Chapter Five- Outsiders Amongst Us
The night did not settle.
Even after the elders spoke, even after the guards took their places and the clearing grew quieter, the forest refused to rest. Wolves paced instead of lying down. Lanterns stayed lit longer than usual, their flames twitching with every breath of wind. Voices dropped to whispers, but they did not stop.
Ava stood near the edge of the inner ring, watching.
The outsiders were kept farther back, close to the tree line where the light thinned and the shadows grew thick. Three of them. All alive. All hurt in different ways. One sat slumped against a fallen log, clutching his side, his breathing shallow and uneven. Another had his leg bound with rough cloth, blood already seeping through. The third stood stiffly between two guards, eyes darting everywhere, as if expecting the forest itself to strike him.
They looked nothing like the monsters Ava had half-expected.
They looked like people who had walked too far and paid for it.
A rider knelt beside one of the wounded, handing over a skin of water. The outsider hesitated, then drank too fast, coughing as it spilled down his chin. A guard snapped at him to slow down, voice sharp with warning.
Ava took a step forward before she could stop herself.
Liam caught her sleeve. "Don't," he murmured.
"They're bleeding," she said quietly.
"They're guarded."
"That doesn't stop blood loss."
He didn't argue, but his grip didn't loosen either. His eyes followed the guards, measuring, calculating. Ava knew that look. It was the look of someone who believed rules existed for a reason, even when they hurt.
She gently pulled free and moved anyway.
No one stopped her at first. Maybe because she was Ava. Maybe because no one quite knew how to stop her yet.
She knelt near the edge of the ring, close enough to see the outsiders clearly now. Dirt streaked their faces. Their clothes were torn and thin, patched so many times the original fabric was hard to tell. One of them looked up when he noticed her.
Their eyes met.
He flinched.
Not from fear of attack but from recognition.
"You're" he began, then stopped when a guard shifted closer, hand tightening on his spear.
Ava ignored the guard and focused on the wound instead. "You need it cleaned," she said softly. "It'll fester."
The outsider swallowed. "We didn't know," he said quickly. "The paths there were signs, but we thought"
"I know," Ava said, though she didn't know at all. "Be still."
She tore a strip of clean cloth from the edge of her shawl and dipped it into a basin of water someone had left nearby. Her hands shook a little as she worked, but she forced them steady. The wound was deep but not fatal. Painful. Dangerous if ignored.
A low sound rumbled behind her.
One of the wolves had moved closer.
It was massive, dark-furred, its eyes fixed on the outsiders with an intensity that made Ava's skin prickle. Not hatred. Something else. Something sharp and old.
The outsider noticed too. His breath hitched.
"She won't hurt you," Ava said quietly, though she wasn't sure who she was speaking to.
The wolf lowered its head slightly, sniffing the air. Its ears flicked back. Then it sat, heavy body settling into the dirt, never once breaking eye contact.
The reaction unsettled Ava more than a growl would have.
Wolves always knew.
They sensed lies. Fear. Intent.
And this one was watching the outsiders like it was trying to remember something.
A guard cleared his throat. "That's enough."
Ava tied the cloth firmly and leaned back on her heels. "He needs rest. And food."
The guard didn't answer.
She stood and stepped away slowly, heart pounding harder now. She hadn't realized how exposed she felt until she returned to the relative safety of the inner ring.
Liam was waiting for her.
"You shouldn't do that," he said, not unkindly.
"Someone had to."
"That someone didn't have to be you."
Ava looked back toward the shadows. "If it were us, I'd want someone to help."
Liam followed her gaze. "If it were us," he said carefully, "we wouldn't have crossed another tribe's traps."
"That's not the same thing."
"It is to the elders."
She sighed, rubbing her arms against the cold. "Do you really believe this just… happened?"
He hesitated.
"Yes," he said finally. "I do."
That hesitation lingered between them longer than either of them liked.
Across the clearing, voices rose briefly near the great tree. Ava caught Charlotte's silhouette among the elders, her head bowed slightly as she listened. She looked tired. Not physically,but like someone carrying too many thoughts at once.
Ava took a step toward her, then stopped.
The elders closed ranks.
She wasn't invited.
Instead, an older woman pressed a bundle of supplies into Ava's hands. "Take these to the outer fire," she said. "For the guards."
Ava nodded and obeyed, moving toward the edge of the clearing again. As she passed the outsiders, one of them spoke under his breath.
"They said this land was empty," he whispered.
Ava froze.
"Who did?" she asked.
But the guard stepped in immediately. "Enough."
The outsider dropped his gaze, mouth snapping shut.
Ava continued walking, but the words stayed with her, heavy and unsettling.
Empty.
Nothing about this land was empty.
At the outer fire, she handed over the supplies and lingered, pretending to adjust the straps of the pack. She listened. Not closely enough to be spying. Just enough to hear what people said when they thought no one important was near.
"…too close this time."
"…resources running thin."
"…not the only ones moving."
Her pulse quickened.
Movement. Not just outsiders. Not just hunters.
When she finally turned back toward the inner clearing, she felt it again.
That sensation.
Not danger.
Attention.
Like something or someone had noticed her noticing.
She scanned the trees, the fires, the wolves. Nothing obvious stood out. Just the forest, dark and patient as ever.
Still, the feeling didn't fade.
Ava wrapped her arms around herself and headed back toward Liam and Charlotte, her thoughts tangled and restless.
This night was not ending the way others did.
The night stretched longer than it should have.
Ava sat near the inner fire, knees pulled to her chest, watching shadows slide across the ground as people moved in and out of the elders' space. Every so often, Charlotte's silhouette appeared among them standing, listening, speaking softly then vanished again behind the thick roots of the great tree.
She had never been gone this long before.
Liam sat beside Ava, close enough that their shoulders brushed. He didn't speak. He just stayed, steady as always, like he believed his presence alone could keep things from falling apart.
Ava wished it worked that way.
The sounds of the forest pressed in around them. Insects hummed. Leaves rustled. Somewhere farther out, a wolf growled low, then fell silent again. No more howls came, but the absence of them felt just as heavy.
Ava leaned forward, rubbing her eyes. They burned with exhaustion, but sleep felt impossible now. Every time she closed them, she saw the wounded outsiders. Their fear. The way the wolves watched them.
"You should rest," Liam said quietly.
"I can't."
He nodded, accepting that answer easily. "Charlotte will come back soon."
Ava didn't respond. She wasn't sure she believed that not because Charlotte wouldn't return, but because she sensed that when she did, something would be different.
Across the clearing, an elder raised his voice slightly not enough to draw attention, but enough that fragments carried on the air.
"…can't support another mouth through winter."
"…hunters already mapping the northern routes."
"…if another tribe is moving, we won't be the only ones exposed."
Ava's fingers curled into the dirt.
She stood before she could stop herself.
"Where are you going?" Liam asked.
"Nowhere," she said. "Just… closer."
He hesitated, then followed.
They didn't approach the elders directly. Ava knew better than that. She circled instead, staying near the firewood stacks, pretending to help sort supplies that didn't need sorting. It was enough to hear pieces of conversation when voices rose or tempers slipped.
Charlotte's voice cut through once controlled, firm.
"We don't decide this in fear."
An elder answered sharply. "Fear keeps us alive."
"And what does it make us?" Charlotte asked.
There was a pause.
Ava felt pride bloom in her chest, quickly followed by worry.
Charlotte had always been braver than her. Always quicker to speak, quicker to stand where Ava hesitated. Ava had loved her for that her whole life.
Now she feared it.
Liam shifted beside her. "You shouldn't listen," he murmured.
"Why?" Ava asked. "Because I'm not supposed to hear the truth?"
He exhaled slowly. "Because some truths aren't meant to be carried by everyone."
Ava turned to him. "Or because it's easier when fewer people ask questions?"
His expression tightened not angry, but tired. "This isn't about control, Ava."
"Isn't it?"
Before he could answer, Charlotte emerged from the elders' circle.
Her face was calm, but her eyes were dark with thought. She scanned the clearing and found Ava almost instantly. Their gazes locked.
For a moment, Ava thought Charlotte would come to her.
Instead, an elder placed a hand lightly on Charlotte's arm and spoke quietly to her. Charlotte nodded once.
Then she turned away.
Ava's chest ached.
She didn't remember ever being left like that before. Not by Charlotte. Not even when they were children and afraid.
"What's happening?" Ava whispered.
Liam didn't answer. He watched Charlotte disappear into the shadows again, his jaw clenched.
Ava stepped back, suddenly feeling out of place in the clearing that had always been her home. People passed her without meeting her eyes. Conversations stopped when she drew too near. It wasn't cruel. It wasn't deliberate.
It was careful.
She hated it.
She moved toward the edge of the inner ring, then farther still, until she stood near the boundary where firelight faded into darkness. The forest loomed there, tall and endless, the same forest that had always protected them and now felt like it was closing in.
"You shouldn't be alone right now."
Ava startled and turned.
An elder stood a short distance away. Not one of the oldest, but not young either. His expression was gentle, practiced.
"I'm not alone," Ava said. "I'm right here."
He smiled faintly. "That's not what I meant."
Her shoulders stiffened. "Is Charlotte in trouble?"
"No," he said quickly. "She's needed."
"For what?"
He hesitated, then chose his words carefully. "For balance."
That answer told her nothing and everything.
"I heard you talking about hunters," Ava said. "And resources. And another tribe."
The elder studied her face for a long moment. "You hear many things."
"Enough," Ava replied.
He sighed. "The world beyond this forest is changing faster than it used to. Paths shift. People move. Desperation makes neighbors into enemies."
"And us?" Ava asked. "What does it make us?"
"Survivors," he said. "If we are careful."
Ava swallowed. "And if we're not?"
"Then we become history."
The words settled heavy between them.
"You've been having trouble sleeping," the elder added gently.
Ava's heart skipped. "Who told you that?"
His gaze softened. "You're not as quiet as you think."
That wasn't an answer.
She nodded slowly, forcing herself not to push. Not yet. She could feel it this was one of those moments where asking too much would close doors instead of opening them.
"I should go back," she said.
"Yes," he agreed. "You should."
When she returned to the fire, Liam was waiting, concern etched into his face.
"They know," she whispered to him. "About my dreams."
He frowned. "That's not strange. Elders always know things."
"That's what scares me."
Charlotte returned not long after.
She sat beside Ava without a word, staring into the flames. Her hands were clenched so tightly in her lap that her knuckles had gone pale.
Ava wanted to ask everything at once. Instead, she said softly, "Are you alright?"
Charlotte nodded. "I will be."
That answer hurt more than a no would have.
"They're scared," Charlotte continued quietly. "More than they're saying."
"Of the outsiders?"
"Of everything," Charlotte replied. "Hunters. Migration. Winter. And you."
Ava stiffened. "Me?"
Charlotte finally turned to her, eyes full of something like apology. "Not you as you are. You as what you might become."
Ava looked down at her hands. At the dirt beneath her nails. At the ordinary skin she still wore.
"I didn't ask for this," she whispered.
"I know," Charlotte said. "None of us did."
They sat together in silence, twins but suddenly not standing on the same ground.
Somewhere beyond the fires, the forest shifted.
Ava felt it again that quiet sense of being watched. Not threatened. Measured.
She lifted her gaze to the dark trees.
Nothing moved.
Still, she knew.
This night had drawn lines she could no longer ignore.
And once lines are drawn, someone always crosses them.