We are Grounders

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕋𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖 - 𝕀𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤

A low growling suddenly emits from the trees behind Braeya, she swings her body around and draws out a small knife from under her sleeve, preparing for a fight.

"Grounders?" The boy with the freckles asks uncertainly, all the group members stare around uneasily.

A lithe panther prowls from a gap in the bushes, still growling deeply. It slinks forward, towards the people next to the tree, eyeing each of them viciously. Suddenly it launches forwards and Braeya hears the word 'gun' come from the blonde-haired girl.

She jumps at the sound of a loud gunshot, the boy with dark skin is holding a gun and is openly firing at the creature. The creature falters slightly as a bullet connects with its body, but it still continues running. The panther disappears within the leaves and runs around everyone, trying to confuse them. All is silent and Braeya clutches onto the branch she is crouched on, anticipating for the panthers next move. It suddenly springs out from the bushes towards the boy with the freckles, she holds her breath and prepares to interfere but before the panther or Braeya can do anything multiple bullets are fired at the animal and it falls limp on the ground, growling in pain.

Braeya glares at the boy with the gun, immediately distrusting these people because of it, she hastily leaps down from the tree and soundlessly sprints away towards her camp, she has to warn her people about the gun.

She bursts through the entrance to her camp, panting heavily. Aidric, who was helping to sharpen swords and knives, leaps up from his seat and rushes over to Braeya. She stares at her friend in confusion, "What are you doing back here?"

"Someone switched with me, so I came back to camp. What happened to you?" Aidric scans Braeya worriedly, looking for any injuries.

"I'm fine. Where's Indra?" Braeya raises her voice with the second sentence, scanning the camp frantically.

"She's out with some scouts to have a look at these people for herself." Acacio responds, staring at his second with concern.

"I need to speak with her, can I borrow your horse?" Braeya asks her mentor, she stares at him with pleading eyes and he nods in response, understanding the dire situation. Acacio leads Braeya to his horse, it is a white stallion with a dappled grey rump. Pecos raises his head as Braeya and Acacio run towards him, Braeya slides her foot into the horse's stirrup before swinging her leg up and over his flank. She lands into Pecos's saddle and kicks her feet, riding out of the camp.

"I'll be back soon!" Braeya calls over her shoulder before kicking Pecos into a gallop and riding towards the direction of the river. Pecos splashes through the water, crossing the river with ease.

After a while of riding Braeya catches sight and calls out her name, "Indra!"

Indra whips her head around in surprise, she watches the second as Braeya pulls Pecos to a stop. "What is this?" Indra demands, glaring suspiciously at Braeya.

"I need to talk to you," Braeya swings off the horse and lands face to face with Indra. "It's about the intruders," she lowers her voice to say the last part of the sentence. Using the word 'intruder' feels weird to Braeya, but after seeing them using a gun she knows that they can't be trusted. Indra gestures to the rest of the scouts to continue and grabs Pecos's reins. She leads him away from the other grounders with Braeya following behind her.

"Chit?" (What?) Indra looks at Braeya expectantly.

"These people are like the Maunon, (Mountain men) they can't be trusted!" Braeya's words come tumbling from her mouth. "I saw them shooting with a gun," Indra's eyes narrow at Braeya's comments and she balls her hands into fists.