The coin had a paper tiger depicted on it.

  What is that supposed to mean? Which one is which? Is the tiger the hunter or the wolf? Liz thought.

  “By chance, do you know which one is the hunter, and which is the prey?” she asked shyly. She felt stupid for not listening to Ogg's explanations.

  “Why does it matter? You are still gonna hunt each other.”

  Liz, slightly smiling and shaking her head, averted her gaze. She was feeling even more embarrassed for not realizing such an obvious thing. She divided them by two, making four pairs she could use to pass the exam. She hid one pair in her boots, one in her bag, and one in the cloak in case someone would steal them or she would have to give them up in the fight.

  The last pair she decided to give back to a strange man. She came up to him with her hand outstretched.

  “Here, those are for you.”

  His hat rose and froze in that position. He was probably watching her, Liz wasn’t sure.

  “Oh, that. Thanks.”

  The man took the coins and hid them somewhere under his dark cloak. He was still watching her but wasn’t saying anything.

  Lis breached the silence.

  “What?”

  “So, why are you almost naked?”

  Liz’s cheeks were burning. She became aware that she was running around a stranger, almost nuked this whole time. Not just a stranger–a man. She wrapped herself in the cloak, closing it so you couldn’t see what was inside.

  “I, I, I, I… I fell into the water.”

  The hat swung in the direction of the hopeless campfire. Then it turned towards her, soaked clothes drying on the branch above the unlit campfire.

  “Your campfire looks finished. Why don’t you light it?”

  Liz, embarrassed as it is, was still looking in the opposite direction. She quietly murmured.

  “My matches also got wet.”

  “Matches? Are you that green?”

  She was silent. All she wanted right now was to curl up and die somewhere. She thought that she was prepared for everything, but in reality, she was falling apart from the first obstacle on her way.

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  The strange man got up, shook crumbs from his pants, and went to the ring of rocks. He picked two extra rocks from the near pile. He stoked one another with such force that the campfire was showered with sparks. The tinder flared up instantly.

  “There you go.”

  He sat down, stretched his hands at the fire, absorbing rising warmth. It heard Liz’s pride seeing it burning at full power, but she was too cold, and the clothes she hadn’t taken off were still drenched, so she just sat next to him to enjoy the warmth. Watching the fire dance cozied her into a sleepy state.

  Aside from a strange man next to her, everything was becoming more normal again. Liz also felt a strange sense of familiarity with the man. He didn’t scare her anymore.

  “So, what are you gonna do next?”

  His shoulders tensed, and his hat jumped a little as if he woke up or got scared. It took him a minute to answer.

  “I don’t know. I kinda lost.”

  Liz burst out laughing. She felt so relieved. It was such a stressful day, and now she could finally let it go and just laugh.

  “That’s not funny.”

  It didn’t stop her. Liz just kept laughing.

  “Well, if you have nothing better to do, how about you join me, and we complete this stage together?” Liz extended her hand, waiting for him to shake it.

  “Sure, why not?”

  He never shook her hand, just kept facing the campfire in silence. Lis played it as if she tried to warm her hand at the campfire, and did not want to shake his hand at all.

  Ah, well, I suppose handshaking is not the custom everywhere.

  Lis was thinking why she couldn’t remember him in the crowd. She paid a lot of attention to the participants, so she knew who she should avoid, but she couldn’t remember seeing him. Even at the second stage, where there were fewer people, she also came up to pretty much everyone as she tried to find a group, but he wasn’t there.

  It became so dark that she couldn’t see anything outside of the campfire radios. The night was close. The most dangerous time of the day in the forest. Wild animals crawl out of their lair, ready to hunt. The silence that came with the night was a trap, luring people with a false sense of security. But Liz was terrified of the night, ever since the night of the Frey Fall.

  “We should take turns on the night watch. Let’s say I will take the first half of the night, and you will watch the second. Okay?” Liz suggested.

  “Sure.” He said flatly.

  “Good,” Liz confirmed, not to him, but to herself. Everything was so new to her, and a small win was still a win.

  The man took off his backpack and laid it on the ground near the tree. He used it as a pillow. It made his hat shift from the top of his head to his face, but fabric strips were still covering his whole head.

  “Good night,” Liz said first, not sure if he was going to even say it at all.

  “Good night.”

  For Liz’s half of the night, she was just staring at the fire and fueling it with new sticks. Her clothes were completely dry, but now they smelled smoky. She kind of liked it.

  When it was time for the night shift change, Liz was nervous to wake the man up. She let him sleep for thirty more minutes, unable to gather the courage.

  “It’s your turn.”

  He didn’t say anything, just shook his head and sat straight. Liz also used her bag as a pillow, and to her surprise, she fell asleep instantaneously.

  In the morning, the birds were singing, and she sniffed a fresh, damp smell. She opened her eyes and saw morning dew on the leaves, then looked at the campfire. The fire went out, leaving only a black coal behind.

  Liz got up and looked at the place where she last saw her new friend. He was there, exactly where he was, but vertical, asleep.

  You've got to be kidding me.