Banished Pt. 09

"Hmm. Try this," I offered, handing her the knife, and tapping my chest.

"Really?" she asked, and I nodded.

"Your core's power is low enough that I think I can deplete you without straining myself," I offered, and she shrugged, as she moved in and began to assault my armor, as I lifted my hands and gave her free reign.

Cameron snickered at me, and Jeannie took up a little perch on the supply cart, as she observed the proceedings.

Bianca, however, was either much closer to exhaustion than I'd imagined, or my armor had depleted her energy much more quickly than the ordinary armor had, as she'd made no more than twenty or so jabs, when she began to falter a little.

"Bianca, wait-" I began, but she made a final jab, and the dagger went flying from her hand, and clattered dangerously to the floor close to her own foot, but rather than attempting to evade the dagger, she tottered, then collapsed, and I caught her, and quickly picked her up.

"Whoa. Is she okay?" Cameron asked, and I nodded.

"This is what happens when your core runs dry," I explained, and Jeannie moved to study Bianca.

"Wow. She's out cold... is she unconscious?" she asked, and I shrugged.

"I'm not sure. Anyone wanna help me get her to the sleeping area?" I asked, and Cameron quickly moved to my side, as Jeannie cleared a spot for her, close to Lucia.

"I still don't like the idea of her sleeping here, untied," Jeannie said, and Cameron frowned.

"I know she chose the wrong side, but I feel as if she's on the right track now," she offered, and I shot Cameron a thankful nod, as Jeannie bit her lip, before giving a reluctant nod.

The girls helped me strip off Bianca's armor, and as we stowed it away in the supply cart, Jeannie let out a little sigh.

"Boring watch?" I asked, and she frowned.

"A boring watch is a perfect watch," she said. "I'm still trying to sort myself out, after everything."

"How's Nolan?" I asked, gesturing towards where he was sleeping.

"He's fine. Terrified out of his mind, but apparently sleeping off the accelerated healing, since that really takes a lot out of you; energy wise, I mean."

"Jordan? Francesca?" I haven't seen them all day.

"Francesca was doing push-ups this morning," Cameron said, and I tilted a head at her.

"Really now?"

"Yeah... said she needs to learn the skills on her armor as soon as possible so that she can pass it on to one of us."

"I'm not all that certain that she needs to constantly push herself that much," I said, casting a glance at where she too, was still sleeping, and Cameron nodded.

"I know. It's nice to see that she cares about her role this much though," Cameron replied, and I shot her a teasing look as she stuck her tongue out at me, hiding the gesture just as Jeannie returned her gaze to us.

"I think we could all learn from her. Us girls, I mean. Your group is carrying most of the load, and all we've done is bring you unnecessary trouble."

"Give it time," I said, patting Jeannie reassuringly on the shoulder. "You guys are still adjusting. It's only been a few days; the chaotic things happening around us is just making you feel more insecure about it than you need to."

Jeannie nodded, resting a hand on mine, as she let out another sigh.

As we spoke, a group of Kobalt came walking over to us, from the direction of the fallen tree from earlier, and I watched them with concern, as they seemed to be carrying someone.

"Is that... Raul?" Cameron asked, and as I moved toward the procession, I spotted Gisela.

"What happened?"

"The enemy-god fell unconscious," Gisela explained.

"Damn. He really overdid it with the planks, didn't he?"

Gisela nodded.

"We have supply to create many more than what is needed," she said, and I snickered a little.

Maybe he was working out his own frustrations, I thought.

The Kobalt took him to his usual sleeping spot, away from the main group, and I frowned a little.

How much time should we take before letting him sleep with the rest of the group? I wondered.

As we oversaw the operation, several more hunters came bearing huge loads of wooden planks, which they piled up alongside the supply cart, and I spotted Molly coming along, with Leanna following closely behind as the last of them moved to rejoin the camp.

"Hey, you," Molly called, as soon as she made her way over to us. "You slept so long, I started to worry."

As I spotted Evie, asleep in our section, I shot her an apologetic glance.

"Did we break up your night watch team?" I asked, and she waved a hand.

"Oh, we'll still get to talk in between shifts. It's fine. We have waay more important things to worry about anyway."

"What about you? How are you handling everything?" I asked, turning to Leanna, and the girl shook her head.

"I dunno. I feel so at lost in this world," she said.

"A natural reaction," I replied. "You take your time finding your feet. There's no rush."

Her long, brown hair had now been plaited, and she was twirling the loose bit at the end nervously, as she cast furtive glances around the camp.

She nodded, a little absently, and Jeannie shot me a nervous look, as she gestured to the area just beyond the camp.

"Is that where we buried them?" Jeannie asked, and I nodded, as we moved over to where the planted trees stood, representing those who had fallen in the conflict the night before.

As I studied them, a curious thought occurred to me, and as I signaled to Gisela, she moved over to join me.

"Do you know the names of all who died last night?" I asked.

"Apologies, Herr Nathan. My knowledge is incomplete," she replied, and I frowned.

I cast a tentative glance across to Lucia.

"What about their families?"

"Only two have brought forth saplings," Gisela answered. "The rest, only just barely matured from saplings themselves."

I nodded.

"Can we get all of the Kobalt together sometime this evening? In the final segment before darkness," I clarified, and Gisela nodded.

"It can be done. This segment is convenient," she answered.

"What are you thinking?" Jeannie asked, studying me.

"We could pay tribute to them. Maybe, inscribe their names on something, kind of as a memorial."

"That sounds nice," Cameron said, and Molly nodded in agreement.

What could we use for the inscriptions, though?

There were the wooden planks that Raul had cut from the tree... but I felt as if that might not last for very long.

The best thing would be stone, but even if we could find a large enough boulder, hauling it into position could be difficult.

I mean, we couldn't carry the thing ourselves... or could we?

My armor had already made me quicker than I ever thought I could run.

So, maybe it was possible?

I relayed my suggestion to the ladies, and Molly quickly perked up.

"I think there was a loose boulder over by the tree! Pretty big, but I think it looked moveable."

I nodded, indicating for her to lead the way, and as we got there, I noted with interest that the boulder seemed quite freshly moved.

Was it due to natural causes?

There wasn't a waterway nearby, but maybe it was a flood or landslide?

But it didn't rain inside of the forest, did it?

And everywhere, for the most part, seemed quite dry.

Nonetheless, as I pushed against the boulder, it shifted, and I clapped my hands together, as that certainly meant that it was worth the try.

"Okay gals, let's armor up!" I called.

"You're gonna make us push? Big, strong guy like you?" Molly teased, and I snickered.

"Oh please. That's definitely not gonna work on me," I replied, but Jeannie seemed to regard the comment with some annoyance.

"Nate has been doing everything for us. Would you really stand there and make him push that boulder all by himself?"

"Wha-? I was kidding," Molly quickly explained, as she shot me an apologetic look. "I really didn't mean it."

"It's fine. The armor's gonna do half the work anyway, so get your womanly muscles in gear and let's do this," I said, poking her playfully in the ribs.

Jeannie was already wearing the medium grade T-one set, and there was another set in the supply cart, but Raul, Francesca and Jordan were asleep in their armor.

As we returned to the camp, I opted for disarming Raul, as he was more or less unconscious, and his core depleted, making it a simple process of undoing the straps and stripping it off of him.

"I'm wearing one!" Cameron quickly called, shooting me a teasing look, as Molly opted for the other set, while Leanna seemed quite happy to sit it out.

As the armors began to fold into place, however, Molly's eyes lit up, and even Leanna seemed drawn to the spectacle of the transformation.

Molly's armor, I noted, took a quite distinctive form, as not only did it accentuate her breasts, as it had done with Bianca, but it also formed some unique projections on the back, that went up to her shoulder and looked almost like... wings broken off just at the root.

"That's interesting," Jeannie noted, studying the protrusions. "Do I have those on my back?"

I shook my head, and Molly beamed happily.

"Does that mean I might have a unique skill or something?" she asked, and I shrugged.

"It's certainly interesting."

Cameron's armor also fitted her form, though somewhat less exaggeratedly than it did on Molly and Bianca, and as she twirled a little, I shot her a quick smile to let her know that I quite liked the look on her.

As they finished putting their armor on, we returned to the boulder, and everyone, sans Leanna, got into position to push.

"Heave, ho!" Molly called, and as we pushed, to my surprise, the boulder moved quite easily from its perch, and we gave a quick celebratory cheer at the result.

The celebration, however, was quite premature, as we quickly learned that while we were able to move the thing, it was too misshapen to roll properly, so we ended up pushing it over onto its sides in repeated heaving thrusts, and guiding it along the way.

"Whew. Can we get some Kobalt power to help on this or what?" Molly asked, as we still had some way to go before getting to our destination.

"No. These people died protecting us last night. I think we should do this by ourselves. It's the least we could do," Jeannie said.

Molly bit her lip, as I nodded in agreement with Jeannie.

Of course, it would definitely help our image if the Kobalt were to see us working hard at something that was meant to honor their dead.

I considered finding some way to draw their attention subtly to it, but it was hardly necessary, as by the time we made it within ten, or twenty feet of where we needed the rock to be, we were drenched in sweat, and all eyes were glued to us.

"Herr Nathan, do you require support?" Gisela asked, quickly moving to my side, and I shook my head.

Leanna helped guide us to a spot at the heart of the little grove of saplings, and we collapsed against the rock for a breather, as we finally got the boulder to where it needed to be.

"How are we gonna do the engraving?" Molly asked, and I gestured at my dagger.

"These things cut through stone easily enough," I said. "The real question is; whose got the best handwriting?"

We all took a shot at it, carving on the dirt using sticks, and to my surprise the eventual candidate turned out to be Leanna.

"What do you think? Are you up for the task?" I asked.

"I don't know. Are their names, like, weird tribal things, or something like that?"

"I think they're mostly German," I replied, and she frowned.

"I guess, it should be fine... could we, uh- talk, for a sec, though?" she asked, glancing around, and Jeannie shot me a quick look, as I nodded, and we headed away from the group, towards where the supply caravan was.

"I'm worried about something," Leanna began, casting a quick furtive glance around, and moving closer to me, to speak in a lower tone. "Emily said something to me before we went to that place, with the tree building."

"I'm not sure you should trust anything that Emily had to say; ever. Chances are, she was trying to manipulate you... and everyone, from the start."

She shook her head.

"No, you see. What she said is starting to make sense now," she said, casting another cautious look around. "About these... people, and what they really want with us."

I suppressed an inward sigh, as I nodded to Leanna to continue.

"Emily said that they're terrified of us, and that they would do anything to destroy us, because we're stronger than they are. She said they would lead us somewhere, and show us things that we want to see, and promise us those things for our own group, but that to get there, we would have to go through danger."

"Leanna, many of them died in this fight last night. Died protecting our group, specifically. They left their homes and their lives just for our sake," I reasoned, and she shook her head.

"No, you see. That's what Emily said they'd do. That they would pretend to help us, as if they were on our side."

"Huh..." I muttered, studying her, and she nodded.

"Then they would lead us somewhere, into danger that we can't get away from, and there they would finish us off. Doesn't it feel like if that's what they're doing? I mean, whose idea was it to come into this part of the forest."

"Mine," I replied, and she shook her head.

"Yeah, but you wouldn't have decided that if that girl with you didn't suggest it, would you?"

"I wouldn't have any idea of where we should go in any place. We have no maps, no knowledge of the lay of the lands," I reminded her, and she frowned.

"You need to stop trusting them so much. What if Emily was right? It can't be a mistake, can it? That what's happened is exactly what she said?"

I bit my lip nervously.

If the Kobalt were willing to so far as to sacrifice themselves and their princess, all to lead us into trusting them, just so that they could wipe us out, then to be honest, they deserved that win, I thought with some amusement; but maybe I need to take a different approach here.

I mean, she didn't seem as if she was going to drop this, and her willingness to believe something as farfetched as this led me to believe that her mindset was not about to change.

So, if she thought that I was on the Kobalt's side no matter what, then there was the probability that she would try to act against them in secret, and it was much better for me to know what she was up to than to have to worry what she was doing on her own.

I cast a quick look around, before pulling Leanna with me.

"We should go somewhere a little more private," I said, and she nodded, and as I took a quick look around, I spotted the large tree on the eastern fringe of the camp.

Presently, it was deserted; but I'd seen Kobalt walk past quite frequently to 'take care of business', which suited my plan perfectly.

I led her there, and as we got to the large tree, I cast a conspiratorial look around, before leading her around the trunk to the side that was hidden from the main camp, then pulled her close; closer than she was comfortable being.

Her back was to the trunk, and trapped between it and me, she suddenly seemed nervous, and I smiled internally at the reaction.

"What I'm about to say to you, can't be repeated. Period," I said, and she studied me, as the words instantly captured her attention.

"W-what is it?"

"The Kobalt can't be trusted, but we can't leave them either."

"Oh my God, I knew it! But why can't we leave?"

"I'll explain everything in time, but you need to be careful. The Kobalt are very, very adept at reading lips, so from this moment on, you and I need to keep these conversations away from prying eyes and listening ears."

Her eyes were glued to me, and her mouth slightly agape, as she nodded, hypnotically almost.

I took a quick look beyond the tree and smiled as I spotted a Kobalt approaching, quite unaware of our presence, giving me the perfect opportunity to put Leanna's gullible nature to the test.

"Quick, kiss me," I said.

"What?"

"Someone's coming! Put your arms around me, and kiss me."

Leanna seemed stunned by the request, then suddenly, a determined look replaced the expression, and she wrapped her arms around me, and pressed her lips against mine.

We were frozen in that position, our lips pressed awkwardly together, but as the Kobalt walked past the tree and into Leanna's line of sight, her eyes quickly flicked after him, slightly panicked, and she began to move, her arms ruffling my hair at the back of my head, and moving her head a bit, engaging my lips now as if in the throes of passion.

Impressive, I thought, as she continued the kiss.

"Kiss down to my neck," she said, and as I obeyed, moving my head down to her neck, she continued to ruffle my hair passionately, and she pulled me closer, into her body, and lifted a leg, and began to rub the back of my calf with her toes.

I didn't overdo the acting, and rather than kiss along her neck, I merely moved my head back and forth, brushing the soft skin there as if dedicated to the act, but not overly so.

"He's gone," she said, panting a little, and I nodded.

"You were fantastic; where did you learn to act like that?" I asked, shooting her an impressed smile.

"Drama club?" she asked, smiling a little as she shrugged.

"That was close though. If we're meeting up like this, we need to keep up an image, as if we're secret lovers or something."

"Secret? Why can't we just pretend that you're my mate? Like Cameron?"

I furrowed my brow, and put on a troubled expression.

"I don't want to talk about this, really... but they made me impregnate Cameron. And they might make us do some other stuff. I don't even want to think about it," I said, shuddering a little, and she put her hands over her mouth.

"Oh my God. They wouldn't-?"

"No, if they think we're having an affair, it should be fine... but the Kobalt aren't the only ones we need to trick. None of the girls can be trusted."

She nodded.

"I knew it! Molly and Evie keep trying to tell me how 'noble' the Kobalt are. God, they're so fucking gullible," she said, shaking her head contemptuously.

"We can't stay here for long. We'll arrange another meeting, somewhere safer, out of their reach. For now, just know that everything you say, they're probably watching, so even if you suspect them, take note of it, but don't talk about it with anyone but me, and wait until we're clear before you do."

She nodded again.

"I- I understand," she said, as I rested a hand on her shoulder.

"I thought I'd have to do this alone, after we lost Emily... but maybe, now we have a chance," I said, and she held my gaze, as she took my hand into her own.

"If you need me, for anything. Don't hesitate to ask," she said, and I nodded, taking a deep breath, as if composing myself, before heading out from behind the tree.

Leanna waited for some time before following me, shooting me a quick glance, before looking away and heading back to rejoin the group, and I made a note to myself to make sure that everyone in the group knew that under no circumstance was she to be left with a weapon.

Ever.

Jeannie walked over to my side, as Leanna left.

"To be perfectly honest, I'm really worried about her," she said. "I don't know if she's ill-natured in the same way as Emily was, but she's unhinged, and I have no idea what she's capable of."

I studied Jeannie for a bit.

"I share your concern, but out of curiosity; what would you suggest we do about it?"

"I dunno. I feel as if we're constrained by our civility here. Imprisoning her would be a bit much, since she hasn't really done anything; but the idea of waiting for her to do something just leaves me feeling... downright uncomfortable."

"If there was a way to control her, though. To rein her in, and keep her in check; but the means were questionable... how would you feel about that?"