Reaching Mon village

Mon was wailing and thrashing around over the loss of his arm. He was so loud that no one could hear themselves think, much less speak. "You…! you…! you cut off my arm!" he shouted at Tritus who just shrugged. "I did. Now shut up and sit down, or I'll cut off the other one too. We are trying to have a conference here." Mon glared at Tritus like he was evil incarnate, but he didn't say another word. "Based on your behavior, I feel that you are unfit to be a chief. So as of now, your days as a leader are over. With that being said, I'm going to give you two options. Besides picking between these two options, you have no choice in the matter. Do you understand?" It wasn't a question. "Option one. Step down as chief in front of your people and leave the village immediately. Or two, die by my hands right now. Make your choice." Tritus looked at Mon with indifference in his eyes as if it did not matter what he chose. They were basically the same as far as he was concerned. Under Tritus's imposing presence, along with the fading shock of losing his arm giving way to more clarity of mind, Mon was more than properly cowed. "Fine. I'll go into the forest and leave." Mon growled out from in between his teeth. Tritus continued to look down at him with a look that was equal parts disgust and indifference. "I appreciate that you didn't make me kill you. Now leave here at once, and don't run off to any village under my influence. This includes your home village. It no longer belongs to you." Tritus stated with no room for arguing. "And take your arm with you if you don't mind. I would hate to see it get eaten by wild animals." Tritus said with a straight face, but it was obvious that he was holding back some laughter. Penn, on the other hand, guffawed at Tritus's words. Mon puffed up with anger, but said nothing. He simply turned and walked away, his head angled down in embarrassment and frustration.

After Mon walked away from the group, there was a momentary bout of silence before Tu started speaking. "Is there anything else that we need to know? And do you know who you will put as leader of Mon village now that he is no longer the chief?" Tu asked. "When do you intend on all of the villages becoming one village? And where did you want this larger village to be?" Nash asked immediately following Tu. Tritus was taken aback at the casual dismissal of the action that just took place. He turned to face the other leader and look at each one of them. In their eyes there seemed to be indifference, as if the actions that were just taken occurred everyday and were, therefore, expected. The only one who had a notable emotional reaction was Penn, who seemed to simply be tickled at the dismissal of Mon. This really bothered Tritus. He was expecting to see a greater emotional reaction from them. This was unsettling for him to say the least. When they all saw him staring at them, they just looked back. "I know this might seem like a strange question, but what do you think of what just happened?" Tritus solemnly asked. He had to know their feelings. It would bother him if they really felt nothing. Tu was the first to speak up. "He threatened your people and you responded. I am surprised you let him live. He might become a problem in the future. Are you sure that that was wise?" Tu respectfully asked Tritus. Tritus looked to Nash who just nodded and Penn who didn't say or do anything. "Yeah. I'm going to have to build some sense of morality into them. At this rate, they're little better than apes in terms of empathy and aversion to violence." He thought to himself while staring at the ground. "Alright...just had to ask." He said to no one in particular. "As for your questions, I will be making a trip to Mon village today to get them squared away and find a replacement chief. Penn, I will need you to come with me. Tu, I will be putting you as second in charge while we are gone. I would like to build the main village here, as it is in a good place for all the things that I want to do and accomplish." Tritus said, still a little uneasy. "Tu and Nash, I need you to make sure that all of the tasks that ask to be done are carried out as soon as possible, and to gather the materials that I asked for, as much as possible. It will be crucial for the development of the village. We have to get this place looking like something special that is capable of holding all of the villagers. This is necessary before we can really start my plans. Penn, get ready to go. I want to leave as soon as possible." He looked at each one of the leaders and they nodded back to him. "You have your orders. See them carried out now." And with that, the leaders dispersed to carry out their orders. Penn slowly walked forward and stood next to Tritus. Since boisterously laughing at the disarming of Mon, she had been uncharacteristically quiet and approached Tritus with greater care than usual. She didn't question his order, something out of the norm for her. Tritus didn't read too much into it for the time being.

Tritus had wanted to supervise the villagers a little and make sure they were doing everything the correct way, but after the events of the meeting, he just wanted to get out of the village as soon as possible. He didn't regret his actions per se; he did what he felt he had to do to protect his people, but it still weighed on his mind. He decided to walk through the forest instead of running. He wanted to clear his head a little bit before he had to do more work. So, he and Penn started out on their journey in complete silence. Tritus had been here for four days, and this was the first time that he had actually slowed down enough to take in the sights and smells of the forest. It was a truly beautiful thing. The gentle sounds of the smaller animals rustling in the underbrush, the leaves brushing against each other in the breeze and slowly falling to the earth, the way light pierced through the canopy in thin beams. It had just struck him how peaceful it truly was. There was even the smell of a gentle summer rain in the air. This place relaxed him in an unexpected way. He was able to momentarily escape the mounting pressure of his job, and the dread that he felt for the painful events to come. Tritus stopped and took a deep breath. Taking a good look at his surroundings, he could feel the warmth of the bright and vibrant flower all around him. There was a cascade of colors from red to indigo and every colour in between. "Tritus." The flowers were as plentiful as grass and Tritus tried his best not to step on them. The trees that surrounded the flower patch were just as beautiful. "Tritus!" The leaves were an entire rainbow of greens, contrasted by the deep browns of the trunks and branches. To Tritus, this was the single most beautiful thing that he had seen since coming here. "Tritus!" Penn said for perhaps the hundredth time. He was so lost in his thoughts and taken in by the surroundings that he didn't notice Penn until she moved in front of him and got in his face. She waved her hand three inches from his face and startled him back into attention. "Ah uh, yeah?" he asked drowsily. "I… I didn't like it." she said without making eye contact with him. She just stared at the ground then turned around and started walking again. He followed behind her. "You didn't like what?" he asked while walking next to her. "What you did to Mon. It scared me." she whispered. Tritus was shocked. Penn had literally been laughing the whole time. Tritus couldn't remember seeing the slightest fear in her eyes even a single time. "I mean I know he threatened us, and if you were anyone else you would have killed him. The act itself wasn't what scared me. It was the indifference that came from you as you did it." she continued barely speaking above a whisper. "It's just...I know people get hurt and die all the time, it's just how life is. But it bothered me that someone could do something like that with no emotion or hesitation at all!" she said, rushing and stumbling over her words, her voice getting louder with each one. She continued to look at the ground, not wanting to look at Tritus.

Several minutes passed before either one of them spoke. "It did bother me." Tritus said after letting out a heavy breath. Penn stopped at his words, then looked up. She stared at him, as if asking him to continue. Tritus interpreted the look for what it was and continued to speak. "I honestly do not like hurting people. Even now, I still feel tons of remorse for what I had to do in your and Nash's villages. Killing people isn't something that I do lightly, but I won't shy away from it just because I dislike it. If it needs to be done, I will do it and damn the consequences." he said looking directly into her eyes. He meant it too. It really did bother him, the lives that he had taken since coming weighed on him. However, at the end of the day, it was part of the job he'd been given. It was his responsibility. Penn just stared back at him, taking in each and every word that he said. After a time, she nodded, turned around, and started walking forward again. Her shoulders started to relax after a time. "That really bothered her. Maybe I was too hasty?" Tritus thought to himself as they walked through the forest.

"So, what are we trying to do when we get to this village?" Penn asked not looking at him. "To be completely honest, I have no idea. I'm going to try to put someone new in charge here, but if the people are anything like Mon I doubt that I'll be able to trust any of them." he said honestly. He really didn't have a plan to deal with his village. He was most likely going to wait to get there and feel things out. "I've met Tu and Nash before, I've even been to Nash's village, but I had no idea that there was a village out this way. How far is it?" Penn asked. "Honestly it's way too far to go by foot. It's about a day and a half walk from here." he answered. She looked at him like he was crazy. "You mean we left without any food or water for a day and a half trip?" she yelled. She was visibly angry at the idea of walking so long without the slightest preparation. "It's not going to take us that long. It won't even take us half a day. A friend of mine is going to give us a lift." he laughed and grinned at her. He raised two pinched fingers to his mouth and made a high pitch whistle. "I just wanted to walk a little bit to clear my head. Our actual trip begins now." he said while looking up at the sky. Penn watched his gaze and followed it up. "What did you…" she was cut off by loud cawing noise and the sound of flapping wings. Penn recognized the sound and immediately started backing up. Then in a blur, a giant bird swooped down and tackled Tritus. "It's an aven!" Penn shouted and fell backwards to the ground. She stood up and was about to run when she heard laughing coming from behind her. Tritus was wrestling with the aven. The aven was at least fifteen feet tall with a wingspan twice as long. Its feathers were a bright and bold gray with a white underbelly. It's beak was a dull yellow color with a sharp point at the end. It had bright, light blue eyes that seemed to be able to spot an ant from a thousand feet in the air, but there was no malice in its eyes. In fact, it's eyes sparkled with the innocence of a dog whose owner just came home. Tritus and the aven wrestled on the ground a little while, rolling around in every which direction. Tritus just laughed in unison with the aven's caws of joy. Penn almost fell on her face in shock at the scene. Everyone knew that an aven could wipe out the fighting force of an entire village with no effort, and here was Tritus playfully fighting with one.

After a while, Tritus stopped playing with the aven and got to his feet. The aven did the same and Tritus started petting it, which made the animal start cooing. "Penn, this is Gorge. He is going to be giving us a ride to Mon village." Penn didn't make a sound at Tritus's words, she just nodded absently, then immediately came to and shook her head violently. "You want us to ride an aven? Are you a crazy?" she snapped at him. Tritus just laughed at her outburst. He was hoping that it would shock her, and her reaction didn't disappoint him. "You said that you wanted to know more about me, well this is more. Now come on, your burning daylight." he looked at her and just smiled. She visibly gulped at the thought of getting anywhere near the aven, much less riding the thing. She started cautiously walking towards Tritus. The aven noticed her and stared which made Penn stop in her tracks. Tritus noticed and jumped up to smack the aven on the back of the head, which almost gave Penn a heart attack. "Don't scare her George." Tritus lectured the aven. Penn fully expect to die right there, but the aven didn't do anything. Then, it looked at Tritus. "He's going to get eaten, then it's going to kill me and eat me too." Penn thought to herself, resigned to her fate. But this didn't happen, the aven just stared at Tritus who just stared back. Then, the aven put its head down looking properly chastised. Tritus reached out and started petting George on the head, which made him immediately perk up, cooing happily again. "I was not ready for something like this." Penn muttered to herself as she stood beside Tritus. Tritus heard her and just laughed. "Well whether you're ready or not, let's get going." he said to Penn while still petting the aven. He pulled his hand away and, without taking any kind of stance, jumped straight on to the animal's back and gently nudged it with his foot. The aven lowered itself all the way to the ground so Penn could hop on. Tritus gave her his hand and pulled her up. "I'm on the back of an animal that is known for wiping out entire villages, with a man that played with that same animal like it was a puppy. My life is so strange." Penn muttered to herself while adjusting herself behind Tritus. "Now, I suggest that you hold on to me as tight as you can. Falling off might not be the smartest idea." he joked. He nudged George with his foot and the aven turned and started running. The sudden increase in speed made Penn literally squeeze Tritus as hard as she could. "Damn your strong." Tritus blurted out. Then, with a hop and a handful of flaps from George's wings, they were soaring through the sky. During the climb, Penn had her eyes closed so tightly that it hurt. After they leveled out, she slowly opened her eyes. When she finally had the courage to look around, the view that she saw literally took her breath away. They were as high as the clouds. She could see everything. From the edge of the ocean, to the snow covered mountains. She looked straight down and saw a sea of trees. "This… is…" she tried to say until a fly flew straight into her mouth. Tritus noticed and burst into laughter. She coughed several times before regaining her composure. "Yeah, talking isn't the easiest thing up here!" he shouted at her. She could barely hear and was about to reply but thought better of it. So they just sat in silence. On the back of George flying faster than Penn had even thought possible. Just as soon as the journey started, it ended. Or at least that's what it felt like to Penn who was extremely disappointed.

"Now this part isn't going to be as fun!" Tritus shouted over the wind speeding past them. They had been sitting in silence for the most part because it was so hard to talk. "What!" Penn shouted back but he didn't answer, he just looked back and grinned. Penn didn't like that smile one bit. She was about to say something back when Tritus suddenly kicked George's side three times. George pulled his wings in and they plunged towards the Earth. Tritus could hear Penn cursing the day he was born. Tritus just laughed the entire time. George pointed forward and began to speed toward the edge of the forest. All of a sudden, they had cleared the edge of the forest and were over flat plains. George aimed himself straight down 90° to the ground. This made Penn curse even louder and with more venom. Just before they were about to hit the ground, George shot out his wings and decelerated. At this point, Penn was green in the face with tears streaming down her cheeks. With three powerful flaps of his wings, they gently landed on the ground. Penn quickly tried to get off, and in her rush she fell straight off the side and fell flat on her back. Tritus fell off as well, except for him it was because he was laughing so hard. Even George seemed to think it was funny, as he cawed as if he was chuckling. After a few moments of this, Tritus got up and walked over to Penn who had just started to sit up. He held out his hand for her to take and he pulled her to her feet. Then, without any warning she slapped him across the face, which made George caw in laugher even louder. "That's fair. I deserved that one." he said, still amused. "Let's go." Penn said motioning for him to walk in a direction. "I don't know where to go exactly, but I would like to get there before night." she said, still looking extremely angry. Tritus chuckled and pointed into the direction they needed to go. "Go on George, we'll walk from here. I'll call you when I need you again." Tritus called to George as they walked. He beat his wings and took off in the other directions, and Tritus and Penn continued to Mon village.

They arrived a few hours before sunset. They decided to wash off in the river just outside of the village before they went in. When they both finished, they walked up to the village, straight past the women guards who just nodded at Tritus without saying a word. "I thought you said that you didn't go into the village and just met outside of it?" Penn asked feeling like there was something wrong here, but she just couldn't put her finger on it. He had told her while they were on the way here, when she asked about the village. "That's true, I never actually went in. Apparently, they could feel me coming and decided to meet me in the field." he answered without looking. Tritus had the same feeling that Penn had and was trying to place it. The village was bustling with activity. Women, men, and children were filing back and forth performing various tasks. However, something stuck out about this village compared to the others. "All of the women I see have long vines around their necks. What's that all about?" Penn pondered out loud to Tritus. And like a lightning bolt it hit him. She was right. All of the women did have long vines around their necks and with the rest trailing behind. He suddenly stopped walking and felt like he wanted to throw up. Even the little girls had vines. "You know why they have vines don't you?" Penn asked knowing she was right by the look on his face. Not many things could give Tritus pause but this was one of the things that could. "Yeah, I do." he answered with obvious discomfort. "Then tell me." she demanded. "And why do I get the feeling like it's really bad?" she asked. "Because it is really bad." Tritus said looking at a girl who couldn't be older than twelve walk by with obvious bite marks, human bite marks. "It's slavery. They're treating the women as tools and property." Penn's eyes widened at this. But it was clear that she didn't understand how bad it actually was. A single thought went through his head. "I'm going to have to destroy this entire village, and maybe kill every single man here. Maybe I'll go ahead and double back and kill Mon too. I bet anything that he or his family is responsible for this" As this thought solidified itself into his mind, pure unadulterated rage seeped from him.