Chapter 124
"What other three? We are the only two other people out here." Natalie bluffed. She felt a need to take charge of this situation, if only to try and calm down all of the now angry canines in her Soulscape that had the idea to tear these people apart for pointing a weapon towards a pack member. Currently, while they did have weapons pointed at them, it had not escalated to a situation of violence just yet. In this case, it was still a matter of who would make the first move, and in what direction it would be. While the groups eyed one another, one of the people on horseback though made a slight jump in thought.
"Come on Harv, they are totally in with them monsters. Let's just end them and be done with this. I want to get back for lunch, since Brenda's making soup and buns." One of the guys mounted called out, seemingly leaning forward in his saddle. It took everything that Nat and Shannon had to face palm. Not only had the man spoke first, he gave up intel that could be considered sensitive. The fact that they were having multiple meals a day, the names of two people, one of which was the leader apparent of their group. The man clearly was not the most careful or thoughtful of intellects.
"No need to get all trigger happy there Eugene. We are Canadians, and unlike our southern neighbours we don't solve our issues by shooting 'em. They may just be reasonable and scared folks like most of the people we have met." One of the other men said. Going by the conversation, this was probably Harv. There weren't really any defining characteristics between the riders, save for body size, so it was hard to remember if he was the one that had led the group to ride over here. They all wore similar clothes, and had the same hat and facemasks on, showing that it was likely a result of the Soulscape duplication abilities. As far as the people who had talked so far, Eugene had a larger body size, at least compared to everyone else. None of the group were anywhere near obese, and none of the horses seemed to be having an issue. Harv on the other hand was in the middle range as far as size went. He barely stood out, but his eyes seemed to tell that he had the same thoughts as them regarding the man's impatient outburst. Slowly sighing, he brought his crossbow down, stored the bolt that was on it in his quiver, and slung the crossbow over his shoulder. None of the group mirrored his moves, but the tension seemed to drop from their shoulders. He slowly dismounted the horse, then proceeded to walk up to them offering his hand. "Name's Harvey. Mind if I ask what you two are doing in these parts?"
Nat could not help but notice that Eugene's eyes narrowed in disgust at the action. This man could become a problem, as he seemed to want to just kill things. Vowing to keep an eye out for any moves by him, she turned her attention back to Harvey, "I'd say nice to meet you, but that is difficult to truly feel at bolt-point. We were just passing through, making our way north." As she spoke, she walked forward and clasped his hand in a show of good faith. Almost immediately the entire group of people started storing their weapons and ammunition. Eugene looked around in disbelief, but one grunt from Harvey made him start putting away the weapon, albeit at a slow and drawn out pace.
"Sorry about him, he has been a bit jumpy since we've seen those creatures walking down the trails. They just did not seem natural. That's why we found it weird when our spotter reported that there were five people walking down the road, and by the time we get out here, there were only the two of you. I'm sure you can understand where we were coming from."
Nat sighed, "Yeah, I guess, but his actions are definitely far more telling of some underlying issues." she said pointing a finger directly at Eugene. Visibly he got infuriated and started raising his crossbow once more. Before he could get it too high, one of the other riders rode over and put a hand on his arm, stopping the crossbow from getting high enough. Shannon moved forward, lightly smacking Nat in the back of the head. Sure, she had a point, but being openly antagonistic had always been an issue. If only she had learned some subtlety, maybe university would have been a lot smoother of a time for the two of them.
Harvey did not see the smack, though he definitely heard it, as he was busy burying his face into his hand. "Sorry about that, we have just been busy and stressed these past few days. I'll take care of it, though I doubt that this means you two want to join us for lunch." He said, gesturing to them. While Shannon had the capability to give a good smack when she needed to, the memories from Lethbridge flared up as she got closer to Harvey. Almost instinctively, she started hiding behind Nat. It was nothing against the man, who had been nothing but upfront and respectful, but one scar can overshadow a hundred good deeds. As Nat finally realized the position and actions of her lover, she just shook her head in response. Thankfully, Harvey seemed to understand that there was more to all of this, but did not ask in the slightest. "Well, then I hope you two have a safe journey." With that, he mounted back up on his horse, and directed the rest to return.
Inwardly, Nat was proud of herself. She made use of the whole issue that was Eugene to act as a smoke screen for the missing members. Thankfully, she did not have to explain anything, having distracted them from their line of questioning by directing the focus elsewhere. It was not until the entire group of riders had left that she filled in Shannon as to why she did what she did. All that got back was a wide-eyed stare, as Shannon could not believe that her lover had done something like that. In the past, she had bragged about the fact that she knew something others didn't. If she had not known any better, than she would have thought that Nat was turning more coy-ote.
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