Amongst Abeni buying a big backpack the length of her spine to hide a small form Oware and her eggs in, they ended up using their remaining time to the max.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to use real-life experience to practice their two strategies. But as the days until the hunt decreased, Abeni used some stray rocks and came up with scenarios with Oware. Initially, the female ẹda found them meaningless, but soon realised that playing around with different rock enemies could actually teach them a lot about how they could work together.

Then, with the blink of an eye, the day before the hunt came to a close.

Or, at least, it would if the white-haired girl could just let sleep steal her away.

It didn’t surprise Abeni that after saying goodnight and leaving Oware in the front room-kitchen as she had long since taken to regularly sleeping in, she couldn’t rest properly in her parents’ big, cold bed alone. Maybe it was the sight of that curse-crazy guard’s death that she could still see if he mind ever drifted to that memory. Maybe it was because she couldn’t believe that after all of her life living here that she was leaving, Abeni felt…empty. She didn’t love this village. Now that she thought about it, she didn’t think she ever had.

Or maybe it was because she knew, as she finally gave up on hopelessly lying awake and hesitantly joined Oware and her children by the fireplace, that she loved her family exponentially more than any material place. She loved the newfound family she had too. Being with the female ẹda saved her from despair and she could never repay that. Would never take that for granted.

Abeni would do anything to live, not for herself, but to be with the family she had now. But she wasn’t completely ignorant. She also knew that should the time come that she would bring unreasonable danger to Oware and her children. Danger that they couldn’t escape…she would command them away. Forcefully cut them off. She had to. Abeni didn’t want those she cared about to sacrifice themselves for her again. She wouldn’t be able to stand losing them too.

By the quiet crackling of the fireplace, the heat from the slightly slimy tail wrapped around Abeni and Oware’s precious three eggs, the group found it easy to fall into a peaceful slumber. Letting each other’s presence and touch lull them to sleep in the same room for the first time since Oware arrived at her stone hut around two months ago.

But just before Abeni’s mind completely shut down, just before she finally drifted off into the calm darkness of sleep and let herself go…she heard a dull, ever so quiet thud from outside of her stone hut door. Something so quiet Abeni doubted it wasn’t a figment if her imagination…but she was just so on edge. She couldn’t ignore it.

“What’s up?” Oware tiredly asked. “Why’re you so…stiff all of a sudden.”

The white-haired girl looked around them and bit her lip, worried. The short swords were back under the bed, all she had here was a kitchen knife, should she bring it closer? “I think I heard something…”

“...It was just a rock or something,” Oware yawned in tired acknowledgement, flexing her tail. “Aren’t you just being paranoid?”

But Abeni’s heartbeat wouldn’t calm down, her body refused to relax. It was the dead of the night and something was amiss but she couldn’t tell what. Then…out of the dim light of her stone hut’s wall torches, she spotted a shadow underneath her door.

“No…Someone’s here,” Abeni hissed. And the look on Oware’s flower face mirrored exactly what she felt. Absolute, vivid…shock.

Oware startled awake as she heard it too. “What...? Oh...you’re right.”

Partially because of Abeni’s words, and partially because right after she uttered them, more footsteps were audible outside of the door of her stone hut. There might be some of them around the sides of the hut too, but it wasn’t like she could hear past these stone walls from the middle of the room.

“We need to get up,” with no time to think, she jumped as did Oware. Who cared if this might side-track their battle plan? As long as they won this fight, whether it be in the form of words, fists or manipulation, they could still follow it tomorrow. Abeni wouldn’t be dismayed.

Who were they? No one would come to visit her for fun and games at this hour. Was this some kind of robbery? Were some merchants accompanying Yousef trying to get what was rightfully hers? Or was this a raid by a group of travelling eniyans like the one she met at the banquet? It was about time for a new wave of travellers to enter the village after that banquet and they’d need resources for their travels. A vulnerable child would be a prime target.

Either way, the moment they burst in, they’d lose!

But there were no voices. No bursting in. Just the sound of footsteps against stone. Who could it be? Uncle Ibrahim here to interrogate her one more time? No why would he bring a group of people then? Martin, finally wanting to reconcile after weeks of distance? No, again, why would he bring a group of eniyans? Wait, no. This was all wrong. It shouldn’t be—! It couldn’t be—!

“Abeni, snap out of it!” Oware said, still in a hushed tone. “What do we do? There’s more of them than you might think!”

“I…” Said girl looked down at her feet, gripping her fist. If this was him, if the village chief had really come all the way here to ambush her, the first thing she needed to know was why and whether they should fight or run. “I think the village chief is ambushing us.”

“Alright, but that’s not what I asked!” Oware hissed. “I’m asking you what we should do. We were supposed to leave tomorrow. We were…why are they here now?”

“I don’t know, I don’t think they caught on to us,” both Abeni and Oware had been especially careful to keep hidden this past week after the banquet and with the village chief’s animosity to the ẹda, it was likely that they would immediately try to eliminate a female ẹda the moment he heard of her existence. So then, why? Why? Why? What had she done wrong? What hadn’t she predicted?

But Oware got agitated by her stillness, waiting for something to do. So, Abeni turned to her, accepting the role the other had bestowed on her by trusting her wholeheartedly – the role of the decision maker – and forced herself to think, even though she didn’t know what exactly she’s planning for.

“Oware…you’re stronger than anyone I know. Even stronger than my parents…well, actually I don’t know about that but…” Oware raised an eyebrow, “Anyway, you’re strong, so don’t worry. Just…wait in the bedroom. So, no matter what you hear, don’t come out until you hear me say, ‘Now!’, alright? Keep your eggs hidden in the bag and don’t transform until then. You can’t use up your outer spirit energy since we may need it later, alright? Please.”

A grin slowly but surely took over Oware’s face. But it wasn’t one of happiness, no. This grin was full of resolution. “Does this mean…you think they’re stronger than us?”

Abeni couldn’t help but smile back. “If it’s the chief outside of those doors…then yes. But if I’m wrong, then…I’ll find a way to figure that out as best as I can. Peacefully. Or I’ll call you.”

And with those words, the female ẹda took her eggs and hid them in the bedroom, probably putting them in Abeni’s bag. Waiting for her signal.

The white-haired girl allowed herself a few more seconds to think only half a minute since they noticed the footsteps.

Right, now. What would she do if she was trying to capture a house with people inside? She would…block off the main exit with herself and other reliable people, she would then have others who were all capable of tying them down by the unlikely exits. Just like how her two strategies work. A carefully chosen main force and supporting force to achieve your goal.

If she was right, calling Oware now and escaping through windows would be the best idea because she could just command the weaker forces to release them…except, her stone hut didn’t have any windows. That left her with one choice and that was to confront whoever was here head-on, somehow create an easy opening for Oware, call her out and escape from the door. Or, if worst came to worst, take their enemies out here.

Of course, if the village chief really was her to get her, then beating them here could completely ruin her plan, and let them know she was onto them, but what choice did she have? If it was for their safety, she would do anything.

Knock, knock, knock!

So, Abeni swung the door open, with a body as stiff as the stone walls of her beloved home and—

Saw the village chief waiting outside with lips curled up so high, that they morphed the shape of his cheeks.

[Current Total Beings In ‘Abeni’s Army’ – 2]