Chapter 48-Team Noah’s Fifth Member, Part Three

Many, MANY days later…

"Alright, we're here!"  Old-Man F announces once we've reached the outskirts of the next village, "-Brighton Village!"

Our eyes widen as we stare up at the village before us.

"Woah…" we marvel.

Currently, the five of us find ourselves standing on the outskirts of a HUGE, sprawling jungle, with tails, dark brown trees and bright colored leaves spanning as far as the eye can see.  Before us, is Brighton Village.  The wooden cabins of Brighton Village are interesting, because they've actually been built in the trees!  And thus, the cabins are rather small, yet high up.  Some cabins are built on top of the trees, while most of them are built on top of the sturdiest of branches, and are connected by swinging rope bridges, and rope ladders to get into the cabins.

"Why…are the houses in the trees?"  Mary asks.

"They're called tree houses," Old-Man F answers.

He then pauses.

"That was…a stupid thing to say."

"There are a lot of predators in these Jungles," Ana explains, "So the majority of the villages in the Land of Wind are built in trees in order to protect the inhabitants."

Like the tiger that chased us…" Khione shudders.

"Either way, let's head in," Old-Man F orders, and the five of us enter the village.

"HALT!"  The village guard booms the second that the five of us attempt to step past the village gates, "WHO GOES THERE?!"

"Is this going to happen to us EVERY time?"  Khione groans.

"Yeah, probably," I sigh, before looking back up to the guard.

"My name is Noah, and we're-" I begin to explain, but I'm cut off when a villager holding a white bundle of paper rushes over to us.

"You guys…are Team Noah, right?!"  The villager excitedly asks, "The ones who took out Gambino?"

"Umm…yeah?"

"You guys are like…our HEROES!  All of us in Brighton Village, Hell, all of us in the Land of WIND owed debt to Gambino!  He blackmailed us ALL!"

"I've been blackmailed, too!"  One of the villagers chimes in.

"And me!"

"And me!"

"Same here!"

"Me as well…" the village guard sighs as they raise a bashful hand.

"ALL OF YOU?!"  We cry.

"What kind of dirt do you all have?!"  Khione whispers to me.  I shrug.

"What…is happening?!"  Ana whispers as she lends in to me.

"We're heroes.  Get used to it."

"May I see that?"  Old-Man F asks as he holds a hand out to the villager that approached us.

"Uhh…yeah, sure," the villager answers as they hand Old-Man OF their newspaper, who snatches it out of their hands.

"Hmm…" Old-Man F mutters as he unravels the newspaper and holds it up to his face to see.

"What's it say?"  I ask as I peer over Old-Man F's shoulders on my tippy-toes, "I can't read."

"Idiot, Master F can't read either!"  Khione snaps as she looks over Old-Man F's other shoulder, also on her tippy-toes.

"Our pictures are in the newspaper," Old-Man F answers, "I didn't think about this last time, but…how did the newspaper GET our pictures?"

The five of us are silent as we awkwardly look back and forth between one another.

"Do we have a stalker?!"  Mary shrieks.

"A stalker who works for the NEWSPAPER, apparently," Ana replies.

"But why WOULD we have a stalker?"  Khione asks, "No one knew who we were until AFTER we defeated Twilight Wolf, and that was thanks to the newspaper.  I didn't see anyone there to report about the events after the fight.  Why would they be watching us beforehand?"

"No, that's not right," Old-Man F interrupts, "WE weren't famous until AFTER defeating Twilight Wolf, but SOMEONE was…"

All four pairs of eyes peer over to me, causing me to flinch.

"ME?!"  I yelp, "I don't have a stalker!  I've been adventuring for a long time now, and I've never noticed anyone!"

"Well you're not the most aware, Noah," Khione sighs.

"HEY!"  I snap.

"Maybe someone caught wind of you a little before we fought Twilight Wolf?"  Mary suggests, "And figured you'd make for an interesting story?"

"Either way, I don't understand why they would secretly take pictures of us instead of interviewing us…" Old-Man F mutters as he rubs his chin.

"What's this saying?"  Old-Man F then asks as he shoves the newspaper back into the villager's hand.

"Um…um…" the villager stammers.

"Give me that," Ana grumbles as she snatches the newspaper out of the villager's hands, then holds it up for her face to read.

"Hey…" the villager whimpers.

"Team Noah, who previously defeated Twilight Wolf of the Land of Water, has now taken out Nevel Gambino, crime lord of the Land of Wind," Ana narrates, "Gambino was defeated by Noah, the Water Charger mastermind, and Anemoi, the Wind Charger samurai.  The ninja master, Flint Grovel, the mass-murdered, Khione Grovel, and the Devil spawn, Mary Bloodsworth, also defeated the Assassin Trio…"

"MURDERER?!"

"DEVIL SPAWN?!"

"So they're still calling me a criminal mastermind, huh…?"

"Ninja Master…nice…"

"Samurai, huh…?  Cool…"

"Well…no use thinking about it now!"  I laugh, "Our stalker is BOUND to turn up eventually!"

My friends exchange awkward glances.

"Newspaper villager," I ask as I turn to face the villager again, "Do you guys have any fields in need of water in this village?"

"Y-yes.  Why?"

"Show me to them."

And so, the villager leads us through Brighton Village, until we find ourselves at the base of a bundle of large, sturdy trees.

"The fields are up there," the villager says, and the five of us peer upwards, seeing that the crop fields have been planted up in the trees, and have been placed in rectangular wooden platforms that have been built in the trees, connected to their mighty branches and stems.

"Woah, even the fields?!"  Khione asks.

"Come on, let's head up," I order, and the five of us climb the rickety rope ladder, until we've reached the fields located in the trees around two dozen feet off of the ground.

Off in the nearby distance, is a GIANT gray wall in the outskirts of the village, which spans as far as the eye can see both widths, but is also tall enough to breach the clouds.  The wall is covered in moss.

"Is that…?"  I ask.

"Yes," Old-Man F answers, "The entrance to the Land of Earth."

"Great, then let's head over there!"  Ana exclaims as she claps her hands together.

"Not yet," I answer with a smirk as I hold a hand up to Ana, "First…we farm.