Sing Your Way Out
Chapter 12: Knives and Bandannas
Cj POV:
I slid down the trunk of the oak tree. When I got to the ground, Ian shot off into the night, expecting me to follow him. As soon as I could no longer hear his foot steeps. I plucked the small poison dart from my side. "Cj… Watch out for deceivers…" James knew. He knew who the deceiver was. He knew what the deceiver was going to do. The deceiver must have hurt James. The deceiver was Cal. He was waiting for the right moment to shoot the small poison dart into my side. Just by looking at the dart, I knew it was slow acting poison. I had time. It was Graghor flower poison. The slowest acting poison in the world. I was going to get him back, I knew I was going to. First I had to find the Outsiders, and get them to their command place within the grounds. I ran towards the wall. As soon as I got to the base of the wall, I started to search for the Outsiders. I reached a gap in the wall, and saw a head peering into the grounds past the wall.
"I am on your side." I said softly, showing my Jacket.
"Roark!" The boy whispered behind him. A few seconds later, an older boy, steeped through the gap.
"You must be Cj." He said, his voice light.
"Yes, the battle has gone on for more than 5 hours." I said.
"Since midnight?" He asked impressed.
"Yes." I said simply.
"Impressive, you all have abilities right?" He asked
"Yes." I said
"Interesting…" He said
"Please, follow me to your command. It is all for you, Outsiders." I said. I could see that this annoyed Roark.
"Fine." He said. Without hesitation, I plunged into the surrounding trees. I lead them up and down slopes, in circles a few times to confuse them, and to throw any followers. We reached an oak that stood across from the Tree of Knowledge. Only a small meadow between them. I jumped up onto the tree. As I sat on one of the higher branches, I felt the world start to sway. I quickly shook my head. The poison was starting to affect my system. I lead the Outsiders into the hollow tree, and into the cave below. This tree only had one underground cave. The main underground cave. Some benches, chairs, beds, and tables, sat around, all fashioned from wood. Like in the Tree of Knolowdege.
"Perfect. We well set this up in a satisfactory way." Roark said.
'Your needed in Command."I said lightly.
"Okay. I guess you people have some organization. Harv, run the place until I get back." Roark said to Harv, a short boy, who was apparently second in command.
"Yes Roark." Harv said, throwing me a searching look.
"lets move." I said. I jumped up and raced out of the exit tunnel, into the night. I ran across the meadow, to the Tree of Knowledge. I jumped onto the lower branches, and climbed, Roark followed. I jumped into the entrance tunnel, and slid down. Roark followed. As soon as we were in the main cave, I lead him straight, into command. He gasped in shock of the magnitude of command. I lead him to the stone chairs and table.
"Roark." I said.
"Finally!" Swan hissed.
"Your needed on the grounds Cj." Jay said.
"Fine with me." I said, and race out of command.
I reached the grounds, and to my amazement, there were few people fighting. Some scared students, raced into the building, only to run into a wall of knomes. They quickly raced out. I saw Ian amongst the fighters. All of a sudden, my vision doubled. I saw two of everything. I shook my head to clear it. The poison! I looked around for Ian. I looked up to the sky, and saw the sun, with its toungs of fire, turn the sky pink. Morning was coming. Ian was at my side at once. I watched as the fighters broke apart, no longer hidden in the shadows of the night. Both sides backed away from each other. We were at a stalemate. We had time to regroup, and attack at dusk. I looked at the receding line of knomes and monitors. Our forces receded only to the edge of the meadow. We ruled the forest. The knomes and monitors raced to the buildings. They ruled the school. The empty grounds in the middle had just become no man's land. I quickly raced behind the lines. Ian followed. I started telling people to go back to command to get some rest, and a decent meal. All we were left with was a thin line of forces. Enough to fight, and sound an alarm if the knomes and monitors attacked. I race to the Tree of Knowledge, and race to command. On my way, I saw many people sitting at the tables made of wood in the main cave. Many with a fresh meal. The main cave went from deserted and creepy, to full and joyful in seconds. I reached command. I sat at the table of stone. Joy and cheerfulness filled the air.
"All of you have done so much, go get some rest, and change out of those blood soaked clothes." Jay said, joy rang in his voice.
"I could use some rest." Swan said, stretching.
"we have been up since a bit before midnight. We have also fought the whole time, we rely need some rest." Ork said.
"Well, what is there to talk about? I'm off to get some sleep!" Jasmine chimed.
"Yea!" Tiki said.
"Seems like a plan to me!" Gabe said, his eyes shining.
"Lets get going!" Suki said. As one, they all got up to leave. I quickly grabbed Swans arm, and waited until everyone filled out of command, leaving only Jay, who immediately raced up to intelligence.
"Is something wrong?" Swan asked.
"Yes, but no one else can know!" I hissed softly. Then and there my vision started fading, and quickly it came back, everything looked fuzzy. My eyes adjusted.
"What is it?" Swan asked. I lifted my black jacket, and my Tower Prep shirt, to reveal the prick where the dart had struck. The skin around had already started to turn back
"A Graghor poison dart… Who did this?" Swan spat.
"Cal… James told me to watch out for deceivers. He most likely hurt James. He was waiting for the right moment." I hissed.
"WHAT!" She hissed.
"I know that it is Graghor, because I got shot more than two hours ago. I want no one else to know. Trust me. It's better that way. You're the only one I know that knows how to fix it." I said.
"Fine, ill help you. Follow me." Swan said in a dangerous tone. I followed her out of command. She led me into the medical cave, where people were being treated, and patched up for the battle at dusk. She led me over to her sister. I had seen here before. Her name is Joy. She looked up.
"Graghor poison." Swan whispered to Joy, who scrambled to get us a small room. All the rooms along the walls were filled with the most serious injuries. The top of the cave was surrounded by a narrow balcony, like the one in command. The kitchens and sleeping quarters had the same design. Even the main cave had this. The narrow balcony on top was also filled. Only half of the rooms were for patients. All the others were for research, medicines, and anti-poison. Joy quickly led us to a room on the narrow balcony. From the top I could see the happenings of war. Since all the rooms were filled, medical beds were wheeled into the open, and only had curtains to obscure view from each other. The reception desk was extremely busy with every one rushing about. Joy said something about an anti- posing, where we were ushered into the room. Swan placed me gently on the small bed. Joy was back fasr than I could blink my eye. She was holding a small vial.
"It will sting a bit…" Joy said. She put the contents of the vial into another. She gave me a shot with the stuff. She quickly applied a cream that killed the poison. She said something about it being made of carrots. She quickly treated my other injuries, and in no time, I was all patched up, and sent to the sleeping quarters. I said goodbye to Swan and Joy, and smiled as Joy started blabbering about her crush on Jay. I made up my mind to ask him if he like her as a thanks. I walked into the main cave. I looked around. People on wooden benches sharing sips of pine, rose, or palm tea. My stomach growled, and I made my way into the kitchens. I ordered some skewered squirrel with a cup of water. I walked out into the main cave, and found a place to eat my meal. After finishing my delicious meal, I went back to the kitchens to order some pine tea. I found a comfortable chair to drink my tea. I love the balconies that surround all of the caves. From my perch above, I saw Ian sitting with Ork. Ork dug hungrily into his deer stake, while Ian looked question at his Raccoon stew. I laughed to myself. Tiki came and sat next to me, a steaming cup of palm tea in her hand. Her eyes landed on Roark, and she sighed.
"Roark is so brave…" She said with a smile.
"So you like Roark?" I asked with a smile.
"Maybe…" She said.
"So you do?" I said.
"You know I do." Tiki whispered.
"Yea I do!" I said. We laughed together.
"What do you think about Jasmine liking Harv?" Tiki said casually, sipping her palm tea.
"it's cute." I said with a smile. I looked below, where Joy and Swan sat, talking over tea. Gabe and Suki sat on the other side of the room, taking their first sips of our amazing teas. I watched as Suki took a sip, and looked at the cup like if it had just talked to her. I smiled.
"Hey!" Came a voice from behind me. I turned around; Ian was smiling at me, cup of steaming tea in hand. He sat next to me.
"Hi." I said, sipping my tea.
"Is this tea good? I got pine tea." Ian asked questioningly.
"Good? Good!" Tiki exclaimed.
"This is the best tea around, all made naturally." I said.
"Taste it!" Tiki said, joy rang in her voice.
"okay…" Ian said, taking one last look at his tea, he took a sip. His eyes widened.
"Well?" Tiki asked.
"Best tea ever!" Ian exclaimed.
"Told you so!" Tiki said with a laugh.
"Well, I'm going to get some rest, and change out of these bloody clothes. I might even get one of those jackets!" Ian said, finishing his tea quickly, and walking away.
"Its 10 in the morning, we better go do the same." Tiki said. We finished our tea, and walked to the sleeping quarters. We changed into soft black pants, and a shirt with the symbol of the rebellion on the back, just like the jackets. We climbed into the beds, and drifted to sleep. Eight hours later, we woke up., Having gotten the proper amount of sleep, and went to freshen up with a shower. We got dressed with what was provided, the rebels uniform. It consisted of black boots, a pair of black jeans, a black shirt with the symbol of the rebellion on the back, the lion. Of course, another fresh black jacket with the rebellion symbol on the back. Everyone was provided a black wristband with their name sown into it, in the color of their hood ribbons. I was issued a pair of leather, finger less gloves. Black of course. Tiki and I headed out to eat something. It was 6 P.M. already. We went to the kitchens, where most people had changed into their uniforms. I ordered a deer stake, and a berry salad. I got a cup of water with this. I sat with Tiki, who had ordered Skewered squirrel, with a wild salad, which included pine bark, oak nuts, and berries. We sat at a big table on the ground of the main cave. Suki, Ian, Gabe, Swan, Joy, Jay, Jasmine, Ork, Harv, Roark, Susan, and James who had just been released from medical care. We ate joy fully, joked, and after we finished eating, Ork threw away our trash, and Jasmine offered to get us our tea. We were finally sitting in an alcove in the narrow balcony, sitting on wooden benches, sipping our tea, when the question was asked.
"When will the attack be launched?" Jay asked.
"I think that at ten at night should give us plenty of time, to have us ready." Joy said. She had just announced that she was joining the fight.
"I think that is a great time!" Suki said, sipping her rose tea.
"Yea." Gabe said.
"Then its settled, we attack at ten." Harv said. Jasmine gave him a look of adoration.
"Okay!" James said. Swan looked at him, and quickly adverted her eyes.
"Let's get to command then." Jay said, getting up, and leading the way into command.
"I want to show you the armory we just got!" Jay said, leading us into a room at the end of command. He lit the candle and the room burst into light.
"For each of you, a small knife." He said passing us knives.
"Girls, you all have a sheath for you knives in your left boot. Guys, you have to wear a black belt with the sheath." Jay said.
"For us girls, I got these hair ties! So our hair won't get in the way of our vision." Joy said, holding up a hand full of black hair ties. All of us girls quickly took one.
"Guess what I got!" Swan squeaked.
"What?" James asked.
"Bandanas for everyone!" Swan said.
"They even have the rebellion symbol on them?" Jasmine asked.
"Yea, they do!" Tiki squeaked.
"I'll take one." James said. Swan blushed with his kindness.
"So will I." I said, taking one.
"Let's all take one." Ork said, passing one to everyone. I tied mine around my neck, a small protection against the thorns of the forest.
"Let's get to the front lines!" Harv said with a smile.
2412 words for this chapter! My longest chapter ever! Thank you all for reviewing! Keep reviewing, it gets you longer chapters! Press that little button below; it needs someone to talk to! Keep reviewing! Till next time!