Arvium [I.L.S. Beta Game #1]

21: Fighter

Aella shifted from her spot near the entrance, and glanced at the man sleeping next to her. She shook his shoulder, whispering "Wake up."

He rolled over and sat up, rubbing his eyes. His voice was low and groggy, as he nodded. "My turn?"

She nodded her head toward the entrance, the soft light of a setting sun streaming in. "No need."

His eyes opened wide as he looked outside, then looked at her, his eyebrow raised.

She chuckled. "The storm slowed down around two hours ago, and it's been clear for an hour."

He pointed at the fire, crackling in the middle of the cave.

Aella nodded. "The wood is dried out too. Besides downed trees and large puddles, everything is back to whatever normal this island has."

Gemini frowned as he looked inside the cave.

Aella nodded. "The two guys you brought with you last night left about thirty minutes ago. They wanted to search the beach for wreckage and supplies."

Gemini nodded, then pointed outside. "Looks like a twelve-hour day," he said. "If we've been on one Game day for all of these tests."

Aella thought about it. Morning for the Resource and Ocean tests, mid-morning for Merchant. We've been here for nine hours, and it's almost dark. I'm hungry too. Makes sense. She nodded. "We should wake the others and eat. The next test may be soon, or be in the morning."

He nodded. "I'm Gemini," he said, holding out his hand to her.

Aella shook it, and smiled. "Aella." She pointed across the cave to a woman with an electric blue pixie cut and shimmering silver skin. The woman was just waking up, and was rubbing her black eyes. "Who's your twin?"

He grinned, running a hand through the long hair that brushed his shoulders. "Her name is Gemina--we're twins from the 36th Sector."

The girl Aella had found in the netting woke up as well, and stretched. "Morning," she said, nodding.

Aella nodded to her as well.

"I'm Gemini," he said. "This is Aella," he pointed to his sister, "Gemina and---"

"Sigmund, if you're wondering," the other man said from the back corner of the cave. He stepped forward, and offered his hand to Aella, winking at her when she shook it. Cheeky fellow. He was her height, with a tan skin and red-orange hair that matched his golden eyes.

She nodded to him.

"I'm Maeva," the girl said, waving a hand before running it through her long scarlet hair. It contrasted well with the light coffee color of her skin.

Gemini clapped his hands together and pointed at the fire. "Since everyone is up, I suggest we get a meal going. The Fighter test could be revealed at any time."

Twenty minutes later, the others had gathered what they had collected during the shipwreck, or what they had in their storage pouches. They had put together a sort of fish stew with the fish Aella had saved from her Merchant test, and the vegetables the others had in their pouches from the Resource tests.

Gemini held up a glittering silver sword, a grin on his face.

"Where on earth did you get that?" Gemina protested, reaching across to take it from him.

He held it away from her and wagged a finger in her face. "Found it floating in the wreckage," he said.

"That's nothing," Gemina retorted. "I've got something even better."