When I opened my eyes again, I did not recognize my surroundings at all.  The ballroom, oak doors, marble floors, and crystal chandeliers were all gone.  A vast valley replaced the Academy.  It was dead silent in the valley. 

I started to panic when I looked around and saw a forest lining the valley.  I could not find anyone.  2NE1, Big Bang, and EXO were not in sight.  But there was a rolled up jacket that my head was resting on.  Besides me, it looked like someone else was next to me and went somewhere else.

I looked down at my outfit, and I was not in my dress.  Which was strange.  I was decked out in black with the exception to my shirt, wearing a black windbreaker with a forest-green shirt underneath.  I had on black jeans and black combat boots.  On my right forearm, I had a titanium cuff that was shaped like thorns.  Huh, must be a coincidence, I could manipulate thorns.

Without giving a second glance, I started to walk to the edge of the forest.  The sun was still up; I would say it was around late afternoon.  I was starving.  Maybe I could find some berries or roots in the forest.  I could easily identify which plants were safe to eat and which ones were not.  Perks of being a flora princess.

It was peaceful in the forest.  Moss covered some of the forest ground and rocks that jutted out from the earth.  This forest is so pretty, but I still have not found any plants or berries that I could eat.  Closing my eyes, I breathed in and tried to locate where food could be.  I located it, but at the same time there was someone else in the forest.  It was some guy, but I could not see or recognize his face through the vibrations he sent while walking through the forest. 

At least he was not close to where I wanted to eat.  I didn’t want to deal with some ert in the forest.  I would probably end up accidentally killing him, or not.  Stealthily moving quickly to the bushes, I finally could eat. 

Thank goodness this was blackberries; if it was nightshade I would have been dead.  But seriously, I was starving.  Munching on fresh blackberries was all I could think and do at the moment. 

It was too late to notice that someone was behind me.

“Aerum?” a familiar voice said to me.  Instincts took over me, and I made a huge barrier of briars around me, making it 15 feet tall.  “Oh crap.  Hey Aerum, it’s me.  Suho.”

Suho.  Why does that name sound familiar?  Whatever, I didn’t really feel like talking to him.  I just wanted to eat my blackberries.

“Go find your own blackberries, because I’m not sharing mine,” I said, not even turning around to talk to this Suho.

“Aerum-ah, please.  I’m Suho from the Academy.  Please, take this barrier down.  I bonded to you, remember?”

Oh, he was that guy.  The one whose eyes flashed blue and made water and liquid flow into the air.

“Why should I?” I asked, finally remembering who he was.

“Please Aerum?  You are the only one I know that ended up here in this place with me,” Suho pleaded.

“Why don’t you go back to your EXO group?”

“They aren’t here!  I tried to find them, for the past few days.  I would leave in the morning and come back at night to make sure you were ok,” he confessed.

“What?” I turned around and looked at him.  “You took care of me?”

He nodded.  “But don’t worry; I didn’t change your clothes.  We came into this world like this.”

Suho was dressed very similar to me, except his shirt was navy blue instead of forest-green.

“Where is everyone?”

“I don’t know.  You asked this already.”

“No.  I told you to go back to your group.  I can survive here without you.”  I turned my back to him and continued eating. 

“Aerum, I can be useful.  We can travel together.  Think rationally,” Suho said, but I didn’t pay attention to him.

“Yeah, what can you do that will help me survive?” I asked, picking the ripest blackberries and careful to avoid the thorns. 

“Water,” he said.

“There is fresh water in the lakes and rivers,” I said.

“Have you seen any lakes?” he asked.  “Because I scouted the area over twenty times, and I have not seen a lake or river, or even a creek nearby here.  So, please do tell me where fresh water is.”

“I don’t need your attitude,” I snarled.  “I want to get out of here and away from you!”

“Good luck with that princess, because I will follow you,” Suho said.  “I can’t let you leave just like that.”

“You can’t?  Or you won’t?  And why are you acting so possessive over me?”

“I’m not!”

“You are!”

“WILL YOU BOTH JUST BE QUIET?” another voice shout