"Zayn?"
"Yeah?"
"Shouldn't we be heading back?"
I stroked my chin, trying to guess how much time had passed.
I looked at the baskets I'd asked Annabeth to weave for us before leaving. We had fruits and leaves.
It seemed like enough for the night.
I stopped in my tracks after suddenly spotting a cave.
"Amanda?"
"Hmmm?"
"Let's explore that cave before we head back."
I suggested it.
"Are you sure about that?"
"If anything happens, I'll protect you. Don't worry."
I gave her a thumbs-up and smiled reassuringly.
We headed toward the cave.
It was surrounded by plants that looked edible.
"Ohhh."
Amanda immediately rushed toward them and began picking them.
Guess she had the same thoughts.
The cave had beautiful crystals popping out all over the place, illuminating it.
There was a familiar feeling in the air.
The crystals' colors transitioned from white to purple, to blue, to black depending on the angle you looked at them.
After Amanda was done, she called out to me, and we started heading back to camp.
"Isn't it kind of weird?"
She walked ahead of me with her basket in hand.
"Hmm?"
I trailed closely beside her, wondering what could be bothering her.
"We are in a forest, right? Not an animal in sight."
"Maybe the inhabitants of this realm hunted them down."
I thought it was weird too, but I couldn't come up with an explanation.
"Every last one? Even birds?"
She had a point, but analysis wasn't my strongest feat.
So I shrugged.
"Cavemen?"
She stared at me before laughing, and I had to admit she had a cute laugh.
Her long dark brown hair flowed with the wind, making her look even more beautiful.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang in the distance.
"What was that?"
Amanda suddenly panicked.
"It must be Hunter's signal. They must've been late, and they thought we got lost."
"Oh, I see. Let's hurry up then."
And with that, we picked up the pace.
...
After what seemed like forever, Zayn and Amanda finally made it back.
"Oi, why'd you take so long? Had all of us worrying."
Cody playfully smacked Zayn's head.
"Are you okay?"
The girls surrounded Amanda.
"I knew it was too dangerous to let you go with him."
Annabeth scowled at Zayn.
"I'm strong enough to protect her. Stop overreacting."
"Alright, everyone. Let's whip up something to eat."
Katara announced.
We didn't have much to work with.
There were no metal pots or proper cooking utensils out here, so Annabeth had improvised. She shaped a large wooden bowl from a fallen tree, while we used heated stones to warm the water and cook the ingredients.
It wasn't exactly the most convenient way to prepare a meal, but after spending years living in Elton, we were used to making do with whatever we had.
We all sat by the fire, watching the wooden bowl of 'whatever' come together.
In Zayn's and Amanda's basket were some vegetables and a few fruits.
Iris suggested some kind of soup to fill everyone up.
But looking at this wooden bowl now, it was definitely a terrible idea.
We should've just eaten everything raw.
Tyra kept stirring the soup like it'd just magically become appetizing.
"Maybe it tastes good?"
Tyra said in a hopeless voice.
When she decided it was done, she dished it into wooden bowls and handed one to each of us.
We kept glancing at each other, waiting for a sacrificial lamb.
After what seemed like forever, Amanda suddenly gulped hers down.
Gasps filled the circle.
I didn't expect her to do it.
We all stared, waiting for some signal.
Her eyes squeezed shut, and she twitched after swallowing.
Then she smacked her lips before widening her eyes.
"Seconds, please."
Amanda smiled and handed her bowl to Tyra for another round.
"S...sure?"
Tyra asked, probably concerned for her health.
She just nodded.
The rest of us were still very unconvinced.
Until...
She gulped down the second bowl and extended it for a third with a cheerful expression.
Now there was nothing more convincing than that.
We all nodded at each other.
Simultaneously, we began gulping down the contents.
Halfway through, we all gagged.
The malicious liquid had warned us with its color, but we chose to be brave.
We were all coughing and doing our best not to throw up...
Including Amanda.
"You sacrificed yourself just to bring us down with you."
Cody mumbled while covering his mouth to hold back what his body was trying to reject.
"Talk about determination."
I said, glancing at her.
She broke into laughter, falling onto the ground.
We didn't have a choice.
There were no animals, so we gulped down what we could in order to satiate our hunger.
...
Now the day was close to an end.
The sky began to reveal a few stars as the clouds rolled back.
We laid around, doing random things and discussing the most random stuff.
Someone brought up the idea of dinner.
The memory rushed back into our heads.
"Ughh..."
We muttered collectively.
"Annabeth, why can't you just manipulate the trees to bear fruits or something?"
Zayn asked.
"I can't. It's almost like asking Cody to create a dimension of his own. It's just a little too advanced for me."
The idea of using our abilities for every inconvenience was not really incorporated into us by Master.
Instead, he had taught us not to always depend on them.
This enabled us to see meaning in life, and besides, living in Elton taught us that much.
So we'd still very much do manual labor even if we had an easier way out...
Sometimes instinctively.
"Damn... Guess we're sleeping hungry, 'cause I want nothing to do with that soup."
"You don't get to complain. Where'd you even get those ingredients from?"
Jace was right.
Sending Zayn was a mistake.
"Got some from trees and caves. Fruits were very rare, so we had to go with the plants we found..."
"Don't blame me."
"No fishes too. How disappointing."
Amanda added.
"We have to leave tomorrow. Staying here is like signing a death warrant."
Cody stated, and he wasn't wrong.