Chapter Text
History class was almost over. Parrot had just finished color-coding his notes (nerdy, he knows) and was staring at the wall, waiting for the class to end so he could finally go home.
He ignored everything that was happening around him. Wemmbu and Flame were bickering about something, Spoke was sticking gum on Lopezz’s hair, and Reina was trying to keep Theo from falling asleep, but he couldn’t care less. It was just him seating peacefully, not thinking about-
“Alright, class,” announced Ms. Squiddo, “We are going to have a group project!”
The entire class collectively groaned.
“Now, I’m going to assign the groups, and then I’ll explain what the project is about.”
Great, just great. A group project. To Parrot, that usually meant he would end up doing most of the work while the others mess around. As Ms. Squiddo started assigning the groups, he hoped that he would at least get some decent teammates.
“And for the last group, Spoke, Wemmbu, Flame and Parrot!”
Oh for fuck’s sake-
Those three were literally the worst people he could’ve been paired with. Wemmbu was overconfident, impulsive and immature (and also the loudest person Parrot had ever met), Flame was short-tempered and quick to pick a fight with anyone, and Spoke was literal chaos incarnate.
Ms. Squiddo started explaining the project. Basically, each group would have to choose a historic landmark in the city, visit it, and then make a report on it. The final report would be graded based on how much information was compiled, and you had to bring evidence to prove you were actually there.
Oh, also, the project was worth 50% of the final grade.
Shit.
After that, everyone started going over to their respective groups. Parrot followed suit, standing up from his chair and heading over to where his new teammates were waiting for him.
“Heyyyy Parrot!” Spoke greeted, overly cheerful as always.
“Hello, Spoke.” responded the brown-haired boy unenthusiastically, sitting on the floor next to him.
Flame and Wemmbu were also there, but they looked like they cared more about winning their stupid argument than making any progress on the project whatsoever.
“I am telling you, bro, I could beat you in a fight in like 5 seconds-“
“Yeah, right, you would be on the ground before you could even land your first punch-“
“Oh, really!? Well, If you’re so confident, then how about we-“
“GUYS!”
That finally got the both of them (and probably the rest of the classroom) to turn around and look at him.
“Guys,” he continued, adjusting his glasses, “The class is almost over, and we need to settle on a location for the project, so please lock in.”
“D’alright bro, no need to get so worked up.” Wemmbu said, raising his hands in mock surrender.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” huffed Flame, “Let’s just get this over with.”
They spent the next 15 minutes deciding on a location. Well, mostly. While Parrot was trying to come up with ideas, Spoke was constantly interrupting with some crazy suggestions (mostly involving breaking the law), Wemmbu was scrolling on his phone, clearly not listening to a word he was saying, and Flame was just aurafarming in the corner (his blindfold made it impossible to tell whether he was actually paying attention or not).
“Wait, guys,” announced Spoke, after a while of not making any progress, “I just got a brilliant idea!”
“Spoke, please, I already told you we won’t be breaking into a nuclear plant-“
“No, wait, this is different! It’s exciting, adventurous, and almost completely legal!”
“I’m interested.” Wemmbu chimed in, looking up from his phone.
“Me too.” said Flame, apparently listening now.
“Alright then, I propose we go to the Unstable Forest!”
Parrot stopped for a moment.
“What!?” he shouted, horrified by the fact that Spoke was even considering it, “The Unstable Forest!?”
“Uh, I mean, yeah?” responded the black-haired boy, as if he didn’t just suggest they go to one of the most feared places on the city.
“It’s literally called the Unstable Forest for a reason, Spoke! I can’t believe-“
“I’m in.”
Both Spoke and Parrot turned to look at Flame.
“Wait, for real?” Spoke asked, apparently surprised that his idea was being taken seriously.
“Yeah, it seems fun,” he replied, “And I don’t have anything better to do anyways. So yeah, I’m in.”
“In that case, I’ll go too,” Wemmbu added, “I can’t wait to see Flame scream like a little girl when he gets scared.”
“Okay, bro, that’s just not-“
“I can’t believe you guys are seriously considering this!”
The Unstable Forest. It was the most feared place in all of the city, and for good reason. Hundreds of people had gone missing there, which only fueled the rumors about “The Wormhole”. According to the rumors, The Wormhole was a rift in reality that connected universes. If The Wormhole were to become unstable, those universes could leak into each other and alter the environment around it.
Of course, those were just stupid conspiracy theories, and Parrot knew that. Still, he was not risking going to a place like that.
“C’mon, Parrot, are you seriously scared of The Wormhole?” teased Wemmbu, clearly trying to piss him off.
“No, I’m not scared, I’m just saying that maybe we shouldn’t go into the forest where over 100 people went missing!”
“Okay, then, I say we put it up to a vote,” Spoke decided, “Everyone, raise your hand if you want to do our project about the Unstable Forest.”
Spoke, Flame and Wemmbu raised their hands simultaneously.
“Well, democracy has spoken!”
Democracy sucks, Parrot thought.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
The walk home from school with Theo and Reina was louder then usual, probably due to the fact that he had just told them he was going to do the stupidest thing that had ever been done.
“So, basically, you’re going on an expedition to the fucking Unstable Forest because motherfucking SpokeIsHere thought it was a good idea?”
“…yeah, basically.”
“Okay, that is just insanity,” Theo said, exasperated, “Parrot, you are crazy if you think I’m letting you go in there with those lunatics.”
“Theo, as much as I agree with you, we have to finish the project.“
“Parrot, you are going to get yourself killed in there! You can’t just-“
“Theobald, please calm down,” Reina interrupted, “You know him, he’s survived things that are way more stupid than this.”
“Reina, you can’t be serious! He’s-“
“If I let you come with me, will you stop complaining?” Parrot huffed, clearly exhausted.
Theo paused for a moment.
“Alright,” he said, “But if things get freaky, I’m dragging you out myself.”
Parrot let out a long sigh. This project was going to be a nightmare.