351 Not Quite Righ

She had just woken up after eight days after her battle with the reptilian creature. She was looking at the children who had gathered around her bedside, along with El, Sorren and Ronni. 

Vy widened her eyes in shock. 

"Why are most of you covered in bandages?" She gasped. 

El, who was closest to Vy, had her arms bandaged. Vy immediately grabbed hold of her arm, lightly and examined the bandages. Part of the wound peeked through on the sides. 

It mainly looked like bruises, and she deduced it as such from the way El winced when she grabbed hold of her arm. 

"Who did this?" She asked. 

Everyone else refused to make eye contact with her. They all stared in different directions, avoiding the question altogether. El had hoped for Vyrena to rest and recover before telling her what happened. 

But it seems like they could not keep it from her for long. 

"Boss, would you care to explain what happened," Vy said in a stern voice as she folded her arms. 

Boss felt a shiver down his spine. Although he and rest had not known her for very long, he knew from the tone of her voice that she was serious. He wondered if he lied, would she be able to catch it?

But he was not going to try. 

Boss looked at the rest before heaving a sigh. He spilt the beans on what had happened after Vyrena fell unconscious. Indeed, they had managed to bandage her wounds. 

They were safe for a period of time until they were attacked three days ago. 

"Attacked? By who?" Vyrena asked as she sipped a glass of water.

Mara and the other humans, along with Cass and the hybrids had split up from them. Needless to say, despite the fact that they had escaped the confines of the forest, they were now in a new territory. 

Judging from the walls far off in the distance, they were still trapped. With a new area, it came with new enemies. Mara and the humans seemed to have joined a group of scavengers. 

Under the cover of night, a small band of them infiltrated where they stayed and stole the childrens' shooter weapons. When they were discovered, the children resisted and fighting ensued. 

"What about the spider beasts?" Vy asked, she realised that she had not seen any of them. 

The spider beasts had been the one who shared their shelter with them. But after four days, Queen Willow made a decision to bring the spider beasts on a journey. 

"To where?"

"Her highness did not specify. She merely said they were going to find something. Hopefully, a way that would enable everyone's escape." Ronni explained. 

He was able to understand the Spider Queen, which was previously thought to be impossible. 

"But this is outrageous! How could they do such a thing," Vy seethed in anger. 

She placed her hand over the injury on her ribs. Her intense emotions made her move, causing a sore pain on where her wound was. She winced a little before lying back down. 

She felt useless, she felt powerless. As she placed her arm over her eyes, Vy lifted her hand and looked at her wrist. The red bands that were once there, were nowhere to be found. 

Thinking back to all that had happened in recent memory, it was the blast of explosives that destroyed the red bands. That destruction allowed Vyrena to unlock powers she never thought she knew. 

Shapeshifting into the form felt natural. It must be an ability she's had before her time in the Jungle. Boss noticed Vy looking at her wrists and deduce what she was thinking about. 

"Oh! I remembered something!"

After the attack, everyone was devastated, feeling a little down. But they did not drop their guard, ensuring the area is safe and secure. While out patrolling the area around their building, one of them reported seeing mysterious sentient paper dolls. 

They took various shapes, forms and sizes, but they all had one thing in common. They had been carefully folded out of paper. The children and the others started calling them Origami Dolls. 

Since the Origami Dolls could not speak, they needed to use hand gestures to communicate. At first, they were worried the dolls were hostile. But after a couple of interactions, they quickly realised they meant them no harm. 

The Origami Dolls seemed really interested in some of them, especially those with the red bands on their wrists. On multiple occasions, the dolls tried to remove red bands but were unsuccessful. 

"When they visited us last, they brought with them two envelopes," Boss explained. 

He took out two envelopes from his pocket and handed them to Vy. As she opened the first one, Boss continued to explain how they came into possession of it. 

"The Origami Dolls gave them to us, but when we opened them, we could not read its contents. Sorren was able to read it, but we can't understand any of it. When they saw you, they placed the envelopes with you."

"It's about the red bands, Vy, tell them," Sorren egged her on. 

Vy read through the first letter, Sorren was right. In it detailed a set of instructions to find a specific location. This location had a device that would allow them to remove the red bands, therefore unlocking any hidden powers they have. 

The second letter was written to everyone who was present, from an anonymous entity. It invited them to visit the person who made the Origami Dolls. The letter had ended with 'For what I am to say, it is not safe through this letter. If you're keen, please visit me. The origami dolls will guide you."

After analysing the letter in detail, Vy proceeded to read its contents to the rest. A broad smile appeared on all of their faces. They were at a great disadvantage in the maze right now.

Being able to unlock new powers would be greatly advantageous to them. Sorren and Ronni both had red bands on their wrists and so did a number of the children. Vy no longer had the red bands on her wrists, so the rest were curious as to what her powers were. 

But even Vy herself was not sure. But she had her suspicions. Her ability was to shapeshift, but she did not have any control over what she could change into. Right now, it was all limited to what happened on the fly. 

-I must have had this ability before entering the Jungle.- she thought to herself. 

Could the reason be linked to why she was placed in here?