The Co-Operation Lesson

 Chapter 2

 The Co-operation Lesson

 It was 5 AM. Kochishimaru was in deep sleep, hugging his blanket and humming to himself. All of a sudden, a shout woke him: “Wake up!”

 It was Vithiriod.

 “It’s 5 in the morning!” Kochishimaru said.

 “So?”

 “It’s too early!”

 “It’s not!” Vithiriod said. “It’s 5 AM!”

 “5 AM is too early!”

 “It’s not!”

 “It is!”

 “No!”

 “Yes!”

 “No!”

 “Yes!”

 “No!”

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “Okay, stop!” Kochishimaru said.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “You’re right.” Vithiriod said. “If we continue to fight, we’ll be late. Now wake up!”

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “Fine!” Kochishimaru said.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> He stood up and they went to the field. Nobody was there.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “What on earth is wrong with these people?” Vithiriod said. “They’re late!”

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “It’s not them that are late!” Kochishimaru said. “It’s you that’s too early!”

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “No, it’s not!”

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “Yes, it is!”

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “No!”

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “Yes!”

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> 4 hours passed and then the first student came in; after that, all the others came. In 15 minutes, Mothero came as well.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> Everybody once again formed a line.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “Now, we will go somewhere outside the academy, and do the competition there. No questions about how this competition is going to be. I’m going to explain everything once we arrive. Now, follow me.”

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> They went outside the Iron Gate, and Mothero was leading them towards the mountains. A lot of students were excited to see the gargantuan mountains of Rosotus. It was everybody’s first time to go there. Amazing, Kochishimaru thought when he saw the beautiful mountains covered with trees. The green color of the grass really suited the trees’ dark leaves.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Vithiriod asked.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “Yeah,” Kochishimaru said. “It’s wonderful!”

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “This is my first time seeing our mountains,” Vithiriod said.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “Same here,” Kochishimaru responded.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “If only my father had stayed alive,” Vithiriod muttered. Kochishimaru was surprised that Vithiriod also didn’t have a father. “I could’ve seen this whole country.”

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> Kochishimaru wondered why Vithiriod didn’t have a father, but he wasn’t sure if it would be okay to ask. He decided to ask anyway.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “How did you lose your father?”

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “A demon murdered him,” Vithiriod replied. He clenched his fist. “It was right in front of my eyes: he got stabbed in the heart, and the demon took the body.”

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> Kochishimaru felt sad for him. Losing someone dear to you right in front of your eyes – it must be miserable.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> In 30 minutes they reached a forest. It was great being among all those trees, with different shades of green; and since it was silent as they walked, they could hear the chirping of birds. Tons of trees were in the streets of Theronia, especially in the Great Castle. But being in a forest was different, where all these trees were together.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> When they were deep in the forest, Mothero stopped.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “We will begin the competition here,” he said. “I have placed emeralds around this place. Each teams’ goal is to collect as many emeralds as possible. Teams can also steal emeralds from each other. At 1 PM, whichever team ends up with the most emeralds, wins. If more than one team has the most emeralds, they will try to steal an emerald from one another. The team that sets their hand on the opponents’ emerald wins.”

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> Mothero jumped up on a high tree branch. “Now I’ll give you 5 minutes to scatter around the forest. After those 5 minutes are over, I will shout to all the forest: ‘Start!’ Now, scatter!”

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> Everybody ran in a different direction. Kochishimaru and Vithiriod headed towards the East. After 5 minutes, they were at a huge waterfall near the end of the forest. Then Mothero’s shout was heard.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “Since you’re a book nerd, I suppose you know where we should begin to look for the emeralds,” Kochishimaru told Vithiriod.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “People usually try to hide something somewhere difficult to find,” Vithiriod said. “But if Mothero is smart enough, he would’ve hidden it somewhere that nobody would even try to look, since it isn’t difficult to find. The seeker will look at special places, which the hider thinks is a hard place to find. But as I said, Mothero hid it in the opposite way. So the first place I can think of...” He turned around and pointed at the ground. “Is here!”

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> Tucked between two stones, there was an emerald. “We found our first one,” Vithiriod said, picking it up.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “You’re quite smart!” Kochishimaru said, although he felt stupid for not being able to think as logically.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “Thanks!” Vithiriod said.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “You’re welcome,” Kochishimaru muttered.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> “Now, we can’t waste anymore time,” Vithiriod said. “Let’s go deeper in the forest and look for more emeralds.”

<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">They jumped into the trees and looked around. Vithiriod gestured for Kochishimaru to stop. They didn’t move for a while. Then Vithiriod quickly turned around and threw a dagger at a tree. Some crows moved when the dagger hit. Then they gathered together on a tree branch. They merged and formed a black body, just like a shadow; then the body got color. It was a demon!