The jungle echoed with a loud scream.
"Good, now do it again but without making a sound; you need to be quiet when attacking someone."
Robin tells Richard. Richard nods and goes again to climb the tree. Robin was looking at Richard when Emma appears from back and asks sarcastically,
"So, how exactly does jumping from one tree to another help with his growth?"
Robin looks at Emma with an irritated look and turns his face without saying anything.
Richard took a jump from a tree branch to another. In the middle of air, his looks changed. He looked more tense and more confused. In this confusion he missed his timing and fell off the tree. Everybody came running to him.
"Are you fine?"
Emma shouted.
Richard looked up and, in a confusion, said,
"Did you-hear it?"
Robin and Emma looked at him with confusion and spoke,
"Heard what?"
Richard looked at them and stood up saying,
"The voice- didn't you hear it?"
They both look at each other in surprise and Emma spoke,
"Enough training for you, take some rest."
Richard defended,
"But I-I-"
"Off the ground. Now!"
Emma spoke, aggressively cutting Richard.
Richard looked down in disappointment and went away.
Robin looked at Emma and asked,
"What could it be?"
Emma looked at Robin with same aggressive face. Robin understood the look and left saying,
"Calm down dude, I-I get it, I'll leave."
Emma looked at sky and while taking a deep breath of relief she shouted,
"Now be ready, we will be leaving for the wall in an hour; it's already getting dark, wake the kid up, his family is waiting for him."
the goes by and everyone was getting ready for a fight when Emma noticed Richard was sitting alone, staring at empty jungle. She slowly walked towards him and spoke,
"Crazy!"
Richard heard it and turned back. In confusion he asked,
"What?"
Emma sat down beside Richard and looking at the jungle, she said,
"This is what they call to a person who stares at empty space for no reason like a brainless body."
Richard heard Emma and with an innocent and disappointed voice he said,
"oh"
Emma nodded and added,
"Listen, I know how you feel, and I didn't mean to hurt you. But you- you need to grow up. You have enough power to go against the whole world and with this power you also become responsible for every action you take. This responsibility; it sounds like nothing but when you really need to bear the weight of it, you realise that it just gets heavier and heavier with every move you make. Back then, I am not you didn't hear anything back there but we are in a jungle, it could have been an animal or a bird. But you didn't think about it that way. I want you to think before doing something or before saying anything. You don't need to cry about everything. Start dealing with your things on your own. One day we might not be there and you will have deal with it all by yourself. So, start thinking about it and make decisions for yourself and start taking responsibility of those actions. Now, get up we need to leave, it dark enough."
Emma stood up and walked away towards Robin and Jayden. Richard was still thinking about Emmas words when they called him out. Richard looked up in the sky and took a deep breath. Richard stood up and ran to them. They all left for the wall under the shade of that dark sky.
The wall was glowing with those flickering lanterns hanging on the posts built on top of it. All four stood at distance hiding from the guards behind bushes. Emma whispered to others,
"I'll go first to check the surroundings; you all, wait for my command. And don't leave this place for any reason."
Everyone nodded and Emma left to check and clear the surroundings. Everyone was staring at the wall, waiting for Emma's signal when Richard suddenly hears a voice,
"She is right!"
Confusion took over Richard's face and he asks himself,
"What is happening, who is it?"
Suddenly the voice answers,
"I am you!"
Richard gets more shocked and asks himself,
"Can it hear my thoughts?"
The voice replies,
"Yes, yes I can hear your thoughts because I am your inner voice; I am here to help you."
Richard was still thinking about the voice when Robin suddenly pushes him saying,
"Let's go, Emma is calling us out."
Richard snaps back into reality and nods. They ran towards Emma. Emma guided them toward the end of the wall and explains them the plan,
"Robin and me will cover up everything. Richard and Jayden will go to save the prisoners."
Emma looks at Richard who was looking lost. Emma slapped him on head and said,
"Get your head in here kid."
Richard nods while rubbing his head.
"Okay, now we will go in first, you follow us and get to prison safely. Let's go!"
Everyone nodded. Emma and Robin went inside. Richard and Jayden did the same following them. They all were moving slowly and cautiously when suddenly a guard saw them and shouted. The horn was blown. Emma and Robin looked at each other and nodded.
"Get to prison boys!"
Emma commanded the boys. Both of them understood it and started moving towards the prison all by themselves. Emma took out her guns. These were two beautiful silver-coloured pistols. Robin took out his sword too. The guards marched towards both of them with full force. Emma pointed the guns towards them and started firing. Each bullet pierced through two or three guards at once. Robin was moving with brutal force. Slicing through guards like hot knife through butter. Bodies dropping dead and it started raining blood. Emma takes out the empty magazine and throws it towards Robin. Robin catches it and pierces it right through a guard's neck. He was not fully dead but was lying down asking Robin to kill him. Suddenly and arrow hits robin on his hand. It pierced through his palm. Robin looked at it and took it out of there and shouted,
"Emma you are up now!"
Emma gets the signal and she jumps back out of the crowd on a rock that was higher. She started locating the archers and posts. She took out a silencer for the pistol. She fitted the silencer and took a pin out of the gun. She took out the magazine and replaced it with a golden magazine. She loaded the gun, aimed at an archer far away and fired a bullet. The bullet travelled at excessively fast speed and made a hole right through the archer's head. The guard fell off the high post and Emma smiled to it all.
Richard and Jayden slowly and quietly approached the prison gate and Jayden calls out for him mom.
"Mom!"
His mom heard the voice and came near the bars. She gets emotional on seeing her son alive.
"We are here to save you mom; we will save you all."
Jayden told his mom. Richard was looking at them and getting emotional over the situation when he suddenly hears a voice saying,
"Duck!"
Richard hears it and ducks. This duck saved his life as a guard just swung a sword. Richard rolls to side. Jayden and his mom were still standing there.
"I need to save them, he will attack them, what should I do?"
Richard asks himself.
"Believe yourself and attack the guard. Take out your knife and slice his ankle. Run straight and jump down."
The inner voice helped Richard. Richard heard it and followed the words. He took out his knife, shouted and ran towards the guard. The guard swung his sword horizontally but Richard jumped downwards and with that surprise he sliced through the ankle of the guard. The guard fell on the ground.
"Look at him, crying for his life. Now, can you really let him live for the evil he has done?"
The voice asked Richard.
"What should I do then?"
Richard asked.
"Pick up the knife and kill him. End it once in for all."
The voice replied.
Richard answered while nodding,
"N-No, Robin said, no killing."
"Oh, poor boy, you are the one responsible for it, if he lives today, he might attack others and kill many. And you will be responsible for it."
The voice told Richard.
Richard went into deep thinking. The voice kept on pumping him up.
"You should kill him; you need to do it boy! Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Richards eyes changed. They go lifeless, like a dead person. The breath goes cold. Richard picks up his knife. Pulls it up for stabbing him. As soon as he pushes it down, Robin interferes and stops him. Richard snaps back to reality and looks around at Emmy helping prisoners to escape and Robin was looking at him with disappointment in his eyes.
Robin speaks up,
"I told you, you do not kill!"
Richard looks at Robin and let go of the knife. The expressions changed on his face. He was tensed and with that tensed voice he said,
"It-it wasn't me, it-"
"Shut up and leave!"
Robin orders Richard with dead calm in his voice. Richard was sad now. He looked at robin and then with his head down, he left.
The guard lying on ground suddenly spoke,
"Thank you mister, you saved my li-"
Robin sliced his throat before he could complete his sentence.
"You are only allowed to owe an apology to me."
Robin spoke with his character still together.
The prisoners were thanking them for their help and Jayden came running towards Richard, holding something in his hand. He moved his hands forward and said,
"Here, keep this with you. It is a guardian doll. It will help you in every situation. Whenever you feel like you are alone or lost, it will tell you the path."
Richard took the doll which was dirty and old but something was different about it. Jayden smiles and leaves saying goodbye to everyone. The whole group left and it was all so silent now.
Robin gives a farewell to Emma. Before leaving Emma looked at Richard and smiled at him. Richard blushed in response and turned all red. Emma left too. Robin calls out Richard,
"let's go kid, we still have a pla-"
Robin was interrupted by a loud sound. He turned back and was shocked to see Richard collapsed on ground.