Suspect

Zoe stood behind him to guide him on how to shoot an arrow, even though he had said he had been taught, she wouldn't let him display what he did considering what he showed earlier.

"...here, lift your elbow higher, yes like that..." Zoe instructed, "...now release."

Swish!... Stuck!

And the arrow was sent flying and missed it's mark, instead went to another.

"I believe if were to be someone else they wouldn't help me after what happened." Ben said after intentionally missing the tree. It is nearly impossible and would be considered a disgrace if Ben - after fifteen years of intense training under his father and other instructors and not to forget the super computer in his brain - was to miss in shooting an arrow ten metres away from him.

"That's what differentiate me from you." although she looked calm Ben didn't miss when she got rigid.

"Me? I'm an easy going guy." picking up another arrow he point to a tree at the side, "Anyway, want a fruit?"

Zoe faces a tree by the west side and saw three fruits hanging more than thirty metres high. She said before turning to face been again, "I'd like that, but how...?" her voice got stuck in her throat as Ben fired an arrow at the tree which held the fruits.

Three blue colored peaches were falling after the first arrow was shot. When Zoe saw this she was shocked once more. The peaches were less than ten metres above the ground been shot another arrow nailing all three of them one metres away from the ground to the tree. This time Zoe's mouth was open in a small 'o'. You could say she is now totally speechless.

"Here, you can have one," handing one Blue Sun peach over to her he added, "Oh and archery isn't why I wanted to get to talk to you here." a short while and no response he went on. "Look, I didn't mean what I said the way I said it, it came out wrong and I know you know that too. Truth is, everyone in the team knows that something is off with you. I just hope you could, you know, calm down, you're getting all jumpy around me and others are taking notice of that." Ben paused to see what she has to say.

"*sigh* Ben, to be frank with you, you don't have to apologize for anything. My mind has just been thinking about a lot of things for some time. I am sorry for your worries." Zoe slumped her shoulder releasing a tired breath and said her mind.

"No need to apologize. Hmm, I think this is a good place to learn that skill you've been begging me for." Ben said grinning at her.

"Wha... What? I never begged you for anything." she stuttered.

"Yeah, if you say so. So, wanna give to a go?"

"*sigh* I guess."

"OK, like I said, you all walk like stick puppet, the men mostly. Since you're a girl you'll catch on much faster, you ready?"

"Yes."

"First you don't walk entirely on the sole of your feet, but the balls," he said this while showing her what he meant, "and you're playing your hips wrong, it's like this." he placed his palm on her hip which caused her to involuntarily twitch but Ben's voice came again, "remember, you need to be able to walk smooth and relaxed." he said yet left his hands where they were. Sensing her calming down he went on, "The most important thing is that you have to be one with the forest ."

Zoe heard this and looked up at him with a deep frown. Ben was lucky it wasn't directed at him but his words.

"What do you mean being 'one' with the forest? The elves are one with the forest." said Zoe.

"Uh, no you're not." her doubt was still evident so he went on, "Can you tell me how many wild beasts are around us right now?" Ben waited as Zoe turned round to look at her surroundings.

"I can't see any, so I don't think there's any around us." she confidently answered.

"See? You're wrong, if you're one with forest you wouldn't need to see with your eyes to know if there's anything in the woods, now look." pointing towards the south, "right over there are two Fanged hare and over there, in the west, is a green Three Eyed Python, but it's sleeping at the moment." Ben stopped and looked at her bewildered expression, "You can come out now if you're interested." Ben shouted towards the north.

Zoe became confused why Ben would suddenly be taking to the woods around them until she saw someone walk out from behind a tree.

"Sye?!" Zoe yelled barely covering her mouth afterwards.

"You got skill boy." Sye's raspy voice was heard.

"How... how did you know?" she stuttered then to Sye, "How long have you been there?"

"From the beginning." Ben answered them to Sye, "Cush sent you, right?"

"Yes, said to keep an eye on you two."he answered.

"How?" this was the only thing Zoe continued to mutter.

"The way I see it is that the elves aren't together with the forest, instead you all use the forest in ways other races don't understand and can't replicate. You aren't meant to force the forest to help camouflage you, you have to... to..." Ben stopped as he kept thinking on the best word to describe what he means, "ah, you have to blend with the forest. Be part of it and it part of you."

For the next two hours Ben taught Zoe the Forest Parade. It was unlike the elves skill which needs the use of magic to function. Good thing she's an elven girl, because she was able to pick up fast. Faster than even him. Sye rejected the offer to learn but still watched from a distance.

"We have to be heading back."Sye said as he started heading back to camp without waiting for the two.

"This was fun!" Zoe laughed heartily like a little girl who got a new dress.

"Fun? When I had to learn this skill, it took me more than a month, and you're saying it was fun! Damn! you're only lucky you're an elf a girl and not human." Even though he acted dramatical he wasn't lying, "Well, we better head back."

"Yeah!" Zoe was grinning from ear to ear. She was practically skipping on her way back.

Ben only frown knowingly along himself 'How old is she to act like a teenager?"

If Ben knew the person in question was a little less than eighty he might choose to change to a different spices. Actually, the elves age five years less than humans, if a human is five years old then an elf is one year old, in other words, if a human is ten years old then an elf has just become five years old. So despite Zoe being almost eighty she was really sixteen in human perspective. Weird!

They both returned back to the camp only to see everyone packing up their belongings.

"So, how did it go? Did he accidentally shoot an animal or just missed?" when Zoe came close to help out Evelyn asked. As she remembered how he agilely shot those two arrows to get fruit from the tree, she figured, he only missed at first to initiate a talk "Zoe?" Evelyn called out after a while of silence noticing Zoe's absentminded. Evelyn's eyes got large as an amused smile was hanging on her face.

Coming out of her trance to reality, her face got heated up after thinking about a boy for so long in front of a fellow girl, "Yeah."

"Whoa! Have you guys gone that deep?" she asked still having her amused smile. these words made her blush a little.

"What are you talking about?" Zoe asked as she quickly stood some packing to distract herself from Evelyn... and Ben.

"Gather around people!" Cush's voice could be heard by everyone, calling for them. When they all came he spread out a map. "Okay, this is where we currently at, by tomorrow we will right outside the Badlands, but there will be certainly a higher number of danger so be vigilant at all times."

By sunset the next day the group arrived by a huge lake. The thing is, this lake wasn't made of water but big red beetle the size of an adult palm, they swarmed the entire area ahead of them. It was telling them that the land beyond these lakes was a no man's land.

"How on earth are we going to go through this. It is densely packed for crying out loud!" Trick yelled when he saw the sight.

"We have to find a way, is there no other way?" Evelyn said with her calm expression.

"Then let's go around." yelled Trick.

"It is not possible. This is the only way into the Badlands. People had tried other routes but never made it out." Cush explained.

"What?!" Trick shouted in hysteria.

"Could you stop yelling already?" Zoe said getting annoyed by his yelling.

"Cush, then what the use of coming all the out here if we can't even get cross this lake of Blood beetles?" Trick question angrily.

"I guess what we have to do is wait till dawn, maybe we..."

"Nobody asked for your fucking opinion!" Ben was rudely interrupted by Trick.

"Trick! What is your problem?!" Zoe shouted at him.

"He is my problem. He's here acting all friendly and all, have you ever stopped to asked what his motives are. He is the most secretive person amongst us all. Let's not bring up that he hardly helps whenever we were attacked by demon creatures or wild beasts." Trick retorted.

"He made us avoid most of this demon creatures!" Sye's raspy voice cuts in.

"And how do you know that? If that is true then why isn't it Zoe the one doing it? You obviously don't expect the elves to be so bad at feeling danger in the woods do ya?!"

"Well..." Zoe was cut by Trick again.

"I have been wondering Zoe, what do you even see in him. Guys, I believe Ben isn't just a Second-level elemental swordsman."

"He's an Intermediate Blacksmith." Cush added alas.

"And do you believe that trashy excuse? Have you ever seen an intermediate Blacksmith this young? Huh, answer me!" Trick shouts after not getting an answered from them. After a long time Cush spoke.

"Trick, I don't want to ever hear this topic again..."

"Cush, you really..."

"I said enough!" shouting with the help of his elemental seed to increase the volume. "Make camp, we'll wait here till the morning." he ordered.

Ben was very angry by Trick's stupidity to suspect him. He wouldn't blame him though, although he had just joined the team recently, he doesn't warrant such insults. Not everyone will trust you off the bat, that is to be expected.

What annoys Ben however wasn't the suspicion but having the wrong suspect. To Ben, the only people worthy of being suspects in the whole group was Evelyn and Sye.