Tensions between the two camps were growing, and Andrew wasn't entirely sure what to do about it. He wasn't worried about his people causing an incident, well, he wasn't worried about his people going over to the other camp and causing an incident at least. There was a huge kerfuffle yesterday and now the patrol groups had to keep an eye out for fucking Steven in addition to goblins and wolves and whatever the fuck else was out there. Andrew didn't see it happen, but apperently he was harassing Leah and one of her wolves bit him. Serves him right, but now he was calling for it to be put down and several of the guys who had been coming over to help with the construction were backing him up. One guy, Mark, kept saying she was egging the wolf on, and that she should be put in the stocks for a week. Andrew didn't even know the other camp had those, but apperently they did. Regardless there was no fucking way that was going to happen.

He straightened up, tossing the his stick aside and pressing his hands to the small of his back to crack it as he stretched. He was just finishing up a huge earth accumulation circle that was scratched into the dirt surrounding their second finished foundation of the week. The foundations were made from whole logs, split in half lengthwise and stacked round side in to form a flat rectangular platform of wood that stuck a quarter inch up from the dirt where it was buried. In theory the earth accumulation circles would harden and meld the boards into one solid stony mass. An earthquake or something would probably split them right apart again, but barring that they should be stable and water resistant. It would take time and a lot of mana for a circle this large to have the effect they were looking for, so they were trying to get as many done as they could. The construction team wouldn't be able to work inside the circle anyways, he didn't want anyone standing in an earth accumulation circle for too long, he wasn't sure what exactly that would do to a person's body. He sighed and turned around, brushing off his already clean hands and heading over to where Kalan was supervising the creation of a small garden by the river.

Kalan gathered viable seeds every chance he got, and almost every seed went right into that garden. It was more of a personal hobby of his that he worked on in the afternoons, but Andrew could find him there most mornings anyways. They would be heading over to the other camp soon to discuss the incident with George, and neither of them were looking forward to the conversation. George seemed like a reasonable guy, but he had no idea what kind of crap Steven and Mark were feeding him.

"Hey Kalan! Ready to go?"

"Ah, fuck." Kalan said, turning with a sigh. "Yeah, lets go then. "

The two of them turned and headed off through the forest towards the other camp, Andrew recounting the previous day's events as they went.

"Okay, so this guy has been hitting on Leah all week right?"

"Right."

"So he comes over again yesterday afternoon while she was training her wolves, and tries to show her 'the right way' to train the wolves by swinging his hand around in their face."

"Yep."

"Then the wolf bites him."

"Yep."

"And then Leah stops him from pulling his gun and shooting it."

"Yep."

"You hear him shouting at her and come rushing over with a bunch of other people. Mark and that other one hear it at the same time and come running up behind you."

"That's right. When I got there he was still trying to get to his gun, and he looked just about ready to shoot Leah too at that point. He was shouting some wild shit at her too, but she was overpowering him pretty easily. The wolves were just sitting there watching."

"Then Mark came up and tried to pull his gun too, at which point Carter tackled him from behind and held him down."

Kalan chuckled. "Yeah, then I pulled Steven's gun from his holster and had Leah let him go. He chilled out a bit as soon as he was out numbered, and I walked the three of them back to their own camp before giving it back."

"Right. A few hours later Jason comes over with a message from George arranging this meeting to discuss euthanizing the wolf."

"And we're not going to do that."

"No, we're not going to do that. I have a sneaking suspicion he's going to use this to try and get something else out of us though."

"Really? He seemed like a pretty nice guy from what I've heard."

"Yeah, I mean, he certainly is polite and welcoming and everything, but there's something weird about him. I can't put my finger on it."

"I think you've been talking to Isaac too much. I'm not exactly religious myself, but you two have been suspicious about everyone who's come from that camp so far."

"I'm not suspicious of Jason."

"Yeah and he criticizes George for prioritizing religion every chance he gets. He doesn't count." Kalan said, cutting off the conversation there as they neared the other camp. They had been busy as well the past four days, clearing trees nearly as quickly but with twice the manpower. It was becoming increasingly clear to Andrew that there was a significant level gap between the two camps. They may have a lot of guns, but Andrew's camp had been through a whole lot more fighting, and they had the Attributes and skills to prove it. They passed several woodcutters as they entered the camp. It seemed like they were shifting their expansion efforts towards Andrew's camp. It wasn't blatantly aggressive, but it rubbed Andrew the wrong way. They moved into a separate clearing for a reason, and yesterday's incident only proved them right for doing so, in his opinion. Maybe he was talking to Isaac too much.

They drew in a couple of looks as they crossed the clearing and made their way into town. George was standing outside of the door to his home, opposite the cross, and a pair of wooden stocks had been erected on the small stage by the flag pole. Andrew and Kalan shared a look, but said nothing as they closed the distance to George.

"Ah. Welcome, welcome. It's good to see you're doing well, regardless of the unfortunate circumstances of this meeting." George said, giving them the same kindly smile, unclasping his hands to open the door to his left and enter. He held it open for them and they passed into the dimly lit room, sitting down at the table across from George. He had moved the plush throne-like chair to the long side of the table, so that they could sit directly across from one another.

"Now. This is a truly regrettable, but I think you know what has to be done here. For the safety of everyone, of course. I love dogs as much as the next man, but keeping wolves like that? It's just not natural, and I think we saw the consequences of that yesterday."

Andrew matched the mans kindly smile, which looked more and more condescending to him by the minute. "I am really, quite sorry to hear Steven got bit, but he was harassing Leah at the time, and waving his hand in front of the wolf's face. A small bite might just be the lesson in natural consequences he needed."

Kalan stepped on Andrew's foot. Right, he was supposed to be diplomatic about this. Stick to the facts.

"A small bite?" George said, then he knocked twice on the table. A door on the left side of the room opened and Mark and Steven walked out. Mark had purple bruises across his face that had to be recent, considering the regeneration speed of this world. Steven was cradling a heavily bandaged hand with three nubs where the pinky, ring and middle fingers should be. The hand was bandaged thickly up to the wrist, and he stood with his palm close to his chest. They were both quietly looking at the floor with downcast expressions as they entered and lined up on either side of George. They both had guns at their hips, but that was nothing new.

"This was far more than a small bite. I understand wanting to protect one of your flock, but there must be consequences for this kind of unprovoked attack." George said, his kindly smile slipping into an apologetic, but firm line with a small sigh. Andrew saw the corner of Mark's lips twitch, but he maintained the downcast expression.

Yeah, okay. I officially fucking hate this guy. No fucking way that wolf bite those fingers off.

Andrew knew Kalan was tensing up next to him, and he saw his hands clench into fists where they rested on the table. Andrew hoped he would keep his temper in check, because he wasn't exactly feeling inclined to stop him if he decided to reach out and slug the smug dickhead.