Chapter 31

"Great, what's going on now?" moaned Haru, kicking away a large pebble. Kaorin had quickly scouted ahead and had returned, having seen a fight.

"I'm pretty sure those weren't just students fighting" said Kaorin. She didn't want to admit it, but she was certain she had heard screams on her way back to the group. She thought the exam might be going wrong.

"Of course there's fighting, that's why we're out in this stupid smelly forest" said Haru. He ducked down to pick up the pebble and a knife embedded itself in the tree behind him. He looked up in surprise.

"Hey man, what the hell?" he said looking across at Kenji, then Kaorin.

"T-that wasn't us" said Kaorin.

"Hey Chiyo" said Tomo waving to the small girl who had fallen to the ground. Sakaki and Osaka stood either side of Tomo, Osaka waving dreamily.

"H-hi" said Chiyo, pushing herself up and dusting herself down. She tried to act calm momentarily, before sprinting across to the trio of girls. "S-someone was going to kill me and I lost Yomi and Kagura and there was a creature" she said, still holding back the tears. She wasn't going to start now. No one noticed Sakaki turn away slightly, unable to see Chiyo in this scared state.

"What are you doing out here by this river?" asked Tomo.

"I was-was trying to find the exit, so I could get to some of the teachers or instructors."

"Oh I see" said Tomo, despite not fully understanding why Chiyo wanted to see any of the teachers. She turned around, watching a thick log passing by in the surprisingly deep river. She pondered to herself whether it'd be a good raft. It moved fast in the river but she watched as it got stuck.

"What are you looking at?" asked Osaka.

"Nothing" replied Tomo.

"Oh, I sometimes do that too" replied the girl.

"So you don't know where Yomi and Kagura are?" asked Sakaki.

"No" replied Chiyo. "I lost them a bit further back in the forest." She turned towards Sakaki, who stood quite a bit about the younger girl. "They'll be ok won't they, they'd be able to take care of themselves wouldn't they?" she asked desperately.

Sakaki mumbled an answer, turning away slightly as Chiyo stared at her worriedly.

"Of course they'll be fine" replied Tomo. "Yomi's personality is a pretty powerful weapon by itself so I know she'll be fine. And though I don't like to admit it, Kagura is a stronger fighter then I am. Only just though."

"We should help Chiyo" stated Osaka. "If we can get the teacher people then they can help the others."

"But won't we fail if we leave the forest?" asked Tomo. "We'll fail the examination and have to wait another year to try again."

"I'd rather fail and try again then not leave the forest and end up being killed" said Chiyo nervously. "I don't think four students will be enough to defeat whoever has invaded this forest."

"Don't worry Chiyo, we'll help you" said Tomo. Chiyo did make a good point what with death not being nice.

"What was that?" asked Osaka.

"What was what?" asked Sakaki in a tone as nervous as the look on Chiyo's face.

"I'm sure I just heard something."

"Surprising for you to be alert to anything Osaka" stated Tomo. She thought that was true- this was the girl who usually fell asleep in class, and miswrote several words where she had misheard them.

"Oh, maybe I just imagined it" replied Osaka. "I guess that must have been what I heard- nothing- just like what Tomo was looking at."

Thump

"See, I thought I had heard a thumping noise" said Osaka, not noticing the shaking puddle beside her. "But I guess I didn't."

Thump!

"I can hear it too" said Sakaki. She slowly turned and looked at Chiyo who had a terrified look on her young face. "What is it?"

"The thing…it's coming back" she muttered in a scared tone. "It killed someone and it's going to eat us."

"I don't want to be eaten" said Osaka in a neutral manner.

Tomo and Sakaki watched as tree tops swayed as something smashed through the foliage towards them. It seemed fast, and Chiyo thought it sounded larger. The group glanced around at one another, wondering what they could do.

"Get on the raft thing!" called out Tomo, pointing towards the large piece of wood as a large reptilian face poked out through a gap in the trees. Its tongue flicked out and also revealed teeth as large as Chiyo's hand.

The group didn't need a second suggestion as they ran and leapt onto the makeshift raft as the creature let out a guttural roar. Tomo moaned about getting her hands muddy as she pushed the raft away, quickly moving in the river downstream. Tomo stood and watched as the creature smashed through the trees and started marching at a moderate speed along the bank.

"If we can keep this speed we should escape" said Chiyo, as the creature roared again.

Tomo followed the others example by crouching down on the raft, having almost lost her balance and fallen in. She watched the creature come to a stop, looking at them. She waved goodbye when the creature suddenly leapt into the water. It began swimming towards them, much faster then it had been on land.

"I think we have a problem" she muttered to the others. She poked Sakaki's shoulder, the taller person turning and watching wide eyed as it swam closer and closer, a razor tooth lined jaw reaching up out of the water. Tomo decided that being able to see the back of the throat was not a good omen.

She groaned as the jaw went back down again, landing in the water and splashing the group. She reached into one of her trouser pouches and pulled out a kunai blade. The creature rose up out of the water again, roaring and launching an attack at the raft. Tomo yelled out and flung the knife at the creature. It bounced off the thick skin, but a second knife (thrown by Sakaki) landed in its soft throat. It roared and fell back in the river, shaking its head to loosen the blade which had dug into soft tissue. Tomo again tempted fate by waving bye to the creature.

"Nice throw" she said to Sakaki in a slightly unenthusiastic manner. She'd wanted to be the person who saved the group. It wasn't fair!

"Think they'll have that on the exam next year?" she asked, turning to the group. Sakaki shook her head, not realising Tomo was being sarcastic.

They continued floating downstream, Chiyo watching as the river began to narrow, the raft starting to slow down. She glanced back behind her nervously hoping that the creature wasn't still there. It finally became wedged stuck, Tomo the first of the students to climb back onto solid ground. She held out her hands and helped Chiyo off.

"I'm glad that's over" said Chiyo, breathing heavily.

"Look out it's coming back!" yelled Tomo, looking wide eyed behind Chiyo.

"It is?" asked Chiyo worriedly.

"Nope, I lied" said Tomo grinning while Chiyo looked as though her heart was about to fail at any time.

"That was mean- I think" said Osaka, walking to get off the raft. She went to climb off when her foot gave way and she slipped, banging her head against the ground of the bank. Her head smashed surprisingly hard against the ground, the fall cushioned by odd coloured flowers. Tomo rushed to her, helping her up.

"Are you ok Osaka?" asked Tomo.

"I don't know. Am I ok Chiyo?" asked Osaka.

"I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to tell you" replied Chiyo worriedly. Again.

"My head hurts, but I'm ok" said Osaka as she stepped onto solid ground. "Do you think I'll get bonus marks for the exam if I say I have a headache?" she asked. "Then I might be able to pass."

"We aren't worrying about the test anymore" said Sakaki.

"We're trying to find people to help" added Chiyo. "Help us, and the other students."

"Well I'm still worried about the exam" stated Tomo. "Yukari will probably mock me for quite a while if I fail this."

"So how do we get out?" asked Osaka, rubbing her head. It was sore, and hurt quite a bit. She glanced around seeing only forest around her.

"We have to find one of the gateways" said Chiyo. "That's the way in and out of the forest."

"But how do we find one of those?" asked Tomo.

"We went quite a long one in one direction along the river" said Chiyo. "If we keep going this way, soon enough we should reach the perimeter of the forest."

"And then we find a way out?" asked Tomo.

"Yes."

The group continued to walk in the same direction, walking by the shrinking river. Tomo was holding Osaka, supporting the girl as she was feeling dizzy. Sakaki pushed some branches out of the way, and was greeted by the sight of a large metal fence. She turned to the others and pointed. The others moved through the foliage and saw the large structure stretching high up into the air.

Tomo suddenly had something enter her mind that filled her with slight dread.

"Do they lock the gates after we enter?" she asked.

"I can't remember" replied Chiyo.

"Hey you students!" called out a voice suddenly, startling Sakaki and Chiyo. Tomo turned and saw a figure walking along the outside of the fence. Tomo then spotted other people walking with her.

"Hey it's Minamo!" said Tomo.

Minamo turned to talk to one of the people she was with who pulled open the gateway. They signalled for them.

"What's going on?" asked Chiyo as they stepped out of the forest.

"The exam has been put on hiatus" stated Minamo. "This is now a rescue mission."