One Year

1 year later:

In the middle of the forest, on top of a hill, we are met with a familiar small mansion. However, the mansion didn't look the same. Before, although bland, it looked bright and lively.

A place that looked comforting enough to call home. But now, the mansion looked the opposite. Moss cover most of the walls, there was dried blood around the front entrance, it even gave off a cold, eerie vibe. The previous energy that surrounded the mansion was completely gone, it was completely lifeless. Pitiful even.

In the mansion, there were a couple of young adults all surrounding a dimly lit table. "Alright, guys I think we should make our way into the orange zone." This was Aaron.

After all this time and the mistakes he made on the first expedition, it was surprising to see him still in charge. He didn't change very much, the only thing noticeable was his poorly cut hair that looked like it had been cut carelessly with a knife and perhaps a loss in a bit of muscle mass.

"Are you serious, Aaron?!"  Exclaimed Luca, he too hadn't changed much, other than his hair which he decided to grow out. Although Aaron was still in charge, it was clear he didn't have one hundred per cent control and power.

"Look at us, we came to this world with more than fifty people. There's fourteen of us left." Stated Luca. And he was right. Although they had only lost about 20 people in the first expedition, that didn't stop more from dying afterwards.

"I think what Luca is trying to say is that we shouldn't be too impatient. Staying in the green zone and getting stronger is what's best for us." This was Johan. Despite his age, only 16, he was the brains of the group. He looked quite normal, with no eye-catching features. 

He was slightly tanned and had black hair. What they were looking at right now was a poorly drawn map that had 3 different colours.

Red for the most dangerous parts that they have discovered, this included where most of their men went died during the first expedition.

Yellow was for the places that were still quite dangerous, occasionally meeting the wolfish creature, therefore it was better to stay away.

Finally green. These were the places they usually went and hunted. They would usually find small boar-like creatures and rabbits. They would also find some creatures, which they named goblins, that would attack them.

"Johan's right. We shouldn't make unnecessary moves that could potentially get us killed. We need to scour the area and get stronger, and eventually look for a way out of this hell of a forest."

To this, most of the people nodded their heads. Although they usually wouldn't disagree with Aaron, even they had to admit his plan was really dangerous.

"OK fine. I hear what you're saying, but how long will it take us this way? Hunting small creatures is taking us nowhere. Alright, how about this? How about we discover some new areas, we'll never know our luck, but we might find a way out."

This way we are being productive and we aren't putting ourselves in too much danger, since we are still in the vicinity of the green zone." He explained.

To be honest this didn't sound like the worst plan, so his minions decided to agree.

"I think that's a good idea. This way we will be able to kill two birds with one stone." Hearing the female's voice, Aaron replied.

"Thank you, Noa. Let's put it to a vote." He only ever suggested this when it would benefit him. Noa was a girl who was the third in command in both the biscord server and here as well.

She's quite the condescending person, she was the type of person who would never accept blame and always thought she was the smartest person in the room.

You could tell from her bored face as you spoke to her. She had black hair tied up in a ponytail and her body language gave off the same message as her face.

"All those who agree with me, raise your hand." He said with an irritating smile. The kind you would give your sibling after they were told off. As they went around the room Aaron and Noa had their hands up so far.

"Colt, what about you?" Asked Aaron.

"Hell yeah, dude. I agree with you a hundred per cent" He agreed, making Aaron nod at him slightly.

This was Colt, the local… meatrider. He had white skin with ginger hair and freckles on both of his cheeks. He was the "class clown" who only did things for attention and to have the higher-ups praise him. He'd make a great pet dog.

As he continued to go around the room he called out the names of the others asking for their vote.

"Sophie?" He said, asking for her vote.

"Anything you decide, I'll go along with." She said as she winked at him. To this Aaron just blushed and became quite nervous, completely unrecognisable from the brave leader he was ten seconds ago.

Sophie was the "alluring girl" of the group. She usually used her looks to charm Aaron as she believed he was the strongest and the most commanding, therefore if she could Manipulate him, she'd always get her way.

And she was usually successful. To this, the others who noticed what was going on stared at her with disgust.

"Eric?" He turned to the person called Eric, to which he replied

"Sure." Eric was the oldest of the bunch coming in at 21. Also making him the most mature and responsible. Looking at him, one could say he looked like a typical geek. He has glasses with straight hair falling to his face and he wore a shirt that was usually tucked in, he was quite reserved as well, not talking very much.

"Johan?" Asked Aaron.

To which Johan agreed. He carried on, and most of them agreed. Even Luca looked defeated. When he got to the last person, he paused slightly and said

"Ijan. It's nice to have you back at the table. Just know getting angry and demanding we listen to you will get you banned from the occasional conferences."

The person named Ijan gritted his teeth, as he said

"Thank you, Aaron. I'll keep that in mind. I'd also like to say I agree." Ijan was quite the typical-looking fellow. He was banned for a short amount of time because he could never agree with others. He was the controlling type, who wanted everything done their way.

"Alright, then it's settled. We leave tomorrow." He said, ending the conference. 

They woke up early in the morning and met in the living room. As they were packing a girl came to each of them and gave them some food and a first aid kit for their travels.

This girl was Stacy. Given her timid nature, she didn't go out to fight. Instead, she decided she would help everyone from the house.

Such as cooking and cleaning. She didn't mind doing this, as she was already used to it. She had a big family where she was the oldest, it was practically her job to tend to her younger siblings and to clean after them.

Therefore she would much rather prefer this, over going out there to those monsters. She had short black hair and looked to be from an Asian heritage. They finished packing up and left for their adventure.

They made their way to a completely new area which they haven't been to before using the poorly drawn map as a guide. They walked for a while, making sure not to go too far out. They made that mistake once. Until they stumbled upon a cave.

"I KNEW IT!!" Exclaimed Aaron, knowing this was a good time to gloat and get back some power.

"Let's go." He said joyfully.

"Wait, shouldn't we check to make sure nothing surprises us?" Luca said putting his hands up.

"Stop arguing so much Luca. If Aaron said to do it, just do it." Said an annoyed Noa, trying to look supportive.

"Yeah, whatchu always gotta argue for, man?"  Said Colt seeing an opportunity to be noticed.

Aaron smiled inwardly. Ever since the first expedition, Luca has always challenged what he's said, it was starting to piss him off. Seeing the others bark for him and put Luca in his place made him feel ecstatic.

With a "tsk" Luca unwillingly followed them. After entering the cave and walking for a bit, they noticed it started to get considerably darker.

STOMP STOMP STOMP

After walking for a while they heard something. Some sort of giant, heavy footsteps came from where they were walking. As they started to sweat and assume the worst, they started to see something. It was some sort of titan with one eye.

It looked as if it ate something sour, as its face scrunched unusually. It had a giant nose that covered most of its face and a peculiar amount of hair.

The cave was silent for a minute with everyone scared stiff before the Cyclops bent over and gave them a howling roar. Some of them even fell over as it was too much for them.

"EVERYBODY RUN!!!" Screamed Luca. 

But it was too late, the giant swung his hand across the ground. Some were able to dodge, such as Luca, Ijan, Sophie and Aaron. But most of them were either hit with the hand or by the flying rocks that came after the devastating blow.

Aaron tried to shoot his arrows, but the ones that did land had no effect at all as they bounced off. Aaron had changed to a bow and arrow. He claimed it was to command the team better, and not have to multi-task. But some, such as Luca, knew he was just afraid.

As they thought they were about to die they heard something. It was laughter.

"Ahahahahahhaha." It was Ijan laughing like a maniac as if he had suddenly just found a million bucks on his bed.

"Finally, after so long." He stated as if he was relieved.

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