All three dropped down into the safe house and found that it was much smaller than the previous one. It left all three of them completely filling the space if they stood shoulder to shoulder.
Two cabinets stood at the other end of the room roughly five feet away from them.
Arthur and Tom moved forward to begin sifting through the cabinets. Tom found only empty cans of food until he reached into the back of the lowest shelf and pulled out two large cans of chicken.
Arthur found only empty cans of liquid kerosene and a stove along with clothing.
Tom asked the others, "What are we doing for safe water because I really don't want to get giardia ever again."
Arthur shuddered and responded, "That was terrible. you had nothing but diarrhea for like two weeks. I thought you were going to die from fluid loss."
Tom laughed and said, "Definitely the last time I drink from a stream anywhere near where people live."
Arthur returned to searching and smiled when he pulled out some chlorine tablets from the top shelf.
He walked over to Vincent and Tom saying, "I didn't find any water, but I found some purification tablets. I think I saw some water bottles in the cabinet too."
Tom seemed relieved, "Now all we need to do is find a way to open these cans since I didn't find any can openers."
Arthur responded, "I didn't see one in my cabinet so I don't think there is one.”
Vincent spoke up saying, "That won’t be a problem," before grabbing the cans and climbing up the ladder.
Arthur and Tom quickly scrambled up after him to see how Vincent planned to open the cans.
When they made it to the top and began looking around, they did not see Vincent at all.
The only thing they noticed was a can sitting slightly under a large rock with half of the can sticking out the side.
Both were confused by the spectacle before they heard a screech from above and glimpsed a shadow strike the can from the heavens above.
Their eyes eventually registered the form of a peregrine falcon standing with one talon sticking through the lid of the can.
Tom laughed and said, "I don't think they do that in the wild."
The bird shifted its weight more onto the can before pulling its claw back and creating a gap in the lid that widened as he continued poking holes in the metal.
The bird then repeated his method of opening a can with the second lid.
Vincent then shifted back into a human shape, picked up both open cans and walked back to the ladder.
Noticing the surprised looks on both Tom and Arthur's faces, he said, "With training, you will both be able to do something similar soon.”
“For example, the average bird of prey can only lift around one-third of its body weight, and the bodyweight of my shifted form is three pounds.”
“My max weight lifted as a falcon is around double my body weight, which is astronomically higher."
"When will we be able to do that?!" Tom asked.
From previous experience, Tom and Arthur knew their weight limit when flying was close to what Vincent described, and being able to carry more weight when flying would make traveling drastically easier.
"You will both be able to exceed your limitations as well using the right methods. For now, focus on eating. We should return to the skies as quickly as possible."
The two of them followed Vincent's advice and scarfed down the canned food in under five minutes. Following a quick bathroom break and clean-up of the rest site, they were back in the sky.
Stolen story; please report.
The envoy continued flying for the rest of the day. Only short stops were made and no more food was discovered except at the final stop.
After visiting two more rest stops, Arthur finally began to get a sense for when the rest stops were close by.
If asked, he would have described the feeling as pressure or similar to the heat of a campfire on your skin. It had a direction to it but the intensity meant little to him beyond getting slightly closer.
This confused him as he had no idea how he identified the location of the stops accurately now when he couldn't before. Was something changing in him? What was different?
These thoughts pestered him for the rest of the trip.
Around the group, the air was becoming colder in the mornings and nights, and the coniferous trees in the forests below became denser by the hour.
They directly passed few cities, however, they each could see lights in the distance.
As the sun dropped, so did the temperature, and by the end of the journey, both Arthur and Tom were starting to feel cold while Vincent showed no signs of weariness.
After flying over the discussed time by two hours, both boys were near their limit.
Eventually, the group came upon a log cabin made of roughly hewn logs and a wood roof.
The trees of the forest had been cut back in a five-foot radius around the building with almost no lighting on the exterior besides a small torch softly glowing near the entrance.
Vincent dropped from the sky, and Arthur and Tom tailed him.
When they reached the ground, the group began shifting back which gave Arthur and Tom a better look at their destination.
They were disappointed and slightly annoyed by what they saw.
All that distance for a tiny little log cabin that was probably smaller than the first bunker they had visited.
Vincent finished transitioning first and approached the door which gave off a small click as he approached.
Vincent looked back and said, "Follow me in when you're finished" before pulling the door open and entering quickly.
Arthur and Tom fully shifted less than a minute later and wearily approached the door.
Like before, a click sounded before Arthur grabbed the handle.
He pulled and to his surprise, the door didn't budge.
He tried again with more force and the door still did not move.
Tom sighed and said, "Not funny. I'm way too tired to deal with this." Tom pushed Arthur out of the way and grabbed the handle and pulled.
"What the heck," he said before grumbling and yelling, "This isn't funny Vincent let us in!"
He put his foot on the door frame and pulled with all his strength. He barely felt the door move.
"Arthur help me open this thing."
They both grabbed onto the handle and pulled as hard as they could which made the door open half an inch.
They tried again and used their legs to push on the wall around the door which caused the door to open two inches.
Tom contemplated sticking his foot into the door to save their progress and try a different angle, but realized it might cost him the limb.
They let go of the door and turned to look at each other.
“I’ll go look for something to jam it open,” Arthur said before moving into the forest.
He returned with a large branch, and they both got in position once again to attempt opening the door.
"Be ready to jam the stick in," Arthur cautioned.
They pulled hard and once the door was open again, Arthur took on the full weight of the door by shifting his feet to both sides of the door.
With Arthur supporting the weight, Tom quickly pushed the stick into the threshold of the door just as Arthur ran out of energy.
Arthur breathed heavy on the ground while Tom looked at the stick in the door saying "I think it will hold."
With the stick firmly in the door, Arthur rose and pulled the handle while Tom used his legs to further the gap made by the stick.
This created enough space for Arthur to squeeze through the door while Tom was left supporting the weight fully on his legs with his back to the door.
From the inside, Arthur pushed the door open with all his strength for Tom to roll inside. With both clear of the door, it slammed shut on the stick, which shattered on impact.
Panting on the ground, the boys did not notice Vincent standing to the side with a slight grin.
He pressed a small button on one of the walls, which caused a shift in the floor that lifted a grate and revealed a stairway that led deep into the ground.
When they finally picked themselves up, Vincent said, "This is where you’ll be learning for the next few years” and gestured down the stairs which appeared to be well lit and curved in a spiral
“It's still summer, so you're the first ones of the new class to arrive.”
“You have the entire campus to yourselves for around three weeks before the other students arrive.”
“In that time you are free to roam around, but try not to break anything or get in the way of the staff as they need to prepare the buildings for the coming year.”
“If you have any questions look for me or any other staff member. Your schedules will be sent in around a week and you will be provided with books and housing."
Still panting, Arthur asked, "Why is the door so difficult to open?" Vincent laughed, "It used to be a trial that one needed to pass in order to gain entrance. Now it's just a memento from the way things were long ago.”
“It also serves the purpose of keeping out people who don’t belong. The building doesn't draw attention as this is a discreet area of the world that is mostly dominated by miles of trees. We're also on private property which serves to keep out most unwanted visitors.”
“I’m pretty certain you could just lock it if you wanted to keep people outside,” Tom responded.
“Who said we were just keeping people away?”
Arthur and Tom looked blankly at Vincent who abruptly turned and walked down the hallway.
Both quickly scrambled after him with Arthur asking, “What do you mean just people? What else is there that could get in?”
“I’m sure you’ll find out soon” Vincent responded with another smile before beginning to descend down the stairs.
The boys looked at each other and then back to the stairs before following him into the depths.