Chapter 61 part 2

Jenn looked around her. There was something off that she couldn't quite put her finger on, but not anything that felt especially dangerous. Something that she worried might be more of a problem if she didn't figure out what the source was.

Although, it would help if she had an idea of what she was looking for. Since she couldn't say that it was anything that mattered to those with her if she couldn't articulate just why it was important.

If those she was with composed of, at least mostly, if not all, those whom she'd saved from being slaves, she was confident that her word would be enough. However, since she wasn't, she wished she could get something more concrete than she had currently. Which meant that she either needed to move on or find something that she could point to as a potential problem.

Yet, nothing appeared. So, she was about to move on when something did appear. However, she wasn't the one to notice it, which she was at least happy for, since she was already having difficulty keeping her 'unit' in line.

They accepted that Tchisa had appointed her as a captain, but they weren't impressed with her. Not that Jenn could really blame them. She wasn't really sure what they were looking for, but Jenn had her own doubts about herself to work with as to why they'd doubt her as well.

"Isn't that a… rabbit?" one of the older young women in Jenn's unit asked. "It's… walking like us."

Jenn looked and felt a little surprised to see not just a kind of rabbit walking along, but the rabbit also had antlers. Which made Jenn wonder if maybe this was a jackalope. Although, with how it walked upright and even had more human-like fingers, she had to wonder if maybe it was a 'jackalope-kin' or something.

The creature looked rather chubby, had buck teeth, and had what looked like a leather tunic on and was looking around, like it expected an attack at any moment. Which made Jenn wonder if it had stumbled through a gate and had gotten lost. Which would explain why it was there in the first place.

"Should we kill it?" another young woman asked, a glint in her eye making Jenn feel like she might need to find a way to get her respect so she wouldn't literally put a dagger or something in Jenn's back at some point.

"Let's first talk with it," Jenn suggested. "I've encountered creatures similar to this. I believe this one might be called a 'jackalope-kin.'"

Naturally those with Jenn hardly paid attention to her.

"What if it fights back?" a girl younger than Jenn asked. "It might look like a rabbit, but it is a lot bigger."

Jenn resisted the urge to use her magic to try and take control of her unit's mind. She doubted it would go over very well afterward and would likely destroy any chance she had of gaining their trust.

However, there was something she knew she could do to help the jackalope-kin without letting her unit know about it. As she was the only one who could use magic and it wasn't like they were impressed with Jenn's ability to use magic. Especially since Jenn was so much smaller than they were.

They were currently patrolling the north eastern part of the Forest of the Lost, partly taking a survey of the area and partly making sure that there wasn't any signs of bandits living in the area. Though, Jenn had a feeling that she herself wouldn't know what those signs were unless they encountered the bandits themselves.

"Look, we respect that Tchisa sees something in you and that's why she made you a captain, but you haven't have any children of your own. Plus, you're such a runt. Almost a twig. Shouldn't you let the actual women show you how it's done?" one of the other girls asked, as if she realized what Jenn might be planning. She had bright pink hair, yellow eyes, and her own suit of armor, that she wore almost as if it was a piece of art, since it hardly seemed to be primarily used for defense, given how much it revealed to Jenn. "You can warm my bed later tonight. How's that, kid?"

Jenn endured the pat on her cheek. She couldn't say how many times she'd had to deal with that on this patrol. Besides, warming this girl's bed wasn't something she'd really even consider. Even if she wasn't saving herself for Alex.

The girl in front of her was named, Gishia. Out of all the others in her unit, she suspected Gishia would make the best second-in-command, if she could learn to respect Jenn. With how much the other girls respected her already. Even though she looked like she was barely seventeen.

Though, Jenn had a few ideas to gain their respect, the problem was, was that she hadn't really had a chance to try any of them out.

One option was for them to try their hand at a friendly sparring session with their weapons. Jenn was confident that she'd be able to take them if they did it one-on-one. Especially since she still had bad memories of that group of people coming after her in that 'test' before she was sold as a slave. Though, that would require them to have at least finished the patrol, and Jenn didn't want to deal with that before then. As she could imagine a number of them complaining to Tchisa of what Jenn did, regardless of what the results of that spar would be.

"Do you want to discuss how much you want me in your bed or are you concerned about where the jackalope-kin went?" Jenn asked, having noted which tree the jackalope-kin had gone around.

He was still too far away for him to have really noticed them. Though, Jenn also suspected that he was preoccupied with something as well. Part of which Jenn was pretty sure was the fact that he wasn't used to this world. Which meant that he might not realize where he even came through.

"What are your orders then, twig?" the oldest asked derisively.

"We should try to talk with him. See if we can get him to trust us. Maybe then he'll lead us to where he came from," Jenn answered. Part of her assessment because she was confident that he wasn't a real threat to them. Especially considering his body type and the way he walked.

He certainly wasn't a warrior of any kind. That much Jenn was certain she'd be able to easily convince her squad of. Though, she doubted they'd consider him much of a threat anyway, considering the fact that he was male to begin with.

"And what if he doesn't understand us?" came the reply, almost like it was a threat. "I've met some of the tribes in Shareis. They don't speak the same language as we do, so what makes you think that you can understand him? Or that any of us can?"

Jenn merely smiled. She knew if she said anything it'd merely hurt her position in general. However, just smiling at them like she was, she knew would get under their skin. That they wanted to believe that they were in control, no matter what else happened. Or that Jenn did herself.

Suddenly Jenn saw stars appear in her vision. She wasn't sure what happened, but when her left jaw started to ache, she pieced together that someone sucker punched her. Which she had to admit was a change in how they treated her. However, she was pretty sure that it was a step in the wrong direction.

"Who hit me?" she asked calmly, not caring about how amused and self-satisfied everyone's expression was.

Jenn waited a minute, not caring how far away the jackalope-kin got while they dealt with this. "You know, when we get back, I'll just have to get me a new squad. One that isn't full of cowards."

Jenn knew that one single word would get under their skin like nothing else. It wouldn't put her in their good graces, which is why Jenn hadn't used it up to this point, but right now, she was starting to stop caring about getting these girls' respect.

Gishia stepped forward, glaring at Jenn. "What did you say about us, runt?" she asked, her voice almost a deadly whisper.

Jenn held herself up straight. She knew if she back down now, she might as well become the Blue Rose full-time for all the authority she'd have after that. "You heard me," she answered calmly. "I mean, what else am I supposed to think when someone punches me out of the blue and is too scared to admit to it. Then we also have all those who know who it is, but is too scared of that coward to say who she is."

Gishia looked at Jenn, her glare shifting to a look of annoyance, before looking at everyone else.

"You know, even for a runt, and maybe a twig, she has a point. If you want to hit someone that badly, at least be able to admit that you were the one who did it," Gishia replied, and Jenn couldn't help but wonder if she'd maybe earned a very small amount of respect from Gishia. Though, she wasn't entirely sure how or why that had occurred.

Gishia looked at the others, as if she was getting ready to go through them one by one until she found who'd sucker punched Jenn. Which Jenn couldn't help but worry would add more animosity towards herself. Which would only increase the chances of getting sucker punched like that. Though, part of her didn't want to deal with it, since she doubted that asking Tchisa for a new squad or unit would help her out in terms of getting the respect of others in the mercenary company.

"It was me," a girl that looked like she might be barely old enough to have become a mercenary, which saddened Jenn. Someone like her should be focusing on other things in her life rather than how to eke out a living just to survive.

"Okay, let's move on then," Jenn said, not caring about the issue anymore. An admission was all she was after anyway.

"Wait, after talking about her being a coward, no you're not wanting anything to do with it?" Gishia asked, sounding rather incredulous.

Jenn turned back and blinked. "What? She was a coward before because she wasn't willing to admit to what she did. Since then, she's admitted to it. What more is there to say about it?"

"Well, she did hit a superior officer, so shouldn't that mean you should do something? I mean, you are that superior officer, right?"

Jenn merely smiled. "Hey, all I wanted was for her to admit to it. I mean, you guys don't accept me as a superior officer anyway, so why should I enforce that sort of thing when you guys would have to then carry out the punishments?"

Gishia looked more annoyed than anything else. "You really are strange," she said after a minute.

Jenn merely shrugged. "You know what song you make me think of?" she asked.

Gishia shrugged. "Knowing you, something really boyish and stupid."

Jenn wasn't sure how to take that, aside form how it would be on Earth as 'girlish' and stupid.

"Not sure about that, but the title is Points of Authority and it was originally sung by Linkin Park," Jenn continued, not sure what else to do. "The chorus goes: Forfeit the game, before somebody else, takes you out of the frame, and puts your name to shame, cover up your face, you can't run the race, the pace is too fast, you just won't last."

Gishia blinked. "What? You think that's me?"

Jenn merely nodded. "Yeah, it certainly seems like you to me, at least."

Gishia looked around. "You really want to do this now? That creature could be getting away if we waste too much time here."

Jenn reached out with her magic and easily found the jackalope-kin. He had collapsed behind some bushes and was quickly falling asleep. Jenn wasn't sure how long he'd been moving, but it was clear he was exhausted. Though, she couldn't help but wonder if he was from the same world as the pronghorn-kin. After all, they both were beast-kin. Only, she knew that that fact alone wouldn't ensure that they were from the same world.

"He won't get far," Jenn said when she'd confirmed the jackalope-kin's position. "He's exhausted, so we can deal with this now and move on him alter when we're done with this."

Gishia sighed. "So, you really want to do this now?"

Jenn nodded. "We might as well. Otherwise I'm sure you'll let things go because I gave an order you really didn't feel like following."

Gishia let out a bark of laughter. "Fair point. It certainly wouldn't look good for you to let that happen."

"Don't listen to her!" one of the other young women called out from around them.

"Don't worry, I got this," Gishia replied, her smirk showing just how confident she was that she could take whatever Jenn was going to suggest.

"Alright, let's do a small duel, okay?" Jenn suggested. "Though, I just have to ask: do you want it to be to the first blood or clear defeat? It'll be with real weapons, so a clear defeat could end in the death of one of us."

Gishia looked around her. While she looked rather battle hardened, Tchisa had assured Jenn that, like most of the mercenary recruits she'd acquired, she didn't like actually killing anyone. Even when there wasn't any choice.

"Let's just go to first blood," she said after a few minutes. "Can't have you dying on us. I mean, you can't warm my bed if I accidentally go overboard and you end up dead."

Jenn didn't argue. She had her own opinion about the matter and she had a feeling that if she said anything in response, that it'd only hurt her own case.

The others gave them room for about a thirty foot ring. Jenn had her short sword and Gishia had her own sword. Though, Jenn couldn't be sure how good the sword was, since Gishia hadn't had the need to draw it just yet. Which meant this would even be the first time Jenn saw just how good Gishia's skills with a sword were.

However, the match was over before it began. Jenn had drawn her sword and cut into Gishia's hand, just enough to draw blood. Jenn felt a little caught off guard at that, shocked at how much slower Gishia was than her.

Jenn even gave her another chance. For best out of three. Then best out of five. Each time, Jenn giving Gishia a little more time before making her own attack. Which she couldn't say was more than fair, since Gishia was clearly doing everything she could, but still failing miserable.

At the last time, Gishia put her sword away. Only her right hand had cuts on its back, and her expression was that of disgust.

"You'll take first watch tonight, okay?" Jenn said. She wanted to offer words of encouragement or comfort, but suspected that if she did any of that, that she'd be hurting Gishia's pride, which she was pretty sure would be akin to kicking her while she was down.

Not the kind of thing Jenn wanted to be known for.

Gishia nodded, not looking at Jenn. The others looked between the two in disbelief. And Jenn was confident that all of them had expected Jenn to lose. That there shouldn't have been a way that Jen would have been able to win. Especially since all of them had recognized Gishia as the best fighter among them. Which Jenn didn't care about, although it seemed that because she had bested Gishia, that now she was considered the best.

Which she hoped wouldn't create more problems for her down the road. Especially since she had a feeling that things would only be getting harder for her to deal with, with the other mercenaries down the road.

"You're not half bad, twig," Gishia merely said as she turned to walk away.

While it wasn't as kind of a statement as she had hoped, she had to admit that it was at least moving in the right direction for her. As, while she was still called a 'twig,' she at least was given a little bit more resect there.

Which meant that it was time to move out. On to the jackalope-kin who had stumbled into this world. While Jenn supposed that she could just identify where the gate was, she figured that she should at least talk to the jackalope-kin to see what might be the problem for him. Including why he was pushing himself to the point of exhaustion.

If there was a problem that they'd be able to solve, then that could help them out in other ways as well. As Jenn was hoping to continue adding strength to the Order of the Blue Rose, even if it wasn't the kind that she'd be able to publicly show on this world. Besides, she hoped that the world the jackalope-kin came from was the same as the pronghorn-kin.

If it was, then she'd have a potentially faster route back to Earth. Which would mean that when the time came, she'd be able to bypass a lot of the other issues that came with returning home.

Although, it was also possible that while it might be on the same world, that it could be essentially on the other side of that world. Which would mean potentially months of travel, longer than it would have been with the other route.

However, that was an issue for later. While it was possible for either of those options, it was also possible that it didn't help her out any in that regard. At the moment, she could only hope and imagine. It wasn't something that she'd be able to get done without finding out more information first. Information that would help her figure out what exactly to do.