Chapter 13: Rank 12
"That settles that then." Gryf announced. "For now, we'll stick to the seven team system."
"It does seem to have worked rather well." Hora added. "I also suggest we take the day off today. Some people need some time to rest." She shot Rank a sarcastically accusatory look.
"Then how about we rest today, and we hold another team meeting at dawn tomorrow." Dirk weighed in. "Then we can discuss a plan of action."
"I guess that would do. In that case, we can bring this meeting to an end." Fae sighed.
With that everyone started getting up and moving towards the camp. Rank felt a light slap on his back.
"Have you grabbed a bite to eat yet? We found a few spices so the meat wasn't too tasteless." Zane smiled at him. "Some food should help with that.. Uhh.. Stomach pain."
Rank slowly got to his feet, gripping his bandages. "Lead the way"
Rank limped his way back to camp. Zane led Rank back to a firepit covered by a metal lattice.
"How did you get the metal for this?" Rank marveled.
"Apparently Hora's group found it. She found a rock that she had identified to be holding some iron ore." Zane waved over a classmate that seemed to be attending to the grill. "Can we get some breakfast for my man over here?"
The girl attending the grill walked over to another makeshift container that was sunken in the ground in a pit of ice. She took out some meat that seemed to be prepared in various herbs, and tossed it on the grill.
"Anyway, from there me and Tark extracted the actual iron from the ore, and Tark formed it into a grill for our fire pit." Zane continued, handing Rank a round purple fruit from a pile next to the fire. "Take a bite of this while you wait."
"So, your team did quite a bit of subjugation yesterday?" Rank dusted the strange fruit off and took a bite. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until the sweet taste hit his mouth. Within a few bites, nothing but a stem and a few seeds remained in his hand.
"Yeah, we felt like we needed to do something productive to help everyone out. It's good, right?" Zane gestured over at another small pit with a heap of stems and seeds piled up in it.
Rank tossed his waste over to it. "Incredible. I can't believe you all managed to do so much while I was knocked out. You're making me feel a bit useless."
"What are you talking about? Haven't you been listening? Your team played crucial parts in every major accomplishment we've made. You got them here safely. If anything, we're striving to be as useful as you. Keep your head high." Zane gave Rank another pat on the back.
"Yeah.." Rank smiled. The girl attending the grill handed him the piece of meat she'd prepared for him.
"I gotta go. I think you should go chat with your team. They might have a few things they want to say to you." Zane walked off and dissappeared into the crowd of classmates all taking a rest.
Rank regarded the meat in his hand, quickly devoured it, and thanked the cook.
He began to walk towards where he'd last seen his team. They were exactly where he left them. Myst and Yun were still chatting. Tark was firmly asleep. Dane was nowhere in sight. Rank wondered where Dane would be. He steeled his resolve and faced the members of his team that were present.
Rank started limping towards them.
"Hey guys."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone