Discovery

The crew slowly but steadily crept through the forest. It was cold and dark, they were exhausted and hungry. The group debated on just crashing next to another tree in the open if it meant they could finally get some rest. Fortunately, they came across a giant mushroom with an oval cap that came half way down its body, making it the perfect cover for rain or parasites that hunt from above. Its lower stem, however, was still easily visible to predators that lurked on ground level.

The group didn't even need to communicate, Sora walked to the stem and flopped belly-first into the cool dirt. Dylan sat down with his back resting on the stem and started to doze off. Nazurak was the last one awake, before he slept he wanted to make sure their surroundings were safe, or at the very least nothing that was bloodthirsty for their necks.

Pulling out the scanner he spent a couple of minutes looking around the area while sitting under the giant mushroom. His head bobbed up and down trying to stay awake, then text appeared on the screen.

'you got to be joking...'

A humanoid figure with a faint blue glow to it's silhouette appeared behind a tree off in the distance, peaking its head out to look at the group. Before Nazurak eyes got to focus on whatever it was, the figure vanished as quickly as it appeared, making the scan incomplete.

'what the hell...was that? Am I supposed to sleep after witnessing that! Or maybe it was my mind playing tricks on me, I could just be sleep-deprived...yeah that must be it.'

A couple minutes after that short event happened, Nazurak was sound asleep under the mushroom. He tried to stay awake but decided that the thing was not out to harm them since it didn't return or attacked when it appeared.

As time passed, the cold breeze became warm once again, and the darkness that enveloped the forest lightened up with the help of sun rays that pierced through the leaves of the trees. Nazurak was awoken by the smell of roasting meat, he slowly opened his eyes and looked around only to find no one next to him.

Getting up, he left the shade provided by the giant mushroom. The warmth of the sun washed over him as he closed his eyes.

'the sun is a wonderful thing isn't it?'

"Morning Nazurak!" Sora said cheerfully sitting next to a fire and waving her hand.

She was roasting meat from their catch yesterday. There were several sticks with meat on it leaning close to the fire.

"Eat up, there's plenty for us all" she added.

Walking over to the fire with a smile Nazurak thanked her and ate a couple of the skewers making sure to leave more than enough for the rest of them.

"That was delicious, thank you Sora. Hey where's Dylan?" He curiously asked.

She picked up a skewer for herself and then sighed.

"He went to go look for water. I told him it was dangerous to wander alone but he said he wouldn't be going too far. I've been checking the scanners to see if his health condition has changed, but so far it looks like he's doing fine."

Nazurak thought about it with a brooding expression.

'that's not safe at all, I'll have to talk to him when he gets back.'

While thinking about the potential dangers of the planet, he remembered that humanoid figure he saw during the night.

"I'll talk to him when he gets back...Hey, since you arrived at the courtyard back in the farm before me, did the instructor tell you guys any information about the planet? Like previous exploration platoons?"

Sora finished a skewer and threw the stick at a nearby tree with the help of her trait, then thought back to the courtyard.

"Hmm, no I don't think so. Griffin started talking when the last person arrived, which was you. Why what's up?" She asked.

He paused for a bit rethinking what he saw. Was he going to sound crazy? Surely not right? They were on an unknown planet inside enemy territory after all, plus it was better to let them know potential dangers.

"Last night when you both fell asleep, I decided to stay awake for a bit longer to make sure nothing was following us. Before I dozed off the scanner picked up what looked like a human figure behind one of the trees. I thought maybe it could be another explorer sent here like us?"

Sora recollected what Griffen said back in the courtyard.

"If I recall correctly, there are 4 platoons. They didn't mention anything about earlier groups being sent here. Each platoon was warped to different continents. Our platoon consists of 18 explorers and they're spread out in this area. So if it was one of us, then it would be one of our platoon members."

Sora's face turned doubtful.

"However we don't know how big the Forest Of Thorns is, and we don't know how far we've been scattered from the other groups. Also if it were another explorer why wouldn't they talk to us?" She questioned.

Nazurak was face-palming in his thoughts.

'she's right...I could have thought of that myself if I had just spent some time thinking, now I sound like an idiot.'

"Yeah, you got a point. Must have been my imagination."

Just then they heard shuffling and turned their heads to the noise. It was Dylan, his face was full of excitement.

"Guys! You gotta check this out." He said waving his hand.

"Eat first bozo!" Sora exclaimed, not moving an inch from her spot.

Sitting down Dylan grabbed a couple of skewers and talked about what he found with his mouth full of food.

"So, not too far from here, I found a decent size river and I followed it. You would not believe what I found! It's perfect. The river leads out of the forest to a meadow. But the coolest part is in the center of it, there's a mushroom just like this one except taller and wider, and there's not just one, but a whole family of them!" He said, almost choking on the food.

Tapping his chest and then clearing his throat, he resumed.

"It's the perfect place for camp. The mushroom will keep the rain off our heads and the meadow will make any parasite easily visible for a long way. Not to mention the river that runs through it. What more and we ask for!"

Dylan was so thrilled with his find, he wanted to pack up and head there now. Though, they didn't have much to pack.

The group was happy to hear this, finding a place to call base would be a nice boost in morale. They had only spent one night in the open, but that was enough for them to not want to experience that again.

"Shouldn't you guys rest for another day at least? You both are pretty beat up." Sora concerningly asked.

"We should...but if this area could potentially be our main camp it would solve a lot of problems." Nazurak said.

Dylan nodded his head and got up, but before they all left, Nazurak spoke.

"Before we go, Dylan, you shouldn't be going out there alone. There's only three of us here, what will happen if one of us disappears? We need us all to be alive."

The crackling sound from the fire and the wind passing through the trees filled their ears. Nazurak sighed and added.

"Look what I'm trying to say is let us know when you're going to explore, it's better to go as a group, for the safety of us all."

Dylan placed one hand behind his neck.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I was excited...you see, I've been living in the farms for as long as I can remember. When they said we'll be exploring an unknown planet it felt like a dream! To see new scenery, hear new things, and see parasite battles! It's so different than being locked away in the bubbles..."

Sora also looked like she felt what he was talking about. Nazurak has only been in the farms for 4 years, he couldn't imagine being there for most of his life.

Nazurak placed his hand on Dylan's shoulder.

"I understand... let's just take it slow okay? No need to take in all the craziness this world has to offer in a couple days. Who knows, maybe we'll be here for longer than 3 months." He said with a smile.

Nazurak wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but he'd rather be out here fighting for his life than rotting away in the farm.

With that, the group got up and took the rest of the skewers while putting out the fire. The sun burned with vigor in the sky as they set out to find the meadow.