Your POV 

Mexico's forests really is beautiful. Numerous tall trees shot up from the mossy dirt, butterflies hovering above patches of red flowers.

The sky was blue and clear today, not a single cloud in sight. Birds flew from branch to branch, ranging from all sorts of colours and types.

Vines hung from the tall trees, sloths and snakes curling around the vines, looking for prey.

A million colours and shades was found right here, in this forest. It was like a forest kaleidoscope.

Beautiful. 

If we had not been here on an urgent search, I'm sure we would've stopped by to properly explore the forests. But that wasn't the case.

And anyways, the forest was like a coin. It had two sides. A mesmerizing one, and a dangerous one. 

I turned away from my spot at the window, only to see everyone else pressing their hands and faces against the window, also admiring the view from about two hundred meters high in the sky.

I tried to swallow down the anxiousness that was growing and twisting in my stomach, but it remained there like a persistent mosquito bite.

I wondered how many minutes we had until we landed at the edge of the entrancing yet dangerous forest.

'Five minutes until landing,' the pilot announced, as if he read my mind. I wrung my heads nervously, breathing in and out. What if we did meet Shu? How awkward would that be? 'Seatbelts on, please.'

The rest of the passengers tore their vision away from the window and a bunch of clicking noises was heard as we descended slowly.

I squinted out the window and saw a runway just at the edge of the forest. 

'We aren't going to land in the forest?' I asked, surprised. 

'No, (y/n), we're not,' Wakiya rolled his eyes from the front. 'It's too crowded, so we'll just have to navigate the forest on our own.'

Grumbles were heard from all over the plane, especially from the blonde with the lollipop. 

'No complaining!' Wakiya yelled over the chaos. A large thump was heard and everyone held on to something as the plane stopped at a halt. 'Now grab your backpacks and beys, we're going!'

He marched out of the plane clutching a wad of paper notes to pay the pilot.

I grabbed a black backpack and slung it over my shoulder, securing my launcher and Xcalius in the black belt worn loosely around my jeans.

We all filed out the plane and unto a pathway where a black gate was blocking us from going any further.

The only way to get into the forest was a creaky door with a keyhole. Wakiya pushed to the front of the line, opening the door.

'There,' Wakiya said, walking into the forest, the rest of us following suit. I shivered slightly as a cold wind picked up around us and a faint hissing sound could be heard.

It seemed like we were entering the more dangerous side of the jungle. 'C'mon, let's go. We don't have a map, so we'll just make do.'

'What do you mean make do?' Honcho yelled as we walked past a rather large clump of ferns. 'Just walk around and hope for the best?'

'Unfortanutely, yes,' Wakiya grimaced, carefully stepping over a pile of bubbling mud. 

'Oh C'mon!' complained Honcho. 'We're gonna get lost! I'm going back-'

'Don't. You. Dare,' I growled, snatching his black "cape" towards me. 'Shu's missing! Have you forgotten the whole reason we're here?! This is not some sort of optional excursion!'

There was silence as everyone took in my outburst. 

'And anyways, we won't get lost,' Daigo injected, waving a piece of bread in the air. 'I left crumbs going back to the plane, so we won't get lost like Hansel and Gretel.'

'Good idea, Daigo!' Valt said cheerfully, looking for a crumb. 'Except I can't see anything.'

Soon we were all crawling and searching the ground for bread crumbs when a cheeky caw echoed throughout the forest.

We glanced up to see Carl flying above our heads, landing gracefully on Cuza's shoulder. 

'Oops! My bad!' Cuza sheepishly chuckled. 'It seems like Carl was getting a little hungry.'

'I knew bringing you here was a bad idea!' Wakiya whined. 'I suggest you go-'

'I suggest we all move forward,' I interrupted, glaring at everyone. 'We're supposed to be looking for Shu, but all we're doing here is squabbling! What kinda friend is that?'

Everyone nodded shamefully. 

'Sorry, (y/n),' Wakiya mumbled. 

'Don't say sorry to me,' I replied coldly. 'You can say sorry to Shu when we meet him.'

We all silently trenched through the twisted forest, keeping our eyes open and concentrating on clues.

The conversation was dead, which was relieving as it allowed me to think properly about the question that was probing my mind.

What would I do if Shu and I met? Last time we met, we were dating and convinced that we probably were soulmates.

But so much has changed since then. How would he react to the news that I was dating the No.1 Blader in the world, Free De La Hoya?

I pushed the thought out of my head and instead focused on the forest. Our feets were always squishing underneath the moss and mud, and the tangly vines with thornes hanging from the shooting trees poked our body, ripping some of our clothing away.

No flowers or animals were to be seen, it was as if the beautiful side of the forest was nonexistent. Only venus flytraps, snakes and other deadly flowers and animals were to be seen.

I looped my jacket around me, tightening it. A cold wind had picked up and it sent my shivering madly. We walked quietly through the forest for what seemed like ages.

I glanced up at the sky, but the blue sky that we had been flying in before had dissappeared above the thick canopy of leaves. It was the same scenery over and over again. 

'I wonder when we'll- AH!' I was cut off but the sensation of falling. Apparently the world just enjoyed proving me wrong.

Here we were, in a whole new area of the forest. The blue sky had returned, and the grassy had sprung up back again.

I could smell the sweet scent of flowers from across the cliff I was dangling from, clutching onto Cuza's small, but strong hand.

I swallowed down my fear and dared myself to look down. It wasn't too bad, the scenery was quite beautiful, since we were back in the sunny side of the forest, which laid across the cliff and about two hundred metres below me.

I glanced back up again and saw the zip line we had to use in order to cross to the other side of the cliff. I gritted my teeth and pulled myself up to the cliff, where my friends were all looking at the zip line equipment. 

'You ok, (y/n)?' Cuza asked me. I nodded slowly, before walking over to a cardboard box next to the zipline, which contained numerous harnesses and helmets. 

'It seems like we have to cross to the other side. Everyone okay with this?'

There were confident nods all around, even Valt looked determined. I glanced around when I realised the Wyvron Blader was missing.

The sound of whimpers drew my attention to him shaking behind a tree, trembling like crazy for the fear of falling. Shit, I forgot. Wakiya was afraid of heights.

'No, no, no, I am not going on that crazy death ride!' Wakiya shrieked, pointing at the zipline, slowly turning blue in the face from fear. 'Do you all have a death wish or something?! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FUCKING MINDS?'

'WAKIYA!' I shouted, immediately rushing over to cover Valt's ears. 'Not in front on the innocent cinnamon roll! Fine, if you really want that you can go last, so you know that this thing is not a death ride. Alright, who volunteers to go first?'

'Me! Me! Me!' Cuza volunteered joyfully, his hand shooting up in the air. I nodded in approval and he excitedly ran with Carl to the zipline, making it to the bottom quickly with no problems. 'It's super fun! Who's next?'

Valt heeded Cuza's words and went next, Honcho and Daigo following after him. Wakiya still refused to go until the last person besides him had gone.

Finally, it was my turn. I slung the harness over me and tied it to the rope, speeding down the rope immediately. 

'Woah!' I giggled as a rush of wind blew by. I dared myself to look down again, but this time it wasn't so scary. I found myself admiring the view. But all too soon the ride was over, and it was Wakiya's turn. 'Your turn Wakiya!'

'O-O-Okay,' Wakiya mumbled, edging his way to the harness and slinging over himself. He gulped nervously. 'Are you sure this is sa- AH!'

Wakiya was sent speeding down the rope, screaming at the top his lungs. In spite of myself I couldn't stop laughing as Wakiya made it safely to this side, looking like a mess.

His face had turned a nasty shade of green and his blonde hair was flying everywhere. 

'Never. Doing. This. Again,' Wakiya panted, collapsing on the floor.

'Oh, come on Goldilocks,' Honcho sighed, slinging Wakiya's aching body onto his back. 'I'm stuck with piggyback duty now.'

I stifled a grin as we headed back into the forest. I thought this side would by the sunny side, but I was wrong again. It was even more darker than before. Snakes started appearing from nowhere, but I knew this was a sign we where getting closer to Snake Pit. 

'So, tell me about Shu,' Cuza asked Valt, breaking the silence that had fallen upon us once again. I quickened my feet, going ahead to everyone else, putting a distance between the conversation that might just cause me to lose my mind and start bawling. But I could still hear Valt's voice, even if I couldn't see him. Shit, why'd that boy have to be so loud and energetic. 

'He's been my best friend ever since kindergarten,' Valt was saying. 'Even though he was in America, he was still my bestest friend and rival. He's such a good blader! He's pretty much a genius. Back home in Japan, he's one of the Supreme Four and the second-best Spin Emporer.'

I could hear Cuza gasping in admiration. 'So cool! I want to battle him!'

'And that's not the best of it!' Valt continued. 'Napoelitan! (A/N idk how to spell it) ' I almost banged my head on a piece of rock at those words. 'Shu's a great chef, and his specialty is Napoelitan and pasta! If we meet up with him, I'm going to ask him to make some! Seriously, it's like a super power!'

'While I agree Shu's a great chef, Napoelitan isn't the only reason why we're all friends with him,' I glared at Valt. 'So don't make it sound like that.'

I continued trenching through the muddy forests, cutting away at vines, allowing a clear passage. 

'Oh, I forgot to mention,' Valt's voice floated towards me. I rolled my eyes. 'Shu was (y/n)'s boyfriend before she moved to Spain. Even though they've broken up, she's still super close and protective of him. So don't think that Free and (y/n) are the best couple ever. Because Sh(y/n) is!'

'Valt!' I shouted. 'For your information, Sh(y/n) is de-woah!'

My feet stopped moving and so did everyone else's. My eyes squinted into a bright light that announced a clearing.

Eventually the light cleared and we were all left looking at an ancient stone temple covered in vines and moss with snakes engraved on the old stone. I swallowed. This must be it.

Snake Pit. 

----------------------

I was going to write more, but then I got five assignments issued to me and some people messaged me to update the next chapter, so yeah. I guess this was still a long chapter though.

REMEMBER...VOTE...COMMENT...SHARE!!!!!!!

Word count: 2018