Content Warnings:
Strong languageLight terror
Ursa meditated in the centre of the hut. She had placed her claws on her Xiphoid Process and through focus, could see and hear the words of the jellyfish. Her eyes were sharpened.
"Taipan…," she growled.
---
"'Bout an orange marble worth of yellow tiles fer every day we have 'er hidden here," Najwa stated, lifting her eyes up.
The entire room gasped.
Ijeoma made subtle smirk. Atsushi's eyes were practically buldging out from his beard. Afzel looked down at the palm of his right hand.
"That's dangerous," Atsushi stated.
"We could build a better life here," Najwa stated.
"Too much money coming in?" He waved away. "The Dreschers would notice,"
"Unless we dispersed it among the community," Ijeoma suggested, raising a finger high.
"They'd still notice when crunching the numbers,"
"What if we split it, and gave portions to the Dreschers," Afzel suggested, making a chopping gesture. "They could turn their heads if-,"
"If we brought the money right to 'em?" Najwa questioned, tipping her hat down and narrowing her eyes.
"Just tryin' to be realistic," he argued, his head shrinking into his torso.
"If we're compromising, we could use it sparingly," Ijeoma suggest, placing both his hands together like a cup. "Just take it out every few months, the Drescher won't notice,"
"You think they won't search this place?" Atsushi questioned, looking around the table. "If we don't cooperate when they visit, they'll stop by and take us out of our homes by force. What happens then?"
"They'll be lookin' fer people," Najwa argued, leaning forwards. "We can hide it mighty easily,"
"And what happens when your brats take the stash out to use. You don't survive by taking big risks, you survive by playing within the lines the Dreschers drew," He argued, tapping his cane.
"They're not 'brats' Atsushi, they're my children," She stood her ground. "An' like the rest of the community, we just need to hold on fer a bit. A messenger *might* come to pick 'er up eventually,"
"Might?!?!?" he responded, his beard rising like flames. "You want us to take a big risk because of a *potential* relief?!"
"(This dealer sounds too suspicious)," Afzel muttered, his hands beneath the table. "These are dangers we can't deal with,"
"I agree, but what's down is done," Najwa nodded.
"And the *risks* could have a good amount of reward," Ijeoma offered, tapping the table excitedly. "The Dreschers deliver for us, but they might not notice a part or two. We could make small, make shift airships. With a good opportunity and flying low to the water, we could slip by,"
"What opportunity? They have the entire bay under their close watch," he argued, glancing at Najwa with narrowed eyes. "One or two ships though? I bet you want to slip out with your brats and leave us to the wolves,"
"That's absurd," Najwa argued, squeezing the table.
"But not impossible is it?!"
"What would you suggest?" Afzel mediated, gesturing at Atsushi.
"That's easy. If we want a reward, turn in whoever this woman is," he chuckled.
"We won't get much from her though," Ijeoma urged, waving away the suggestion. "We don't know who she is, so we could end up being easily snubbed,"
"Right?" Afzel argued to Najwa, taking a deep breath.
"We have no idea who she is. If we keep 'er 'round, we could-,"
"Cause a ton of unnecessary trouble. It's better if turn her in,"
"The Dreschers won't reward us all," Najwa argued.
"We can decide who gets it latte-,"
The group froze.
There was nothing on the table, yet they could feel its presence. It was like a bear was staring them down. Few of them could move a muscle. Only Ijeoma could move, yet chose to remain unmoving.
The frail old man was picked up, claws tearing into his beard. He felt the beast staring into his very white fragment. His body shuttered, but could not move.
The invisible beast dropped him back onto the ground. The stare vanished. Everyone stumbled lightly, like they had all been held in the air.
"Perhaps," Ijeoma added, hiding a smile beneath his hand. "There's more to consider before when making our choice proper. Don't you think?"
...…
Setsune was once again in Fajr's room. The night was far from over, yet she still refused to sleep. The door creaked.
"You," Najwa snapped, opening the door. "Don't ever pull that shit again,"
Setsune looked at her and smiled, "Thank you for helping me,"
Najwa *slllapped* her across the face, "Yer a monster, ya hear,"
Setsune nodded, "I become what I must,"
"Bullshit," she growled. "This ain't the world from thirty hundred years ago. Yer wars 're over. Can'tcha see that?"
"No," She responded, looking out the window, her eyes narrowed. "They're not. Just cause a turtle hides in its shell, doesn't mean the it ceases to exist,"
"Is that something the masked woman said?" she asked, squeezing her fists.
She turned to look at her, an unfazed mask of a smile on her face, "your a bad liar,"
She slapped her other cheek, "Ya can stay here, but whether ya turn yerself in, run through the city, by Omnes, fuckin' swim. It don't matter, jus' get outta my home! Got it?"
Setsune just gave a nod, her eyes cold. Najwa stormed out of the room and SLAMMED THE DOOR!
Setsune laid down. She looked at the ceiling with tired eyes.
"Messenger…,"
End of Scene II...