Towering rows of trees bordered a red sand pathway. Decorated with rotting leaves, shrubs and numerous overhanging vines and branches, it was clear the pathway hadn't been used in a while...  and that's assuming it had been used before.

Above the loud beating of his heart, Seungmin could hear the faint hum of rushing water. He never liked white noise -- his dreams taught him not to. It was always the calm before the storm. But the jungle was impossibly hot, reaching temperatures he didn't even know was possible. His loose clothing traced the outline of his figure, clinging on to his flesh as more sweat drenched his body. And to add salt to the injury, the humidity in the air was so high that breathing proved a harder task than necessary.

Right now, the mere thought of just dunking his head in the cool river water send an excited shiver down his spine. And his mind was muddled, rational thinking long gone as he found himself trudging towards the unseen water source.

Behind him were three equally as sweaty and tired, frizzy-haired boys. Heavy, shallow breaths escaped their mouths as they wearily marched behind their leader. Past more trees and shrubs and terrain they went, hiking around their new territory cautiously while gripping their shovels tightly. 

The sun was way past halfway, quickly descending to welcome them to a new task: nighttime. What was there to expect in this new area? More wolves? No wolves? Or perhaps worse. Although they couldn't think of a worse creature, it didn't stop the way the butterflies in their stomachs gnawed away at the organ.

"There!" Seungmin finally yelled, relief laced to the word as he hurried towards the stream. It was smaller than any of them expected and only deep enough to soak their shins when standing up. But it was a stream. And that meant rest.

Washing his face, the Ace released a content sigh and allowed his eyes to flutter closed. The sound of Jeongin and Jisung slashing each other and playing around filled his ears along with Minho's quite mumbles to himself. For the first time since they discovered the drawing, Seungmin felt at peace. He felt as though things were finally starting to sort themselves out and he didn't even have to do a thing about it. And he couldn't help the giddy feeling that maybe he will after so many years find the way out.

Jeongin's high pitched scream pulled him out of his thoughts as his eyes shot open. He imagined the worst, heart sinking as his gaze darted around the area before he finally saw the younger. He was sitting down in the water but his concern was on the material he was holding: a piece of leather. Actually, four pieces of leather.

"What's that?" Minho raised a brow, grabbing one of them and inspecting it.

"It looks like clothing to me," Jisung stated and he was right. As Minho held it up in from of him, it was obvious it was a black leather jumpsuit but Seungmin was more interested in the writing on the back than anything else.

"The Ace of Spades," he read, eyeing the gold letters above a drawing of what seemed to be an upside-down heart with a stem. He recognised it as the spades symbol in a deck of cards. However, there were a few extra details to it which included a sword that seemed to pierce through the heart part as well as a crown at the top of it all.

"Well, we can all see the favourite here," Jisung scoffed as he glanced at the other jumpsuits which had silver and bronze writing instead and only had the outline of the spades symbol. They were clearly dull in comparison to the one Minho had since thrown at Seungmin.

"But what does this mean?" the ace questioned. "Spades? What is that?"

"Doesn't matter," Jeongin stood up. "These were clearly given to us for a reason so let's quickly put it on before sunset. Perhaps they will protect us for what's ahead of us."

***

What was ahead of them? It was a question that never left Seungmin's mind as he trudged into a part of the jungle near the river. The sun was setting now and unlike the bright hues of orange and yellow and pink it used to paint the Pen in, here in the jungle the sunset was nothing more than a darkening sun. No orange, no pink and no yellow. 

He had left the other boys at the river so they could make them a fire while he finds anything to eat. This proved a harder job than he had initially thought considering he had no idea what was edible and what wasn't in this new terrain. Instead of searching for food, Seungmin found himself sitting on a pile leaves, back pressed against a tree trunk as he wondered how on Earth he would be able to go back and tell the boys that he failed his job. 

They had only been there less than a day and yet he felt as though he had failed all of them by not being able to bring them anywhere he considered safe enough. The sky was darkening quickly and he could only vaguely see stars past the layers of tree branches and leaves. He sighed to himself, feeling like an idiot for being so peaceful earlier on. 

Once the daylight had almost completely vanished, Seungmin picked himself up sorrowfully and dragged his feet towards the orange glow of a large fire. It filled him with an increased amount of guilt upon realising that they actually succeeded at their job. He heaved another sigh, glancing down at his bare, clammy hands and muttering some curses under his breath. How could he possibly return to them empty-handed? How could he possibly-

"Who on Earth are you?" a loud voice behind him broke the eerie silence brought by the night. He froze, finding the voice familiar but not knowing why. A part of him wished to turn around and see who it was but he also guessed that it was probably one of the new creatures brought by the jungle.

He could make a run for it and warn the boys. And it was tempting. It was so tempting to just sprint away and reach the fire, and therefore safety. But then he heard screams. Minho, Jisung and Jeongin's screams. And he tensed up upon feeling something sharp pressed against his back: a sword.

"I asked you a question," the voice continued. "So answer."

"Why don't you read the back of my jumpsuit? It should give you all the information you need," he spat out.

"Because whoever wrote that has been awfully mistaken. I'm the only Ace around here."

He furrowed his eyebrows at that, spinning around to study the girl in front of him now. She had chocolate skin and shoulder-length black hair tied up into a bun. A black leather jumpsuit like his served as her clothing along with a pair of heavy-duty boots. 

"Or maybe you are mistaken," he snarled. "Because I'm the Ace here. Always have been."

Her eyes narrowed at him momentarily before she shook her head, lowering her sword.

"What the heck is going on?" she half-shouted. "Do you have any idea because I'm all out!"

He shrugged, "not a clue. But that's what the creators want, isn't it?"

"The creators..." she whispered before adding. "So you are also a part of this... this game?"

"Game? So it is a game?" 

"I don't know what it is but I do know that all of this is just an excuse for the creators to screw us over."

Seungmin watched as the girl sighed loudly and turned around to stare further into the dense jungle.

"Well," she muttered. "Let's get going before anything finds us."

"Get going? Where are we going? And what's going to find us? What about Minho, Jeongin and Jisung? They were just attacked!" Seungmin practically shrieked.

"Not attacked, captured by my people. They are fine. And we are going to safety. Trust me, you don't want to meet the creatures we met on our first night. Now let's go."

She spun on her heel and began walking but Seungmin immediately grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. 

"Wait," he called out to which he received a glare. "If we are going to be working together now, can I at least get your name?"

"I'm Melody," she revealed. "The Ace of Hearts."

Alright, first of all, sorry this took so long. I have had minor writer's block and was just trying to figure out what to do next. Also, sorry if their meeting was kind of anti-climatic, I just forgot how I wanted them to meet and realised I was nine chapters in and they still hadn't met so I had to hurry it up. And finally, thank for reading this far. It means a lot to me.

~SpicyThaiChicken