Why Us?

Chapter Twelve: The Jungle

Lia's P.O.V.

We ran through the forest until we were completely exhausted. I put my hands on my knees, breathing heavily. My eyesight was blurry from the sprint.

"I thought you said*deep breath* that the-the *deep breath* portal was nearby!" I exclaimed to the best I could. Viatrix, who looked perfectly fine with running for that long, was simply rubbing dirt off of her turquoise gloves.

"It is. It's about twenty more kilometres away. That's like a simple jog for us elves." she stated. The rest of us collapsed on to the ground, heaving and coughing, our lungs grasping for air.

"We are humans! Viatrix, you can't expect humans to run that far!" Sapphire exclaimed, scooting closer to Amber and farther away from Theo. He frowned but didn't do anything more. Both Amber and I sent each other a questioning glance but she waved us off, saying that she would tell us later. 

"We camp here then" Viatrix said, breaking our silent conversation. Amber sighed in relief and stood up, walking towards the forest. Daniel scrambled upwards and held on to her wrist.

"Where are you going?" he questioned. She giggled slightly and removed her wrist from his grasp.

"I'm just collecting some firewood and maybe go hunting for some actual food. You want to join, Lia? Sapphire?" she said. I ran to join my friend and together we walked into the forest, arm in arm. Once we were a fair distance away, we collected the dry sticks and logs.

"Talk!" Both Amber and I said at the same time. Then it was a game of jinx until we realized that there was no sodas around. We stared at Sapphire who had an arm full of wood.

"Fine..." she answered after a minute of awkward staring. The two of us high five before waiting for her answer. "Well let's go back when we started going towards the portal. Thoe came up to me saying he wanted to talk."

"Oooh!" both of us chorused teasingly. She gave a us a playful glare, sticking out her tongue before continuing. "He said that he liked me..." she paused. I waved my hand, begging her to continue the tale.

"And... well, I kind of just ran off?" she said, scratching the back of her neck nervously. Amber face palmed multiple times while I rubbed my head in confusion. 

"Why?" Amber questioned. 

"You know why... Jason..." Sapphire said, guiltily. Amber's face turned into one into complete horror. She ran her tiny fingers through her hair and put her hands on to her face, shaking it repeatedly. I looked at my friends, baffled at their actions.

"What, what?" I stuttered out.

"You know how Jason got beat up? And you went to find us?" Sapphire asked me slowly. I nodded my head, still puzzled on what they were acting up about. 

"It was them..." Sapphire whispered.

"Who?"

"It was the twins..." she clarified. I felt like a ton of bricks hit me. They were the ones that beat my friend until he was in critical condition. They were the reasons my friends and I were stuck here. They were the reasons we were in this game like universe. And they were the reasons we almost died.

"Why were you two being so nice!? Why did they that!? Why are they so nice but willing to beat a man to death!? Why!?" I exclaimed, questions pouring out of mouth. Amber hunched down even more, showing that the guilt was like weights on her back.

"They-they saved my l-life... Maybe they were-were forced to do it! Yeah, that's it!" Amber said, suddenly straightening up. She picked herself off of the ground, trying to believe the unlikely idea. She shakily made her way back to camp, explaining that they were surely going to worry. The boys expressed there worries but we simply explained it was 'girl talk'. 

"I'm tired... Goodnight..." Amber said, laying down near the fire. Sapphire and I agreed with her statement and laid down next to her. I closed my eyes, thinking about how my parents are reacting and how Jason was fairing.

Morning Time skip 

I woke up with all of my muscles cramped and stiff. Pops and cracks were heard throughout my body, making me sigh in relief. I sat up to see almost everyone awakening. The fire was just glowing hot embers, glowing slightly with black soot and white ashes around the dying flames. 

"We should have left earlier but let us start moving." a soft voice said. I turned to see Viatrix leaning on a great oak tree, looking at the sharpness of her small blade. I looked to see both of my other friends still sleeping soundly. I didn't know how I woke up before them because were (and still are) all night owls, not the ones who woke up early.

"Wake up!" I shouted into Amber's ear. Not the best idea I've had because she shot up  and punched me in the gut while kicking her legs wildly, awakening Sapphire in the process.

"Ugh!" I groaned, hunching over in the process. Sapphire, who got kick in the back was rubbing the bruised spot. Amber look at her surroundings to see that her two friends were in pain. I should have known better than to wake her up. The twins and the elven princess were on the side, snickering and giggling at the scene that played before them.

"Let's go!" Amber said, helping us up. She hummed and skipped ahead, saying that she was in a good mood. We slowly trudged behind her, not wanting to upset our injuries any more. Sadly I was left alone when Theo approached Sapphire. She took off like her hair was on fire, leaving him and I in the dust. He sighed and went to walk beside his brother.

Eventually we reached our stop. Shinning in the sunlight was a beautiful royal blue portal. The stone portal was covered in green vines and beautiful white and purple flowers. We stepped through the blue entrance to see rocks and and vines. We whipped around to see several different woman pointing spears, arrows, and swords at us. We immediately sheathed our weapons. 

A tall woman, about two years older than us I'm guessing, jumped from the group, sword pointed at the boys specifically. Her skin was a golden brown and her arms were dotted with freckles. Blue paint decorated her body in swirling designs. She wore brown leather pants and a sleeveless brown suede top. She had a ebony black belt strung around her waist that carried various sharp silver blades. 

"Who are you?" she questioned, pointing her blade at Theo's throat. She squinted her pale green eyes at us, scanning the group. When her eyes landed on Sapphire, her gaze soften and her grip on her sword loosened. Her raven hair was gently laid on her shoulders and went down her back to her waist.

"Who are you?" Amber immediately shot back.

"We are the Nozamas. Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Sorry for not posting in ten days. First I had writers block then I was watching the Summer Olympics. Go team Canada!