Guardians 1: Ashes

Chapter 22: Panic

Nick's POV

I stayed where they had left me and counted. When I was done, I could only look at the tree. Remembering once again. Sometimes I would think of what he would look like, if I hadn't come. Would he be dead, or still clinging to life. I walked away and looked around. With every step I took I could feel my heart beat get faster. I started to get paranoid and thought I was hearing noises behind me. Every time I turned around though, there was nothing. It could just be Cory, Rex, or even Uni playing a trick on me I thought. But why would they do that? I began to walk faster, I realised I had stopped actually looking for anyone. My breathing got faster as I turned around. It a was just like before, in a forest, I was alone, and I was the seeker. I started to wheeze, every time I tried to control my breathing, I just choked then began to cough. I sat on the ground and rubbed my temples. "Calm down, calm down, there is no one in the Forest except us, it's in a magic tree remember. But we thought we were the only ones in the Forest before." I countered my own first statement. I started to rock my self back and forth mumbling to my self still wheezing. I began to actually cry. "Uni, Rex, Cory !"I shouted. But nobody came. I started to cry more, and choked a little. My breathing wasn't getting any better. "Uni, Rex, Cory!" I shouted again.

Adam and Shelby appeared. Adam ran up to me and kneeled down beside me. I closed my eyes. "Nick calm down!" He yelled at me. That didn't help, I just started wheezing harder I tried to stop but couldn't.

"What's happening?" Shelby had asked.

"He is having a panic attack... I should have known better." Adam replied to Shelby. "Rex, Uni, Cory, Game Over! Come out quick." Adam shouted. I then heard Alex's voice.

"What happened?" She said.

"No time, just get Uni, Rex, and Cory quick!" He said.

My hole body shuddered and I realised my hole body was shaking uncontrollably, I felt someone grab my shoulders. "Calm down." Adam said. I didn't my wheezing just got worse.

I then felt a gentle had on my shoulder, I stopped shaking, I opened my eyes slowly and Uni, Rex and Cory were kneeling down in front of me. My breathing slowed but it was still pretty fast. "Y-y-you..." I began to say but choked on my words and coughed multiple times.

"It's okay Nick, we are all alive and okay Nick." Uni said.

"So stop crying." Rex added in.

The others looked at him annoyed. Cory pushed him and he fell over. I laughed at that, but then started choking again.The others smiled at me. Uni, Cory, and Rex sat there with me and waited for me to stop wheezing. Alex, Shelby, and Adam only stood there watching us. Once I finally stopped, Uni, Cory, and Rex hugged me.

"We're all, all right." Uni said with a grin.
I wiped the tears out of my face. And smiled back. We then stood up.

"We ready to go?" Cory said as if nothing happened.

"Yeah." Adam said. And we began to walk out the forest.

"Anyone feel like explaining what just happened." Shelby said breaking the silence. Everyone just looked at her awalkwardly, even Alex did,who didn't even know what had happened to us as kids.
We just continued to walk in silence.

Jin's POV

While the others had been outside, I was inside reading, though Ross was still asleep. I was investigating the fact that our mentor was dieing and he still hasn't told us. I went up to the library on the third floor. Their, I found Red looking at some orb. I glanced at it, and I saw an image of Nick, Shelby, and Cory in a hollow tree. I looked at Red.

"Why didn't you tell us?" I questioned him.

"Tell you what?" Red asked.

"Why didn't you tell us, you are dieing?" I said. There was silence for a while, then he finally spoke.

"I did not feel as if that information was needed. It would only cause stress and be a distraction for your training, like right now." he said.

"What do you mean like right now?" I said.

"Right now, you are worrying about me dieing rather then your training, thus being a distraction, and haven't you been reading about it for an hour or two, thus being stressful." Red said.

I nodded,"I see what you mean, but how much longer do you have left?" I asked.

"Enough." Red replied. I looked back at the orb and saw Nick on the ground. He didn't look so good, he was teary eyed and it looked like he was choking on something. I pointed at the orb, "What is wrong with Nick?" I said.

Red looked at it too, "I don't know..." He said slowly. Then after a minute or two, Adam and Shelby showed up in the orb. "I think he is having a panic attack." Red said.

"Is the orb showing us what is happening to them right now?" I asked.

"Yes and no, it is showing us what is happening to them, but it is delayed by a minute or two." Red concluded.

"What do we do to help them?" I asked rushed.

"Nothing, we just have to watch, you and I can't teleport like Cory and Alex, you can try to find that spot, but it is more likely you will get lost." Red said. I just grabbed a chair and watched as Alex appeared with Uni,Cory, and Rex.