Venture

Chapter 19: The Leader With Intelligent Hands

Alex watched her two friends cautiously explore each sides of the cave. She knew the outside of the cavern was much bigger than the inside. Additionally, the woman with the dangerous hands still couldn't understand what went wrong. Maybe they ended up in a different cave? If not, maybe there was a clue somewhere in this cave that would lead to the treasure. Possibilities were endless, though Alex still couldn't push away the uneasy feeling building in her stomach.

     She observed her surroundings. It was blindingly bright out in the jungle, but the gigantic trees brought shade upon them. The cave was also huge, despite being small and empty inside. Basically, the cave was a hollowed rock. The tattooed lady began to wonder. There was no camp of The Ruthless in sight. She couldn't hear them, smell them, or see them. So, where were they?

     Alex continued to wait patiently for her friends to return. She placed Amora's flashlight in her pocket cargo pants, knowing it wouldn't be of use anymore. Her ninja stars became sweaty in her palms from the heat.

     Rustle. Rustle.

     The woman with the intelligent hands whipped her head around, her tangled short curls smacking her sweaty face in the process. Her hazelnut irises widened at the sight in front of her. Standing before her were dozens of armed men. All of them wore the color of the night sky.

     A scary-looking man, who stood in the middle with an axe, stepped forward. Alex assumed he was the new leader since their old one was dead. He gave off a frightening aura, considering his body was extremely fit, though it was nothing Alex couldn't handle. The man spoke, his voice as deep as the blue sea, "Are you the leader of the group that killed a part of our men, including our leader?"

     Alex cocked an eyebrow, her stars steady. "Depends what you'd do with the information."

     The man scowled, "A war will begin."

     She had no intention to start another bloody fight. It would be a complete waste of time and her group still had to find the riches for the reward. A war would only slow them down, so what exactly was the point?

     Another muscular man, though the shortest out of the bunch, leaned forward to his leader and muttered out words Alex couldn't understand. She made out: experiments, animals, and dead.

     "Yes, yes, I know the animals are getting out of hand. We'll get back to the camp once we're done looking for the group," the new leader reassured his comrade.

     Then, it clicked. Those strange animals Alex had come across never left her mind. She had never learned or seen anything like them before. The jaguar and the bird were too bizarre to be regular animals and it didn't matter if they were in the jungle. Those animals never existed. They were made by mankind. And certainly, it was something she would not forgive so easily.

     They have declared war.

     "You guys are known to be The Ruthless, right?" the woman with the dangerous hands questioned cockily, though there was a hint of infuriation written in her tone.

     The man arched an eyebrow. "Yes, we are. Now if you know the leader who's group killed our former-"

     Alex's hazelnut irises glimmered with pride. She grinned. "You're speaking to her. Name's Alex. I'd say it was nice to meet you, but I feel like that'd be an overstatement." She tossed her ninja stars up and down like a pebble prepared to be thrown anytime soon into the ocean. The woman remained her posture, though she was eager to show them what she's made of.

     He made a low growling noise at the back of his throat in attempt to seem fearful. It didn't work. "Does that mean you killed Dextor Ruthless?"