"Let's head to the place with the Punctastars again." Woohee guides me through the woods to the more open area overrun with fungus. I slowly pick apart three of the star-shaped monsters for a few hours. I move very carefully not to get injured. It's just Woohee and me, so I won't be able to escape if something happens. I dissect the two smaller stars and throw the larger one across my back. Woohee remains quiet the whole time, so I ask her how she's doing.
"Woohee, are you alright? You're more quiet than usual."
"Woohee's worried about Sakura."
"Yeah, me too. We'll just have to talk it out with her when we get a chance."
Woohee still seems concerned. It could be that fairies don't have disagreements in the same way that humans do. This is just a normal aspect of our lives. Communication is one of the most important skills people develop. It impacts every aspect of your life. We'll no doubt be learning a lot from this incident either way.
We start walking back to town. There isn't anything we need at the den, so we head straight out of the forest. I say goodbye and head to the Adventurer's Guild. When I arrive, I meet with Shelly and sell off everything I've collected for five hundred Denarii. As I'm about to leave, I run into Sakura and Josh standing near the front door.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She's standing with her hands on her hips and her brow furrowed.
"You went back to town, so I went hunting."
"By yourself?" She's almost screaming at this point.
"Yeah, I just made sure to be careful. Punctastars aren't particularly dangerous monsters."
"How can you walk around the forest by yourself?!" Sakura waves her hands around in frustration.
"Why don't we take this somewhere private? We're making a scene."
'Smack!'
Sakura quickly walks up in front of me and smacks me across the face.
"You always do this! You just push everyone around!" The pain brings my full attention to the situation, so I keep my mouth shut and focus on everything she's saying. "We're supposed to be a party."
I keep my mouth shut and let her continue.
"How are we supposed to be a party when you don't trust us? You just tell everyone what to do without listening to anyone."
I want to argue with her, but I bite my tongue. She clearly has more to say.
"You just walk around in your own little world without letting anyone else in, and if anyone disagrees with you, then they're stupid."
Ouch…
Her words cut pretty deep, but I remain silent.
"And then you tell me to leave while you go hunting on your own?! Screw you, Nick!"
[I've heard similar complaints in my last life. I tend to predict what other people think or say and then make decisions based on that. Whether I'm right or not, I can see why she's upset. It would have been nice if she could have said this sooner, but it is what it is.]
"Okay, how about we vote on our decisions?" I break my silence and propose a solution.
"What do you mean?" With her rage abated momentarily, I jump on the opportunity to make my case.
"If that's how you feel, then we can each vote on what we want to do. This way, everyone is heard."
"I still think you're going to take advantage of this somehow but okay."
"All I can do is try to improve myself when my deficiencies are pointed out. If you aren't willing to work with me, then we can't be in the same party. I don't mean to hurt you or Josh, so you need to say something when you feel I'm crossing a line. I tend to keep pushing when I don't meet any resistance."
Sakura glares at me and puffs her cheeks. She turns to the third member of our party, who has yet to speak. "What do you think, Josh?"
"Okay!" Josh is clearly panicking as he has no idea how to resolve conflicts like this.
"I really hate how indecisive you are." Sakura sends an insult his way as well. I can only imagine how angry she is to do something like that.
"Okay." Sakura frowns at Josh's response and walks out the door.
"Hey, Josh. Here's your cut for the day. I pull one hundred and sixty-six coins out of the pouch in my hand and give them to Josh."
"But, we... I didn't do anything today."
"We're still a party, and you deserve a share of the spoils."
"Okay." Josh accepts the coin without further complaint. I can see he is still shaken from Sakura's outburst.
"Josh, you need to understand that we're still friends, okay?"
He nods.
"People get into arguments, and that's okay. Everything is okay. I wish Sakura would have talked with me about this before erupting, but dealing with others for a long time is difficult. This isn't the last time that something like this will occur. You need to calm down. Take a deep breath. Just trying to make everyone feel better isn't going to solve the underlying problem. You need to listen to everyone involved and try to come up with a solution. The only way to fix these things is to listen to each other."
"Okay."
"I'll see the two of you tomorrow, and we'll be fine. Make sure to bring some stone carving tools."
Josh nods again without meeting my eyes. I turn around and look at all the people watching us. It's frustrating to have so much attention drawn to our party, but I suppose it's unavoidable. I want to shout 'the fuck y'all lookin' at!' Like Ed from The Boondocks, but I just smile awkwardly and wave at the group of people now looking at me. A wash of shame heats my face as I walk out the door.
"Bye, Josh." I wave to the still flustered boy and make my way home. It's been more of an eventful day than I would've liked, but this should be a good learning opportunity for our party, so I can't complain too much. On my way home, I absentmindedly wander into a shop. Various glowing orbs in the window draw my attention, and I stumble inside.
"What can I do for you?"