Pick Your Path: Book 1

59

" I'll join Pearl." you say resolutely.

" You sure?" Ellie looks at you skeptically. Nan doesn't say anything, just glared at you.

" She already decided." Pearl growled. " Come on, let's go. There's no reason to stay in this situation." she turns to leave, motioning for you and her team to follow. You turn to follow her, trailing behind the rest of the group. Abby nudges Ben in her direction before whispering something to him and changing direction and heading towards a small den. 

She leads you to the outskirts of the camp. Ben sits in the shade of a large tree. You find a comfortable spot on the grass and undergrowth. Abby returns with a bag slung over her shoulder.

" Here." she tosses a notebook to where Pearl sat, on a small rock. 

" You didn't have to get it, Abby." Pearl mutters, catching the notebook.

" You don't have to ask for me to know that you want the notebook. You want to get started with plans for the game as soon as possible." Abby responds quickly, walking over to Ben. " So, what's the strategy?"

" You know me too well, Abby.." Pearl begins with a sigh " We all need to know each other's strong points and weaknesses. It'll help us when the other groups come in to attack."

" What do we need to do for that?" Abby asked, " We need to be ready before the game starts at sunset.."

" (Y/n), what do you think you are good at?" Pearl asked. " And also somethings you're not very good at."

" I'm not entirely sure.." you respond. You lived in a relatively quiet village where nothing really happened. You usually stayed at home or went hunting with your older siblings or family members. That was the only experience you had with dealing with fighting. " I didn't do much back at home that was related to fighting.."

" Hey, Pearl?" Abby asked, " How about we use the stone?"

" No, Abby." Pearl dismissed her idea. " The last time we did that... It didn't end well."

" Maybe it'll be different?" Abby shrugged.

" Abby, as much as I'd like to try it again, I think it's best if we don't do that." Ben backs Pearl. " It's too dangerous to try that again."

" I know.." Abby said quietly. She looked away with a hint of disappointment in her bluish grey eyes.

" Okay, why don't we try taking (Y/n) around." Pearl suggests, " Maybe something will stand out to her?"

" Sure." Ben yawned, " but, I'll be staying here. I'd probably slow you down anyway.

" Fine by me." Pearl hopped off the rock and waves for you to follow her, " I'm assuming Abby will be staying as well?" Abby nodded quietly. " Alright then. Let's go (Y/n)." she leads you away into the forest. " So, (Y/n), you said you had some experience in fighting?"

" Only just a tiny bit." you respond. " it probably won't even be enough to be considered experience."

" What did you do?"

" I hunted small game in the forest along with the occasional elk or deer." you recall the hunting trips. Your older brother always took you out to the woods. He'd show you how to set hunting traps with a simple stick, rope and a piece of stone. He showed you what berries were eatable and what could be used to attract animals. Like poppy seeds attracted a variety of birds, some of which could be eaten or be used as bait to catch even larger birds. " My older brother taught me a lot of the hunting techniques I know today. He was really the-" you abruptly stop as you catch a shadow of an animal in the corner of your vision. The rounded shadow of the from of a lion cub poked out of from behind a tree. It vanished as you abruptly turned around.

" Did you see something, (Y/n)?" Pearl stopped as well.

" Um.. No.." you lied quickly. it was probably some forest wild cat or house cat. It definitely wasn't a lion. Most don't live in the forest. On top of that, why would there be a lion cub all by itself? Shouldn't it be with its mother?

" Alright.." Pearl said skeptically. She continues her walk through the forest, casting continually back at you. She probably wanted to make sure you were following. She asked you a couple of questions about your hunting trips, but you weren't really paying attention anymore. That lion cub shadow.. You couldn't take your mind off it. It seemed really off, like something about that lion didn't feel right. You looked around, no sign of the cub or it's shadow..

You return back to Abby and Ben as the sun begins to set, as the game is about to begin. Pearl told everyone what the plan was going to be.

" I've decided that we'll be staying here for the night." she starts, " It's the best for all of us, since we shouldn't travel after dark. It gives more opportunities for the other groups to attack or ambush us."

" Pearl..?" Abby's expression showed confusion and surprise, " Are you sure you want to stay here?"

" The other groups have the exact same chances of attacking us here as if we traveled through the night." Ben added, " So it makes no difference."

" Actually, if we travel through the night, we'll get tired and be more vulnerable to attacks." pearl explained, " So I say we stay." Ben growled in frustration as Pearl refused to budge on her opinion. Abby turns her gaze to the sky, staring deep into the endless stars above. " No one is to leave here until morning." Pearl commands before leaping onto a branch that overlooked the temporary camp. " I'll keep an eye on everything for now. I'll go wake someone up later in the night." you sigh as you sit down at the base of a tree, preparing to turn in for the night. Just as you close your eyes, a flash of pale yellow fur catches your attention. A lion cub stood at the edge of the camp. His head and front part of his body were visible, the rest was hidden in the shadows of the tree it stood by. It tipped it's head to the side as you made eye contact with it's yellowish orange eyes. Something flashed a glow of red as it turned and leaped away into the dark forest. Maybe you should go after it? What happens if you get lost and can't get back to the group?

Follow the lion cub? Continue to page 84

Stay with Pearl and the others? Skip to page 83