You set up a game plan and get to work.

First you start working on your endurance. As an E-class you're already naturally pretty defensive to the elements, but you need to be able to endure more if you're going to be able to survive the woods. You're training has a lot of ups and downs, a little more downs than ups, but as you are strong you tough it out and gain a bit more endurance. You also gain a bit of skills in exploration, skills you would have become a pro at had you swarmed like everyone else but better late than never.

Your training of midnight has been going amazingly. Midnight is now a full grown adult male gwech, and yet is the envy of every other gwech owner in the village. He's bigger than a normal gwech, and because he's a wild gwech he's stronger. No one thought you could control a wild male because they're aggressive loners who only ever meet up with other gweches to fight for mating rights, and yet yours is a lovable pal to you.

You decide to see if you can train your faces the same way you trained Midnight. You toss a stick on the floor after separating the faces from floating around you. You point at it and tell them "Attack!"

But Midnight accidentally misinterprets this as an attack command and leaps up at the faces. You didn't know he could jump so high.

He grabs one of the faces and tosses it about. He uses his tusks to dig into it. You run over to Midnight and pull him back while telling him to stop. He stops and starts licking your arm, wondering if you're yelling because you got hurt and need your wound cleaned.

The face is covered in cracks and barely keeps itself together. It can no longer float and the other two faces keep their distance, scared of Midnight now. You scoop up the injured face and run to the only people you know who are anomaly pros hoping they could help.

But as they pick at 1/3rd of your new face capture creature, it dies. Well, breaks apart you don't know if faces can die. The other two faces seem to hover around their broken pal who anomalously crumbles into dust without any intervention. The other faces go back to following you but now they seem scared of you and fairly untrusting.

"Well we tried. ;)"
"I guess a bunch of anomaly hunters aren't the best people to try and save an anomaly huh! >:)"

They laugh off the event but you yell at them due to being [Easily Agitated]. They slink off for the day.

You don't listen as well when your tutors try to help. Maybe it's because you feel like they didn't try hard enough to save your face, or maybe it's because you're tired of them prodding you with questions. They try hard to teach you though. They go the extra mile because you won't. You're the only anomaly they know who can talk an they refused to let you go unless you do something terrible.

You get a bit smarter this year, now you're up to 5 year old level.

It's nearly the end of the year and you have yet learned to swarm. The swarms before you seem so natural, the E, K, and Q-classes know just that right steps to take and while the other classes are poor swarmers even they're doing better than you. Notail swarms just look like giant groups of notails moving about or standing still, it's hard to figure out what swarms are around and what type they are until you put your antennas to work, and that's when the part that's the hardest to you comes into play.

Noise. So much noise.

Notails tossing their thoughts back and forth, leaders asking their swarm to emit certain signals makes a break in some of the noise. You stand back, just getting use to the noise. You watch the natural formation and breaking of swarms as notails join one swarm only to find another they would enjoy more. You listen to notails pinging swarms back and forth checking if the swarm has room for them.

It's a complex system and all the noise overwhelms you, but you have to learn.

You go forward and announce using your antennas that you're seeking a swarm. You get a lot of pings back checking who you are. It's overwhelming just like you thought it would be, but you're determined to do this. You announce who you are to everyone who pings. Most of the smaller swarms instantly reject you, they know who you are and don't want to work with you, but after a lot of tiring work, you get 3 swarms who react at least neutrally to your existence.


The first swarm was a large group of E-classes going on a week long camping trip with minimal supplies. They wished to learn better teamwork skills, as well as survival skills in general. They were composed mostly of 8 and 9 year olds who were surely training to get ready to go into the woods.


The second swarm had a leader who....how do you put this....didn't have the clearest of signals, they appeared to be going to...pick and learn about woodland plants? The group was made of 7 to 9 year olds, oddly half the group was made of Z-classes, while the rest was a mixture with a fair bit of E-classes in there. The leader of the group was a Z-class who had the strangest signals. You just got into swarming but you could already tell he was a little off.

The final swarm was going to capture beasts. You were surprised when you saw who was leading the group. They were taller and stronger than you, you could easily see that. You wondered how many snacks she must have stolen from the ration area, until you noticed she was an adult. You've never seen an adult who wasn't an M-class before, not counting the bus driver who brought you here or the scary pastor, and this adult was a V-class. The group was made of mostly younger kids, but there were a few 8 year olds in there. Half the group was made of V and Z-classes, while the rest was a mix with a slight leaning on E-classes.

You circle over and over before deciding your best chance is with the strange Z-class and the swarm that has surrounded him. You approach the swarm. You can hear the other kids signal that you're coming. "The anomaly" they call you. A name you've come to become use to.

The kids move to the side allowing an opening for the leading Z-class to see you. You stop and stare ahead at him. He's 8 years old and has a plain face with two small curved horns coming out of them. He also has a mutation that makes his ears longer and pointier than any of the other kids, but something else about him feels off, you can't tell what though.

"You're the blessed one right? XwX"

You decide there's not reason to hide it, after all you currently have 2 faces floating around you and it's no secret you're likely an anomaly considering the N-classes have been spreading nasty rumors about you.
"Yeah. I'm blessed I guess. I didn't ask to be blessed though so don't get the wrong idea! =3"

"Yeah. I didn't ask to be blessed either. Don't worry, everyone here is ok with it as long as you don't bless them somehow. XwX"

A notail who understands your issues.

As the swarm grows and everyone prepares you talk to the other kids. It feels so surreal, sure they're a little cautious around you, and don't want you to touch them, they for the most part treat you like a true member of the swarm. You're a little bit excited to speak with the other blessed kid but you decide to leave him be for now so he can finish up with building the swarm, wouldn't want it to disperse due to not enough herding.

A lot of the kids you talk to are excited to see your gwech. They note how odd he is, with his odd coloring, his personality and his larger frame. An N-class, the last class you thought would approach you looks Midnight over and declares that Midnight must surely be a cursed being here to fight the gods away from you and free you from your blessing. The N-class reads a curse of good luck to midnight. A curse Midnight repays with a slobbery kiss.

The thought of midnight being a cursed animal here to save you makes you feel rather happy about your goofy not-lizard.



=



The swarm stops gaining and losing members so the Z-class declares it's time to head to the "usual spot", stating that as always he'll be at the back of the pack to make sure no one gets lost.

Which is a good thing considering that at one point you slipped on some loose rocks and fell down a small hill. It wasn't a bad fall but had the Z-class not been there you would have been forced to find your way home because no one else happened to notice at the time. He helps you back up which takes a bit of time. By the time you two get back to where you fell the swarm has already disappeared into the forest. He says it's ok though, this happens a lot which is why he always holds the back now.

He already knows this area very well so he says that while they'll be there a few minutes late it shouldn't matter. You two walk and you decide this is the perfect time to start a conversation.

"So what blessing do you have? =3"
"Oh, I'm blessed with hearing signals I'm not suppose to. XwX"
"What does that mean? Can you hear people from far away? That doesn't seem like a blessing, that sounds like a curse. =3"
"It would be if it was that, but I get signals from....well animals. I can hear what they're saying. XwX"

"That's amazing!!! What is that bird over there saying? =3"
"I....can't tell you. XwX"
"Why not? You can't hear birds? =3"
"No I can, I can hear what that bird is saying it's just that the birds aren't saying nice things. XwX"
"Oh, are they blessing? =3"

The Z-class stops. He looks up into the trees, perfectly still. It is currently spring and the birds are in full force with their singing.
"............Yes. XwX'"
You have a feeling he was lying for your sake so you stop questioning him.

"As a Z-class I have to work with animals everyday, but because of this blessing I learned that maybe it's a good thing that we can't talk to animals. So what's your blessing? Is it those faces? XwX"
"Nope! Those are the anomalies I'm supposed to be studying for a prize! My blessing is that, when I die, I come back to life cause time moves backwards to save me! =3"
"Wow, that's a better blessing than mine. I guess it could hurt other people though. Does this mean you'll never be able to die, like ever? XwX"

You think about it, you've only died once so far so you're not sure if this is going to happen over and over.
"I don't know, it would be nice to live forever though! =3"

You and the other blessed child talk all the way to the location. You become very good friends and learn that his name is Z-3894. He's fairly top of his class but only because his blessing makes it easy to understand animals.

As you get to the location you watch the other kids go picking up items and vines. Z-3894 goes to join them but you stop him and ask him if he can teach you about plants cause you know nothing about them.

He looks at you, slightly tilting his head in puzzlement. He must think you're stupid for not knowing anything about plants at your age.

"Sure I can teach you about plants, but this is a strange time to ask about that. XwX"

Your friend walks around and points out edible plants from non edible ones. He shows you which plants can be used as medication if the worst happens and you can't grab anything else. He's going a little quickly for you, but you're determined to catch up on your studies and take many notes. You know a fair bit about plants now!

As your friend helped you learn about plants you notices that the other kids were making long rods with loops at the end. You wondered what that had to do with plants.

The end of your lesson came when a notail came up to you two and handed you both one of these rods.

"You know how to use this right? XwX"
He says pointing at the equipment in his hand as the whole swarm marched to a new location. You had no idea what it was for.
"No, can you tell me? =3"
"Ok, so if you pull this string, it makes the loop smaller so you can nab things. If you miss you can pull this to return it back to it's loop. Try not to pull too hard or else you can break the loop. When you catch something you put it into those big baskets. XwX"

The swarm stops at a small clearing where the trees on the outer edge are covered in thick vine. Some kids start taking out rocks.

"Why do we need these to catch plants? =3"
"Huh? Why would Z-classes be catching plants? XwX"

You know.......

You didn't see a single H-class on this trip.



The rocks fly and hit the ground and roll across it. The vines launch themselves from the trees and aim for the rocks. You take out your device and scan them quickly.

The kids use the rocks to arrgo the snakines and once they're close enough they loop them and toss them into the baskets. There's an art to catching them. The Z-classes are pros while the other classes laugh at each other as they miss or loop the snakines in the wrong section. At least they laugh until they get bit. Then it becomes a case of "Everyone is being mean to me for messing up." and they huff at the others.

While this isn't what you came here for you end up having a lot of fun with everyone trying to catch them. You feel like you're normal. No one is judging you, everyone is just having fun collecting snakes.

You know, normal kid stuff.

One of the kids tosses a rock far and at a tree covered in so many vines you can't see the tree behind it. The snakeines don't respond to the movement of the rocks being thrown near the tree so the kids start hitting the vines and the tree itself. Your friend Z-3894 picks up a rock to help with tossing but the tree lurches forward, toppling over before the vines whip around, forming a new shape.

The Z-classes toss their rods on the floor if they had any and pick up the baskets. The others look around in panic, unsure as to what was wrong. Z-3894 jumps on top of a rock and points to the other Z-classes running away.

"LEGENDARY SNAKEINE! MOVE MOVE! PICK UP YOUR BASKETS AND RUN! XwX"

Z-3894 helps kids who are overwhelmed collect their items and move. Too much of a leader for his own good he refuses to leave until everyone else has escaped. After helping the other kids get a move on he grabs his stuff, he nearly runs out the area but he spins around to double check that everyone was out.

There you were.

An utter idiot who was frozen in fear and awe.

You watched the legendary capture creature reform. Z-3894 is yelling at you to move. Your brain isn't working. You take out your device and scan the creature.

Z-3894 himself freezes. He wants to grab you and bring you to safety but he knows that the legendary capture creature was fast. It was fast and it could easily eat an adult so eating two kids would be nothing.

You don't know why, but after your flight or fight response basically crashed upon seeing the giant beast it rebooted.....and it was telling you to fight this giant snake.

"Midnight! Attack it! =3"
Your capture creature only had the slightest delay, but Midnight trusted you completely. He charged at the creature and bit into its vines.

"Quick! While your creature has it distracted run! Your creature won't make it but you will! XwX"
He grabs your arm, but you pull it away from him and take out your pocket knife.

"What are you doing E-2732!?!?! XwX"
"I'm going to fight it. =3"
"What??? YOU CAN'T FIGHT A CREATURE BY YOURSELF, THAT'S WHY WE HAVE CAPTURE CREATURES AND SWARMS! XwX"

You briefly glance back at him.
"Well I'm going to break the rules. =3"

You run forward, holding on tightly to your knife. Z-3894 holds his head. Too much of a [softie] he refuses to leave anyone behind. Even people who think fighting a legendary capture creature head on is a good idea.

"Birdy, go help them! Attack! XwX"
The bird capture creature with Z-3894 leaps off the tree, slightly struggling to stay airborn it aims at the head of the beast as it attempts to bite you and pushes it away. The large snake starts swinging it's head back and forth as it attempts to get the bird who hangs on for dear life off it.

Taking this moment you slice into the vines, doing major damage to it. Midnight is starting to get tangled up in the vines but you quickly free him before latching on to the snake and climbing up it. Birdy is tossed off finally and the creature spins around until it's looking at you trying to climb up it. You should be feeling fear, but your sense of [adventure] suddenly causes you to feel fearless. You jump on the head of the snake.

Z-3894 is running his hands down his face at the move. Even the snake takes a moment to register what just happened. In that time you stab it a few times in the snout, an extremely sensitive area. It completely does a loop, calling you to fall off it and hit the ground. Thank goodness for all your endurance training.

When it finally regains its senses it makes a beeline for you. Birdy gets in the way and tries to stop it. It's at this moment you notice you dropped your knife when it pulled off the loop. You have flash backs to the gwech killing you after your knife got tossed away from you.

The snake gets tired of both the capture creatures in its way. It picks up Midnight and hurls it at Birdy.

There's nothing between you and this legendary killer capture creature. It launches itself at you. Z-3894 closes his eyes tightly, he doesn't want to watch you die.

For a moment you think you're about to freeze again. You're about to die once more.




But you promised you wouldn't. You reel back your arm.......

And punch it right in the snout. You have never punched harder in your entire life. Its senses are overloaded. It does a loop before trashing around, tangling itself into knots.

It slows down.

Then it comes to a rest and the petals surrounding its head close, thus signaling that it had gone into a docile state, even if it was out of fear.

You just tamed a legendary capture creature.

With your fists.

Z-3894 runs up to the creature, taking out a tough rope from his bag.
"Quick pick up its head! XwX"
You run over and do so. Z-3894 ties the rope around the mouth of the creature tightly so that even if it went back into an active state it would be unable to eat or bite anyone. Z-3894 then looks at you. You're ready to be yelled at but-

"THAT WAS AMAZING!!! I've been on swarms where we'd take down a legendary capture creature but I've never been on one where we've tamed it! Me, you, your gwech, and bird-"
"XwX"

Midnight had survived the battle with a few scars to show off. He runs over to you and flops down for his pets.

Z-3894 on the other hand had to run to his capture creature. Birdy was having a hard time getting up. Flapping its wings for any kind of footing. It was alive, but not well. Z-3894 ties a cloth around Birdy's face so it'd stay calm and scoops up Birdy even though it was a tad large for him.

"We gotta go. Now. XwX"

Now very serious Z-3894 helps you tie a second rope around the snake as a sort of leash. Even with his capture creature direly injured he still refuses to leave you behind. He would never be able to forgive himself if the snake somehow broke out and killed you.

Once you and him reach the village the whole swarm panics, thinking the snake had consumed you and Z-3894 and was out for more blood. When they find out you and Z-3894 had captured it they all gather around ask you questions about how you did such a feat. Z-3894 quickly slinks out of the swarm and runs off to find someone who can help Birdy.

For the next month, at which point you hit 9 years old, the Z-classes help you make sure the legendary capture creature, who you dub Slithers, stays tamed. They don't really trust you as a tamer but it is your capture creature and this is going to be one of the only times they can work on taming such an impressive beast. You learn some taming tips due to the whole event, but there's no way you would ever be able to tame a beast like Slithers on your own. They warn you that you're not a Z or V-class so don't think you can go taming anything with a Hard or above taming level without one.

You thank them for the info, but as you lost [Cautious] and gained [Adaptive], you're starting to feel much more confident in yourself and what you can do. You do wonder what happened to Z-3894 though, and when you ask you're told he had to go to the capture creature lab cause it was too bad. Realizing what happened to Birdy was all your fault makes you very worried.

While all the other Z-classes are treating you nicely, and even your fellow E-classes are no longer automatically turning you away, you felt like you made a friend in Z-3894.





At the end of the month, after Slithers is tamed enough for you to be able to walk it without it attempting an escape you can finally start working on a plan for this year. You heard Z-3894 finally got back from the labs from another Z-class, but you're not sure if you're wanted by Z-3894. You don't even know what state Birdy is in, if Birdy is even alive.

Either way, this was your last year before the woods, and you had a lot to do to prepare for it.