She sent a command to the tree. "Move those branches." Sergeant Rage did. She sent another command.
"Now move them." They would not move.
"But how?" he asked.
"Remember my ability is plants? I commanded the tree to do my bidding. This is proprietary but I also understand you are charged with our safety so I'm giving you minimum information."
He nodded, "where do you sleep?"
She pointed to the rooms in the branches.
"Way up there? How do you get there?"
A branch picked him up and deposited him outside Dobin's room. "I don't know if it's clean but you can look in. Remember, 3 teenage boys are staying in there."
Nis looked in and was quite impressed. It was clean and they had arranged separate areas for each other.
"How do I get down?"
The branch picked him back up and set him on the ground.
"Your ability is pretty handy," he smiled.
She smiled back, "it can be... Come this way."
She took him to her room and showed him the kitchen after Blaine opened the room. She started unpacking what she could. "I don't know if you've seen my commercials or not, but this is my field kitchen."
Chekof filled the fridge with meat from her bag. His bag had better insulation than hers as it was top of the line.
"Do you think they will be getting hungry soon? Breakfast feels like it was ages ago after all that walking. I didn't even do any fighting!" Chekof didn't even wait. He had to carry the girl and she struggled quite a bit. She wasn't heavy it was just having to use all those muscles to keep her in place.
Lana chuckled, "they are in fact, on their way back. Maybe 10 minutes out. Let's get the table set and food put out for them." She started chuckling, "the trees say Dobin had a fun time with a flying snake…"
Nis looked at her, "so the trees talk to you?"
She nodded, "all plants do but trees are so talkative the other plants have trouble getting in a word. It's great in situations like this because I'm very aware of my surroundings and can guide everyone. I would not be so useful on a desert planet."
Lana took out plates to be placed on the table as well as the dishes she wanted to eat first of the things she purchased. With five sets of hands, it was soon ready. The team arrived to find the meal already prepared and a teacher there visiting them. They washed their hands then sat at the table. Lana got a fresh steak for Karlen while the others dug in, including the teacher. Chekof had already eaten so he decided just to sit with them to be sociable.
"How did you guys do?" Lana asked.
"Well, not as good as when we had Star screaming at everything and attracting the beasts or leaving her damned scent trail everywhere. However, we got 20 level-1 crystals and 12 Level-2. I'm looking forward to going out again with the rest of you," Karlen said.
Dobin asked, "were there any problems bringing her to the shelter?" as his eyes drifted toward their teacher.
"Well, she didn't want to go, of course. But we got her there and provided the evidence against her. Sergeant Rage was concerned that we didn't return last night so I thought it best to show him where we were staying so he'd feel more comfortable," Lana replied.
Almin chimed in, "did this food cost you a lot?"
Lana shrugged, "we all got some things. I have enough prepared foods to last through tomorrow's breakfast then I'll have to cook again but I bought flour so I don't need to grow that and I also bought breads for the various meals, plus snacks and desserts."
Rene asked, "what about the stuff we asked for?"
Lana replied, "I bought inflatable pillows and some blankets. We can divvy up the things we bought for the party once we are done eating and cleaning up. Honestly, we should do that after this next hunt so we can take advantage of what's left of daylight."
Karlen, Blaine, and Chekof agreed.
Nis smiled as he watched these students working so well together. "Thank you for the meal. I'm going to mark this spot on the map in case something comes up. Happy hunting everyone." With that, he got up and left with the tree allowing his exit.
The teams went out and cleared all the beasts in the area and even went out further than they planned. By the time the sun started going down, they were tired but satisfied. The sun was fully down by the time they got back. They hung their hanging lights in the rooms as well as over the table. Kattie handed out collapsible bowls so each room had one for washing up in the morning. Everyone who needed a pillow or a blanket had one handed to them.
While everyone put away the things they asked for, the rest were setting the table and putting food out. Blaine was holding a few surprises for himself, even hiding them under the bed the way he had with the strawberries to ensure the others didn't take what he bought for her. She liked chocolate, he was going to give her chocolate!
As everyone sat down to eat, Lana was pleased to see all the happy and relieved faces. They were doing so well, in their own minds. They had yet to register their crystals so they didn't know how they compared to the others. With all the students out hunting, they were surprised they had not run into any other teams yet.
They all talked a bit after eating then Lana excused herself to go study. Dobin did the same soon after. He needed to master his earth ability. Almin had already mastered his level 4 book. Alto decided to study as well. Soon the rest turned in for the night.
Blaine leaned against the door frame watching Lana read. She knew he was in the room but was interested in the passage she was reading on inflammation. He walked over to the bed and pulled out a few things. He was trying to decide if he should give her all the clothes he bought her or just the one he wanted to see her in. He settled on one outfit, a nighty made of the finest silk that went halfway down her thigh making it feel like a dress. Shelters on low-level planets were like regular towns on Earth. The normal comforts were accessible.
Blaine closed up the doorway then sat on the bed and cleared his throat. She looked up at him and smiled, "everyone head to their room?"
He nodded and smiled, "I bought you more clothes at the store. I was wondering if you wanted to try something on?"
She chuckled, "Of course!"
He handed it to her while he got something else from under the bed. It was a chocolatey treat which he intended to keep in the box until he was ready to share it with her but he wanted to get it out. While he was down there, he hardened the ground once again so she could take her boots off.
By the time he looked up at her, she had it on, and just needed to remove her pants and boots. She saw the floor was hard and sat down to remove her boots. Blaine took off his outer shirt getting more comfortable and removed his own boots as well.
Lana stood up looking at him with a big smile on her face. "Do I look okay?"
Blaine set his boots at the end of the bed then looked up and his face brightened. He stood up and wrapped his arms around her. "Beautiful. Just beautiful." He kissed her on the forehead then hit a button on his watch. Soon music started playing. "Do you know how to dance?"
She shook her head and looked up into his eyes. "You can teach me if you want to?"
Not long later they were dancing across the floor. She picked up the simple steps quickly and they were smiling and small-talking.
Suddenly, Blaine was startled by Dobin clearing his throat… He looked at the couple dancing and enjoying themselves like there was no danger in sight. It irked him.
"We need to talk about the consequences of this relationship."
Lana sighed, "here?"
"Yes. Here." Dobin said.
"I know you told everyone they were in danger because he and I were together as if that were to help with anything. What are you trying to gain, Dobin?"
"I'm trying to talk sense into you before it's too late! Is he worth us all dying?" He was starting to raise his voice.
"You say that as if it's the only potential outcome. Have you seriously given up on me?"
"I don't know what he's said or done to you to get you to agree to this!"
"He has done nothing! Not a thing wrong! He has been a friend. He listens to me with no judgement. Does that make him evil?"
Dobin started to deflate but wasn't about to give up so easily, "does it matter if being near him will get us all killed?"
**********************************
Join me on discord at https://discord.gg/wuNsfeGP Or Patreon at patreon.com/MindyLeeCrouch
If you'd like to donate to me via PayPal, https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=8PCLHZTXAPFPC
Constructive criticism is welcome as it helps me become a better writer.