The game started 10 minutes ago and as soon as it had started, Yu Yan had yanked Xiao Yu by his wrist and zoomed into the forests, determined to win. Xiao Yu had no input in this because it had happened so fast that he didn't have the time to even say anything. So now they were wandering around the forest as Xiao Yu kept an eye out for any ribbons.

"See anything?" Yu Yan asked, using her cane to feel and locate trees and other smaller objects in the forest as there was no flat path to walk on.
"Not yet," Xiao Yu replied as he looked at her. He noticed that forest environment slowed her down and it became more dangerous for her to walk on her own. "Do you need any help?" he asked.
"Don't look down on me," she snapped in response, "Just focus on finding those damn ribbons."
"Okay, be careful then," he replied and then resumed in the impossible search of the ribbons, staying close to Yu Yan to avoid the Stay Close Under My Nose bands going off.

Every so often they would hear Jin Bao San screaming "WU XIONG MEI MEIIIIIIII!!! SLOW DOWWWWN!!!!" as he was dragged by his partner to all the corners of the forests. Wu Xiong was also determined to win, she had grown up in the jungles and woods so this environment was just like home to her - she had the upper hand over all her other classmates as she knew which way to go to get to the checkpoint who was Duan Chang Ren. But Jin Bao San slowed her down and she wanted to win! So she tied a leash around his neck and dragged him everywhere: up the trees, through the holes she dug, through the streams she crossed and all the bushes she crawled through.

Da Dong and Sha Jie weren't doing too badly either, as Da Dong did all the work. Despite her deep desire to win, Sha Jie couldn't handle all this dirt and filth in the forest and was grossed out whenever her designer boots would squelch in the mud. She complained continuously as they trekked through the bushes which made Da Dong want to knock himself out; his partner's complaints just put him off winning completely even though they had already found 2 ribbons.

Ya Se and Sha Yu were probably one of the better off pairs who actually worked together. They cooperated well and shared the work equally. They had already found one ribbon and were close to finding their second. The other pairs were a mixture of stories: Yun Han and Linda refused to cooperate with each other, Liang Zhi was able to keep Da La under control, Tao Zi was completely disgusted by Zhu Pi and did not want to play any longer so fired their smoke gun 10 minutes into the game, Xiao La and Fu Tou were two useless idiots who were lost up a tree... but you could say all the pairs were bonding differently.

After a while, about 45 minutes, Yu Yan sat on the ground and leaned against a tree. "Geez, you're so damn useless, aren't you Little Fish? At this rate we'll be here all weekend!"
Xiao Yu stopped rummaging through a bush to look back at her, "Are you tired?" he asked her.
"Shut up," she silenced him, before tutting and clicking her tongue. As soon as she began tutting, Xiao Yu knew what she was doing. She was using her echolocation skills to locate thin materials that hung in the trees or bushes. She believed that she was successful as she located over 30 different materials that were similar in size and she assumed them all to be ribbons. She was also able to locate other classmates and how close they were to a ribbon. A smirked found its way onto her face and she shot up immediately, "Little Fish, we are definitely going to win." she announced, sinisterly but full of the greed to win.

"Follow me," she ordered as she led the way, pushing through branches and climbing over bushes.
"Be careful," Xiao Yu called out to her, trying to keep up with her as he pushed his way through all the leaves. When he reached Yu Yan he saw her twirling a yellow ribbon, about 50cm in length, around her finger.
"Wow, that was fast." he spoke.
"Hurry up, what are the names on this one?" she questioned, impatiently as her partner read out the names.

"Wang Da Dong and Sha Jie," he read aloud before Yu Yan smirked and began digging a hole with her cane. Xiao Yu watched her stuff the ribbon into the hole and cover it up with soil and fallen leaves, "That's cheating." he pointed out.
"There were no rules set out before the game so we're not cheating," Yu Yan replied with mischief painted on her face, "We're just making the game harder for other people." she smiled innocently at Xiao Yu, who couldn't help but smile at her cheekiness.

"But Yu Yan, it's wrong to do this," Xiao Yu said a while later as he helped her hide yet another ribbon in the soil.
Yu Yan laughed, "Do you think I care?"
"No," Xiao Yu answered as he stood up, dusting his hands, amused.
"Then why bother telling me?" she asked, "And you're doing it too, you've hidden three ribbons already so don't act the role of the righteousness one."
She was right, Xiao Yu had been helping her locate and hide any ribbons that were not theirs. It was wrong but it was fun. He liked it and Yu Yan seemed to be having fun too.

Yu Yan was determined to win and in order to do that she knew she had to work with Xiao Yu no matter how much she was against it. But a part of her was relieved that her partner was Xiao Yu and not anyone else - she liked him more than the others. Okay maybe not 'like', she didn't like anyone but her father. She 'tolerated' people, yes that was it. She tolerated some more than others and she tolerated Xiao Yu more than their other classmates.

Honestly, she was enjoying this challenge. She had never had the freedom to do something 'fun' like this, for she didn't know what 'fun' felt like as she wasn't allowed to have any when she was growing up. Although she didn't like forests, she enjoyed breathing in the fresh air and doing what she liked. She was happy she came along on this trip. She had never experienced anything like this before; maybe coming to school wasn't so bad. If she had stayed at home, she would have been training and practicing her martial arts whilst her sisters would be fulfilling their duties and enjoying their freedom - not that she minded it. Ever since she started attending school, she spent less time with her father than she usually did so not being able to spend the weekend with him did sadden her a bit.

Suddenly, she heard rustling in the bushes and felt two people heading towards them. "Da Dong~" Sha Jie's voice could be heard as she stomped around, "Where is that stupid ribbon?! We've been searching for so long!"
"," Yu Yan cursed before ducking and pulling Xiao Yu down with her behind a bush. "Be quiet," she hissed at him, throwing her hand over his mouth.
Taken over with sudden shock, Xiao Yu lost his balance and slipped backwards in a muffling mess. As a result, the bush they hid behind rustled and shook. Yu Yan glared at him as she heard Da Dong look over in their direction.

"What was that?" he wondered, looking around.
"I don't know and I don't care!" Sha Jie replied.
Da Dong whipped around and held up his hands like claws, "Ooo~ What if it's a bear? Or a mountain pig?" he gasped jokingly, "Oh what if it's Pig Bunny?"
"Da Dong stop," Sha Jie exclaimed, "I'm scared of pigs and bears!"
Da Dong laughed and roared like a bear, "Are you serious?! Are you going to wet yourself like Tai Jing Ge now?"
"I said stop!" Sha Jie whined.

Yu Yan clicked her tongue, annoyed. Why weren't they leaving? "Meoooow~" she purred with her hand still clamped over Xiao Yu's mouth, who was trying not to laugh.

"Da Dong!" Sha Jie cried, jumping into her partner's arms, "What was that?!"
Da Dong laughed, "It's just a cat."

Yu Yan now meowed more violently and angrily, scaring Sha Jie even more to the point that she dragged away her partner. Once they left, Yu Yan stood up with a huff, "Took them long enough!"
Xiao Yu failed to suppress his laugh, "Meow~" he imitated, laughing before getting hit on the arm by Yu Yan.
"Shut the hell up," she spat at him, "Now hurry up and hide that stupid ribbon."
"Yes sir!" Xiao Yu saluted with a smile before stuffing the ribbon into the hole he had previously dug.

Xiao Yu was having fun. Being partners with Yu Yan was interesting and entertaining. He saw her usual cold attitude but he also got to see her co-operative side and her more playful side - which was funny and cute to see because it didn't suit her at all.

As the two continued to trek through the forest, they went deeper and deeper and the ground became steeper. "Shall I help you carry your things?" he asked Yu Yan as she felt around her surroundings.
She turned to face him and threw her bag as well as their smoke gun at his feet, "Sure help yourself."
He picked up her bag and swung it around his shoulder, happy that he could help her like this. "We've only found one of our ribbons, where should we go next?" he asked her.
"The forest is getting thicker so it's getting harder to locate small things like ribbons," she replied as she turned to her left, hearing the gushing of a river.

"You should be careful, we're on hilly ground and there's a river at the bottom," Xiao Yu said as he looked down at the river. But as soon as he said that, Yu Yan took a step backwards and tripped on a large rock. A cry of surprise escaped her lips as she fell backwards. On instinct, Xiao Yu quickly reached out for her hand but ended up being pulled down with her.

Yu Yan felt as though the wind was getting knocked out of her as the two tumbled down the hill. Because she could not see, she clung onto Xiao Yu for dear life and buried her head into his chest as her head span with fear. As the two tumbled, Xiao Yu held onto Yu Yan tightly as they plummeted into the river with a huge a splash. They both coughed and wheezed, choking on the water before Xiao Yu lifted his head and Yu Yan's out of the water so that they were floating embraced in each other's arms.

Xiao Yu breathed heavily as his face and body dripped with cold water. He looked down at Yu Yan who was frightened from the shock. He felt her clinging onto him tightly and she was shivering, scared. She thrashed about in the water violently, panicking and crying out broken chokes. She looked so helpless and so innocent that he hugged her tightly, wiping her hair away from her face so that she could face him. "It's okay," he breathed, "It's okay," he repeated, breathlessly, "I'm here." he reassured, repeating "I've got you," several times.

Jiang Yu Yan's breath wavered as she tried to calm herself down, "Don't let go," she whispered, shutting her eyes tightly.
"I won't," he reassured her as the two of them bobbed up and down in the water.

His breathing became even as he took deep breaths before he swam over to the river bank, holding onto Yu Yan. He then helped her out of the water and sat her down on a large rock. "Are you okay?" he asked her, ringing out his clothes. He watched her do the same while she looked away in embarrassment, "I'm so pathetic," she muttered with pink cheeks. Yu Yan then remained silent while she poured out the water in her shoes and rung out her hair.

Xiao Yu looked at her, realising that such an incident would have hurt her pride. "I won't tell anyone what happened," he spoke to her, before grabbing their fallen bags. He brought out a towel from his bag and placed it on Yu Yan's head, "Do you need help drying your hair?"
Yu Yan snatched the towel from him, "I'm not that helpless," she replied.
"Well then I'm going over there to dry myself off and change," he told her as he walked over to a tree that was behind her to hang up his wet shirt and jacket.

Once he had finished changing, Xiao Yu walked over to Yu Yan who had left her jacket out to dry. "Little Fish, bring me some of my clothes from my bag," she told him.
"What?" he asked for clarification, nervous about going through a girl's bag.
"Bring me a t-shirt or something, anything. I want to change." she told him and immediately, Xiao Yu blushed as he shut his eyes when rummaging through her bag.

Yu Yan snatched the t-shirt from him and then looked at him, "Are you going to continue standing there until I finish changing?" she questioned.
"O-Oh, uh..." he stuttered, "I'll go back up the hill, call me when you're done."

As Xiao Yu walked up the hill, his mind replayed the moment he fell with Yu Yan. He felt his cheeks warm up when he remembered the sensation he felt when he had his arms wrapped around Yu Yan's frail body. He shook out of his thoughts, touching his cheeks, "I must be coming down with a cold," he muttered when he felt his face's increased temperature.

Yu Yan on the other hand could still feel Xiao Yu's touch. Her heart raced when she thought about him holding her tightly. She was thankful but she was embarrassed deeply. She held onto Xiao Yu's towel, feeling his smell intoxicating her and filling her mind with nothing but Xiao Yu. She cursed continuously, why had these feelings come back to her? She had clearly pushed them out but now they were back. Her heart pounded and her body heated up. Was she sick? Was she catching a cold? Yes, that's what she said it was. She blamed the cold river for weakening her immune system and making her sick.

Suddenly, a deafening beeping noise brought both of them out of their thoughts and a bright red light flashed from both their bands, indicating that they were more than 2 metres away from each other. Xiao Yu sweat dropped as he retraced his steps quickly but avoided looking in Yu Yan's direction.