The Snake Warriors

Chapter Six

I walk into the camp. It's surprisingly crowded. I need to sit down again, I've been walking all day. Where can I sit... there! That stump. It's towards the outside of the camp, where I'm not likely to attract any attention, and it looks... like it was put there on purpose. No matter, I need a place to sit down for a little bit. My feet ache pretty badly. Not to mention it's a good place to watch the Remnants from. Perhaps I gain some insight into how the camp is run, while distracting myself from... I pick my way through the crowd. No one's seemed to notice that I'm not part of the group yet. I made it. I place my hand on the stump. It's dry. I sit down. Finally.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" a weaselly male voice from behind me asks. What now? I turn to look at him. He's a slightly overweight short man in his forties. He's wearing all black- wait, he has a red shirt on. His eyes are brown and he has red hair. He doesn't look like he's from around here, but he has our accent.

"I'm Sorcha Vedaldi of Hazelhill. And you?"

"Zadimus Redcap," he turns his nose up at me. "Now get out," he waves his hand towards the woods.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. We don't have any room for outsiders here, so go on. Leave," Zadimus waves his arms again. These people... I mutter some choice words at him and then start to get up.

"Leave her alone Zadimus," another male voice comes from behind me. Is that Foxtail? I sit back down as I turn my head to look at the source of the voice. It's Foxtail.

"Excuse me Foxtail? What do you think you're doi-"

"I brought her into camp. She's looking for an old friend of hers, and Lotus agreed to help her with that. Also, I recall Lotus specifically stating you weren't supposed to talk to newcomers right off the bat. If I were you, I wouldn't want Lotus hearing you both defied her orders and behaved rudely around one of our guests," Foxtail looks... smug. The look on Zadimus's face is even smugger.

"While Lotus would be angry, she knows I am too valuable of an asset to risk losing."

"I think you're overestimating her patience."

"And I think you're underestimating her intelligence," Zadimus crosses his arms. Foxtail clenches his fist. This isn't going to end well. Wait, is that Lotus?

"Hey guys, what's going on? Who's this lady Zadimus thinks is smarter than he thinks Foxtail thinks and Foxtail thinks is less patient than he thinks Zadimus thinks? Whoah, now that's a mind twister," Lotus puts her arm around Zadimus causing him to scowl and grumble. She almost appeared out of nowhere.

"What's a mind twister?" Foxtail seems less tense now that Lotus is here. She has that effect on people. Even I feel slightly more at ease when she's around.

"A mind twister is like a tongue twister, only instead of making you twist your tongue to say it, you twist your brain trying to understand it." I can't tell if she just happened to be walking by and hear the last few sentences or if she heard everything and was waiting for just the right moment to intervene.

"Of course you'd come up with something like that," Foxtail rolls his eyes. But there was nothing malicious or angry about it. Then again, it seems like it might be hard to get mad at Lotus for her personality quirks. Something tells me being with her on a daily basis would actually be good for one's emotional health.

"Indeed I would. But that doesn't answer my question, silly! Who's the lady? Is she hot? Is she Sorcha? Is she someone I haven't met? Should I meet her? Or do I alrea-" Lotus is muted when Zadimus puts his hand over her mouth.

"You talk too much and ask way too many questions," he says with obvious distaste in his voice. Lotus rolls her eyes and removes his hand from her mouth. There was no malice in that eye roll either. She's even smiling.

"Indeed I do. Note to self, say 'Indeed I,' less. But once again, that doesn't answer any of my questions. In fact, it leaves me with more, which is kind of counterproductive," Lotus says, almost smirking. She knows full well who they were talking about. She's just trying to mess with them. Zadimus and Foxtail suddenly look rather sheepish. Or as sheepish as a humanoid-fox-creature can look as opposed to fox-ish. The two exchange glances.

"Umm... she's no one you know..." Zadimus manages.

"And no one you need to know!" Foxtail adds in. Lotus raises her eyebrows, smiling. She's enjoying this. She's definitely more intelligent than I initially gave her credit for. I should probably help out these two boys and then proceed to settle our business from a little bit ago. But how?

"Really you two? I'm right here," I say. Lotus looks surprised by my involvement, while the boys seem relieved. They both want to be romantically involved with Lotus, and neither of them want to look bad or even slightly embarrassed in front of her. Or they both just want to look good in front of their boss.

"Aha! So it was Sorcha! Speaking of you, sorry we've kept you out of the conversation for so long. We're used to each other's dynamics by now, so it's hard for new people to break into the flow. Anyways, I'll leave you three to it. I'm sure you have some... interesting things to discuss, while I have some things to go check on. Later!" Lotus gives me a knowing look as she walks backward into the woods. She has a hand out behind her to feel for trees or whatever else she might run into.

"Thanks for that," Foxtail says.

"Yes, I suppose your contribution was useful," Zadimus admits.

"You're welcome," I say.

"Anyways, did you say your last name was Vedaldi?" Zadimus asks.

"Yes. Why?"

"Are you by chance related to Ciara Vedaldi?"

"Yes. She's my mother." Zadimus looks confused at my answer. Why?

"Is this her?" He pulls crystal out of his pocket. The crystal glows, and an image of a group of people is displayed above it. I lean in for a closer look. There's a woman who looks like Lotus, but older and angrier. Lotus's mom, Estelle. Lotus is in there too, standing behind Estelle with a man who looks like Lotus. Her brother. All three of the Vixaskis are wearing black. The rest of the people are... The Snake Warriors! None of them have their weapons, but I can still recognize them. Hankoris the brunette half-elf, always wearing bright red and orange. Blue Bones, the man who dressed as a pirate and wore a skull mask, all in blue and white. Natalia Wysaphine, the black-haired elf who wore all silver. Mirage Lyndis, the red-headed werewolf in all black. I guess she was Mallorian. Sidrol Dragonstone, the blonde dwarf constantly wearing full battle armor. Conaire Sharp, the black haired human who slew Struvks. He has his arm around the waist of... my mother!?