Eilene's POV

Eilene was laying down on her bed with Ursa sprawled on the floor. They had arrived in Greenhaven yesterday and Dwayne's funeral took place. Chad, Dwayne's chimpanzee was being taken care of by Dwayne's sister. Everyone had been badly shaken about his death and needed the rest.

Ursa then got up with a grunt and pawed at the door.

"It's too early, Ursa," Eilene complained, "The others are still in the room."

Ursa looked at her with an intense and the two of them had a staring contest. Eilene looked away first, admitting defeat as Ursa snorted. Eilene opened the door and led the way to the training room. As she entered, she saw Eric and Ella chatting and nearby, John was giving Riley some pointers about using the sword.

"Okay, maybe you're right," Eilene sighed, "but we're still early."

Just then, the rest of the group had walked in. Ursa gave her a smug look and Eilene rolled her eyes.

"Good, you're all here," Eric said, "Today, you're going to be fighting as a team with your Spirit Animal."

"That's easy," John said smugly.

"Instead of fighting with your usual weapons," Ella added, "You're going to fight with these."

Eilene spotted a table full of random things but none of them were weapons, there was a broom stick, a flower vase, a spoon and fork, a plate, and many more.

"What?" Ivan exclaimed.

"A fight can happen anytime," Ella explained, "So you must be prepared."

"Well, you won't find a flower vase on a mountain would you?" John muttered making Riley giggle.

Eilene pretended she didn't hear as she went to the table and picked up a broomstick. She spotted ten more Greencloaks coming in the training room.

"They will be your Conquerors for the day," Ella told them.

All of the Greencloaks had their Spirit Animals passive except for the Ten Keepers. Eilene faced an Amayan man.

"I'll go easy on you," the Amayan reassured her.

"I suggest you don't," Eilene replied.

"Go!" Eric shouted.

The Amayan slashed put his sword but Eilene quickly dodged it. She felt Ursa's strength running through her as she slammed the broom on his back, making him fall with a thump.

"Good job Eilene," Ella praised, "Your bond is certainly growing stronger."

Eilene nodded as the Amayan got up, rubbing his back.

"Sorry," Eilene apologized.

"It's okay," the man smiled, "I'm just glad you're in our side. Now I won't go easy on you."

She heard Eric whistle, "Change!"

Eilene grabbed a pan while Ivan and Jef fought over the vase. Ivan ended up having the vase.

"Go!" Eric yelled again.

The man moved quickly but Eilene dodged and blocked then on time. Then she jumped up and did a flying kick, sending him tumbling back. She spotted John watching her in awe. When Eilene looked at him, his expression quickly changed and he managed to roll away from the guy he was fighting. Just then, Olvan entered the room and Eric yelled for a stop.

"I'm glad to see some progress," Olvan told them, "Now I want to share some important news to the ten of you."

The other ten Greencloaks left the room.

"Lenori had another vision," Olvan went on, "It's about the Silver Wolf."

"Briggan's talisman?" George asked.

Olvan nodded, "You will be going to northern Eura. We believe it's in the mountains for a black wildcat wears the talisman."

Eilene saw some of the others tense. The last time they went to a mountain, someone had died.

"I know you just came back,"Olvan told them, "but we must get to the the talismans first before the Conquerors do."

"Where are the Four Fallen and their partners?" Zoey asked, curiously.

"Right now, they're in Zhong," he replied, "Finding Dinesh the Elephant for his talisman."

"I'd choose the elephant over a wildcat," John muttered, "At least we could communicate with the Great Elephant."

"You must go quickly," Olvan said, "This is a talisman we can't lose."

Hope's POV

Once again, the team were on Tellun's Pride, sailing towards northern Eura. She was all alone in the dining area of the ship and was sitting on a chair beside a window. She heard footsteps approaching and saw Zoron walking towards her.

Zoron sighed, "Being a Greencloak is hard."

"Being a Keeper is hard," Hope said.

Zoron dragged a chair so he was sitting beside her. She was so near him that her heart beat loudly.

"I guess we don't have much choice," Zoron said.

"Sometimes, I wonder why we were chosen to become the Keepers," Hope said.

"I guess we were chosen for a reason," Zoron replied, "A reason that we still haven't found out yet."

It got silent between them. It was a comfortable silence and Hope enjoyed his quiet company. She looked back at him who was staring at her, their faces inches apart. Hope's heart beat more loudly that Zoron could hear it. She stared at his warm, brown eyes and to her surprise, he started leaning in. Hope realized she was leaning in as well as if some sort of invisible magnet was pulling them together. They got closer and closer and Hope's eyes began to close. She felt warm lips touch her's and sparks flew everywhere.

"Oh, there you guys are- what the-"

They immediately pulled apart as she saw the rest of the group enter the room. Ivan, who spoke, looked at them with wide eyes. Zoron and Hope blushed madly. Hope wanted to burst out the window and drown.

"Sorry, were we interrupting something?" Zoey asked, looking at Zoron with an amused look.

Everyone started teasing them except for Eilene and John. Eilene looked over at John and when he glanced back, Eilene quickly looked away. There was a bit of sadness that filled John's eyes then he turned to Riley. Eilene's eyes flashed with regret which quickly disappeared, replaced with an expression, Hope could't read.

Hope knew that something had happened between them. She knew from the looks they gave each other, underneath it was sadness and longing.

Was that sweet or was that sad? (Probably both) Who do you like more, Zoron and Hope or John and Eilene? Please vote and leave a comment on what you think. Stay tuned for the next chapters!