Surviving the Beastworld

Chapter 7: Weakness in the Defense

In the forest, there were cottages built with each one of the members that Jade had doing their assigned tasks. A tall Asian swordswoman with long, straight black hair oversaw them to ensure that there would not be any complications. Unlike before, she looked much more tired with bags under her eyes.

'It's been five days since Jade had left to gather intel,' Diana mused as she made her way towards the larger one of the cottages, where she tasked Zuri and Maria to cut up the bear-like corpse that she brought back from hunting. Just thinking about the introvert filled her heart with guilt. 'Even though the standard intel collecting is a week, I still can't help but worry. What if something goes wrong, and she needs backup? There is no way to contact us, and we would not know where to start even if we go out searching.'

"Came checking on us again?" Maria asked, giving her a tired smile. She was laying a piece of deer meat on an oak board to prepare it for cooling. "Wish I had time to clean the place first since it looks like a murder scene."

"It's alright, I don't expect nothing else from the task given to you. However, my job is to make sure everyone is on task without having any unexpected problems" Diana said as she scanned the area, noting that Zuri was nowhere in sight. "Where is Mama Zuzu?"

"Her monthly is here," Miara answered while focusing on her task again. "Started to cramp badly, so she went to lay down."

'I should go and check on her later,' Diana thought, suppressing the groan at the fact she just gained another task to get done before she could get the chance to spend time with Rosette. Diana had left Maria with a headache and more stress. She needs to work around the clock to make sure that she hunts for food, giving Aspen short breaks to ensure that there would not be any lasting damage during his usage of scoping ability. 'So much more work to do, so little time. I hope Jade will return soon so we can work on the defense.'

"Ha, you are finally here," Aspen said when he cut off his ability. His skin was sickly pale, bags under his eyes with a sense of unfocusness. The once handsome man was now more haggard and desperately needed a break. The mental strain of constantly using his scoping ability started becoming taxing to his psychics. "Bye."

Diana nodded, not taking offense at Aspen's abrupt exit; Right behind Diana who is in a need for a long rest was Aspen. And since his break was only ten minutes, he needed to take advantage of it as much as possible.

Diana positioned herself on top of a tree branch and kept a lookout. There was nothing there but the trees and berry bushes, it was peaceful, warm atmosphere. Something that she would always be happy with but in a case where she needs to be alert at all times, it does nothing to help with that. It is that case that when a couple of minutes went by in complete silence, making Diana sleepier than she already was.

Diana was about to fully pass out when a snapping sound had put her back on guard. Diana's eyes scanned the area to see what monster might have stumbled across their area, only to see anything moving along the trees. She tried to strain her ears in hopes to hear anything, leading her to finally realized the fact that the small animals like the birds were also not making any noise. Unnerving her more, Diana was about to jump down and go investigate when Aspen's amused snort broke the silence.