The One That Lived

Chapter Five: A Walk For Thoughts

Erin POV

The Emerald Forest was peaceful when you weren't being shot into it and forced to find a chess piece within a certain time frame. In fact, it was almost a shame the school used it to initiate students instead of showing them the beauty of nature and what it could do if left on its own.

I had decided to take a walk through it so I could think in peace for a little while. Aida had come home with a few new scars and a headache. She never said where she went, just that she needed some sleep. Onyx offered to take care of her, seeing the signs that Aida was hungover

Onyx was an interesting individual. He was very introverted and didn't let anyone know about his past or any secrets about himself. He was nice enough to us, rather worried about sharing a dorm with three girls, but otherwise treated us with respect, unlike those strange novels about a boy winning over eight different women and dating them all.

I continued my walk through the forest, my swords hung on my back in case I did run into any Grimm, though it was unlikely. I had heard from other students that they lured Grimm here for the first few years, but didn't anymore since they learned that every year a new group of students would be launched off the cliff and into the forest. So with my luck, I wouldn't see too much activity.

It wouldn't matter though, the teachers wouldn't help either way. The teachers didn't seem to care about what students did outside the classroom. This was especially obvious when it came to bullying. They're likely trying to teach these kids how to stand up for themselves, it was a hard lesson to teach and they weren't teaching it right. That was a large problem of the school, they didn't teach discipline.

*crunch*

I spun in the direction of the noise. Something had snapped a branch, and it sounded large. I brought my hand slowly to the hilt of my sword, watching the trees carefully for any discoloration. My hand wrapped around the hilt of my sword, but I didn't draw it in case it was just an animal instead of Grimm.

After scanning the woods for awhile, nothing tried to jump me. I exhaled, not even realizing that I was holding my breath. My heart was beating a mile a minute. This was unusual for me, mainly because I was normally calm under pressure. Maybe this school was making me soft.

I removed my scroll from my pocket and checked the time. It was a few minutes past six. I needed to start heading back to the dorm before it got dark.

(Skip the long walk)

The walk back wasn't nearly as exciting as it was going away. Just a few rabbits and birds passed by my path.

When I did finally reach the top of the cliff I had entered the forest from, I was met with a beautiful sunset behind the school. The orange and pink glow gave the castle-like school an even more fantastic look than it already had. The courtyard was empty, which made the scene even more peaceful.

I wish I could say that my dorm was just as quiet as the rest of the school, I really do, but it wasn't.

I walked into the room, finding Olive hanging from the back of her hoodie on a coat hook on the wall. Aida was tying Onyx to a chair, while also yelling at both of them. Onyx and Olive were staring daggers at each other, but flinched every time Aida raised her voice even more than she was already yelling.

"... need to learn when to SHUT. THE. HELL. UP!" I walked into Aida saying. She looked to me. She had bags under her eyes and looked like a parent that had been dealing with a group of disobedient kids. Her anger relieved a little upon seeing me. She walked toward me and the door, "All fucking day I've had to deal with these morons, can you please handle them." She said at a normal tone, if a little tired.

She walked past me. I stepped slightly into the hall where she was walking away, "Where are you going?"

"I need to talk to someone sane." She answered.

"There's sane people here?" I asked sarcastically.

She turned her head to me but kept walking down the hall, "That was my reaction!" She said equally as sarcastic, maybe more.

I turned back to the room. Olive and Onyx stared at me, probably wondering what I'd do to them. I cracked my knuckles and kicked the door shut behind me.

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Not an exciting chapter, but it was more to get to know Erin a bit more and some of her views.

I wanna kind of do something like this for each character, like each one gets their own chapter.

Either way, I hope this was enough to hold over whoever still reads this.

As always...

Goodbye/Goodnight,

~ Author, an extremely lazy deity

P.S: if you still read this, I'm sorry for abandoning the story for so long