AT THE SAME TIME
ZAVIER
The first drop hit the leaves above us. Not heavy, not loud just enough to warm everybody. I didn't look up.
"Faster." I said.
That was all it took. Not panic, not chaos, not the usual D-rank disaster energy that followed us like a curse, but something sharper, cleaner, like for once everyone understood that this wasn't a joke, wasn't a test they could laugh through, wasn't something they could brute force or overthink into submission.
Ben adjusted the angle of the main frame without being told twice, reinforcing the structure instead of questioning it, his hands precise, controlled, finally applying that brain of his to something that mattered.
"If we tilt this two degrees more, runoff improves." He said quickly.
"Do it." I replied.
Riko was no longer throwing things randomly, which in itself was a miracle.
"I AM BEING USEFUL." He announced while aggressively stuffing leaves into gaps.
"You are blocking airflow again." Ben snapped.
"I AM LEARNING." Riko snapped back.
"Less talking, more not ruining it." I cut in.
"YES, SIR OMEGA COMMANDER." Riko saluted with a leaf.
Adam worked silently, anchoring the support branches deeper into the ground, using strength where it actually mattered, stabilizing the entire structure so it wouldn't collapse the moment the rain decided to stop being polite. Leo was holding a branch, not sleeping or lying down and that was progress.
"You are contributing." I said.
"I am evolving." Leo replied.
"Don't get used to it." Ben muttered.
The rain came harder, not a drizzle anymore. A steady, cold sheet tapping against leaves, soaking the forest floor, turning dirt into mud within seconds.
"Cover the top layer." I said, already climbing slightly onto the frame, pressing broad leaves into place, overlapping them tightly, bark strips binding them down so they wouldn't shift.
"THE GROUND BETRAYED ME-"Riko slipped.
Adam caught him by the collar without even looking.
"Focus." Adam said.
"I AM FOCUSED ON SURVIVAL." Riko yelled, upside down.
"You are focused on falling." Ben corrected.
"Both can be true." Leo added with a grin.
I dropped down, grabbing the last strip of bark, tying it tight, then stepping back.
"Done." I said.
For half a second, no one moved, then the rain hit hard. Water poured over the forest, soaking everything, flattening weak structures, drowning pathetic fires, turning the clearing into a mess of wet failure and regret.
"MY FIRE-!"Screams echoed in the distance.
"IT WENT OUT-"Someone else screamed. "WHY IS EVERYTHING WET-"
Riko slowly turned his head toward the entrance of our shelter, then outside, then back inside, completely dry.
"We are gods." He whispered.
"We are not." Ben said.
"We are slightly less pathetic." Leo corrected.
Adam crossed his arms, leaning back slightly under the shelter, completely untouched by the rain.
"This would have collapsed without proper anchoring." he said.
"It didn't." I replied.
Isabella stepped forward then, walking straight through the rain like it didn't matter, her boots sinking slightly into the mud as water dripped from her coat, clipboard somehow still dry, because of course it was. She stopped just outside our shelter and looked at it. Rain poured around her, but inside, we stayed dry.
"Huh." She said again.
That was twice now, and for her, that was basically a standing ovation. She stepped inside without asking, eyes scanning every part of the structure, the angles, the layering, the bindings, the positioning relative to wind direction.
"Who led this?" She asked.
Riko immediately pointed at me like he was reporting a crime.
"HIM."Riko said.
"Zavier."Ben nodded.
"I supervised emotionally."Leo raised a hand slightly.
"No one asked you." Ben said.
Adam didn't speak because apparently he didn't need to. Isabella's gaze landed on me.
"You anticipated the rain before I announced it." She said.
"Yes." I replied.
"You built this in under ten minutes."She said.
"Yes."I nodded.
"You corrected four separate mistakes while doing so."She added.
"Yes."I nodded.
"I was at least two of those."Riko raised a hand.
"You were three." Ben corrected.
"I AM IMPROVING." Riko insisted.
Isabella ignored them.
"You were not trained." She said.
"No." I replied.
Rain hammered around us, loud, constant, but inside, it was steady, controlled, quiet, her grip tightened slightly on the clipboard.
"He knows because his family is shitty."Ben reminds it.
"I am Zavier Blackstone. I am the twin brother of the perfect 'Michael Blackstone', if you wish to know."I explained so Ben would not have to repeat about my family again.
"Good." She said and that word hit differently, not approval, but recognition.
"Lesson one." She continued, voice sharp again, but different now. "Is not fire."
"...it's not?"Riko blinked.
"It's survival." She corrected. "Fire is a tool. shelter is a tool. Your brain
is the difference between passing and being another failure statistic."
She turned slightly, gesturing outside where soaked trainees were actively suffering.
"Observe." She said.
We did and it was tragic.
"That's going to be us next." Riko whispered.
"No." I said.
"...oh."He blinked and then slowly smiled.
Isabella glanced back at me once more, and for the first time since this started, she looked impressed.
"Don't get comfortable." She said. "This was the easy part."
The rain didn't stop if anything, it got worse, heavier, colder, soaking the entire forest in a steady, miserable rhythm that turned everything outside our little shelter into mud, dripping leaves, and regret. Then I heard a growl. Riko froze.
"That was not me." He said immediately.
Then we heard another growl. Ben slowly looked down at his own stomach.
"Unfortunate timing."Ben muttered.
Leo didn't even open his eyes.
"We are starving." He said calmly. "I can feel it spiritually."
Adam exhaled through his nose, one hand resting against his stomach.
"We burned energy building this." He said. "We didn't eat enough before leaving."
Another growl, louder as Riko clutched his chest.
"I am dying."He gasped.
"You are hungry." Ben corrected.
"Same experience." Riko snapped.
I leaned back slightly against the shelter wall, eyes half lidded, listening, not to them, but to everything else. The rain, the wind, the forest, and underneath it something else. Aiden stirred.
"There." He said quietly.
"I hear it." I murmured.
Adam's head tilted slightly.
"You hear something?" He asked.
"Water." I said.
"In this rain? Of course there's water."Ben blinked.
"Running water." I corrected.
A pause, then Aiden's voice again, more certain. "River. Close."
I stood, and Riko watched me as I had just made a life altering decision.
"Where are you going?"He asked.
"Food," I said simply.
"FOOD?" Riko lit up instantly. "WAIT FOR ME-"
"No." I cut him off, already pulling my hood up over my head. "You stay."
"That sounds unfair." He said.
"That sounds like survival." I replied.
"Going alone is inefficient."Ben frowned.
"Going with you is slower." I said.
"That is statistically rude." Ben muttered.
Leo rolled slightly.
"Bring back something edible." He said. "Or I will eat Riko."
"HEY-"Riko gasped.
Adam stepped forward.
"I am coming." He said.
"No."I shook my head once.
Adam studied me for a second, then nodded once, stepping back.
"Then be fast."He said.
"I will."I said and stepped out into the rain.
Cold hit instantly, soaking through fabric, dripping down my neck, mud shifting under my feet, but I didn't slow, didn't hesitate, just moved through the trees, following sound instead of sight. Behind me I heard footsteps. I didn't stop walking.
"Following me is a bad idea." I said.
Isabella's voice came from behind, completely calm despite the storm.
"Observing you is my job."She said.
I glanced back once as she walked through the rain like it didn't exist, eyes sharp, focused.
"Then keep up." I said.
She almost smiled and we moved. The sound grew louder, water over stone. We broke through the tree line and there it was, a narrow river cutting through the forest, swollen slightly from the rain, current steady but not violent, surface broken by ripples and movement, and I saw it a fish. Small and fast.
I stepped closer to the edge, crouching low, eyes scanning, tracking patterns, not rushing, not guessing. Behind me, Isabella stopped, didn't speak, and didn't interrupt.
"Cold water." Aiden murmured. "They will move more slowly near the edge."
"I know." I said.
I reached into my pocket, pulling out the small knife, then scanned the ground, grabbing a thin, flexible branch, stripping it in quick, practiced motions. Not perfect, not pretty, but enough. I made an improvised spear.
"You have done this before."Isabella's voice, quieter now.
"Yes."I nodded.
I stepped into the river, cold bit hard, but it didn't matter. Water rippled around my legs as I stilled completely. The spear struck down, clean, precise, water splashed, and I lifted it with a fish. caught through the body, still twitching. I pulled it free, tossed it onto the bank, already resetting position. Again and again. By the third, it wasn't an effort anymore.
"That is not beginner skill."Isabella spoke.
"No."I didn't look back.
I stepped out of the water, dripping, cold, holding the makeshift spear in one hand, three fish hooked along it, two more in the other. Isabella stared at the fish, then at me.
"You tracked the current, adjusted for distortion, and struck without hesitation." She said slowly.
"Yes."I nodded.
"You didn't waste movement."She added. "You adapted tools from nothing and you said no one trained you."
"No one did."I shook water from my sleeve.
"Then how?"Her gaze sharpened.
I looked at the fish once then back at her.
"I was hungry." I said.
That was it, that was the answer.
"Simple truths are the hardest to argue."Aiden hummed quietly.
Isabella didn't respond immediately. For once, she had nothing sharp to say.
"Go." She said, finally. "Your team is waiting."
I nodded once, turned, and started walking back through the rain with food. Nobody needed to understand my past, I had to face it as food was much more important.