Forest slung his bag over his shoulder. He then gazed at the now empty campsite. When the Animax user had attacked them they had packed up right away and continued walking through the chilling cold of the night, until they stopped and set up camp where Forest was now standing and waiting for Kieran.
Kieran finished packing his bag and stood up from the ground. Rai stood against a tree, holding the black dagger Melody had given Forest. She twirled it in her hand before she noticed that they were ready. Rai pushed herself off the tree and began to lead them into the woods.
They trudged through the uneven terrain, over fallen logs and through bushes. Kieran made multiple flirty advances, that all seemed to fail. Eventually they were left to silence as Forest observed their surroundings, which consisted of tall trees. Everything looked the same, but that didn't tear away its natural beauty. He watched as squirrels scurried up trees and birds fluttered out of nearby branches. It smelled like pine needles and sap, green moss climbed its way up tree trunks.
They continued to walk, it felt like no time had passed and they were walking in a circle, until Forest noticed the shift in the sky as the sun began to set. He was too occupied with looking at the sky that he didn't even noticed that Rai and Kieran had stopped and were now crouched behind a fallen log. Rai reached up and tugged at his arm, forcing him behind the log. Forest had to hold onto the fallen chunk of wood to stabilize himself from falling over from the momentum.
Forest looked over at the two beside him, confusion across his features. Kieran met his gaze and shrugged.
"What are we doing?" Forest whispered to Rai. She pointed her finger in the direction of her gaze, Forest followed it. The ground declined, and at the bottom of the slope were fields of wheat. Light shone through windows in the distance, illuminating the small homes in the darkening sky. His brow furrowed."That doesn't answer my question."
Rai stood up, and they followed in suit. "All you need to know is that we're here." She shuffled her way down the hill, with Forest and Kieran trailing behind.
They disturbed the loose dirt as they shuffled down towards the small town, the tall grass shifting out of their way. The boys jogged to catch up to Rai as she entered the edge of the wheat field. The dirt between the crops were trampled with overuse, the grains themselves rose to their hips, and yet not one had touched them as Rai confidently strode through the field. As they neared the end of the wheat field, something caught Forest's eye. One of the identical red homes was burnt, It's roof charred black and caved in. Kieran seemed to tense at the sight of the house.
Rai slowed down as they emerged from the wheat field, their feet scuffling the sandy dirt that stretched throughout the town. They took a few steps forward into the cozy little town, but they didn't get very far as a few people blocked their way. There were people walking around the small town, then, one by one, the people began to stop and stare at them and they eventually formed a cluster around the trio.
Forest felt a little uncomfortable, but his gaze remained strong. Throughout the small town there were cherry blossom trees. Red and orange danced on the edge of the pale pink blossoms, threatening to take over the usually fully pink tree. From this Forest could tell that autumn was slowly but surely coming. Then he realized how long he was actually at Proelia, through spring and summer. He regretted not paying attention to the changes of the seasons.
Forest was brought back from his thoughts as terror took over. The townspeople began to squint and murmur amongst themselves. One person stepped towards Rai, she was tall and skinny, her short brown hair was tucked back into a ponytail although there were strings of hair hanging by her kind face. He stiffened, worried that they would be caught and called out at any moment.
"Rai?" The woman asked.
"Sophia?" Relief washed over the woman's face as they fell into a hug. Forest's previous worries vanished at the heartwarming sight, although in the back of his mind he knew that they weren't in the clear yet.
"I was so worried when you left." She let out a relieved sigh.
They stepped back. "I'm fine, but we all need a place to stay." She slightly gestured to Forest and Kieran. Sophia looked at them seriously for a moment, contemplating whether or not they could be trusted. She then looked back at Rai and then at the cluster of townspeople behind them.
She gave Rai a worried look before she turned around and faced the townspeople. "It's okay everyone, it's Rai's, she's back."
The people clapped and cheered. Rai held her hands up and looked at the crowd sternly. "Yes, but we're all in danger and we," She turned and gestured to Forest and Kieran who watched silently. "Need your help." A concerned murmur fell across the crowd as they gazed at the trio with the same worried look Sophia had.
Rai looked out at the people before her, the people she grew up with. Forest could tell she was trying to hide her worry as they discussed their fate, they needed all the help they could get.
There was a shout from the distant wheat fields, a young boy with a satchel full of wheat ran down the rows of crops yelling, "They're coming!"
Everyone looked at the young boy as he ran towards them. Realization set in and Sophia turned towards Rai and gripped her shoulders. "It's the Silver Blades," She cast a quick glance around the small town."Hurry, go inside my house, in the basement." Rai nodded in determination and turned and grabbed Kieran and Forest's wrists. She dragged them down the sandy dirt path, towards a small red house that seemed to be in the middle, amongst the other identical homes.
They were ushered through the small grey tidy living room and kitchen, and towards the back where there was a small hallway. Forest guessed that was where the bedrooms and bathrooms were. At the end of the grey hallway Rai pulled on the wooden floorboards. A square panel popped up, and underneath was a metal ladder. Rai climbed down the ladder, and then the dark hole was flooded with light. Kieran climbed down, followed by Forest. Once he landed on the floor, Rai marched back towards the ladder and firmly closed the wooden panel.
The basement had a single light in the middle of the ceiling, illuminating the room. It was a decent size, with creme walls and cold wooden floors. It was quite empty, except for a vacant desk pushed up against the far wall. Forest looked around the room silently. Rai stood by the ladder, arms folded as she waited for something, maybe a signal. Kieran looked restless as he fiddled around with the desk and chair.
In the distance, the townspeople watched as the uniform group marched into their town. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stood tensely in the middle of the town, waiting. Sophia stood the closest to the end of the wheat field. The member that lead the group slowed to a stop before Sophia. The rest of the members that were brought along, circled and surrounded the townspeople with a half circle.
Sophia formed a fake smile."What brings you to Auxilium today?"
She could tell that the leader gritted their teeth beneath their mask. "Get out of my way, I have business that needs to be taken care of." The member shoved her out of their way. She staggered off to the side and watched as multiple members searched the red houses.
Subconsciously, Sophia trailed behind the leader and followed him as he entered her house. The member glared at her questiongly as they both entered her home. "This is my home, I have the right to be here," She said firmly.
The Silver Blade rolled their eyes, but said nothing in rebuttal. Sophia made her way in front of the member and stood before the hallway. The member stood before her, looking annoyed. "My room is a mess, you really don't want to go in there."
The member grunted as they shoved her into the wall. Sophia rubbed her arm and watched as the member searched all the rooms in the hallway. She couldn't help but smile to herself as the member skipped over the floorboard to the basement.
Sophia followed the member out of the house. She made her way back to the middle of the town where the members still surrounded them. The members that searched the homes slowly joined the rest of the Silver Blades.
The leader looked furious that the search had turned up empty. "You're lucky, but if I find out your hiding something I'll have all of your heads." A few people flinched from how loud their voice was. They all watched as the Silver Blades backs retreated back into the wheat field and into the surrounding woods.
Once there was no sign of the Silver Blades, the town relaxed and continued on with their day. Sophia overheard a few conversations about how they were happy to finally bring them down, as she ran back to her house.
There was a loud bang on the floorboard above the ladder. The trio stepped away from the entrance into the room, all of their hearts pounding in their ears with adrenaline. They couldn't tell if it was Sophia or the Silver Blades. Rai too took a cautious step backwards, although her face remained calm and unsmiling. Forest and Kieran drew their weapons as the floorboard was pulled back. Sophia's face poked through, a sigh of relief washed over them all as they put their weapons away.
"They're gone, you can come back up now." There was a hint of triumph in her voice.
Rai nodded, then they all climbed the metal ladder as it rattled under their weight.
"What happened out there?" Forest asked Sophia as they all followed her out of her home. They couldn't hear much from the basement and Forest didn't like being left in the dark.
"It was just the Silver Blades, they searched the homes," She said it so casually, even though Forest knew it was way more of a bigger deal than she suggested it was, especially since it concerned the Silver Blades.
"They must know Rai is missing," Forest replied. He looked worried as he thought about how close they were to getting caught.
Sophia nodded, her face neutral. "The important thing was that they didn't find you."
Forest nodded, then he caught a glimpse of her arm. "Did they do that?" He asked. A small bruise had formed on her left upper arm. He felt Rai tense as her eyes caught on the sight of the bruise.
Sophia looked at the bruise on her arm and shrugged it off. "You know how they can be." Forest slowly nodded. Unfortunately all three of them knew all too well.
They all walked out of the darkened home and into the blazing sun. As they emerged, Forest's glance shifted to a black charred home a little ways down. He knew that the Silver Blades must've done that, the thought fueled his flame of anger. Forest gritted his teeth as his vision lingered on the burnt building. He looked at the hardworking townspeople that were passing by on the path. He was tired of the Silver Blades causing trouble to innocent people, he hated what they did to families and towns, killing and destroying everything in their path. He always hated their morals, but maybe the reason he especially felt bad was the fact that he used to be apart of the Silver Blades, and therefore felt a little responsible for not taking them down sooner. Impatience wouldn't get him anywhere, he knew that, but however badly he wanted to destroy the Silver Blades, there still had to be pieces that needed to be picked up and preparations that needed to be made if he were to get anywhere.
Then, an idea popped into his head. He cupped his mouth with his hand and yelled for the townspeople's attention. Forest then stood there, in the middle of the path as heads turned towards him.
"You let the Silver Blades terrorize you, take your people away and burn down your homes, when will it stop?" He looked out at the people blankly staring at him. He continued in hopes that more will listen to what he had to say. "The truth is, it wont. It won't ever stop. Unless you take action," Kieran and Rai looked at him like he was crazy, but they also seemed to be intrigued as they let him continue. "I too, want to take down the Silver Blades but, I-we, can't do it alone. We need each other's help," He knew he had their attention now, so he continued."We can help you rebuild your lost homes and in exchange, we need a place to stay."
A murmur rippled through the crowd Forest had gathered. Then, amongst the crowd a fist pumped into the air, followed by a cheer. It took a moment before realization set in the crowd and one by one more fists were thrown into the air, and the cheers of a unionized voice reverberated through his ears.
Forest smiled to himself and nodded at the quaint town, he now had himself a small army.