Gale's Storm

CHAPTER 27

The three were now on their mission to Tide Colony, the colony who shared a border with the biggest human city, Mountain Colony and Birch Colony. They had been walking through birch woods for a day now, Gale was a lot more at peace now that River Colony was safe. Everyone was, the week they had stayed there they had helped to rebuild all day until the stars were glittering above.

Rock, Gale and even Lillian were all tired, Lillian wasn't used to this tired feeling. Of lacking sleep, heavy mind and eyelids, everything taking a moment to process, and her stamina too, was waned. She knew Gale and Rock must be far more tired than she was, but everyone still persisted.

The plan was they would talk to Tide Colony, and hope that their influence would help convince Mountain Colony to join. Since Rock was from there, they knew a lot about the commander and his assistant, the person who would take over after them and helped make the most important decisions with the medic and commander.

Mountain Colony had different laws than the rest of the shapeshifter colonies. Laws that were similar to humans. The rest of the colonies other than Treetop Colony had elections between 2-4 qualifying people and the person who won took over until either they died or they wanted to pass it on to someone else. One person they choose, who they think is trustworthy, is the advisor, and helps the commander make important decisions for the entire colony with the help of the medic and the assistants.

Treetop Colony was very similar to the humans, with one monarch who rules over everyone and the monarch's oldest child takes the rulership, no matter their sex or gender. The monarch's partner, heirs and their medic make the important decisions for the entire colony, like joining the rebellion.

Rock has also told the group that Commander Himalaya and his assistant Cirro are militaristic and strict. So it'll be hard to convince them of things, and their ideals are pretty much set. So having Tide Colony on their side along with everyone else who joined would be key in trying to convince them to join the alliance.

Lillian's mind circled everything that Rock's told her as they walked through the Birch forest, the trees were getting thinner, in both density and height. They must be close to the shore, at least to the end of Birch Colony's territory. It was smart, going through their territory, since they're allies and it's fairly predictable in this forest, contrary to many parts of the vast continent.

They started to set up camp for the night when the pink and red sky was starting to become purple and stars sparsely dotted to the East. It was getting colder, since they were heading North and they all had to sleep more bundled up, even Rock, who was more used to the climate than the other two.

When they got the fire started they all sat around it and nibbled on the dried fruit and meat that was their current supplies. Commander Arsenic had given them a week's worth of dried food, but Gale had given all of hers to Moss, so it wasn't going to last as long as Arsenic had hoped it would.

Lillian liked seeing this side of Gale, hard working, selfless and generous. More generous that she and Rock had been. Lillian tried to push that thought away, telling herself that they had done what they could, and they needed these preparations.

She had debated on letting River Colony have her sleeping bag, since she had been sleeping coiled up next to Rock every night now. But she just couldn't really do it, since she might still need it.

Lillian let her thoughts circle around her head as she laid down next to Rock. She loved him more than she thought she could, and she only ever loved him more and more the more time they were together. It had only been what? A month?

Everyone's sense of time had been messed up and Lillian couldn't remember how long she had been out here. Her mind lingered on the time as she drifted off, Rock's steady breathing guiding her to sleep.