“Man, I hate sneaking back!” Huffed Nilly, “It’s.So.Like.The.Worst.”

“It was your idea to follow Az and Carl into the Forrest grounds! You just had to see the dung beetle race! URGHH!” Raulie cried. “It’s just poop! It’s a stupid game!” She swung her arms in contempt as she trudge through the fallen foliage.

“BLASPHEMY!” Carl snapped. “How dare you even compare the Great Ferocity to a beyond basic dung beetle, you can’t even compare the two!” Carl grew ever so passionate, “The size, the muscles, the strength! These things are what the average beetle don’t have!”

“Eww.” Replied Raulie, disgusted by Carl’s passionate rant.

The group continued their walk through the secret passage on top of the grand foliage wall, the anchor vines could only swing them so far, so the rest of the journey was done by foot.

Tyle lead the way while chopping spiralled vines blocking the path, right behind him was Azekah lighting the surrounding area with Lustre. A popular gemstone designed for lighting, it was crafted by Cedar — the famous Grand Crafter and mass distributed. The stone works by absorbing sunlight inside it’s small hexagonal body, it then stores the converted energy inside the core. When squeezed, the Lustre turns from a white stone to pink and gleams a white light.

“Did you hear that Az? She said our beetle race is a joke, I ought to slap‘er for that, right!? Carl laughed to himself wickedly.

“Shut your fat gob for once Carl, thats not even funny.” Ji-ho raged. Ji-ho is usual more poetic with his words, but maybe because of his righteous personality he couldn’t bare such rudeness; especially from Carl.

*Sigh* “Don’t waste your breath…” Raulie said adamantly, “This fool has no filter, why do think he always looks beaten—?”

“—Probably because he doesn’t know any better!”

 Everyone laughed, besides carl whom was less then bemused.

For a brief moment they had no worries and walked without fear from anything or anyone.

“Good one Nia!” Said Azekah, who is usually the observant one. Carl needed to be checked so that his ego wouldn’t balloon and cause unneeded misunderstandings for the group, something thats happened on many occasions before.

“You’re supposed to be on my side Az!”

“Bitch Please.”

[THUMP]

Everyone stopped, they were in disbelief that Azekah cursed!

“What? Did he—?” Said Ji-ho.

“—Yeah I think he just did…?” Tyle stopped cutting the vines and tuned with immense speed to see Azekah’s face.

“No way. No freaking way!” Said Nia.

“He really doesn’t know anything.” Azekah raged, as if embarrassed that his childhood friend could even speak so savagely to Raulie.

Az continued walking further into the hidden route; leading the group through the dimly lit passage. Still everyone remained flummoxed; to see a side of Az that was rude was a rare sight.

“I can’t believe it.” Tyle stared in awe. “You broke Az, you actually broke him.”

“Something even Oscar couldn’t do.” Mumbles Deluna who’s usually inconceivably quiet. Everyone forgets she’s even in the group to begin with, it was rumoured that when Deluna was born, her own family forgot to bring her home.

“Thats the truth!” Ji-Ho gleamed and whistled, he could tell a new tide of expression was coming, but wasn’t sure when.

“SLOW DOWN AZ!” Bellowed Tyle as he waved his hand and motioned everyone to speed up so that they could match his speed.

The group continued at a decent pace not too quick, but not too slow. They didn’t want to get tangled by the loose rough and unmanaged vines as the deeper they walked in the passage, the thicker, rougher and thornier the vines became.

“So how did you guys find this route?” Said Nia, breaking the deafening silence and killing the anxious vibe.

“Well… It’s a long story…” Whispered Azekah, not wanting to further explain.

“—OH! I remember! Wasn’t it that time I slapped—“ Recalled Carl.

“—WE’RE ALMOST THERE!” Tyle quickly interjected. “It’s this corner and we’ll be back at base!”

“About time!” Nilly gasped as she took a deep breath.

Thank you, Az thought. He didn’t want to recall the time He, Tyle and Carl were chased by a cluster of noble henchmen all because Carl couldn’t keep his damn hands to himself. The very thought of explaining how the team leader and co-leader could cause mayhem in Larch Grove was one he would rather go without saying. Some truths are best kept to ones self, he concluded.The group approached the corner and turned left, sure enough they could see the exit. The crisp blushing pink and blue skylight pierced through the complex web of vines blocking the exit and sparkled a path to lead out. They gazed upon the route within the vines, but some parts looked a little too tight to squeeze through.

“You sure we can fit through?” Questioned Nilly looking at Carls stomach while holding her own.

“What’re you thinking, Az?” Asked Tyle with a smirk on his face, he then went through his right trouser pocket to pull out combat gloves. Azekah inspected the path, hmmm, he thought.

“Yeah, I think we might need the Dalbergia, if we get caught in the tight spots we won’t just be leaving with scar tissue!” Advised Azekah.

“Good choice!” Said Tyle, excited by the events about to occur.

“I’ll need some space, would you guys pull back!”

“Che!” What a show off, Carl thought as he moved back with everyone else, he knew what was coming and tried to look uninterested, but that soon failed.

Azekah unzipped his cameo duffle coat and reached deep inside into his hidden left pocket. With a swift flick of the wrist he pulled out a small sharp wooded stick and unwrapped the pointed edge. You could see a small white gem at the hilt of the stick. He adjusts the grip of his right hand and with the swish of his arms the once difficult vines became obliterated into tiny particles. The debris from the vines glistened emerald against the vivid sunlight as they fluttered in the air. Flabbergasted by the weapon that Azekah had secretly crafted himself, murmurs could be heard in the back.

“Beautiful.” Said Ji-Ho as he verged closer to the picturesque display of artistry. The entire group followed, within seconds they were outside of the passage and free to bask in the warmth of the sun. Nilly danced around while Deluna tried to catch and contain the glints of the emerald coloured vine residue.

“If you had that to begin with, why didn’t you use it earlier?” Said Nia to Azekah. He turned round to see her tying her laces.

“Well, it only works 7 times at best, also considering small Combustion Lustre stones are hard to acquire legally, it doesn’t help that they’re also regulated to own and are written off as failed Lustre Stones not fit for public use. It’s also can’t be helped that the wood itself, used to make the body of the Dalbergia is hard to come by, but the wood is worth it since its tough and retains its shape.”

“I get it! So you probably only use it when absolutely needed?” Nia replied, interested in his designs.

“Yeah!” Smirks Az.

“HEY, you guys also see that too right! It’s the base!” Nilly ran towards the base, Tyle seeing her run joined in.

“LAST ONE TO THE BASE DUELS OSCAR!” Tyle called out as he made a run for it to over take Nilly. Ji-Ho without hesitation bolted as soon as he heard the impending danger.

“OH HELL NO!” He raced, this was a loss no one wanted. Carl sprinted behind Ji-Ho after hearing his intention of no losing; but Carl couldn’t keep up the pace and quickly fell behind. Deluna, swiftly shot past and as for Azekah and Nia they blazed past Carl and past Ji-Ho. Nia was not too ahead of Ji-Ho, between them it was equal footing, Azekah however had reached Tyle at the front. Raulie was never a sprinter or a fast runner, but she managed to catch up and pass Carl, meanwhile Nilly was over taken by Tyle and Az battling for first and second respectively. Nilly, running out of breath was hastily over taken by Ji-Ho, then by Nia soon after by milliseconds. It was now a fight for Carl, Raulie and Nilly to not come last. The race nearing its end, the groups pushed on harder going all out.

“Hmm? I thought I heard footsteps.” Said a figure from a distance, “Whats this, a race?” The person came closer, they needed to get a better look. “Those little shits, what’re they doing coming from that direction?” I’ll give them something to run for, they thought. The person in question got up. “If they think this place is a joke, then I’ll make the next few hours of their lives hell.”