"It's official, we're lost!" Catherine tiredly exclaimed as she sat down on a nearby rock to rest.
Hours have passed since Laurens and the others entered the Death Forest of Hazard, and it was clear to them that everything's straying from the plan.
The forest was bigger than they had anticipated and Jace's awful sense of direction was not helping either. Laurens would have to constantly hold Jace's hand just so he won't get lost but it appears that it was a futile attempt because they were all lost in the end.
"Well, at least we're together" Rachel awkwardly reminded.
Then a sudden realization hit them.
"Where are the boys?" Asked Milliania in a verge of panic.
"Shit!"
~°~°~°~
As Rain and Daniel ventured deeper into the forest, lost and vigilant. A tickling sensation in their noses made the two sneeze. They quickly dismissed it and continued to cut the giant leaves that are blocking their way.
"I told you to hold it in" Rain broke the silence.
"And what? Pee myself in front of everyone? At least being lost won't hurt my dignity!" Daniel argued back.
"Idiot" Rain murmured to himself.
The two had gotten lost due to Daniel, who did not want to do his "business" alone in the forest. This why you should go to the bathroom before a long trip, or tell someone in your friend group where you're going before separating from them. Hopefully, the boys have learned their lesson.
As the two nipped their way through the giant leaves, they arrived in a wide glade and in the center stood a wide tree surrounded by hundreds of herbs and flowers. The tree was short, a lot shorter than it's surrounding trees. However, it glowed in green amidst the dark forest, lighting it's surrounding like a giant firefly, it was a beautiful sight to behold. Almost... magical!
"It looks beautiful, but I doubt it's safe" Rain stated as he came to a stop.
Indeed, the tree and flowers were amazing but for so many plants to grow in one spot in a forest full of dangerous, wild and hungry predators is strange. There were no foot prints inside or outside the glade either, it was suspicious.
After a couple minutes of analyzing, Rain spotted a mutated rabbit a few meters beside them. The Rabbit had soft fur surrounding it, especially on its feet. It was swift and left no foot prints behind, that explains why there were no footprints but why are the flowers inside the glade left untouched?
As the rabbit cautiously nipped a bit of the plants inside the clearing, it suddenly jumped back and started choking. It's white fur slowly turned into charcoal black as it struggled to breathe, soon enough the dark fur engulfed the creature and it melted into oblivion.
"Should we..." Daniel pointed to another direction awkwardly.
Daniel was horrified at the scene that just unfolded in front of him, if he had taken one more step, he would've bid his foot goodbye. Being lost in the forest seemed to be a much better option than turning into coal and melting like ice in heat.
"Yeah, let's go" Rain agreed as he dragged his terrified friend back into the forest.
The two boys went back and tried to find a different route. As they left the glade, Jace and Laurens could be seen from the distance across from where they were just standing.
However, unlike the other two boys, these two had no problem stepping on the deadly plants that possibly murdered more than one mutated rabbit.
In fact, Laurens even picked a few weird looking ones and stuffed it in his bag. The odd duo found themselves standing in front of the glowing tree
"Do you think I'm taking too much?" Laurens asked Jace as he keeps stuffing plants in his bag with no remorse.
"... No"
Jace stared awkwardly at the clearly full bag wondering, how in the hell is it still able to hold so many things without breaking? He almost felt kind of sorry for the bag but it's not his problem, it's his friend's problem.
The tree looks ancient and dead, as if it has been struck by lightning multiple times and burnt to a crisp, however, despite its unsightly appearance, the tree seems to exude a light neon color making its appearance similar to a majestic tree.
"This tree is... Radioactive" Jace stated while touching the tree.
Hearing Jace's statement, Laurens almost dropped everything he was holding. He stared wide eyed in front of him as he slowly backed away from his spot locking his eyes with Jace's closed ones
"Isn't that dangerous? Don't touch it!" Laurens exclaimed.
"I don't think it is, our bodies seems to be okay. Although, I should stop touching it before I get some kind of disease"
Jace removed his hand and started to inspect the tree, he was curious as to how the tree was able to glow.
"This tree..."
Laurens held a solemn look as he looked at the glowing tree, his previous anxiety seem to vanish. The brunette began to study the barks of the tree as well as it's surrounding plants. He was completely engrossed as if he was in a different world.
Jace looked at his serious friend and thought "Is this the same Laurens that I know of?" Seeing his friend in such a solemn state brought a whole different image of Laurens in his mind.
"I wonder if I can make a drug out of it"
But as expected, Laurens was still Laurens, Jace's new image of Laurens completely shattered in a matter of seconds.
"You're such a crackhead, we better get going before you make a drug that can send people to hell or something." Jace stated as he tried to pull Laurens away.
Despite his efforts, Laurens didn't budge, he was in a deep trance. The boy started walking slowly towards the tree and was mumbling unknown words that sounded strange.
Laurens sat down beside the tree and closed his eyes, Jace looked at his friend as if he was retarded. But no matter how many times he called out for him, Laurens wouldn't wake up.
Then it hit Jace, a bird literally crashed into his face and started eating his hair out. The bird was red in color and had fierce bulging eyes.
"Ow! What the hell?!" Jace exclaimed as he grabbed the bird in his hands and checked if he had any bald spots on his head.
Fortunately, he did not have a bald spot, but he did have a bird who's insistently pecking on his hand. But as Jace further observed the bird, he sensed a strange familiarity.
"This... This is the Adorma bird!"
~°~°~°~
Meanwhile...
"What should we do?" Asked Catherine.
Milliania pondered quietly before answering. "We all promised to rendezvous at the forest's left eye, so we'll probably meet each other there"
"I'll bet on Laurens that he'll find us first" Catherine proclaimed which intrigued the other two.
"How much will you bet? I'll bet three boxes of stun grenades on Rain" Rachel confidently wagered.
"I'll bet three pairs of night goggles on Daniel" Milliania also wagered.
"I'll bet three cases of alcoholic soda!" Catherine exclaimed.
"DEAL!"