"That's what I'm saying! How could she possibly have known?" Squawks echoed with mixed amazement.
"No, I meant 'How could I possibly have told her?' We've been together ever since we stepped foot in this damn forest!"
"Oh…"
"Are you two about done?" Sosora asked, making them both quiet down.
"Good." Sosora made her way through the encirclement and stood between the Bawin warriors and the two humans.
"So, what brought you two here?"
"Friendly visit."
"Tourism."
They answered at the same time. They glanced at each other.
"Tourism."
"Friendly visit."
Sosora sighed and rested her forehead against her index finger and thumb.
"I know you're lying. Just be honest. As long as it's nothing nefarious, we don't mind sending you back to Syttle." Right now, Sosora just wanted the two out of her forest. She had a feeling that that was the consensus of those nearby as well.
Historically speaking, associating with humans didn't end well. The less contact they had with any of the kingdoms, the better. The soil already had too much blood in it.
Squawks and Lily looked at each other. They nodded. This time, they both agreed to the same thing. Staying silent.
Sosora glanced in the direction the two humans came from and then in the direction they were headed. The line they were following overlapped with the line Sosora and Malak drew on their way to them.
She furrowed her brow.
"Are you two in the forest to look for someone or something?" She asked, intentionally keeping it vague to fish for the information they knew.
"Maybe…" Squawks acted nonchalant.
Lily and Sosora rolled their eyes. It was an obvious yes with how he answered it.
"Something or someone?"
"...What's it to you anyway?"
"I'm the one who can turn this encirclment to an escort to safety. Are you sure you want to get snappy?"
"That's…"
"A good point," Lily chimed in before looking at Squawks.
"She seems reasonable. Are you sure we shouldn't just tell her?"
Sosora wanted to support that suggestion, but voicing that desire was likely to only make Squawks further dig his heels in. So, she stayed silent and watched him consider it.
"Come on, Captain, your friend made it seem like it wouldn't be a big deal." Lily was cautious not to reveal that the friend was a resident of the forest, who let them enter in exchange for a bottle of liquor. It wouldn't do anyone any good, especially if they failed this time. Squawks would certainly want to try again.
"He also told us to be careful of the other tribes."
"Okay? Aren't we careful right now? Isn't the careful choice here the one that saves our lives?"
"That's a matter of definition. Is being careful making the right choice or the safe choice? Is making the safe choice the right choice? Or is making the right choice the safe choice when the outcome is uncertain?"
"Stuff your sohpistry where the sun doesn't shine, Captain." Lily turned back to Sosora.
"We're here to meet the Outsider for reasons unrelated to the Kingdom. It's strictly personal," She revealed without hesitation.
Sosora nodded. She had expected something like that.
"Are you familiar with the Outsider?" She asked.
"No." Lily had given up on keeping their mission a secret. It wasn't like they would suffer from revealing anything but the prophecy, after all.
"Then, why do you want to meet him? And how did you know about him?"
"..." Lily was stumped. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to answer those questions without lying or revealing the prophecy.
"A seer told us about him," Captain Squawks answered in her stead. Since Lily had taken the lead in answering, it was his duty to back her up. And he understood where she was coming from. They didn't gain anything by keeping their jaws shut. For now, it was best to work with Sosora and the others around them and see how things went. It wouldn't be too late for violence once everything went to shit.
"A seer?" Sosora repeated skeptically.
"Why would a seer in Syttle care about an Outsider in Tiabe?"
"Well, you know how seers are. Reasons to them aren't the same as reasons to us." Squawks shrugged lightly.
Sosora's eyes narrowed.
"So, you're here because a seer asked you to…what? Visit the Outsider?"
"Something like that," Squawks said.
"It was more like they informed us and we got curious," Lily clarified.
"Are you willingly walking in the palm of that seer's hand or are you blind to it?" Sosora asked while looking at the two with a mix of pity and something more similar to condescension.
"Yes. How many more questions do you have, by the way? I'm getting a little thirsty."
"..." Sosora was silent as she thought about the two humans in front of her. She thought about Nick, the Outsider. During their first meeting, he had been curious about the surrounding area and the kingdoms around Tiabe. She had told him their names but not gotten a reaction.
Maybe he was interested in meeting people actually from those kingdoms. It probably couldn't hurt.
These two were hesitant before the Bawin warriors. With that tentacle monster by his side, Nick didn't have to worry about a thing.
Besides, they had seemed earnestly curious to a certain degree. They didn't seem like the Seer's hired killers.
"Alright." Sosora eventually nodded. "I'll bring you two to him. If he doesn't want to meet you, you're going straight back to Syttle, okay?"
"Perfect!" Squawks beamed and sheathed his sword. Lily was a little skeptical since Sosora might just be lying to make them drop their guards, but that didn't seem to be the case as the Bawin warriors stepped aside and opened a path for them. The only Bawin who didn't move away was Malak, who looked at Sosora with worry.
"Are you sure this is alright?" He asked.
"It will be fine," She said decisively with a firm nod.
"But the elders…?"
"If they wanted another solution, they should have stepped out themselves. Since they let me handle this, we're doing things my way."
"So if it goes wrong, all responsibility is yours?"
"Nonsense. You were here with me when everything went down, weren't you? You could have stopped it."
"Stopped what?"
"Nothing, since I'm sure everything will work out just fine." Sosora started walking, leaving Malak, Squawks, and Lily to catch up.