"I'm going to make this simple for everyone."
Claire said, breaking the silence that followed Elli's statement.
"We're either helping those people or I'm helping those people."
Her statement had none of the bubbly charm and hopefulness she usually carried, it was just a matter of fact. A fact that everyone believed.
She would not leave those people to die, she would take her Wardens and big sword and march there right now. There was no doubt they would follow her.
"Well that's three then, sorry Skye and Kai, I know how much you wanted to leave them to die but you've been out voted."
"I was going to save them too!"
"Sure you were Skye. I saw you thinking about having to share all that new food."
Elli said with a laugh as she turned around. She looked at the shadow and said:
"Tell Nora to get things moving. Give us three days to get ready."
The shadow moved back into the corner and disappeared into the darkness. They couldn't teleport, but they had a weird way of playing around.
They would most likely wait until everyone looked away then try and hurry out the door.
The group just looked at the corner waiting for something to happen, but they stayed in place. The room was dark enough to take them by surprise by hiding but not so dark that they couldn't see them now that their location was known.
They stayed pressed into the corner with their eyes closed, holding their breath until Kai turned around and said;
"Well.. okay. Right…. Shelby is going to hate this you know"
Not fighting back on the accusations of wanting to leave them there to die, but reminding everyone of Shelby's wrath with a new project.
The shadow took the opportunity to leave, no one turned around to look out of embarrassment.
"Sure there will be more mouths to feed, but there will also be more hands to help. She'll love it."
Elli continued on.
"Right, let's get to work."
Claire leaned over to Skye and whispered:
"Are all your Branded super weird too? Some of mine refuse to wear shirts now."
Skye replied under his breath back to her.
"To be honest I forgot I had any until we got back, I should probably go check on them."
Elli continued the meeting, laying out the plan to get the new people into the base and projects that needed finished. Skye couldn't stop his thoughts from wondering, thinking about his Branded just sitting around in the field picking flowers or something. He felt a bit embarrassed.
The meeting ended and everyone knew the plan, well, for the most part. Skye was a bit lost in thought but he knew they had to build more places to sleep and hygiene, blah, blah, blah walls. These people were obsessed with their walls.
Skye walked down the road to the first gate, forgetting about the food for a moment, mainly because he begged for some but Cookie told him he'd have to wait for dinner. He pulled at his leather apron on his knees and cried yet the giant man didn't budge.
He left the gate and circled around to make his way to the field which was just outside the fort and expanded west.
As he rounded the bend and dodged the construction sites of various other projects he finally caught sight of it. A small fence and gate, connected by ropes made of vine. The lush colours sprouting from the ground in designated patches, greens and purples, oranges and white crops.
They should have just had a harvest yet here it was, right in front of him, almost ripe again for the picking.
The vegetation here was similar to earth but not the same, but no one seemed to mine. Real vegetables were a luxury many could not afford. Skye got close to the first patch and bent down, running his fingers over the leaves. He could almost feel the mana pour out of them in response to his touch.
They're all connected to my root system underneath, is that what makes them grow so fast?
His thoughts were interrupted by yelling in the distance, faint but united.
"What makes the food grow!"
A single voice screamed and the harmony replied:
"SWEAT!"
"What do we feed the soil?"
The leader yelled again and their voices rang out:
"THE BLOOD OF OUR ENEMIES"
Skye let the leaf fall from his hand and stood up looking for the sound, sweat starting to bead on his forehead.
He couldn't see anything, large sections of tall golden wheat like stocks blocked his vision. He entered the field and walked along the path lined with half barrier logs. It was leading him into the middle of the field.
The yelling got louder and louder the closer he got.
"ONE. TWO. ONE. TWO."
"Put your back into Seo-Jun!"
"The spear is an extension of your body! Do not embarrass the life giver!"
Hidden in the sections of tall grass and vegetable patches where all the paths meet, an opening in the middle of the field was left bare. Inside it the Dryads were training with spears in a formation. They trained in rows, each following the drill of thrusts and blocks, cutting the air with every swing.
"ONE. TWO. ONE. TWO. AND KILL!"
On the command of kill given by the man pacing in front of the rows each Dryad trusted the spear forward and yelled.
"DIE!"
They snapped into formation after that, their bodies standing tall and their spears tight to their sides. The leader did one last lap around them and said.
"READY TO DIE."
"BUT NEVER WILL, FEED THE SOIL WITH THE BLOOD I SPILL."
With their replies he was happy, nodded and dismissed the Dryads. Skye found himself shocked, hiding in the tall vegetation out of fear of being associated with whatever this was.
They were dressed in cloth that hardly covered their bodies, their sun burnt skin on full display. He was impressed with their movements which seemed superior to his own with the spear, but at what cost?
Would he strip down and join them if it meant getting better? No, he'd rather just die.
The instructor seemed to turn and pinpoint Skye as if his thoughts were being broadcast, an angry scowl on his weathered face. He approached with quick long strides and reached into the wheat and grabbed Skye by the back of his shirt.
He raised him with ease until he was eye to eye, the colour draining from the instructor's face once he realised who he had in his hands.
"Oh life giver, I'm so sorry, please forgive me! We had no idea of your return!"
Life giver? Me? Are my Branded the weirdest of them all? At least Claire's guy wears pants.
The instructor bowed over and over, the commotion drawing the attention of the other Dryads who rushed over when they heard.
"The life giver has returned?"
"Bring the water for him to bless before it's fed to the plants!"
"Please sign my chest life giver please!"
They started to swarm Skye, touching him and offering him handfuls of dirt to touch. In complete shock all Skye could do was cringe away from them and try not to get touched.
"Get off of me! What is wrong with you guys!"
They stopped trying to smother him and took a step back, dropping the dirt and rubbing the back of their neck shyly. The man who was yelling orders looked away like a child that just got yelled at, which didn't fit his tough and weathered eyes.
"You know…"
He kicked a rock and pouted.
"All the other Branded had their cool things and stuff. We wanted something too"
Skye was shocked.
"I've been gone for like three days and you decided your thing would be a cult?"
They didn't reply to Skye, muttering excuses to themselves.
"Well if you say it outloud it sounds stupid.."
He could of sworn the leader of the Dryads, a man clearly close to 40, put his fingers together and toes inward as he said that.
"Look, guys, it's important to have fun. Take a seat."
They all dropped in front of Skye and sat with their legs crossed, he dropped to a knee.
"And that spear stuff was cool! You guys did a great job growing all this food. Rather than, you know, all the cult stuff let's meet in the middle."
They started to look around to each other with new found hope. No longer children getting yelled at, but getting guidance.
"How about we try and be like actually Dryads, protectors of nature or some shit? We can all be hippy dippy and talk to trees. I actually do that from time to time! Just add some leaves to the outfits and we're half way there!"
"Yeah! Let's be tree people or some shit!"
"Like elves in the old books!"
"I'll fucking kill anyone who hurts a tree!"
The crowd cried out.
And just like that it got out of hand again. Skye sighed and looked back at the fort which was completely made out of dead trees.
"Or we can give thanks to the forest for giving us trees to cut down and protect ourselves and grow some more? All things in balance you know?"
"All things in balance."
"It's as the life bringer says!"
They started to whisper to each other, catching on and growing louder. Some things were going to be harder to shake it seemed.
The leader of the group stood up and raised his arms, facing his fellow Branded.
"We are the Dryads and we protect the balance between humans and nature!"
Skye listened to them cheer and felt like he really dodged a bullet. He knew the Warden were developing a warrior mentality and obsessive when it came to Claire, and the Legion saw themselves as ninjas or something, and even the Smiths have been talking like dwarves. But he had to get the hippy cult?
The dryads cheered and Skye muttered under his breath;
"Okay good luck see you guys tomorrow."
As he made his quick retreat.
"I'm going to make this simple for everyone."
Claire said, breaking the silence that followed Elli's statement.
"We're either helping those people or I'm helping those people."
Her statement had none of the bubbly charm and hopefulness she usually carried, it was just a matter of fact. A fact that everyone believed.
She would not leave those people to die, she would take her Wardens and big sword and march there right now. There was no doubt they would follow her.
"Well that's three then, sorry Skye and Kai, I know how much you wanted to leave them to die but you've been out voted."
"I was going to save them too!"
"Sure you were Skye. I saw you thinking about having to share all that new food."
Elli said with a laugh as she turned around. She looked at the shadow and said:
"Tell Nora to get things moving. Give us three days to get ready."
The shadow moved back into the corner and disappeared into the darkness. They couldn't teleport, but they had a weird way of playing around.
They would most likely wait until everyone looked away then try and hurry out the door.
The group just looked at the corner waiting for something to happen, but they stayed in place. The room was dark enough to take them by surprise by hiding but not so dark that they couldn't see them now that their location was known.
They stayed pressed into the corner with their eyes closed, holding their breath until Kai turned around and said;
"Well.. okay. Right…. Shelby is going to hate this you know"
Not fighting back on the accusations of wanting to leave them there to die, but reminding everyone of Shelby's wrath with a new project.
The shadow took the opportunity to leave, no one turned around to look out of embarrassment.
"Sure there will be more mouths to feed, but there will also be more hands to help. She'll love it."
Elli continued on.
"Right, let's get to work."
Claire leaned over to Skye and whispered:
"Are all your Branded super weird too? Some of mine refuse to wear shirts now."
Skye replied under his breath back to her.
"To be honest I forgot I had any until we got back, I should probably go check on them."
Elli continued the meeting, laying out the plan to get the new people into the base and projects that needed finished. Skye couldn't stop his thoughts from wondering, thinking about his Branded just sitting around in the field picking flowers or something. He felt a bit embarrassed.
The meeting ended and everyone knew the plan, well, for the most part. Skye was a bit lost in thought but he knew they had to build more places to sleep and hygiene, blah, blah, blah walls. These people were obsessed with their walls.
Skye walked down the road to the first gate, forgetting about the food for a moment, mainly because he begged for some but Cookie told him he'd have to wait for dinner. He pulled at his leather apron on his knees and cried yet the giant man didn't budge.
He left the gate and circled around to make his way to the field which was just outside the fort and expanded west.
As he rounded the bend and dodged the construction sites of various other projects he finally caught sight of it. A small fence and gate, connected by ropes made of vine. The lush colours sprouting from the ground in designated patches, greens and purples, oranges and white crops.
They should have just had a harvest yet here it was, right in front of him, almost ripe again for the picking.
The vegetation here was similar to earth but not the same, but no one seemed to mine. Real vegetables were a luxury many could not afford. Skye got close to the first patch and bent down, running his fingers over the leaves. He could almost feel the mana pour out of them in response to his touch.
They're all connected to my root system underneath, is that what makes them grow so fast?
His thoughts were interrupted by yelling in the distance, faint but united.
"What makes the food grow!"
A single voice screamed and the harmony replied:
"SWEAT!"
"What do we feed the soil?"
The leader yelled again and their voices rang out:
"THE BLOOD OF OUR ENEMIES"
Skye let the leaf fall from his hand and stood up looking for the sound, sweat starting to bead on his forehead.
He couldn't see anything, large sections of tall golden wheat like stocks blocked his vision. He entered the field and walked along the path lined with half barrier logs. It was leading him into the middle of the field.
The yelling got louder and louder the closer he got.
"ONE. TWO. ONE. TWO."
"Put your back into Seo-Jun!"
"The spear is an extension of your body! Do not embarrass the life giver!"
Hidden in the sections of tall grass and vegetable patches where all the paths meet, an opening in the middle of the field was left bare. Inside it the Dryads were training with spears in a formation. They trained in rows, each following the drill of thrusts and blocks, cutting the air with every swing.
"ONE. TWO. ONE. TWO. AND KILL!"
On the command of kill given by the man pacing in front of the rows each Dryad trusted the spear forward and yelled.
"DIE!"
They snapped into formation after that, their bodies standing tall and their spears tight to their sides. The leader did one last lap around them and said.
"READY TO DIE."
"BUT NEVER WILL, FEED THE SOIL WITH THE BLOOD I SPILL."
With their replies he was happy, nodded and dismissed the Dryads. Skye found himself shocked, hiding in the tall vegetation out of fear of being associated with whatever this was.
They were dressed in cloth that hardly covered their bodies, their sun burnt skin on full display. He was impressed with their movements which seemed superior to his own with the spear, but at what cost?
Would he strip down and join them if it meant getting better? No, he'd rather just die.
The instructor seemed to turn and pinpoint Skye as if his thoughts were being broadcast, an angry scowl on his weathered face. He approached with quick long strides and reached into the wheat and grabbed Skye by the back of his shirt.
He raised him with ease until he was eye to eye, the colour draining from the instructor's face once he realised who he had in his hands.
"Oh life giver, I'm so sorry, please forgive me! We had no idea of your return!"
Life giver? Me? Are my Branded the weirdest of them all? At least Claire's guy wears pants.
The instructor bowed over and over, the commotion drawing the attention of the other Dryads who rushed over when they heard.
"The life giver has returned?"
"Bring the water for him to bless before it's fed to the plants!"
"Please sign my chest life giver please!"
They started to swarm Skye, touching him and offering him handfuls of dirt to touch. In complete shock all Skye could do was cringe away from them and try not to get touched.
"Get off of me! What is wrong with you guys!"
They stopped trying to smother him and took a step back, dropping the dirt and rubbing the back of their neck shyly. The man who was yelling orders looked away like a child that just got yelled at, which didn't fit his tough and weathered eyes.
"You know…"
He kicked a rock and pouted.
"All the other Branded had their cool things and stuff. We wanted something too"
Skye was shocked.
"I've been gone for like three days and you decided your thing would be a cult?"
They didn't reply to Skye, muttering excuses to themselves.
"Well if you say it outloud it sounds stupid.."
He could of sworn the leader of the Dryads, a man clearly close to 40, put his fingers together and toes inward as he said that.
"Look, guys, it's important to have fun. Take a seat."
They all dropped in front of Skye and sat with their legs crossed, he dropped to a knee.
"And that spear stuff was cool! You guys did a great job growing all this food. Rather than, you know, all the cult stuff let's meet in the middle."
They started to look around to each other with new found hope. No longer children getting yelled at, but getting guidance.
"How about we try and be like actually Dryads, protectors of nature or some shit? We can all be hippy dippy and talk to trees. I actually do that from time to time! Just add some leaves to the outfits and we're half way there!"
"Yeah! Let's be tree people or some shit!"
"Like elves in the old books!"
"I'll fucking kill anyone who hurts a tree!"
The crowd cried out.
And just like that it got out of hand again. Skye sighed and looked back at the fort which was completely made out of dead trees.
"Or we can give thanks to the forest for giving us trees to cut down and protect ourselves and grow some more? All things in balance you know?"
"All things in balance."
"It's as the life bringer says!"
They started to whisper to each other, catching on and growing louder. Some things were going to be harder to shake it seemed.
The leader of the group stood up and raised his arms, facing his fellow Branded.
"We are the Dryads and we protect the balance between humans and nature!"
Skye listened to them cheer and felt like he really dodged a bullet. He knew the Warden were developing a warrior mentality and obsessive when it came to Claire, and the Legion saw themselves as ninjas or something, and even the Smiths have been talking like dwarves. But he had to get the hippy cult?
The dryads cheered and Skye muttered under his breath;
"Okay good luck see you guys tomorrow."
As he made his quick retreat.