The tunnel was dark but not dark enough to hinder the team from continuing to go inside. A tunnel made of earth caved around them; its surface was embedded with roots from the trees outside. The dark passage was soon left as they reached the end of the tunnel. Looking at the bright light in front of them, Ivan, Maeje, Matt, Noel, Belle, Alex, and Kent were enraptured by the spectacular wonders of the forest.
Trees of all sizes stood tall on their ground as different species of animals elicited happiness. The animals hopped, flew, crawled, and did everything around their habitat with joy.
"Wow!" amazed Ivan, looking at the wonder in front of him. "This is where I came from, beautiful, isn't it?" Noel said.
The whole team was speechless, still gazing at the forest. They smelt the air like a scrumptious dinner in front of them, ready to be eaten. The cold breeze kissed their skin as it soothed every cell of their bodies. The vast turquoise sky shone brightly at the green scenery below it, where the sun's rays barricaded by the trees, leaving a comfortable shadow beside its gigantic trunks. The earth was so fertile that it grew plants they hadn't seen before. Even in the marshland, there was no presence of them. Unlike the marsh, the environment doesn't seem very humid.
"The animals here are very -- common," Belle said.
"We can all find them in our books and even on the internet," Kent added.
"Don't be relaxed. We thought so in the past. That's why we paid for it," said Noel, whose tone was touched with a bit of sadness.
They looked at him, pitied him, and were proud of his achievements and help. If it wasn't for him, they would have all suffered and died, locked inside the queen bee's dungeon until they died.
Matt patted his shoulder, "let's roam the area now." He tried to distance Noel's thoughts by changing the topic.
Noel smiled and gladly transformed into his black panther form. His hands turned into claws along with his feet. His eyes turned into a feline's, enhancing his vision more than a regular human's.
"I'll scout the area first," said Noel.
Kent said they should first transform into their human form when they first entered the tunnel. In this way, they won't attract that much attention from the creatures in the forest after they reach the end of the tunnel.
"I'll go with you," added Kent as the mayor of the class soon transformed into a golden queen and flew into the sky with ease.
"Stay here," Kent said before she flew, scouting the perimeters for possible attacks.
"Let's take a shade from there," Belle pointed to a massive tree with vines dancing from its branches, and they all went to it.
The team sat under the tree on its massive roots. The roots could serve as a chair that let them sit for a while, waiting for the others to arrive. They circled and decided to share thoughts with one another.
"Do you think our families are still alive today?" Belle asked.
Everyone looked at her. Not that shocked but also not ready for a sudden entrance of a topic related to their past.
"To be honest, I don't really have so much from our world. I treated it as an experience that wasn't so good. Therefore, forgotten," Ivan shared.
"Did you treat your family a "not so good" experience, bro?" Matt asked.
"Well, there are some exceptions, but besides all of you, my family, friends, I don't really have so much to treasure. I don't really have a purpose in the past, or maybe I do. I just don't know it. And I don't want to know it. The world's too fast, and it has been forgotten that some people aren't accustomed to that pace. That's why they suffer the most." Ivan continued.
They all just looked at him and also thought of their experiences.
"I have sisters to come back to. If that world does not exist anymore, then –" Belle sobbed. Her eyes were filled with tears. "Not a time when I thought I existed there, but I still have to for my sisters and family. College should be the turning point for me. That would be my key to set foot in a world to earn money, not minding how cruel it can be," Belle continued.
Alex patted Belle's back after moving toward her, giving her all the possible comfort he could muster as she also cared for his classmates.
"I don't know what I think of the past world," Matt suddenly spoke. "The world was cruel but also kind. I know I'm sure of that." He continued.
They all listened.
"That's why I'm still confused about how I should think my thoughts would be. I don't want to stay here, but I also don't want to return. However, this world enabled us to do things we hadn't done before. As a class, I can see how things between all of us have changed since we went here. The bond between us has never been this strong, and I love this world for it." Matt continued.
"That's true," agreed Belle.
They all smiled.
"Maybe what we should think now is to set our thoughts onto the things that raise our survival more. This world isn't very fond of leisure," Maeje joked but also told them the truth.
They chuckled, "That? True!"
Alex sighed, looking at the tree that covered the sky above them, "I just hope we continue to survive and stay in this world peacefully, away from threats and monsters ready to devour us. After this, we should try to find some answers about the mysterious poisoning of our classroom and hope to come back."
"That's right." They all said together.
The students continue to talk with each other, waiting for the others to come back. They heard a sudden rush of leaves as Noel and Kent both arrived at the same time, gasping for air as they caught their breath.
"What happened?" Asked Alex, who immediately stood after both of them arrived.
"Fire." Noel and Kent both answered at the same time.
"What fire?" Ivan asked. His eyes were bulging, and his face expressed so much confusion.
"In the forest. There's a fire." Kent said, still catching her breath.
"I'm not sure about this, but the grass wasn't even that dry to start a natural wildfire. This must have been a work of a party we still, I haven't known for," worried Noel.
Without hesitation, both Alex and Belle transformed at the same time, running toward the fire that Kent and Noel talked about. Belle used her webs to sway her body from tree to tree, like dancing.
The others looked at the two, who responded instantly.
"Then I guess that means we should help extinguish it," Ivan said. After that, they all ran toward where the fire was and helped extinguish it.
The heat pierced the skin as they went nearer. The animals panicked as they backed away from the scorching flames, tearing down the ravishing forest with its hostile embers.
"We need water!" shouted Kent. Her hands were on her face as she sheltered herself from the piercing heat.
"I think I know where the river is!" shouted Noel.
"Carry me with you!" Alex shouted.
"Uggh!" Belle exclaimed as she tried to help a deer from a falling burning branch. She successfully carried it away from the fire. Belle immediately came back from where Kent and the others were and looked for possible creatures who were still fleeing from the burning forest.
"This is getting dangerous. The trees are burning and falling!" worried Belle.
"We can't do anything. There aren't any firemen here, even hoses," Kent shouted.
Suddenly, a loud trembling sound echoed in the forest as the earth seemed to move on its own.
"It's Alex!" shouted Matt, who immediately ran towards her. Everyone followed him and went directly to the human monster who could command the earth at will.
Alex pushed the earth, creating a passageway for the water to go through.
"Belle, can you create a huge cloth?" Kent asked.
Belle looked at her, "I can, but it will take me some time."
"Do it now," Kent replied.
Belle moved her limbs and started to sew. The web from her body began to form into a giant cloth where they dampened it in the water and covered the burning grass and trees with it. Belle made enough for everyone and started to scatter and extinguish the fire in the forest.
Maeje coughed as she inhaled some smoke from the fire, but she never gave up, for the forest must be saved from the blazing disaster. Unlike the others who can transform, regular humans have a hard time due to their limited abilities.
"Look for places that could likely be burned next and damp it with these cloths," Kent commanded.
They all did it until the water soon covered the part of the forest that was burning, turning the ground into a swamp.
The burning forest soon gave up as the waters from the river soothed the ground with its coldness and wetness. They all looked around for possible sparks that could start another fire, and they weren't left.
The team immediately sat as their strengths left them, leaving a wholly exhausted body.
"That was close," Ivan said. His face was full of dirt, and his clothes carried dark ashes from the earlier fire.
They looked at him and laughed, "What?" Ivan asked them.
They continued to laugh, "Nothing, you look really dirty." Belle said, who was also exhausted from making cloth out of her web.
"Dirty is an understatement." Maeje joked.
"Oh really?!" Ivan exclaimed as he threw black ashes at Maeje's face, where Maeje successfully defended herself from it. But not his clothes.
They all laughed as they dirtied themselves with the ashes from the fire, pretending that it did not happen, the fire that could have also ended the lives of the creatures who lived in the forest instantly.