Perilous

Chapter 31- Where Everything Fell Apart

As the students stepped out of the bunker and into the freshly laid snow, the shine shined much brighter than usual as it was close to setting for the day.

The arena was still in shambles on the west and north side, that would probably take a lot of work and money in order to repair. But that was the least of their worries.

"We have to find him..." Jungkook spoke up. "I don't know why I have a bad feeling, but I do."

Solbi and Jimin stepped out of the bunker, the sun shining down which immediately warmed the tone of Jimin's skin and even helped his hair stand up. "The sun...it's out..?"

Solbi stared up at it, before glancing back down. "No, Jungkook is right, something doesn't feel...okay."

Minji suddenly approached the students, still covered in drying blood and was soaked from the snow, shaking from fear, exhaustion, and from the temperature.

"Minji," Solbi ran to her side, grabbing onto her before noticing the blood, removing her hands quickly. "What happened?" she asked slowly.

Minji stared up from the ground, her eyes panning around the scenery first, the sunlight only making her body ache more. "For the first time in a long while," she exhaled, tears filling her eyes. "I don't know..." her voice and lip quivered.

Goosebumps aligned Hoseok's arms and legs, getting one of his super senses that something was happening. "Is the battle over?" he suddenly asked. "I'm sensing something."

"You are? Where from?" Chaeah asked, turning to him suddenly. Hoseok rose his arm, pointing toward the forest on the east-west end of the arena on the far left side from the entrance.

"That must be Tae..!" Jungkook worriedly perked up. "We have to find him quickly!"

"Then let's not waste any more time. Chaeah," Jisoo turned to her, noticing Chaeah quickly glancing up. "Fly ahead and see what's going on, we'll follow on the ground."

Chaeah nodded, "Jimin, come help me."

The light and the darkness shifted into their forms, with Chaeah sprouting her large black wings and Jimin beginning to float in the air with glowing hands and feet. And from there, they flew toward where Hoseok had pointed.

"The rest of us will travel on foot, come on," Jisoo told the few who were willing to go, before running in the direction of the others.

Minji attempted to follow, but Solbi held her back by tugging on her forearm. "You can't come with us. You haven't rested in hours, you need a break."

Minji at first wanted to argue, but didn't even have the energy to. The only thing she could do was frown and nod, looking down at her body covered in snow, dirt, soot, and blood. It was one hell of a day for her, and for everyone else too.

Solbi noticed the blood, "Minji...who's blood is this? Why is it all over you?"

Minji lifted an arm, loosely pointing toward the direction she came. "In the battle...one of those creatures cut off someone's head right in front of me," she explained in a hoarse voice. "It was an A-Rank student, I-I'm pretty sure. It all happened too fast..." her voice cracked as she held her head.

Solbi stood there for a moment blinking, trying to figure out what to say in order to help. But she couldn't come up with anything. Just the thought of a student dying...brought everything back again.

Minji waited for Solbi to say something else, scratching her head. "Solbi?"

Solbi's eyes lifted upward to meet Minji's.

"I think someone really died," Minji bit her lip. "Usually it doesn't faze me but it happened so quickly, y'know? Right in front of me, all over me."