The Other Side/Rise Of The Crow

Actions have consequences and now Kira is lecturing me at our room in the Sports District Inn.

"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?" Kira shouts at me as I've never seen her this ticked off before.​​

"Seriously, I thought you were going to die back there! What the hell were you thinking!" Mari asks as she grabs my shoulders.

"You're an idiot, not even Kira or Elyon could save you from the wrath of the empire." Layla insults me her voice full of apathy.

"Crow, why would you do that to yourself?" Sachi asks as she looks really confused.

"I gotta admit, I didn't really want to kneel either but that was pretty dumb bro!" Jack points out.

"Damn, even you Jack? OWWW!" I ask as Mari slaps me.

"Duh! Even this numskull knows that would've been a death sentence for him!" Mari shouts as Kira lets out a huge sigh.

"You better consider yourself lucky! The King is in a good mood and he's very good friends with Master Elyon. Now the spotlight is going to be on you and that girl. If you wanted to get everyone's attention then you've done an excellent job. What do you have to say for yourself Crow?" Kira lectures as I can tell she is furious with me.

"While I regret causing this much trouble, I don't apologize for what I said! The land is going to crap and while all of us have to deal with its issues he's probably concerned about what he's going to be eating for dinner! Our mother Adora asked us to try to save this land from the Colossi but really we should also be saving it from the people who are in power! I can't ignore his complacency while people are suffering!" I reply as Kira gets really close to me.

"I thought I've taught you to be smarter than that Crow. As your guardian, I'm really concerned about what may happen to you in the future. You have to realize that you can't be reckless anymore, you're about to graduate and I won't be there to bail any of you out! The second you turn 16 the world views you as an adult! You also have to realize that your lives are important! Our people are praying that all of you can save us one day! You won't be able to save a damn thing if you continue to go down this reckless path!" Kira yells as everyone gets really quiet.

"And there it is! I have a question for you Kira? Do you care about us just because we're the Chosen Children and you think we can save this land or do you actually care about us for who we are? Well?" I ask my voice full of quiet anger.

"Crow, how dare you ask me if I care about you all! Of course I do! Do you realize how much I've had to sacrifice for all of you, I wouldn't have done a single thing if I didn't love you all!" Kira snaps back as she starts tearing up.

"Is that really true? The last I checked all of us didn't ask for Adora's prophecies and Colossi and all of the other crap in between! We all died and inherited this world's issues before we could process anything! I know you gave us the option to back out but let's be real, you all guilt-tripped us!" I yell as Kira starts sobbing.

"Wow, so that's how it is… Fine, you figure out the rest of this all on your own Crow! Clearly, I've failed as an instructor and a guardian!" Kira shouts as she stomps out of the room and slams the door.

There's a huge awkward silence and everyone tries to avoid eye contact with each other.

"That was rough… " Jack comments.

"Crow, that wasn't right and you know it." Mari points out.

"Kira has had our back since the day we've gotten here. She's never asked for anything in return, you might want to reconsider everything you just said." Sachi suggests as I am starting to feel bad.

"Kira saved me Crow. I would be dead right now if it wasn't for her. She looks out for all of us even though it makes her life so much harder! You just disrespected one of the only people that actually care about us in this god-forsaken land. I hope you're happy." Layla calls me out as she shrugs.

"Enough, they had a disagreement. It's between those two don't get in the middle of it. Crow knows what he said was wrong, let's have faith in him to figure it out on his own. After all, we're all about to be adults right?" Jack adds in as it causes and awkward silence.

"Come on, they're waiting for us at the forest." I command as we all leave the inn.

We all arrive at a huge stone gate blocking off the forest. On the gate, there are many signs that say, "KEEP OUT, COLOSSI ZONE." All 150 of the contestants are here as well as the instructors and headmasters from the other schools. At the very front of the gate, the King is standing there surrounded by his knights. As I glance over I can see Kira on the side who is purposely avoiding eye contact with me. Crap, I really messed up.

The forest itself just gives me bad vibes. All of the trees are jet black and some of the flowers are purple. Already I can hear all types of wildlife inside there that's really loud. I hope my training will be enough for this place.

"Welcome to Forest of Vedora! Over the years it's gained the nickname the forest of no return because of its aggressive wildlife, unforgiving humidity, and many other things that our good friend Vedora left for us!" King Tolivert jokes as no one seems receptive to it.

"While this might seem a little intense for warriors this young, keep in mind that soldiers in the imperial army and members of elite guilds also train here as a rite of passage." Master Elyon adds in.

"In other words, eventually most of you will have to deal with this place one way or another. Now, please hand out the flags for our contestants!" King Tolivert commands as all of the instructors start giving us different colored flags.

"Here!" Kira says concisely as throws the flag at me.

"Yikes, she's still pretty ticked." Jack comments.

"Yeah, I deserve it… Here Layla, you hold it for us." I admit as I observed the flag and notice that it has our Academies symbol on it.

"Personal problems aside, what should our strategy be once we get in there? We not only have to worry about Colossi but also about other parties attacking us." Layla asks as Sachi's eyes light up.

"Without knowing the layout of the forest we're pretty much going in here blind. The best thing to do first is to find suitable shelter and then search around the forest so I can make us a map." Sachi plans out.

"After that, we gotta thrash two other teams, right? Sounds fun!" Jack replies his voice full of excitement.

"We gotta be careful about that too! With this many people going into the forest any and everything could happen. It would be wise for us to choose our battles wisely!" Sachi recommends as we all nod our heads.

"As usual you're quick as a whip Sachi! We'll follow your lead since a certain half-blood seems to be more reckless lately!" Mari yells as she's clearly talking about me.

"Save it, we gotta get through this round first!" I reply as I start preparing my equipment.

10 minutes pass by and King Tolivert is about to open the gate into the forest.

"This is it! I hope all of you are ready! Three days and three flags by the end! Good luck to you all, may Adora keep you alive! Now go!" King Tolivert shouts as the gate busts open and we all sprint into the forest.

Different parties start sprinting in multiple directions as we all run straight forward.

"Is this really a good idea to run straight ahead? We might get ambushed by some teams!" Layla yells as we continue to dash at blinding speeds.

"She's right! The middle of the forest is bound to have more wildlife and Colossi! We should probably try to find a source of water and then see if there's a more hidden area here!" Sachi agrees as I can sense another party behind us.

"Yeah, I already feel another team is tailing us! Let's change directions!" I command.

"Okay, but which way–" Layla asks as I notice a griffin is swooping down towards her ready to attack.

"LAYLA BEHIND YOU!" I warn as it may be too late.

"Bracadier Art: Twin Axe Throw!" Jack yells as he throws his axes at the griffin cutting its head off.

"Good looking out you two! I was too focused on running I forgot to look up!" Layla compliments.

"There's more!" Mari calls out as two giant snakes try to strike at us.

"Watch out!" Sachi shouts as we all barely manage to dodge their attacks.

"Okay, we need shelter immediately! There are way too many of them right now!" I advise as more Colossi are popping up all around us.

"Right over there! I think I see a cave!" Jack points as there is a large cave to the left of us.

"Perfect, everyone run with everything you've got!" Layla commands as all of us unleash our Taqa to increase our speed.

"We can't let anyone see where we're going! Especially those Colossi!" Sachi warns us.

"No problem! Everyone cover their eyes! Mardian Art: Heavenly Flare!" Mari shouts as she shots a blinding flare into the air that stuns all of the Colossi that were going after us.

"Good thinking Mari, now let's get in there!" I compliment as we rush into the cave.

About 20 minutes pass and no enemies have been near us ever since we hid in here.

"Whew, that was intense." Sachi sighs as she does lookout while we pull out our camping equipment.

"You can say that again, this is going to be a lot harder than I originally thought." Layla replies as she sets up the cooking pot.

"We at least checked off our first objective, find some shelter." Mari points out as she smiles lightly.

"Very true. Hey Jack! Come with me outside so we can cut these trees up for some firewood!" Layla commands as she walks outside of the cave.

"Coming! Just give me a sec!" Jack replies as he's setting up his fur sleeping bag.

"Hey, babe?" Mari asks as she approaches me.

"What's up?" I ask as helps me set up our sleep bags.

"Are you doing okay? You've seemed really stressed lately. It's almost like you're angry about something." Mari asks her voice full of concern.

"What do you mean? I'm fine!" I lie as I really don't want her to worry about me.

"Crow, I hear you talk in your sleep. Hell, it keeps me awake some nights. You keep yelling about your parents, you've actually have been doing that since our guild study with The Crimson Blades. I'm really starting to get worried about you now! Is that maybe why you took your anger out on Kira?" Mari admits as she leans onto my chest.

"It's really complicated Mari… I–"

"Layla! What's wrong!" Sachi yells as she runs out of the cave and straight to the tree that Layla was cutting.

Layla has fallen onto the ground as she's foaming from her mouth.

"Damnit, she's having a seizure!" Jack yells his voice full of concern.

"Mari check her body!" I command as we all lean over her.

"Oh no… Look at her left wrist! She must've gotten poisoned by this tree! I've read about it in our textbooks, it's a Deathbane Tree!" Mari points out as I can see a cut on Layla's wrist.

"Mari please tell me you have a way to stop it!" Jack yells his voice full of panic.

"I have an antidote but I need to stop her seizure first so I can give it to her! Jack, Crow pick her up together! Sachi, use me and crow's sleeping bags so she'll have a soft area to rest her head. We can't waste a single second she could very well die if I'm not fast enough!" Mari commands as I can tell she's just as worried.

"Got it!" We all reply as Jack and I pick up Layla carefully.

Come on Layla, stay with us!