Chapter VI : Red Fangs

"Have the medicine books been delivered yet?" Arya asked.

"Yes, since last week," Nala said. "The healers were very satisfied with this batch. The textbooks you selected have also arrived."

"Great. The tournament?"

"As usual, the candidates are restless and creating problems here and there but nothing significant. From Sira's report, everything is proceeding smoothly."

"The council's activity report?"

"Right here." Nala said, retrieving the printed document from her desk.

Arya took the report and looked at it for a moment with a focused expression. Then she sneered. "They couldn't wait to send the girls out, could they?"

Every year, as per tradition, Amoja girls sixteen and older who don't have children are required to go on a 'mate hunt' to find a worthy man to have kids with. This practice was vehemently opposed by Arya, who argued that girls should at least be over the age of twenty. What kind of tradition encourages teen pregnancy like that? An outdated tradition, that's what.

But these old bats from the council liked to treat her like a child who couldn't count properly on her fingers. Even though she had forbidden them from sending out girls, they did it anyway.

Arya felt that the fact that they could so openly disobey her showed how much they underestimated her. She'd show them. She was perfectly capable of fulfilling both her royal duties and her responsibility as a host.

Nala glanced at the ugly expression on Arya's face and cleared her throat. "Princess, you know how they are. You shouldn't let it get to you."

"They think humanity's fate has nothing to do with us," she looked Nala with a fiery gaze. "They think I'm running from my princess duties to have fun while pretending to save the world. Nala, tell me honestly, if it were my mom, would they act like this? Would they call her immature and irresponsible behind her back?"

"Princess..." Imani didn't like it when her princess talked like this.

Arya sighed and pinched her eyebrows. "Nevermind. Ask Shayleen's team to locate the girls. We need to put an end to this, this..."

"Madness?" Winds offered helpfully.

"Bullshit?" Imani added, leaning over the back of the sofa.

"Thank you guys." Arya rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling.

"But it is a tradition. It's not a practice that can be easily abolished as long as there are people who believe in its legitimacy. If we bring the girls back forcefully, the council might denunciate you again." Nala reasoned.

"I agree," Winda chimed in.

"Let them. They can only complain. I have the final say and I will definitely abolish mate hunting at the next summit." Arya scoffed then she looked at Imani, Winda and Nala seriously. "Look, this is what I think: Traditions are meant to guide us, advise us on the wise path. But if a tradition no longer serves us, we must be willing to let it go. If I have to beat that into their decrepit skulls, then I will! We can still honor the past and learn from it, but at the same time, we must be willing to challenge it. Otherwise, we risk stagnation and will miss out on necessary growth."

"Speaking of traditions, you promised to go the name-giving ceremony of Shayleen's daughter." Nala said.

"Really? You're just going to ignore that eloquent and moving speech I just gave?" Arya said, narrowing her eyes.

"I liked it!" Imani said, giving her thumps up. "Very inspiring."

"Sorry for the oversight, your highness. I totally agree with you. Mate hunting should be abolished and anyone who disagrees should be sent to the Moon Tower."

Imani gasped in mock horror. "Not the Moon Tower! Even mate-hunting supporters don't deserve that."

"Are you two done?" Arya said, glaring at them.

Imani mouthed a 'sorry' before turning around and picking up a magazine that read '10 reasons not to get a cat.'

"Nala, give me the minutes from my meeting with that woman. The... huh, you know, the one with the crooked nose and really tight bun."

"The representative from Orange?"

"Yes! Her! Help me go over them. Right now, I feel like I have amnesia." Arya put her hair in a ponytail and leaned back in her leather chair.

A few minutes later, Imani heard a knock at the door and looked at the two women absorbed in paperwork behind the desk. Since both Nala and Arya seemed to be distracted, she just told to person outside to come in.

"Princess, I've brought her." Zola announced from the door.

"Leila, please come sit. I'll be with you in a minute." Arya said distractedly.

Leila greeted everyone and primly sat down next to Imani. Zola gave her a drink and went to stand behind Arya. The room was silent except for the rustling of papers and the occasional exchange between Arya and Nala.

After a few moments, Imani set down her magazine and looked around the room. Leila looked tense and nervous. Zola stood with her arms crossed and a stoic expression on her face. Winda was sitting in the armchair, cleaning her weapons. Nala was being her usual imperturbable self and Arya looked harassed. For some reason, this atmosphere was making her feel itchy.

"God! This is so boring!" She exclaimed before turning to Leila with a mischievous look in her eyes. "Hey! Want to see something funny?"

"What?"

"Just watch," she cleared her throat. "Wait? No way! Is that... Kellan?"

A sudden hush fell over the room as Arya stopped talking. Winda gaped at Imani, Nala shook her head exasperatedly, and Zola just glanced at Arya. For a moment, no one moved as Arya stared at her papers. Suddenly, Arya looked up and smiled at Imani.

"Nala, please contact the Tower and tell them that I have a new guest to send their way," she said icily.

Imani stood up hastily, "Wait! My dear princess, I was only joking. Please not the tower!"

"Who's Kellan?" Leila asked Winda, intrigued.

"Her lover."

"Nonsense! Amoja women don't have lovers." Nala said.

"They don't?!"

"We also don't get married." Winda added.

"You dont?!" Leila felt like she was starting to sound stupid so she cleared her throat. "Why not?"

"Cause men are only for making babies." Winda said, looking at her like she should already know this.

Leila moved her lips but no sound would come out. Were they being serious? Was she supposed to laugh? She really couldn't tell. Maybe this was the so-called 'clash of cultures' she read about. She glanced at Arya, who was back to discussing with Nala, like nothing happened. She really couldn't imagine her in a romantic relationship.

"Alright." Arya stood up suddenly a few minutes later and took off her glasses. "Nala, Zola, I'll leave the rest to you. Let's go, Leila."

"Where?" Leila asked, standing up too.

Arya shook out her white cotton dress and walked towards the door, followed by Imani and Winda.

"I heard you met Shay?"

"Shay?"

"Shayleen."

"Oh yes I did," she said hesitantly, wondering how Arya knew that. She could swear she didn't hear Zola tell her.

"We're going to see her now." Winda opened the door and they stepped into the corridor. "Remember when you asked me how we're going to find the hosts and I said I'd show you later?"

Leila nodded and Arya smiled. "Well, it's time."

They navigated through a labyrinth of long corridors, the serpentine paths making Arya feel dizzy. She hated taking these long detours but security required them. She furtively glanced back at Leila, who looked disoriented, and felt a pang of sympathy hit her.

Eventually, they reached a secure door, its surface adorned with intricate symbols and markings. Winda produced a keycard and swiped it through a slot, prompting the door to emit a soft beep before it unlocked.

As they stepped inside, Arya was enveloped by a dim glow emanating from the advanced holographic displays scattered throughout the room. The space was expansive, a merge of sleek metallic surfaces and pulsating luminescent panels. The hum of electricity filled the air, punctuated by the occasional beep from the consoles.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the imposing control console in the center, with 'Nexus' written on it, and the tall pink haired women who stood before it. Surrounding the console were individual workstations, where women sat typing rapidly on keyboards.

"Wow! I've never seen anything like this!" Leila's voice echoed in the vast room, making her cringe. She continued in a softer voice. "Are we really still in the mansion?"

Arya chuckled, "Of course we are, silly. This is the 'Nexus' as Shayleen likes to call it. Come on."

They walked onto a raised platform and descended a set of stairs, taking them deeper into the room. The women at the workstations seemed completely absorbed in their work, oblivious to their presence. Shayleen turned around, a radiant smile on her face as she spotted them. She bowed ceremoniously before Arya who rolled her eyes and grabbed her in a tight hug.

"You little troublemaker! You just had to go yourself, didn't you? You made me worry for an entire week." She pulled back and glared at Arya with mock severity. "You know how much I hate worrying."

"I'm sorry. You know how Nala and the others are. If it was up to them, I wouldn't even step foot outside this mansion let alone go into the Black Forest."

"Not me! I just don't want you to step foot outside the mansion on my all-you-can-eat-buffet at All Vegan days." Imani chimed in.

Winda looked disgusted. "You're still doing that? That's so unhealthy."

"It's VEGAN. Of course it's healthy. Besides, I only go twice a week." Imani said defensively, crossing her arms.

Winda merely raised an eyebrow but declined to comment.

"It's not healthy to stuff yourself silly twice a week, even if it's vegan food," Leila advised.

"Say that again after you've had a taste. You are thereby invited on my next trip to All Vegan." Imani announced.

Winda gave Leila a look full of pity that sent a shiver down her spine. She was about to decline when Arya and Shayleen turned their attention to her. "So, what do you think?" Shayleen asked.

"I feel like I'm in that movie. You know, the one with the blonde heroine, high-tech rooms and secret headquarters? What's it called?"

"Divergent?" Imani offered.

"Divergent?" Arya looked at Winda questioningly but the latter only shook her head.

"Yes, that! You never told me that you were the female Tony Stark." Leila teased.

"Who?"

"You know, Iron Man." The women looked at each other cluelessly.

"Don't mind these heathens Leila! They spend their days buried in books and know nothing about pop culture." Imani said accusingly, narrowing her eyes.

"No, we're just not very interested in humans," Winda scoffed.

"Huh? I thought you were humans." Leila said incredulously.

"Okay, guys. That's enough. Let's get to business, shall we?" Everyone nodded. "Shayleen, did you find what I asked for?"

"Right, so good news and bad news. Which one do you want first?"

"Bad news." Arya answered without hesitation.

"The girls that were sent out by the council for, you know 'mate-hunting'," she said disdainfully, drawing air quotes. Then her expression turned icy. "Some of them were captured. By Red Fangs."

"What?!" Imani exclaimed, horrified.

"Those bastards!" Winda snarled.

Arya clenched her fists, her face turning red. Her breathing was coming out ragged and she was having a hard time bringing it under control. She had told those hags not to send them out. Ordered them. And yet they overruled her. And now, those poor girls became innocent victims. Just thinking about what they could be going through right now made bile rise up her throat.

Arya closed her eyes against the surging memories. Her mother, the needles, the red tiger mask...

Feeling the tension in the room, Leila hesitated a bit before asking timidly. "What's Red Fangs?"

Winda answered, "Just a bunch of low lives that are obsessed with us."

"We still don't know who they are or how they found out about our clan's existence. All we know is that they always try to capture us."Imani added.

"We used to think that they wanted to reveal our existence to the world but now, I'm not so sure anymore." She glanced at Arya who was still glaring into space, at something beyond. "Twenty people left the motherland, at different times, in the past week to go 'man-hunting'. Eleven of them were minors. They left three days ago in groups of three or four and followed the usual process."

"How were they captured?" Arya asked coldly.

Shayleen hesitated, "That's, huh, it's..."

Arya's blazing amber eyes snapped to Shayleen, making her shiver. "The Fulminex." Arya sneered. "Same old trick. Were all of them captured?"

"Four of them were." Shayleen answered steadily, forcing herself to meet her princess's eyes. "The ones who escaped capture contacted me. We don't know where the girls are being held at the moment but we are tracking them."

"And the good news?"

"The girls who escaped didn't do it alone. They had help."

"Who?" Winda asked impatiently.

"From the girls' report, we think it might be a host. The Earth spirit's host."

If this had been at any other time, Arya would have been delighted to hear this. But at this moment, her heart only felt heavy. "Did they see the person? How can they be sure?"

"They didn't actually see the person. They said that stone pillars would rise from the ground to shield them from the syringe guns and create obstacles for the Red Fangs' cars. "

"Stone pillars..." Arya muttered, her fingers playing with her hair. She thought for a bit before turning to Leila, "I've been meaning to ask you something. When you stand next to me, do you feel... Do you feel anything in particular?"

Leila, who had been trying to make herself as small as possible, flinched a little. She took a deep breath before answering nervously. "Huh, actually, I also wanted to talk about this."

She looked around the room at everyone's solemn expressions, and how intensely they were looking at her. She squared her shoulders and continued in a more steady voice. "This morning, before meeting you, I had weird feeling. Like that tingling in your chest when you're feeling anxious. I had no reason to feel that way because, well, despite its terrible reputation the Black Forest has always been a peaceful living space for me. But I'm also someone who trusts her instincts a lot so I--"

"That's why you were at the stream." Arya interrupted.

"Yes. I thought I was in danger. The feeling kept intensfiying, especially after seeing you so I believed you were the threat. Actually, the feeling disappeared only after talking with Ji."

"Strange," Arya muttered thoughtfully. "I only felt something for a moment after seeing you. But at the time, I thought it was from the shock of seeing you..."

Then she frowned as she realized something. "Leila, can you sense me?"

"Sense you?"

"I mean, can you sense where I am even when you can't see me? Based on what you said, I believe that was what was going on. You sensed my arrival."

Leila's face held a pensive look as she pondered, "Now that I think about it, I guess you're right. Maybe that's what it was. But I couldn't tell exactly where you were. It was almost like a metal detector -- the closer you got to me, the more anxious I felt. And like I said earlier, after meeting Ji, I don't feel anything anymore

"Can you at least give it try?" Arya said. "Just like in the forest, but consciously this time."

"Try to sense you?" Arya nodded. "I, I'm not really sure how... Alright, I'll give it a try."

"Thank you" Arya smiled gratefully.

Arya watched Leila, her gaze intense and focused. Leila stood still, her eyes closed in concentration. Arya could see the effort etched on her face, the slight furrow in her brow, the way her fingers twitched slightly. She seemed to be trying to tap into something, something that Arya herself had never experienced. The ability to sense other hosts.

Arya glanced at Shayleen and the others whose expressions held varying degrees of worry and anger. They were all determined to find and save the girls. Arya swore to herself that this was the last time she would allow Red Fangs to lay their hands on her people. This time, she was going to end them.

Her heart pounded in her chest. If Leila could harness this ability, it could change everything. They could find the Earth Spirit's host. With his help, they would track down the girls and maybe even Red Fangs' headquarters.

Leila's eyes fluttered open, her gaze meeting Arya's. There was a spark in her eyes, a spark of realization, of understanding. She reached out a hand towards Arya, her fingers trembling slightly. As soon as her fingers brushed against Arya's arm, Leila gasped, her eyes widening.

Arya felt a jolt of energy pass through her, a connection forming between them. It was a strange sensation, like a thread being woven, connecting their spirits. She could feel Leila's presence, could feel her energy intertwining with her own. But then, it disappeared as suddenly as it came.

"I... I can feel you," Leila whispered, her voice filled with awe. "I can feel your presence."

Arya nodded, a sense of relief washing over her. "Thank you so much, Leila," she said, her voice steady. "This could be the key to finding the Earth Spirit's host."

Leila looked at her, her eyes wide. "You mean... you want to use this to track them down? I'm not sure I can do it over a long distance."

She looked at everyone's expectant expressions and hurriedly explained, stumbling over her words. "I mean the energy is faint, but there's a pull, a sort of warmth that seems to be coming from you. It's like a beacon in the dark. It's... it's incredible, like I've tapped into a hidden sense I never knew I had. It's as if I can feel your energy, your spirit. It's a connection, a bond that I can't quite explain. But like I said, the energy I feel is very faint. Even when I'm standing close to you."

Arya smiled gratefully, "Don't worry. Just the fact that you can feel it is already very promising. I'm sure with some practice, you can get better."

"What about you? Shouldn't you be able to do it too?"

Arya frowned doubtfully, "I don't think so. I didn't and still don't feel anything like you described. But I'll ask Yeelen about it later. When she decides to finally show herself."

Shayleen cleared her throat, drawing their attention back to the matter at hand. "We need to formulate a plan. We can't just rush into this blindly. The Red Fangs are dangerous, and we need to be prepared."

Arya nodded, her expression hardening. "Agreed. We need to find out where they're holding our girls, and we need to do it fast. We don't have time to waste."

As they began to discuss their next steps, Arya couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. The Red Fangs were a formidable enemy, the unresolved trauma of her childhood. She was scared of how she would feel if she met the man in the red mask. But she was determined to do whatever it took to protect her people, just like she promised her mother. She would not let them down.