3:07pm, Friday

“Treat the parings as if you were permanent partners. If that is too hard for you to understand, the pairs must stay together. No excuses.”

Why her? I was still trying to process the announcement when someone snickered.

Hypothesis: Garett probably snickered. I didn’t care to turn and look.

Observation: he enjoys seeing others in discomfort—

“Is there something funny Dryden?” Jack asked.

Dryden? My head slowly turned towards him. Hypothesis disproven? I glance at Garett. Sure enough, his face had no signs of laughter. Instead, Dryden was the one trying to suppress a grin. This morning’s workout came rushing back to me—Dryden’s face snarling at me. I swallowed, but my mouth had gone as dry as paper.

Question: have I done something to make Dryden mad at me?

“No, sir.” Dryden replied. He crossed his hands behind his back and widened his stance. A Sportsman’s move to show that he wasn’t afraid.

“Then why were you laughing?” Jack asked. He didn’t move a muscle. But when Dryden hesitated, Jack took a step forward. “Please, we all want to share in on the joke.”

“I-I was just thinking that Rosh and Arina make a good pair, that’s all.” Dryden shrugged. His face lost all glee as soon as Jack took a step towards him.

“Oh? And why is that?” Jack asked.

“…No reason.” Dryden shrugged, dropping his gaze to the ground.

“Perhaps I should make you her partner instead.” Jack mused.

“No!” Both Kirosh and Arina said at the same time. They looked at each other in surprise. Even Jack looked between them surprised.

Fact: this is the first time I’ve seen Arina and Kirosh agree on anything.

“…Fine.” Jack huffed. “Let’s head out. We can still have a few more miles, and remember, stay with your partners, especially now that it’s getting dark in the forest.”

We headed out with our backs to the bright clearing and entered the dark forest once again. It might be only 3 in the afternoon in the real world, but in the forest, time didn’t seem to matter. Darkness was already beginning to creep in and eat everything around it.

“Everyone ready?” Jack called out, breaking my concentration. He gave one sweeping look back before he mounted his horse and prodded her forward. “Let’s go.”

I nudged Cookie after him and we were off once again. The trees and shrubs that once held wonder just an hour ago were starting to look like they would eat us whole with no one the wiser. It’s fine. I chided myself. They’re just trees. That one is Scarsus pseudotsuga menziesii, otherwise known as the Pine of the Ancients. It is usually found in “old” forests, or the forests that have survived from the time of the ancients. It likes a moist, mild climate.

That there is a Scarsus picea sitchensis, otherwise known as the Ancient Spruce. It is usually found in forests that contain Scarsus pseudotsuga menziesii and Carnivas aquas.

Carnivas aquas, otherwise known as the thirsty shrub. Recycles up to fifty percent of its water, and, therefore, requires a lot of water to survive. It usually is found in high altitude places that have good water system, such the Edenyon Mountains that are known for its complex river system that empties into the Yamara-Gavi Quintar branch of the Triga Lake.

Question: How does Carnivis Aquas recycle so much water?

Plant transpiration: when water evaporates from plants. Occurs in stems, leaves, and roots.

It is important because as the water evaporates out of the plant, that evaporation creates a negative pressure gradient that helps draw water and minerals up through the plant from its roots.

Plant transpiration also plays a significant role in the water cycle.

Question: Why is water important?

Two reasons: One, it supports photosynthesis because water plus carbon dioxide plus light energy is transformed into sugar and oxygen; and two: water helps keep the plant cool in hot weather—the plant uses evaporative cooling.

Question: Do plants ever get “thirsty” or feel thirst? I reached for my water bottle and paused before taking a drink. Question: What is thirst?

There are two types of thirst in a human: osmometric thirst and volumetric thirst.

Osmometric thirst is caused by a loss of water intracellularly, such as eating a high salt content meal pulls water out of the cell into the bloodstream.

Volumetric thirst is caused by a loss of water extracellularly—a loss in blood volume—such as getting a hemorrhage.

Regulation of body fluids requires three things: one, a way to detect changes in osmolarity; two, a way to detect changes in blood volume; and three, a way to correct any imbalances.

I tip the bottle up against my mouth, but nothing comes out. “Jack, I’m out of water.” I called out, but he didn’t seem to hear. “Jack…” I called out again, this time giving Cookie a little extra nudge with my legs. She just snorted at me and kept her pace. I pushed her sides a little harder, but still no response. Not sure what else to do, I lifted my legs a little and brought them down against her sides while pushing my body forward in the saddle as if I she had eyes on the back of her head to see me urge her to go faster. Maybe she did have eyes on the back of her head because she seemed to get the message. She leapt forward, causing me to grasp at her main to stay on. I heard a faint curse as Cookie hurtled through the foliage. It was too dark to see straight now, so I just held on. Suddenly a dark figure loomed up beside me out of nowhere and a hand reached out. I jerked away from it and almost fell off sideways. Cookie made a hard right and kept running, but another hand came out at me and grabbed my reins. The hand pulled hard and cookie came to a full stop, causing me to almost fall off again.

“Idiot.” A hushed voice came at me as I sat quivering and panting atop Cookie. “I got him.” The voice said louder, and I realized that Arina was the one holding my reins.

A dark figure atop a horse came through the foliage behind me. “What did you do?” Jack’s voice was disturbingly calm.

“I-I-I was just trying to catch up to you to tell you that I was out of water. I wanted Cookie to go a little faster, so I nudged her. That’s all.” The words babbled out of me.

Jack snorted. “Wait here; I’ll go get the others. Let’s hope they haven’t gone galloping off as well.” Jack turned and was quickly eaten up by the darkness.

I quickly fumbled to pull out my HOL. The clock read 5:34 in the afternoon. It hadn’t even been thirty minutes from when we left the bright clearing, but I felt like we had been traveling in this darkness for hours. I just wanted to curl up in my bed and sleep the darkness away. Suddenly something rustled in the foliage around us, and my head snapped to look at the noise. I pointed my HOL in the direction of the noise and I could see the shrub swaying, but nothing was there. I shook my head trying to release my growing anxiety, but all I could see  was darkness. It was all around me, pressing in one me. Suffocating me.

“Here, have my LightVis.” Arina handed me a small halo of light. The LightVis was nothing more than a circuit of light that concentrated its light based on where a person was looking. When no one was wearing it, it distributed its light evenly across the circuit.

“I-I have my own.” I reached over to get my LightVis from my bag and put it on. The path illuminated in front of me and made the forest seem less oppressive. The others were doing the same thing before mounting up and getting in line behind Jack. I turned in my saddle to watch the others when my LightVis swept across Arina. She looked up just as the light flashed over her, making her eyes glow like two orbs, as if she were an animal. I froze. She only shrugged and placed her own LightVis on her own head, unaware of what her eyes had done. As she moved about, my eyes caught on her exposed forearm. Just inside the nook of her elbow, barely visible, was a watermark tattoo that shimmered and faded in and out depending on the light—it was the seal of approved erratic behavior. My breath caught in my chest.

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Fact: We are alone.

Fact: If she wanted to, she could attack me.

Suddenly something rustled in the foliage around us, and my head snapped to look at the noise. The shrub was swaying, but nothing was there. I shook my head trying to release my growing anxiety, but all I could see were was darkness. It was all around me, pressing in one me. Suffocating me.

“We’re over here.” Arina randomly called out. And not more than a minute later, Jack and the others came tromping through the foliage.

“Good, now that we are all together again, here’s another rule. Never make the horse you are on go faster. It will follow the horse in front of it, so just let it go at its own pace and no one will get lost.”

Someone snickered.

“Something funny, Dryden?” Jack asked. His voice sharp.

“How did you know that Arina and Roshcar didn’t just want to be alone?” Dryden’s face was contorted into something resembling a sneer. But it was so out of character that it was almost comical. Almost.

“I don’t know what is—”

“How come Arina knew what to do?” Kirosh cut Jack off as he advanced on Dryden.

“Because I’ve been on a horse before.” Arina stated before Jack could open his mouth to reply.

“You’re from the PC Bracket.” Kirosh’s voice rose. “Where in all of Qui did you learn to ride a horse?”

“Just because I’m from the same Bracket as you doesn’t mean I’m an invalid.” Arina said coolly.

“But—”

“That’s enough.” Jack cut in. “Everyone put on your LightVis’. We head out in five minutes.”

“W-what about water?” I blurted out.

“We will stop for water soon. There’s a stream in two miles.” Jack said as he turned to get his own LightVis from his pack.

Arina guided her horse to stand beside mine. “When you kicked her and moved your seat forward, you signaled her to start running.”

I nodded, but another snicker caught my attention. I shifted my eyes toward the source to find Dryden looking straight at me. I swallowed hard and turned back to face forward. Jack was scrolling through his HOL not paying attention to any of us. I ventured another look at my friend, but his eyes were still pinned on me.

“Don’t mind him.” Arina’s voice was barely audible. Her head was bent over her horse’s neck as she stroked his main. Her eyes were neither on me nor Dryden. “There is something wrong with him today.”

“Fact?” I couldn’t keep the surprise out of my voice.

“Fact.” She nodded. “He is not a mean person…” She trailed off.

“Fact.” I agreed as I risked another quick look at my friend. His eyes were finally distracted off of me and were now directed at Kirosh. His face was blank as if he were nothing more than a machine. It was void of everything, every emotion.

“…But today, something is off. He is not himself.” Arina continued.

Something in her voice made me look at her more closely. It sounded almost like worry. “I—”

“Let’s go.” Jack cut me off. “We need to keep moving.”

“Keep behind me.” Arina said as she prodded Nightstar forward to walk directly behind Jack.

I nudged Cookie forward tentatively. At first she didn’t move, and I looked frantically at Arina and Jack who were already moving off into the foliage. The others were starting to move as well and I could feel Dryden’s eyes still pinned on me. C’mon. I nudged Cookie again, but she still didn’t move. Please, just start walking… I swallowed and lifted my feet to nudge Cookie again. But before I could bring them down, her ears twitched and she started walking but not before letting out a big horse sigh in protest.

I look up to find Arina stopped, and watching me. She opened her mouth and a small click sounded; Cookie surprisingly walked a little faster to place herself just behind Nightstar. I looked at Arina surprised, but she had turned back to face forward and nudged Nightstar forward. Her watermark tattoo shimmered once in the beam of my light.

Observation: Arina is a violent person. I frowned as the thought flittered across my mind like a free bird. Observation must be backed by facts. What are my facts?

Fact: In the four years Arina has been at the Akedemy, 147 different people have visited the Health Ward.

Fact: Out of the 147 cases, against her, 146 of them have all given statements of what happened.

Fact: Only Kirosh opted to not make a formal statement.

Fact: Out of the 146 known cases, ninety-seven of them claimed that Arina pushed them while they attempted to talk with her. Twenty-four, had a split lip, nine had only a black eye, thirteen had both a black eye and a split lip, and three had a broken nose.

Fact: Only Kirosh received severe wounds from Arina— three broken ribs, a broken nose, a concussion, two broken fingers, and a fractured neck.

Fact: Out of the 147 cases, the Akademy’s Committee for Proper Qui Behavior found that Arina acted within the bounds of her watermark tattoo on 146 of them. That is to say, she didn’t start the violence, but acted violently in self-defense.

Fact: She only attacked first in Kirosh’s case

I racked my brain trying to fit the pieces together to fit my observation, but most of the facts refuted my observation. Only in Kirosh’s case could there be any truth to the observation that Arina is actually violent, but no one really knows what happened between them four years ago since he refused to make a formal statement against her…

Question: Why was Kirosh’s case different?

Question: What did Kirosh do four years ago to cause her to attack first?

Question: Will she attack him again while in this program?... Will she attack one of us?

I fixed my eyes on Arina’s back as if it could tell me what I wanted to know.

Question: Will she attack me?—

“We’re here.” Jack’s voice cut through my thoughts.

I looked around as he dismounted. We were neither in a town nor near a stream. “What do you mean we’re here?” I asked confused. We were in a small area that looked surprisingly well swept. The brush had all been cleared aside to allow maybe seven or eight people to gather comfortably and still have plenty of room. There were also two logs around a dent in the ground. The dent looked blackened and charred.

“Everyone drop your bags here and follow me with your horses.” Jack commanded, ignoring my question.

I hurried to do as I was told. Once everyone had followed Jack’s instructions, he led us into the foliage on foot. I was about to open my mouth to ask where we were going when the faint sounds of a bubbling brook hit my ears. Jack led us around one of the great trees, and there it was. Gurgling like a gleeful child.

“Now, I’m going to teach you how to unhook and clean your horse’s bit, and then how to take care of your horse. No one gets diner before I’m satisfied that all the horses are properly cared for. Understood?”

We all nodded.

“Good. Now watch carefully.” Jack showed us the proper way to care for the beasts from the time of the ancients. And they stood there patiently as we took out their bit and groomed them. Cookie nuzzled me her thanks at me when I had finished, and I petted her nose back. The heat of her muzzle was oddly comforting.

“Dinner time.” Jack called out.

“What about the horses?” Tash asked.

“They can forage for themselves, you don’t have to worry. They know these mountains better than anyone.” Jack patted his steed’s neck with a hearty thump. The horse just snorted at him and flicked an ear. “Now follow me. We can’t have anyone wandering off now.” Jack strode quickly forward and picked up one branch after another. By the time we reached the place we had left our bags, he had his arms full of wood, which he proceeded to dump into the charred dent. In no time at all, a small fire crackled in the pit. While we situated ourselves on the two logs, Jack pulled out our dinners and handed them out.  

“Why did we have to take our stuff off the horses?” I asked as we ate. “At lunch we didn’t have to do that.”

Jack paused and looked at me. “This is where we will be spending the night.”

My spoon stopped halfway between my mouth and the plate. “We…we’re camping outside?”

Jack nodded. “We’ll get to Edenyon tomorrow in plenty of time to collect the data, so we don’t need to rush. Better for the horses too if we camp for the night. They aren’t as young as they once were anymore.”

“You sure?” I asked. “I think we should keep going—”

“We’re camping.” Jack said firmly.

“But what about the wildlife? Aren’t there any animals that we should be careful of?”

“Yep.” Jack said.

“…Aren’t you worried?”

“Nope. They won’t attack us unless threatened. There is nothing to fear, especially not with me around. I will keep you safe. There is nothing to be afraid of here. Don’t worry.”

I ate slowly with those words reverberating in my brain. “There is nothing to be afraid of here. Don’t worry…” I followed the others as they handed back their empty food cartons and set up their camping rolls. I knew there would be camping. I don’t have anything to be afraid of here. There’s nothing to worry about. Jack will protect us from any dangerous wild animals. That is what Jackals are for anyway—that’s part of their job. I glanced at my HOL as I climbed into my camping roll. It was just barely past six o’clock, but somehow I was tired enough to sleep. I let my head fall onto my pillow still letting my brain mumble to itself. There is nothing to fear from the darkness anymore. Scary monsters don’t exist in Qui.

They don’t exist.

They don’t…exist.

I could feel myself start to drift off to sleep. The warm food in my belly helping me along.

…

…

They…don’t…exist.

…

…

…

They……don’t ……

“Roshcar, it’s coming.”

Mom?

“Run. Don’t look back…no, don’t look at me, just run. Just run. Into the ice caves, hurry!”