Banished Pt. 07

"A little info wouldn't hurt, but it's not like I need to write a thesis about it," she replied, and I suddenly noticed that Cameron was shooting me a teasing look, as her eyes darted between me and Casey.

"Well you two seem to be in sync today," she said, and I tilted me head at her.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Oh nothing; you two just argue like an old married couple," she teased, and Casey began to blush furiously.

"I was just trying to make sure Nate has everything he needs... to help us get through whatever's ahead," she replied, trying in vain to act as if Cameron's comment hadn't affected her.

"Everything he needs?" Cameron teased, and Casey's mouth fell open, as she continued to blush.

"I-information! The information he needs," she clarified, stuttering a little.

I chuckled nervously, trying not to embarrass Casey any further since I figured she would probably dwell on it unnecessarily.

"Is there anything else we'll need to do before setting out?"

Gisela nodded.

"The availability of food within the grove is uncertain. Our hunters will set out from here and forage what we can. We have enough supply to last three day-cycles; but it is best to expect complications."

I nodded.

"How much time can we spare on that? I'd prefer if we get into the grove, and away from Palancar, before settling down for the night."

"If we march, even two thousand strides into the grove, we will rest beyond where Palancar's runners ever travel," Gisela explained, and I nodded.

"Two thousand strides... at our current pace, we could do that in, what... an hour or two?" I asked, glancing at Casey, and she nodded. "How much time do we need to make preparations for the night?"

"The final quarter of the day's last light is adequate," Gisela answered, and I nodded.

"Well then," I began, turning to face the grove. "Let's get started."

Thankfully, by the time we were done talking, Bianca had gathered up the rest of the group, and we gave them a quick rundown on the change in route, explaining the dangers involved, while also trying not to stress on it so much as to cause a panic.

Leanna seemed particularly disturbed by the news, but everyone else seemed to just accept the change as a necessary, if undesirable development.

Just as the meeting came to an end, however, Jeannie pulled me aside for a quick word.

"So, Bianca's doing your personal bidding now?" she asked, and I rubbed the back of my head.

"Honestly, we kind of just sent her on that task to keep her occupied, because she was annoying the hell out of Casey," I replied, and she frowned.

"I'm not sure if that sends the right message. A lot of us still harbor reservations about her supposed change of heart," Jeannie continued, and I nodded.

"I understand... but she is trying. I hope everyone else does as well."

I moved to where Casey was, and noted that she seemed to be in a bit of discomfort.

"You're going back in the cart as soon as we cross that stream," I began, and she frowned.

"Fine. It is starting to hurt a little," she conceded, and I shook my head at her.

"I'm still up for using a healing potion, if you need it," I began, and she shook her head in response.

"It's fine. I might have lost the direct accelerated healing that my implant might have afforded, but my core will still generally accelerate the process; it just does so less efficiently."

I rubbed my chin, as I withdrew the core from my satchel, and held it up for inspection.

"So, what would happen if you lost your core?" I asked, and she snickered a little.

"It can't be extracted while I'm alive. Our cores don't manifest in that form until our hearts stop beating."

"So... what if you're resuscitated afterwards?"

She bit her lip.

"Life doesn't function here without one. I'm not sure why, yet... but unless you replaced the core, resuscitation just isn't possible."

As Casey spoke, I noticed Bianca creeping timidly towards us.

"So, did I do well~?" she sang, and I nodded, then ruffled her hair affectionately, much to her delight.

As I took a look around, however, I noted that the two subgroups within our team still seemed to generally keep to themselves, as Cameron, Jordan, Nolan and Francesca were off to one side, while Jeannie, Evie, Molly, and Leanna were off to another.

"I'm thinking of pairing off our group," I said, and Casey shot me a panicked look as her eyes flicked over to Bianca.

"For what reason?" she asked.

"I think it might be beneficial for us in the long term if stronger bonds were formed between our members, and if everyone got to know each other better."

"Don't wanna just let it happen organically?" Casey asked, and I snickered at her.

"Organically, you and I would have never spoken," I pointed out, and she frowned. "Besides, it'd be better for security too; to keep guard in pairs. And if people get to know each other better in the process, then all the better."

Casey shrugged.

"Just be aware of who you're pairing off with who," she replied, grimacing as she took a quick look around.

"Uh, Nate. Do you think you could help me down to the ground? I wanna lie back, but I don't wanna go back in the cart until we cross the stream."

I snickered at her, then went to the supply cart and fished out one of the sleeping bags from our supplies, and after spreading it on the forest floor, I placed my arms around Casey, and swept her up, then rested her gently, down onto the covering.

Her breath seemed to be caught in her throat, and she shot me a thankful nod, as I did a quick check to make sure that she was okay.

I noticed, however, that Bianca was keeping a keen eye on us, and I decided to take her with me for the first pairing.

"You and Casey seem pretty close; is that why she's your advisor?"

I shook my head.

"Honestly, she tried to kill me on our first day here. But she used to work for the company, and she knows a lot of info that we need to survive in this place. I guess I just showed her the benefits of working together," I explained, and she frowned.

"I don't know about the attempted murder, but she likes you," Bianca whispered, and I chuckled at her.

"Very astute observation. Can I let you in on a secret?"

She quickly nodded, as she leaned in and shot me a conspiratorial look.

"Someone hypnotized her into falling in love with me," I said, and her eyes went wide.

"Wow... is that even possible?"

I chuckled a little.

"I mean, I heard your thoughts earlier, remember? So, tell me; what do you think?"

She quickly nodded.

"How did you hypnotize her?"

"I didn't," I replied. "Someone else did."

She put a hand to her chin thoughtfully, as I continued.

"As far as we know; the hypnosis can only be performed through direct eye contact, or through touch. We're not sure whose doing it, though... which brings me to your first real mission, actually."

"A mission? For me?" she asked, showing an almost childlike excitement at the thought.

"Yup. I want you to pay attention to what's going on. If there's anyone acting weird, or anyone going out of their way to look into someone else's eyes, or touch them. I want you to report it to me. Do you think you can handle that?"

Bianca quickly nodded.

"Of course! You can count on me. I can be just as useful as Casey, or even the brown-haired girl with the armor!"

"Francesca."

"Huh?" she asked, a confused look on her face.

"The brown-haired girl. Her name is Francesca."

"Oh, right! Heey~, I should start with her. Maybe she's hypnotized everyone into thinking she's cute. I mean, I'm clearly the cutest girl here, right? Anyone who thinks otherwise has gotta be hypnotized!"

I snickered a little, before ruffling her hair again.

"I could pair you up with her, if you wanna do some recon," I began, and she quickly nodded.

"Yeah! I'll make sure to catch her right in the act. Just gotta be sure I don't let her touch me... or make eye contact."

We headed over to where Francesca was, and I let her know that she'd be on guard with Bianca.

She shot me a curious look, but didn't seem to be too put off by the pairing, so I left them to it, and headed off.

For the rest of the pairings, I decided to place Molly with Cameron, and Jeannie with Jordan, since it allowed me to pair their members with ours, and in groupings of people that I'd noted had not interacted much.

As for Leanna, I felt it was best to place her in Casey's care, which I hoped wouldn't annoy her as much, but also since that pairing allowed me to not have to explain keeping a weapon out of Leanna's hands given that Casey was pretty much stuck with the supply cart, which was the safest spot in our caravan.

That left Evie with me, which wasn't too bad a coupling, since I'd already interacted a bit with Molly, but Evie and I hadn't much spoken outside of our previous sexual tryst.

The final piece was Nolan, who rather than being placed on guard, I decided to leave with Franz and Myrinne, so that they could help further our understanding of what the landscape would be like, and where we could settle down as we continued further on.

We decided it would be best to keep the group close together, and let the guard pairs move in a circular pattern around the core, allowing us to keep an eye on things, as well as maintaining a more or less secure perimeter.

"Couldn't you have paired us up," Cameron asked, as she moved to my side, and I frowned.

"I will eventually, but I figured for the first day, it'd be best to go with pairings that allowed us to concentrate properly."

"Oh~, so you wouldn't concentrate well if we were on guard together?" she teased.

As she linked our arms together, and rested her head against my shoulder, I stole a quick look around, only to find that her public display of affection had attracted few, if any gazes.

"Nolan's calmed down, I see," I said, and she chuckled a little.

"Yeah... I kind of chewed him out," she admitted, and I studied her admiringly.

"Well, I'm glad you did," I said, but I frowned, as I suddenly remembered my suspicion about the possibly manipulated nature of our relationship.

I pulled Cameron with me, away from prying ears.

"Listen... there's something I think you might need to know," I began, and she studied me.

"If it's that you've had sex with one of the other girls, I think I already told you that I don't really care about that," she began, and I shook my head.

"No, no. Nothing like that. It's just... Casey seems to think that our princess is capable of using some kind of hypnosis," I began, and she studied me, a nervous smile on her face.

"Hypnosis? Like, make you quack like duck, kind of thing?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure if it's true, or what the limitations are, but... if it is true, then it's entirely possible that the first night we spent together was a result of her actions," I explained, and Cameron frowned.

"So, you're saying that I feel comfortable with you because she hypnotized me into it?"

I nodded.

"Again, this is just speculation, but... you hadn't had penetrative sex in, what, years?"

"Almost a decade," Cameron answered.

"Doesn't it seem odd that you managed to cope with getting back on that horse with someone you'd only just met the day before? And who you had serious reservations about?"

She bit her lip.

"What about you? You were talking about being in love, and you're not even sure you're capable of it," she noted, and I nodded in response.

"The thing is... I still feel as if whatever relationship I developed with you happened quite... naturally, almost, no matter how sudden it was. And I really did always crave this kind of closeness."

Cameron nodded.

"I know what you mean. I really like feeling like this... being comfortable with you. Feeling safe. To be honest, I'm not sure I care if it was hypnosis or not. I want this," she continued, and I smiled, kissing her on the forehead as we walked.

"I'm glad to hear you say that," I replied, and she took a quick look around, before leaning up, and giving me a quick peck on the lips.

"Besides, hypnosis or not... I'm probably carrying your baby," she said, and I smiled again, before gently brushing my fingers against her stomach.

As she moved away from me, I kept ahold of her hand for just a second, and she leaned back a bit, and winked at me with that girlish sway that I was beginning to outright adore, before slipping out of my hands and heading over to meet up with her assigned pairing.

I kept my eyes on her for a moment longer, before I turned and noticed Evie's eyes on me, and I quickly moved over to her side.

"Hey," I said, and she studied me for a bit.

"Hey yourself... does Francesca know about that?" she asked, and as I nodded, she shot me a dubious look.

"It's complicated," I began, "because of a misunderstanding, the Kobalt think that Cameron is my mate."

Evie shook her head.

"And you couldn't just clear that up?"

I chuckled a little, then relayed to her the story of our first 'ceremonial' coupling, and she stared at me in shock.

"So, Cameron might really be pregnant? And the two of you did that just so that you could be accepted by the princess?"

I nodded, a little uncertainly.

"Well, it started out that way, but Cameron and I really bonded since then... so it's not entirely acting."

Evie frowned.

"So, what is Francesca to you then?"

"Something... similar, actually. She and I really connected since we got here; and since the Kobalt hunters really look up to her because of her skill in combat; a relationship, or rather, the external appearance of one, elevated my status in their eyes."

"So, you really like both of them, but they also have a part to play in maintaining your image as our leader? I guess having multiple partners kind of makes you seem more godlike in their eyes too, huh."

I nodded in response, as Evie sighed.

"Just... be careful with Francesca. I don't wanna see her get hurt."

"Well, maybe you can help me with that; I was actually doing pretty well at fending off her advances until last night."

"Fending off?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't get me wrong; I really do adore her, and I don't regret at all getting into that kind of relationship with her, but I'm a little older than she is, and in my eyes, I guess I can't help but see her as a kid."

"I get it," Evie said, nodding. "She does give off a bit of a 'little sister' kind of vibe."

Not that I find that unattractive, I thought, as I continued.

"I'm just not sure she's really ready for the kind of serious relationship that she thinks she wants. I mean, you heard her joke about pregnancy, right?"

"Yeah. I know Molly gets her kicks off of that kind of dirty talk, but my heart skipped a beat at that one. By the way, does she know about Cameron; her possible pregnancy, I mean?"

I shook my head.

"Right now, apart from you and Casey, only a few of the Kobalt know about it."

"Oh... should I feel honored?"

I chuckled a little.

"Maybe."

As we walked, we came to the edge of the stream, and Evie cast a speculative look into the woods beyond.

"Is it just me, or does it seem darker on that side?"

"It's not just you," I replied, as I took a look up to the canopy far overhead, where a little bit of light at least, was trickling down to us, while the other side seemed cast in a kind of perpetual shadow.

Maybe the canopy was just a bit thicker at that particular spot, but it sure gave the woods on that side of the stream a menacing feel.

"We're really in a whole new world here, huh?"

"At this point, I think we can accept that as an indisputable fact," I remarked, somewhat bemused, and Evie snickered a little, as she ran her hands nervously through her hair.

"It still feels so surreal. Monsters, alien races... even these bodies; I mean, even without an implant, Casey's recovering pretty quickly," she said, casting a furtive glance back towards the supply carts.

"Accelerated healing is just the start of it. I've been told that, thanks to our implants, we age so slowly that we might as well be immortal."

Evie scoffed.

"Some use that is when we could die horribly at any time."

She shuddered a little, then let out a tired stretch.

"Does that scare you?" I asked, as she turned to study me.

"Death? I think it scares everyone, doesn't it?"

"No, I mean... is it constantly on your mind?"

She thought about it for a while, then shook her head.

"When we first got here, and while we were with Vanessa's group, it was all I could think about. But more recently it hasn't been as bad, I think."

"That's good. I know it's gonna be on everyone's minds because of our situation, but hopefully we can get things to a stable enough level that everyone can feel more at ease."

Evie let out another sigh.

"Kind of makes you wonder what we did to deserve being sent here, doesn't it?"

I chuckled a little.

"Well then, maybe there's a catholic schoolgirl in you after all," I teased, and she frowned.

"You don't think our actions have consequences?" she asked, and I nodded in response.

"Actions? Sure. But if you're thinking that God is punishing you, all I have to say is that God didn't send you here. People did."

"Isn't that just one of the 'mysterious ways' in which he works?" Evie asked, and I snickered a little.

"In my opinion, that's just an excuse people use to justify a broken system. Like, why do poor people starve? 'Because they committed some intangible sin that they're atoning for'; which wealthy people say, while living in modern day castles, and indulging their every whim and fancy, no matter how vile."

"So, you don't believe in God?" she asked, seeming quite intrigued.

"The only thing I believe in is statistics," I replied, and she laughed.

"Statistics? I've been told they tell a lot of lies," she replied, and I scoffed.

"People lie. Statistics don't do anything, until we do something with them."

"So, why place your faith in it?" she asked.

"There's a saying, that if there's a question that statistics can't answer, then you simply don't have enough statistics," I replied, and she studied me.

"So, statistically speaking, does God exist?"

"I don't have enough statistics to answer that," I replied, and Evie laughed.

"What's your personal opinion then?"

"My opinion? To me, whether God exists or not is irrelevant. The world around us continues to exist regardless, and we have to deal with the nature of that existence however we can either way."

"Hm. So, what's your opinion on people who believe in God then? Do you think they're stupid?"

I shrugged.

"It depends. If you use your faith in God to feel a sense of superiority over others, or to belittle those who don't share your belief, there's a word I'd use to describe you that's a bit worse than stupid. But if your belief in God is what gives you strength to cope with the difficult things that your circumstances throw at you? Then no, I don't think that's stupid."

Evie smiled at me.

"That's a nice way of looking at it," she said. "Usually, everyone just looks down on me, and treats me like I'm an idiot for believing in something."

I frowned.

"Well, not too long ago, those who didn't believe in God were treated like that themselves... as if they were 'too stupid', or otherwise lacking in some way, and unable to understand something like faith. So, most likely the people who made you feel like that were reacting not to you, but to something that in their eyes you 'represent' which in the past made them suffer.

"It's sad; but humans are like that. Constantly wounding others in retaliation for the wounds they suffered, and very rarely do they act against the thing that actually caused them pain. Instead, they look for easy targets; not that I'm saying that you're weak," I clarified, and Evie nodded her understanding, as I continued: