The Rebel League

Chapter 17- The scout

Instantly, everyone gathered around the kitchen table. Tristan sat at one end with Estella and I on either side. Joel sat next to me and the two sisters shadowed Estella. Kira sat at the other end of the table, filing her nails.

"Ok, first things first." Tristan started. "I've been gone for a while because I was scouting. I figured you guys could train and get to know each other while I handled the dirty work. Anyway, I went to the bush near your old house," he nodded at me, "and found next to nothing."

"What!?" Joel exclaimed, his eyes wide. "You didn't see a treehouse?"

"Nope." Tristan said. "Just a big oak tree where Harley said it was. I did find some wooden furniture hidden in the grass around it though."

I closed my eyes. "He destroyed it."

"Who?" Ruby piped up. "Was it the Samurai?"

Estella shook her head. "No. MadMex, or rather Wills. I'm assuming... ?"

Joel cursed. "When I see him again, I'll shove an arrow right up his-"

"We knew it was coming." I cut him off. "We knew this was bound to happen if we left him alone."

"What? The war?" Joel asked.

Estella knitted her eyebrows together. "What war? I certainly don't remember a war."

"He mentioned it after you left." Joel said, shaking his head. "And again when my sister ambushed us."

"Your sister?" Thea asked, crossing her arms. "You mean the crazy chick dating MadMex?"

"She's not crazy." Joel countered. "But yes, that's the one. She offered us a spot back in the team but we refused."

Ruby looked at me and quickly half-smiled. I guess knowing that there was someone else dating a maniac made her feel less insecure.

"Back to the story," Tristan said. "The treehouse wasn't there so I decided to check out the rest of the bush. I found the 'Samurai base' and investigated, only to once again find nothing."

I suddenly had a lot of doubts. "This is all of a sudden extremely weird."

"You don't say." Estella said. "Both teams missing? That can't be good. What else did you do? You were gone for over a week, so there must be more."

Tristan gritted his teeth. "I'd tell you, but you all won't shut up!" He sighed. "Anyway, I also found the situation very strange so I spent the next few days looking around the place trying to find them. Eventually, I gave up and started heading back but then I had an idea. I changed course and went to the Stone Industries factory."

"Why?" Estella asked.

Tristan gave her a sideways glance. "I was looking for ice cream."

Estella turned to me and glared. This is your fault.

I smiled smugly at the use of sarcasm. "Please continue Tristan."

He slouched back in his seat and took a deep breath. "I found the Samurai there. They seemed to be working with Mr Stone. Shadow Knight was particularly restless, like he was waiting for something. Anyway, I also found Wills a few blocks away in a garage. He had a few men with them and said something about getting stronger."

"No doubt planning to swamp us." Joel said.

Tristan shook his head. "That's the thing. He's not training his team to fight us. He said the plan was to take out Stone Industries and kill the mastermind."

Estella narrowed her eyes at Tristan. "He wants to kill my dad."

"Probably." Tristan confirmed. "What's wrong with that?"