Chapter 54 - Taking Lead

"I can't believe we're actually doing this." Via said, holding in her excitement. "A cross continent journey, and to Ventus of all places."

"Do you have any connections on the air continent who could possibly help us?" Jayson asked.

"Via was actually born here on the water continent." Aaron answered.

"Yeah, and my mom only ever told me so much about what it's like there. Of course, I did some of my own research as well, but I didn't find out much about Ventus."

"Anything worth noting?" Jayson asked.

"There are twelve factions in the country, and every year, a new faction rotates into the role of leading the country."

"That sounds... interesting, to say the least." Mai commented.

"I think that 'Tuzi' guy is the leader of the faction in control right now." Via stated.

"That would make sense." Replied Jayson. "So what about you, Aaron? Were you also born here on the water continent?"

"Me? Oh no, my story is very... complicated."

"He's like me." Kaden interjected. "We're not from this realm. Different circumstances, but here we are."

Via gazed over to Aaron, who was attempting to hide a melancholic look underneath a fake smile.

"Yhup, I haven't been... in this world for long." Aaron stated.

"So does that mean you can use all four elemental essences like Kaden can?" Jayson questioned.

"Not quite. I can only use wind essence. Like he said, it's different circumstances on how we got here, and that's also the reason why our abilities are different."

Huuuu!!!

"What was that?" Mai questioned as a strange noise was heard from further up the path.

Huuu! Aghhh!

Via ran just a few steps ahead to hear the noise more clearly.

"Careful Via." Mai whispered. "There are many dangerous creatures in this forest."

"I know." Via replied. "But that doesn't sound like one. That sounds like whimpering to me."

Without hesitating, Via jumped into the air and flew ahead of everyone to investigate the sound.

"Via!"

"Aaron, follow her." Jayson ordered.

"On it." Aaron replied as he took off.

"If she's going to move hastily, just make sure she isn't moving alone."

"We should try to catch up to them." Mai suggested.

"No, I think we have our own problem right now." Jayson said as he observed the area around them.

"What do you mean?" Kaden asked.

"... We're being stalked."

.....

"Via, wait up!" Aaron exclaimed as he caught up to her. "We're not traveling on our own. You've gotta -"

"Shhhh."

Huuuu!!

"What is that?" Aaron whispered as he and Via hid behind a bush.

"Look."

Aaron peaked through the bushes to find a large grizzly bear agonizing in pain against a rock. On its stomach were three large slash marks, actively leaking blood.

"What kind of animal would attack a bear that big?" Aaron questioned just before Via ran out to the bear. "What are you... haaa."

"Hey!" Via exclaimed to get the bear's attention.

Grrrrr...

"Calm down, big guy, I want to help you."

Via displayed both of her hands while slowly getting down onto one knee before the twelve foot tall beast.

"I promise I won't hurt you." Via stated. "That hurts, doesn't it? Will you let me help you?"

Huff... Huff... Huff...

Very slowly and carefully, Via rose back onto her feet while keeping her hands in the air where the bear could see them. She then cautiously stepped towards the bear without making any sudden movements of any kind.

"It's going to be alright, big guy."

The bear continued to huff and growl as it paid close attention to Via's movements. It kicked and swung its paws a bit but couldn't move much because of the pain it was feeling in its torso.

"Quit acting tough. I know you're in a lot of pain, so just let me help you."

Life essence began to radiate from Via's hands as she finally got within arm's reach of the bear. She extended her right hand to the wound on its torso, and of course, that caused the bear to flinch, but it didn't resist anymore than that. Via began to heal the slash wounds, and there was an immediate look of relief in the bear's face as it became just a tad bit more relaxed.

"What kind of bear is he?" Aaron asked as he came out of the bush.

"A Kodiak bear." Via replied. "Biggest in these woods."

"He should be the apex predator then. Right?"

"... Remember when you first came to this world?"

Aaron thought about that day for a moment to try and figure out why Via was suddenly bringing it up. It didn't take him long to realize what gave the bear that injury.

Rustle

A slight rustling in the bushes alerted both Aaron and Via, which immediately made them raise their defenses. Aaron jumped in front of Via to cover her the moment he noticed a shadow creeping out of the bush.

"Huh?"

To his surprise, it wasn't a predator that showed itself. Instead, it was two bear cubs. Presumably, the cubs of the bear Via was currently healing.

"Are they yours?" Via asked the mother bear with an innocent smile. "They're so cute."

Aaron only lowered his guard because Via seemed to be calm in the situation, and the cubs appeared to be frightened rather than aggressive.

"They look scared." Aaron stated. "They must've seen what the mother was defending them from."

"Poor babies..."

At that moment, Via sensed something watching her just outside of her field of vision.

"AARON, GET DOWN!"

RRRAAAHHH!!!

With only a split second to react, Aaron dove out of the way of a giant grey wolf that leaped from the bushes and attempted to attack him. The furious hound eyed down Aaron before directing its attention to Via and the mother bear. It growled intensely before pouncing towards them.

"NO!" Aaron exclaimed.

In a swift reaction, Via used just one hand to compress a ball of air before rapidly dispersing it, creating a shockwave that knocked the wolf to the side. The attack stunned the wolf but did practically no damage. During its confusion, Aaron used his essence to pick up a large branch that flew out when the wolf had emerged. He planned to impale the hound with it before it could attack again.

"Wait!" Via exclaimed. "Don't hurt him!"

"Then what am I-"

"Cover your ears!"

Aaron didn't hesitate to comply with another order from Via, but this time, it was to protect him from one of her own techniques. She took in a deep breath of air before placing two fingers in the sides of her mouth. She then began to whistle, but using her air essence to increase the speed of the wind coming out of her mouth, she then created an ultrasonic whistle. Every creature in that area winced in pain as the high frequency blast rang through their ears, and it didn't take long before the wolf ran off back into the bushes.

"... There... now he shouldn't come back for a while." Via stated.

"What was that?" Aaron questioned as his ears continued to ring.

Grrraa!

"I'm sorry, that affected you too, didn't it?" Via asked as she continued to heal the bear. "Wolves ears are very sensitive. They can hear frequencies much higher than we can. Which is why they don't like loud noises."

Aaron released a sigh of relief while resting his hands on his knees.

"We can't lower our guard yet." Via announced.

"Why not."

"A wolf doesn't hunt on their own."

"... The others!"

.....

"We're being hunted, I'm sure of it." Jayson stated. "All the birds fled the area a while ago, and I've felt a lurking presence for some time now."

"That didn't take long." Kaden commented. "We're barely a mile away from the village, and we're already being hunted."

"Any ideas on what it is, Jayson?" Mai asked.

"Not sure."

Rustle Rustle

"Backs to one another." Jayson quickly said.

The trio backed into each other and closely watched the area around them for even the slightest bit of movement. For just a moment, Kaden and Jayson's arms came into contact with each other, and Jayson was able to feel Kaden trembling.

"... We're not gonna die here." Jayson said calmly.

"... You're way too mature for your age." Kaden replied after calming himself.

"Nonsense."

"I just saw movement." Mai exclaimed.

"Let's attack first." Kaden said while looking over to Mai's side.

"Wait! I have movement over here too." Jayson replied.

At the same time, Kaden noticed a shadow running through the bushes on his end as well.

"What is this!?" Kaden remarked.

"..."

RRRAAAHHH!!!

Another giant grey wolf pounced from the shadows with intentions of killing the trio. Jayson reacted the quickest by pushing Kaden out of the way, then rolling to the side himself, while Mai dived out of harm's way.

"Kaly... huh?"

Mai was preparing to bind the wolf before she just barely noticed a second hound directly behind her. The wolf swung its sharp claws just over Mai's head after she quickly ducked to the ground. Kaden blasted an intense gust of wind at the second wolf, giving Mai enough time to create distance between herself and the hound. Jayson took an assessment of the situation while actively moving and making sure that Kaden and Mai stayed safe. Multi-tasking under stress developed almost naturally for the young boy due to looking out for his siblings during dangerous encounters like this one.

Phweeeeeeee!

A jarring whistle blared through the air, halting everyone in their tracks, including the grey wolves.

"An opening!" Jayson thought to himself as he raised his hands.

However, before he could have sparked an attack, a third grey wolf blindsided and tackled him.

"Jayson!" Mai exclaimed.

The hound attempted to ravage Jayson, who could only block and dodge in the midst of all his panic. The wolf's sharp claws were inches away from impaling Jayson before the animal was struck with a strong gust of wind from Kaden. The attack wasn't strong enough to knock the wolf off of him, but it did provide yet another opening. Jayson quickly striked the back of his hands together and ignited his right hand on fire. The sudden flame was enough to scare the wolf off of him and gave Jayson the opportunity to scurry backward into Kaden and Mai.

"Are you alright!?" Mai asked, filled with worry.

"I'm fine, it's nothing serious." Jayson answered. "These cuts can be healed later. "

There was no time to worry about the minor injuries he sustained, as the three wolves were now circling around the trio. Salivating and snarling, the three hounds were now obviously irritated and determined to leave with a catch. Jayson was concerned about accidentally starting a forest fire, so he was being extra careful with his flames.

"Call the play coach." Kaden stated. "How are we gonna kill them?"

"Don't hurt them!" Via exclaimed as she suddenly appeared atop a tree branch.

"Are you serious!?"

"I had a similar reaction." Aaron replied, standing on a different branch. "Cover your ears, guys!"

Once everyone did so, Via used her ultrasonic whistle once more, and it had the same effect on these wolves as it did the first. They couldn't bare the pain of the high-frequency sound and eventually fled the area.

"We could've used that a minute ago." Kaden said as he dropped his hands to his side.

"You two alright?" Jayson asked Aaron and Via.

"Yeah, we're fine." Aaron answered as him and Via made their way to the ground.

"Thanks for saving us, but I think we should discuss some things."

.....

After relocating to an area that Via determined to be safe for the time being. The group took a break, just twenty minutes after leaving the village, to talk over the dynamics of this team. 

"We should've done this sooner now that I think about it." Jayson stated. "But, it's a good thing we're still very early into the journey. First thing, we should assign a definitive leader for this squad. This person will have the final say on all matters and will be the voice of our team."

Kaden promptly raised his hand as he sat with his legs crossed.

"You can't nominate yourself." Aaron said in response to seeing Kaden's hand.

"I wasn't going to. I think it should be Maira."

"Huh?" Replied a slightly stunned Mai.

"I had the same thought." Jayson commented.

"Wait -"

"It would only make sense for it to be Mai." Via added.

"Why are all of you..."

"You said it yourself, didn't you?" Jayson interjected. "You are the next best option to represent the village since the elders are unable to travel right now."

"We wouldn't even be out here if you weren't here with us." Kaden added.

"I..."

"Let me guess. You're hesitating because you don't think you're the strongest in the group?"

"You know this, but still want me to lead."

"Because strength doesn't matter for this." Kaden adamantly replied. "I've seen you take lead in several situations. Like that time with the wind spirit thingy."

"That's a terrible example, I almost got the three of us killed. I had to drag you and Kuria's unconscious bodies back to the village."

"Yeah, but we still won. And against a creature none of us had seen before. I think that says something."

"Kaden -"

"If you really don't want the title, then you can firmly decline it right now." Jayson stated.

"..."

Mai looked around at all of the seemingly patient gazes, awaiting her response.

"... Okay. I'll do it." Mai replied.

"Indecision is a terrible quality for leaders." Kaden said mockingly purposely to fire up Mai.

"I will take the lead!" Mai answered more confidently.

Kaden grinned as he was pleased with the outcome of the decision.

"Alright. Since that is decided, then let's move on." Jayson stated. "Via, I understand you grew up here in these woods, so I was willing to trust you back then. But when we get to the air continent, you shouldn't separate yourself from the group so easily again. You're not just putting yourself at risk, but you're also setting the rest of us at a disadvantage. Understood?"

"Mhm." Via replied while nodding her head.

"Alright, well, that's all I have for now. That and I think we should talk about our own strengths and weaknesses but we can do that on the move. Do you have anything, Mai?"

"Nothing else as of now. We should get going."

"Yessir, Captain Maira!" Kaden responded jokingly.

"Don't call m-"

"After you, Captain." Aaron jokingly followed.

Mai sighed and accepted it. She then proceeded to lead them in the direction of the gate.