*"Why is everyone waiting near the shore? Are they expecting the enemy to show up? Do they know where the enemy is going to come from, or are they expecting them to show up from the same entrance as last time?"* Ares stands in between the barricades wondering as the whole area is silent. Only the sounds of wind blowing can be heard as no man standing is uttering a word.
*"As someone who came to the island from outside, I know how hard it is to enter the island through the whirlpools and giant storms that always lurks around the island. Half of your forces will get wiped out before they reach the shore"* Ares started to have a really uneasy feeling about the air around him.
It's been hours since the sun has come out, all the soldiers were still being put in the positions they were offered to.
The sun now reached above their heads. Some of the soldiers were getting impatient little by little. They had been standing here for 6 hours already, and the heat of the sun was taking a toll on them. However, the waves of ocean were very pleasant as there are no visible objects in sight. Nero, the chief provided water to the men at shore with the help of the women of his villages.
It was eve already, the sun was setting down. Every villager was too tired to even move their limbs, they were standing on the shore all day. Even the supporters had been searching other places to see if the enemies are coming from other parts of the island. Yet, no signs of enemies were found. Alex who was looking inside the island on his own for the traces of enemies or enemy camps, could spot nothing.
"This is quite a situation isn't it?" Gideon, the General of Caracus village nervously asked Ares while he repetitively gripped the handle of his spear over.
"It is indeed an unexpected situation, we don't know what to do from here on out either." Ares replied while smiling.
"I don't see one of your friend anywhere" Gideon asks about Alex with a hint of suspicion on his face.
"Ah, he is actually the youngest of us all. The younger don't have much endurance so he went to back to camps to rest, but be assured we will be the one fighting. He is someone who repairs our weapons and upgrades them to be useful in battles" Ares told Gideon to avoid him from suspecting on them.
"I see." Gideon said while his eyes scanned around, counting the soldiers and villagers from Mindoro.
If anything, Ares and his gang do not want to anger the Caracus village. After all, Mindoro will be the one that would have to take the responsibility for any misdoing done by them, since these four are from Mindoro.
Alex comes back from searching all over the island but nothing abnormal came into his sight. Ares realized this with one look from Alex's disappointed face.
The sun has been set down and the waves of the ocean became rough as soon as the moon is up and it started showering snow. The cold is biting the bones of the soldiers that are still on the shore.
Nero decides to call back the villagers since everyone is tired, sitting on the shore and staring at the ocean will just make the villagers more tired.
Meanwhile Ares's heart is beating fast and he can't help but feel uneasy. If the enemy showed up as they're supposed to and get into fight, things would have gone smoothly. They would have a chance to win, but now the enemy is not showing up like they said they would. Are they plotting something elsewhere? Or are they going to attack at night? Or hiding already on the island? or is the enemy near Mindoro as they keep waiting for them here? Ares have been bothered by these doubts in his mind.
Meanwhile in Mindoro,
Infants' cries are heard, the air was violent, Gus had a serious look on his face and holding only his wooden sword with a despaired face while he stared at something burning near the shrines on the hill. Are the shrines and village on fire?
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"Achoo~~ " a villager of Mindoro sat with Gus beside him guarding the shrine on the hill with a campfire. Gus is staring at the campfire while reminiscing Ares's words.
"Gus, knock that look off your face already, brother. Just because Ares didn't take you to war, you have been staring at the fire for a long time. It's creeping me out. Anyway, why would we have to guard this shrine at night too? We only have a tent here and it's too cold." A villager complained while getting impatient.
"We can't help it. The other day when Ares and his friends visited the shrines on each of these hills, they told us that our village will be in grave danger if a foreigner is to find about these shrines. So we need to guard it at night too. We shouldn't let anyone who is not from our village to approach these shrines." Gus replied to the villagers with a serious look on his face
"Ehh, but these shrines are in bad shape, I wonder who would want these stupid shrines. And why are those infants from that house at the foot of this hill crying all night??? I can hear them from here. Gosh, feed them something, stupid parents" The villager mumbles grumpily.
"You heard what Ares said, there is some energy flow and oscillation here. I didn't understand what they said, but it must be important. I have never seen Ares that surprised, so we better do our jobs correctly." Gus told the villager patiently.
Gus had been ordered to guard the village and he was carrying his job out well.
*At caracus*
The war however, didn't seem to happen any time soon, no enemy was showing up. All of the barricades and shields had come down. The whole army is in deep sleep, while villagers from Mindoro are guarding the sleeping warriors of Caracus.
"Why did you accept to guard these people voluntarily Edward? We could go back to let our chief know." A villager asks Edward.
"It can't be helped. They have been carrying barricades and heavy armor all day. And they're hurt from defending their village already. Let us be the guards and I have sent 5 messengers back to Mindoro to relay what happened here. If this is how it will be and the enemy doesn't show up. We can go back to our village and live peacefully."" Edward replies to the villagers.
"Oh right, how old are your two daughters now?" The villager asks brings up about Edward's daughters.
"They're two years old now, they never go to sleep without me and cry a lot if I come home late. Hope they're not giving trouble to their mother." Edward smiled slightly to himself as he recalled his daughters who would call out to him happily each time he was home from work.
In Mindoro,
"Ahhh, calm down, daddy will be here by tomorrow. Please calm down the whole village will get mad at us for not letting them sleep" Edward's wife, placed at the foot of a hill near the shrine, tried her best to calm her crying children, while she herself was crying inside, worried about her husband.
"Man, these kids are never going to sleepppp" The villager guarding with Gus, yelled out loudly with frustration.