Chapter 20 - Trust can be earned

"Before I answer your question, would you also risk your life by interacting with us? Since I don't believe your people would appreciate when one of them talks with the enemy."

"I don't doubt that, they definitely come after me and my father, but at the same time, I was taught to be a good person, and if I'm forced to choose between standing by and doing nothing while war could become a genocide between two tribes or at least trying to show that you all aren't the same as the mountain men, then I'll do everything I can to ensure that there will be little to no bloodshed spilled."

Once again Niylah's words dumbfounded us, but to be fair, she was a merchant of sorts which makes her motives understandable as to why she wouldn't want war at her doorstep. It will be bad for business and at the same time that would mean fewer customers.

Her words were touching, to say the least, but at the same time, she could just fake everything, especially now that she revealed her real occupation, but then again why would she take this approach if she worked for that woman? For now, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt, but some things still need to be explained.

"You mentioned something about mountain men, what are those?"

She smiled when she heard my words as if she knew before I could even talk what I'll even ask her.

"The Mountain Men are the people that live in Mount Weather. They are capturing our people for years and no one had ever left that place, at least not alive. At first, I thought that you people were them, but you are clearly clueless about everything that happens on Earth. That is a second reason why I wish no harm to befall your people while we may not be too different from each other, my people would definitely attack your camp out of their ignorance. Traditions die hard and loyal fanatics are even harder to control than anything that roams this world. It would be a needless loss of life if a total war starts between you and us, not to mention a disgrace for my kin as we would be fighting against people that aren't our enemies in the first place. Now that I've answered your question, do any of you need help or wish to trade anything?"

"It sounds like a good offer, but if you ask me it's too convenient. From my side, it seems that you were watching us for a while since you even knew where to make your presence known to us. Not to mention that we don't know anything about you or if we could even trust you. After all, last time I counted, the grounders were the ones to attack and kill our friends."

"And I don't know anything about you people, but I am willing to risk my life by inviting people that had come from the sky, with guns nonetheless, into my home."

"So you are aware of our weapons."

"The Mountain Men use guns and we learned the hard way what these things can do to a human being. And yet I'm willing to trust that you won't pull the trigger to kill me. While I didn't watch your group for too long, I saw you ordering these your people around, you hunted together, found weapons to protect your people, and above all you had managed to earn the loyalist of a war beast. Only a handful of people would be able to calm down one of those beasts used by our people, and even those people are kept under a strict schedule by the commander. And due to all the things that I've seen about you, I don't believe that someone like you would do something so foolish like injuring or killing someone he doesn't know and further destroying any chance towards peace with my people."

"You know, Niylah, it isn't an easy job to convince a person about something that he would rather die than do, but here we are. I'll go with you, but only on my terms: The rest of my team can leave and I'll take my gun with me. Even though you don't seem to be an enemy, you can't be too sure."

Even though I was the leader, that didn't mean that my choices won't have consequences or people that would prove me wrong. I can't say that I didn't expect my team to protest my dangerous decision, especially after what happened the last time I went with the grounders. Unfortunately, these stubborn friends of mine didn't know when to take no as an answer and such, after more than ten minutes of arguing, they finally backed down, but on one condition: One of them would come with me to Niylah's home.

I don't know how or what Monroe gave to them, but no one said or complains about Monroe coming with me. Since the whole thing got resolved, Niylah, I, and Monroe left as soon as the rest of the team continued their trip back home. Walking through the woods was definitely a relaxing hobby, one hundred years ago, but now…I was as cautious as someone that was walking on thin ice. Every little thing was being stored in my memory, helping me recall the whole path if needed. As we walked, neither one of us talked, but at the same time maybe it was for the best. Who knows what dumb things or even important information about our camp and our people may Monroe and I say to Niylah?

From time to time, I'll look at Niylah's back, trying to see if her body language changed in any way, but every time, she was still herself. Still, the more I observed her and her curves I could only admit that she was one of the few truly beautiful women that I've seen since we were sent to Earth.

Fortunately, I wasn't here to flirt with Niylah. Our mission was to learn as much as we could about these people and their way of living, maybe even their language to some extent, not to mention a future partner that we could trade things like furs for more useful stuff that our people may need. The path to Niylah's trading post wasn't as long as I thought it would be, but it was definitely not easy to arrive here if you don't know its general position. We even had to take a few twists and turns and many more steps down before climbing a hill and only then did we reach the tall and wide trading post that belonged to Niylah's father.

Looking at the trading post, I could only let myself be surprised at how nice and welcoming did the building look. I guess this is why her father built it like this.

"Welcome to my home."

"I'd got to say, you and your father really know how to make a good first impression. Your house is breathtaking."

"Leon's right, this place is beautiful."

"Coming from you two, I don't know if I should feel good or not, after all, you guys live in tents in that metal ship of yours."

"Fair point. Though, up in the place where we were born, we saw imagines of Earth from before the bombs. It was a beautiful world before we destroyed it."

"There's no point crying over spilled milk, now does it?"

"You are right…and Niylah? I'm sorry for coming here this late in the day, not to mention armed."

"Don't worry about these small details. I've told you already didn't I? I'm more than glad to have a new trading partner that could supply me with new and interesting things that are sought by some of my people."

We soon arrived in front of the trading post, where Niylah pulled out a batch of brass keys, taking the smallest one with a few scratches across its head and stuck it into the keyhole, turning the key. The door unlocked and Niylah pushed the door open telling us to follow her inside. Strangely enough, I couldn't detect any malicious intent from her, but her carefree attitude made Monroe tense for some reason.

Niylah closed the door behind us before she left the keys to one of the tables that were cluttered with stuff such as pieces of fur, knives, and wooden figurines. After that Niylah went behind the counter while looking at me and Monroe with a smile on her face. Truth to be told, the two of us acted like small children seeing all of the things her trading post had for sale or trade lingering around the main hall.

A few minutes later, Niylah served us some homemade soup while we all sit at one of the tables.

"Don't be shy, you can ask me anything you want to know."

"You mentioned something about your tribe, the Trikru, right?"

"Yes, we are Trikru, the people that lived in the woods, and right now, Trikru is the strongest tribe thanks to the commander."

"How many tribes are in total and this commander, is he or she some sort of leader or holy figure?"

"There are twelve clans or tribes in total, but we aren't united. We fight amongst ourselves quite frequently for almost anything, but from time to time, a Nightblood or as we call them, a Natblida became a commander, someone that can unite the tribes both in times of peace and war."

That's worst than I thought. Even if they have someone that can unite them, they still fight over random things, but then again, we aren't too different from each other, after all, we all human beings that are influenced by greed, lust, or even lies.

"Now, skai leader, may I ask what your name is? Since you didn't seem to have introduced yourself when we first met."

"My name is Leon Kennedy and as you already know, I'm the acting leader of my people."

"And your friend? "

"Name's Monroe."

"Short and direct. I like you girl."

Before we could continue our conversation, a loud knock at the door forced us to stop talking.

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