Chapter 27 Nature Challenge

They started going up while Flare was left adjusting her shoes to prepare for the Nature Challenge. Yani approached her.

“Good luck Flare,” and she smiled at her. Flare looked back at her, nodded and continued adjusting her shoes.

“Okay. I'm going up,” Yani said as she started walking away.

“Yani,” Flare called so Yani stopped and turned to her.

“Yes—”

“Don't force yourself to smile if that's not how you feel,” Flare entered. “Honestly, it's annoying to see you like that.”

Yani fell silent while Flare stood up and started walking but she also stopped immediately.

“You have friends who respect you as their leader and as a leader, you are the one who leads the group so whatever you are bringing to this event, they might be carrying it. They may have been able to joke in front of you but they are not blind to see you like that,” Flare said seriously as she walked away towards the grounds.

Yani was left in her place dumbfounded and did not know what to do. Hera noticed her so she approached her.

“Uhm Yani, let’s go upstairs—”

She stopped when she saw Yani crying and it left her surprised and don't know what to do.

“I know it's hard to hide your feelings,” she looked at Hera. “What am I going to do Hera?”

Hera was speechless and just looked at her with sad eyes.

The Tradition is coming to an end and after that, Yani knows that she is leaving this nation. She will leave her team without them even knowing why. She wants to tell them this but it might hurt them.

“I'm confused—” Yani stopped when Hera was reaching for her a handkerchief so she looked at Hera.

“Uhm sorry if this is all I can give,” said Hera. “I want to hug you so that I can at least alleviate the sadness you feel but I will be ruined if I touch your tears. I hope this is enough.”

Yani looked at the handkerchief. “But Prince Eaux gave that to you,” she sobbed.

Hera smiled. “It's okay. Just wipe your tears to reduce your sadness.”

Yani looked at Hera with tears in her eyes, got the handkerchief and wiped away her tears.

“Thank you Hera.”

“You’re welcome,” Hera replied with a smile.

Hera climbed up.

“Hera girl, come on. The game is starting,” Jessy excitedly invited and noticed that she’s all alone. “Oh, where is Yani?”

Hera smiled at them. ”She’s downstairs.”

“Why does she not want to come up?” Jessy asked.

“She said she wanted to be alone first,” Hera replied. They looked at each other after Hera said that.

“Good afternoon everyone! Welcome to this year’s Nature Challenge!” Feesy shouted. ”So are we all doing good?”

“Yes,” the player's weak response.

“I can't hear you!”

“YES WE ARE!” they answered loudly.

“That's nice to hear. Well then, let's move on to our first challenge!”

“Very deafening,” Jessy complained while scratching her ear. “The microphone is already on and he’s still screaming. It's nice to snatch away the microphone from his hand.”

“Yeah well that’s Prince Feesy, known as the 'Happy Prince'. What else can we expect?” Kyrie said.

“Really? Maybe it’s nice to be with him,” said Femme.

“Oh gosh Femme. You two will get along. No doubt,” Kyrie replied.

“Okay. So for the instructions, as you can see from the terrain, it's a JUNGLE! They say jungles are really dangerous and yes it is. Full of wild animals, poisonous plants and even quick sands are there but no matter how dangerous it is, in the end there are always hidden treasures in it that makes it more exciting isn't it?! So all of you players have to do is just to find the treasures and there are only five of them so the first five to find the treasures will move on to the second challenge. So are we clear about that?!”

The players just looked at each other.

“It looks like it's not. Well then, I'll repeat—”

“IT'S CLEAR!” the players shouted.

“That's the spirit! So without further ado, let the first challenge BEGIN!” all the players entered the forest at once.

There were cameras around the forest so they could see what was going on inside and they could see Flare tumbling through the branches.

“Her body is flexible, infairness,” said Jessy.

“Yeah. Unlike you,” Kyrie replied.

“Why did I even say my body is flexible?” Jessy asked.

“No,” Kyrie replied.

“See?”

Jessy paused for a moment and was surprised and looked at Kyrie. ”Wait, your insult is not even mean. That’s new,” Jessy jokes.

“And then?” Kyrie said seriously while watching the game.

The smile on Jessy's face disappeared and she understood Kyrie's answer. “Nothing.”

Flare landed and turned around to search but soon, she began to sink.

“Hala! That's a quick sand,” Donna panicked.

“Flare! You can do it!” Femme shouted.

Flare tried to leave but it did nothing. She looked at a tree and looked for something around her. She saw some vines so she immediately took them and threw them on the tree to tie them up. She pulled it until she left the quick sand.

“Yes! Let's go Flare!” Donna shouted.

“You're great Flare!” Femme shouted.

She started looking around again and soon, she found a treasure chest. Flare was about to approach it but a giant snake came.

“AAHH!” Femme and Donna shouted as they hugged each other.

“It's just a snake,” Kyrie said.

“But the size. It’s bigger than a person.”

What Femme said is not exaggerated because the snake is literally bigger than a human being. Flare was about to be eaten but she immediately jumped towards the back of the snake. The snake turned around and was about to bite her again but she passed under it and turned upwards. She just turned around until the snake's body curled up. She stood on a branch and looked at the snake that was struggling.

She took from her foot a branch of a tree with a rather sharp end. She aimed it at the snake's head and threw it away.

They were silenced by what she did. She immediately went down to the branch and went to the treasure chest. She was about to open it but it immediately fell into a hole and suddenly Flare's surroundings changed.

“Looks like the first challenge is over,” said Feesy. “5 people were able to find the treasure who will move on to the second challenge. I'm sorry for those who weren't able to find one but thank you for playing and don't worry. There's still a next time. Okay players, have a 5 minute break.”

Flare immediately walked back to where they were resting when she immediately noticed Yani who was just standing there looking at her.

“You’re so fast going down here,” Flare said seriously as she walked towards her.

Yani smiled at her. “Actually I've been here ever since you left.”

Flare stopped as she turned to her. “You're joking—”

“You're great Flare,” said Femme.

The two of them watched them go down but they also stopped when they saw Yani. There was an awkward silence but it broke when Yani spoke.

“Oh guys—”

“Be honest with me,” Flare interrupted. “…did Yani really just stayed here a while ago?”

They were surprised by Flare's question but they just looked at each other.

“Why aren't you answering?!” Flare asked incredulously.

“Flare I just said—”

“Shut up!” Flare turned angrily to Yani. Yani was silenced by what she did and Flare turned her gaze to them again.

“Why is no one still answering?!” she shouted.

“Yes Flare! She stayed down here! What are you upset about?!” Callie firmly said.

There was only a trace of anger on Flare's face as she faced Yani and made a ball of fire so they panicked. She threw it at Yani and Yani tried to block herself but a ground fence blocked her. Donna immediately went in front of Yani to protect her. Callie built an ice fence around Flare but it immediately melted in the heat. Hera pulled out ropes made of metal and wrapped it around her.

“Wait a minute Flare! Why are you angry with Yani?!” Jessy shouted. “So what if she stayed down here?! What is your problem?!”

“My problem?!” Flare shouted. “My problem is because our leader brings problems here to the group! She thought she’s so important!”

“She already has a problem with her and then you will even hurt her?!” Jessy shouted.

“She’s not realizing it! We are here to have fun not to bring our problems!” Flare shouted to their surprise. “She can tell us, can't she?! We can talk to help her right?! Didn't you all think of that in your brains?!”

They fell silent and just looked at each other. “If you have nothing more to say, let me go—”

SPLASH!

Hera immediately withdrew the ropes from her hand because they were surprised when water was poured on Flare’s head from the water bottle that should have been given to her. Flare stiffened in her stance and was dumbfounded.

Everyone immediately looked at Femme holding the empty water bottle staring at Flare as tears welled up in her eyes.

“Sorry. I don't know how to calm you down,” Femme cried.

Flare was just dumbfounded while she was dripping wet.

“We understand you Flare,” Femme added. “We all know that Yani has a problem and we really want to help her but it doesn't help if we just hurt her. Let us not force her to tell us because we don’t know what kind of problem she is carrying.”

“So we’re just gonna wait?”

Everyone's eyes turned to the speaker. “What is it that we are doing? Ah yes, we are waiting.”

The others looked at each other because of what Kyrie was saying. “Sure. There, let's wait for her. Let's wait for her to speak,” Kyrie said while looking at Yani.

Everyone looked at her. Yani was startled when everybody was staring at her. She knows what they mean and she tries to speak but words can’t come out of her mouth.

“So how long will we wait, huh Yani?” Kyrie asked.

Yani bowed her head.

“You see? Maybe I am the only one who has a little patience here but what can I do,” Kyrie said. ”Don't insist guys. Maybe she doesn't want to say her problem because we can't help her, because we are just her teammates for today.”

Everyone was surprised by what she said. “Kyrie—”

“That's not true,” Callie said coldly.

Kyrie looked at Callie and made a sarcastic smile. “Really?”

Callie didn't say a word and just looked back at her seriously.

“But why do I feel that way Callie?” Kyrie said. “Why do I feel so dramatic that just because what Flare shouted earlier, I felt pain?”

It was obvious on her face that she was holding back, not only her tears, but also her emotions. “I feel like we are just nothing for her.”

In the last words, Yani was completely surprised because that's when she understood why everyone reacted like that. Yani immediately approached her.

“Kyrie—” but Kyrie stopped her by raising her hand telling her to stop. “I'm fine,” Kyrie said. “If you don’t want to speak, don’t speak.”

Yani just kept going. ”Kyrie, sorry—”

“Paksh*t,” Kyrie said softly as she walked away, not going up to the bleachers but she went straight out of their base.

“Wait Kyrie, where are you going?!” Yani shouted but she just lost sight of her. “Kyrie!”

She just stared at where Kyrie passed for a few seconds before looking back at the others who were just quiet in their places.

“Guys—”

“Okay players. 5 minutes is done, I hope you are all ready. Please come here on the grounds,” said Feesy.

Because of that, Flare just grabbed a towel and wiped herself and then, she gave Yani a serious look.

“See what I mean?” she said enough for everyone left to hear that surprised Yani before she finally walked away.

Yani was speechless and dumbfounded. None of them spoke yet after Flare left. Yani just walked towards the stairs which shattered the silence but she also stopped and faced them and smiled weakly at them.

“Whoever wants to go up, just go up so you can watch Flare,” she offered.

They looked at each other but Yani just kept going up. She sat on the bleachers and waited but no one climbed up.

“Okay. For our second challenge, please open your treasure chests,” said Feesy as they opened it.

Yani just stared at the game and at the same time Flare opened her treasure chest and was slightly surprised.

“So, given the materials inside the treasure chest do what you have to do. Some have buckets of paints and paintbrushes in them but some have art papers, a pair of scissors, glue and other art materials. It's up to you what you will make and be creative enough to make something. Make sure it will impress me. So any clarification?” Feesy asked.

“None,” was their weak answer.

“Okay. If you have a question, please—”

“NOTHING!” they replied aloud.

“That's what I'm looking for!! So, the second challenge begins!”

Flare just took out all the items in the treasure chest. She brings out buckets of paints and paintbrushes while also having a painting stand and canvas. She tried to fix the painting stand but she doesn’t know how because she was having a hard time. When she was able to fix it, she sat down on the chair and looked at the blank canvas and the paint but she didn't know what to do.

Yani immediately got up from her seat and was about to go down when they all suddenly climbed up which surprised Yani. Yani just watched them sit down and they just silently watched the game. When they all sat down,

“Uhm Yani, can you sit down? I can't see Flare,” Femme politely asked.

Yani was slightly surprised. “Ah sorry,” and did what Femme said.

“Oh no Flare is still not doing anything,” said Femme. “Oh right, she doesn't like painting.”

None of them spoke. Yani is just playing with her fingers because of the weight of the tension they have now.

“Aren't you planning to shout so Flare can think?” Callie asked Femme so she looked at her in no time.

“Uhm well… sorry. I feel like I lost my voice for shouting,” Femme said sadly.

“Ah is that so,” Callie said lifelessly as she suddenly stood up which surprised them.

She went to the end of the bleachers. “Hey Flare!” Callie shouted loudly enough for the one whom she called to look at her in no time. “What are you doing? Don't just sit there and stare at a blank canvas. Do you think that helps?” Callie said seriously.

The others looked at each other because of what Callie is doing while Flare just frowned at her for what she was saying. “Think carefully about what you did earlier. Suddenly you’re shouting things out of anger and you don’t even know what you are really saying,” Callie began to preach.

“We don't even know why you are afraid of a not-so-scary insect like a butterfly and we did not force you to say the reason why so out of all of us, you should be the one who understands Yani's situation better, do you understand that?”

Flare was shocked by what Callie was saying and not only her, but also everyone sitting in the bleachers.

“And one more thing—” Callie didn't finish what she was going to say next because someone covered her mouth.

“No wonder you are not cheering Callie,” Jessy said as she covered Callie's mouth.

“Just ignore her Flare. You can do it! Whatever you can paint, that's okay!” Donna shouted.

Flare turned her gaze back to the canvas and believe it or not, because of what Callie said that Flare was able to come up with an idea of ​​what she was going to paint.

After a few minutes, “Okay players. Looks like all of you are done, raise both of your hands in the air,” said Feesy and did what he said. “Okay, fix your place. It should be clean because once it's not, I'll deduct some points,” and they started cleaning.

Then, Feesy looked at their works, some made origami and some made paintings. Players would explain their works while Feesy, on the other hand, he is innocently admired by their works and will compliment them. When he reached Flare, he saw the painting and was surprised. The audience laughed. If you see the painting it’s as if she just dipped her hand in the paint and put it on the canvas. The paint brushes included in it are even useless. No comment by Prince Feesy.

“What?! Just say it if it's ugly!” irritated Flare said.

“What are you talking about? It's actually WONDERFUL!” Feesy said.

Flare averted her eyes from him. “Stop acting like that—”

“No. I mean it,” he entered. “It's simple but looking at it, I know it means something. Kindly explain your wonderful work.”

Flare first looked at the floor and looked up straight at where Yani and the others are. “The painting just simply tells about teamwork,” she said seriously and also turned her gaze to Feesy. “The colorful hands mean that even though we belong to different cabins and have different talents but if we work together, we can create something…” she paused and sadness was evident on her face. “…fun and colourful.”

Feesy was surprised by what she said last and how she said it. “Well that was actually brilliant! It may be simple but it's very nice,” Feesy said happily.

Flare just looked away from him still wearing an angry at the same time sad face. Feesy looked where Flare looked.

“Hey, don't mind me asking but what is your name?” Feesy asked.

Flare was surprised and looked back at Feesy. “Why?” she sparingly asked.

“Well it's just that, I've never seen someone who ever talked back to me like that and even though we just met, the way you communicate with me feels like we are close friends,” smiled Feesy.

“It's my normal way of talking and I don't care whoever you are. You're just like anyone here that can control a specific element and we are not close friends,” Flare scolded him. “And my name is Flare.”

“Oh Flare it is. That's a very nice name and…” Feesy smiled sincerely to her. “…you're interesting.”

Flare was surprised and blushed a little. “Hey! Don't get the wrong idea here!” Flare shouted. “We are not—”

“Hey chill Flare. I just wanted to be your friend,” Feesy added.

Flare was shocked. ”Friend? What are you talking about? We just met and I'm a fire girl while you're the Nature Prince,” she replied.

“Oh don't worry...” he smiled sincerely again. “... because I don't care wherever you belong. You're just like me, a person that can control an element right?”

Flare fell silent, gritted her teeth and averted her gaze. “Annoying!” Flare whispered to herself.

“I'm sorry, you were saying something?” Feesy asked.

“Nothing. Just go!” irritated, Flare said.

Feesy looked at her and smiled. “Oh and by the way, you can keep the painting because I know your friends will treasure it,” said Feesy.

Flare calmed down.

“Well, time to compute for the scores,” Feesy said happily as he walked away.

Flare was left there and looked at the painting first before looking at where Yani and the others were on the bleachers but they were no longer there so she looked at the 'base' and she saw them there waiting. She immediately took the painting and went to them. When she got there,

“Uhm Flare, your painting is beautiful,” Femme commented happily.

He looked at Femme with a straight face. “Thank you,” Flare replied.

“Also, I’m sorry when I poured water on you. Are you okay? Are you getting weak?” Femme apologizes.

“I'm dry so I'm okay and I know why you did that,” Flare replied seriously.

Femme smiled at her. “It's good then.”

Flare looked around and saw Yani in a corner and brought the painting to her. Yani was surprised when Flare came in front of her.

“Here, take it,” Flare said while handing the painting to Yani.

Yani was just looking at the painting and did not know if she would take it or not.

“Take it,” Flare insisted. “I actually did it because I really thought about what Callie said earlier. You,” she looked at the rest of their group. ”…them, we as a group. Ever since I was in this group, I have been happy,” she said with a smile.

“Yani,” Flare turned her gaze back to her. ”I'm sorry for my temper. I didn't even respect you so I'm really sorry,” Flare apologized.

Yani looked at Flare and smiled sincerely at her. “I'm sorry too—”

“Heh!” Flare groaned. “You are not at fault so don’t be sorry. Callie is right, I am wrong. I started it all so I am to blame.”

She looked at the others. “I'm sorry to all of you,” she apologized.

They looked at each other first and also gave Flare a smile in response.

“That’s good then,” said Callie so everyone turned their attention to her. “In that case, let's all go upstairs to finish this.”

“There’s another challenge, right?” said Flare. “Who is the player again?”

They looked at each other.

“Isn't it Yani’s turn?” said Hera.

Everyone looked at Yani while she was shocked.

Oh right…