35-Pretty Colors Forewarn of Potential Dangers

5/2/5/4353 M.A.C - Great Western Rainforest- Early Morning

"If I keep going at the same rate as the last few days, I should be done in a day or two at most. How is it looking on your end Arctic? Don't worry if it is longer, you had to waste some of the first Kumquat, and you had less unspent vitality since you take turns pulling the cart."

"I still need at least four days, maybe five. Unless we get stuck somewhere, we'll be out of the forest already when I finish."

"I'll wait for you to finish so don't worry. I'll just practice circulating until you catch up so we can start the next step together."

Sun Hanukong approached Emi and Arctic and handed out their share of the travel rations. The journey was going to take less than a week so they had been able to take some fresh fruits and vegetables along with them, but the bread was starting to grow hard enough that Emi thought she might be able to use it as a weapon by dinnertime.

"From here is most dangerous. Until here beasts know smell of tribe and stay away because we hunt many. From here on we do not hunt, too far. So more beasts and not afraid. Last day safe again because humans hunt. Today and tomorrow we need be careful."

"What kinds of beasts?"

"Panther, big boars, really big deer, small but dangerous badgers, and many more. When hunt in group danger is small. Climb tree work for other but not big cats so danger is big. if only one, and not monster, I can kill panther alone. Maybe small wound but survive. If many, or is monster, or is very big, maybe we die. No worry much, panthers are rare in day and big or monster panther even more rare. Also adult panther most time alone. If careful and sleep in shelter no big danger. Carry water if need leave cart behind. Can live no food three days but no water too long. Understand?"

Both Emi and Arctic gave him a thumbs up and the trio packed up to resume their journey. Their pace was faster than the usual trade caravan the tribe ran, and so they were usually able to skip about half of the shelters, but since they'd taken the morning to rest and and work on gathering, and the area was dangerous, they pushed extra hard to make sure they would reach the next shelter before sundown. An hour after their journey had resumed, Emi spotted something that caught her attention as she kept an eye out for potential threats.

"Hey! Look! There are a bunch of pretty colorful stripes on those trees."

Emi pointed to the left of the path at a group of brown trees with patches of stripes ranging between greens, yellows, oranges, and reds. Sun Hanukong looked at the trees, his aura suddenly overwhelmed with anger and fear.

"No Stripes. Scratches, Panthers. Not there month before. Make territory bigger and come here? Scratch not so big. If only one is fine can deal with. No need risk. Make no noise and move fast."

"Don't worry about noise, I can control sounds around me and silencing small noises takes barely any energy now that I can isolate them from the ambient noise. As long as I concentrate on that instead of gathering, we can move full speed and not have to worry about being silent."

The trio had been moving briskly before, but now they were pushing what the cart's wheels could handle on this bumpy road without the aid of any suspension. Arctic took hold of the right shaft as Sun Hanukong shifted to the left, to give him some space, and they both started pulling the cart together, fast enough that it launched upward upon hitting pot-holes or bumps on the path. Emi took position behind the cart and kept running while doing her best to push it forward. They gained so much speed by working together that they had to slow down at a few sharp turns or risk crashing into the large trees that made those turns necessary in the first place. Emi was surprised when, not even three hours later, the shelter came into sight.

Damn...We planned on taking nearly six hours to get here but it must have been three tops, judging by the sun.

Like the other shelters so far, the walls were sturdy and the thick wooden door could be secured with two large planks from the inside. The anxiety Emi had been feeling disappeared as she could not imagine even a tiger could easily break in. As the trio entered the shelter, her anxiety came back twice strong. It had not been visible from the front, but a large branch had fallen from up above in the canopy and had made a large hole in the roof. The branch had broken through and a portion of it had made its way through the ceiling to the floor, like a slanted fireman pole. Arctic climbed up the fallen branch and made it through the hole with space to spare, causing Sun Hanukongs expression to show worry.

"Not good. Very not good."

"This must be pretty recent since there is no sign of rain having leaked through. The damage is big though. It would take us more than the few hours of sunlight we have left to fortify it, even if we had the tools. Do we try for the next shelter, and risk traveling by dark for a bit, or do we stay?"

"Panther ambush in dark. If it pick up our scent it faster than us. If outside, can hide and attack from any place. Here, only one place it can attack from. Outside, danger is more big."

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Emi didn't need to use any of her Abilitie to see that Sun Hanukong was ill at ease. His eyes darted from side to side as he signed, and his stance made it seem as if he was ready to dodge an incoming attack any second. Arctic, on the other hand, had a completely different reaction. Emi could see that his entire body was slightly trembling and that small beads of sweat were forming on his brow. It was late Spring and the afternoon was pleasantly fresh, but even though they had just been exerting themselves, Emi suspected that this sweat had a more sinister origin. Emi took a step forward and put a hand on their shoulders.

"Alright. We'll make our stand here. If the three of us work together, a big cat or two is nothing."

Emi pulled her hands back and made a show of flexing her feeble, hollow-boned arms in an attempt to bring some levity to the situation. Her companions stared at her with unconvinced expressions, visibly writing her off as a combat asset in their minds.

Well, that backfired...Guess I'll have to put my Abilities to work.

Aside from the hectic rush of this afternoon, the journey had been fairly monotonous so far and Emi had ended up with a lot of thinking time on her hands. She decided that it was now time to try out a combination of Abilities she had thought of during that time.

First, I need to instantly relive a powerful memory with [Persistent Memories of the Blessed] to shift my emotional state. Then I'll quickly use [Reciprocal Empathy] and [Share my joys, Share my pains] before my emotional state returns to normal to bluff and inspire them. As long as I can convince them that I feel a certain way, and make a decent speech, even if they resist the second Ability, I should still be able to affect them somewhat. Now I need to decide what emotion would be fitting, and find an appropriate memory.

Emi had never really had to fight oppression or bullies in her previous life and thus didn't have any personal memories she deemed powerful enough for this occasion. Having grown up in the Yokosuka base with her father as a stationed officer, she had been treated well by her community and had avoided most of the issues that women had to face in Japan. Not that her other homeland was perfect, but older ideas of what women ought to do hadn't managed to persist as thoroughly across the Pacific. Even though she had been of mixed Heritage, her dark hair, brown eyes, and the fact that she had been raised in Japan from infancy, had mitigated most of the issues she might have otherwise faced. Her friendly and outgoing personality, combined with the confidence she had gained from living surrounded by soldiers, had saved her from becoming the target of any of the bullies that had been in her surroundings. Although she had been blessed with features that others found rather pleasant, she hadn't stood out enough to incite much jealousy from her peers. Ultimately, her life had been devoid of any truly significant hardships until her mother's health took a turn for the worse during her last years of high school. Even then, the struggles she'd had to overcome afterward didn't quite match up with her current situation.

Nothing? No problem. I lived vicariously through thousands of characters. I just need to remember a scene or song that got me going. The speech from "Braveheart" isn't quite right. I need something about overcoming a challenge or a foe. Hamilton? Nah...I need something that also brings hope. Something with hope despite the odds. Something that reminds you there is something worth fighting for on the other side if you can overcome an old enemy...Was there something like that in "The Lion King" maybe? Oh, I'm dumb! I was just singing a song from "Les Miserables" the other day and there is one song in there that should work quite nicely. If I think of the panthers as predatory French nobles, and of us as the people they oppress, then it fits rather well.

Emi's eyes appeared to lose focus for a fraction of a second as she activated [Persistent Memories of the Blessed]. During that short moment, Emi was back home, sitting on her couch between her parents and facing their television. Emi was thirteen years old again, and her attention was focused on the screen in front of her. When the first man began singing, Emi couldn't help but think the costume department had given the actor clothing that was a bit too stylish for a character who was meant to be a commoner. Then the musical accompaniment grew in volume and all such thoughts vanished as she stood up and stared at the screen with her fists clenching. As the people on the screen started storming the procession, Emi was so enraptured by the scene that even the stifled giggle coming from her mother could not break her out of it. As the song and the scene reached its climax, Emi returned to the present and her thoughts resumed.

Still feels weird. While I'm in flashback mode it's not like I'm watching a movie, or remembering something, but like I'm there living through it again. Mom was there, but I felt like it was normal. Let's not dwell on it too much now or I'm going to get stuck in nostalgia and I'll have to hype myself up again. Onto step two.

Emi activated [Reciprocal Empathy] and [Share my joys, Share my pains] as she straightened her back and stared at her companions. She made a node appear next to her and started playing "Do you hear the people sing" while using [Isolate Sound] to remove the vocals, leaving only the instrumental track.

I'll keep the volume low to avoid spending energy needlessly since I might regret it later otherwise. This new Ability is pretty convenient though. Alright, time for a speech!

"We might have to fight tonight, but it's not just any enemy. We are headed towards our new lives, but your old foe stands in your way. A panther was at the root of why both of you ended up having to leave your home. Will you let another panther block the path you have finally found? I say enough is enough! This might not be pleasant, or safe, but it is fitting. Use this to harden your resolve. Tonight we are no longer helpless prey. Let's show those bullies that we are no easy meal, and that we will not let them live rent-free in our heads. We have a few hours before nightfall, enough time to make some barricades and arm ourselves as well as we can. If they come and we fall, we'll at least make sure they regret it! For Hanu! For the Majusculus tribe! For a brighter tomorrow! Are you with me!?"

With this, even if we fail and die, our last few hours should be less miserable.

Emi gave her companions a once-over to see if her speech had worked. Arctic's aura still contained some traces of fear, but most of it had been replaced with determination, anticipation, and not just a little bit of righteous anger. The speech had different results on Sun Hanukong, but he hadn't been in quite the same emotional state to start with. He started laughing with his mouth open wide, making quiet noises that sounded like small coughs.

"If weak little sister is no scared, shameful if I am. No worry, I kill panthers before. With group because not stupid, but have you two this time."

Sun Hanukong slapped Arctics back and then gave him a broad smile.

"Tonight we fight as tribe. You still bit young, but if live I call you brother. Last time you see panther, you still very little and more weak than little sister so no can help. Brother Hanu was strong but alone. I have both you. Also this."

Sun Hanukong went to one of the two crates that they had been traveling with. They had yet to open this one, and as far as Emi knew, it contained replacement clothing, some tools, and some other useful items like extra rope and other random bits and bobs. Their journey having been so uneventful so far, they'd only really needed to open the provisions crate which contained the food, a pot and laddle, three wooden bowls and a fire-starting kit. Sun Hanukong took a bundle, wrapped in thick leather, and opened it up. Once unfolded, Emi could see it contained a needle and some fine string in the left section, a bundle of gauze-like loosely woven clean fabric in the center, and four small clay pots strapped to the right.

"After Brother Hanu death because no medicine, I prepare. Tribe pay human healer come and teach. Now never travel without taking kit. In pot is honey for clean wound, special tea to down fever, plant paste to stop bleed, and a sleep tea if pain too much. If one of us hurt, with this can get to human village alive. I explain so if I get hurt, you heal. If you get hurt I heal and carry on cart. If one hurt we go to human village fast. Have money leader give before we leave, can use for healer."

Arctic looked up at Sun Hanukong, blinking, with a look of surprise and grudging respect on his face. Emi couldn't help but smile as she recalculated their odds and decided they were more likely to survive than she had first assumed.

"That's great! Give me a few minutes to look at what we have to work with, then we start shoring up our defenses."