<span style="font-weight: bold"><div style="text-align: center;">Travis</div></span><br/><br/>By the time Travis had run out of breath, he had also lost sight of all the other people that he’d woken up to. A thin branch slowly started to wind itself around his leg; it appeared that they must have slowed down, or perhaps he had managed to run to a part of the forest where the trees were more docile. Travis lifted his leg, causing the branch to snap and fall to the ground. There were more branches reaching out in his direction but they were all slow and clumsy, barely holding together as rotten as they were. He was safe for now.<br/><br/>Something cold and wet hit Travis’ neck and when he reached back to touch it, his hand came back slightly moist. He didn’t have to wonder very long however, since his vision was quickly filled with the abnormally large snowflakes that had begun to fall from the clear sky.<br/><br/>And then before he could react, a large branch at least a foot in width wrapped itself around his waist and started to lift him into the air. He managed to gasp in surprise but nothing else, as the branch had tightened around him enough to squeeze all the air out of his lungs. Travis flailed wildly, clawing at the branch and trying to wiggle out of its grip, but it quickly became clear that he wouldn’t be able to escape no matter what he tried. “Is this how I die?” Travis thought to himself. “How pathetic.”<br/><br/>Then the branch loosened its grip and dropped Travis to the floor, where he immediately started coughing and gulping in air. If he weren’t too busy desperately trying to crawl away, he would have noticed that the branch had been cleanly severed at the point where it connected to its tree, by a large shard of what appeared to be blue crystal-like energy.<br/><br/>A woman came into view, striding through the trees and heading in Travis’ direction. She walked with a calmness and authority that defied their perilous situation. Of course, the branches didn’t care for confidence and twisted towards her with deadly intent. When the woman raised her hand, an array of small crystals appeared around her, suspended in midair. With a flick of her wrist, each crystal flew through the air in different directions and at high speeds. Each of them sliced through a branch, severing and killing it.<br/><br/>“Jesus, watch where you aim that thing!” Travis heard the voice of a boy who must have been around his age. He glanced up to see a figure perched in one of the trees.<br/><br/>When he looked back to the woman, she was standing before him with her hand out.<br/><br/>“There are others,” said Travis, rising from the ground.<br/><br/>“Take us to them,” she replied.