Chapter 58: Built For You
Kiri had barely taken three steps when Xavi’s voice stopped her cold.
The words were quiet, but they landed like a boulder dropped into still water. Every clan member who had been shifting uncomfortably or murmuring to their neighbour went silent.
Kiri turned slowly.
Xavi was looking at her, and the expression on his face was one she had never seen directed at her before.
His golden eyes were hard, his jaw set, and the warmth that usually softened his features was completely absent.
He was furious.
Kiri felt the blood drain from her face. In all the months she had known Xavi, he had never once looked at her like that.
"Did I give you permission to walk away?"
How could he say that to her when he had just let the shiftless one walk away without any objection.
She forced the tears back to the surface. It was harder this time, and almost genuine. How could he look and talk to her like that?
"Leader, I—what have I done wrong?" Her voice wavered. "Should I not defend myself when I am falsely accused? I was only—"
"A lot of what you said was unnecessary."
Kiri flinched.
The clan members nearest to her shifted away slightly, sensing the tension radiating off their leader like heat from a fire.
"You said she had not changed. What was that supposed to mean?"
"I—I was upset. I did not mean—"
"She built shelters for this clan, led us to a nicer land, created this farm to feed us. She has given a lot to this clan when she could have kept it all to herself. She might be wrong about the accusation, but that was a terrible thing for you to say."
The silence was suffocating.
Several clan members had lowered their heads.
Kiri opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She had prepared for many scenarios. She had rehearsed defences against accusations, practiced tears, and planned responses to Tera’s inevitable anger.
She had not prepared for Xavi’s disappointment.
Xavi held her gaze for one more long, heavy moment. Then he turned to the clan.
"We will get to the bottom of this. "But right now, we have two shelters to rebuild. I want the materials put together again to see what we can use."
He paused, and his eyes swept across every face in the group.
"And the next time something like this happens, we will not be guessing. I will make certain of that."
- ※ - ※ - ※ -
Tera didn’t know how far she had walked.
Her legs had carried her deeper into the forest on autopilot, but she soon found herself sitting under one of those silk trees.
The anger was gone. she just felt tired now.
She shouldn’t have accused Kiri in front of everyone, maybe she wouldn’t have lost the influence she had spent weeks slowly building.
Clan members she had helped now looked at her with doubt in their eyes because a fox with good acting skills had cried on cue.
’Remind me why I am even doing this in the first place?’
Why was she killing herself to build a settlement for people who could be turned against her by a few well-timed tears?
And she was even stressing herself over this task too.
Her thoughts spiralled to the point the system was scared she was going to abandon her task, and Tera had even found that appealing, which caused the system to panic even further.
It suggested taking a week break for her to properly relax and that she had more time to complete this task. Tera didn’t have to rush so much.
She found it funny how the system was trying to convince her not to stop.
But as her thoughts drifted back to what had just happened, Tera realised she would need to set up a trap for Kiri.
The fox was smarter and more dangerous than Tera had given her credit for. Accusing her directly like that had been a mistake, one born out of frustration.
But Tera would not make that mistake again.
Next time, she would have proof that even the most convincing tears couldn’t wash away.
But that was a problem for later.
Right now, she was so tired.
Her mental fatigue made Tera sleep off.
- ※ - ※ - ※ -
"Tera!"
Tera jerked awake. Xavi and Ermin were leaning over her, their eyes wide with panic.
"We have been searching for you for hours."
Tera blinked, disoriented. The light had changed. It was night.
"What?" Tera looked around, her confusion sharpening into alarm.
Had she just slept for the whole day?
"You walked so far away. Please don’t do that again," Ermin quickly blurted out and the panic in their voices saddened Tera a bit.
"I didn’t mean to worry you. I just—"
"It’s alright," Xavi said softly, a gentle look in his eyes.
"Can you stand?" Ermin asked.
Tera nodded and they both helped her up. Xavi’s hands hovered near her waist, ready to catch her if she stumbled.
She apologised again for worrying them and all they had just been concerned about was her safety.
When they asked her to return with them, Tera paused, and told them she did not feel like going back to the clan yet to face the others.
They had assured her that they weren’t taking her back to the clan, and were only taking her aside to rest.
Tera had decided to follow them. As they neared the settlement, Tera was about to ask why they had still brought her here when she realised they weren’t leading her towards where the others were
They veered to the side, following a narrow path through the trees that ran parallel to the settlement but stayed just within the forest’s edge.
And then she saw a small shelter between three massive trees.
Tera stopped walking.
This one did not look like the ones she had built and she did not remember ever setting one here.
But it was beautiful even if it was a bit shoddy.
Tera turned slowly to face the two males standing behind her.
Xavi’s ears were twitching. His hands were clasped behind his back, and he was looking at the shelter with the focused intensity of someone waiting for a verdict on something they had poured themselves into.
Ermin also had that look in his eyes, though his tail was more expressive, betraying the anxiety his face was trying to hide.
"We built it for you."