15 End of Part 2 (#15)

We almost waited for each other to start moving towards the bordering forest. I followed when Endora finally decided that she would finally join everyone else and from there I slowly began my reluctant journey.

For the start, it was fairly chaotic. We could all see each other running and the farther we went the more we debated within ourselves whether we should go back or not. These feelings ceased, however, when we finally took our first steps into the thick forest that lay ahead.

All the while I was running through the brush and looking after Endora, we frequently attempted to start small conversations which would end the instant we felt as if we couldn't speak any more since our lungs were burning. Still, we managed to get through most of the forest.

"Endora?" I checked in, stopping for a brief moment to turn around and check on my friend. When she was not in my sight, I felt m heartbeat picking up even more than it already had and quickly tried to search for her distinct skin.

I found her leaning against a tree massaging a foot. At a glance, it seemed normal, but as I approached I figured it was severe from the amount of pain Endora expressed.

"It hurts…" Endora breathed heavily, subtle moans infused with her speech. "Ugh, I knew this would happen from the start."

"What's wrong?" I inquired.

Endora looked up at me, then to her foot. "Rolled my ankle on a root." She massaged it some more and mildly cringed from the pain that resulted from doing so. "I'm so sorry, I could get us killed…"

My eyes darted through the forest, trying desperately to find something that would help ease the pain. I was forced to give up because I had no previous training in any type of medicine. "I suppose we could stop for now," I suggested, surges of adrenalin taking over my rational thinking. "Maybe we can build some kind of shelter that would protect us from Malus if he came around again."

Endora opened her mouth to speak, most likely to reject my idea out of kindness, to tell me to go on without her, but she was interrupted by a sudden surge of pain in her ankle. "Y-Yes, that would be good."

I nodded and began to gather whatever I could find on the ground that was useful: various lengths of twigs, leaves that were both dead and alive, some moss, anything. I put everything into a small pile. "It's not going to be appealing in the slightest." I gestured for her to lie down on the grass and she obeyed. I then gradually poured my materials over ourselves, hoping that we were camouflaged enough that everyone that came our way would simply dismiss us on the forest bed.

Several moments of silence and the occasional cough and moan passed before anything very interesting happened. As my lack of sleep started to catch up to me, I was beginning to nod off when I heard a rather unfamiliar noise. I turned to Endora and she shook her head, most likely have heard the noise as well. Then I peeked through the small cracks in the thick cover of leaves. Now that some time had passed, I identified the noise as footsteps.

I noticed that they seemed to be getting louder and I instinctively hid in the cover, not even daring to breath loudly. Still, I knew that if it were Malus, he was much too close to stumble upon us on accident.

"Hello?"

I sensed Endora freezing, and my heart also skipped a beat. While it was startling at first, my brain started to point out a glaring discrepancy; the voice was not Malus'. I eased up ever so slightly and peeked through the leaves once more. Now that my brain could start analyzing the voice, I began to recognize it.

"Stand up, you two. There is no more reason to be afraid."

Carefully, we both brushed our leaves away and tried to stand, our muscles groaning from staying in one position for too long. Brushing off the leaves and bits of soil that still clung to my skin, I stared at the figure that was ahead of us, confirming the identity of our finder.

"Good, everything seems to be intact." The principal pointed to Endora's feet with his eyes. "As for you, is your foot alright? It seems to have swollen quite a bit."

Endora started to stutter, now suddenly in the presence of the principal. Most of us have only seen him on the sparse number of televisions that were across the school and nowhere else, but now he was in front of us. "Y-Yeah, it's fine."

The principal nodded understandingly. "I'll have it checked out when everyone gets back to school. You are a student at my academy, correct?"

Endora grunted as an affirmative reply.

"Alright." The principal started looking at his surroundings. "So what happened here? I heard of a beginner's club hosting a session here. Since you two seem to be members, would you two mind filling me in on why you're up so late?"

Once a few words had begun to form, it slowly started to spill out. Everything did, from signing up in the first place, his positive, misleading attitude, the bus ride, the sudden shift, the overworking, the constant tension, everything.

By the end of it all, the principal was folding his arms and his eyes were hiding inside of small shadows. When I periodically stopped speaking to prepare for my next event, he would utter "I see…"

I finally managed to tell the principal everything when he started to walk in a specific direction, his arms now falling to his sides."It'll all be over quickly" was all he said before he disappeared and space ripped in front of Endora and I. We both stared at it for a few seconds before I started inspecting it.

Its shape was like the rip Malus had made transporting us to the facility and lead to the familiar front doors of the school, but altered by the night sky that enveloped it. With a small sigh of relief, Endora and I looked at each other before walking through it.