Side Story 4.105 - Training and Chaos

Johanis’ POV

Exactly one week after Family Week ended in a sticky, starry, pinecone-confession kind of blur, the forest no longer smelled like roasted tubers and whipped cream. 

It smelled like dirt. 

Like sweat. 

Like someone’s boot got too close to a dead squirrel and forgot to mention it.

We were no longer rolling in pies and glitter.

We were training.

“NO, NO, NO—YOU CAN’T JUST YEET YOURSELF INTO DANGER AND HOPE IT WORKS OUT!” Uncle Rio bellowed, his voice echoing across the ridge like thunder on espresso.

Lily groaned into the moss, face-down. “But what if I believe in the power of surprise?”

“Nope. Surprise is not a strategy. Surprise is