Jon was very nervous making his way towards the council meeting, even if he was sitting right next to Dan in Dan's wagon.

Mallory had agreed to come with Jon and Dan so that he could help prep Jon for the meeting, so he sat right behind Jon and Dan in the back of the wagon, leaning over to the front to join the two in conversation.

Mercy and Hector would come with Jassiter and Vel at a later time. Dan argued that the council probably didn’t want to see Jassiter and Jon at the same place at the same time.

“Shouldn’t I be there for my son?” Jassiter asked right be Jon had set off.

“You will,” Dan said. “But Jon’s a man now. He’ll be okay, right?”

Jon didn’t know if he would be okay, but he wanted his father to feel better, so he nodded.

And now, the three men were traveling to the council meeting at a steady pace. Dan didn't seem to be in any rush.

“I’m amazed that your wagon survived the ordeal,” Mallory said. “How did that work?”

“My shed is made of some of the strongest material in the area,” Dan said. “It’s the same stuff that Grave’s house is made up of further in the town.”

“Did you know to prepare for a disaster?” Mallory asked.

“Nope,” Dan said. “I just liked the color.”

The wagon made its way further towards the inside of the land. Already, Jon could see the massive coliseum-like structure that made up the Farmer’s Consulate.

Jon had only been here when he was younger once. He remembered falling asleep and then going back home. His older brother Ben had a lot more interest in these matters, always going with his father whenever there was a new meeting and leaving Jon behind with his mother and his other siblings. After Ben left, even Jassiter had stopped going to everyone.

“Everything here… is so outdoorsy,” Mallory noted. “Even the giant scary buildings.”

“When you live on farmland, you make the most of farming weather, don’t you?” Dan responded.

“I suppose you do…” Mallory replied.

Jon had expected them to make their way towards the main entrance, but instead, Dan made the wagon turn and go to the side of the building, heading towards the back.

The wagon stopped before they got any further.

Dan turned to Jon. “Will you be okay?”

“...Yeah…” Jon whispered.

“I know those guys are gonna seem scary,” Dan said. “But they’re just regular old farmers. They just have… other things to think about. Like your Dad. He’s not really angry. He just has to take care of a lot of things, and it puts him on edge.”

Jon nodded. He appreciated that.

“Thank you,” he said.

“No worries,” Dan answered.

Jon turned to Mallory.

“It’s what he said,” Mallory added. “Me and Hector do this stuff all the time. It’s more about appearances than anything.”

Jon didn't know anything about appearances. He grimaced but tried to put his trust in Mallory. They did just fight a giant monster together/

“Okay…” Jon answered.

“You ready?” Dan asked.

Jon nodded. He held on tightly to his blunderbuss.

Dan made the carriage continue forward until they finally encountered a man in long white robes. Unlike Mallory’s robes, they looked much heavier and had a lot of fancier designs etched into the fabric.

He also had long blue hair, which Jon had never seen on anybody who lived on the farm.

The man looked up from the notebook he was writing in.

“Is that Jon?” he asked.

“Yes-sir-rie!” Dan said.

The blue-haired man walked up to Jon and held his hand out.

“Nice to meet you, Jon,” he said. “I’m Riley. I’ll be escorting you to the chamber.”

Jon slowly reached out and shook his hand before looking at Dan.

“Go on,” Dan said.

Jon stepped out of the wagon; seat and to the ground.

“I hope everything’s going well with the council,” Dan said.

Riley took a sharp breath with an unfortunate face.

“I hope so too," Riley muttered.

"...Nothing for you to be worried about,” he quickly said to Jon afterward.

“You think they’d be happy with the farm being saved and all,” Dan continued.

“Yeah, well..." Riley made another unfortunate face. "They’re still mad that the farm was almost destroyed."

Riley shrugged. “Powerless to stop any of it, you know?

“I know,” Dan said.

“Riley, after this, I want to ask you some questions,” Mallory said.

“Ooh! A foreigner asking another foreigner questions in a foreign land? Exciting?” Riley nodded. “Come see me after this thing blows over.”

Jon looked at Dan and Mallory.

“Bye,” Jon said.

“Go kick their asses!” Mallory cheered while pumping his arm.

Jon wished it was that easy.

He followed Riley further behind the building, stopping at a small door.

“Okay,” Riley said, turning to Jon. “It’ll be simple. You go in there, they give a small speech, and then you answer some questions.”

Jon nodded.

“Now, they can’t really punish you for anything if there isn’t a larger majority of the vote,” Riley said. “So you shouldn’t expect any exilement or anything.”

Jon’s stomach skipped.

“They’re just gonna want your side of things,” Riley continued. “That’s it.”

Jon wanted to cry from how nervous he was, but he nodded.

“Okay, then. Follow me.” Riley opened the small door.

Jon followed him through.

What Jon wasn’t expecting was that he would still be outside, except now, there was a large curved structure standing to the right of him.

Riley walked to the center of the circle. Past Riley, Jon suddenly noticed the mass of farmers who were sitting at the back end of the open stadium.

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He flinched. He wanted to look up, but all he saw was the sun, and that made him even more nervous. It reminded him of being in the air and trying not to be eaten at caiman, so he just decided to focus on what was happening in front of him.

“Alright…” Riley looked down at his notebook again. He then looked up.

“Jonathan Thurmond Bellavue Armstrong, son of Jassiter Turmon Armstrong and Velvet Armstrong-Bellavue, is here to give his testimony to the situation that has happened on-”

A voice came from above Riley, interrupting him.

“Get off the stage and let the boy say his piece!”

Jon recognized the old cranky voice. It was Joshua.

“...Sure…” Riley looked at Jon and gave him a knowing look.

Jon didn’t like that look.

“Here he is,” Riley said. He gestured towards Jon uncaringly and walked off.

“Step up, boy!” Joshua’s unseen voice beckoned.

Jon didn’t like his use of the word, boy. He now realized that even if Graves had always called him that, Graves was never actually out to hurt him. He was mildly annoyed.

Now, Jon was around people who seemed like they might want to hurt him, and he wouldn’t be able to shoot at them in response.

Jon slowly made his way to the center of the area. Once there, he turned and looked up to the source of the voice.

Above him, behind their own personal tables, were several people in robes like the one Riley wore. Except, even more, luscious in their design. Jon wondered how fancy the robes could continue to get.

Jon tried to get a grasp of all of the people watching him from above. He spotted Joshua but looked away as fast as possible as to not catch his eye. There was a woman with hair that stopped at her neck, much like his mother's, but this woman’s hair was straight and had several shades of grey. There was a younger-looking man with short hair with glasses, and another man who also had glasses with long greying hair pulled into a ponytail.

“Speak your piece!” Jon shook at Joshua’s command, distracting him from being able to see the rest of the councilmen.

Jon tried to open his mouth, but no sounds came out.

He decided just to look at the wall in front of him so he wouldn't be intimated by the voices above.

“Is the boy, mute, deaf, or dumb?” Joshua hadn’t yelled this one. It was quiet.

“The boy probably is deaf now.” Jon looked up and saw that the ponytail man was speaking quietly as well.

“And besides, Joshua,” the grey-haired woman said, “we have to ask questions.”

“...Why did the caiman attack the farm?” Joshua asked.

Jon opened his mouth, but still, there were no words. At least this time, he could look at Joshua.

“I don’t think he knows why there was caiman there,” the ponytail-haired man continued. Jon found his voice very soothing. “I’m sure he just reacted to events.”

“Events that he caused,” Joshua continued. “By bringing that dangerous devil-”

“He didn’t put that giant monster in our forest,” the woman responded.

“Well, he should’ve killed it,” Joshua grumbled.

Jon was wondering why only three people were speaking. He looked at the other seats.

Riley was twiddling his thumbs in the seat closest to him.

There was another short grey-haired man, who, despite his age, had more of a body like the average farmer. He was broad-shouldered and obviously had a huge build underneath the robes. He had his arms crossed and he stared at Jon intently.

Jon couldn’t tell the intention behind the stare, so he stared back.

“Jon?” Jon turned his attention to the woman.

“My name is Councilman Theresa,” she said gently. Jon wondered if the resort of the audience could hear.

“This is councilman Jacobs, next to me.” She gestured to the man with short hair and glasses. “He’s going to ask you a list of questions, okay?”

Jon nodded.

“Okay, Jon…” The man fixed his glasses on his face and looked at a large notebook. “When did you first see the caiman?”

“...The Apartha Townsend…” It was really weird for Jon to say that name out loud.

“Mmm-hmmm…” Jacobs nodded. “Where were they spotted?”

“...The forest,” Jon said.

“Mmm-hmm....”

Jon realized that it wasn’t completely true.

“My friends saw them.” Jon corrected.

Jacobs looked up. “Huh?”

“They told me… I saw them here... “ Jon said.

“...With everyone else?” Jacobs asked.

Jon nodded.

“That’s a load of hoopla!” Joshua commented.

Jon realized that Jacobs was projecting his voice, probably so that the other farmers could hear.

Jon turned around to see the crowd. He instantly saw Hector’s red hair near the bottom of the seating.

“Jon!” Jon brought his attention back to Jacobs.

“How did you fight off the caiman?” Jacobs asked.

“I shot them,” Jon said.

“Yes… I know that. What I mean is... How? Like, tactics, formation, plans…”

“Hmmm…” Jon didn’t know what to say to that.

“We worked together,” he answered.

“Jon.” Councilman Theresa had stepped in. “What he means, is that what were the steps to fighting off the caiman?”

Jon took a deep breath. This would be a lot to explain.

“We took guns from the school,” Jon said. “And me and my friends went to the forest and fought people.”

“Who were these people?” The ponytailed man asked.

“...Strong people,” Jon answered.

“Did you see them before?”

Jon didn’t know who asked, but he shook his head side to side. “No. New.”

“Hmmm…” Jon heard the hum, but couldn't tell who it came from.

“Continue, Jon,” Jacobs requested.

“...We shot the giant monster… into the ground. Mallory stopped it…” Jon nodded with approval. He figured that was enough information to tell the story.

“...Okay…” Jacobs wrote it down. “That collaborates with the rest of the story.”

“What about the part where his father made a whole bunch of farmers into a war platoon just to follow after his son?” Joshua asked, “Putting the lives of all of those farmers in danger.”

Jon grimaced.

“...Yes, that is… alarming,” Theresa said. “But it seems to be for the best. We have our blunderbusses, this is what they're for.”

“He shouldn’t even have his yet,” Joshua said, crossing his arms. “He didn’t even pass his farmer’s exam, yet.”

Jon grimaced. This was true.

“Sorry,” Jon said.

Joshua’s eyes widened. “Sorry? Did you just… what boy?”

"The boy doesn’t need to apologize for having a blunderbuss.” Jon turned. It was the man who had been calmly staring at him. “He’s of age. I’m just wondering where he got it from. Especially ‘cause I hear it’s special.”

He uncrossed his arms and sat up. “I think what’s really concerning is that Jassiter seems to have raised a mercenary, and not a farmer. And this is before he raised to arms a whole bunch of farmers who otherwise had the fear and safety of their families on their minds.”

“This is, of course, conjecture,” Theresa said. “The farmers could have also acted in their own coalition to save their families. If they hadn’t found an answer, we could have starved out.”

“But why did Jassiter find an answer?” Joshua asked. “He’s not a military commander.”

“My friends told him,” Jon answered.

He had attracted everyone’s attention.

“Your friends?” Joshua asked. “The same ones who brought that dangerous woman to the farm.”

“And the same ones who are taking her away.” The ponytail man shrugged in Joshua’s direction.

Joshua gave him a nasty stare.

Jon figured they were talking about Mercy.

“She helped,” Jon said.

Joshua shook in his chair until he finally let go of his breath.

“So what?” He turned to Jon. Jon was bracing himself for another tirade.

“So I think he’s doing a better job of protecting the farm than you, ding dong!”

Another old voice had suddenly chipped in to voice its opinion, but this time, it was from ground level behind Jon.

Jon recognized this voice as well. It had to be Graves.

Jon turned around to confirm his suspicions, and sure enough, Farmer Graves was standing right behind Jon, making his way towards Jon's spot in front of the council.

Jon was still mildly stunned to actually see the older man standing there.

“What in the blunderbuss are you dining here, Graves?” Joshua asked.

“I’m here to make sure you’re not blaming your own incompetence on this here boy,” Graves responded, “because after the shit show that was yesterday, I assumed you’d want to come here to do that.”

Jon looked at the other council members. Some of them were also stunned.

Riley had piped up in his chair with interest.

“You’re not welcome on this farm anymore!” Joshua yelled. “You’re exiled.”

“I left, you ding-bat!” Graves yelled back, raising his fist and shaking it at Joshua.

Joshua growled but didn’t respond.

Whoa…

Jon had gained a small bit of admiration for Graves from watching that happen.

“Then why did you come back?” Theresa asked, genuinely curious.

“Yeah, Graves, the great one.” The man who stared at Jon earlier leaned over to the loud farmer, his arms still crossed. “What do you want?”

“I don’t want anything, Jules... Tammy…”

Both council members gave disapproving grunts towards their real names being used.

“I’m just here to tell you to back off from the boy and his family. Some men tried to hurt the farm. You weren’t prepared. You got a freebie with this boy! In fact, you should be glad he failed the dumb test! Or he would have been as useless as the rest of ya’ll!”

Graves turned to the crowd. "Useless, the lot of ya!”

A couple of the people mumbled and nodded in agreement.

Jon was amazed.

Graves turned back to the councilman.

“Now did I travel all this way so that I could tell you guys to not look a gift horse in the mouth? I did. But I also came here to call Joshua a dingbat. So, I think I’m straight.”

Jon opened his mouth to speak, but Graves grasped Jon’s shoulder, making Jon stop. He then left without a word.

“Don’t just leave!” Joshua yelled.

"I'll do whatever I want, dingbat!" Graves yelled as he walked away, not even bothering to turn back.

He made his way out of the arena just as silently as he had come in.

Joshua growled.

“Graves is right,” Theresa said. “We should at least celebrate a bit.”

“Whatever. I still think Jassiter’s a problem…” Joshua muttered to himself.

Theresa sighed. “If there is nothing else you need to tell us, Jon, you can go.”

“...Okay…” Jon turned around and started to walk away.

“Jon…” The voice of the ponytail man brought Jon back around.

“We still have to close the meeting,” the man said. “So, you can wait for that, right?”

Jon nodded.

“...You’re known as a bit of a recluse in this farm, Jon,” Theresa said. “We only wish to have your side of these things in this matter. In anyways, we would like to thank you and your father for your efforts in helping preserve the farmers, in both their lives and their way of life.

Jon didn’t do much more than shoot at the caiman and some bad people, but he nodded.

“I will hope that you will continue to contribute much more to the farm’s success,” Theresa said. “Whatever your future endeavors may be.”

Jon didn’t know why that comment weighed so heavily on him.

“Whatever you did, Jon, it was very impressive.”

It was a new voice. Jon saw a dark-haired woman who hadn’t spoken at all the entire time.

“So, can we call this meeting adjourned?” Theresa asked.

“Aye.”

“Aye.”

“Aye…” Joshua growled, but he raised his hand in support.

There were several more “Ayes” before all of the council people stood up.

“Then this meeting is adjourned,” she said.

They all left.

Jon turned. The audience that had seemed so far away was now clear and present to him. He walked over.

The first thing he noticed was Mercy’s dark figure running towards his side.

“Jon!” She stopped in front of him.

He grimaced. It was nice to see her. He had no idea what just happened.