Yellow Sun Academy

Chapter 8: Partners

It feels like my lungs are about to burst. No matter what I do, no matter how hard I pull, I can't get free of the thing in the water. The thing pulls me deep into the water and before I know it, something else wraps itself around one of my feet.

Activating my gauntlets but not my gift, I pry the thing from around my waist. Using one arm to keep the thing from my waist, I use my other arm to snap the thing around my foot. Once free, I swim back up as fast as I can. Bursting out of the water, I try to swim back to land but I feel something wraps around my waist again. As it tries to pull me down, I grab the thing with my metal hands and struggle to break free. While struggling, I hear someone screaming.

"Grab on," a boy with white and brown hair says. He swings his hand and something shoots out toward me. Looking like a black wire, I grab the wire. The boy then swings his hand back, the wire following and pulling me out of the water.

Hitting my chest as my back hit dry land, I look up to see the boy hovering over me.

"Are you okay," the boy asks.

I try to get up but the boy pushes me down.

"Don't get up too fast," he says. "Rest."

I shake my head and point at the water. The thing that tries to pull me in finally emerges from beneath the water. Water splashes everywhere as a massive animal with a long black body and white armor rises, it swings its dozen tentacles around.

"A giant crustacle," the boy says, standing up. "Hunt by hiding in the water until a prey stops for a drink. Honey, keep him safe while I deal with the crustacle."

I don't even have time to think before someone, a girl appears before me. The girl has short orange hair and is wearing a white, sleeveless vest with a pink skirt.

"On it," Honey says, slapping her hand against her forehead. She pulls her weapon out from behind her and aims it at the crustacle. She doesn't shoot, however. Instead, she just aims it at the beast while dragging me away.

"Come on," she says as she drags me. "Chadd tends to run around a lot when he fights. It's best to give him some room."

Dragging and dropping me underneath the shade of a palm tree, she picks me up and places me against the trunk. She then sits down beside me and together, we watch Chadd fight the crustacle.

Jump:

"Darn it," I say after walking out of yet another pitch-black hallway. Walking around a corner, I come across another intersection, filled with more hallways. I look down and see one of my bolts. Dropping to my knee, I pick up the bolt.

"I've already been here. I'm walking in circles."

I shake my head and put the bolt back down. I pull out another bolt from my crossbow and place it in front of the hallway I just exited. With that hallway marked, I look around and see one hallway without a bolt. Without much choice, I walk down that hallway. However, it looks exactly like all the others.

"Stonewall. Stone walkway. Pitch-black all around."

As I keep walking, trying to find a way out of here or at least a game piece, I think I hear something and immediately turn around.

"Nothing. That's weird."

I turn around and walk again, but after a few steps, I hear the sound again. It sounds like someone is tapping against the stone wall but way faster. Too fast to be a normal person. Unless that person's gift is enhanced speed.

"Okay," I shout into the darkness. "Who's there? Come on. Stop playing around. It's dark and creepy enough in here as it is. I don't need this. What I need is an exit."

The only thing to answer me is the rapid tapping. As I listen closely, the tapping seems to be getting closer. It seems to be moving toward me.

"What the hey," I scream when I see a bunch of tiny black dots moving toward me. The black dots cover the hallway. They're on the ground, on the floor, and even on the ceiling. They're moving toward me, tapping as they move.

Using both my crossbows, I fire a few bolts but they don't do anything except knock down a few bugs. As they get closer and closer, I have no choice but to run. Running as fast as I can, I run into three different pathways, each going in a separate direction. None of them have any bolts, meaning they're all unexplored pathways.

The tapping only a few feet from away, I choose to go straight ahead. As I run, I turn and fire as many bolts as possible. Once again, they do nothing but knock off a few dots. Running and running without stopping, I see a turn coming up ahead. Seeing a light coming from around the corner, I pick up the pace and put forth whatever energy I have left. As soon as I reach the corner, I turn but instead of seeing an exit, I see a boy with yellow hair.

As I run into him, our bodies press into each other and our lips touch.