He stood up, meeting the thumbling at his eye level. He was fifteen, much larger than himself. Yet, he could deal with him easily. In his eyes, as Tai stood up, there was hesitation. He clutch led his spear in a battle-ready position.

  Tai gave him a small smile, "I'm not going to do anything. Relax." He relaxed his grip on his baby seeds, a bit apologetic for clenching them so hard given his strength.

  He looked at them all. Behind all their anger and harsh words...were just fear. Fear of it all. He knew that fear too. It wasn't worth it, fighting with them. Yet...their words stung. He swallowed his grievance, and cleared his throat to get their attention.

  "You all seem to have a problem with me. If it's becase I'm young? Fine. Inexperienced? So you say. I could beat you all here, but I won't." He smiled at each of them to express his goodwill. "But don't tempt me."

  A grey bird landed with a thud between them, blocking his view of his teammate. A lithe thumbling sat on its back. "Let's go, exam is over."

  The newcomer didn't care at all about the standoff.

  Tai joined the others climbing the creature's back, and it took off. The silence felt deliberate, tense. Nevertheless, he felt as light as a feather.

  They joined a large flock of birds as they flew to the river. Thumblings were atop them all and every predatorial bird flew in a different direction as they flew by.

  Tai took in the awesome view, his heart relaxed and gleeful at the expanse of green. He swiveled left and right, taking in the view all around. Troy was in the distance, waving while standing atop an visibly uncomfortable bird mid-flight.

  His team members' every move was in sight. If any of them went crazy and tried something, he'll deal with them. If he could, he'd really want peace, for everyone to be happy. Life had different plans. He pitied them, and himself.

  His right hand was poised near his blade, which he was sure they didn't notice. Though Trian did. Amidst his reverie, he glanced at Trian.

  Trian gave him a look and twitched his finger ever so slightly. After working together these past few days, he knew what that meant. Train poised for attack.

  Tai gave him a grateful nod, so subtle no one would notice. The edge of Trian's lips raised slightly.

  Their flight was smooth sailing till they reached the river bank. The flock of birds descended to the side of tbe river, dropping off those of the nuetral village then dashing away.

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  A gruff-looking thumbling with blue streaks on his cheek stepped up to the raised platform and announced a list of names. Tai stared, wide eyed, at him, expecting his name to be called.

  "Toka Thumbling, Toya Thumbling, Tai Thumbling."

  Tai sighed of relief and glanced the girl beside him who was also on his team for this test. Her eyes, which were squiched tightly shut smacked open as she stared at him, seeming to ask: "how?!"

  Tai sheepishly looked away, unwilling to explain.

  "All those whose names were called come to the front, beyond this line."

  Tai stretched his neck to see where the thumbling pointed and, after shuffling between persons, as their gazes followed him, he found the edge of the crowd. There laid a thick blue line stretching left to right.

  He stepped from the crowd and crossed the line. Murmurs of confusion and questioning erupted from the crowd. He looked around. Aside from himself...only two passed? Just two?

  The thumbling on the podium rolled up his scroll and stuffed it in his arms.

  Something was not quite right. It quite obvious something was off with those bugs. He gave the crowd a once-over. They looked more clueless and confused than himself.

  "All of you shut your holes! If your name was not called, it means you lost this round. Incompetents."

  Another senior appeared by the side gestured for the winners to follow her. Away from the crowd's murmurs, inside an elaborately carved-out tree cave, a group of seniors entered the room. They strode in with an air of superiority and they had a certain kind of cold gravity in their eyes.

  Tenma was with them, sticking out like a sore thumb.

  Tenma glanced around the room, his gaze fleeting past him as if he was just another contestant.

  A senior of the group stepped forward, "Congratulations on passing the first screening. Do not disgrace the neutral village." Then they left.

  The same senior led them out to a tree branch. There, a bird awaited them. They boarded its back, and it took off to another much larger tree.

  There, they met with the winners of the other tribes. Trian was there.

  Tai found an unexpected familiar face. That ground thumbling he saved a while back was also there. On his clean-shaven head was a scar stretching from his temple to his ear.

  "All of you are the ones who past the first round. Now you're the cream of the crop of the resistance."

  Everyone eyed each other. Most glances went his way.

  "We cannot teach you everything. Out here with us you fight for your lives. In the kingdom, you'll fight to be a king. As a reward for passing the first and most important round, you'll be going there."

  Back to the kingdom? His heart ached. He felt weary. He got abandoned, fought for his life for two months, all to be rewarded by going back. Will he see...them?

  His eyes warmed and it felt hard to breathe. He felt his fist and took slow, deep breaths. It will be alright.

  " ... so you all will return to thumbling kingdom, make waves, gather influence, all while being undercover."

  Someone raised their hand and spoke," And how are we your best bet? By recognizing that some beetle on a rock looked wierd?"

  The guide frown and said, "Yes. Your keen eye and judgement was what made us consider you. To pass the test on the other hand took some discussion." He turned to Tai with a smile, "Greenie here surprised me. You haven't been here long."

  Tai's brow twitched at the name, but he was helpless at this point.

  The guide took a stack of files and handed one to each of them. On its cover was the title 'Competitor Catalogue'.

  "Before you go, you need to pick a team. The next trials in this test are all for you, actually. Watch their performance, pick around five or so to be in your team. Oh and greenie, you're gonna need to dye that hair."