Lana was getting tired of not going off base and decided the friends should have a day in town. Blaine was unable to go with her, but Chekof made sure to be at her side. Lana covered two movies, dinner, ice cream and more for the friends from what she called "party funds" thanks to their outing.
This was also a belated birthday present for Almin who turned 18 just a few days prior. Lana allowed him to pick out something, and the others did as well. Before heading back, they bought several bags of groceries.
She was on edge walking through the park on the way back. It seemed every time she was in this park, except allowing Sven his time out, she was attacked by that monster. The trees were whispering, arguing about an ongoing attack. Others said it was a trap. She decided to ask the tree who was involved in the attack.
They were within sight of the gates to the base when she was informed there was a girl being attacked. It was a trap but the attack on the girl was true. The boys chose the place to get her as well. Lana quickly handed her bags over to Kattie.
"Kattie, I need you and Alto to take our things back to our rooms. There is a girl in trouble."
She gestured for the other three to follow her and she followed the instructions given to her by the trees. She knew it was Pucket. The trees showed him there, but he teleported away just as he heard their running footsteps pounding the forest floor. When she got to the scene, she didn't see him, neither did the others.
There were four boys on lookout, another two holding a girl down while another was beating her and ripping her clothing off. Lana signaled for Dobin and Chekof to take out the guards and Almin to take out the one beating the girl.
She held out her hand and counted down. When she reached zero, she threw out a root system to ensnare the two holding the girl. That skill had gotten much stronger throughout the school year. She looked to see how the boys were faring.
Dobin created a thick stone wall that looked like an arch on its side. The sentries were forced in his direction. He pointed his hands into the air, angle upward. They heard a whistling sound. One looked up while the other looked around. Above his head, the boy saw a boulder falling toward him and he quickly moved throwing out a mini tornado toward Dobin.
The other had a molecular manipulation ability. He created a charged bubble around himself by manipulating the molecules in the air. The boulder hit him and shattered, the bobble doing the same.
Chekof had partially transformed and was engaged in melee combat with one sentry while the other was spitting barbs akin to those from the hedgipine. They seemed to hurt and Chekof was slowing down just a bit.
Then Lana noticed something. These boys were all strong, some with rare abilities. She began to fear for her friends.
She turned around and looked at the scene closer to her. Almin was equally in trouble. The girl was hurt but able to get herself out of there with a nod of thanks.
Those she ensnared couldn't move so they were not a threat at the moment. She had no choice. She walked up to the tree near her brother and placed a hand on it.
"Wake up!"
She did the same with several other trees near her brother, Chekof, and Almin. She had no choice but to use this skill.
Just a few moments after telling each tree to wake up, they did. This skill made trees sentient which was both powerful and dangerous. She didn't think it was possible to put the tree back to sleep which meant she just made six sentient trees in the forest. A forest that was tired of all the abuse the military students committed at their roots. This could only end badly. And this species of trees was more stubborn than oak.
The trees grabbed all the parties involved. They dropped Lana, Almin, Chekof and Dobin in the direction of the gate. She was told to leave. She could feel the intense anger, but she felt an undercurrent. Gratitude. The trees were thankful to her for allowing them to restore balance to their home.
The school searched for the students, but they were never found. Their badges' last location was in one of the park's forested areas. There were no witnesses. A school-wide interrogation using a truth-detecting ability yielded nothing, not even a hint.
In Major Cruciatus' office, "So what you're saying her ability has grown stronger? How does she not know how to use it? Is she lying to us?"
"I watched her wake up six trees, in her own words last night. She knows more than she's letting on. They came to life, shredding the boys alive. Tere was something deep, like anger in the way they buried all the bits beneath their roots. Then they went still as if nothing happened."
"So, she's strong and unique."
"Yes sir. But remember our deal. I get her before she is taken."
Major Cruciatus grinned his most evil grin, "of course."
Meanwhile, after Alto put their purchases in his room, he raced back to Kattie's room to wait for Lana.
They were both relieved when the four friends entered the room.
"What happened?" Kattie practically assaulted her friends with the question.
"Simple. Pucket got another nugget of my ability… But we saved the girl."
"So now what? Wait until he attacks again? We can't keep doing this, Lana."
Lana smiled, "you don't get it. This just reduced his options of where he can pull off a successful attack against me. This means the location will be easier to predict. He's trying to figure out the best way to succeed. In doing so, he's narrowing down his options. Let him play this game. He's making it easier to counter him."
Lana was growing confident. She had her friends. While he did as well, all he could do with his ability was move away quickly. She just needed to be able to catch him. With the help of Chekof and Blaine, given enough time to train, she could do this.
Chekof smiled, "are you all set for your stall tomorrow? If so, we can go to your tree and train until curfew sounds."
Lana smirked. "Let's do it."
He had removed the barbs and eaten a few of the recently-purchased steaks so his strength had returned.
They only got to spar for half an hour, but Chekof focused on her speed since her strength was good. The opponent could teleport. She needed to be able to respond before he could get away.
About a week before the next outing, Lana took Blaine on a date. She ordered food before hand and dressed up nice. She placed the food in her room in her tree.
She whispered, "happy birthday."
Before having him sit and enjoy his meal. She got him a nice new belt. It cost a fortune to her mind, but she didn't want something to attract attention. After they ate, they lay on her bed, talked and just enjoyed each other's company until just before curfew.
November was fast approaching, The first Monday was another portal outing. This one was exploratory in nature, the students would be working as a class so they would not be able to team up this time. He needed to make sure she was at her best in case Pucket chose that as his venue of attack.
Soon, they were once again in the portal room. They were gathered by class and smaller still, their groups. They were informed this was an exploration mission where they would stay with their class, but each group would work together to find undiscovered flora and fauna using specific scanners which were passed out during the explanation. These scanners would not work until the teacher turned them on. The scanners only worked within 500 yards of the teacher's scanner.
Plants would give the group 1 point while undiscovered monsters would yield 5 points. The more points the group received, the higher their grade. Lana looked around and realized Blaine's group was still only four people. She smiled. No trashy girls attached to him this time! Her class would be the first to go through the portal this time. Nis announced they needed to line up and get ready to go.
This time they were going to a level-3 planet that had not been fully explored, which was why the students were asked to help with exploration. By staying together as a class, it increased their chances of survival if an unknown danger arose.
The students all held hands so they would land in the same place at the other end. A sergeant sprinkled a pinch of a silverish powder over the edge of the circle. As the tiny particles touched the circle, it lit up. The teacher said the words Sylvania1. There were three locations on this planet that one could teleport to. Number one was the military. Number two was a small settlement of the Beastiary family. The third belonged to the Inferno family.
Immediately, the light got brighter and the bodies of the students in the circle broke down into particles and reformed somewhere else.
Once on the other side, there was a soldier standing there telling them to move aside. Nis had already started forming a line of his students so they would all stay together. Lana didn't even have time to reflect on the sick feeling she endured or the way the feeling was receding as she walked toward her teacher. Moments later, Blaine's class arrived.