The morning was filled with noise from the captured camp, as the city soldiers were preparing to move out once again. Leon was examining the outskirts of their encampment, as the wind swayed the trees of the forest ahead. Through the sole road, would their army have to travel on in order to gain more ground and continue the assault within the nation. The only issue would be the limited amount of space on the road to move effectively or even the condition of Youden's own soldiers within the interior. But still, it could be done.
"Did you hear the news?" Hops managed to join his side, "About Jamal?"
"No, what happened?" Leon turned to learn more.
"Apparently, something happened last night and he was enraged about something. But he wouldn't tell us anymore about it." Hops looked at the ground with a worried look. "It also doesn't help to say this, but we're getting reports of an attack back at the city."
"Really?" Leon looked at him with more concern. "This is getting more and more costly."
"If we lose any of those resources that had been helping us in the first place, then we're screwed."
As they were talking, more shouting could be heard towards the center of the camp, as the pair looked down to see a circle forming between two individuals. Squinting his eyes, Leon could see a furious Jamal, light steam trailing from his nose, and what appeared to be a woman confronting him. Looking toward Hops, the man watched him already start racing his way to the center, barely looking back.
"It's Alice!" Hops managed to tell him, before moving in between the tents and Leon losing sight, before he too decided to make his way towards the commotion.
.....
"Jamal, I am telling you right now, Ula is fine. I checked up on her before I teleported back here." Alice had her hands up, trying to calm him down.
"I don't believe you! She was out here with us!" Jamal pointed past the hills, "Where is she? I need to know!"
"Are you sure you're good? You're making a scene." Alice could note the growing crowd of city fighters.
"I'm making sure my family is okay! That's what I'm doing!" Jamal continued to press on with his barrage.
Before Jamal could continue with his rant, the advisors assigned with the advancing army joined the circle, as any other outburst or talking among the bystanders quieted down.
"Jamal, we have rather important news to discuss with everyone. If you wish to speak about what happened to you last night, then do so privately." one of the four advisors started off by saying.
"We need to let everyone know that thanks to our recon units, Youden's forces have been confirmed to have pulled back ten or so miles to the nearby village of Harler. This means that the longer we wait, the more time we give his army the ability to set up a stronger defense and additional planning to stop us." another of the advisors added, "So let's save the antics for any other time than now, and let's get a move on. Jamal, you need to start leading these forces on what we should do."
A bit surprised by their tone, Alice turned to see Jamal close his eyes in thought, before taking one deep final breath. The final streams of steam leaving his nostrils, the man opened his eyes before grumbling something to himself.
"Alright then, let's get to work and get what we came here for." Jamal began walking in the opposite direction, as the circle started to thin out, "Let's leave in an hour."
The army within his vicinity was well cleared out within a few minutes, and by the time Hops and Leon made their way toward Alice, she had already made her way toward her tent, although a bit off balance.
"Hey, you alright?" Hops managed to grab her side before she continue to stagger more.
"Oh, I didn't see you there." Alice went in a for quick kiss, "Nah, I just teleported back here after saving the city. I didn't know Jamal was going through one of his moods again, although something seemed off."
"Wait before that, you said you saved the city, how exactly?" Leon wanted to learn more about it.
"Well, when Youden's navy was bombarding us, they also brought a part of their aviation to bomb us even further. To make things short and to the point, I used up just about all my energy for something that would have taken hours in a few minutes. And as you can see, I'm still extremely tired even a day later."
"I know, you did well. Come, let's get you inside." Hops wasted no time having her stand, "Leon, make sure Brat, Heskins, and Fonda know what's going on."
Nodding, he made sure the couple was able to get inside before making his way toward finding the others. The time to strike was ever-shrinking, yet they had to use every possible advantage they had in order to truly succeed. They could never go back to how things went, and if Saputa was to return, then this attack would have to go down in near perfection.