Bag slung over her shoulder, Amara left the cellar and made her way towards the beach. She had taken the mortal a few leftover rolls of bread, enough to keep him from complaining, but had decided to form somewhat of an alibi before returning to her cabin. She didn’t typically carry around a bag, so saying that she had been sketching at the beach and needed something to carry her supplies in was a better response than ‘because I wanted to’. Besides, sketching always calmed her mind. At least, it did when there wasn’t a trident being pointed at her. Instinctively, her hand twitched for the sword strapped to her waist. “It’s just me.”
In the days following the miniature breakthrough, Amara spent her time going about her usual business in the light of day and carefully interrogating the human in the dark of the night.
The cellar had proven to be a good place to keep the lieutenant, no one had stumbled across him yet and there hadn't been word of any mortals looking for him. But as the days passed, she became increasingly aware of the decision she would have to make: kill him or allow him to go free.
There was the pragmatic side of her brain that had decided that killing him was the only option. It argued that he couldn't leave knowing where Haven was located. Even releasing him in a deserted part of the forest came with the risk of him simply knowing they were out there. What if he didn't give up searching until he and his soldiers were at the gates? Not only would her interrogation be rendered useless, but Haven would be flung into a war before they were fully prepared to fight it.
Then there was the tactical side of her brain, the side that was in favor of using him to send a message. She reasoned that the humans might respect the demi-gods more if they knew they were open to dialogue; they wouldn't simply be seen as threats in the forest. Or the humans would see it as weakness and strike even faster.
She was undecided and time was running out. Were she on the battlefield, her indecision would have gotten her killed.
Amara's steps echoed throughout the room as she circled the lieutenant's chair, eyes locked on the floor as she shook her mind free of doubt. She would make the right decision. She had to.
“How much do you know about my kind?”
“Not much, but enough. Three young demons—” Amara's sharp glare interrupted Hoss' slip into old ways and he quickly scrambled to backtrack "—kids tried to cross through our lands. Then, a long time ago, maybe twenty-nine years or so, there was a guy born in my village who was like you."
That caught Amara's attention. If the mortals had a traitorous demi-god on their side, they were instantly more formidable of a force.
The lieutenant continued, “But he disappeared seven years ago.”
“What happened to him after he disappeared? Did you ever find him?”
“I don't know.”
“’I don't know' doesn't cut it,” she hissed, irritation getting the best of her as she stabbed her dagger into the wood beside his wrist. Had she missed, it would have imbedded itself in his arm and it was unlikely that the limb would have been salvageable. However, the audible catch of Hoss' breath sent a wave of relief through Amara and any worry of going overboard was washed away. Her frustration and outbursts had earned his fear. That was an advantage that she wouldn't waste. “What happened to the three you mentioned before? The young ones?” She resumed her questioning, pulling her dagger from the wood and twirling it around her fingers. The spin of the blade was calculated, just fast enough for him to witness the control she commanded over the weapon. If he had any doubts about her skill, they were being dispelled.
“They were crossing our lands looking for your settlement. We killed them.” Her jaw clenched at the news, though it didn't come as a surprise. She'd expected as much.
“How large are your lands?”
“I don't know, a few miles? They're about to expand, though.”
Now they were getting somewhere.
“Why are they expanding?” she asked, her voice having lost its ferocity. Interest took its place.
“My father is planning a bond with another clan. A marriage.” He spat the last word, a show of emotion that didn't go unnoticed by the guard captain.
“You don't approve,” she noted.
His response was immediate and accompanied by a head shake. “No, I don't. My younger sister is being forced to marry the Bouldergarde leader's son and… she's too young, practically a kid. A thirteen year old shouldn't be made into a bargaining chip.” His voice was full of emotion by the time he turned his stare away from the floor and up to the brunette.
“A bargaining chip for what?”
The lieutenant paused for a moment, seemingly weighing his options. He must not have found any reason to keep the information to himself because he continued, “My father wants more warriors to find and fight 'the demons in the woods'.” He swallowed. “Our army is too small and inexperienced for him and the Bouldergarde army is ten times better. Really, he's lucky they're even speaking with him. Together they'll be stronger than ever.”
“There must be other lands - other strongholds that we can take. Places where we can hide.” Xander pressed adamantly. Haven was not safe anymore, how could it ever be again? “They will find us - and once they do they will never stop coming.” It was possible he was projecting just slightly, Xander knew a little of what it was to feel as though the walls were closing in - like there was nowhere safe in the world. He wasn’t much of a fighter and in combat his powers weren’t going to be much use, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be a casualty either. “I’m sorry I - I think it’s all just getting to me. I’m afraid.”
Amara shook her head at all of his suggestions. "Hiding won't solve anything," she stressed, hoping that the importance of that fact would get through to him. Xander's admission stirred the part of her brain that she'd been doing her best to numb. Fear was dangerous, feelings themselves were dangerous. She had a captive, for pete's sake, she couldn't allow herself to fear making the wrong decision or the odds they were facing; she was too far in the dark with Lieutenant Hoss to be afraid. She had to be strong. "Fear is natural, you have to find the best way for you to handle it." It was all about coping, otherwise Haven would implode. Fear could be disastrous. Her voice dropping a little lower, Amara admitted, "Meditation and training help me."
Violet just nodded, she didn’t actually have any intention to paint the cabins. She doubted there was any chance anything that trivial could convince her to stop working for the amount of time it would take to finish. There were too many more important things to be worrying about. As long as the cabins were upright and functional maintenance could wait. At least Amara knew she had Violet to talk to whether the girl readily took her up on the offer or not. She’d spoken to Violet about Artemis’s invitation during the festival so she must trust her at least a little. That thought made Violet smile despite the tears threatening to spill out of her at any moment. Violet laughed, she couldn’t argue with Amara’s statement, she should have gone to bed a long time ago. She almost wanted to explain why she hadn’t, something pushed her to open up and tell Amara how stressed she was trying to cure her brother but Violet couldn’t do it. She couldn’t let Amara see the way it was all getting to her, how scared she was of failing Haven and the pressure she was putting on herself to succeed. Violet gratefully accepted the girl’s offered hand and pushed herself off the wall as she stood up. Her head immediately swam and she stumbled back against the cabin, catching herself before she could fall back to the grass. She stood, leaning against the wall for a long moment, breathing slowly, her eyes closed, “Maybe sitting down was a bad idea because getting up certainly was.” She finally looked up at Amara, “Honestly I probably would have fallen asleep against your cabin if you hadn’t found me.” Violet picked up her basket as her head stopped spinning and gave Amara a weak smile, “My cabin’s just down that way.” She pointed in the general direction before starting to walk that way, careful to stay close to Amara as she walked.
Amara’s reflexes immediately kicked in when Violet began to fall, her grip on her tightening to at least lessen the blow. She kept her gaze trained on Violet until she was certain that falling wasn’t a risk, letting her go and taking a small step back to give the healer space. Amara had reached that stage of exhaustion only once and everything had felt incredibly crowded. She’d been close to hyperventilation but the knowledge that her weak lungs wouldn’t have been able to handle it allowed her to grip reality and realize that no one was even remotely close to her. Then again, she figured that she was more averse to allowing people near her at times of weakness than Violet; their definitions of ‘crowded’ were likely different, as well. Amara could feel crowded in a room with only one other person. “I’m sure the fire ants would have loved to find you sleeping there.” It was a weak attempt at a joke, but it was the best she could do. Her mind was too occupied by other things and still, despite that, her sense of humor had never been especially funny to other people. Amara nodded at the information, heading in the indicated direction. As she began walking, she noted that standing all night hadn’t been kind to the wound on her leg. Despite her efforts with alcohol, which she’d talked one of the healers into giving her without question, and the bandage firmly wrapped around her leg, pain still shot up her leg with every step. She’d been forced to grit her teeth through training, trying to convince herself that the pain wasn’t that bad; she’d broken bones before, this was nothing. Unfortunately, her brain wasn’t convinced and she found herself looking for any distraction. After a few moments, she returned her attention to Violet. Surely there was something distracting to talk about. “What’s keeping you up?” Then, to clarify, “You said that you were awake all night. New herb with medicinal propertoes?” Generally, she didn’t like to involve herself in the affairs of others, but she needed a distraction and that was her best attempt at being conversational.
The sun hung low in the sky as Amara crossed the village to visit her captive. He had lost consciousness soon after arriving in Haven, which was a good thing as she still had to figure out where to keep him. She eventually decided to tie him up in an abandoned cellar.
Pulling the door to the makeshift cell open, Amara nearly ran into the healer she’d asked to assess the mortal.
“He’s fine, there might be some discomfort from the bruised ribs —but they’re healing nicely— and he still has the five stitches in his shoulder from the arrow wound. I’ll be back in the morning to remove them.”
She gave a single nod, continuing over to the chair in which the mortal sat. His wrists were bound to both of the chair’s arms and his mouth was covered by a cloth.
His blue eyes rose to meet her green ones, hatred burning in them. The fury had dwindled a bit since she’d first visited a few days earlier, but his gaze was by no means friendly.
Unfazed, she looked down at the patch sewn onto his uniform for the first time. Lieutenant Martin Hoss. Amara knew enough about ranks to know that he was a respected individual wherever he came from, which meant that he would know things.
She reached a hand out and pulled down the cloth, taking a step back.
“Lieutenant, do you know why you’re here?” she asked, tone even as she raised her gaze back to his eyes, arms folded behind her back. It was the seventh time she’d asked the question since his capture and she wasn’t especially hopeful that she’d be receiving any response this time. While she hadn’t interrogated anyone before, she was set on keeping everyone but the healer out of it.
Hopefully he’d be compliant this time and she wouldn’t have to involve any more external help.
To her surprise, she received a bitter laugh. “Because you kidnapped me.”
Her own laugh was humorless and expression neutral as she replied, “You’re funny.” She took a few steps closer. “No. You’re here because you’re one of the mortals who seems to like targeting and killing those who are different than you and I need information.”
“Good luck.”
“You slaughtered two innocent children in the woods, put another one into a coma, and burned a boy in front of his moth—”
“You sound a little emotional, need to take a break? Clear your head?”
“I don’t need—” she immediately cut herself off when she realized her voice had indeed risen with emotion. Amara inhaled deeply in an attempt to calm herself. Information was key; she couldn’t let emotion get in the way of that. “I don’t need to clear my head. What I need is for you to tell me what you were doing in the woods.”
“Why don’t you as—”
He paused as her dagger came into view, the guard having retrieved it from the scabbard strapped to her leg. The sound of him swallowing practically echoed throughout the room and Amara had to fight the urge to smile.
Apparently, intimidation was the key to compliance. Why hadn’t she thought of that earlier?
“Let’s start simple, who are you?”
“Lieutenant Martin Hoss, third son of the leader of the Onyx Clan.”
Violet followed Amara’s line of sight to look up at the cabin behind her, “I’m sure paint would look nice, though all the cabins could use a little bit of work. Nobody has time to worry about things like that recently though which is a shame, I like painting.” She doubted there was any chance she could derail Amara’s questioning with a topic as inane as cabin decorating but it was worth a shot. “Well I’m always here to talk, but you know that.” As much as Violet wanted to focus on Amara rather than herself she still wouldn’t push. She knew she wasn’t going to get any information out of Amara that the guard didn’t want to give her. Violet sighed heavily and looked over as Amara sat next to her, “And neither am I.” She still couldn’t look the woman in the eye when she lied at her but at least this time she was able to focus on her face. “Believe it or not after too many cups caffeine stops being as effective so I am definitely feeling the sleep deprivation. I was worried I might fall over if I didn’t sit down for a bit. I should probably get back to the infirmary though.” Violet made no move to stand up, her knees still felt weak. No matter how hard she tried to push down the sadness it just kept welling up in her chest and mixing with the fuzziness in her head from how little sleep she had. She wasn’t sure how much longer she was going to keep it at bay but the prospect of standing up was a bit too ambitious at the moment. She stared down at her lap as Amara reminded her of the promise, “It is, you’re right. Maybe you could help me walk back to my cabin, I’m feeling a bit unsteady and despite all the work I need to be doing I should probably take a nap.”
Amara nodded in agreement, "When things improve, feel free to have at it." The state of the cabins had lost importance, as had the importance of aesthetic appeal in general. They could worry about that later when there wasn't some form of preparation for the unknown to be attended too. And from what she'd experienced during the ambush in the woods, Haven would need the preparation. Despite the mortals' obvious knowledge of what she and the Searchers were, they hadn't shown any hesitance in attacking. That confidence could be a problem; fear was generally a weakness to pounce on in battle. No fear meant that there was one less thing working to their advantage. "I do, but I appreciate the reminder. It wasn't exactly the response she'd been expecting, but it did make a fair amount of sense. Besides, the other woman was stubborn and there was no way she would be changing her story just because the guard asked a third time. Amara was about to argue against Violet returning to the infirmary when she corrected herself, to which Amara nodded. "Yes, I think you needed a nap three cups ago." While Amara considered one cup to be more than enough, she figured that the healer's opinion was somewhere higher in terms of what was okay. Standing up proved to be more of a challenge than sitting down and, though she pushed through it without making a sound, she could feel the painful stinging in her leg. Of all the people to have to move around following the extended walk with her captive back to the village, Violet had to be the worst. She was a healer after all, it was her job to notice injuries and it was only a matter of time before Amara's cut would be noticed. Pushing past thoughts of her injury and how long she had to come up with a decent backstory, she offered Violet a hand. "You'll have to tell me where we're going, though."
Violet shook her head, her smile faltering at the question. “Nothing,” she blatantly lied, “I just needed somewhere to sit down, I’ve been up all night. Sorry, is this your cabin?” Violet asked, hoping to change the subject away from herself. She gestured to the cabin behind her. She couldn’t look directly at Amara with the woman standing over her the way she was. Violet didn’t lie very often and the act of doing so made her nervous even when she felt like it was the best thing to do. She was supposed to be a comforting force in Haven so she had a hard time letting herself burden someone with her sadness. Violet had learned a long time ago that the best way to comfort someone was to provide them with a calm and collected presence to share their pain with. Because of that Violet had a hard time letting other people see her upset. She had an irrational feeling that if she needed to seem like she was handling things all of the time especially when the rest of the village was struggling. “You said you’ve been better, would you like to talk about it?” She let the fake smile fall from her face and replaced it with a real look of concern. She would much rather discuss what was happening with Amara than talk about herself though she doubted there was any chance the other woman would let her move on without explaining herself more.
Amara's eyes narrowed for a moment as she studied Violet before she broke her gaze and looking over at the cabin; she would get to the bottom of things later. "It is, though it could use some improvements. Paint might look nice." She had once considered collecting the supplies needed to spruce up the cabin, but now it was at the bottom of her list of priorities. With Violet's question, Amara briefly pondered her options. While she didn't want to tell Violet anything, she did still want the other woman to tell her what had led to her tears. "I just have a lot on my mind, nothing new." She couldn't say anything about being up all of last night because that could lead to questions about where she had been, how she'd spent the numerous hours of darkness. Violet could not, under any circumstances, become involved in what Amara was doing. She couldn't give the healer the heavy burden of keeping such a secret and, since she had no plans of telling the public anytime soon, it was likely Violet would be stuck with it for a while. That couldn't happen, so the guard merely wrote it off as another one of the side effects of being one of the guard leaders in Haven. "Anyway, I’m not the one crying on the ground," she pointed out, hesitating for a moment before sitting down next to her. "And with your magical caffeinated leaf water, I doubt that crying is your solution to sleep deprivation." Returning the focus to Violet helped to somewhat put her at ease, though not very much considering that whatever was bothering the brunette had to be bad enough to force her to tears. "Remember that promise you had me make, it's a two-way street."
Talisa blinked, pausing for a moment. She barely noticed the words had actually been said aloud so she was definitely surprised at hearing a response. “That’s true.” She steadily starts and bites her lip, contemplating if she should continue voicing her thoughts. A moment and she figures that she can give a vague summary. “I was more so thinking of a fish pond for food supply purposes. Though that can be an added bonus.” She looks out to the water, imagining the fish ponds that were set up at her village, the ones out ways away in the ocean and one at the end of the shore. “A freshwater one is an interesting thought.”
Amara nodded thoughtfully, now eyeing the water with the idea of it being a food source. It would definitely cut down on how many hunters they would have to send out, and that was a clear benefit with the threat of dangerous mortals engulfing the forests. “Do you have much experience with fish ponds?” Despite all of her trips to the lake, Amara had never had such an idea so it stood to reason that Talisa must have experienced them at some point. That or her mind simply wasn’t a fish oriented as it should be.
“I should hope so - yeah?!” Xander blurted out, a bit flustered. He had no doubt that the village leaders were doing all that they could to prevent a war - but it seemed war was inevitable. He couldn’t help but wonder, once the mortals found Haven - would they ever stop coming? Would there ever be a time when their kind weren’t hunted? It seemed unlikely. Speaking honestly, Xander took a breath before he piped up. “We should leave this place while we still can.”
Amara hadn't been expecting Xander's suggestion, though she recovered quickly. "I appreciate your honesty, but we can't. Running has never proven to be a useful strategy; eventually you have to stop." Speaking true and showing doubt wasn't easy, but despite her newfound knowledge of his thoughts, there wasn't much that she could do to assuage them. She refused to lie to him by saying that anything was guaranteed; it wasn't, they could only hope that their training would pay off. "There's strength in numbers and in solid walls. If we ran, there'd be nothing. Running isn't a plan, it's a way to prolong something and possibly make the situation worse." With time, the mortals could potentially come up with a weapon that the fleeing demi-gods would never be able to stand against.
Amara had spent the last few days attempting to retain any semblance of normalcy. With her human captive hidden away and not cooperating, she needed to clear her mind. And the second best way to do that? Meditation.
She had wanted to continue training, but after an hour her lungs were inflamed and, had she contained, someone was bound to figure out that something was bothering her. Artemis' gift had helped significantly and she enjoyed sparring even more thanks to it, however, the undertone of agitation that she'd been training with would only become apparent after another few swings. And what good would it do anyone to see one of the captains of the guards clearly in the midst of an anxiety attack? The last thing she needed was to panic anyone or tip off the captive situation she was operating.
The brunette hadn't taken the time to return to her cabin before starting her meditation, deciding to just sit beneath a nearby tree. Still decked out in her arm wraps and the customary black tank top she wore whenever sparring, the guard didn't even bother to open her eyes when she heard someone approaching.
"Meditation's good for the mind, apparently. Helps to find your center."
Violet was wandering around the village aimlessly, occasionally stopping to put a plant in the basket she was holding so it would look like there was some purpose to her wandering. In truth she’d just needed to leave the infirmary, she’d been up all night trying to read a section of one of her medical texts that described comas. She’d been hoping the book would say something useful but so far she’d gotten nowhere. She had to find something. After the death of the young child of Zeus she felt even more pressure to wake up the son of Ares, Haven couldn’t handle another death right now. Violet stopped, leaning against the back of one of the cabins, she was so tired. She needed to be doing something but the whole idea seemed overwhelming so she just crumpled, sliding down the wall to sit on the ground where she buried her face in her hands and tried to hold back the tears she hadn’t let herself shed. Now wasn’t the time for that but that didn’t stop a few from leaking out. Violet started slightly when she heard footsteps approaching and hastily wiped a few tears from her eyes. She glanced up at the person approaching her and forced a smile and a greeting, “Hey, how are you?”
Tugging a shirt on, Amara gave a tired sigh. Unlike the other nights she spent interrogating her human captive, last night had been especially taxing. She hadn't stopped at three like she usually did, instead going until first light, and she was exhausted. Following her regular morning patrol, she'd retreated to her cabin to get at least two hours of shuteye before anyone could question her out of character lethargy. It was difficult to look alive when she felt dead. Unfortunately, she was only able to sleep for a restless one, thoughts of what she was going to do next forcing her awake before she was ready. The only good thing that had come out of the extended interrogation session was that she could tell the human was close to cracking. Somehow she'd been able to maintain an even tone with him thus far and, even though it was a slow process, she felt confident that she would get there eventually. Amara finished braiding her hair into its usual style before strapping on all of her weapons, moving around the cabin to make sure that she hadn't forgotten anything. With everything in place, she took a breath and opened the door, stepping out into the warm air. She had an hour until she was needed anywhere and, with sleep just out of reach, she'd have to find something to preoccupy herself with. The brunette was about to her towards the Mess when she heard Violet's voice. “I’ve been better," Amara replied, albeit a bit absentmindedly. She'd been about to ask what Violet was doing on the ground outside of the cabin when she noticed the unusual smile and telltale sign of crying. The realization immediately cleared her head and her brow furrowed with concern. "But I should be the one asking you that. What's wrong?"
She was planning for a change of scenery. One that was new but didn’t stray too far from the old. That was why Talisa found herself at the lake. She was counting on simply sitting near the water’s edge but it seemed that she was more restless than she thought, finding herself walking along it instead. Something pops into her mind as she watches the waters and remembers a certain aspect of her village’s community. “This would be a really nice place for a fish pond.” She muses to herself.
Amara sat in the grass near the lake, drawing faint sketches in her book and infrequently looking up to the river as the water gently rippled with the breeze. She often went to the lake to clear her mind and lose herself to her sketches. With her stress and anxiety levels at an all time high, the guard hoped that the water could work it's magic. She had seen Talisa walking around and, when she heard the other girl's words, she shrugged. "That is one way to solve the morale problem. It could give everyone something new and exciting to look at, especially if it was stocked with the livelier species."
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