Book 1: The Mob Invasion
Chapter 9: Jericho (Pt. 2)

Days Since the Mob Invasion: 748

Earlier

"Shit, shit, shit!"

Lana searched through the mines frantically as her breathing became more and more rapid. They were right outside the gate, and they had Hunter's Watch surrounded and outnumbered. She thought back to what Hunter had whispered in her ear before he sent her away from the gate.

"Rinoa hid chests full of TNT dynamite in the mines... find it, and set it off."

Long before the mob invasion, when Hunter's Watch was still being used as a fishing village, the fishermen had miners come in to mine for resources to use for their ships. The resources were mostly coal and iron. Hunter's house stood on top of the entrance to that mine, and it was the only way in or out. After Rinoa, Lana, and Sofie moved into Hunter's Watch, Rinoa spent much of her time down in the mines spelunking. She crafted her own special mix of TNT that she called "TNT dynamite." It was more powerful than standard TNT, and was also safer as it was less prone to accidentally misfiring.

The mines were mostly narrow and dark. One misstep could result in a sprained ankle, or worse. The few redstone torches that did line the wall barely provided enough light. They originally had a Nether portal located in the mines, but George got rid of it after Rinoa was banished just in case she were to try and use it as a portal back to Hunter's Watch.

Finally, after searching for what felt like forever, Lana finally found a chest on the side of a wall. "This has to be it!" Lana opened up the chest as she slightly recoiled at the contents within. "What the hell, Rin?" she said in disbelief. There had to be well over 200 sticks of TNT dynamite alone in that chest, way more than most people would ever need. On top of the pile was a large twine of redstone fuse coiled around itself.

Perfect, Lana thought as she cut a long strip of fuse off from the coil and tied it to one of the sticks of TNT dynamite. This was gonna be nasty.

For a split second, she hesitated. She looked up above her at the stone ceiling. The explosion would cause the mines to collapse, which means any ground above her was likely to get decimated by the blast. This was probably going to kill people... But it was either Jericho or them.

Using a redstone torch, she sparked the fuse and quickly ran toward the exit to the mines. She only hoped she could warn Hunter and the others in time.

Now

"Merde," Amelia cursed under her breath as she picked herself up from the gravel. She had been knocked backwards to the treeline where most of their soldiers had been. Scanning the terrain in front of her, she saw that they had taken multiple casualties. At least seven of their men had been ripped to shreds by the blast. All of their horses were either killed, or were scared off by the deafening sound of the explosion. Wails and groans echoed into the dusty air from her men as those that were lucky enough to survive started to feel the pain from their wounds. Amelia herself considered herself blessed that she still had both legs and both arms.

"Dammit!" she cursed. "What the hell happened?!"

As Amelia watched the survivors slowly start to pick themselves up from the gravel, her eyes quickly searched for Jericho's trademark golden armour. Surely their lord wouldn't allow his messenger to die like this? After frantically pacing around the area looking for Jericho through the smoke, she finally saw a piece of golden medal sticking out of the crater.

"Jericho!" she cried out as she shimmied down the side of the crater. It was a large hole, at least six feet deep and a dozen more feet wide. Reaching Jericho, she grabbed him by his arm and pulled him up. With much strain on both of their parts, they were able to get him to his feet. "Can you stand?" she asked, concern heightened in her voice.

"The gate... is open," Jericho struggled to let out. He was covered in dust, and his face was caked in blood.

"What?" Amelia asked, not sure what he meant.

"The gate was blown open in the explosion. If we attack now, we can overrun them." He looked up toward the entrance to Hunter's View. His eyes were bloodshot and wild as blood ran down his face, dripping off of his chin.

Amelia shook her head in disbelief as she let Jericho lean on her. He was clearly injured.

"Monsieur, we need to pull out of here, quickly. We've sustained heavy losses and our men are gravely wounded; including yourself!" Amelia reasoned desperately. An offensive move at this point would be nothing short of suicide! They had to retreat, regroup, and engage at another time after they had recovered.

Deep down inside, Jericho new what Amelia was speaking was the truth... But something deep inside him burned.

"You're all going to die. Right here, right now."

Hunter's words echoed in his mind as he surveyed his remaining men. Now standing, most of them looked to be in poor shape. Many of them had blood splattered all over their bodies, and that's not to mention the internal injuries. Still, the more he thought about Hunter's threat, the rage inside him began to fester.

As the smoke and dust began to settle, the view of the broken gate was now visible to everyone through the thin layer of smoke. Jericho's men looked toward him, waiting for orders.

"Amelia!" Jericho barked, "Take whoever you need and storm that gate! I want them all dead for what they've done, understand?!"

"But, monsieur!" Amelia objected. Jericho quickly twisted around and grabbed her forcefully by the throat.

"That is the will of our lord, Amelia, and you will obey our lord before I cut you down and do it myself!" Jericho's grip on her throat loosened as Amelia dropped to her knees, choking in oxygen. "Do you understand now?" The malice was clear in his voice as he yelled at her. Eventually, she was able to recover from this as she stood up, her face stern and obedient, as if nothing had happened.

"Yes, monsieur!" Amelia replied with a formal military salute.

"I'm going to go find Liam. We'll send reinforcements behind you. Now go." Jericho ordered as he turned his back and slithered away out of the crater and toward the treeline.

After Jericho had turned his back, Amelia sighed heavily and shook her head.

"Anything for you, monsieur," she muttered to herself, slightly derisively. Struggling, she pulled herself out of the crater and turned toward her men that were hiding away from the gate near the treeline.

"Amelia, we should retreat!" one of the younger survivors, Emile, spoke out. He was holding his left arm and blood appeared to be flowing out of it freely.

"No, Emile, we will not be retreating today. La Sainte Armee des Calamars never retreats!" she held her sword up high above her head. "We're going to take this community, and we're going to do it with our lord's blessing!" Amelia bellowed, trying to rile up her troop's seriously damaged morale. "We still have the advantage of numbers, and Jericho and I still live. Not all is lost, my friends. The path of the virtuous one is not for the feint of heart, and our lord sometimes demands a high price to follow in his service. But as his disciples, we owe it to our lord to take this settlement and purge its inhabitants! For our lord! For your leader! For your brothers! Who is with me?!"

Amelia's speech was fiery, and perhaps one of the more inspirational ones that she had given. Still, even after that, only three out of the remaining eight stepped forward. Predictable, Amelia figured. The three that stepped forward really only seemed to be the ones that didn't sustain massive damage, but it still wasn't enough to take the community. She looked over the survivors and noticed how bad Emile's arm was bleeding.

"Emile, you're coming with us," Amelia ordered, pointing Emile out in the line. Emile was shocked.

"B-but commander... my arm."

"It's not your fighting arm, Emile, and we need you. That's an order." Amelia hated doing this to her men, but the truth was that at the rate that Emile's arm was bleeding, even if they did retreat Emile was likely to die from blood loss before they reached their camp in time to stop the bleeding.

Better to get some use out of him before then.

"Alright," Amelia patted Emile on the back as he stepped in line with her and the other attackers. "The rest of you meet up with Jericho and Liam and wait for them to lead the second offensive wave."

There was a brief "Aye," from the soldiers as they abruptly turned and limped as fast as they could away from Amelia before they were also recruited for her suicide mission.

Amelia turned to the men left with her. The five of them, herself included, should be enough to take a community of worthless unbelievers.

"On my signal, men!" she commanded as she turned back toward the broken gate. From the treeline it looked so far away, but she knew once they rushed in, no matter what, there was no going back. She grit her teeth and held up her sword.

"CHARGE!"

Standing behind the collapsed gate, Daren heard the order to charge issued out by Amelia and sighed. So they plan to storm the gates after all? He looked behind him and saw that George and Frederick were out of action. Lana was tending to their wounds as best she could, but they weren't in fighting condition. Zeke and Alan, however, seemed to be fairing better. And Hunter? Daren hadn't seen him since the explosion.

"Lana!" Daren called out to her quickly. "Take George and Frederick into the community center! Close and lock the door behind you! Go, quickly!" The smoke was settling, and Daren could see that there was a group of Jericho's soldiers led by Amelia heading straight there way.

Leaning on Lana, George let out a series of coughs as she carried him into the community center with Frederick following close behind them. Soon as they made it inside, Lana slammed the door shut behind them.

With that, it was only Daren, Zeke, and Alan left out in the open.

Alan had his sword out, but knew he was no good in a fight. Even after the mob invasion, he had never had to fight somebody else before. He was a healer. An alchemist. His place wasn't on the battlefield, yet here he was.

"Dammit!" he cursed out, as he limped forward. He was slightly behind Daren, with Zeke standing closer to the gate near the side of the entrance. He knew there was a good chance that he could die today. He just tried not to think about it.

"Here they come!" Daren called out as Amelia and her men neared the entrance. Daren's eyes closed for a split second as he concentrated. He had been in this situation more times than he cared to count. He was ready.

But so was Amelia.

In a single file line, Amelia and her men charged through the hole in the Hunter's Watch defense, making it past the walls.

"Spread out and attack!" Amelia ordered as her men complied. Two of her soldiers split off and immediately engaged in contact with Zeke, one more split off and made his way toward Alan, while Amelia and the only soldier left charged straight toward Daren.

It didn't take long for the clashing of steel and shouts to start.

Zeke scoffed and thought how the two men standing in front of him looked barely old enough to hold a sword, much less use it. Then again, maybe that was just his old age talking.

"Die, non-believer!" one of them yelled as they lunged forward to stab Zeke's stomach.

Big mistake.

Zeke grinned devilishly as he swung his large claymore to the side, catching the man in the ribs before he could even get within striking distance. The blow wasn't fatal, but it was enough to knock the man off his feet as he fell to the ground, gasping in pain. The other man paused for a brief second and looked up at Zeke's enormous size that he wasn't able to fully take in until just now. Zeke grinned at this, showing off his pearly white teeth underneath his large beard.

"You're next, puny boy," Zeke laughed heartily as he swung his claymore at the man who was barely able to block the blow with his shield.

Meanwhile, Alan was standing face-to-face with his own opponent: a young man, probably about Alan's age. He was holding a longsword in his right hand, and Alan noticed that his left arm was hanging limp at his side and bleeding very heavily. It appeared to be a life-threatening wound if not treated immediately.

Alan held his sword in his two hands in a defensive position, ready for his opponent to make the first move. Surprisingly, he didn't. Alan looked up at the man's face and saw something that he wasn't expecting: fear.

This man is afraid of me? Alan thought as he stared into the eyes of the person in front of him. Is that what I look like right now?

A scream of pain coming from Zeke's direction pierced the air, causing Alan's foe to flinch at the sound of it. Alan deduced that Zeke had just killed one of the attackers.

"Emile!" Alan heard Amelia yell from Daren's location. "Don't just stand there, kill him!" she screamed. Emile sighed regretfully and nodded.

"Sorry, monsieur," Emile finally spoke. "But I cannot stand by and watch my brothers die. Forgive me," and with that he steeled himself and prepared to fight.

Alan opened his mouth to protest this, but was cut off by Emile's blade making contact with his own.

The blow was hard as the steel sparked from the friction. Alan stumbled back slightly, taken off guard by how it felt. Emile, not giving Alan anytime to recuperate, swung again. The blow this time glanced off Alan's leather chestpiece, causing Alan to fall backwards to the ground in pain. His chest was still sore from the explosion, and he was pretty sure that the blow from Emile's blade just broke one of his ribs.

As Alan laid on his back, he knew that if he didn't do something quick, he would surely die. Suddenly, he felt a burst of adrenaline rush through his veins. As Emile stood over him to deliver the finishing blow, Alan quickly kicked the man in the kneecap almost like it was instinct. Emile screamed as his leg bent in on itself. He dropped his sword as he crouched over to hold his knee.

"Argh! You bastar- Ack!" Emile was interrupted by an unfamiliar pressure in his chest. He looked down to see Alan's longsword stabbing him directly through the sternum. Blood was dripping down the blade uninhibited, and he immediately knew that his his opponent had hit his heart. Shakily, he looked over to the eyes of his adversary.

A young man, probably about his age. His sword was in his right hand, and he was using his left hand to prop himself up from the ground. But when Emile looked down into the man's face, he saw the one thing he didn't expect: fear.

This man... is afraid... of me?

Lightheaded from blood loss, Emile's legs gave out on him as he collapsed to the ground, falling hard on his side. He was dead.

Alan gasped out in shock at what he had just done. Still on the ground, his panting escalated until he felt like he was about to throw up.

"I just... I just killed someone," he quietly whispered to himself. He looked up and saw Daren and Zeke were still fighting their own opponents. He could go over and help them, but...

He looked back over at Emile's lifeless body, his sword still sticking through his chest.

I did that, Alan's thoughts plagued him. He felt a tight knot start to form in his stomach as he slowly crawled backwards away from the body. I killed someone...

Near the entrance of Hunter's Watch, Daren was managing to take on Amelia and another soldier by himself.

"Now!" Amelia ordered as her and her soldier both coordinated their strike at the same time.

Daren smirked as he flipped his spear around 360 degrees, the blunt end of the spear smacking Amelia's hand away before she could strike, and the tip of the spear striking the other soldier's sword down, knocking it out of his hand into the ground.

"Shit!" the soldier exclaimed as he quickly went to retrieve it.

Daren predicted this and readied to stab the the soldier while he was disarmed, but a flash of Amelia's blade coming toward him caused him to readjust, as he used his spear to block Amelia's strike instead. Unfortunately, this gave Amelia's companion time enough to pick up his weapon, and now he too was aiming to stab Daren.

This is not good, Daren thought to himself.

The soldier stood up and raised his sword to end Daren's life when all of a sudden, he stopped. His eyes opened wide as he turned around behind him. Daren was shocked to see an arrow sticking out of the back of the man's neck as he fell over to the ground, dead.

"What?!" Amelia shouted incredulously at the sudden death of her soldier. Even Daren wasn't expecting it.

"Hey, lady! Didn't anyone ever teach you that two-on-one isn't fair?" A shout from the roof of the community center caused both Daren and Amelia to look up toward it. Standing on top of the community center, alive and in one piece, was Hunter. He let out a small laugh and brandished his bow and arrow.

"You bastard!" Amelia spat out furiously after realizing that she no longer had the upper hand. Daren, seeing that she was distracted, pushed her back with the shaft of his spear until she was about one spear's length away from him. Just the way he wanted it.

"Hunter, over here!" Zeke called out to the roof as he held off an attacking soldier with his claymore. He had already killed one of them, but this one was proving to be a challenge.

Hunter smiled at this and happily obliged. He pulled an arrow out of his quiver, aimed, and fired. The shot hit his mark, catching the aggressive soldier in the temple of his head, killing him instantly. Letting out a sigh of relief, Zeke looked up toward Hunter and thanked him.

"Happy to help!" Hunter responded, giving a thumbs up. Lana, George, and Frederick also appeared on the rooftop overlooking the scene beneath them as they stood beside Hunter and surveyed the damage below. So much blood spilled, but thankfully none of their own.

Which meant Amelia was now alone.

Amelia looked around and saw her men dead before her. Daren had momentarily stopped fighting her as she took the scene in. All of her men were dead, only she was left. Just like that, she was heavily outnumbered.

"Dammit." She gritted her teeth as the weight of her loss sank in. She looked up at Daren whose spear was still aimed directly at her throat.

"You lose, Amelia," Daren pointed out. Out of the corner of Amelia's eye, she saw Zeke start to walk over to her, his claymore caked in the blood of her fellow soldiers. She smirked and let out a dry laugh at this.

"When the second wave gets here, you're all fucked." The rage in her voice was near palpable as she stared at Daren with her blue, ice-cold eyes.

Daren thought of this for a second, then called up to Hunter.

"Hunter! Do you see anymore of them outside the gate? Any reinforcements?"

Hunter used his hand as a visor as he looked out over the wall. A few seconds later, he called back down to Daren.

"I see a few dead bodies, but it looks like the rest retreated!"

Amelia looked at Hunter in disbelief. She spun around quickly to see outside the gate behind here. Surely the non-believer was just lying. As she looked toward the treeline, she waited for Jericho to emerge from the forest with the second wave to save her. She waited.

But he never came.

"Your commander, Jericho? He used you," Daren stated, matter-of-factly. "Your men were badly hurt, so Jericho used you as a diversion until him and the others could escape without us chasing after you. He was never going to come back for you. He left you to die."

Daren had seen the same tactic used by commanders during the Edgelands Rebellion. Soldiers would fight until their dying breath waiting for reinforcements while the 'reinforcements' were busy making a quick getaway. Although he hated Amelia for what she had done, he couldn't help but feel slightly bad for her. The look of betrayal on her face spoke volumes.

"You liar..." Amelia whispered, shaking in anger as tears started to form in her eyes. "You don't... you don't know!" she spat out. "You're all unbelievers! All of you!" She yelled, pointing them all out. "If you had just converted, none of this would have ever happened!"

Hunter shouted out from the rooftops, "You can't force a religion on somebody, lady. That's not how it works."

Amelia looked back up to him and scoffed. "Don't be so short-sighted! We're trying to save the world, you fool! From the mobs! From sin! From death itself! Some sacrifices must be needed, that is the way our lord commands it."

Hunter shook his head in disbelief and looked over at Lana, Frederick, and George who all seemed to be having the same thoughts as him: This woman is seriously crazy.

"Who is your lord?" a voice from behind spoke up. Daren turned around to see Alan walking over to them all. He had blood stains on his hands and chest. His eyes were bloodshot, and it looked like he had been crying.

Daren looked concerned. "Alan, are you-"

"Who is your lord?!" Alan shouted as tears streamed down his face. "Does he really want this?!" Alan stepped to the side and pointed to Emile's corpse laying in a pool of his own blood in the middle of the street, sword still embedded in his chest..

Everybody was silent as Amelia looked down at the ground, not daring to look at Emile's body. Finally, she looked back up at Alan.

"I'd sacrifice a lot more if it meant an end to the mob invasion." She was firm in her beliefs, and she knew she was right. She didn't expect the non-believers to understand, but this truly was the only way. "As for my lord," she continued, "I'm sure you'll all meet him soon enough. And when you do, you will be burned by the sins of your life," she shook her head in pity. "You're all going to experience unimaginable loss real soon."

Everybody stared at her for awhile. They weren't quite sure what to make of her. She spoke as if she genuinely thought what she was doing was for the best. And that's the most dangerous type of person that there can be.

Alan shook his head at her, not buying it. "You're beyond saving," he spat. He looked over at Daren, and nodded. Daren understood the intent as he readied his spear. Amelia knew what was about to happen, but she didn't stop it.

"I'm not the one that needs saving, monsieur," she closed her eyes and dropped her sword to the ground. She extended her arms out to her side in a T-formation and let out a deep sigh. "Strike true, Impaler," she addressed Daren by his nickname. "You always have before, no?" she asked, accepting of her fate.

Even though she couldn't see it, Daren nodded as he positioned his spear for the strike. After a brief moment of hesitation, he lunged forward, the tip of his spear piercing through her chest. The chainmail broke from the impact as the spear plunged deep into her chest cavity. Using all his strength, Daren gave one final thrust as the tip of his spear made its way through her chest and poked out her back. She had been completely impaled all the way through. It was a quick death, her heart getting pierced with the first initial thrust, and Amelia's limp body fell to the ground with Daren's spear still sticking out of her. Placing his foot on her to stop her body from sticking to the spear, Daren quickly yanked the spear out of Amelia as a splatter of blood came out with it, staining Daren's armour.

There was a moment of silence as everyone started to process what had just happened. Finally, after a good minute of everyone just standing there, George spoke up from the rooftop.

"We... we won," he said, nearly unable to believe it himself. "We... really won!" He said it again, this time the realization of victory clear to him as he smiled. "We did it! We're alive!"

Everyone let out a celebratory victory cry as Lana, George, and Hunter huddled up around each other, jumping up and down for joy. Frederick, still hurt from the explosion, just quietly sat down and smiled up at the heavens, thankful to be alive for another day. Zeke walked over to Daren and gave him a firm slap on the back for a job well done, which Daren returned with one of his rare smiles. Everybody was celebrating...

Except for Alan.

Daren looked behind him and noticed Alan just standing in the middle of the street, looking down at the ground.

"Hey, Alan," Daren walked over to him. "You alright?" he placed his hand on his shoulder.

It took Alan a second, but he nodded and looked up to Daren. "It's just... I've never killed anyone before. Only ever mobs. It's still sinking in, I guess," Alan admitted. Although he still felt sick to his stomach, it was nice admitting it out loud to someone like Daren. Made him feel better, if just a little bit.

Daren nodded, understanding. "I remember my first kill. It's not easy, I know," he reassured. "But, trust me, in a life or death situation, it doesn't matter who it is trying to kill you. That soldier there would have killed you just as surely as a zombie or creeper would. You have to kill mobs to protect yourself, and you had to kill him to protect yourself. At the end of the day, there really is no difference. Not anymore."

Alan heard what Daren was saying, and even understood it, but as of right now he really didn't even want to think about it. Daren sighed.

"There's nothing that I can say to make you feel better, Alan. The first kill is always the hardest. It's going to take time for you to get past this, but you will... And if you ever need to talk, I'm here for you, okay?" he looked into Alan's eyes hoping to find a shred of optimism in there somewhere. The first kill can make or break a soldier depending on their mentality after the kill. Daren knew that more than anyone.

Finally, Alan gave a small smile and Daren saw it: a glimpse of hope, even just for a split second. Alan was going to be okay.

"Thanks, Daren," Alan smiled, thankful to have a friend like Daren to help him out. Daren returned the smile with his own, and then turned to everybody else who was still celebrating.

"Alright, listen everyone!" he yelled to get everyone's attention. The battle is over, but we still have work to do! Alan, go get us all some potions of regeneration and potions of healing for our wounds. George, after Alan patches you up, start fixing that gate soon as possible! The explosion no doubt was heard by every zombie and creeper within a two mile radius, so they'll likely be coming our way shortly. Hunter, Zeke, Lana, and I will start cleaning up these bodies and get them out of here before they start to rot. We'll figure something out to do with them. Frederick, stay up there and keep an eye out for any mobs or if Jericho returns, alright?"

Daren gave out orders like a commanding officer. For a second, Alan wondered why Frederick was even in charge of Hunter's Watch.

"Everybody get all that?" Daren asked.

"Aye!" everyone responded as they quickly got to work with their assigned duties.

Daren smiled as he looked over to the walls of Hunter's Watch. Damaged, but still standing, Hunter's Watch, and everyone in it, lived to see another day.

After Alan patched up everybody's wounds with some potions, Lana and Hunter explained exactly what happened with their plan involving the mines and the TNT dynamite to everyone. Frederick, of course, was upset by it, claiming that they nearly killed them all as well in the explosion, but Daren quickly shut him down by pointing out that Jericho would have killed them all anyway had it not been for Lana and Hunter's quick thinking. After that, everyone got busy working on their assigned duties.

George recruited Alan's help to assist him with repairing the gate, even though Alan had no knowledge whatsoever with metalworking. Mostly, George just used Alan to pick up the heavy stuff while he hammered everything back in to shape and nailed the gate hinges back into the stone wall.

Meanwhile, Zeke, Hunter, and Daren were busy moving bodies out of Hunter's Watch and into the forest. They had lined them all up in a row in the forest and planned on cremating them, which was a common practice among warring factions in Northern Minecraftia. Mass graves were more common in Southern Minecraftia, but since they lacked the men to dig a giant grave for Jericho's men, and since Daren and a majority of Jericho's men were Northerners anyway, Daren opted for the cremation choice instead.

While Daren, Hunter, and Zeke were busy carrying and cremating the bodies, Lana was tasked with looting the dead bodies for anything useful that they could use. Whenever she would loot a body of anything worth taking, she'd hand it off to Daren and the others for cremation. The most obvious thing she was looking for was salvageable weapons and armour that wasn't too damaged, but a few of them had other supplies too. One had a pouch of redstone dust in his satchel that Alan could use for his alchemy. Another had some old books on him that she was sure Frederick and George would enjoy. She tried not to take any items that seemed like they had sentimental value to the person, like any rings or pendants. She didn't like looting the bodies at all, but this was survival. Do whatever it takes to stay alive.

On the roof of the community center, Frederick kept a steady watch out over the horizon, frequently checking the treeline for any activity. Like Daren said, a few zombies and creepers showed up from all of the noise from the explosion, but they were quickly disposed of. After what they just went through, dealing with a few mobs was almost a relief.

It took them all day, but eventually by nightfall they had repaired a majority of the damage to the gate, and had also cleaned out all of the bodies and had them cremated in a large clearing in the forest. Lana brought all of the loot she had collected inside to the community center for storage until they could figure out who gets what.

Frederick, pleased with the productivity, came back down to congratulate everyone who had gathered in the middle of the street outside of the community center after a day of hard work.

"Well, guys, what can I say? Excellent work today all around," he smiled, proud of what his people had accomplished. "I think we all deserve some rest after that, don't you?"

"I don't know how I could even sleep," George admitted, rubbing his sore shoulders. "What if they come back tonight?" His question was a serious one that most people in the group also felt. Frederick waved his hand dismissively.

"Oh, they wouldn't be so bold as to try," Frederick boasted. "We gave them a crippling defeat here today. They may be a bunch of religious nutcases, but even they would know better."

"Actually," Hunter stepped forward to speak, much to Frederick's chagrin. "I was hoping if I could try and track them tonight. Maybe try and see where their camp is or if they're close enough for us to be worried," he admitted.

"What?!" Frederick scoffed. "Are you serious? Why would anyone want to go out those gates after what just happened today?!"

Lana nodded, agreeing with Frederick for once. "He's got a point, Hunter," she said. "It's too dangerous."

"Still, we got to make sure they aren't in the immediate area anymore to be a threat to us," Hunter argued as he looked over at Lana. "If they're planning a sneak attack, I should be able to tell or not."

"Hunter has a point," Daren chimed in. "Strategically, it makes sense to at least know the general location of your enemy at all times. They know where we are, it would be advantageous for us to know the same about them." Daren looked over to Hunter and nodded in approval.

Frederick sighed, "Well, we can't just send Hunter out there alone without any support, and we can't risk sending anyone from the night watch, so it's just gonna have to-"

"I can go," Alan said, butting into the conversation for the first time.

Hunter was shocked but also impressed at Alan stepping up the challenge. Alan had barely said anything all day since he killed that one soldier, so it was nice to see him snap out of his catatonic state.

"Alan, are you sure?" Hunter asked, still shocked but also appreciative of the help. Alan nodded.

"I just want to help... and I don't really think I'm going to be getting any sleep tonight anyway. So, yeah, I'm sure." Alan was telling the truth. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Emile standing over him bleeding out with his sword in his chest. If Alan got any sleep at all for the next week he'd be surprised.

Hunter looked at Frederick victoriously, clearly pleased with the recent turn in events. "Well, Freddy, got anymore excuses?" he asked sarcastically.

Daren watched Alan, slightly worried. He didn't want Alan to go with Hunter right now with the state of mind he was in, but he knew he couldn't stop him, so he held his tongue.

Lana, too, seemed worried by all this, shifting uneasily at the thought of even stepping foot outside the gate, much less trying to track down the people that literally just tried to kill you.

Sighing, Frederick shrugged clearly defeated. "Fine, Hunter, you and Alan can go, but both of you should be back before daybreak. If not, we'll assume the worst."

"Sure thing, mom," Hunter joked, much to Frederick's annoyance.

"Oh!" Lana's head shot up as she was reminded of something. "If you're heading out, Hunter, don't forget your compass so you can find your way back easily," she reminded.

Hunter's face immediately dropped.

"Oh, yeah, uh..." he stammered, trying to think of something on the spot.

"Hunter?" Lana noticed Hunter's unusual reaction to her comment. "Is something wrong?"

"No! I just, um... Can't we just use Alan's compass?" Hunter asked as he started to sweat a bit in the chill of night.

"I never got a compass," Alan shrugged. He figured he hadn't been there long enough and Lana had been too busy to make one for him yet.

"Hunter," Lana's voice was serious this time. "You do still have your compass, right?" she asked.

Hunter looked around the group, desperately trying to find support in anyone's face, but why would he find support? None of them knew what he knew.

"Hunter, did you lose your compass?" Frederick asked.

"I..." Hunter started but didn't finish. He knew he had to think of something fast.

"You lost it, didn't you?!" Lana accused. She couldn't believe Hunter had lost his compass that she had worked so hard to make for him. She rubbed her head in frustration, clearly annoyed. "Well, when did you lose it Hunter?"

"About... about a week ago," Hunter looked down as he confessed.

"A week?!"

"Look, I didn't-"

"Why are you just now telling us about this, Hunter?" Frederick asked with his hands on his hips, clearly displeased.

Hunter took a deep breath in as he felt his hand start to shake again. He wasn't sure if it was from withdrawals, or from nervousness. He gulped, clearly frightened. Maybe it was time to come clean. They all had to find out sooner or later anyway, no matter how much Hunter wished the problem would just disappear.

"Hunter?" Lana asked, this time more concerned than accusatory. Hunter looked up at here, regret filling his eyes under the moonlight.

"Lana, I'm so sorry..." he started.

"What's wrong, Hunter?" she asked, genuinely worried now.

Hunter looked up at all of them. George, Lana, Daren, Alan, Frederick, Zeke... all waiting for his answer.

"I don't have my compass... because Rinoa has it," he finally admitted, as he felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders only for an even bigger weight to be thrown back on. He looked over at Lana and saw her eyes and mouth aghast, unwilling to believe what she just heard.

"You... you what?" she whispered barely loud enough for Hunter to hear.

"Rinoa has my compass," Hunter repeated for everyone to hear. "Which means she knows how to make her way back here." He looked over at everyone in the group, and they all had the same expression. Shock. Nobody said anything because nobody could say anything. "I'm sorry," he finished as he stared at the ground, ashamed.

Everyone looked over at each other, not sure what to say or do. If Rinoa had Hunter's compass, then there was no doubt in anyone's mind that she was going to come back for one thing, and one thing only:

Revenge.

Next Chapter: Recollections

A/N: Well, here you are! Part 2, just like I promised. And within the 24 hour time-frame, too!... give or take a couple of hours. ;P Have any suggestions or critique? Feel free to leave a review or send me a PM. All constructive criticism is highly appreciated. Thanks!