The night before the Initiation, I could barely sleep I was so excited. Fortunately I didn't feel the fatigue until a few days later, but that's beside the point. Once Oanez and I were dressed, we made our way to the dining hall once again.

"Good morning everyone!" Mrs. Frobisher said with a smile on her face. "I hope you all slept well last night, trust me, you'll be needing it. But before you leave, I have a few announcements. First of all, I urge you to eat as much as possible without getting sick as this will be your last real meal for the next few hours. Not to worry though, in your bags you will be given enough food for the trip, but only enough to keep you satisfied. Secondly I would like to remind you all that this camping trip is meant to be fun and educational, and even though for some, pain equals fun, that might be not be the same for everyone in this room. So, I would like to take this time to remind you to not hurt anyone, including yourself."

"And last but not least, I would like to ask you all to -in an orderly fashion mind you (no pushing and shoving)- to exit the dining hall to your left where you will find your camping bags. They include a change of clothes, some food, a first aid kit, a tarp, some string and a sleeping bag."

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Once Mrs. Frobisher was done talking, we all exited the dining hall, although admittedly quite disorderly, and received our bags. Then we all ran outside to different areas of the property before the bell rang, sounding the beginning of the Initiation. Being mildly agoraphobic (scared of open spaces) as I am, I immediately ran to the forest where I had spotted some big trees that I could set up camp in.

   Once I found a nice big sturdy tree, I began expertly climbing up it, using my rope, when all of a sudden I heard some rustling in the leaves above me. Curious, I climbed up to see what- or who- it was. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement on a neighbouring branch and immediately climbed over to see who it was. "Hello?" I called out. No answer. "Is there anyone there?" feeling embarrassed to have thought someone was there, I continued climbing. "Ouch! Hey what was that for!?" My heart started beating faster. Wait a second, I thought, I know that voice! "Oanez? Is that you?" Then, right before my eyes, Oanez melted out from the tree. "Of course it's me," she said, "Who else could it have been?" "Uhh, anyone else who knows how to climb a tree." I replied. "Oh yeah, right."  We stood there staring at each other for a few seconds when felt an invisible rope binding us together.  "Do you feel that too" Oanez asked. "yeah," I said, " I guess we're on a team now."

   After we made  our way out of the forest, we started walking toward a clearing near by. Once we made it there, we found a boy sitting cross legged with his eyes closed. but even from that distance, I could tell that it was the boy from last night who told me about the Initiation. "What are you doing?" I called to him. "I don't want to join a team with the wrong people by accident." He said. I started walking closer to him so we could talk without having to yell back and forth to one another. "Would you like to be on my team?" I asked. "That depends," he replied, "Who are you and what can you do?" By this point, Oanez had come over so she could join us, and we both sat down in front of him. "My name is Xan, and I'm a warlock or something. My friend's name is Oanez. She's a tree spirit. We're on a team together, but it's just us." "Hmm. Interesting combination. But it might give us the upper hand while monster hunting, going on quests and things like that. You know what? Sure I'll be on your team."

   "Monster hunting?!" I exclaimed. "Yeah, monster hunting. You can't possibly think we go and get real jobs after we finish school. So they mostly send us out to keep monsters from hurting humans. Or if you're lucky, some rich humans who know about us will employ us to go on missions and quests for them. I can't believe you don't know this yet" Quickly he got up and helped us to our feet. "Oh, by the way, my name is James," he said "and I can control water." Since I was the unofficial leader of the team, we joined first. While we were looking into each other's eyes I realized how handsome he was. His green eyes were the colour of seaweed- but in a good way- and his hair was as black as tar. He gave me a crooked half-smile and I felt myself blushing. From beside me I could feel Oanez giving me a funny look, but she shrugged and walked away to see a tree sapling on the ground that had been crushed. After a few seconds, I got the same sensation that I felt when Oanez and I formed a team and we stepped away from each other. But just as James and Oanez were about to start, we heard a loud crack then a low growl emanating from the woods. Then it emerged from the shadows and lunged at us.