The others heard them out, then a large group went over to check the tree out. None except the three of them could go in, the others being repelled by light forming a barrier at the entrance. They cut up the giant inside, then pulled it out piece by piece and brought it back to camp. Tar thought they could eat the insect, so he took it upon himself to cook it. They pulled pieces of it off, hard shell put aside for use in the future, the blades and mandibles possible weapons in times of need.
Voysh watched the carcass be cut up further from the fireplace.
“Think there’s more places like that?”
Hitch sat down by the large boy. His eyes were over how Voysh still seemed hurt and he considered whether he would return to being as loud as he was before. But he doubted that.
“I think so. Would be odd for there to only be one place like that, right?”
“Right. You took Ponneltor’s knife to fight that thing?”
Hitch froze, then nodded.
“Good. He was a real warrior. I’d like to think that felling that counts for him too.”
“He was a good guy.”
They sat there for a bit, then Hitch got up and went to work on wood again. Pallia was up and there, and the two sat with no words exchanged, working. People kept coming up to him, asking for clarifications and simply to hear his perspective of a fight.
He was tired.
—
It reflected both Sun and Flame, but took neither in.
—
Voysh was gone in the morning and so was Fita. Hari was the one on watch last and said the two had decided to go looking for a place like the tree to challenge themselves and Hari hadn’t stopped them.
During the night, Titor had shot one of the porcelain things in the woods and thought at least a few more had been around, though he hadn’t really seen them. He approached Hitch along with Layah and another girl, Rer, a diminutive girl who’d cut her hair short upon getting here and spent most of the time reading one of the Tomes. Layah was carrying a Tome too, the blue set one, while the other girl had the yellow one.
“Can we talk?”
Layah was the one to speak up, the others on her sides.
“I guess. Wanna question me on the fight against that insect again?”
“Not exactly” she sat by him, Titor leaning against a tree, the small girl remaining where she was. “We wanted to know how you found it.”
“It wasn’t me, exactly. Mayhe noticed the markings, I just followed them.”
“Anything special about that? We’ll ask him too, but we want to figure out as much as possible.”
“The trail started from these two rocks, so - I’m assuming you intend to leave and look for another place like it?”
The large boy shrugged.
”It’s an idea we’ve talked about, but nothing is certain.”
“I think I’d look for odd places. Ones that look like they were made to be different, then look around from there. And the trail itself was one with a lot of hard to follow marks. Like the trail wanted to be found, but to be difficult about being completed.”
The trio gave each other looks, Rer smiling just a tiny bit.
Layah got up, eyes to the rest of the camp.
“Okay, thanks, we’ll go bother Mayhe then. Grats on winning.”
They left him to his work, a small shack already built using the planks they’d made, though the lack of nails was a bit annoying but something they were working through. The wood they needed to make was getting more complex, Pallia coaching him and others who wanted to help more and more, though growing frustrated with it.
“I wish I could leave too. I’m not even sure why I’m staying if everyone will just run off? If they find some city or village, then all this work will have been a waste of time.”
She spoke at him more than to him, working nearby, logs stacked nearby.
“I might leave too. I’ll come back, I think, but… I don’t want to stay here all the time. ”
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“And I do?! You get to go out, have some magical adventure while I get to stay here, trying not to bleed out all the holes in my body and after I get a bit better forced to work for some shitty structures no one cares about?”
“It was-”
“I don’t care! Fuck, I’m trying to do good.” Her knuckles were white, gripping the handle of an axe. “And I know it’s not fair to get pissy about it. But Mayhe lost an arm and I’d gladly take his place right now, that’s how I feel. To not feel so weak and trapped.”
“I’m sorry.” He didn’t know what else to say, looking away from the teary eyed girl.
“I just need a moment. So yeah, go out, but don’t just disappear. If you find something cool, let me know?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I will.”
She walked away, leaving him alone, returning a while later to continue working in silence.
—
He’d gone off after dinner to look around. The day was coming to a close, explorers and hunters returning for the day. Titor had caught a small deer they were preparing now, then Layah had announced that the three of them would be going away for a while. Hitch had left when they were arguing about how much provisions they could take from the camp’s stock.
He’d never been an argumentative person. He didn’t think of himself as a pushover, but he could see some describing him that way. Easy to pull along, drag into their ideas, if not agreeing than accepting them and not fighting. If he did well enough, maybe he could stand for himself in the way he wanted.
As the sky darkened, the moon not illuminating nearly enough to see in the woods he headed back to the fire. On his way he felt something off and turned, coming face to face with a large creature. It was a couple heads taller than him, was holding a spear in its arms and had a long tail. The face of the thing was reptilian, eyes focused on the boy. He drew his knives, then froze.
“Ssenhtza.”
The thing spoke at him, the short boy taking a step back.
“I don’t understand you, but please leave me alone.”
The reptile-like started making a noise again, then stopped and pointed at itself.
“Ssamalih.”
He copied the motion.
“Hitch.”
“Shitsch”
He nodded, the thing copying him this time, then slinking off into the darkness.
Hitch returned to his camp, then once more decided to keep a secret, heading to blissful sleep.
—
The Moon waged no war tonight, yet it was still exhausted.
—
In the morning Layah, Titor and Rer were gone. The camp was emptier than before, despite being a tad more developed. It hadn’t rained in a while but the plants around them didn’t seem to mind much. He walked into another argument, Olivia talking loudly with Anika about also leaving to explore.
“I just think that - what if we find something? It doesn’t sound bad to bring things back home, right?”
“It sounds an awful lot like just leaving. And at that point, why are we not all just running off?”
“Cause…”
“We could, don’t get me wrong. But I’d rather not just lose everyone, you know? I think that would suck way more. And we can go exploring once we’re more set here. Or maybe someone will find us, help out?”
Hitch got his food and walked off to where Mayhe and Luce were practicing. Despite the missing arm, Mayhe was soundly winning the bout.
Luce had his shield up, eyes trying to track the other boy, but his movement was too slow and he got a stick jabbed into his side, then one of his legs struck. The blows were light and Mayhe let up after a few more, smiling at Hitch.
“Wann join us?”
“I’ll pass, maybe another time. You sure you should be running around?”
“I feel great, really. Miss the arm some, but it doesn't hurt at all.”
“Hmm, alright. Just watch yourself.”
—-
He’d spent the day working on wood and keeping watch around camp. After dinner, Anika motioned for him to follow and the two went for a walk a bit off the camp.
“What do you think?”
“About?”
She sighed.
“All this. Being trapped here, people leaving. Maybe we should all split up?”
“I think there’s safety in numbers, but there is a draw to just going and exploring.”
“Ugh, I know. And I wish to go out and just look for some cave with a magic sword waiting for me, but I also think just making sure we have food, water and shelter is important. Tell me you agree.”
“I do, I do. We’ve got plenty of people working to make this a good place.”
“If a few more leave, don’t you think the rest would go out too?”
“Uhm, maybe? I’m not sure why you’re asking me of all people.”
“We haven’t talked much, have we? I’m trying to have chats with everyone, figure out what’s happening.”
“So it’s my turn today?”
“Yup, so better tell me all that you think is wrong.”
“When did you become our leader?”
She stopped, turning away from him.
“No one else took charge, right? And we needed to be organized.”
“Fair. If you want to take charge, maybe we could just have work assigned rather than just do whatever? Pallia was complaining about needing more hands at building. Not that other stuff isn’t important.”
“I think it’s better if people do what they’re good at, but I’ll talk to people about it. Have a nice night, Hitch.”
“You too.”
He went to his spot, laying down, the others still milling around and chatting.
—
The Moon was dim an-
—
Hitch was woken up in the middle of the night for his watch. He sat with Nargha, the girl’s long hair tied up, the two not really looking at one another.
She tried starting a conversation a few times, but it didn’t really go anywhere. When he tried the same, the chat also died a few sentences in, though the two managed to settle into a not quite comfortable silence.
He woke the next shift after and went back to sleep.
—
-d not offering much light, waiting for its time.
