Banished Pt. 06

She landed with a thud, but still within the lines of the ring, and even as I pursued, she quickly recovered, and as my spear came crashing down toward her, she rolled out of the way, and this time, her counter-swing landed on the unarmored spot just below my left leg.

It was a light tap, and I hardly moved, but if she'd landed that blow with one of our specially made weapons, the fight would be over, and I'd be missing a limb for the rest of my life.

I nodded in recognition of the blow, and she smiled, but the smile was quickly replaced with a look of determination.

But now that enough people had gathered... I figured it might just be time to end this.

I kept my eye on her, as we circled each other, slowly, and as she shifted her grip on her weapon, I struck; I aimed a thrusting attack directly at the spot, focusing as much of my strength and speed as I could, and the ferocity of the attack seemed to catch her completely off guard.

She tried to position her weapon in place, to block; but her weapon was my target, and as the blunted tip of my spear crashed into the midpoint of her own, a cracking sound rang out, as my attack cleaved the weapon in two.

Francesca's eyes went wide, but she recovered, breaking the weapon into two parts; she made a dual-swinging attack aimed at my neck from either side, and as I ducked under the blow, I tackled her, crashing into her breastplate with my shoulder, and as she fell to the ground, visibly winded, I rested my spear against her neck, and looked down on her, victoriously.

"Winner, Nathan!" Jordan called, and a series of cheers broke out from the Kobalt around us.

Francesca pouted, but as I tossed the spear aside, and offered her a hand, she took it, and as I hoisted her up, I pulled her into my arms and lifted her up a little, and spun her around to her delight.

"You were fantastic," I said, as she giggled, smiling and blushing.

I took her into my arms again, and brushed the side of her cheek with my hand.

"I lost though," she said, and I shrugged.

"I do have better armor," I reasoned. "Besides... somebody, I've been told, hasn't been resting properly, and keeps intruding on other people's watch time."

She blushed again at this, and I noted with pleasure, that many of the Kobalt who'd gathered to watch us fight, seemed to be watching the exchange between us with interest.

"I just want to be nearby in case I'm needed," she reasoned, and I nodded.

"I understand. But I want you to be well rested enough to fight when you're needed. Will you be fine with keeping watch now?" I asked, turning to Jordan, and he nodded.

"I've been here less than an hour now, I think. Francesca's been at it for most of the day, and Cameron and Nolan's watch is scheduled for the night. You should get some sleep. In a room," Jordan clarified, casting a stern glance at Francesca, and she frowned.

As she turned to leave, a somewhat dejected look on her face, I called out to her.

"Hey! Are you up for taking a soak in the baths before bed?" I asked, and she shot me a curious look.

"That depends. Will you be joining me?"

"Yeah," I replied, and she smiled teasingly.

"For the bath, or the bed?"

I smirked.

"Let's start with the bath and see how it goes," I offered, and she giggled, then headed away to the grove tree.

As Francesca left, Jordan retrieved his spear, and helped me clear up the supply area, before joining me at the supply cart itself.

"How are you holding up?" he asked, and I shot him a nervous smile, as I rubbed the back of my head.

"Just... keeping myself busy," I replied, and he nodded.

"I still feel stupid for letting Emily take over my watch," he admitted. "I didn't really care much about Candace, but Francesca was sleeping. Right here. Not sure if I could live with myself if something had happened to her."

I sighed.

"You were tired... we all were. She saw an opportunity from the chaos, and almost made us pay for it. We just need to make sure that we don't spread ourselves thin the next time we have a crisis to deal with. That's all... at least this time, we weren't made to pay with the loss of someone irreplaceable to us."

As we spoke, I noticed Raul's gaze on us, and I nodded at Jordan, before heading over to him, and he cast a quick look over to where Eradne had buried Emily, before turning back to me, as I took a seat beside him.

"That girl... the blond. Did she really kill the redhead?" he asked.

"Yep... right under your nose, no less."

He sighed, and I studied him.

"Do you miss your prisoner buddy? We were sending her away today, anyway."

"She was going to ask to stay; as a prisoner. Planned to earn your trust and actually join the group and everything."

I frowned.

"Not sure I'd have trusted her on that."

He sighed.

"She didn't really like Vanessa, but she didn't trust you."

"And you changed her mind?"

"Not intentionally. I just told her what you told me..."

He cast another wistful look over towards Emily's gravesite.

"That girl is exactly what I warned you about. Large groups, you get people like her... you put a knife in her hand, and she slits your throat first chance she gets."

"I know. That was the risk. Of course, me giving her a weapon without properly vetting her didn't help. But we've got a reliable core now; and that'll only become stronger as we filter out the elements that can't co-exist with the group as a whole."

I nodded at him suggestively as I spoke, and he snickered.

"So, I still have a chance, despite almost killing that other one?"

"Bianca," I said, and he sighed.

"If it helps, I do feel bad... I just felt this anger in me ever since the day you and that girl told me that I'm never leaving this hell."

"I wouldn't say never... but if we are leaving, it's not going to be through the ways we currently think we can. And if you truly feel bad, could I ask you to apologize to Bianca?"

He nodded.

"For what it's worth, I really am sorry."

As I stood up, Gisela waved me over as she caught sight of me, and I bowed slightly before leaving Raul and heading over to her side.

"Is it done?" I asked, and she gestured to the device.

It was a thin, tall wooden pole, with two wooden bars sticking out horizontally at a right angle, and fixed to the top of the vertical pole.

The two bars were connected at the ends by another bar, along which notches had been cut, with a little wooden marker sticking out at the center.

Moving to the device, I held my hands out in search of the 'wandering' and 'constant' zenith, and after finding the two points, I aligned the wooden marker with the constant zenith, and using my other hand, I determined that the wandering zenith was between the seventh and eighth hour of the afternoon.

Finally.

A clock!

As I breathed a sigh of relief, Gisela studied the device with some appreciation.

"This device is most useful, Auslander," she noted, and I nodded.

"Can it be dismantled? For travel?" I asked, and she quickly passed the concern on to Matthias.

"He says it can be made as such. I will ensure it is done in time for our departure."

I nodded, then bowed to the two, as I left them to their work, and headed for the grove.

The few hours of sleep I'd gotten in the cave that morning had scarcely been enough, and now my mental fatigue was quickly catching up with my physical exhaustion.

As I got the grove, however, I caught sight of Nolan, sitting with Myrinne, the girl from the council, and Johann, the elder Kobalt man who'd been to the far-off places where we were considering settling down.

"Hey," I said, as I headed over to the trio. "How're things progressing?"

"Getting an idea of what to expect without a map is pretty difficult, but I think there might be a map of some kind that we can use at our next destination."

"That's good, but... shouldn't you be resting up for the night watch with Cameron?" I asked.

Nolan shook his head, smiling a little.

"No. Cameron and I had a chat, and your uh, 'council' decided it'd be best if I was taken off the watch to focus on the mapping stuff for now."

"Huh... so Cameron's on the night watch alone?" I asked, and he shook his head.

"Jeannie's going to join her."

I nodded, as she wasn't a bad option, and I was fairly certain we could at the very least trust her.

"Are you sure you're okay with that?" I asked, and he rubbed the back of his head.

"About that... can we talk?" he asked, and I nodded.

He excused himself from the table, and we walked across the large hallway to the far wall of the room.

"Look, I think I owe you an apology. Cameron's important to me... she has been for a long time now. I... kind of felt a little worried that she was jumping into something with you, and... well, she has a long history of making some really bad choices when it comes to romantic interests, and I was just being a little bit overprotective."

"I understand," I said, and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad that she has someone to look out for her like that."

He nodded.

As I turned to walk away, however, something came to me, and I turned my attention back to Nolan.

"Hey, I haven't really seen you or Jordan take any baths yet," I said, and he sighed.

"Between watch, and the baths being occupied during the day, I don't think we had much time to," he said, sighing, and I snickered.

"You can use them at night, you know. Just keep a small weapon close by."

Nolan tilted his head, then smiled, and nodded appreciatively.

"Thanks. I think we might do that, then," he said.

I gave him a final wave, before heading up to the rooms to look for Francesca, but as I walked past the corridor and headed towards her room, I heard her voice from somewhere off to my left.

That's... Molly's room, isn't it?

I thought about heading to her room to wait for her, but the sounds of laughter caught my attention, and I quickly found my curiosity being piqued by the din.

I cast a quick look about the corridor, before stepping a little closer to the door.

"Trust me, he won't be able to resist," Molly said.

"I dunno... I just think he sees me as a kid, or something," Francesca said.

"Oh puh-lease. Guys only pretend with that whole 'kid sister' thing. The fact that you're younger probably drives him nuts! He's just playing hard to get."

"Really? What do you think?" Francesca asked, seemingly directing the question at someone else, and as I strained, I managed to pick up Evie's reply.

"I dunno. I mean, I'm okay with him watching, but... maybe we shouldn't focus too much on this stuff. Especially with everything that's going on..."

Sensible, I thought.

"Oh, stop being such a kill-joy! The fact that we could die at any time is what makes this so urgent, right?"

"I guess," Francesca answered. "I mean... it's not that its urgent. I... I just wish we had more time together, sometimes. It doesn't have to be that in particular, you know?"

"Trust me, sweetie," Molly replied. "He'll make lots of time for you by the time we're done with him."

The three girls giggled a little, and I quickly made my way down the hallway to Francesca's room.

I knocked on the door, then pretended to wait, before calling out as if I expected her to be in her room, and sure enough, her head quickly poked out of Molly's room.

"Hey," she said, and I turned around, feigning surprise.

"Hey. There you are," I said, and she smiled. "Are you getting ready for that bath? I thought I'd come up and show you what to do with your armor."

"Yeah. Is it okay if Molly and Evie join us for the bath, though?" she asked, and I snickered.

"Sure. I don't see why not. Although... I was kind of under the impression that we were gonna get some alone time," I countered, and she smiled.

"We will."

She stepped out of the room, and I followed as she led me into her room.

"Are you still commando under there?" I asked, and she blushed.

"Only up here," she said, tapping the breastplate, and I snickered.

We started by taking off her arm guards, and as I showed her Gisela's trick for folding them up into little slivers, her eyes lit up.

"Fucking hell. These things really are something," she noted.

I passed her one of the satchels that came with the survivor gear set, and we quickly stripped off most of her armor, leaving the breastplate for last.

"Will you do the honors?" she asked, as she held up her hands, and stuck her tongue out at me.

"If you don't hold one of the plates in place, it could fall on your toes," I warned, shaking my head disapprovingly, and she pouted, as she held the front of the breastplate in place.

I undid the straps, then removing the back plate, I set it down on the table, and just as she seemed about to turn around, I moved behind her, and rested a hand on the naked bit of flesh just above her hip.

"You know, you need to start taking much better care of yourself," I chided.

Her shoulder slumped a little, and I placed my lips against the bare skin there, not in a kiss, but just letting them brush against her skin as she swayed a little in my arms.

"I guess I have been overdoing it, huh..."

"Understatement of the year," I chided, and she chuckled a little.

"I can't help it... I just want you to look at me," she said, and I slipped my hand to the edge of her breastplate, just at her side, under her arm, and as I kissed her shoulder this time, I dipped my hand beneath the armor, and as it came into contact with a soft bit of flesh; the outer swell of a breast, I massaged the spot, and she cooed.

"It's an unfortunate fact that my role demands that my eyes be everywhere at once," I began, but as I turned Francesca around, and stared into her eyes, I continued, "but I'm looking at you now..."

She blushed, and as she hugged the front plate of her armor, I leaned in and kissed her, and as we broke apart, she sighed wistfully onto my lips.

"Am I dreaming?" she asked, and as I shook my head, she studied me, a cautious expression subtly hidden beneath her smile. "Are you just teasing me, then?"

I shook my head again, as I rested the palm of my hand against her cheek.

"Unless you no longer want to, I wish to spend tonight with you," I confessed, and she studied me, swaying a little as she smiled.

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Emily," I answered. "When she said that she could have killed you, it really struck me... you were asleep, right there... right where I asked you to sleep. And I wasn't there to look over you."

"Your presence was needed elsewhere," she reasoned, and I nodded.

"And it probably will be again... but it's not needed anywhere else tonight."

"So, this is a 'we could die at any time' kind of thing?" she asked, and I shook my head.

"This is a 'I'm done pretending I don't want you' kind of thing," I answered, and she blushed.

"You want me?"

"Yes."

"You always wanted me...?"

"Yes."

She studied me for a bit, biting her lip as she did.

"Well? What're you waiting for?" she asked.

She let the front panel of her armor fall away from her chest, and as she threw the item aside, I drank in the view of her naked breasts, licking my lips hungrily as I did.

She backed away from me, beckoning me with her eyes as she did, and as I followed, I wrapped my arms around her lower body, and hoisted her up just as she backed into the far wall of the room, and as I held her, I buried my face into her neck, and kissed the sensitive spot passionately.

She moaned, and as I lifted her higher up, I ran my kisses along her chest, to the two perky breasts that stood proudly on her chest.

Her nipples were stiff, and as I alternated my sucking kisses between the two peaks, I took a moment to appreciate the wonderfully aesthetic nature of her sleek, tanned skin.

"You are beautiful," I noted, and she moaned her appreciation into my lips, as she kissed me hungrily in response.

"I know you'll probably tease me for being young, but I've never had my breasts sucked on before," she admitted, and I smiled.

"Then I hope you don't mind if I kiss more than just your breasts."

As we continued to kiss, our tongues dancing in the muted afternoon light inside her room, however, I suddenly noticed another presence; or rather, a prying pair of eyes, taking in our passionate exchange with interest.

"It's not polite to stare," I called, and a muted gasp came from the doorway, which quickly pulled shut.

"Fuck. Those two are incorrigible," Francesca said, as she pulled away from my grasp, and went to the door.

"Who was that?" I asked, and she sighed.

"Molly... maybe Evie too?"

I snickered.

"Oh, I see... I knew that Molly was a bit of an exhibitionist, but I didn't quite peg her for voyeurism too."

"How do you know that?" Francesca asked, studying me with surprise.

"I sort of caught her and Evie going at it last night; in the changing area down by the baths."

"So, that was you!" Molly called, and I snickered as the door creaked open, and the girl stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips. "You know, you could have just stuck around and enjoyed the show."

I chuckled, as her eyes darted between me, and the now semi-nude Francesca, an intriguing look on her face.

"So, am I getting an invite to this soiree?" Molly asked, and I snickered, as a timid looking Evie crept up behind her, and peeked in at the scene.

"Well, Francesca is the first timer here... so I'm leaving that request up to her," I said.

As I turned to her, she shrugged, and the girls quickly filed into the room, giggling as they pulled the door shut.

"First times aside... we've kind of been thinking about doing a little something special for you," Francesca explained, as I cast a questioning look between her and the two other girls.

"Something special?" I asked, and the girls nodded.

"To thank you for taking us in..." Molly explained. "And for everything else you do for us. We kind of noticed that you've been really working hard to make sure everything runs smoothly, you know?"

"Well, I do appreciate the gesture, but you all don't really need to do anything... sexual, I mean. I don't want your experience with us to be anything like what you went through with Vanessa."

"Our time here, even with Emily's craziness, has been heaven compared to that," Evie said, and I sighed.

"Speaking of Emily... maybe we can help you forget that whole thing?" Molly suggested. "Do we have permission to disarm you?"

I snickered a little, then raised my arms in a show of surrender, and the girls quickly began to strip my armor away, giggling as they did.

I shot Francesca a quick look, silently asking whether or not she was okay with this, and she quickly nodded.

"To tell you the truth, I was a little nervous," she admitted, and I smiled.

Not as if I'm complaining, I thought.

Though I probably could have helped her navigate those nerves, if we had the time to ourselves.

With my armor removed and carefully put away, the girls began to examine my body, and Molly in particular seemed quite amazed by my new muscular tone.

"Wow... you say our implants do this?" she asked, and as I nodded, her eyes flicked to my lower regions, and she licked her lips. "Does it... 'enhance' anything else?"

I snickered, then shrugged.

"If you mean size, I'll let you be the judge of that... but I have learned a few tricks to improve performance."

"Really? Like what?" she asked.

"Like being able to cum literal bucketloads repeatedly in succession," I explained, and Molly's eyes lit up.

"Yeah? I'm definitely testing that one," she said, as Evie shot her a questioning look. "Francesca? Do you wanna do the honors?"

Molly gestured to my shorts, and Francesca nodded.

She helped me slip my shorts off, and as my tool sprang into view, Molly gave a suggestive 'ooo' in appreciation.