Chapter 25: More
Jax watched Sahari from the door of the gym as she practised some oddly familiar movements. Her footwork was divergent from anything taught during training and each strike utilized her knuckles instead of her claws. Were it not for the awkwardness of each motion he would assume she had been studying a new combat style, but the steps were too wide and the punches too crooked.
He observed quietly, waiting for her to notice that he had returned as she ducked an imaginary attack and rolled her weight onto her hind leg and tried to throw her arm upwards. The attempt threw her off balance and she tumbled to the ground with ragged breaths.
“I remember Joseph deciding not to use that particular strike.” Jax commented. Sahari glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as she tried to catch her wind. “I take it you are trying to learn from his example?”
She took a few more deep breaths before limply gesturing to some water that lay on the bench. He retrieved it for her and waited for her to gulp it all down before responding. “There is something to it that makes me feel at peace.” She explained, supporting herself on the ground with one arm while the other rested on the knee of a raised leg. “It feels right. Whole.”
“It makes you feel closer to him?” Jax suggested, taking a seat on the bench. Sahari flinched, glaring at him before laying the empty cup down. He expected her to snap at him but the stoic expression underneath the mild hostility spoke to him more than any words. Jax caught the tail end of a thought and waited a moment before voicing it gently. “It reminds you of Dalton.”
The usually audacious female shied away from the comment, pain in her eyes projecting into the room that seemed to dim the otherwise bright sunlight. “He would have spent days studying and recreating the fight.” She whispered. “Every foreign move, every shallow cut that earned him a chance to land a powerful strike. A style so hazardous yet so confident... Dal would have loved it.”
“When was the anniversary?” He breathed out heavily. A wayward paw scratched at his chin.
“A few suns ago, i think. Around when we selected Joseph.” Sahari pulled her legs into herself, hugging them to her chest.
“That explains why you’ve been avoiding him.” He admitted, leaning back against the wall. Sahari gave him a look but it quickly turned it into one of guilt. “Why don’t you just tell him? He’s worried about you. There’s only so long i can pretend that what he did to me is causing problems for me.”
“You asked him?” Her eyes didn’t move from the wood below her feet but her voice cracked as it raised in pitch.
Jax closed his eyes, the vision only really disappearing from only one while the other remained dark as always. “I did. He... He seemed in pain when he mentioned his previous mate... As far as the bond, he compared it to being intimate with a person for many years, so he feels as we do.” Jax chuckled lightly. “He is far less dependant on it than we are. In a way, he reminds me of my own blood-mother.”
Sahari’s ear perked. “She was the one without a bond, correct?”
He nodded firmly with a mournful smile. “Yet she loved as if the world itself was her bond. The world loved her back.” He could see her loosen the grip on her knees at the comparison. “I think it doesn’t matter for him.”
Sahari nodded quietly, her panting from the exercise subsided. “And the selections?”
Jax opened an eye, then the other when his vision remained obscured. “I don’t think he will participate. I didn’t want to prod too much but from what i gathered, he will be easier to proposition than await. I think you should talk to him about what being a Grand Hunter means. What it is he must clear before uncertainty clouds our judgment.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Jax shook his head. “I cleared my own doubts. He has made it clear enough where i will be used. I have a purpose in his eyes.”
She sat on the statement, her claws digging into her flesh as she clenched. “What of us? What if his pain keeps him from fulfilling his place? Did i make a mistake? Did we fail to meet his expectations?”
Jax stood, adjusting his weight off his left leg as it cramped and stood in front of Sahari. Her gaze remained lowered. “We made no such mistake.” He crouched and lifted her chin with his paw. He felt the dampness across her cheek that had escaped her usual composure. “He will care for us. I know you seek asylum. An escape from your old vow.”
“I seek nothing.” She snapped with venom in her words. Jax didn’t flinch.
“You are bound by him, Sahari. You are one of few who had the privilege of gaining what you had once lost, yet you bind yourself in fear of betraying your honour. Dalton would mourn to watch his mate trapped under his words and suffering while her salvation lay mere seconds away.” He spoke gently yet firm, each syllable chosen carefully.
“But he is not here...” She receded into herself. Jax gripped her jaw when she tried to turn away, their eyes locked as he tried to explain.
“If it were you to perish, would you demand his agony while he fought himself? Would you relish in his reverence despite the turmoil?” The words came out more forceful than he intended, but his own frustration controlled the tone that he had tried to soften. “Joseph is everything you admired in Dalton and you hate yourself for thinking it.”
Rage built in her eyes. He watched a thousand arguments falter in her throat as she tried to twist his words into something she could deny. It took many moments before the fire gave way.
“You need not hunt the Void any longer, Sahari. Joseph is but an infant with incredible potential. A fact you all seem to have lost in the blinding light of his competence.” She stared at him with her moist eyes and crestfallen expression. “He is not a Lilhun, yet he carried us when we could not walk. He gave us shelter and a power to rely on.”
He took a breath as he let her go. Her eyes remained fixed on him as if he was still holding her still. “He needs help. He needs to heal, much like you. He acts with confidence through the fear. He was told he was to take the lives of six into his grasp and was given a choice to leave us to die if he refused. How is that fair to him? A male who sees our loyalty to what he himself fails to see, being handed the world and told not to let it rot in his paws.” He growled as the tirade continued, his own frustration growing in light of the injustice of their expectations.
“You were one of many who selected him, Jax.” She snapped. “You carry your life on his claw.”
Jax flexed his paw and roared. “I knew what he stood for when i agreed! You all assumed he would stand for your values! He knows not of our desire because you all expect him to treat you as tools when it is required without telling of it’s importance!”
A knock at the door broke the spell. The two turned to glare at the intruder and were met with their Grand Hunter staring them down with a cold glare. Chills ran down Jax’s spine and he instinctively lowered his posture that had reared to his full height in his anger. Sahari quickly released her legs and knelt towards the intruder.
A heartbeat past before Joseph entered the room, the warmth seemed to drain from the air with every footstep. He stopped in front of Sahari and regarded her bleeding leg with a critical eye. “Healroot. Go.” The command landed like a sledgehammer in his ears and before he could register what was asked he was grabbing the requested item from the med bay. He paused before returning with it.
Joseph took it from his paws and applied a small amount of it to Sahari’s leg, wiping some of the blood off on his shirt while she remain frozen in place. He stood and glared at Jax with eyes that spoke of great punishment should he disobey. “Sit.” The order was accompanied with a flick of his wrist and a point to the bench. Jax obliged. The Grand Hunter offered a paw to assist Sahari to her feet, a gesture hesitantly accepted. Once standing, she fidgeted and averted her eyes from him. Jax caught a glimpse of frost behind her abashed expression.
A gentle claw brushed the wet fur on her cheeks, his tone losing the domineering edge. “What happened, Jax?” The question was not a request, but lacked the weight his words before had.
He cleared his throat to shake the minor paralysis as he reminded his mouth to speak the correct language. “We were having a disagreement, Grand Hunter.”
The buzzer sound or any form of dissatisfaction that he expected did not come following the habitual address.
Joseph remained focused on Sahari, his paw cupping her cheek and slowly guiding it towards himself. “What was it about?”
“Nothing that would requi-”
“Jax.”
“A dispute over your leadership, Grand Hunter.” The words forced themselves out in compliance. His body froze on the spot lest he perform any transgressions. Joseph shot him a sideways glance but returned to drying Sahari.
“Specifically?”
Jax fought the urge to answer. Sahari’s emotional conflict was something she had told him about during the long nights they had spent running for their lives and only revisited recently when she started having concerns. Despite his involvement, it was not something that was his to say. He could discuss the females dissatisfaction with the obscurity regarding the hierarchy, but that would be encroaching beyond his purview.
Joseph waited patiently, eventually running out of moisture to dry from Sahari’s fur. “Jax. Please.” The pain in his voice replaced the tone he had used to force the issue. Jax’s ear drooped until he came to a decision.
“We fear the unknowns, Grand Hunter.” He looked away from the betrayal in Sahari’s eyes. “The mate selection is a function of leadership for Lilhun, it establishes clear boundaries and hierarchy amongst the pack. Those whose lives hold the highest importance are chosen. They are guaranteed the best provisions and are set to command the lesser of the den. Your insistence has sown fear into their hearts as they pine to prove themselves worthy.”
Joseph stiffened slightly, taking his time to respond as he separated from Sahari. He gestured to the bench without speaking until she joined Jax on the seat. “And this turned into a shouting match because?” The glare that was pointed at Jax only held a portion of the initial frigid cold. His figure stood solid with arms crossed. He seemed to tower over Jax even though he was physically far shorter. Jax swallowed.
“I believed you wounded in the absence of your last mate and as such would not exercise your right, assuming you knew the extent of it. I thought you perhaps too ignorant of our ways to be expected to conform to their desires. I suggested Sahari inform you as a previous Grand Huntress as she has experienced a portion of the stated.” Joseph winced at the mention of his mate, but remained otherwise stoic. His eyes narrowed slightly when Jax skimmed over the fact that Sahari was in much the same situation emotionally, but he didn’t comment.
The Grand Hunter maintained eye contact before shifting it to Sahari. “Jax. Translate for me, please.” He cleared his throat. “Sahari. Why is it that my refusal is so distressing for you?”
Sahari flinched when Jax finished copying the question and gripped her knee with her paw. “We seek to be useful, Grand Hunter.”
“And sleeping with me is the only way to be useful?”
“N-no, But failing selection would mean there is something undesirable about them. It would harm their placement in the pack.”
Joseph sighed, letting his arms drop and the oppressive atmosphere fell with them. “How does this all work with bonds and mates? I thought i had a pretty solid grasp on relationship dynamics but every time i feel comfortable with it, i learn something else.”
Jax spoke instead of translating. “A ‘mate’ is one whom you have marked and wish to raise young with.”
“I’ll compare that to a husband or wife, for now. Continue.” Joseph replied with a nod.
“A bond is, as you yourself summarized, akin to a deep emotional understanding of another. It often leads to becoming mates, but is not strictly required. It is something that is largely chance, but carries great significance.”
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Joseph inflated his cheeks and jettisoned the air out as he processed the explanation with a slow roll of his eyes. “I’ll wrap that up as a shortcut to a standard relationship. A lot of humans end up romantically involved with those they’ve known for a long time, but you can know friends just the same. Okay. So how does that interact with selections?”
“Bedding another is either a purely physical action expressed between members of a den or an act of marking. One is... recreational... the other is an act of love and desire to bear young. Unmarked often bed one another where as marked remain with their mate or mates. Young are primarily raised by the mated with the expectation that the rest of the den assist. Selections choose the most promising of the den to lead those who fall under their expertise. It is a badge of honour and a display of trust.”
Joseph buried his face in his hands. “Okay. So. Love is love. Bonds are condensed years of emotional sensitivity. Mates are basically committed relationships. Marks are a display of the mated. Kids are raised by the community. Selected are the sub-leaders that control specific fields. Am i following so far?” Sahari and Jax nodded once the summary was translated. “Alright, i can follow that. So, if i don’t... ‘bed’... anyone, it makes everyone anxious since you guys need that structure to feel secure, right? Otherwise it’s like I’m saying i think you’re incompetent.”
More nodding, though Sahari hesitated at first. Joseph ignored it.
“Cool. How else can i stabilize this, assuming i continue not boinking everyone on base, and is Jax being male the only reason he’s unaffected?” Joseph ran a hand through his hair and shifted his weight to one leg.
“I have been given use by you directly.” Jax answered the second question first. “A tool without purpose is merely waiting to be replaced. Otherwise i would rely on the position of my mate.” Joseph blinked a few times and held up a palm.
“Wait, wait. So because i told you explicitly what i expected from you, in detail, you don’t feel pressured into performing other actions.”
“Yes, Grand Hunter. I was delegated with security consultations and it was insinuated that i would be in charge of training new security personnel and the rest of the pack with future weapon developments. By extension, i would be in charge of security.”
Joseph slapped his face with his paw, the sound causing both of them to wince. “Is there anything stopping me from just overtly explaining why each and every one of you are critically important to the base to prove your position?”
The tension deflated from the pair of Lilhuns as Jax finished translating the question and was replaced by a slightly confused posture. “No, Grand Hunter.”
Joseph released a deep breath. “For fucks sake. Okay, I’ll lay out where everyone fits into the plan specifically and make sure they know the whole thing is fucked if i didn’t have them.” He massaged the bridge of his nose with tented claws. “What about Pan? She seems... Normal, i guess. I haven't noticed anything, anyway.”
Sahari offered an answer. “She is bonded to you and you have entrusted her with management of the pack in your absences. She is the de facto second in command and passes reports from the others to you as well as delivers assignments. For us, anyway. I believe she assumes and has accepted a status of the lowest in her own mind.”
“Makes sense. I’ll straighten that out later.” He paused the soothing motions and asked a question with a hopeful expression. “Will this stop Tel from sexually harassing me?”
Jax laughed. “Her motivation is one of desire, not stability. She is confident she will be useful in your grasp, though i know not what a cook hopes to achieve of such calibre.”
Joseph dropped his paws and gave him a tired stare. “Have you really not noticed?”
Sahari broke into a chuckle at Jax’s confusion. “Notice what?”
“Really? The needles? The eavesdropping? The uncanny ability to just show up? None of that rings a bell?” Joseph listed off while holding a claw up for each point. Sahari’s chuckle turned into full blown laughter when Jax keep glancing between them.
“I think i know why Tel pursues you so fervently.” She managed between breaths. “’Sees the unseen’ indeed.”
Joseph opened his mouth with a raised claw before slowly lowering it and pursing his lips. “I’m going to go tell the kids that daddy loves them after i call my brother. You two sort your shit. If i catch one dirty look from either of you, mate or not, I’m shoving my foot up your ass.” He declared with a dismissively waved paw on his way out of the gym.
The two sat in silence for a moment. Well, Jax did. Sahari took a few seconds to calm down. Jax waited until she had composed herself to speak.
“That was...”
“Unexpected?”
“Very.” He nodded sagely.
“That is our Grand Hunter, i guess.” She commented. All traces of the earlier dispute had washed from her shoulders.
“Did you feel it?” He glanced at her. She flinched under the fresh memory and nodded slowly.
“We may have chosen a monster.”
“Dalton would have loved him.” He concluded nonchalantly.
Sahari lowered her head, fondness instead of sorrow graced her expression. “He really would have.”
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
“So they’ll be in touch in a few days, i think. Bit of a coin flip with lawyers.” Robert concluded, laying down possibly his third cup of coffee for the day if the rings on the mug meant anything.
Joseph nodded, brushing a strand of hair that had wandered down to his eyes. “Sounds good, hope that works out. Anyway, i need to go explain my plans to cat people.”
Robert grinned. “As you wish, my liege.”
“Eat it.”
“Love you too. Take care.” Robert ended the call with a wink. Joseph leaned back in his chair and stared at a wall while trying to keep his eyes open.
The whole week had been an exercise in organizing the base and he still failed to establish proper communications which led to the entire pack feeling uncomfortable. He felt like an idiot for assuming that he was beginning to understand the generations of society of beings that he really had just met. More so for expecting them to share his own values or at least understand them. It really took a shouting match to remind him that he was tasked with being in charge of them and not simply a job board. He sighed and tried to rub the tiredness out of his eyes.
It was... different... to hand out positions of power at the end of some personal time with the people you trusted to do them well. He could see the logic once it was fully laid out for him, at least. It would take some getting used to for him to accommodate how much they expect him to command them when needed, but he did kind of do that when he barked orders at Jax and he seemed like a soldier rather than a slave. Maybe that was the mind set he needed to adopt?
Actually, now that he thought about it, that seemed pretty on the nose. They seemed to expect a rigid power structure where commands from above would be taken with the utmost priority, but, as the less than accepting abandonment showed, it wasn’t as binding as the mindset of someone who expected to live or die purely on a whim. If the base turns into anything bigger, he should go into it with the mind set of a commander. All he needed was a somewhat ugly parade uniform and far too many badges.
Maybe a sabre.
“How is he?” Pan asked from the doorway. Joseph glanced over his shoulder and sat himself upright.
“Good. Well, he’s dealing with new contracts or something. Didn’t really tell me the details but apparently something came up that requires a lot of paperwork.”
“Why did he call you ‘my liege’?” She asked with her paws folded in front of her.
Joseph got to his feet and wrapped Pan in a loose hug. He let the softness of the fur distract from his exhaustion with a wiggle of his face. She seemed surprised by the sudden increase in affection but didn’t complain. “I told him about being Grand Hunter. Besides complaining about more paperwork, he dubbed me King Joseph. I really have no idea why, but that shit eating grin irks me.”
Pan tilted her head when he released her. “Shall we refer to you as such?” He was about to get annoyed at the implications but defaulted to an unimpressed frown when he caught her smirk. She really was nothing like when she joined, not that he was complaining. As awkward as the closeness they had developed had been, he was beginning to feel a little hollow whenever she distanced herself with formalities, so little jokes like this helped lighten his mood. He dumped the frustration with an exhale.
“No. I think he was trying to insinuate something and I’m not pretending I’m royalty.” Joseph shook his head. “Did you round up the kiddos?”
She giggled into a paw much like Mama would do into the joint of her blade. “Yes, I’ve collected the ‘children’ in the hub for you. They are waiting for your address.”
“I feel like a corporate CEO...” Joseph muttered, making his way there.
“Grand Hunter industries?” Pan offered impishly as she sped up her walk to match his stride. Joseph stared at her with a conflicted grin.
“You’ve been taking too many of Rob’s calls.” He dismissed with a laugh. The unexpected joke drained any uneasiness that had built up. With a bit of gravitas he pushed open the doors and nodded at the group who had retrieved their seating arrangement from the Grand Hunter ceremony. He stood in the centre and waited a moment to consider how he should do this. He settled on a single loud clap, the sound causing all present to flinch.
“Alright. It has been brought to my attention that i have already proven lacking as a leader.” He rose a palm as they began to speak. “I ignored the first rule of any competent leadership position; making sure people know what’s going on. On that topic; i left the whole ‘mate selection’ without clearly stating what that meant with my dismissal.”
“You did ask us to develop alcohol.” Harrow interjected.
He pointed a finger at her. “We’re still doing that.” He took a breath to refocus himself and regain the wind in his sails. “You guys need to know exactly what your place in the pack is. What i intend to work on in the future. Several of you know bits and pieces, but i know that i myself would be on edge if i was kept in the dark more than i thought required.”
Joseph made a point of hefting himself up onto a table and letting his legs dangle over the edge as he took a relaxed posture. “So that’s what this meeting is here to fix.” Pan took the opportunity to stand to his right and continue translating for Sahari and Tel’s benefit. A wayward hand ruffled the fur on her head between her ears. “I’m not ‘selecting’ anyone just so you guys feel like i value you.” A raised finger was needed to combat the unease. “I’m going to assign each of you specific duties. I really can’t trust anyone else with this.”
The statement seemed to placate them, every pair of ears faced towards him. He used the established atmosphere to start with the first that drew his attention. Orange was a pretty eye-catching color so he started there. “Harrow. How long do you think until the vicinity is mapped out?”
Harrow placed a claw to her lip after a brief surprise. “Um... Two suns. Three to be safe.” Joseph nodded.
“Three it is. Harrow will be helping expanding the mapping afterwards in the mornings and helping me prototype new ranged weaponry in the evenings. Any time between the two is her own to relax or assist others.” He said giving the group a sweeping look to make sure everyone knew that this was expected to be public knowledge. “Eventually, assuming we get our immediate needs taken care of, Harrow will be using her apparent engineering prowess to develop technological innovations with my assistance when i can. I’m thinking she’ll surpass what i can weigh in on fairly quickly, but it helps to have a wall to bounce ideas off of. Harrow is now ‘officially’ our head technology expert and temporary cartographer. Does anyone dispute this designation?”
Harrow seemed a bit shocked by the announcement, but her body language relaxed noticeably. The rest of them seemed pretty satisfied with the news, so he continued by looking at Nalah since she was the next brightest color that wasn’t standing next to him.
“Nalah, you will help Harrow as well as provide general assistance throughout winter. I will be requesting your input as we move forward with expansion of the base as well. Once spring hits I’ll be relying on you to get the little farm plot out back going. Unfortunately I’m just not much for plants. Depending on how labour gets split, i might ask you to take over gathering and processing the minerals that you guys found. If so, then you will be running double duty as a farmer and blacksmith. Smithing will be done either at your own discretion or following instructions from myself and Harrow. Nalah will be our head of agriculture and metalworking, when applicable. Lead planner until then.” Nalah nodded, her general posture remaining the same but her eyes seemed more focused. Satisfied, he spoke to Jax.
“Jax, you’re in charge of ensuring defensive and offensive training is up to snuff as well as keeping general security in mind during our expansions. Once you’re healed up fully, i want you accompanying anyone who needs to leave the meadow and do so armed. Last thing i need is someone getting mauled by wildlife because they thought it was fine if they were alone for a bit out there. Jax is head of security and will weigh in on weapons development.” Jax nodded firmly with a bit of a grin that Joseph couldn’t parse the origin of, exactly. After a confused glance and no answer to the non-verbal query, he decided it best to just ignore the guy.
“Sahari.” He shifted to her. “I want you to help with construction and join any excursions if Jax is otherwise preoccupied. Mama is pretty limited while the weather is cold so you’ll help set up the fence with whatever she had prepared and, if possible, drag materials into the hub for her to process more with the help of anyone else who happens to be free. After winter i want you to become a generalist. That is to say, i want you to be able to slot in and cover any activities that need the extra hand.”
Sahari raised a paw after a moment of hesitation and spoke when Joseph nodded for her to do so. “I am not given a specific task? Just helping others?”
Joseph waved a hand dismissively. “It is an important task. We can’t have every area falling behind because one spot starts struggling. I’m trusting you to become competent in the general operations of the base. While we’re at it, i want you to assist Jax with ensuring everyone can hold their own in a fight. Your training is, honestly, laughable when you have little more than just claws. I can’t say much for how you perform when you’re appropriately armed, but we need to ensure you aren’t killed in close quarters. I’m going to be training all of you so that you stand a better chance of not being dragged home in need of critical care.” He glanced at Nalah who just flinched. “So, in a nutshell, i want you helping make this place easier and safer to live. It’s something that would be much harder to accomplish without your help. You’ll be in charge of support.”
Sahari seemed mollified for the moment, so he addressed Tel. “Tel, you’re in charge of general nutrition and hunting. Honestly your cooking is probably the best out of the bunch and you’re the most efficient with the snares, so ‘food’ as a whole is what i want you focused on. I may reach out to you for tasks I’ll need handled, but we’ll save that for when it comes up.”
Tel’s tail ceased it’s constant figure eight and she tilted her head. Whatever she gathered from his words, it piqued her interest. She smiled and he took that as confirmation of her duties.
“Pan here,” He noticed he had been petting her the whole time. With a snatch of his hand he cleared his throat and ignored the mild disappointment she displayed when the scratching stopped. “Is our resident tailor and who you will report to if I’m otherwise occupied. Not much changed there. She is also possibly the most capable fighter and the only one who has a real idea of how my teachings feel with your bodies, so ask her for specific tips if you feel stuck on something. She’s my right hand and, i guess, secretary. As odd as that is.”
Pan seemed to be taken off guard, snapping a head to look at him as she translated the last bit. She has gotten quite used to speaking for him, rarely needing time to rephrase anything and is just doing it on auto-pilot as far as he could tell. He grinned at her when her bewildered eyes met his.
There was some general confusion that he had claimed her the best fighter of them but she really was. He had little doubt she could take Jax in a spar and maybe even come out on top in an actual fight. He caught a few sessions since he and Jax had their fight and she had taken a lot from it. Her general positioning had changed from purely thinking about where she wouldn’t get hit to placing herself right where the enemy is most likely to waste energy trying to swing at her with minimal risk. It wasn’t as ‘ballsy’ as his own engagement distance, but it certainly sparked a new wave of improvements between her and Violet.
“Mama is our carpenter and will be working on our wooden prototypes that myself and Harrow design. She will be working at a limited capacity throughout the winter so i would appreciate if you would assist her with gathering materials or other odds and ends so that we can mitigate the issue early. Violet will be assisting Pan with her leather-working and wherever else she feels she can help. She’s also the most dangerous fighter here. Sheaths off, that is. I expect each of you to become competent before you go getting yourselves injured against her. As you know, she’s also pretty much my adoptive daughter for all intents and purposes. As such, I’d really like if you could take the time to make friends with and help take care of her...” He flushed slightly and averted his eyes. “I was told you guys would help with kids...”
The room took a few moments before they broke out into a range from smirking to outright laughter. Jax spoke up first after he had calmed down. “Of course, Grand Hunter! She is a child of the pack. She is one of our own!”
“She’s too cute to ignore!” Harrow called from his side with a grunted agreement from Nalah.
Sahari, being on the tamer end of the spectrum and already spending a lot of time talking with the Atmo, simply nodded firmly with a satisfied expression. Tel rocked slightly side to side, which made Joseph nervous since he could distinctly recall that body language when she was planning how to make mischief. He assured himself that no such thing would happen, to little success. Pan, to her credit, contained her excitement at the acceptance and bounced slightly in place which Joseph found adorable to watch. It crossed his mind that she might be externalizing his own opinion on the response but he refused to acknowledge that he would consider acting like that.
“Which leaves me.” He managed with a laugh. “I’ll keep you all on track with assignments as well as plan out what we’re doing. I’ll be needing each of your opinions while doing so, since you all have more expertise in any of these fields than myself. As you might have guessed, i intend to make a village of sorts.”
The announcement calmed the rest of them down and turned a few heads.
“There are upwards of twenty Lilhun that none of you know the whereabouts of. That means that there are possibly more than twenty people who could either need help or become a problem in the near to distant future. We need to prepare for both outcomes. I want buildings to house people that can be relegated to storage when unused, and defences to protect from incursions as well as areas dedicated to various professions.” He spoke firmly. Tel raised a paw. “Yes, Tel.”
She fidgeted in place for a moment as Pan translated. “What of the other shuttles that escaped the crash you came from?”
He blinked. “As far as i know, I’m the only survivor from the cruise ship.”
She shook her head. “I mean the other ship.” Joseph narrowed his eyes.
“There were escape pods from the other ship?”
“Yeah. A bunch landed planet-side. I thought you were building the fence to defend from them specifically.” Her ears started swivelling like radar dishes as she folded her hands in front of her.
He sat there with a stunned expression. “How many?”
“I don’t know. It was late and i only caught the end of the whole thing. Upwards of forty? Plus any that might have escaped our... enthusiasm... at being stranded.” She offered with a claw to her chin and a skyward glance. Her voice seemed amused and her tail concurred. The rest of the room however seemed to be just as caught off guard as he was when she mentioned that others of their kind may have got off their ship.
He swallowed. All the Lilhuns stiffened when his face hardened. Pan’s expression mirrored his own steeled gaze. “New plan. We’re expediting training, weapons, and construction. All hands on deck.”