Snippet #2250260

Tonight wasn't a night for altercations. Tonight, people were celebrating being healthy, happy and whole. Even if there were those who were still suspicious of the Vanduo's presence in Blakestown, those who had accepted the tribals into their fold far outnumbered the rest.

So when the small group of young people approached the gate leading to the outside, they were permitted to pass, including Adrien, after the guards had given them a fair word of warning. Ellie was on Xander's arm, and Aja walked with her hand loosely gripping Adrien's forearm. Behind them, the gates closed with an iron clang, and above, the twin moons were beginning to split with the approach of the winter solstice.

Aja glanced upward, her brow furrowed in thought, while Ellie described in vivid detail how much she adored the evening.

"I mean, I wasn't entirely sure about how everything would turn out, but once Ajani saw me and I started feeling better, my hopes were immediately restored." She chirped, her cheeks flushed from the chill. Xander, at her side, merely looked on in amusement.

"Did you enjoy yourself Ajani? You and Adrien seemed to dance pretty well, and Adrien doesn't dance!"

"He hobbles like a cripple." Xander said with a grin. "With two left feet."

"I had fun." Ajani supplemented, glancing to Adrien. "I think his feet are fine."

"Y'll be hobbling like a cripple once I make you one, Sandy," he warned, though dully and humorously. He, too, looked up to the twin moons, before glancing between the group, and smiling toward Xander and Elleanore.

"I'm glad you're better, Ell. I really am. And..." Adrien glanced toward Xander, and his smile seemed to fall more than it rose, at that point. Suddenly, he looked toward Ajani, almost as if attempting to move onto something else.

"Thanks for helping Radimus, Aja. Even though he's a right prick."

Ajani smiled back, but it wasn't as enthusiastic as she would have originally expressed. "He's your father." she told him, lightly shrugging her shoulders. "I would have wanted the same done for my own."

The wall disappeared as the four walked further into the woods. There didn't seem to be any anxiety out here now, not since the colonists had obviously taken in the tribals and accepted their presence. Coming to a small clearing in the midst of a copse of trees, Ajani stepped away from Adrien, releasing his arm and walking to the center of that small patch of snow-laden ground. Her brow furrowed as she concentrated, her arms held close to her chest as she looked around her for a moment, then, with a sudden sweep of her arms, frigid gusts of wind came swooping in, dusting the snow away until nothing but cold earth remained.

Xander, who looked a bit disheveled after the small demonstration, glanced to Ellie, who could do little more than stare about herself in confusion. She didn't seem to be making the connection.

"Adrien can you help me find some branches?" Aja called, waving him towards her. Xander stepped forward, as if meaning to help, but the woman stopped him.

"We'll be back. Stay here with Ellie."

"For a fire?" Adrien unceremoniously replied, as if the association of tribals and magic hadn't really come as new news to him now. His feet carried him toward Ajani, though when he'd reached her, he gave a smile back to Xander. "Y'can't carry lumber anyway, Xander. Only us brawny men can. A log'd crush your lanky bones!"

Then, he looked to the girl he'd followed. "Though maybe just Xander and I should've gone?" he added, almost teasingly.

Aja glanced away momentarily. "If that's how you would prefer it." She seemed to miss the joke, gazing at Adrien curiously, as if she didn't understand why he was saying as much. She shook her head, lifting a hand to her brow.

"Or I can just go on my own."

Adrien's smile faltered, and he set a flat hand on Ajani's shoulder. "I was kidding, Aja. We best leave those two together alone anyway." he said, and nodded toward the deeper forest. His hand fell to his side. "Y'seem edgey, if any. Something messing with you?" he asked.

She nodded, seeing no need for any kind of pretense. "Just, earlier..." she began, walking ahead of him and coming to the base of a tree. Stepping close to the trunk, she lay her hand against the bark, turning her eyes away and pausing for a moment.

A 'crack' resonated above them, and a thicker branch came crashing down, landing softly in the snow not a few feet from where Aja was standing.

"Cain threatened you. He said if I came back..." she hesitated, shaking her head before she looked back to Adrien.

"We need to tell Ellie what's going on."

"If'e threatened me, don't worry about me, because I can damn well take care of myself." Adrien started, rather suddenly and defensively. Then, his brow softened, and his lips pulled into a thin white line. He glanced backwards - to where Xander and Elleanore were waiting for them both. "About the threat he made against her?" he asked. "Or everything?"

Almost hesitantly, he'd hauled the thicker branch over his shoulder, and looked to Ajani for an answer. He thought, that perhaps if she hadn't known, there would be less things to worry about. He could only imagine it peculiar why they would've come out so far anyhow, and the Vanduo leader certainly supplied an answer.

"Everything."

She walked over to stand near him, glancing to his face before looking away. "She deserves to know. If Cain plans on holding on to any of his threats, then she isn't going to be safe." Her eyes went past him, towards the distant woods, and the town that lay beyond that wall. "Where we're at, right now, is good. But I don't know how long it's going to last, or what forces are at work to destroy what we've tried to build."

With a sigh, and a short laugh, she smiled at Adrien, but it was reserved. "I just want all of us to be prepared for the worst, should it happen."

"My father still thinks ill of the tribes. Like helping us was a ploy, so you could be closer. The man is going senile, and he isn't even old enough yet. He's still yet to tell me about the red-haired man." he said, with an expression that starkly contrasted the girl's. "What good would come of telling her if we're not doing anything about it?"

With a long sigh, he glanced toward where she had. He wondered, if he could overlook the tops of the trees, if their wall would still be in view. "I know where he lives - but I'm not killing a man if I can help it. So what are we to do?"

"I won't come back after tonight." she said. "I need to make sure the tribe is doing well, and then there's the matter of Junea..." her voice trailed off, expression suddenly falling to one of worry. "He's yet to come back, and I may have to go out to look for him myself."

So much worry. It was weighing her down at the shoulders. "I've been so distracted that I've nearly forgotten everything else that's been happening."

"Junea?" Adrien asked, his eyebrows pulling tight at the name. He hadn't heard it before. "Is that a good idea? Looking for him yourself? And what about the Vanduo? They depend on you. I know that much, and I've not been there but twice."

He bore the same look as Ajani. "Don't take on what you can't handle. We wouldn't be... heartbroken if you hadn't come back or tried to help us repair the relations between mine and your people. That can wait as long as Illiam can make it. If you need to take care of your tribe, then..." His stomach churned as he spoke, and he hadn't particularly believed the words that he was saying to the girl.

She looked unsure, her lips pursing tight as she crossed her arms over her chest. Continue to come back? Or leave? Which would cause fewer problems for her friends, the people she'd come to care about?

Gritting her teeth, she stared at the ground as the wind stirred powerfully, shaking the snow from the branches around them. "I don't know what I should do anymore. That man frightens me, and I know you can take care of yourself, but I don't know that I could forgive myself if something happened to you...or Ellie or the others."

She searched his eyes. "I want to keep my distance, but leaving wouldn't work either. Not when we're making so much progress."

He pivoted to look at her, and furrowed a brow. "What if... we were to bring Elleanore to the Vanduo? She'd be safe there, if Cain kept on his promise about me getting in the way of things. I wouldn't, still, but I don't need a babysitter. If anything, I could stay somewhere else and that hound wouldn't be able to catch a whiff of me. Blakestown is big; bigger than you've seen. Our walls go on for miles."

"I don't want to abandon this - what we're doing. Not entirely. If it comes down to it, we can just move the people he's threatening, Elleanore and I."

She looked away with a sigh.

"It could work." she murmured. "It's definitely a better choice than just...leaving." She didn't know why she'd even suggested it in the first place. Closing her eyes, she ran her hand over her face before letting her arm drop to her side. Her eyes rolled skyward.

"I'm sorry." she said finally. "I'm letting fear drive my decision-making. I think I'm more tired than I originally thought."

Embarrassed at herself, she started to walk back towards the others. Adrien started off with her, and like he'd promised to Xander and Elleanore, his hands reached for sticks along the way, while his shoulder ached with the heavy wood that Ajani had disjointed from the tree.

They made it back to camp - it wasn't so far away. And, when they had, Adrien happily dropped the lumber into a pile. He moved stones around it, to keep the flames, then looked to his tribal partner as his stomach twisted again, a little afraid of relaying the news to Elleanore, which the three other kids had already known about. Before she could reply to his look, however, he sat himself by the pile of lumber and spoke.

"Can I do the honors? I've been practicing."

Ajani smiled, coming down to sit next to him. Adrien and Ellie crowded around curiously. "Please do." she encouraged, propping her chin in her hand so she could watch.

Adrien had eagerly thrusted both hands forward, palms out, toward the pile of broken sticks and lumber. For a moment, he closed his eyes, and his forehead kneaded with concentration. After a few moments of silence, he opened his eyes again, and looked embarrasedly toward xander and Ellie, then Ajani.

He drew a breath in again, and without closing his eyes, raised his hand to face the firewood again. the boy stared at the pile of wood, and if only for a moment, his vision begun to vignette.

But before that could happen, a spark suddenly rose from the middle of the pit, and caught the fire alight. It was a small fire, and certainly not as impressive as Ajani's magical charades, but the grin on his face that he happily showed to everyone gave the impression that he was rather impressed with himself.

Aja was pleased, just as pleased as Adrien was. She reached to grip his shoulder, squeezing it encouragingly as a soft laugh left her. Ellie and Xander were both staring with widened eyes.

"You can do magic too, Dree?" the young man asked. Ellie, who was standing close to Xander, came to kneel down next to Ajani, her blue eyes wide with wonder as she watched the small flame grow.

"I thought only the tribals could do that." she said, looking past Ajani towards Adrien. Aja, to say the least, looked more than a little proud.

"We all have it in us. This power." she explained, reaching for Adrien's hand and drawing it closer to herself so she could study the veins in the back of his hand. "It's only a matter of learning how to reach it."

She glanced up to Adrien's eyes, unable to help her smile. "How does it feel?"

"Warm." Adrien said, with a grin far wider than Ajani's. It was obvious. He was proud. He'd taken on the same skill that the tribals had, and at the very least, he was coming to a nice start. After trying to turn the corners of his mouth down for a little while, he glanced to Ajani, and the reason why they were here became evident to him again. His proud smile dropped as quickly as it fell, and he gave another wistful sigh.

"S'pose y'two don't know why we came out here to talk?" he asked.

Ellie's eyes widened in curiosity, and Xander came down to sit on her other side. He looked at Adrien with slightly narrowed eyes, as if he suspected what the other might start saying. Aja let go of Adrien's hand and turned to look at the other young woman.

"What do you know about the first time we tried to have our peace treaty signed?" she asked.

"Now, wait a minute," Xander said quickly. "I thought we agreed we weren't gunna talk too much abou' this..."

Ajani looked to Adrien quickly, her brow furrowed.

"It's fine, Xander. Sh'needs to know if she's involved. And she is." Adrien retorted, and gave a quick nod to Ajani before Xander could say anything more.

So, Aja launched into a synopsis of everything that had happened that day, including how she met Adrien, how they'd continued to meet, how she'd come to the town and encountered the man who was responsible for killing her father.

And how that same man had threatened her life in order to keep Adrien from going to see Ajani.

Ellie' eyes were wide, her hands clenched tightly in her lap. Xander looked as if he'd swallowed a lemon. "I don't understand." the young woman said. "What...why doesn't he want you to see her? What does he have against the tribals?"

"What did any of us have against 'em, except stories and some shitty religious reasons." Xander offered. Aja looked from one to the next.

"All we want, Ellie, is to coexist peacefully." she said gently. "We need to learn to rely on one another, and come together as one group of people, and not two." She reached for Ellie's hand and grasped it firmly.

"But that might mean that I'll need to take you to my home to keep you safe, at some point in the future. The last thing any of us wants is for someone to get hurt."

"Sometime soon, Ellie." Adrien corrected. "Do you remember, if any, the man with red hair who helped you carry your things? That was him. His name is Cain. He's a dangerous man, and I don't know if you could stay in Blakestown while we carry on trying to help us coexist without something happening t'you. It sounds selfish to put it that way, but something needs t'happen," he said. "He threatened me. I'm going to move, too."

"What's the urgency?" Ellie's eyes couldn't get any wider.

"Something else is coming." Ajani said, her tone low, and her eyes dark with foreboding. "I don't know what, but I do know that if we can't work together, it's going to destroy both Blakestown and my tribe." She shook her head slowly. "I can't let that happen, to either of us. My father might have suspected it before he di-"

Her throat got thick, but she cleared it quickly, taking a moment to compose herself.

"I think he knew what was coming, and for whatever reason, Radimus, Cain, and a few others are convinced that our cooperation cannot happen."

Even Xander was surprised.

"So, it's like...some big bad is comin' teh get us?"

Aja's throat was thick when she spoke again.

"It's already gotten some of us." she said, her voice quavering. "My people...who live in the homesteads out in the plains...they've gone missing, and I sent a team to go find them, weeks ago. They've yet to return."

Adrien looked to Ajani suddenly, as if the information that she relayed had come as some surprise to him. To him, they felt familiar. His brow unfurrowed soon enough, though, and he gave a deep sigh. He had hoped the dreams he had - the evil she'd spoken of - was just gut feelings and nightmarish dreams. But, their people disappearing? "We don't wander out that far," he said, as if rooting out the possibility that his own could've done it.

Then, he looked to Elleanore again.

"Would you be willing t'go with the Vanduo? They'll keep you safe - from Cain. And... Xander can come to the tribe as well, if he wants to visit you, but I don't think he's in any danger. He's got the mark."

He looked to the faint symbol on his hand. He'd noticed it on Xander before.

"Now?" Ellie tensed, leaning closer to Xander as the other put his arm around her shoulders.

"Soon." Ajani clarified, her lips pursing as she took in a deep breath through her nose. "We'll tell your father, so he won't worry. We just need to keep you and Adrien away from Cain and the others."

Ellie's breathing was faster, but she nodded. "I trust you, all of you. I wish there was more I could do to help."

To the surprise of everyone, Ajani smiled, leaning to cup Ellie behind the head and alighting a kiss on her brow. She rose quickly.

"Best if I went back home," she told the other three. "The rest will come soon, but there are things I need to see to."

Adrien nodded, and gave a light smile toward the two girls. "You be off, then." he said, though suddenly stopped, and lightly took Ajani by the wrist. "But, don't be afraid to come back. I'll move, and I'll take care of myself. Cain won't get to me. I promise."

Then, he let go, and looked to Xander and Elleanore. "I'll be moving from Radimus' house, anyway. I don't know to where yet - and he can't know either. You're going to have to go without an extra farmhand for some time, Sandy."

"I'll come back." she reassured him, before turning and walking into the woods. She glanced one last time back towards the three as they gathered around the fire, smiling tiredly before disappearing into the trees.

Xander watched her go, his brow knit with concern before Adrien's words caught his attention. "Where yeh gunna be, Dree? Or will Ajani be the only one t'know."

Ellie held tight to Xander's hand, watching Adrien quietly.

"Ajani's gone." Adrien noted, dully. He looked to the ground for a moment. The fire he'd made was rasping and dying. Briefly, he shook his head.

"I don't know... I've not explored the city enough t'know. But, I'll tell you when I find out. So, if Ajani comes, you can tell her. I don't think I'm going to stay around the square, though."

He brought a hand to the back of his head and itched at it, seemingly distraught at the lack of an idea.

"I don't know."

"We'll help you figure something out." Xander said. "I mean y'can always stick close to my place if y'need."

"We have a cellar, too." Ellie offered. "It's warm, even during this time of year." Her lips pursed slightly. "It's an idea, anyway. In case you can't find any other options. Father wouldn't mind. I know he wouldn't."

"He'll want to help." Xander seconded, offering a half-smile. He looked back towards the woods.

"So, what's goin' on with Aja? Girl's usually smilin. She just seems...down."

"She's worried about'er tribe. And us; me and Ellie. She's got a lot to take care of; her entire people, and then she's got t'manage relations with us while trying not to get anyone killed." he said, giving a worried look in the direction that the girl had ran off to.

"I don't know about staying with you folk. I mean... Cain knows y'two the best as who I'd go to. Happen I get found, I don't want something t'happen to Cavis, or you, Xander, or your mom."

Seemingly troubled, he put his face in his hands, and rubbed at his temples.

Xander hesitated a moment.

"So...why not go follow her now?" he suggested.

Adrien furrowed his brow for a moment, before standing up abruptly. "That's... something I hadn't considered, I guess. Y'take Ellie to town safe, hear? And you know where th'tribe is, if something happens. If something happens, you tell me."

He looked upon the two that were left with concern, before pivoting and abruptly disappearing into the trees that Ajani had stalked into beforehand.

Xander and Elleanore watched as he disappeared, before Xander went and stomped out the fire. He gave Ellie one last look before reaching for her hand and tugging her along back to the village.

Ajani, in the meantime, had let her succumb somewhat to the emotional pressure that had been weighing her down for the last few days. Sure, she'd rested well enough and she had done some good things for the colonists. Her father would have been proud, and certainly Motina would be pleased...

...but what of her people? What of Junea and the search team? What of those she had left behind at Tribe Vanduo? Could she possibly take on the mantle of caring for all of these people? Spear-heading the effort to make sure that the colonists and the tribals got along? How could she do all of that when she couldn't find out what had happened to her own brothers?

She didn't feel like a leader, just then. She felt woefully inadequate, frightened like a child, and terribly lonely.

So she walked until the tears blurred her vision, and she was forced to stop. Wiping her eyes did little to help, since more tears came, so she turned and sat herself down at the base of a tree, curling up and resting her forehead, briefly, on her knees.

She didn't know how long she sat there. Time seemed to be of no consequence.

Adrien followed suit, though aimlessly. He'd been to the Vanduo village enough to know where it was, but suddenly, wandering haphazardly through the woods hadn't seemed like such a bright idea after all. Not if he couldn't find Ajani. So, he pushed past bushes and dodged trees, until he'd seen the upset path that another had taken just before him.

He tracked it, until he'd come across Ajani again, whose start was not so far from his. It was only when he'd realized that she was on the floor and against a tree that he stopped, and approached cautiously. At first, he was concerned to her health, but then, it was evident he'd caught the girl in emotional turmoil.

The boy almost recoiled.

"Sorry," he said, immediately. "I thought I'd stay at the village - too - for now. Didn't know..."

She spun around, flying to her feet and nearly stumbling in the process as she struggled to right herself. She stared at him, taking a few deep breaths before planting a hand on her hip and using the other to push her hair back away from her face. Still flushed, but obviously startled out of her emotional breakdown, she merely shook her head, muttering something in abrupt Vanduo and then nodding.

"Yes, yes of course. I don't know why I didn't think to invite you back."

"I can just... go back to Blakes, if it'll help. I didn't know it was that bad. 'M'sorry, Aja," he said again, lowering his eyes, and taking no heed to her words. He pivoted to return to the trees again.

"Adrien!" she called suddenly, perhaps a little more desperately than she intended. She was mid-step, as if she intended to follow after him.

He'd been startled by her call, though, and abruptly turned back to face her. His face bore that of guilt and his shoulders tenseness. Part of him didn't want to turn back to her, and part of him had. Still, he waited wordlessly for her to speak.

"I need your help." she said, her eyes flooding. Angrily, she wiped them away with the sleeve of her dress. "I just... need you with me. I need your friendship, your presence is a comfort to me, and whenever you're around I feel like, on some small scale, that I'm capable of accomplishing what I've set out to do." She gripped her hands tightly in front of her.

"My motivations are purely selfish, but it's the honest truth. I won't make you come if you don't want to."

"I want to. I think I'd be safer there; Cain doesn't know where the tribe is, and I wouldn't have to stay at Xander's or Cavis' and endanger them. And..." he drew a breath in, and held it, for an amount of time. "I guess I feel the same way. When Radimus had kept me behind the walls, and Xander and Elleanore hadn't been talking to me," He hesitated, and then gave a forced shrug. "I was ready to give up everything I worked for."

Then, he smiled coyly, and took toward the girl, still cautious in his pursuits. "I'll come. I want to. As long as you stop crying. I don't feel too welcome when you do that."

Ajani rolled her eyes, turning and scooping up a wad of snow before lobbing it at his face.

"Whatever you say, Dree." she said with a small smile.

He was lucky enough to duck it, and then stuff his hands in his pockets and walk tribe-ward. He jutted out a tongue.

"Well, lets go, then? I'm sure your tribe misses me."