Chapter 60 part 4

Lily knelt down to pet the hellhound, but was knocked over as Flare 'inspected' her. At first Ralph thought that Lily was going to not take it very well, but was surprised when she started laughing as Flare licked her face.

While Ralph wanted to stop Flare, as it popped in his mind where dogs will also lick themselves, he wasn't sure how good of an idea that would be. Lily hadn't been this open to anyone, except mostly him, since they'd met. Ralph didn't really understand it, but he felt like it was probably a better idea to let this go rather than try and control it.

If only for Lily's sake.

"Should we postpone dinner then?" a voice asked, drawing all attention to it, aside from Flare and Lily.

"We can start," Beth assured the marquis. "I was just introducing Flare to one of the slaves we rescued."

"I see," the marquis said, sounding rather magnanimous, but Ralph had a feeling he was just trying to act a part and his words weren't reflecting how he actually felt.

Yet, he knew he should get Lily to eat something, so he helped extricate her from Flare. Though, at first she looked saddened to have had the assault on her face over, she had a look in her eyes that Ralph knew he hadn't seen before. Which in turn made him feel better about the whole situation.

"Ready to eat?" he whispered to her.

Lily nodded, not showing any signs of saying anything else. Which Ralph had to accept, given how often she spoke anyway.

So, Ralph set her on the chair next to his, suddenly wondering what would happen to Lily when it was time for them to head back to Earth. He wasn't sure why it had taken him so long to think about it, but it was a fact that they couldn't get around.

If he took Lily with him, then how would he explain her sudden appearance to his family? Or even Social Services, since he was pretty sure she'd be likely classified as a 'lost child' or something. Which would mean that she could end up in the system and he wasn't sure how that would affect her then.

Yet, if he left her in this world, he couldn't say how she'd react to that. Would she accept it as something to have been expected? Would she feel abandoned? Would she resent him? Or maybe would things have gotten to the point where she wouldn't need him?

The questions bothered Ralph in a way he hadn't experienced before and it wasn't until he heard his name being called from right next to him by Tim that he even came out of them.

"Ralph! What is it with you?" Tim asked, sounding rather annoyed. "We've been trying to get your attention for five minutes!"

Ralph looked around. He'd eaten through at least half the main course, which was something he couldn't say he recognized. Though, he was willing to say that it wasn't bad, whatever it was. Others had managed to get farther through theirs, even with a few still a good distance behind Ralph.

"Sorry, I guess I got lost in thought," he said, not seeing a reason to come up with something else. Getting lost in though happened to everyone, every now and then, right?

"Whatever," Hannah said, sounding more tired than anything else. "Tim said that he came across something about how a person might be able to see the tip of another land from the top of Stone Mountain, but Marquis Denshia said that no one's supposed to be on the mountain. Even though he couldn't quite explain it that well."

Ralph nodded. He supposed that it was because of some cultural thing that likely went back a ways. So, if they wanted to bypass that, then they'd likely need to either find a way that allowed them to climb the mountain without worrying about the cultural problems or find another solution. Such as building their own tower that was just as high as the mountain.

Which Ralph didn't like the idea of. Not when he couldn't say how high up the mountain went. After all, he wasn't interested in building a tower that was a couple thousand feet high, at least, if he couldn't come up with a better way.

"Okay, so what do you need me for?" Ralph asked, not seeing the point of needing his attention if that's where they were stuck. After all, it wasn't like he was the one who came up with the 'ideas' when they were stuck. Typically he let the others turn to others for that. Nor was there ever a time when they did look to him for anything like that in the first place.

"Well, Denshia said that it's been so long that anyone has gone up there that the reasons for not going up the mountain haven been forgotten. So, he has no objection for us to do that if we wanted to," Amber answered. Though, when she said the marquis' name, she sounded rather uncomfortable and Ralph suspected she'd been asked by the marquis to call him that. Which was likely from how much she looked like his wife. Which also was something he was glad not to be in the middle of.

"The question is when do we go?" Amber continued. "The passage Tim came across indicated that it wasn't always visible, even on clear skies, so we won't know if we'll come across it whenever we go up."

"So, we're voting on when to go?" Ralph asked, more for clarification. He wasn't sure he cared to go on an expedition like that where there wasn't a clear point of when they'd be coming back. It might not be a problem for some of his friends, but even a trip to the mountains at least allowed him to form an estimate of how long it'd take, but this wouldn't allow even that. Not with how much of it was plainly 'unknown.'

"Kinda," Beth answered. "We're debating if all of us should go or not. I mean, it's right by here, so it shouldn't be took long, but I'd rather take it easy if it's that close. I mean, it's not like we'd be able to reach whichever place it looks like it's supposed to let you see. It's just that the record only indicates that you can't see it from anywhere else."

Ralph nodded. If they were debating on if all of them should go, then that'd make it a little easier. "Well in that case, I vote not all of us should go. I'd rather not have to hike up that thing when we don't know how long it'll take to see whatever it is we're supposed to see. Kinda sounds a little pointless to me."

"You know, I wish I'd thought of that before I volunteered to lead whoever goes up there," Wes remarked, looking a little wistful. "I mean, I thought maybe I'd get to see Laputa or something, but when you said that, then… yeah. Who knows how long it'd be before I'd be able to see it." Wes paused for a moment, looking like he was done before quickly adding, "And that's assuming the conditions around me would be cooperative enough to let me see it."

"Good to know you're thinking ahead," Ralph remarked.

"Not funny," Wes declared, clearly not seeing the humor in Ralph's words. Which Ralph was just fine about. It wasn't like he was losing anything in the matter.

"Well, if that's decided, is there anything else I should know about?" Ralph asked, feeling like if he didn't ask, he might just delve into his thoughts again and get pulled out because his friends wanted to talk about something else. Regardless of what he'd like to do.

"Actually, there is something," Beth said, surprising Ralph.

Why wouldn't she have gotten that out of the way on our way here or when we first arrived? Ralph couldn't help but wonder. After all, it wasn't like she hadn't had ample opportunity to deal with it before this.

"You're not thinking about going back out to try and get more money with the traveling musician method, are you?" Wes asked dryly. "Though, I'm sure you would when I'm stuck going up the mountain for who knows how long."

"Actually, no, but it does touch on our money situation," Beth answered, intriguing Ralph more than he'd be willing to admit. "It actually involves the plastic rings that Heathcliff added to our packs."

"Wait, plastic?" the marquis asked.

"We'll explain that later, okay?" Amelia offered, clearly not wanting to get into a discussion on exactly what plastic is, which Ralph certainly was fine with.

"Anyway, I showed them to a friend I made who mentioned about how they could net us a whole lot of money. Though, she said that it probably would be better if we sold all of them at once, when they're still 'new' to the merchant that my friend offered to introduce me to."

"Any time limit on this?" Hannah asked. "I mean, if there isn't then we have time to deal with other things, right?"

"Yeah, there's no time limit, since we're the only ones with plastic here, so it's not like we're in a race against anyone," Beth acknowledged.

"Well, lets discuss it later then," Tim suggested, yawning. "I think it might be a little late to discuss that when I'm not sure I'll be able to remember everything said about it."

"Sounds good to me," Ralph said, getting up.

He'd eaten enough that he was good on the food, even though there was still a good amount left. That said, he couldn't really be sure why he was so eager to get up from the table. It wasn't like he thought they might try adding him to the group of those who'd be taking a look at the stone mountain. Yet, he still felt the need to get to bed quickly. Which was rather an unusual sensation for him.

As he got up and started to leave, he noticed Lily following him herself. However, as they left the dining room, it was clear that she was probably going to trip and fall if allowed to continue on as she was. Which made Ralph feel like he should do something. Which was another piece to add to what was going on that was unusual for him that night.

He quickly looked around to make sure no one else was in the hallway before he scooped Lily up, startling her. Yet, when she who had picked her up, she instead snuggled in against him, closing her eyes.

Ralph would have ignored all that, except he heard her murmur something that sent his own emotions into conflict, "Papa."

_

Jenn wasn't sure how to react.

The problem wasn't so much as what Tchisa had been able to accomplish, but rather the scope of what she'd done. Without Jenn even authorizing it. Or at least directly.

Tchisa had not only gotten them set up as a mercenary band, as well as set up a kind of headquarters in Ferusha. Which then would give them a place to recruit from. Or at least among those who were already interested in the mercenary path, or whose lives had necessitated them to take such an action.

Then not only that, but Tchisa had recruited twenty more people to join the 'Silverthorns' and had taken out a job request that had apparently been gathering dust for years: patrolling the Forest of the Lost.

Uniforms were still being worked out, so it wasn't like there was anything that showed which of Jenn's people were 'siverthorns' or not. Yet, while she didn't know how to react, she couldn't help but feel rather excited.

Not only did Tchisa get them an excuse to essentially be in the forest, but now they were getting paid to be there. Jenn wasn't sure which she would have hoped for more.

Although, with the new recruits, she knew that she'd better do a ceremony or something where they swore their fealty to the Order of the Blue Rose. That way she hoped they'd be able to be more inclined to keep the secrets they held.

Assuming any of them learned about some of the more sensitive ones. Such as how many of them were escaped slaves. Including Jenn herself.

However, she doubted that some of those would likely come out in any manner if someone else didn't want them to. Which meant that she wouldn't need to worry too much about that, since it was well known that all of Jenn's people didn't want to go back to being slaves.

"Captain, find a place for our new recruits," Tchisa ordered Jenn, after she'd had a few minutes to process all that she'd been told.

Jenn blinked. She knew that she wasn't 'in charge' at the moment, since she wasn't dressed as the Blue Rose. However, it still took her a minute to realize that she was supposed to do what Tchisa told her to do.

Which she quickly set to. If only because she knew she'd put herself in the position. No one forced her to, but she couldn't say that she was especially happy about it right then.

Much like when she made a choice that later on put her in a position she'd have rather not been. Yet, she still had to acknowledge that she'd done that to herself, even though she couldn't have predicted the outcome down the road.

Although, in this case, she knew that this would come up. The problem with it, though, was the fact that she hadn't expected her emotions to be so opposed to it. Even though she knew it was for her own good to have this set up like it was.

"Of course," she replied after a few minutes. She'd rather delegate this to someone else, but had a feeling it would set a bad precedent.

However, they'd mostly maxed the capacity of this hidden village already. Which meant that they'd need to add more on if they wanted to continue growing in strength through the winter. Which Jenn really did want to have happen.

–Everyone arrive in my room for a meeting by the time I'm done showing our newest members where they'll be staying.– Jenn announced to those in her leadership, including Tchisa.

She had a few things in mind that they'd need to take care of as a result of the new influx and being forced to acknowledge they were already at their capacity. Plus, she hoped that Tchisa would worry about what Jenn might say for having been ordered to find a place for the new recruits.

"Captain," one of the new recruits said, though her tone was anything but respectful. "Who'd you have to sleep with to get your position?"

Others laughed, though some sounded more forced than anything else. It was clear that some didn't think much of Jenn and were ready to challenge her without even knowing anything else about her.

"Would you like to find out?" Jenn asked, feeling like a side fight would be good. For one thing, it would allow her to vent some of her annoyance. Another part would be that it would show that Jenn's appearance had nothing to do with her position as a 'captain.'

The one who had challenged Jenn looked around, as all attention had fallen on her. She stood about six foot six, looked to be in her early twenties, had black hair mixed with white, well tanned skin, and pink eyes. Her muscles were well-defined and Jenn was confident that she'd have been having doubts about her position as well if she couldn't recall how she'd done in the match before she'd been auctioned off.

The woman looked around, then picking up her arrogance, she stepped forward. Her self-confident smirk told Jenn all she needed to know about how this woman thought: That she was the best there was and that anyone else was just in her way to the top. Even those who 'thought' they had the ability to fight with the sword were nothing compared to her.

"How would you like to do this?" Jenn asked. "First blood, first actual strike, or until a clear defeat?"

"Let's go with clear defeat," she said, looking at Jenn like she would a piece of meat. "That way a twig like you won't have anything to complain about as you get dominated by a real woman."

Jenn wished she could say any number of things in response. Yet, a good amount just wouldn't be understood by this woman. If only because of the cultural divide between them. Since Jenn knew that this woman wasn't really that interested in fighting, but rather showing her own superiority.

"Okay then," Jenn acknowledged. "Begin when-"

Jenn stopped talking as the other woman attacked. While Jenn had her sword on her hip, she left it there, since the other woman didn't have a weapon in her hands. Which she supposed she should be thankful for. As she doubted this woman would try to avoid using the blade of any weapon she might have had in her hands.

Jenn slide out of her grip, but rather than falling back, she lifted the woman up by wrapping her arms around her legs and lifting. Though, she had to tap into her magic in order to do so. She only knew that the woman was certainly caught off guard by Jenn's ability.

Although, if she didn't have her magic, she doubted that she'd be able to do that. Instead, she might have gone for some martial art that would allow her to try and turn the tables on the woman. As it was clear she was blind to almost anything but her own abilities. For the most part.

It didn't take long before Jenn had not only won the fight, that nothing the woman did would amount to anything. However, she still persisted, since Jenn hadn't quite gotten a clear 'victory' just yet. Though, it was clear that it was only a matter of time.

Besides, Jenn was pretty sure that if she didn't keep on her guard, that this woman would be able to eventually turn the tides. That her ability wasn't entirely from her own arrogance and sense of self-importance. That she actually had some skills that weren't as immediately apparent.

When Jenn finally won, the other woman had already started to clearly lose interest in the fight as well. She'd shown signs of having been defeated even before Jenn achieved her victory by giving the woman a 'clear defeat' in the fight.

"Not bad for a twig, huh?" Jenn asked, as she helped the woman to stand afterwards. "Keep in mind, that loss is gonna cost you. I'll be deciding where you'll be stationed her, okay?"

The woman nodded, partly from sheer habit of responding to people when they talked to her. Which made Jenn wonder just how long that fight took. Especially since she knew that some things didn't feel like they took as long as they had, and that fight certainly didn't end as quickly as she'd have liked it to.