Chapter 19

•Flora City•

•West Village•

•Training Camp•

Poppy was just exhausted, who knew it was so hard to carry the dead weight of another Fairy for so many meters? She thought sarcastically, huffing through the last couple meters.

Thankfully she sighted the Captain and Lichen standing aways off and was grateful when the female Fairy quickly flew over to assist her.

"Here, we'll take her to the infirmary." She informed an exhausted Poppy.

Poppy just sighed and nodded, watching a group of Nurse Fairies pick Orchid up on a pallet.

"Will she be okay?" She couldn't help asking as she watched them fly upwards away from the training ground.

The pallet was a white, thick piece of cloth, stretched over two sturdy beams so that a group of four Fairies situated at each corner could easily transport it.

Orchid had still been pale and passed out when she was put on it and Poppy couldn't help but worry.

 "Of course, now please if you would follow me back to the starting point where the Captain will give you your score." The blue haired Fairy said softly, watching Poppy with concerned eyes.

Poppy watched the Caretaker hover around her, she had landed on the ground so that the Nurse Fairies could take Orchid and now she couldn't bear the thought of having to use her wings again so soon.

Lichen took one look at the Hero's drooping wings and blinked. "Um, you could walk if you want to." She said nicely, landing on the ground as well.

They were still a while off away from the Captain and even though Poppy's legs were tired, her wings and shoulder blades hurt even more so, walking it was.

In the distance the Captain raised a hand and Lichen quickly perked up. "I'd have loved to walk with you," she starts sadly. "But the Captain is calling and I have to be by his side." She continued sheepishly.

"Of course." Poppy agreed, not minding one bit. "I'm going to walk at a snail's pace anyway."

"Very well." Lichen replied. "Walk with me another day?"

Poppy's eyes widened at this, shocked at the strange offer. "It would be my pleasure to."

The Fairy let out a small squeak of excitement before taking off.

Poppy just stood frozen, eyes wide open and mouth gaping.

Lichen was running!

The distance between where they were and where the Captain was, wasn't that far but on a normal day, jogging to cover that distance would make even Eden cramp up halfway there but the frail Fairy ran there! And at full speed too.

This was what the Captain was talking about indeed, the ability to achieve the impossible!

Lichen didn't even look winded out, Poppy wouldn't be surprised if she found out that the blue haired Caretaker could easily run through the race track, she probably already has, multiple times.

Poppy wasn't at that superhuman point yet so she trudged slowly to them, expecting to get scored a low mark if nothing at all.

It wouldn't surprise the Forest Fairy, after all, she'd forfeited the test to save Orchid even after she had been expressly told not to. She was probably also in big trouble too.

She finally got to the front of the Captain and stood at attention, nervously waiting for his verdict.

Her short pale blue hair, stuck to her face, wet with sweat. She was exhausted and they hadn't even done an hour of training yet, her sleeveless top wasn't any better, it stuck to her itchy skin like a suit of armour. There were stains on her loose pants and mud caked the combat boots she had on, she was sure she looked like the word horrible personified.

"At ease Trainee." The Captain said sternly and Poppy's heart dropped to her stomach, even though he had told her to be at ease, his tone of voice was still frightening.

She stood at ease, trembling slightly as the Captain stretched out a hand and Lichen placed a file in it.

"Poppy Payne." He started to read off the file, glancing at her pale, tired face from time to time.

Poppy gulped, waiting patiently for her results, it couldn't be good.

"Age, 17. Height, 162.6cm." Another glance and then he flips the page. "Forest Fairy. Graduated Fairy School. Apprentice Collector Fairy." He rattled on and the knot in Poppy's stomach wound tighter.

"Hero Powers manifested at age, one?" The Captain raised a thick green eyebrow at this.

Poppy laughed nervously. "Y-Yes but it wasn't substantial till I turned twelve."

The Captain dipped his head and snapped shut the file. "I'm sure the referee was perfectly clear about the rules?"

"But…"

"Was she?" He cut her off, face hard.

"Yes sir." Poppy said in a tiny voice, eyes down.

"And yet you blatantly disobey a direct order, if you were on the field, disobeying orders could cost you your life and that of your fellow Heroes." 

Poppy just remained silent with her head bowed, carefully listening to the Captain's reprimands. While she agreed that following orders was crucial to the success of any mission, she couldn't help but be disgruntled about one thing.

"You look like you have something to say." Captain Evergreen asked, a cynical smile in his voice.

Poppy glanced up at him then at Lichen who looked really uncomfortable at his side.

"Er, sir, w-while I accept that I disobeyed orders…"

"And what orders were those?" He interrupted her.

Poppy bit the inside of her cheek. "T-That if a fellow Trainee was down, we mustn't stop our race." She replied shakily.

"What was that?" The Captain barked in a loud voice.

Poppy shook at this but stood her ground, just barely though and gathered her wits around her enough to repeat it in a firmer voice. "If a fellow Trainee was down, we mustn't stop our race!"

"Good!" The Captain yelled in an even louder voice even though Poppy was a couple inches away from him. "And what were the stipulations for that?!!"

Poppy winced at the huge man's inordinately loud voice, she would have to increase her voice for him to hear her. "That there were Nurse Fairies and the rest of the Trainers flying overhead!!" 

"Then with all these put in place, why did you disobey such a simple rule??!!"

Poppy flinched at his loud, stern voice. She had a very good reason for breaking the rules but in the light of everything the Captain had been saying, her reason suddenly seemed irrelevant.

"I-I…" She stuttered, unsure of her words now.

"Speak up!!" Evergreen ordered on a yell, towering over the cowering Fairy that looked like she might pass out.

Lichen placed a gentle hand on Captain Evergreen's muscled shoulder but he just brushed her off. "Well!!" He shouted even louder, shoving his face into Poppy's personal space.

"Orchid was in danger!" Poppy suddenly cried out, her inhibitions breaking under the immense strain that the Captain was putting on her. "I was aware of the rules and acted accordingly but after a while no one was coming for her, she was having difficulty breathing and wasn't moving anymore!" She yelled back at him, tears in her eyes. "I couldn't just leave her there! What if something had happened??" She half cried.

"Why would you even make a stupid rule like that in the first place??!" She accused him, poking a hand in his chest.

Although the Captain towered over her by at least a feet, Poppy wasn't backing down. "How could you expect me to abandon a Teammate?? Rules be damned! If any of my Teammates are hurt or down, I will go to them!!! And help!!! That's what Teammates are for!!!" She exploded on the last of her strength and crumpled to the ground.

"I think you went a little too far Captain." Lichen said worriedly, peering down at Poppy who lay prone on the ground.

"Nonsense! It was just right!! Congratulations Poppy! You passed the test!"

Poppy blinked from her spot on the ground, did she hear the Captain right? 

"W-What?" She looked up, stunned.

"Here let me help you up." Lichen offered, assisting her up. "I apologize for Captain Evergreen's behavior, his ways are a little bit unorthodox."

Poppy just gave her a look that spelt 'you think?'

"Explain everything to her will you Lichen." Evergreen ordered, strutting away. "I've already decided on the Team Captain by the way…" He tossed back, unaffected by the loud gasp that left Lichen.

"You can't possibly mean to!" She exclaimed.

Evergreen turned his head to look at her. "As a matter of fact, I already did. I'll leave the rest to you now, the test is pretty much over." He concluded continuing his journey.

Poppy looked from Captain to Caretaker, oblivious to what was going on. "Um, am I in trouble?" She asked what was plaguing her since. "I mean, I swore at the Captain."

"Oh no!" Lichen assured her. "Not at all, as a matter of fact, you just became the Team Captain." She announced with a nervous smile.

Poppy just looked at her like she had a couple loose screws. "Because I talked back at the Captain?"

"Actually, no. Most people get hurt when they do, he must have seen something in you." Lichen said nicely, giving Poppy a reassuring smile, files clutched against her chest. "You should get some rest, today's training is already over."

"Alright." Poppy sighed heavily, happy that she didn't have to wait for the rest to finish up, she was so exhausted that she was sure that she was going to drop anytime soon.

"Um, one more thing?" Lichen called to her as she started in the direction of the Hero Quarters.

"Captain Evergreen never planned to use the test as a way of determining the level of training you would receive, you are all going to begin your training from the very start, the basic of levels which will begin, same time tomorrow."

Poppy gave her an incredulous look. "Then what was the test for??"

Lichen shrugged. "Honestly, I'm not sure but I know that if you hadn't passed the test, he would have sent you back that you were hopeless and couldn't become a Hero."