The Maze of Trees(OLD)

Chapter 5

No one has died... yet. Apparently, according to Flo, Flower said we can call her that, we were around the middle of the forest. Surprisingly nothing has jumped at us yet, but we've heard screams far and near. Whenever they were near, we would stop and listen for anything else. Whenever they were far... we would just hope it didn't move towards us.
    "You know, the forest isn't that big. That's why they always are able to fool parents by making them think that they just sent their kids to a normal camp." Flo said.
    "What if they die?" Emily asked.
    "They send them a note saying that they ran away, escaping out of 'camp' and going really far away."
    "How gullible." I mumbled.
    "I wonder what my da-"
Bendis was cut off as a twig snapped right ahead of us. We tensed, gripping our hand made weapons tighter. Emily had a slingshot made out of two sticks and a piece of rope we found, since she was apparently good at aiming. Darian was our 'healer' of the group, since thanks to all his fancy and rich classes, he knew what herbs and plants were could for healing(although Flo complained that she was as good as that too). Bendis had a long stick with a huge pointy rock tied on, meant to be a spear. I had Flo, who apparently had some tricks up her petals, but she hadn't used them yet. So, instead of Flo's power, I had the same thing as Emily, since I was pretty sure I'd be terrible at close combat. Everyone took up positions facing a direction, so we wouldn't be as unguarded.
    A twig snapped again, this time followed by the sound of leaves and plants being moved aside, as though something were charging. Emily, who was facing that direction, readied a stone and pulled it back, bringing it up to her face to aim. A blur crashed through the bushes, running and bringing up a sword, ready to impale Emily, but stopped when the sword was inches from her face.
    "Emily?" A voice rasped, sounding vaguely familiar.
I tensed my slingshot at a noise from a bush on my right, ready to fire. The figure dropped the sword, and it seemed to vanish as he rushed forward... and hugged Emily? Emily stood in shock, wondering what to do. Soon other figures stepped out of the bushes, lowering sticks and twigs that must've tried to be weapons. It was another group?
    "How in the bloody hell did you get a sword?" Emily yelled at the stranger. "And who are you?"
    "Don't you recognize me?" The stranger gasped, sounding hurt as his face seemed to redden beneath the dirt and grime. He turned to me. "Asco, it's me! Trevor?"
    "Trevor?" I whispered, peering closer into his face. His face was covered in dirt as he looked pleadingly at me. I reached a hand and up and wiped away some of the dirt away from their eyes, revealing green orbs from underneath his black hair.
I started laughing and pulled him into a hug, patting him on the back. Then I pulled back and punched him playfully on the arm.
    "Your crush is right. Where in the hell did you get a sword?"
    "Dude!" Trevor hissed, blushing as he wiped away more dirt from his face. "I'm my groups Guide Keeper." He pointed at his shoulder, where a lion tattoo prowled around on his skin like an actual creature, showing up from around the straps on the tank top Trevor wore.
I lifted my hand with Flo up to my face.
    "Can we get a sword?" I asked her.
    "No." She replied, causing the rest of my team to groan.
    "Is the title Guide Keeper real or did you make it up?" Darian asked, obviously trying to understand what was happening.
    "I made it up, but doesn't it sound cool?" Trevor responded, smirking as his lion friend roared in agreement.
I chuckled and nodded before turning to the other people, seeing they wanted to say something.
    "You know boss?" One jock gasped, his brown eyes widening like the others, all of them watching me in respect and awe.
    "Boss?" I scoffed, giving Trevor a sly grin. "Just how much did you pay them?"
    "Oh shut it." Trevor replied, his smirk widening and his chest puffing with pride. "These guys call me boss because I have the guide. And Leo knows everything and taught us how to make weapons!"
    "Weapons?" Darian scoffed, casting an amused look at the twigs the huge jocks carried. "They could do more damage with their fists!"
    "Don't insult our boss pipsqueak." a jock growled, taking a threatening step towards Darian.
His face paled as he took a step backwards, bumping into Bendis while trying to get away.
    "It's ok Cayden, if he's part of Asco's team, he's fine." Trevor said, stepping to stand beside the jock.
Bendis and I exchanged a glance. My team? We never pronounced a leader, but we let Bendis lead the most, since he hunted normally. Neither of us said anything. Cayden mumbled a sorry before backing away and giving Darian an almost apologetic smile, except for the fact that his eyes still seemed like ice. Darian let out a nervous laugh before backing up to stand behind Emily(they became friends quickly) because she had a weapon.
    "Hey Asco, wanna truce?" Trevor asked, seeming to not see the tension between Cayden and Darian.
I shrugged and turned to Bendis.
    "Sure. It'd be great to have allies in here." Bendis responded.
Trevor raised a brow when I let Bendis talk, but seemed to mostly ignore it.
    "Which direction were you guys going?" Cayden asked.
    "North. You?" Emily responded.
    "Same direction." Trevor cut in.