Homeward Bound

Open Arms

Aeaea...

"Look out!" a shout came from the woods.

Cassidy watched as another tree fell, Gabriel standing behind it with an ax. Fitzgerald and Carlos both walked forward, examining the tree as Gabriel wiped some sweat from his forehead.

"Should we start skinning the bark off of this one?" Fitzgerald asked, turning to Carlos.

Carlos tapped his chin a few times, before knocking on the felled tree "I don't think so. The wood is too weak for construction. It'll be good for the rollers, though."

Jeremy nodded, before turning back to the men standing at attention. "Bring this one to the rollers!"

As a few soldiers moved up to start shifting the log, Cassidy took a step back. With Fitzgerald running things with the men and Carlos's carpentry experience, the two seemed to have the task under control without the need for her insight.

It had been...around a week since they'd landed on shore. A week since they'd (thankfully) made peace with the creatures on the island, and the sorceress who defended them. In that week, they'd sunk their camp in more, scored up some food other than rations, and started the work to repair their ship.

Unfortunately, it was a lot of work. In order to determine what they needed to fix, they needed to be able to give the ship a proper examination. To do that (and to be able to make the repairs they needed) then they needed to bring the ship fully onto land. In order to do that, they needed a sequence of logs to act as moving ground so that the ship could be pulled out of the bay, and be returned to it once repairs were complete.

Cassidy paused as she looked further down, seeing what looked like some kind of dispute near the forest, away from the beaches. Vanessa seemed to be arguing with an older Potamoi, likely from a nearby river.

"Keep it going," Cassidy quickly said to Gabriel, Carlos and Fitzgerald, before jogging down into the forested area and catching the tail end of Vanessa and the potamoi's argument.

"But you see, we need the lumber in order to-"

"I don't care! These are homes you're uprooting for your own ends!" the potamoi replied angrily.

"Hey, hey hey," Cassidy interrupted as she approached, holding up her hands peaceably. "What's going on?"

"I'll tell you what's going on! You're destroying our island!" the potamoi shouted.

"For the last time, it's not 'destroying the island', it's-" Vanessa tried to retort, clearly annoyed.

"Excuse me!" Cassidy interrupted, cutting her off. "Sir? What's your name?"

"My name is Nicholas," the potamoi replied, holding himself up.

"Right. Nicholas," Cassidy nodded. "What exactly is the problem here?"

"He's angry because we need lumber to repair the ship," Vanessa replied, voice deadpan. "Even though I already explained that we're replanting the saplings, so the forest will regrow-"

"It shouldn't have to 'regrow'!" Nicholas shouted back. "This is our land! Yet you are inflicting damage onto it!"

"Sir, everything we're doing is necessary for the repairs to our ship. And if it doesn't get fixed, we can't leave," Cassidy replied calmly. "You want us to leave, don't you?"

"I-yes!" Nicholas replied.

"Well, we're already here. And the only way we can leave is if we repair the ship. So maybe, if we replant the trees, and the land will recover, then it's a sacrifice for a better end?" Cassidy replied, her tone making it sound like a suggestion.