TARA

It had only been a few hours since Lenin returned to the village, but it felt like he had never left.

We would all have to attend a meeting in a couple of minutes.

Whilst everything was mostly good in the village with the establishment of new infrastructure, there were always people who would have something to nitpick, let alone argue about.

Zac had grown more aggravated with Felix's rule; perhaps it was because he felt anxious that with innovations, there was a chance of people being able to notice these things happening and invade us.

I would think that Zac was the only person with this type of thought, but there was growing support from people aligning with Zac's belief.

Though nothing had happened, the tension was there to feel.

But now that Lenin is here, I hope he can tame the people who feel this way.

After all, if Zac admired anyone, it would have to be Lenin himself.

Thanks to Rickston's ingenuity, our meeting room has grown more extensive and vast.

"Tara!" Lusan raised his hand in the air, calling me over to a table, saving a seat for me.

I happily walked over, taking a seat.

The meeting room seemed more alive than ever, which was always lovely.

"I can't believe we finally have seats now," Lusan chirped, looking around at the people already there.

It was clear that there was a diversion, with Zac's side of the people on the other side of the meeting group.

"Thank you all for coming once more," Felix declared, examining us all. As you know, Lenin had been on an extensive mission for quite a while, but now, he is here to tell us everything that has happened whilst he was gone." Felix gestured for Lenin to take the spotlight as we watched silently, eager to hear the updates.

After hours of debriefing, what he had told us was unfathomable to the ear. His words were a vital source of information that seeped deeply within this meeting room.

No one here dared to speak up as we were so focused on those words coming out of his latching onto our ears.

Some of the things that he said were almost unbelievable.

But if it came from Lenin, it had to be true.

Soon after the meeting, everyone began to disperse, but not people like us.

As Lenin began to look at us now, we still had some things to deal with.

"As you know, we've been to the Villages of Ustrin and Scopia." He paused momentarily. This brings us to one village we have yet to interact with: the Village of Vaia, " he answered.

People began murmuring to themselves, curious as to what would happen here.

"Which is why we need to have volunteers for this expedition. Of course, we're not forcing anyone to participate in this, so I'm offering it a position. Any takers?"

Soon, the usual hands began to be raised in the air. It was always good to gain experiences from these things. After all, it was the only time we could leave the village every once in a while.

However, an unexpected hand rose in the air.

"I would like to go."

We all looked to see Kassie raise her hand.

I knew little to nothing about her. The only thing I did know was that she was Lenin's wife, but besides that, I knew absolutely nothing.

During the meetings, she was always composed and kept to herself, almost as if there was an elegance around her.

Lusan and I never dared approach her; we were too scared to.

But now that she wanted to participate in this expedition, I knew in my heart that I needed to go.

It would be a great experience to connect and meet with someone new, especially someone like Kassie.

I quickly looked around to see who else raised their hand; Zac would be one of them, too.

Lenin smiled, "Well, if my wife wants to partake in this expedition, then I won't be attending this one." He nodded enough for Zac to put down his hand immediately.

From the looks of it, most of these people only wanted to experience what it was like to be with Lenin.

After all, he was practically the face of the Village.

He clapped his hands, "Alright then, Kassie will be in charge of the expedition. You have a couple of days until you leave the village. Enjoy!"

I instantly looked over at Lusan.

"So, what do you think?"

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Lusan shrugged, "What do I think about what?

I rolled my eyes, slapping him on the shoulder, "Thinking about us being in a three-person squad with Kassie. . . Well, three women squad when you think about it?"

"You calling me a woman?" He chuckled out loud as he began tapping his chin. "But now, when I think about it, it would be nice to get to know Kassie."

"Yeah!" I smiled, "It would be cool."

He chuckled at me as I titled my head.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing." He waved his hand. "It's just that I never expected you, out of all people, to be so positive. I mean, I remember a time when you just hated everything."

I chuckled, scratching my chin. "Yeah, I guess I was pretty interesting in the day."

Interesting was an understatement; I was a total bitch.

Things change for the better, and I'm glad it did.

"We should talk to Kassie when we have the chance," Lusan added, but he felt nervous even after finishing that sentence.

"We should talk to Lenin; he might advise us."

Lusan gave me the thumbs up as we made our way to Lenin.

"What can I do for you guys?" He smiled, looking at us.

Lusan and I both exchanged looks at one another.

"Well. . . We just wanted to know Kassie's life since we'll be on an expedition with her."

Lenin's face was covered in a knowing grin as he placed his hand on our shoulders. "You guys are scared of her, huh?"

My body jerked as I instantly attempted to wave my hand in dismissal, "No! Of cou-"

"Yes. I'm shitting bricks."

I punched him on the shoulder, "You weren't meant to say that." I grumbled in defeat.

Lenin could only chuckle at our antics, patting us both on the shoulder, "It's alright, I was scared of her too."

I blinked at him for a few seconds, "You were?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I was. But trust me, as soon as you start talking to her, you'll be surprised at how friendly she is."

We both nodded, "Thanks for the advice!"

"Of course, I'm always here if you need help." He gave us a thumbs-up. "Now, get ready for the expedition that's ahead of you. We don't know how or how the Village of Vaia would react to your arrival, so just be alert."

"Right." We both nodded as we left with the advice given by Lenin to heart.

The only thing left for us to do was prepare for anything that might come our way.

Outside was none other than Zac waiting for us.

"Zac, what are you doing here?" Lusan was the first one to ask as Zac folded his arms.

"I'm just curious about your opinion on something." He replied.

I raised my eyebrow, "Since when did you ever care about our opinion?"

"Just answer my question." He scoffed, "With everything that Lenin said, do you still think we won't have to prepare ourselves for a potential attack one day?"

"Look." I declared, "Even if someone does decide to attack us, we'll focus on it then, but we don't have to worry about it now."

Zac nodded, walking away from our sight.

"Well, that went surprisingly easier than I thought."

I sighed, "Tell me about it; I was expecting him to fight back with his words."

But with that, we continued.

LENIN

After everything that happened, there was only one place that I would possibly ever want to visit: home.

Well, that was what I initially planned to do, but Felix stopped me.

"What's up?"

"Nothing much," Felix responded, "But I just wanted to ask. As strong as Kassie is, should she be out on expeditions?"

I knew that when I introduced myself to this conversation in the meeting room, Felix would also question me about my actions, but I was confident I could stand my ground by nodding.

"She needs the break. She's been working hard since she came here, and we both know that by now."

Felix slowly nodded, "Yeah. . . I get what you're saying. She does deserve it, but still, we don't know what the last village is like. We only have information from scouts, but that's not nearly enough."

Felix was asking valid questions about this.

I placed my hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring look that I hoped would calm him down.

"Out of everyone in this village, she's the strongest. Besides, she can handle anything that comes at her."

He smiled slightly, "I know, but that brings me to the other situation. . . Zac."

I raised my eyebrow in amusement, "Zac? What's wrong with Zac."

He sheepishly shrugged, "While you were gone, he's been much more aggravated, thinking things had been too slow and that we needed to modernise faster."

I chuckled, "We're doing our best, and don't worry about it. I'll handle him."

Felix let out a sigh of relief, "Thanks, I don't know what I would do without you. . . While everything good is happening, it's just a lot more stress on my plate now."

"Yeah, I know, just be sure to rely on others. After all, we're not just here for anything, you know?"

He nodded, "Thanks again. I don't want to waste your time anymore." Felix declared, giving me an all-knowing grin, "You probably want to talk to Kassie now."

I raised my hand in surrender, "You know me."

He left me to my thoughts as I made my way back home.

I entered the home and noticed how quiet it was; not a single sound reverberated around the room.

It wasn't a sad silence but a comforting silence that welcomed me in its arms.

That silence was disrupted when I realised Kassie had been watching as she gave me a little wave.

"Well, well. . . Look who it is, the leader for the next expedition." I bowed jokingly as Kassie rolled her eyes, wrapping her arms around my neck in delight.

"Well, if it isn't a loser of my husband." She gave me a joke back at me.

Her eyes were drowned in tiredness, and her body was sluggish than usual.

It differed significantly from the beaming and energetic Kassie I knew and loved.

Motherhood had taken a toll on her, but she didn't regret it; after all, that toll was Maro.

A soft smile appeared as I looked at all the hard work and long hours she had dedicated to him.

A pant of guilt loomed over my shoulder, but at least I was here now.

"Woah, not cool, buddy." I chuckled, "I have. You know I'm very cool."

Kassie returned the chuckle, taking a seat on her chair.

"Speaking of which, where is Maro?"

She gently smiled at his name, which was always enough for her to activate her mother's monitor.

"He's sleeping as we speak, thankfully, " she joked.

It was always lovely to hear that Maro was sleeping well as usual, but I felt terrible for Kassie for caring for Maro alone.

"Thanks for volunteering yourself. . ."

She waved her hand in dismissal, "No need; besides, we both need this." Kassie smirked, pointing at me, "You spend some quality time with Maro while I spend some time alone for a bit."

She was correct; we both needed something like this.

With what happened with Elenior and Freinson in their villages, a well-deserved break was exactly what I needed, and an adventure for Kassie was what she needed.

I was happy that we could do what we wanted without trouble.

"You know what's funny? Lusan and Tara approached me, asking how they should get to know you."

"Really?" she chuckled, covering her mouth. "Well, it wouldn't be too hard for them to approach me; they're pretty cool people."

I nodded in return at her remark; they were pretty cool people.

"So. . . I'm guessing you're very excited for what's to come."

She nodded, stretching her arms. "Definitely. It'll be nice to get out of this house. As I said, you need to spend more time with Maro."

I was excited to hang out with Maro and see all of the cool little things he had learned

It was simply some father and son bonding time.

"I'm assuming Maro has been doing pretty well for himself."

"He has been." Kassie smiled to herself, "To me, at least, he's been learning quite quickly."

It was always good to hear about your son and their constantly improving.

Kassie slightly yawned, covering her mouth.

"Long day?"

"Yeah. . . It's been a long day, but it's been a good one. Seeing you again."

I chuckled, scooping her up from her seat. "Enough with that sap. We should probably get some sleep."

She wrapped her arms around my neck, slowly nodding, "Lead the way, please."

Exactly that I did.