As Mike and Austin walked with Jess, Josh separated himself to meet with the other scouts. While they were happy to have another person join them, Josh needed to see where he would be a good fit. Each squad seemed to join together based on different strengths and weaknesses, but even more importantly were their personalities. A squad worked best if the personalities could work well together.
?
Jess led Mike and Austin to a small area with various people sitting in a circle. Austin soon noticed that each person in the circle had three painted bands around their arms. He quickly recognized that Beth was a part of the circle of people.
?
“Come sit next to me, Austin,” Natasha motioned to a spot next to her.
?
As Austin moved to sit next to Natasha, Jess and Mike took their seats in the circle. Austin noticed that some of the people in the circle stared at him as he took his seat next to Natasha. Austin got the impression that they did not trust him.
?
“I know for many of you, this is your first time meeting him,” Natasha gestured to Austin with her hand. “But this is Austin, one of the disciples of the masters of the forest and similar in strength to the Three Kings.”
?
“So we are just supposed to accept him because of his strength?” A man with a buzz cut angrily asked.
?
“How can we know that he is trustworthy?” A woman with short blonde hair added on.
?
Before Natasha could explain further, the circle started to blow up in aggression. Each person talked over the other with their concerns until the talking turned into yelling. Some defended Natasha’s decision, while most questioned her decision to have Austin join. As the disagreements grew, black wisps of Essence started to radiate from Natasha’s body. She sat still as the black wisps coalesced into a thick wave that washed over the group. The gesture was harmless but caused the group to silence.
?
“I can assure you that he can be trusted,” Natasha insisted with a calm fury. Her voice was steady but demanded respect. “He has a very similar mentality to myself and many others in this camp.”
?
“Sorry for questioning your judgment,” the man with the buzzcut quietly said as he lowered his head. The man’s aggression was gone, and he now acted like a scolded child.
?
“It’s fine. I understand tensions are high,” Natasha said. “There have been rumors of an unknown group attacking people, and I just brought in a new group of people to our camp. You can be concerned, but we also have to stay united.”
?
“Does this meeting concern that group attacking people?” The blonde-haired woman asked.
?
“Yes, I am very concerned about this group. And Austin has confirmed my suspicions,” Natasha nodded. “I believe it is in our best interest to work with the other two kings and deal with this threat. This meeting is to discuss what actions we will take to do so.”
?
“Are you sure we should ally with them? Or even if they would want to?” Beth spoke up. “I worry about putting our people in danger if we work with them. They could see it as a chance to cause harm to us and expand their influence.”
?
“Also, we haven’t been attacked. Why should we intervene?” The blonde woman added on. “Maybe the other groups made them angry.”
?
“I know you don’t really know me, but I would like to say something,” Austin said with nervousness. “I have encountered these people before. The leader of their group made it obvious that he would attack anyone in his way to get more powerful.”
?
“So we put ourselves in his way? Wouldn’t it be better to just avoid him?” The blonde woman said with a raised eyebrow.
?
“I understand your concerns,” Natasha said calmly. “But we can only avoid the issue for so long. Eventually, we could be cornered. Then our people will be put at greater risk.”
?
“There is still the current risk of working with the other two kings. How will you handle that?” Beth reiterated her previous concerns.
?
“Right, I’m sorry I didn’t answer your question,” Natasha said. “I don’t plan to involve common people in the partnership. I won’t even give them access to our camp. Instead, I want to find a neutral area where we can gather warriors from their group and our group.”
?
“I see,” Beth nodded with a concerned expression. “Won’t that leave our camp defenseless?”
?
“No,” Natasha said flatly. “We will obviously keep a group of warriors here, and Austin or I will be at the camp.”
?
“As long as the children remain safe, I am okay with this course,” Beth nodded. “How about everyone else?”
?
“They do make some good points,” the blonde woman sighed. “Let’s do it.”
?
“It could make scouting less dangerous, and maybe we could actually find some of those treasures,” Mike said. “I’m for it.”
?
The rest of the group looked at each other as if they were trying to decide what to do. As the group glanced back and forth, quiet chatter started to erupt. It did not take long for the chatter to quiet into absolute silence. As it did, the group seemed to nod in unison.
?
“I’m glad that you all agree,” Natasha said with a smile. “I will discuss our next actions with Jess and Mike, then inform you all.”
?
In recognition of Natasha’s words, the group all started to disperse from the circle. Austin followed suit and stood up to leave, but before he could walk away, Natasha grabbed him. She lightly pulled him back to the ground.
?
“We are on equal footing now,” Natasha said. “So I would like you to be involved with these types of discussions.”
?
“Right, I guess that makes sense,” Austin replied with unease. He was not sure how he felt about being thrown into this new role. While he did not mind helping, he felt as if Natasha wanted him to act as a leader. He was more interested in helping his family than acting like a leader.
?
“You don’t need to be so tense,” Mike smiled as he gave Austin a pat on the back. “As Natasha’s equal in strength, we just want you involved.”
?
“Right, it just feels strange to me,” Austin said. “I guess I expected to be like a helpful third party. Not part of your decision-making.”
?
“That’s exactly why we want you part of decision-making,” Natasha said. “You will be a central part of our plan, and we don’t want you to feel like we are ordering you around.”’
?
“I still feel strange about your involvement,” Jess admitted. “But I think this will be good for all of us, having you involved like this.”
?
“Moving on, I never formally introduced you to Jess and Mike. The two of them lead our scouts,” Natasha said as she gestured with her hands at Jess and Mike. “In formal terms, their authority in the camp is right below mine. Beth has the same level of authority as them, but she focuses more on managing the affairs within the camp.”
?
“So are you two pretty close to Copper then?” Austin asked.
?
“Yep,” Mike smiled widely. “Just a little more, and I think we will be there. Luckily, we have had Natasha’s direction.”
?
“I think if we could get to some of the rarer herbs and treasures that the two of us would already be there,” Jess sighed.
?
“All in due time, Jess. You just need to be patient,” Natasha said. “There is a lot of risk in getting those resources.”
?
“I know, I know. We are just so close to making it,” Jess said eagerly.
?
“Well, maybe we can kill two birds with one stone,” Natasha smiled. “While the ultimate goal is to take down Chet and his group. The freedom that Austin and I will have will allow us to search in those more dangerous areas for resources. I would actually say, I think it is a necessary part of our plan.”
?
“Why is that?” Mike asked. “I understand it would be helpful to get stronger, but if we are allying with the other two kings, is it an absolute necessity?”
?
“It is hard saying,” Natasha frowned. “I would like to say that combining our forces would be enough. But it has become apparent that Chet and his companions have treasures assisting them. For this reason, I find it hard to estimate their strength.”
?
“I want to make sure I am following. The main jobs for the two of us will be defending the main camp and trying to find treasures and rare herbs?” Austin asked. “At the very least, finding these resources will give us greater insurance against Chet and his group.”
?
“Exactly that,” Natasha nodded. “We will be able to lead expeditions into more dangerous zones and hopefully the resources we find will push some people to Copper.”
?
“Hmm, can I make a suggestion?” Austin asked. He then held his chin as he started to review Natasha’s proposed plans.
?
“Yeah, that’s fine. That is why you are here,” Natasha said.
?
“Okay, so I know that we want to stop Chet as soon as possible. But if I am assuming correctly, the other two kings think our group is weak,” Austin began to explain. “What if we hold off on joining them? Instead, Natasha and I go to those areas and try to recover resources. Then we have a stronger standing when we propose an alliance.”
?
“He makes a good point,” Mike said to Natasha. “It could even be enough to push Jess and me to Copper. The other two kings would think twice about threatening us if we had four Coppers.”
?
“I actually agree too,” Jess nodded. “It’ll also give us more options during the hunt. Currently, it seems like Chet is more of an issue for the other two kings as well.”
?
Natasha bit her lip, and her eyebrows furrowed into a worried expression. She did not immediately respond to Austin’s suggestion. She thought through the suggestion in the moment of quiet. As if she were deeply unsure of how to proceed.
?
“My main concern is what happens if we let Chet continue while we are trying to gather more power,” Natasha said with worry. “His group feels like an urgent threat to me.”
?
“I understand,” Austin nodded. “But if we go in there with less power, then we could be putting ourselves in more danger. Wouldn’t it be better to be fully prepared? Especially with the fact that they have powerful treasures. In a one-on-one, I think they definitely outclass us right now. We need to level the playing field.”
?
“I hate to admit it, but I think you’re right,” Natasha sighed. “I really wanted to do this as quickly as possible, but if any of us were caught in a one-on-one, we’d be done for.”
?
“I appreciate your understanding,” Austin said. “We should probably strategize on how we will handle the search then.”
?
“Scouts have reported suspected areas to both Jess and I,” Mike said. “We can use that as our guide point.”
?
“Yes, we do have an idea of where to look at least,” Jess nodded. “So we can alternate scouting parties with Austin and Natasha as leaders.”
?
“Agreed, we will keep one of us here at all times to ensure the safety of the camp,” Natasha said. “With that in mind, I think one of you two should also be with the scouting parties. That would better increase our chances of success against the powerful beasts in those areas.”
?
“Okay, sounds like we have a plan then,” Austin nodded. “We’ll just have to make up the exact members of the squads.”
?
“We’ll handle that,” Mike said. “We’ll probably rotate them out because I think this will be a good experience for them as well.”
?
Natasha clapped her hands together and smiled broadly. “Sounds like we got it covered. Starting tomorrow, let’s get this going!”
