Where The Wild Things Are (4)

"You idiot, it's not worth dying over! We can't do any of that if you're dead!" Amanda continues to chide Scott, but he just turns his head away. I leave the two of them and walk over to Josh. He's very carefully attacking the monster.

"Josh, stop for a second." He pulls back without lowering his guard toward the fallen beast. The air is still tense as it takes slow, labored breaths. "Who should get the experience?"

Josh thinks about my question for a moment but doesn't respond.

"I was thinking Sakura should get them. It's more difficult for her to finish off monsters than it is for us. We normally have to completely incapacitate any prey for her, which is dangerous and time-consuming. If we let her level up here, we can focus on leveling up ourselves without worrying about Sakura falling behind. At least for awhile."

Josh nods, and I wave over to Sakura. I explain the plan to her and ask for her opinion.

"So, what do you think?"

"I think Josh should get the experience points. He's always in front protecting us."

"I know, but if he takes them, then we'll have to put ourselves in dangerous positions more often in order for you to catch up."

"Then I'll just have a lower level."

"No." Josh immediately denies her proposal.

"That's not an option." I back Josh up to corner the small girl in front of us. It's times like these that Sakura's stature really shows.

[Her words lack force. Because of this, she doesn't really stand a chance of changing our minds. I bet this has something to do with the anger that spills out of her occasionally. I'll have to keep this in mind for later. I think this will be good to talk about after we meditate.]

Sakura lowers her head. I can tell how angry and helpless she feels. It's hard not to feel bad for her, but we're undoubtedly making the correct decision, especially considering how much stronger she gets when she's angry. Sakura could be the strongest person on our team within a few months, so we can't let her fall behind

"I know you're upset right now, but please try to understand where we're coming from."

"Shut up!" I oblige and shut my mouth. Sakura's eyes glow a light red as they bore into my forehead. I'm caught between wanting to deescalate the situation and wanting to help Sakura work through her problem. It's clear to me that she just struggles with communication; she feels strongly about how things should be but can't articulate those feelings properly. This is something I used to struggle with myself when I was younger. I remember how frustrating it was not to have people understand what I was saying; I would blame others for not understanding me when I really needed to focus on my ability to communicate. Since then, I've started going out of my way to speak as concisely and precisely as possible. I'll even go as far as contextualizing my thoughts to prevent any miscommunications.

"Sakura." Josh quickly extinguishes the tension by calling out to her. Her eyes fade back to blue, and her shoulders drop. As always, it takes but a word for Sakura to turn to putty in his hands.

"I'm sorry," Sakura says as she drops her head.

"Okay. We need to leave soon." Josh looks in my direction to give me control of the situation. I can tell he's worried about any more monsters showing up when we're so vulnerable.

"Right. Sakura, use Josh's sword to kill it." She moves slowly toward Josh's out stretched hand. I grab the sword and place it in her grasp. "Quickly, we need to get Scott back to town."

Sakura nods and runs over to the Dracoterra. She lines up the blade and thrusts deep into its exposed neck. I turn away from the waterfall of blood and address Josh.

"Once you're sure it's dead, remove the core. We'll have to leave the corpse here for now."

"Okay." We split up, and I walk over to Scott lying on the ground.

"How're you doing?"

"Not great, I'll be honest," he replies through clenched teeth. I look at Amanda to get a prognosis.

"I think he can walk, but there's no way he can fight."

"What we'll do is have you and Neji support him while my party keeps guard."

"You're only gonna have us carry him so you can leave us to die if another monster shows up," Neji responds in an accusatory tone.

"We could do that at any time, no matter what plan we choose. You're just going to have to trust us."

"If you want us to trust you, then why don't you carry Scott, and we'll carry the monster parts."

"You seem to misunderstand the situation. We're only taking the monster core. Also, I don't care if you trust me or not; I'm not going to put my party in danger by having them carry your leader, who was injured due to his own greed."

"We're only here because you wanted to fight that thing."

"You're only here because you wanted to ride on our coat tails. For all we know, that monster could have chased after us if we had run away. If it came to that, then the slowest person would have been killed, and I have no doubt my team could outrun yours. My team guarding yours is the only offer." Neji bares his teeth at me, but there really isn't anything he can do. From the beginning, we're the only reason that they came into the forest at all. If they didn't see us as an opportunity, they would have continued hunting at the tree line. Growing tired of this charade, I decide to push, looking over at the kids who have just finished removing the Monster Core and calling out to them. "Josh, Sakura, let's wrap it up. We need to–"

"Okay, okay. We'll carry him," Neji concedes. I quickly wipe the smirk off my face before turning around. I can see Amanda's eyes wide with fear.

"I'm glad to see we've come to an agreement. It looks like we're good to go, so let's start heading back to town." The kids run over to us with the large Monster Core in hand. I place it in my magic bag, and we follow closely behind Scott's party. The going is slow because of their group, but we still have a couple of hours of daylight left. While we're walking, I focus on remembering the sensation of the Anchoring skill. With each step, I firmly root my foot to the ground and then release it so as not to break my stride. When we're approaching the town, I hear the familiar sounds of an Equuinoid. Its tough carapace makes a very distinct noise as it rubs together.

"Stop," I call out softly while grabbing Scott's shoulder.

"What the h–" I cover his mouth to silence him and turn to Josh. He's watching me closely, waiting for my signal.

"There's just one. Make it quick." I motion with my head in the direction of the large insect as I finish speaking. Josh nods and moves quietly through the brush to intercept the monster.

"Slash!" Josh activates his skill, and a shower of blood rises above the undergrowth. The air goes silent for several moments until Josh appears holding two halves of an Equuinoid.

"I'll take that." I throw the pieces of the corpse into the magic bag before any more of its blood spills upon the ground. Any carnivore for miles will be able to smell this mess, and I don't want them following us back to town.

[I wonder if I need to clean out the inside of the bag? I'll ask the magic shop owner when we get back to town.]