The Crystal that Blooms in Darkness

Strangers in the Forest

"Are you sure it was this way?" The young man pushed back his ash blond hair, removing his protective goggles while doing so. They fell to the ground with a soft thud, but he made no movement to pick them up. Groaning, he took a moment to stretch his arms and legs. Only to groan even more when he realized he had a hole in his shirt.

Per regulations he was wearing a simple pair of black pants and a skin tight black t-shirt with a small patch on the arm to indicate what faction he was a part of. Though he had personally added a couple of armor plates on his arms and a few holsters for his guns creating what he had explained as a perfect warrior look. The hole, though small, posed a problem. If his Captain were to see this, he would be screwed.

So, in a lame attempt to distract the others, he quickly started to grumble as he stretched in a way that would be less visible by his other teammates. "Could you have taken a wrong turn? Or maybe you missed the entrance? Or maybe we are in the wrong area." He gestured to the forest around him, "There has never been a gate reported here. The map you're following could just be a hoax. Or maybe even a map from a children's book." He sniggered.

A young man with long black hair snarled at the others' comments. He was currently on the ground surveying with a hand drawn map placed to the side. His silver rimmed glasses gleamed as he turned around to admonish his supposed teammate, "If you would shut up, stop complaining and let me do my damn job, we would have been there already."

"Would we have? Really." He responded sarcastically while trying to turn even further away from the others' view. He quickly tried to mend his hole, but his attempt was in vain as a large hand landed on his shoulder, knocking him over.

"Wow. I never knew you two were such good friends." A loud voice cackled in his ears. The bulky man seemed to genuinely think that the two had a good relationship as he gazed between the two with a bewildered look, "If you guys were so close, why haven't you gone on missions together more often?"

"We are not close!" The two yelled at the same time.

The bulky man raised his hands in the air, "Okay, okay. If you say so."

"Enough." A deep voice interrupted the trio. A handsome young man with short black hair and dark eyes pushed his way past the arguing trio, stopping next to the one who was stretching. "Noah." His voice was as sharp as his gaze.

With his tall stature and powerful demeanor the young man known as Noah jumped when he was addressed. "Yes." He asked sheepishly.

"Don't let it happen again."

Noah's shoulders visibly dropped. The small hole he tried so desperately to hide was already discovered, "Yes, captain."

The captain passed by Noah and went over to the young man on the ground, "Have you found anything?"

The young man on the ground, Hao, glanced up briefly before looking back down. Although he had been brought up with their captain he still couldn't look the other in the eyes. After his awakening, the captain became someone everyone unconsciously feared, even if they were friends before. Without showing his discomfort Hao spoke up, "Yes, if this map is correct then the gate should be just ahead, but..."

"What?"

Hao hesitated for a moment, "It's just..." he sighed, "Usually when one gets closer to a gate more monsters appear, but for some reason we haven't come across any."

"Maybe it's because we are not near a gate." Noah sarcastically added from behind. A quick glare from their captain had him squeaking and hiding, but it wasn't enough to deter him from speaking his mind, "Come on captain, you know that this is highly unusual. What if we aren't heading towards a gate, but are following a faulty map."