Chereads / Rise Of A New Age / Chapter 35 - Ballot

Chapter 35 - Ballot

Who can you trust, who couldn't you trust?

Many had to ask these questions in some point in their lives, but to discover you couldn't trust them in the end was probably as worst as it could get. Because in the end they are the last one that you see before entering eternal slumber.

As the day begins to darken, along with it came clouds that brought forth a light rain shower. The inhabitants of the community took notice to this, as a cool breeze hugged their frames. It was rather coincidental that rain would fall due to what was going on outside with the blind being so riled up.

Ripper and Malice were calmly talking while a silhouette moved away before they could be seen. The darkness of the rain that was falling and the cloudy skies helped hide this figure as they ran into the herds of herbivores that made there home in the community.

"He is really starting to annoy me.", spoke Malice as she looked at Ripper.

"Be patient, come tomorrow the vote will happen.", replied Ripper as he smirked. "Just a little longer."

Malice sneered at what was said, she nodded as her eyes held such hostility. "Yes, just a little longer."

The light pattering of rain was starting to pick up in pace, the water would find smooth surfaces and slowly fall down to the ground. Razzak was feeling the rain fall as it came down upon him, he was also certain that the others living here were getting the same treatment as him.

Droplets of water fell from his jaw, removing any dirt and dust that was on his muscular frame.

The day was now getting darker and with the rain it was harder to see anything. Lockjaw was looking outside, his eyes were narrowed sharply for he was desperately trying to listen for any kind of sound. Adder frowned as his body began to take a wet tone, thanks to the rain of course.

"You think the blind will attack?", asked Adder looking serious.

"No doubt that they will.", growled Lockjaw.

Grim looked outward as he stood in between Lockjaw and Adder, his eyes took on a hardened look. "I will go around and scout the wall."

Adder looked surprised, "Not by yourself!"

Lockjaw looked at Grim with a harsh look. Now was not the time to do anything recklessly. "I think that is the wrong call."

Grim snorted as he walked outside, and Adder tried to stop him but froze up when Grim glared at him. "I will go out and stop anything that I see. Kill them if I have too. At least show them that we mean business!"

Rigor looked at Grim, his eyes showed his concern. "But in this weather...?"

Grim turned away, he began to walk along the wall. "I wanna do this. If you hear me then you know they are up to something."

Lockjaw snapped at him, "By making yourself as bait! What the hell!"

Grim didn't say anything as he continued forward, which left Lockjaw snarling loudly. "The arrogant fool!"

Clade looked at him, his eyes looked serious. "That maybe, but at least he is trying to help?"

Adder frowned as kept staring out into the darkness, "Help sure but if something happens to him then..."

Rigor looked down before saying, "I will go with him."

Lockjaw looked at him firmly much like Clade, Rigor seeing the two looks frowned. "I wanna go!"

"No, it would be best to wait and hear for him.", spoke Clade as he looked at Rigor. "Besides, if you went and something were to happen we would be down two irreplaceable members."

Rigor looked frustrated as he clicked his teeth.

Lockjaw looked outward as the rain became a little stronger, "We need to be on alert, in case something does happen."

Was it reckless to do something rather than not doing anything? Would the outcome be the same no matter what?

These thoughts many asked, some even fear more on doing anything until it was to late.

Bloodmaw was laying down with the others, despite Gambit of course. The raptor was still recovering according to Ahnyx. Scarface and Jr were also not there with them, for they needed rest. Bloodmaw was glad that Jr was okay, though the news about the blind clearly got under his skin. Normally, the blind weren't so rushed into doing things. It was rather odd. It was also very quiet seeing that most of the others were still doing things. Nina was a little concerned, and she was worried for Adder but Harmony was there for her much like a friend should.

Both of their mates were keeping watch tonight, they had been keeping watch just about every night and day. So it was normal for them to be worried. Speaking of worried, Ruby decided to stay near Scarface so it was a little more quiet than normal without the two of them.

The behemoth was laying down, he made sure to shield Belle from the rain with his head which seemed to be working. A little rain never hurt anyone, though herbalist would argue. Even Belle argued with the behemoth but he wouldn't take no for a answer.

Devastate was tough. Very tough.

"The vote will be happening, you excited?", asked Scalpmuzzle who smiled a tad.

Bloodmaw blinked and he smirked, "Excited to help those here? Sure."

Scalpmuzzle smiled and Cripple nodded looking happy about that answer. "There is no one better than you!"

Ahnyx chuckled at her words. "You forget there is another one running?"

Cripple scoffed as she smiled, "He is going to lose!"

Gullet was asleep as the others conversed. He was not the only one sleeping, for Swiftscale and Ebony were sleeping as well with Eden and Enyo. They were all cuddled together to keep warm, seeing that the rain was a little chilly. Goong has found himself being comfortable with them, he was also a friend to Ahnyx as well. The both of them would talk about Gambit sometimes, since the raptor was always the main topic that they discussed about.

That and Goong didn't like Gambit. All that much.

Bloodmaw chuckled, "The quicker we sleep, the quicker the vote happens."

Scalpmuzzle pointed at the rex, "Knew it! You are excited!"

There was a comfortable laughter among them, they would talk for a little bit more before going to sleep.

As some got ready for sleep or talked, there were others who were rather skittish. Hawkeye took notice of a skittish individual who was pacing back and forth while the other herbivores slept.

"What's got you riled up there stranger?", asked Hawkeye as he looked at the other herbivore.

He blinked when they jumped and looked at him, his colorations were hard to see thanks to the rainfall.

A corythosaurus was looking at him, his eyes were cloudy due to him having a lot on his mind. He was also fidgeting while standing on his hind legs. "N-nothing I just had a nightmare...yeah a nightmare!"

Hawkeye tilted his head as he walked closer, "Do you wish to talk about it?"

The corythosaurus shook his head as he nervously laughed, "N-no! I will try going to sleep okay!"

Hawkeye looked at him before nodding, he turned around to return to Rain but was stopped by a voice and he looked back.

"Actually I don't know what to do...", spoke the corythosaurus who looked discouraged.

Hawkeye taking notice of this turned around, he approached him as he nodded. "I will try to help, another herbivore to another."

The corythosaurus smiled lightly, though he was still nervous. "Thank you for your kindness. Oh boy where do I start?"

Hawkeye smiled some, "From the beginning."

There was a pause for a moment and the corythosaurus was thinking long and hard on what to say. He soon sighed as he began to speak, "I saw something, something odd? I saw two from here hide what appeared to be something the other night..."

Hawkeye looked surprised by this news, "Do you know what it is that they hid?"

The corythosaurus fidgeted some, "I think it was a body, I mean don't we usually hide bodies of the deceased? But that was what threw me off! It was only two and from the looks of it, they didn't dig the hole deep enough?"

Hawkeye looked down at the news, he was quite shaken up by it. He looked at him and he looked serious. "We will have to tell Amberhide."

Both herbivores decided to discuss the news with Amberhide, once the rain eases up. If someone had died, the community would of done a better job at burying the body. The fact that there was only two hiding the body, made it seem like they didn't want anyone to notice. But why?

For quite sometime the rain continued and it seemed like it was not going to let up anytime soon. However, it slowed down to a almost complete stop the moment that the darkened sky became brighter thanks to the arriving morning. Though, the clouds remained which gave the morning a rather gloomy atmosphere.

Many were waking up earlier that morning, after all it was time for the vote. The vote on who would lead the community.

Amberhide had gotten Bloodmaw and Ripper to stand in the center of attention, all of the inhabitants eyes of the community were all on them. Lockjaw and the others were allowed to leave their posts for a short time while this was happening. This was the first time that something like this was happening, though similar to how clan leaders were chosen but this was different. The only difference was that they were voting for the leader.

Luckily nothing happened last night, and Grim did a good job protecting the wall even though it was rather reckless. He was of course scolded by Lockjaw the moment he had returned.

Razzak was watching the wall temporarily, though he didn't see anything that was alarming. Not yet anyway.

"Alright! The vote will now happen! Please don't change your mind last minute either!", smiled Amberhide who was going around to hear everyone's answer.

Herbivores. Carnivores. Piscivores.

They were all gathered for the vote which was another interesting thing, since they were never seen together before. This was truly a great change.

There was conversations that went on while this was happening, it was clear that they were talking about who they were choosing and why. Cripple smiled much like the others who supported Bloodmaw, they didn't need to hide it either. They were proud on who they were picking.

Bloodmaw stood there looking calm and patient, many could see why he was a clan leader before. While Ripper stood there in a tall but confident posture, he was clearly showing that he was not scared of being a leader.

A leader who was not scared would greatly change the views of others into believing that there was nothing to be scared of. That was what Ripper was showing. While Bloodmaw was offering something else to the community, he wanted to be the voice for the others big or small. Herbivore or Carnivore as well as Piscivore. He was going to be strong yet compassionate, serious when needed and understanding.

This was the time that the community would change from here on out, and it depended on who would win.

As Amberhide moved from one to another, Hawkeye stood beside the corythosaurus who had shared somethings with him about what he had saw. Rain stood beside Hawkeye as she waited for her turn to tell who she was going to pick. The names only seemed to bring tension and great interest.

"Bloodmaw." "Bloodmaw." "Bloodmaw."

"Ripper." "Ripper." "Ripper."

Malice was in the crowd, she had her eyes locked on Ripper the whole time much like the rest who supported Ripper. Thrash was smirking coyly watching the event unfold much like Juggernaut and Razer. Helm and Dingo on the other hand were there as they chatted to each other. This was truly a sight to see.

Wraith stood beside Gambit, and she showed light surprise when Scarecrow shared his vote. "Bloodmaw."

Scarecrow glanced at Wraith and their eyes met for only a second.

This clearly gained looks from Ripper and Fiend. Malice included.

The tension only seemed to grow as the voting continued.