he crazy?!" he yelled out loudly. Realizing his uproarious cries, he turned to the enemy's position, and she didn't seem to notice him. Good, he thought to himself, sighing in relief. That was a close call.
"Got you now, brat!" she cried out. With a small mutter, she sent the disk flying from her arm again, the red glow coming back as it spun through the air wildly. Daniel didn't seem to make a notion to move. He just stood there, watching the glowing ruby disk soar through the air with its threatening, electric hum.