Noticing the commotion, Alex stopped what he was doing and got up. Then walking toward Ellia, a strange feeling started to swell up in his chest.
"Don't you think that was going too far?" Alex asked.
"No... if she can't kill a simple rabbit, then imagine the shock she'll feel when she kills a human." Ellia replied, gently smiling at the sleeping Aeire on her lap. "I'm simply doing her a favor."
Levi and Owen looked at each other, and noticing that they didn't want anything to do with this, they left and started warming themselves with Alex's portable heater.
"Aren't you afraid she'll hate you from now on?"
"Hate me all you want, but just thank me later." Ellia shrugged with a chuckle.
Alex gave Ellia a tired look. "Gezz, you sound like an elder now..."
Ellia didn't respond but simply smiled back at Alex.
"You know how I said this before, but..." Alex sighed as he continued. "You changed so much to the point I think you're a different person, but it isn't so easy for me to accept that..."
Listening to his words, Ellia widened her eyes in uncertainty about what to do in this situation.
"W-what do you want me to do then?" Ellia stuttered while asking.
Hearing her words, Alex smiled and opened his arms. "It doesn't have to be exact, but I want to reminisce about that past."
Staring at his opened arms, Ellia gagged on her own saliva. 'Should I sock him?' Was her first initial thought, but after thinking about it for some time, it partially made sense to her. After all, it shouldn't be so easy for Alex to accept a personality change from his only lover. 'Well, this is kinda my fault? This wouldn't be happening if I didn't die...'
"Fine..." Ellia mumbled as she scratched her chin, then opened up her arms.
Seeing such a sight, Alex covered his mouth and took a deep breath, preparing himself.
"What the hell are you waiting for?" Ellia growled, darting at Alex. "Maybe this is a bad idea..."
The moment such words entered Alex's ears, he shot up with widened eyes. "Wait...! No!" He shouted as he rushed towards Ellia, getting ready to give her the biggest hug of her life. But before he could even lay a single finger on her, Alex felt an unknown force coming from underneath and hitting him square in the chin.
"Mister Rabbit!" Aeire screamed as she erupted from Ellia's lap. Then feeling a sting on her forehead, she clutched onto it while screaming again. "Arghhh!"
Then feeling the pain lessen, Aerie opened her eyes and looked around in confusion. On the ground, she saw Alex unconscious with his face digging into the ground. Then moving her head a bit to the left, she noticed Ellia gently smiling at her. "E-ehhh? What happened here?"
"Nothing..." Ellia said as she opened up her arms for Aerie. Still confused, Aerie approached Ellia without much thought and snuggled in her arms.
"I'm proud of you…." Ellia spoke as she patted Aerie's head.
'Of what…?' Aeire thought, with the urge to ask but stayed quiet.
'She's like a kitten...' Ellia murmured as she caressed Aerie's hair.
Staring at Aerie, several thoughts started to course through Ellia's mind. She didn't know why but for some reason looking at Aerie reminded her of Ava. 'I wonder what she was like at Aerie's age...' Ellia thought with a sorrowful expression.
...
Day five.
Not much had happened during the five days that had gone by.
Mike and Issac had created temporary shelters made with compact snow. It wasn't much different from an igloo. They had even made a separate igloo for Ellia and Aerie despite them saying it was okay not to.
Although the most noteworthy thing was everyone had now a set of full clothes made from rabbit fur. Although the whole point of the training was to endure the cold, everyone decided to make themselves clothes from rabbit fur after noticing that there was no rule for making your own clothes. However, it was Alex who made most of the clothes adjustments.
Owen and Levi had been hunting almost day and night for rabbit fur. At first, they were doing it just for themselves, but when they figured they were much warmer hunting than instead of sitting down and doing nothing, hunting rabbits became a routine for them.
Because of the almost unlimited supply of rabbit meat, everyone had their fill, even Ellia and Mike, who had the biggest appetite. And Aeire's cooking skills were very much appreciated by everyone, causing much joy to Aerie. With her great deal of time, Aerie explored small amounts of the forest not too far away from camp for medical herbs and spices, but of course, not without some sort of protection. Ellia tagged along and prevented any kind of danger towards Aerie.
Morning of day six.
"Foods ready!" Aeire yelled as loud as she could, waking everyone up. Then, one by one, they crawled out of their igloos and looked around with their half-opened eyes, except Issac, who suddenly shot his eyes open and swished his head towards the west side of the forest. Of crouse, the half-asleep squad was startled by his sudden movements.
"Dude... what the hell..." Owen mumbled as he yawned, puffing a warm mist.
"What's wrong?" Ellia asked as she felt something amiss.
"There are two people coming this way..." Issac replied.
Hearing his words Ellia also widened her eyes as any sort of doziness disappeared.
"Turns out there are really other students here," Mike said, giving Ellia a meaningful gaze.
Although noticing Mike's gaze, Elia didn't pay any mind and stared towards the west of the forest. Suspicion started to form inside her head. 'I wonder... if there here for some bad intentions.'
Positioning themselves at a safe point, everyone waited for the two to show up. It was only Owen in the rear lines carelessly enjoying the soup Aeire had prepared.
After a few moments, they were all able to see two figures coming out of the dense forest. It was a man and a woman, and with a glance, it was apparent that the man was injured.
The man was pale white with a mix of red from the cold snow. He also wore the same shorts and tank top everyone got at the beginning of training. A dark red also substance seemed to be leaking through his tank top from his lower abdomen.
The woman, on the other hand, seemed better of. Although she appeared to be shivering, she seemed to have a pair of boots and gloves. Long greasy black hair that must have been roughed up during training. Pale skin that didn't seem to be from the cold snow and her hazy green eyes seemed to slowly lose their light.
The moment Aerie saw such sights, she flinched, but she took a step forwards and tried rushing towards them in aid. But Ellia quickly stopped her by placing her arm in front of Aerie.
"Their injured!" Aerie yelled as she looked up at Ellia with a stern face.
Hearing such words out of her mouth, Ellia sighed before coldly gazing down at Aerie. "So what?"
"H-huh...?" Aeire stuttered as her stern look wavered.
"What does that have to do with us?" Ellia spoke. "Right now, they're no different from enemies. Of course, you can help them if you want to, but that's only when we determine they're not a threat. What did you expect to happen if you rushed there like that?"
"She's right..." Levi spoke up, his right eye glowing. "But with that being said, you can help them if you want. They're not armed."
While listing to his words, Aerie's face brightened as she rushed toward the duo. Ellia glanced at Levi before chasing after Aerie.
When they got close enough, the woman yelled. "Please help!" She scram as she clutched onto the guy's head
"Don't worry!" Aerie reassured as she slowly approached them without much caution. On the contrary, Ellia slowly approached them while staring at them with severity in her eyes. She was prepared to pull Aerie and herself away from any danger that might suddenly show up.
Slowly lifting the cloth-covered in sticky red blood, Aerie's eyebrowed quivered as her soul wavered. But gritting her teeth, she slowly examined the wound.
"Hey, if you can't, I can do it for you," Ellia spoke as she watched Aeire struggle to look at the wound.
"N-no... I can do this by myself." Aerie spoke, then stood up. She faced the woman with a smile. "The wound is nothing too serious. It's just infected."
"T-then..."
"Don't worry." Aeire reassuringly spoke. "I can treat him, so why don't you stay?"
It took her moment, but the woman's face brightened when Aerie's words reached her. "Really? Thank you!" She expressed with a smile.
But at that moment, Ellia stepped in and interrupted. "Sorry, but that won't be happening."
"S-second lieutenant?" Aeire mumbled as she stared at Ellia with widened eyes.
"I think I'll be okay." Issac's voice suddenly sounded, causing Ellia to turn around with a frown. She didn't like the idea of letting two unknown people into their camp. From the moment she woke up in Ellia's body, she knew that even her comrades on the same side could be enemies during training.
"We can't just trust them," Ellia said with a severe face. "They're-"
"It's going to be fine second lieutenant," Issac spoke, cutting Ellia off. "As your commanding officer, I order you to stand down."
"I..." Ellia wanted to speak but didn't go any further.
Mike then came forward, picked up the man, and carried him back to camp. Ellia watched the woman follow Mike with daggering eyes. To think they were letting strangers whose names we didn't even know into camp.