Into the Woods 2

After leaving the forest they made their way back to camp while casually talking about what they saw in the forest. It took what felt like half an hour to get again get back to camp. "They're back!" Someone shouted as the hunting group arrived.

Everyone crowded around and stared at them and the mumbling of whispers could be heard as everyone was buzzing about it. Emma emerged from the crowd and said while clearly out of breath, "You all made it back safely, that's great."

"What's wrong?" Caleb quickly inquired.

"Just a bit exhausted, in the time you've been gone sixteen more have received their Remnants. I've just been too busy dealing with all of that but how was the scouting?" She asked as she finally caught her breath.

"This trip might have been, hehe fruitful," Timothy replied with a smug grin on his face.

Xander shook his head as he added, "We found a tree with things that look like fruits, Levi picked some but we don't know if their edible yet."

"I'm going for the book," Raphael said as he jogged off in a hurry.

"Let's go to the tree where it's more private," Caleb suggested as everyone proceeded towards the tree.

Casey saw Levi on his way there and went beside him, "I must admit, you do look good without a shirt on," she said with a slight blush.

"You should see me when it's all off," Levi responded flirtatiously.

"Shut up, I'm not into you," she giggled.

"Yet, not into me yet," Levi rebutted as they arrived at the tree.

"Okay Levi you can put them down now," Xander said as Levi placed his shirt on the floor and opened it to reveal the green ringed orange fruit.

"I've never seen a fruit like this before," Casey said as she and Emma stared at them.

"I found them! I found them!" Raphael exclaimed as her rejoined with the group.

"You found what these are?" Emma asked as Raphael answered, "Yup they're called Sorellis, it describes the tree with green veins and say that it's an edible fruit."

"All that's left is who's gonna try it first?" Levi asked.

"It should be safe," Xander said as he picked one up took out his sword and cut himself a slice.

He looked rather nervously at the sorellis, that had an apple like texture and, maintained the colors that were shown on the outside in it's interior. He slowly took a small bite of it and paused as he chewed, "It's delicious and sweet!" He said as everyone started slicing the other two sorellis.

Levi ate his entire slice in one bite as he enjoyed the sweet flavor, "Wait, it's a bit spicy," he said as everyone stopped to inquire.

"It's been all sweet for me so far, was yours not ripe enough or something?" Timothy chuckled as he took another bite and instantly felt the spice of it, "Why did it suddenly get hot, wow that's a good kick."

Raphael stared at his slice which he had only taken a bite of the orange part. He then decided to take a bite of only the green part and like he predicted, it was spicy. "Fascinating, it seems the orange part is sweet and the green part is a tad spicy," he revealed to everyone as they tested for themself to confirm.

"At any rate this fruit is better than starving and they're a lot of them enough to at least last a week. We also saw chickens but those were built like tanks, so maybe after more people get a hang of their remnants, then we can go after them," Caleb expounded.

"Chicken? Tanks? This place surely is stra-," Emma was saying as she fainted mid sentence as Caleb who was beside her caught her immediately.

"Emma!" Caleb shouted.

"Is she just tired or was it the Remnant?" Timothy questioned.

"I don't know, Caleb take her to the Bunker, everyone as long as you don't get your Remnants today then we're the ones going back in the forest tomorrow," Xander said as he walked away.

A few hours had passed and some of those who had fainted begun waking up. They started telling everyone about their abilities and almost immediately started meditating to learn how to use it. They learned that not everyone has a combat based remnants, as the newly awakened abilities ranged from simply creating a ball of light or,causing insects to appear on one target or shaping water. Everyone were most eager to hear what Flora, the only celebrity in this predicament with them had received. Everyone was happy to know she had the ability to heal others. It was the first someone had receive a remnant like this so far, and it undoubtedly raised the chances of survival. "It feels like a whole day should have passed already yet the sun is only just setting," Timothy said as he and Xander sat outside the bunker.

"Yup most people are already asleep and I'm barely awake," Xander replied.

"The days here are definitely longer," Timothy stated.

"Emma still isn't awake yet, you think she's okay?" Xander asked.

"She'll be fine, have you seen how hard she works?" Timothy replied as he yawned, "On the other hand what do you think about Flora's powers?"

"She'll definitely has one of the most important power, she think she's treated like a star now? Knowing those here they'll probably worship her," Xander answered.

Timothy didn't utter a word in response, "Timothy?" He said as he checked on him, only to realize that Timothy had fallen asleep.

"I guess I should get some shut eyes as well," Xander said to himself.

 They all slept relatively peacefully through the night, with the morning came more and more people falling unconscious. Emma finally woke up and revealed that her powers were related to freezing, and then she immediately went to meditating. "So I guess all of us are still good?" Xander said to the hunting group.

 "I guess so, let's bring our bags this time so we can carry some fruits back," Caleb replied as everyone went to get their backpacks.

"So after you learn to use your powers do you not need to meditate anymore?" Xander quickly asked.

"You're basically meditating to learn how to sense essence and absorb it so that you can use your powers. After you've got the hang of it you can pretty much absorb essence while doing anything although it's much slower, but you'd still want to practice how to use your powers," Timothy replied as they headed back to the group.

They then set off towards the forest once again. "It's nine of us, we're going to split into groups of two except one group that will have three, and we're gonna pick from different trees so that we can minimize the time spend in the forest," Xander informed the group as they all agreed.

"The four of you I actually don't know your name could you tell us," Xander said to the other four.

"I'm Mathew."

"I'm Liam."

"I'm Ryan."

"I-I'm Kyuso."

"Okay Raphael and I, Timothy and Ryan, Levi and Kyuso. Caleb, Mathew and Liam as the last team," Xander finished as they all agreed as the were now close to the forest.

They found the entrance they used the day before and retraced the sword markings back to the sorellis trees. They split off into their different groups at each tree they encountered. Xander and Raphael were the last group left to find a tree but they quickly found one. Just like the other teams, one would climb the tree, pick the fruits and throw them down for the other person to catch. Pretty efficient but one team were having some problems, "Come on can't you catch a stupid fruit?!" Levi exclaimed after being irritated.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry," Kyuso replied as fear grew in his eyes.

"Just catch the damn fruit it's not that hard nerd," he said as he threw down another fruit.

Kyuso tried his best to catch it but he still managed to drop it. Infuriated, Levi climbed down the tree cursing, "Can't you do anything right? It's just catching a fucking fruit it's not hard. Are you fucking stupid? You can't climb a tree and you can't catch. Am I supposed to just do it by my-fucking-self?" He paused after coming down and seeing that Kyuso eyes were filled with tears.

"Are, are you really crying?" Levi asked as his blood began to boil even more.

Kyuso tried to wipe the tears from his eyes as he apologized some more, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I can't do anything right. I just wanted to help but once again I just make everything worse. Everyone was right I'm just a screw up."

Levi made a fist and hit the tree and then let out a big sigh, "Look, I've had plenty of people who've told me I'm a fuck up and I'm never going to be anything and all that bullshit. You can't let them or me or anyone tell you what you are," Levi said as Kyuso replied, "But they're right my whole life I've-."

Levi cut him off as he grabbed Kyuso's shoulders and started shaking him, "Listen to me! Fuck what others say, fuck them, as a matter of fact you're not even on earth anymore. You're a new you so you can be whatever you want to be. Focus on being that better you and stop crying."

Kyuso wiped away his tears and forced himself to not shed anymore as he nod his head to agree with Levi. "Okay I'm going to go back up the tree with the bag I'll fill it up a bit and throw it down. It's a bigger target so you should be able to catch it easier, and you'll just put them in your bag got it?" Levi instructed as Kyuso nod his head and replied, "Got it."

The rest of the fruit collection went by smoothly for everyone. They all gathered back to the first team to start picking which was Caleb's team. After seeing everyone's backpacks filled with fruits, they headed back to base happy with another successful trip. More good news would follow, because back at camp three new persons learned how to use their powers. Flora was one of them as they demonstrated for everyone. The hunting group distributed the fruits to as everyone and warned them about it's unique taste. The mood at the camp was cheerful and optimistic as night fell. "Th-thank you for what you did for me, in the forest," Kyuso said as he approached Levi.

 "Yeah, don't mention it," Levi replied as he bit into a sorellis.

 "Why did you do it though, I-I was actually messing up afterall," Kyuso stated.

 "I don't know, you reminded me a lot of me I guess," Levi replied.

 "How? You're strong and get stuff done, w-we couldn't be any more different," Kyuso rebutted.

 "When I was younger, I had to face my family, friends and everyone else telling me I'm a good for nothing. No matter how much good I tried to do, it was never good enough. All my life I've been laughed at, beaten and taunted for being a fuck up. I was lost, I had no choice but to believe what they said because that's who Levi was. A coward with friends who'd stab him in the back, a father but no dad, a mother but no mom, a house that wasn't a home. Almost ended my own life, I was filled with rage just why was I so worthless? But then I asked myself, am I the problem? I wasn't, but nobody likes to help others it's much more fun to kick them while they're down. I decided I didn't want to be their toy anymore, I started working out, getting stronger so that I could stand above everyone. I bullied bullies, and everyone in between, none of them are really worth any sympathy. That's why you can't let them decide who you are, you got to make that choice for yourself. Are you going to continue being what they paint you out to be? I'm Levi Ellis and I make my own path." Levi expounded.

 "I'm tired of being the one in the wrong, I'm Ryuzaki Kyuso and I'll make my own path!" Kyuso replied passionately as some tears streamed down his face.

 "I thought your first name was Kyuso," Levi replied.

 "Ahh it is my given name but in Japan, family names comes first," Kyuso replied.

 "Woah so did you grow up in Japan or the States?" Levi asked.

 "Raised in the states by some friends of my family," Kyuso answered.

 "Ever thought about going back to your family in Japan?" Levi asked.

 Kyuso face went blank for a moment as he replied, "After my parents died nobody wanted to 'deal' with a young child, so I don't even keep in contact with them."

 "I'm sorry man, that's fucked up. You know what? Fuck them! You don't need them anyways," Levi replied.

 Kyuso let out a little chuckle as he smiled and said, "Yeah forget them."

 The days following were continuously successfully with fruit picking and awakenings. More and more people started learning how to use their powers including Caleb and Levi. They had a beast bond ability and molecular fortification respectively. Naturally, more people started joining the hunting groups to help out and possibly venture further into the forest.