Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Cove ❯ Child Village ( Chapter 23 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

A head of rustled black hair popped up from the bushes. Kasumi held her sword closer to her. The boy held up his hands.
"Whoa there!" he said. "Don't take off my head! I am unarmed!" Kasumi still held up her sword.
"Identify yourself!" she yelled. "Keep your hands up!"
"Can I stand up?" the boy asked.
"Yes," she replied. The boy slowly rose to his feet. Kasumi still held up her sword. The boy paused in the bushes.
"Whoa!" he called. "Put the sword down!"
"How can we be sure that you won't attack us?" Ryuji asked.
"I'm unarmed!" the boy said. "See, look?" He pulled out his pockets and held up his hands. "See? No weapon!" He turned for a bit.
"Okay," Kasumi said with her sword still up. "Identify yourself!"
"Emmit Ray!" the boy replied. The rest of the crew blinked at his answer.
"Are you American?" Ryuji asked.
"Yeah, why?" he said.
"What are you doing here?" Kasumi asked.
"Getting water for my camp," the boy answered.
"Your camp?" the woman asked. Emmit nodded at her.
"Uh-huh," he said.
"Show us!" Ryuji demanded. Emmit gave him a little nod.
"Just don't kill me!" he said.
"We won't," Hisako said. "Just show us, already!" Coni barked in response. Emmit threw up his hands at the group.
"Okay, okay," he said. "Follow me." He turned through the bush and walked along his path. The crew looked among themselves.
"What should we do?" Kameko asked.
"Follow him, I guess," Kasumi said. "But keep up your guard."
"Yes," the others whispered. They all trailed Emmit through the brush. He led them down a dirt path with a thin trail of smoke in the air.
"We're just about there," he said. Emmit climbed up on a huge rock and looked down.
"Here it is!" he called. The rest of the group looked down with him. He cupped his hands over his mouth.
"Hey everyone!" he called. "I'm back!" The Emmit climbed down to the ground to the campsite. The other followed behind with caution. White and grey tents sat on either side of them. There were only children all around. Two boys were tending to the fire. Three girls washed the clothes. A few children tended to the food, weapons, and pets in the camp. The older women of the group looked around in unease.
"Where are the grownups?" Haruka whispered.
"Dead or gone!" a girl's voice spoke up to them. The women whipped around to see a red-haired girl about Ryuji's age with her hands on her hips eyeing them closely.
"And who the hell are you?" she asked with a sharp tongue. Haruka raised an eyebrow at her.
"I beg your pardon?" she asked.
"You heard me!" the girl snapped.
"Shasha!" they heard Emmit yell at her. "That's no way to talk to our guests!" The others stared at him. The girl snorted at him in response.
"We can't have outsiders in the camp, you know?" she reminded him.
"They made me take them here!" he wailed. Shasha raised an eyebrow at him.
"They made you?" she asked.
"YES!" he yelled with a red face. Shasha only laughed aloud at him. The others looked at them with strange looks on their faces. What the heck?, they thought. Shasha turned to Emmit with a cat-like grin.
"So that's it," she said. The girl turned to their guests. "Come with me," she said. "I'll take you to the tents to clean up." She turned to her pal.
"Take the boy to your tent," she said. He gave her a weird look.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because you're both guys," she said.
"Oh," Emmit said in a low voice. He turned to Ryuji.
"Come on, let's go," he murmured. The other boy just nodded and followed close behind. Shasha turned to the girls. She clapped her hands together.
"Right," she said. "Follow me, let's get going." The girls all followed her to the girls' tents.