VICTORIA'S POV

I was in the training room with Xeris, but we were not alone. Standing next to him was an older man, almost as tall as Xeris and handsome as well. Was everyone from Thanzor so good looking?

I was conscious of myself as the older man just stood there observing me. Then he decided to walk towards me. he circled me inspecting every inch of me. My eyes followed his movements wondering what was going on. This scene reminded me of a designer looking at his next challenge.

He then walked backwards and stood next to Xeris again.

"This is Purit. He will serve as your personal trainer. I learnt everything from him. I thought it would be best he take over your self-defence and martial arts lessons while I focus on the less physical lessons."

"Hello, your..." he caught himself, "Miss Victoria. My name is Purit Joseph Shoman. I will be your trainer starting today." He said with a smile.

I saw us getting along. He seemed to have an easy disposition. Maybe he could tell me more about Xeris. I knew we talked more, but I always got the feeling that he was keeping something from me still.

"Just Victoria will do." I said back to him.

"Ok, now that we are done with the introductions, I shall leave you to it." And with that, Xeris walked out and left us there.

I turned back to look at Purit. They really did have strange names.

He was already walking to the mat, with his shoes in hand. I followed him and did the same. I put my shoes down and he started talking.

"I'm not sure how his hi...Xeris, has been teaching you," I furrowed my eyebrows, "but he is my best pupil, I'm sure there isn't much for me to do. He has briefed me on your skills and capabilities. I would like to see them for myself. Now, attack me."

That sounded familiar. With a little jump before running, I went at him.

After a few minutes, I could tell the differences between how he moved and how Xeris moved. Xeris was taller, but quicker. Purit was definitely the teacher, I could tell that much, but Xeris wasn't far behind. I may have been wrong, I only started doing this a few months ago. I was no expert.

Finally, he stopped. I was on the ground breathing heavily after landing painfully on my butt while he stood in front of me, not having broken a sweat. He looked so calm I hated him.

"Miss Victoria,"

"Please, just Victoria"

"Right, Victoria. How long have you been doing this?"

I thought while looking at my fingers, "Close to six months." I looked up at him.

"Astounding."

I must have really sucked. "Why? Am I that bad?"

"No, quite the opposite. The level of skill you have obtained in such a short period of time is impressive. And you're quite flexible as well. Did you practice the art before coming here?"

"Uh, no. I was into gymnastics for a while when I was a kid, but, stopped. It was a long time ago though." I was still on my butt and didn't plan on moving unless necessary.

"I see. I'm planning of using that to develop your own technique. See how I teach the art is not as you Earthians say, by the book. I don't make my students master a specific form of the art. I teach the basics, and from there encourage each of my students to find their own rhythm. To find what works best for their bodies and I think your flexibility is the key to your technique."

That's why his style seemed so different from Xeris'

"Ok, so do I have to start learning the basics as well before developing my style or does what I did with Xeris count as the basics."

His eyebrows shot up at the mention of Xeris' name. Weird.

"We can start immediately. However, we are done for today."

I was both thankful and deflated. Thankful that I could go and soak in the healing pool and deflated because I was anxious to develop something of my own immediately but had to wait.

The following months both flew by quickly and were a drag. I had gotten much better at blocking Purit's hits while managing to land a few of my own once in a while. I barely saw Xeris.

That's not it. I saw him, but it was only when he woke me up and when he came to sleep. It was rare that he came with me to the greenery as he always left to do whatever it was he did outside. He left me recorded lessons on the work table which was actually some form of computer. In there, he left mini tests as well which I always found marked the next day. When he got the time to look at them, God only knows. The lessons were about the life in the greenery, animals on Thanzor, astrology, math, sciences. The list goes on and on. He truly fulfilled my request to teach me everything.

The lessons weren't so fun anymore because he wasn't around to personally teach them. I still did my best on them because I didn't want to disappoint him in any way.

I looked forward to those rare days that he decided to show up, however few and far apart they were. I started dreaming more about him. His absence made me long for him. I wondered what kept him so busy away from me.

I started having thoughts that maybe, just maybe, he stayed away because he was tired of me. I had told him everything there was to know about me. Maybe that is what pushed him away. Maybe he already lost interest in me. This was what loneliness did to me. It made me doubt every single thing in my life.

I soon came to realise that Purit was more than a trainer. Our conversations always left me feeling better about myself, more confident. He also divulged some information about Xeris, but it mostly revolved around his training. I admit, some of those stories had me clutching my stomach in uncontrollable laughter, but I wanted more. I wanted to know who he was.

Whenever I asked about his so called influential status, Purit found a way to expertly divert and change the topic. I only ever realised after he had left. That man was a genius.

I had finally reached the end of the greenery and knew every tree, flower and plant by name and use. I decided to explore more of the greenery now. I was familiar with the paths and knew how to get back to the entrance. In my exploration, I had never encountered any of the plant specialists that Xeris told me about.

But then I remembered, they only came around in the morning.

I wanted to learn about the trees that were deeper in the greenery. The trees that weren't on the paths, but beyond.

There was no harm in straying off the paths, right?

***

"Ok, just breathe Vickie, you're not lost. Let's think." I looked up hoping the ceiling would serve as a guide, but I couldn't see it. The trees here were thicker, larger and closer together that nothing could be seen past their canopies.

I had been thinking about Xeris, wondering when I would see him next and was walking aimlessly, not really looking where I was going. By the time I came up out of the clouds, I didn't recognise anything around me. I could recognise the trees, but wasn't sure which part of the greenery I was in. I didn't even know how long I had been walking and this particular tree grew everywhere.

I was taking deep breaths, trying not to have a panic attack or end up blacking out. I sat down because I started to feel a little light headed. I knew that there was no danger here. There were no animals here. I just had to calm down and think of a way out of here. I don't know why my lungs or heart weren't listening to my brain.

"Nothing will hurt me here. I'm going to be ok. I'll probably be laughing at myself for panicking tomorrow." I let out an unconvincing chuckle.

I was leaning against a tree, still breathing heavily. Nothing I seemed to do helped me calm down. I don't know how much time had passed, but it felt long enough that I scolded myself to stop acting like such a baby.

"Stop being pathetic and get up!"

I had to find something that only grew in a specific part of the greenery, then I would know where I was and how to get out of here. I walked around, but was still surrounded by the same type of tree. Here and there I would come upon a flower or plant, but they too grew in every part of the greenery. I was getting tired of walking around so much.

"I had to skip the healing pool today of all days! Stupid, that's what I am."

Why hadn't I gone into the cleansing pool? Oh, that's right. Because I had landed quite a lot of hits in training, I was feeling myself and acting like a boss.

Never again.

I felt sore everywhere, which made walking harder as the time went by. When I realised that I had been walking in circles, I almost pulled my hair out. I frustratingly kicked a nearby tree trunk and just as soon regretted it. I should have come across a path by now. How is this possible?

My poor toes.

"There's no hope. I'm never getting out of here. The cameras won't be able to see through that canopy." I said as I futilely looked up again.

I sat back down and leaned my head against the trunk I had kicked earlier. As hard as I tried to hold back the tears, they slipped down the sides of my face.

My lips were so dry and my stomach rumbled. I had been here for a little over a day, I think. I left my watch in the apartment. I never brought it with me to the greenery for fear of losing it.

Stupid.

I don't know when it was that I fell asleep, but I woke up with a start. I blinked furiously looking at my surroundings.

"It wasn't a dream."

I rubbed the back of my neck because it ached from sleeping in an awkward position.

Still looking up at the canopy, I made up my mind to climb up and then look for the nearest path. I stood up and looked at the tree trunk. There were no safe hand or footholds.

I guess I just had to find a tree that I could climb. I walked around looking for the perfect tree. And then I found it. It wasn't the best, but it would have to do. I only climbed two feet off the ground on my first attempt before falling. On my next attempt, I went further. I just had to reach the branches high up and then it would get easier.

"You can do this," I said, staring the tree down.

I made sure not to move carelessly, I didn't want to slip and fall. I concentrated and thought through each movement before making it. I hadn't paid attention to how high up the tree I was and was shocked to see that I was almost at branch level. Then I made the mistake of looking down. The ground was so far away. I started to panic a little. I wasn't the biggest fan of heights. In fact, I was frightened.

"You're almost there. Just reach out and grab the branch."

I tried to reach for the branch, but going further would loosen my handhold on the trunk. I decided to inch up the trunk further before attempting to go for the branch. I was as close as I could get to the branch and I reached for it again. I must have miscalculated the distance or my weight, because my grip wasn't strong enough and soon I was falling. I heard a sickening crunch and realised I must have broken something. Good thing was, I couldn't feel a thing.

"Xeris, where are you?"

"When will you come and get me?"

"Xeris, how long do I have to wait for you to find me?"

"I'm scared."

"I think I'm badly hurt."

"Xeris, where are you." I wept.

I kept saying his name over and over.

"Victoria! Victoria! Open your eyes. I'm here. I'm right here."

"Xeris?" I whispered.

"Yes, it's me. I found you. I finally found you. I'm so sorry. It's all my fault."

I smiled. He finally found me.

"Don't leave me."

Those were the last words I heard.