01 | WARRIORS OF TRIKRU
trigedasleng in italics

SHE sat quietly against the wall of the empty hut, the same one where she had grown up in with her siblings. The living space was dark, even with the sun out early in the morning, with no candles lit as no one was around to light them. The place seemed abandoned when in reality the people who lived there were gone, most likely dead. Maybe it was better if they had died, so that they would not have had to go through the torture of captivity, but the mountain men, the ones in the suits of rubber, had gotten to them before she had the time to send word to the Commander.

It had been a few hours since the siege upon the delinquents from the sky, enough time for the message of the outcome of the war to reach the Commander in Polis. In the meantime, Irene tended to the wounded who were able to escape in time before they could have been captured by the Mountain Men, though after a while she decided to recollect herself in her childhood home as she awaited for the response of the Commander for reinforcements.

"You are wanted in the war room, some of the warriors want to know what we should do next," Indra stood at the entrance of the open doorway, glancing around the darkened room before reverting her gaze back to the young woman who had her head buried behind her knees with her back against the wall.

"I already told you that we must wait for the Commander's orders—"

"Irene," Indra interrupted, taking a few concerning steps towards the curled up being before her, and kneeled down next to her whilst gently placing her left hand upon the young warrior's shoulder in a comforting manner. "They just want to see you, they want to know if everything's going to be okay." The Trikru warrior paused as she felt Irene's body tense beneath her fingertips and watched as she lifted her head to reveal sad swollen eyes from the tears she had shed for her family.

"How am I supposed to console them when I don't even know if things are going to be okay," Irene shook her head as she clenched her jaw in anger. "Three-hundred of our warriors were burned alive or slaughtered by those Sky People, and the few who survived were either taken by the Mountain Men or managed to somehow crawl back to our clan barely alive. I don't know what to do next, Indra." Irene shrugged her right shoulder to rid herself of Indra's comforting touch before quickly standing up, wiping away the semi dried tears on her cheeks. "For now, tell them I've sent a scout back to scour the remnants of what's left from the battle, see if anyone is still there," causing Indra to simply nod once in confirmation as she watched Irene grab ahold of her weapons before following her outside, to which they were quickly approached by one of the village guards.

"The traitor, Lincoln, has returned. What should we do with him?" Irene furrowed her brows in confusion as she turned to Indra, who had a calculated look in her eyes before reverting her attention to the warrior.

"Lock him up, he will pay for his return soon enough, though I doubt he came alone." Indra paused as she turned to face Irene who closed her eyes momentarily and, with a sigh, opened them and nodded once in confirmation.

"Set guards on the outpost of the village, he wouldn't have come back willingly after what he's done. We will not take any chances, not this time, not again." Irene commanded, causing the warrior to nod and thus quickly headed back to his post outside of the village, bringing with him a few more guards for security. Indra eyed Irene once more before following the warrior to where the entrance of the village resided.

     Irene stood in her place and pursed her lips as she thought about how Indra had told her about Lincoln, and how he had betrayed his people by aiding their enemy. She had not seen him in a few years, since she left for Polis to serve the Commander, though from her memories of him she could not wrap her head around the thought of him betraying his people as they were all he's ever known. All they've ever known.

     Though the young warrior soon pulled herself together and followed after Indra, watching as Lincoln's unconscious body was taken in to where they held the prisoners. Irene pursed her lips and held a faintly worried expression before continuing her walk to the outer gate and waited next to Indra, until two figures in the distance appeared not long after Lincoln's arrival. As the two slowly made their way to the entrance, Irene held in a gasp as she recognized one of them to be Nyko, the village's last healer. She soon realized how he had a sword held to his throat as the smaller figure behind him appeared to be a young girl. Though she was not of Trikru.

     "I am Octavia of the Sky People, and you have something I want," she shouted in trigedasleng, causing Irene and Indra to share curious looks upon their faces before Indra nodded solemnly to the nearby soldiers as she walked out, revealing herself to the young girl. Irene soon followed Indra out into the open as well, training her eyes upon the young sky girl.

     "I am Indra, and this is Irene, of the Tree Clan. What do you want?" Indra questioned, though tilted her head in the slightest as she realized how Octavia of the Sky People was not completely fluent in their language.

     "She must be here for Lincoln, Indra." Irene muttered quietly, causing Indra to nod in confirmation, before she and Indra descended the sloping hill towards the threatening sky girl.

     "I said what do you want, Octavia of the Sky People?" Indra repeated herself in English.

     "Lincoln." Octavia replied, a demanding tone in her voice as she tightened her grip on Nyko, causing Irene to clench her jaw tightly as she glanced between the archers and the sword against the village healer's neck.

     "No." Indra replied in a matching tone of voice, causing Octavia to kick Nyko in back of his legs which forced him to kneel upon the dirt floor.

     "Wait," Indra commanded the archers as they prepared to release their arrows towards the young girl before them.

     "You don't have to do this," Irene reassured as she took a cautious step forward, though Indra quickly placed an arm in front her whilst shaking her head as she believed how her negotiation tactic was not going to work with their healer's life at risk.

     "Enough. Nyko is our only healer." Indra attempted to reason, which only fueled Octavia's motive for being at their doorstep.

     "Good. Then you'll do as I say." Octavia then proceeded to pull Nyko's head back, exposing his neck to the blade. Irene furrowed her brows in an angered yet worried expression as she felt slightly hopeless to the situation. She had faith in the archers surrounding the young woman though she feared, if need be, they would shoot their arrows too late. "Bring Lincoln to the place I saw him last. He knows where that is. Just you two and him. No one else. If I see anyone else," Octavia yelled out, emphasizing her words. "I'll kill your healer. You have until dark." Octavia then murmured for Nyko to stand and thus dragged him out of sight and back into the woods they came from.

     "We have to follow them, she could kill Nyko at any moment." Irene gritted her teeth together as she angrily signaled for the archers to be on the lookout in case the sky girl came back with Nyko before reverting her attention back to Indra, waiting for her response.

     "It will be no use following them, she'll kill Nyko if we don't bring her Lincoln." Indra stated as she made her way back into the village, followed by Irene who wore a puzzled expression.

"So what do you suggest we do? Bring Lincoln to her? After what you claimed he had done?" Irene stopped walking as she realized where they were headed, to the prisoner camp. Indra slowed to a stop as well before turning around to face Irene, a stern and calculated gaze lingering in her eyes.

"That's exactly what we are going to do." Indra stated simply before continuing her walk to the prison camp with a few guards, leaving Irene to stand alone wondering what the Trikru warrior was truly thinking. Though Irene would soon have her answer as she and Indra allowed Lincoln to lead them in bonds to where Octavia would be with Nyko during nightfall.

"You never came to see me when you came back from Polis," Lincoln murmured to Irene as the two trailed ahead of Indra, who was still wary about allowing Lincoln to go free.

"Well you never told me you were a traitor too now did you?" Irene snapped back in a whisper as she eyed the forestry around her with caution.

"Are we getting closer?" Indra finally spoke, after a few minutes of remaining silence, glancing around the trees they passed before approaching a small elongated clearing where Octavia and Nyko stood at the end. Irene sighed in relief as she saw how Nyko was still in one piece.

"He's hurt." Octavia claimed harshly as she pulled the sword closer to Nyko's neck, causing Irene to unsheathe her own sword from her back as she held it up to Lincoln's chest threateningly.

"He should be dead." Indra retorted calmly, while Lincoln looked between Indra and Irene, before nodding once to Irene as a signal to sheathe her sword to which she readily complied.

"For the record, you never came to see me either." Irene whispered quietly, causing Lincoln to pause momentarily before he began walking towards Octavia, who then released Nyko at the same time. The healer had almost made it to Irene and Indra when Lincoln noticed a Reaper coming towards him and Octavia. Irene clenched her jaw as she unsheathed her sword once more and held a defensive position around Indra as reapers began attacking all around them. "Indra get down!" Irene shouted before clashing swords with an attacking reaper. She fought against a few more before she was slammed into the floor by two reapers simultaneously, causing her to go unconscious.

     Though when Irene came to, she realized she was back at the village in her childhood home. The sun was peaking in through the open doorway, letting streaks of light in to light up certain areas of the living space. Irene winced as she carefully lifted herself up from the cot she laid on and looked around the room and noticed how her bow and arrows, as well as her sword, were placed upon the center table. She quickly changed her bloodied clothes from the Reaper ambush from the night before, readied her weapons and went out to the entrance of the village where Indra was already assembling a small group of their people.

     "What's going on? Indra, what happened?" Irene uttered as she rubbed at her right temple, still feeling slightly lightheaded from how hard she had been hit the night before. Indra turned to face Irene and, upon seeing the once unconscious warrior up and walking, she immediately made her way over to her with a faintly worried look in her eyes.

     "You took quite the hit last night," Indra began before glancing back to the group of warriors around her. "Nyko and Lincoln were taken by the reapers as well as a few others of our people. I've assembled a small group of warriors to find them—"

     "I'm coming with you," Irene responded almost immediately, knowing full well how Indra was not about to abandon their village's last healer and a few more of their people and let them to die at the hands of the reapers.

     "Irene, you need to rest—"

     "I'm going, Indra. That's an order." Irene stated in a gritting tone, using her status as the Commander's advisor to allow her the opportunity to not only go after the Reapers, but also hoping to find a way into the mountain so that she may rescue her siblings.

     "Fine," Indra nodded once, though by the expression upon her face she still did not approve of Irene coming along. "Now, if you fall behind, you get left behind. We must stop the raiding party before they reach the tunnels. You all know what happens if we don't." Indra began walking off alongside Irene, briefing the warriors around her on the mission at hand. "After that, it is—" Indra stopped giving orders abruptly as she gazed to the trees on a nearby hill, spotting a small figure by one of the tall cluster of trees.

     "Is that, Octavia?" Irene muttered as she too saw the figure in the distance, who soon stepped out of the shadow of the trees and into the light, revealing herself to be Octavia of the Sky People.

     "You're going after the Reapers. Lincoln taught me how to fight. Let me help." Octavia stated, wanting to save the man she cared for so much. Irene furrowed her brows as she eyed Octavia, knowing how her fate would play out as Indra ordered for the majority of the warriors to kill her, to which they all ran off after the young sky girl who retreated into the woods with fear coursing through her veins.