Late into the afternoon, life in the settlement was just about as normal as it could be. The children were playing in the streets, the women went about their business, and many of the men had returned from the hunt.
The only thing that really stood out was the strange man who was rescued by the hunters. He was the reason some of the hunters had not returned. In the Rae family, two women were busying themselves taking stock of new deliveries.
Alma and Claire had worry in their heart. Both their men had not returned. Both were worried about the worst thing happening, only, their thoughts were worlds apart.
Claire loved Felix. Despite them not having much, they had managed to build a good life. He was the man for her. Even after all these years, whenever they are together, she still felt ... seen.
She was a foreigner in this planet, with demons in her past, yet Felix Rae was a true blue planet Tres native. Perhaps that might be a stretch, but his father, grandfather and great-grandfather lived in this little planet. This was all he knew, yet his naivety and simple nature served to guide her into the light, after facing one of the darkest times in her life.
She was pretty, she knew that. She also had that authority that came with being a medical practitioner. She could be intimidating. Yet he had torn through all her defenses like they were thin paper with his charming smile and playful banter. Even now, she still found him to be incredibly attractive, and still bursts out laughing at his jokes, as if its the funniest thing. Oh, lets not forget that Felix Rae had certain skills, the kind that would make a wife sleep with a smile on her face.
"Hey, share the joke," Claire found herself chuckling at that, which made Alma ask what she was thinking about.
"Oh, nothing, just missing someone," she said, as she packed up the little chemicals. Just as she was about to rise, Alma grabbed her hands and said, "Don't worry, he's with some pretty tough people."
"You mean the guy we just pulled away from death's door?" Claire asked blandly.
"He's faced worse things," Alma retorted defensively.
"I'm just saying, my Felix is pretty tough too," Claire answered.
"I didn't mean to imply that he's not..." Alma explained, feeling as though she'd misspoken.
"Look, let's stop arguing about that, you're pretty worried to," Claire said something Alma couldn't refuse. By now, the women had finished packing up the merchandise, so Claire reached for her purse and turned to the merchant.
Usually, in such settlements, people did not want to go to town. Hence, there were merchants who would fill up their cars with all manner of merchandise, and then go hawking it through the settlements.
"Here you go," Claire said as she handed her coin to the merchant. They had already haggled, and he'd already handed her the receipts, so all that was left to do was pay, as she did she asked, "by the way, you said your name was?"
"Glenn," the man simply said, giving her a friendly smile. "I'll be moving around here a lot, so how about you put in a good word to your neighbors and friends."
"Wonderful, we need more merchants," Claire said, ecstatic. A wandering merchant's life is not one that many would choose. As the man turned, his friendly smile had a certain sharpness about it, something that did not escape Alma's subconscious notice.
Ever had one of those feelings where you realize there's something about someone that you cannot put a pin on it? Well, rich and powerful women were perhaps the ultimate masters of subterfuge, making her very keen to someone's micro-expressions.
Duma, masquerading as Glenn, may have controlled his micro expressions, but he couldn't hide his excitement. After several days of deep scanning the riverbed, all he'd discovered were abandoned supplies.
Just as he was giving up, he noticed a commotion. A group of hunters were rushing back from the forest. Since this was within the area of his search, he was naturally curious. He soon discovered that the group were carrying someone back to their settlement.
Suffice it to say that, Duma was naturally intrigued. The wounded man was definitely a person of interest. However, how wound Duma and his team infiltrate the settlement? Long story short, Duma ended donning the merchant masquerade.
So far, he had managed to make contact with the village healers, which was his intention. He planned to maintain this cover for as long as it was needed, as it gave him the perfect excuse to come and go as he pleased. He could also ask about the settlement, as a way to know more about his customers.
However, as he had no idea that he was The mantis that stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. He had already raised all kinds of alarms in the primary target's mind, before he even met the real target.
Just as old Duma was about to find some shelter for the evening, a commotion suddenly started on the far edge of the settlement. There were quite a number of hovercrafts coming from the direction of Heart Lake city.
"Look, that's Laventine company Logo on that craft."
"Don't you have eyes, can't you see there are quite a number of crafts spotting that logo."
"Look, what is that company logo? Is it part of Laventine."
"No, I don't think so, it should be a different company. Probably a new one."
"I remember seeing the company logo before, but I don't know where."
"Of course you don't know, who are you trying to impress. The last time you left the settlement, my daughter was not even born."
Seeing so many hovercrafts, the settlement residents were both shocked and excited. Even Duma never expected to see such a line up in such a backwater place. Suddenly he remembered something.
Could all this be connected the the battle of the five families?