Afterlife

12

Fiara had decided to use the same location as she usually saw Santino use for his night watches, figuring that if he thought it was a good one, it must be true. Plus, she just liked the view from this specific spot, and it also held a strong memory for her. It was on that exact spot that she had asked Santino to join their group, that first night at the treehouse. Things had changed so much since then. She'd learned how to fight, but more than that, she'd come to see some of the group members as part of her own family. Some members however she was still unsure of. Namely Santino and Topaz. Topaz seemed like she was a trustworthy person who would always be there when your life was on the line, but aside from that, there was just so much about her that she didn't know, and Santino was another story altogether.

It seemed like every day she was learning something new about him, and every time she did, she wasn't sure how to take the information. He was an unknown as far as his original cause of death goes, so that could mean anything. He was one of the original creators of the group, who many outsiders assumed to be that actual leader, when in reality he was more like the number one to Connie's Captain Picard... and yes, that was a Star Trek reference... don't judge me. The most recent bit of information she uncovered, however, is the one that is bothering her the most. Supposedly, Santino trained himself, yet now that she'd seen him fight with her own eyes, or at least what he considered enough to test someone who'd only had three weeks worth of training, and having seen that, she decided that there was no way he learned all that on his own. True he wasn't doing that much, due to the darkness obscuring him from her view, he didn't have to show off any crazy moves to avoid her attacks, but it was how quick he was, along with how precise his movements and actions were which, to her, hinted at the chance of there being another person behind those moves. When she brought this up to Connie, she denied it, but she could tell that there was something that Connie wasn't telling her. So the real question was, why? Why not trust her with the truth? It could be that Connie, herself, didn't know the full truth, and as a result of that chose not to say anything with the chance of it turning out to be wrong. Regardless, there were many questions Fiara wanted answered, and she intended to get them the moment the others got back.

Most of the night had gone smoothly with little to no movement spotted in the forest at all. Sometimes during the group switch outs smaller threats would find an opening to sneak into the city limits, but so far there hadn't been any that Fiara knew of. It was possible that when Santino and the others went out, they put this into account, and as thus managed to hold any unwanted guests at bay even during the switch.

Then, just as Fiara was about to go pour herself a cup of coffee, to help her get through the night, she caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning back to face the direction where she believed to have seen the movement, she leaned over the rail slightly, squinting to get a better look at the creature causing the movement. She couldn't see it perfectly due to the darkness, but there was definitely something moving in the brush about one hundred yards away. She knew she should go check it out, but first she had to make sure that the rest of the area was clear, so standing up straight again, she glanced around in every direction surrounding the treehouse for anything that could hold a higher priority than the movement she'd noticed. Finding nothing she looked once again in the direction she'd seen the movement to make a mark of its position in her mind. Once that was done, she made her way over to one of the emergency decent devices (EDDs) to reach the ground in a timely fashion. Each level of the treehouse had at least one or two of these devices, which were a requirement in IP homes. Essentially it was a pully system attached to a counterweight that would allow a person to get from the upper levels of the treehouse to the ground in one quick trip, rather than needing to spend all that extra time climbing down the ladders. All you had to do was grab hold of the rope and jump, then the rope would take you safely to the ground, and once you released the rope, the counterweight would bring the handle back up to the top for the next use.