"Mhm," Zasen agreed. "So what's the risk? Pretty much nothing. The potential reward? If we can get information about how the Moles work, how to get in, or how to block their firearms?"
"He does kind of have a point," Omden said, looking over at his partner.
Drozel simply sighed. "I don't like it. I don't like her. I certainly don't like how the three of you are being so doting."
"Just trying to make sure she trusts us," Zasen promised. "If giving her some sweet potatoes and water can break her? Why the fuck not?"
"And," Kanik said softly, "look at how she reacted to Omden slapping her this morning."
"The bitch was hysterical!" Omden insisted. "I was trying to snap her out of it."
Kanik just shook his head. "Not that. It was the same when I was pulling the splinters from her feet. She doesn't resist. She didn't even lift an arm to block your slap."
"Because," Omden repeated, "she was freaking out and hysterical."
"I don't think so," Kanik countered. "I say that because she curled up. That girl lifted her arms over her head, put her legs in front of her stomach, and curled into a fetal position. That's a defensive posture, guys. It's what we see in our students who are abused at home."
"Fuck," I groaned. If he was right...
Kanik simply nodded. "I think Zasen's right and she was a prisoner. A criminal of some kind, and from the state of her, it could've even been for stealing food. Who knows what the Moles consider worthy of a death sentence? But somewhere in there, she was hurt, and likely hurt bad."
Drozel grumbled and pushed himself back. "Or it's a lie."
"Yeah, but now I feel bad," Omden said. "Man, if she's been abused and I slapped her to snap her out of it? That's just more abuse. All I was doing was trying to help her stand!"
"So help me?" Zasen begged. "Tomorrow, let's try to treat the girl like a normal person. We'll all be nice to her, make sure she eats, and if it takes us a little longer to get back, I'll request overtime for everyone."
"I'm good with that!" Omden quickly agreed.
"Still don't like it," Drozel said. "I think she's playing us. I think she's a Mole, and we all know that no Mole - "
"Fuck!" Kanik snapped, his eyes turned towards where Zasen had left the orin girl.
We all heard the rustle of leaves a second later. Immediately, the five of us were on our feet, but because Kanik had been looking that way, he moved the fastest. The girl was up, had her chain over her neck, and she was headed right into the forest.
"There's a cougar out there!" Zasen yelled after our friend.
"Heard it!" Kanik called back without slowing.
And the rest of us sat back down, because he had this. There was no way that broken little girl could make it more than ten paces before Kanik would catch her. Between her destroyed feet and her complete ignorance of the forest, it was even true to say my roommate was saving her.
"And that," Drozel said, thrusting a hand after the girl, "all but proves my point."
"And mine," Zasen said. "Because if she was a spy, she certainly wouldn't want to leave us."
Drozel just murmured, hearing him but refusing to agree. "I still don't like it."
"You don't have to," Zasen promised. "You just have to not terrify her for one more day."
"And after that?"
Zasen pushed out a heavy breath. "We'll let the mayor decide."
Which made all of them look right at me. "What?" I asked. "I can influence him, but he doesn't always listen to me."
"But he picked you as his running mate for a reason," Omden said.
"Mhm," I agreed. "Because without me, he didn't have the votes. That doesn't mean we agree. It also doesn't mean I won't run against him when I feel I'm ready to manage the entire town." Then I grinned. "Vote Rymar the Rose for Mayor. Figure I'll put flowers every-"
A scream cut me off before I could finish being a smartass, but this time it was human. The four of us looked over in time to see Kanik carrying the girl back. His arms were wrapped around her biceps. Her feet were dangling down, but not close enough to touch the ground. She cared about none of it.
The girl was thrashing. With her hands, she smacked at his arms, clearly not hitting hard enough to even make the middle school teacher flinch. Her legs were kicking. The few times she did manage to hit his legs, he didn't even slow. But when he reached the blanket in the leaves, Kanik set her down solidly and stabbed a finger at the bed Zasen had made for her.
The girl stood straighter and lifted her chin.
"Okay, gonna need some help here!" Kanik called at us.
Drozel chuckled. "This, Zasen, is when you cut her throat for being too much work."
"Nope," Zasen said, looking over at me. "This is where we need a politician, not a group of warriors."
"Fuck," I groaned, already seeing where this was going. "Really? You're going to make me sleep sitting up against a tree?"
"Or you can take a blanket over there, but she'll have another tantrum because she clearly isn't interested in boning a Dragon." Zasen was actually smirking as he said that.
"Mm, I'd be able to change her mind," I joked, reaching behind me to pluck my own blanket from my pack. "But you're going to owe me for this, Zasen. Your whole 'Wyvern' thing with the damned Moles is the only reason you're getting out of this."
"And I've spent all day trying to prove to her that I'm a nice guy," he reminded me.
