"Rank. Come on. You need to get up now." Rank was awoken by a sweet voice.
"The other team leaders are waiting for you."
Rank opened his eyes to find Abby crouched beside him. They'd been pretty good friends back home. He was actually surprised to find that she hadn't picked his team to join. It actually stung a bit when he thought of it.
It didn't sting nearly as much as his torso did though. As the sat up he felt the skin on his chest and stomach burn with pain.
"Do you need help getting up?" Abby offered.
"Of course not." Rank donned his cocky smile, his bandages spotted with blood and his body severely aching.
"Here." She sighed. She brought her hand to his chest. She closed her eyes in concentration as a faint glow emitted from underneath her palm. Instantly a wave of relief washed over Rank. The pain covering his body momentarily subsided.
She removed her hand from his chest. The pain poured back. Not as much as before, but still very noticeable.
"Sorry, I've been trying for a while before waking you, but that's the best I can do." She gave him a slight smile. He suddenly noticed the bags under her eyes. He was then hit by a realization.
"You didn't have a skill like that yesterday." Rank stated quizzically.
"I didn't, but Zane really did push us to new heights. You seven aren't the only second level's around here."
So that's where she was. She had joined Zane's team. He felt relief that she hadn't just left him for one of the more popular kids. He also felt a wave of guilt wash over him. Zane had managed to push his team to be stronger. All he'd done was run his team on a wild goose chase and got himself injured.
"You said that the other leaders were waiting for me?"
"Just outside the camp. The set up a few tree stumps for seats and got Tark to make them a table from some trees Dirk felled."
"Thanks Abby, you should go rest a bit. I don't think we'll be doing any big work today."
Rank pushed Kodo off his lap. The little lizard jumped up with a start before turning to face its master. Rank grabbed the dagger and gauntlet that laid next to him. He slid the makeshift gauntlet over his hand, admiring the new leather finish Tark had clearly modified it with. He tightened it firmly around his wrist. He regarded the blade for a moment. He noticed two new notches that seemed to be designed to hold some sort of bead. He'd ask Tark about it after the meeting. Other than that the blade seemed to be sharpened, and given the same leather treatment as the glove. He sheathed it in the wooden cover Tark had made him the day before, and attached the cover to his belt. Rank got up to his feet and started to move around the people on the ground. Some were laying sound asleep, some were sitting around, idly chatting.
A bit away from him he saw his team. Yun and Myst were sitting and chatting beside a sleeping Tark. Dane was nowhere in sight.
Rank waved to them as he limped out the encampment.
He looked around, and sure enough, in the distance he saw six figures patiently sitting by a very hastily made table. As he moved over, he noticed a pain in his arm and leg muscles he hadn't before. It felt as if he'd had an intense workout and was now getting the backlash thereof. He decided to just power through the pain and figure out the source of the pain later. He already had a decent idea of what may have caused it.
As he shuffled over, he was met by Gryf's ever cheerfully mocking voice.
"Yo dude. Over here. We saved you a spot."