"Hey, is that a dead deer!?" A group of five boys approach all having large eye bags and one of their bellies grumble. Hmmm even if our game is preserved correctly our combined catch probably weighs upwards of 90 pounds which is a lot of meat for the five of us.
"Yes, we are heading back to our creek to cool it down and try to preserve it. You are welcome to join us for the meat!" All the boys smile happily and follow us even taking over to carry it.
"Thank you so much, sirs! What are your names?" A blonde-haired one with blue eyes steps forward, perhaps being the leader of this depraved troop.
"I am Damon, the one with red hair is Georgios. The dark-haired one is Nero and the large one is Nikolaos."
"Ahhh the bomonike! And you were one of the finalists! Who is that one though?" He points to Litos who essentially is an indentured servant for what he did.
"That is Litos. He attacked our friend Nero and now we have him with us forced to make up for his crime." The blonde nods and the rest of the group offers no sympathies for Litos, two of them even spit at his feet.
"Well I'm Areithous and it's a true pleasure for us to join you all!" I nod and so does the rest of my group apart from Nikolaos. Nikolaos even stands beside me and taps on my shoulder.
"Are you sure we can trust these guys? What if they are dead weight?" Nikolaos whispers the lowest he has ever spoken to me and likely anyone else.
"They won't be dead weight in the future Nikolaos. Our game is much too big to eat between the four of us before it spoils."
"Ahh, so you are just gaining easy respect due to our abundance of resources." I nod and he parts as we make it to our creek.
Our shelter appears much too puny, a bit of a gut punch on my ego. Perhaps if Nero and Litos never crossed paths we could've built a proper shelter fit for us.
"Everyone! To prepare for our meal we need to cool it off and cut the meat into pieces. Does everyone understand!? While I tend to the meat I need all of you to begin to build shelters. My 3 friends can teach you the steps if need be!" Everyone adheres to my words and starts building their own shelters.
I begin to cool the meat off by using the creek's water and as it cools I begin to build a deep hole into our shelter. I grab sticks and dried leaves that will be placed over the hole. Eventually, the meat is ready and I separate the meat used today and the extra. The extra being placed into the outside side of my cloak now makes me completely buck naked.
"Everyone grab a piece of meat! I have specially prepared 10 large strips of meat for our meal." Everyone grabs a stick and sharpens it quickly then cleans it off into our clean water. As someone has made another hole into the water log, one for drinking and another for cleaning.
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They poke their sticks over our fire and we all huddle in a circle. No one notices that Nero sneakily grabs one of the meat stripes giving one to Litos. I see no reason to interrupt his act of kindness for his assaulter. Litos stays in his corner avoiding any eyesight as he nibbles he soon notices my pair of eyes and quickly looks down.
"So how did your group meet?" Georgios questions Areithous giving him a courteous smile.
"We met all the way back when we had to make beds, jeez that was a tough day. I can barely remember it but we all were struggling and had a laugh when seeing how behind we were. Eventually, we decided to team up and finish before being the last ones hahahah." Their whole group laughs loudly remembering the event.
"Remember the face of the boy that finished last!! Hahahah" One of the boys comments and then takes a look at Litos at the corner his meat strip already gone. "Heyyy I remember you! You're that boy!" They all hoot and holler making Litos turn red.
Perhaps if he was in a better condition he would have made the boy regret it but instead he just shamefully hangs his head low.
"How about your group? How did you guys meet?" Areithous questions and Nikolaos gives a devious smile.
"I remember it like yesterday! Damon and I met during Diamastigosis 6 years ago! He and I didn't fall down once and they had to quit with both of us standing… two boys did die though. Anyways! We then met Georgios who was a pity party back then and he begged us to play. Finally, the three of us met Nero who was crying over his dead friends…" Nikolaos's remembering of the events turns the whole mood sad.
"Huh, so you guys have been through a lot.."
"Yup, but this big buffoon softens the blows!" Georgios playfully hits the hulk making him smile again. We all eventually finish our meal and I begin to instruct everyone on tanning the pelts. It will likely take a week so it's best to get this process started now.
The whole process takes hours and the vice leadership between Areithous with his own group allows them to further the construction of the shelters. The unstable and uncomfortable shelter of our own yesterday is now more wooden logs instead of wooden sticks.
Eventually dinner time comes and we cook more meat with Georgios offering expert scavenging allowing us to have fruits and vegetables. Our water log even becomes water logs as many people enjoy having more and more clean drinking water after my explanation of how beneficial it is.
"It's night time so we should all be getting rest." I yawn and my group nods with the newcomers offering confused faces.
"Really I thought you guys just wanted us to help build you all more living spaces and in return we receive food?" Areithous scratches his eyebrow waiting for my response,
"No, not at all. In this area, we have the opportunity of fresh drinking water, hunting game, and now shelters to live in. You are all welcome to join us but of course, I want you all to listen to me." My group stands beside me showing their stance with my statement while theirs all look at Areithous.
"... It would be an honor to join all of you." Areithous enters his claimed shelter and the rest of his group follows. My own group enters our now pimped-up shelter.
"Do you reckon they could steal from us?" Nikolaos pokes me as I lay down with Nero shaking his head.
"They seem nice, why would they do such a thing?" Nero questions Nikolaos making his face red.
"It's just a question, Nero!" Nikolaos then turns towards me.
"No, they won't steal from us because they have shelters, food, and water. If things ever get bad it's a possibility but for right now we stand in benefit befriending these boys."
"Do you plan on accepting anymore?" I nod to Nikolaos's question since ideally, it would be good to gain a friendship with everyone in my class now. With Georgios's climbing and scavenging skills and Nikolaos's muscle, we could do anything now!
"Welp, goodnight everyone!" Nikolaos exclaims loudly making Georgios who was already in slumber jump but then head right back to sleep. Tonight is much more bearable compared to yesterday, with the insulation keeping us warmer. Perhaps in the coming weeks, this can progress into a proper log cabin.
"Damon, wake up! Everyone is wondering what to do. You don't want Nikolaos to decide that, do you?" Georgios nudges me as I begin to stand.
"Don't worry Georgios, I know what we need to get done…" I stand and walk out still nude to see nine boys all waiting for my orders.
"Everyone! This is not just the plan for today… No, this is the plan for this year! One, we are going to find and recruit every boy in our class to join us and we are all going to work together to create a proper community. Two we are going to find a consistent food source and perhaps even expand to farming. For now, we build spears, swords, and if possible Bows."
Everyone cheers before I can finish my speech. Nikolaos begins to hush everyone leaving silence in the ecstatic crowd.
"We will have pottery for our water, houses for our safety, and clothes for our comfort! I want everyone to now tell me what they are good at so I can delegate the jobs." All 9 clap and begin to form a line under my command.
My first step of leadership was forming close bonds with Nero, Nikolaos, and Georgios. Now it's time for the next step, launching my leadership of the whole class and gaining power.