I Collect Red Stars

Darwins (unfinished)

(July Year 1)
"This Vasily person will not leave me be. He and his red clad friends are being near me asking if I have interest in their commune. I am Natural One, why would I be doing this?"
***

Everyone in this settlement had people. They had their family or their religion or their strain, anything that connected them. Hedge wasn't sure where she could possibly fit in. She looked into each group, hoping to find a place in this new society. It's not as if she needed to, but a part of her knew that she did. She's been alone for too long already. She didn't want to be again. Through attending events and speaking with the faithful she got an idea of the different groups and their functions. She particularly enjoyed the lascarian tea parties, they were quite pleasant, so long as you didn't care to know what was in the food. You'll only be the food if you don't bring snacks, and honestly that's your fault for not having snacks.
Another group of interest were the Stormcrows, a group mostly made up of Natural Ones. Most of them were in the tribe of seasons, but that isn't a requirement of joining. This group had the most amazing fighters she had ever seen, and some of the coolest Natural Ones she had met since her tribe years ago. Loken, Hawthorne, and of course, Bjorn. Bjorn had to be the greatest Natural one in the wastes. He is big, scary, and fierce, and she admires that so. But looking at them, and at herself, she knew she wasn't good enough. She couldn't compare. So she kept looking.
Vasily seemed determined to convince her she should join the "Red Wraiths" his new Red Star commune. After getting to know him a bit she was perfectly happy being acquaintances with this Vasily person but she was hardly going to join a Red Star commune, she's a Natural One and according to everyone, she already spends more time with Red Star than she should. Bjorn doesn't do that.
While looking, the local Darwin group showed particular interest in her and her ability to find scrap. It seems "science" requires materials that they were not great at finding. They were an interesting group, to be sure, finding radiation tantalizing and running experiments on the green glow. After spending some time with them she came to the conclusion that they were decidedly crazy. Despite this she made friends, she was particularly fond of Julian, a man with plants growing out of him and a large arachnid companion named Charlotte. It's difficult to dislike someone covered in flowers.
Slowly but surely she was making a name for herself in town. She was invited to events, asked when resources were needed, and even invited to become a member of town council as the "secondary minister of resource acquisition" whatever that meant. She declined, politics have never interested her. Despite all of this though, she still didn't feel at home.