TJ led the way towards the center of the "street". He could see faint trails left in the grass where his people had passed through, though the grass was recovering and soon would leave no trace without more frequent passage. Without another thought, he followed the path until he could see where the settlement's settlement was taking place. From afar, there wasn't much that he could tell as to what specifically people were doing, but he could see several tents set up as well as a small wall of earth. So far as he could tell, everyone was accounted for, and once he did some quick counting, the numbers added up so that, without Seth and Sarah who were supposed to be patrolling nearby, that was correct.
Before he could do anything or communicate anything to the teenagers, Tessie rushed past where he stood and towards her parents.
"Can you do anything for her?" Molly asked with a tremor in her voice once her friend had sprinted past. "She's just so… broken inside."
"I wish that I could." TJ said. "I wish I could get her out of this world and let her heal. Unfortunately, I don't think that's ever gonna happen. Maybe she could have before she evolved to Copper? But now that she's here, I doubt the System will ever give her a chance to live truly at peace. Maybe once there's someone strong enough to force everyone else around to be peaceful and obey, then that could work."
"She doesn't need to leave!" Molly protested. "Can't you just, like, fix her? Make it so she's not so sad?"
TJ shook his head. "The closest thing to that that I can do is give her some of my own HP, MP, or Stamina. We both know that's not what she's suffering from. Even Disciples, at least so far, haven't been able to heal mental trauma. At least, that's what I heard in the New Republic, and I have no reason to think that they were lying to me."
"But she's, like, she decided to worship you as a God! Doesn't that mean that you can perform a miracle or something?" Molly's voice grew more desperate as she asked different variations of the same question over and over again. Each time, TJ was forced to effectively say that he didn't know, and if there was something he could do and hadn't yet, he didn't know what it was. After nearly a minute with no progress, finally, Molly's face crumpled a little.
"But she's so sad… Maybe even depressed."
"Probably." TJ shrugged helplessly. "PTSD, anxiety, and who knows what other therapeutic ways you could put it. If we're being honest, every one of us should probably be like that, but we're not. Maybe there's just something in Tessie that is kinder and sweeter than what you can find in us. Maybe it's for the best, maybe it's not, I don't know anything more about our situation than you do."
"But she's suffering!"
"Yes, she is. I wish there was something I could do to help, because I do it in a heartbeat. But. I. Don't."
With nothing else to say, TJ continued walking forward and ran into William, who was looking at his daughter with worry and at TJ with just a hint of accusation.
"What's going on?" His tone wasn't quite demanding, but TJ felt his temper flare at this weakling, unremarkable in every way that would keep him alive in the Integrated world. He would dare make demands of his god? TJ scoffed, then, as common sense prevailed once again, he knuckled at his forehead.
"She wants me to be able to do something to help Tessie. I told her I don't know if there's anything that I can do."
William's mouth opened in understanding, and he turned to his daughter. "I haven't known TJ as long as you have. I don't know him as well as you do either. Even so, I'm pretty sure that, if he could, he'd help any of us to the best of his ability. Right?"
Molly scowled, seemed to come to her senses, shrugged, and then stalked off. William's face twisted in anger as his daughter walked away from him, but then with a deep breath, he calmed himself and turned back to TJ. "I'm sorry about that. Despite everything else, she's still a teenager, and she'll probably always act that way."
"Yeah…" TJ replied. "I figure that probably won't ever change. Probably hard to try to keep being a parent to her on everything when you know she's stronger than you."
"And can turn into a damn wolf and run off into the horizon whenever she's mad at me and doesn't wanna look at me." William tried to force some wry humor into his voice, but TJ was, and not for the first time, struck with the realization that William was probably a man quick to anger. "Anyways. That took a little bit longer than any of us were expecting. Anything noteworthy happening down there?"
"Nothing that I would say is too surprising, but I don't want any groups of our people running around down there and getting lost for now. The entire place is under the influence of the Disorienting affliction, and, even if that's all it is, that's bad enough. Plenty of monsters around there that can threaten just about anyone we know. Worse, though, is that I figure there's probably some monster down there strong enough to have that aura be permanently down there. If it's a high Copper tier, or a Silver tier, then that's a death sentence for anyone who wanders into the wrong spot. I'm happy to get into more detail about it with everybody, but, just know that we're not going to send anybody down there until we all gain quite a few levels."
"Got it. You wanna check out what we're doing with the town?"
"Sure. Show me what you got."
Though he didn't put on a smiling face or anything that ostensibly showed any real pride, as William explained the way that they had chosen the particular location, the top of a rolling hill that, for some reason, had a slight divot in the middle of it, TJ could feel that the middle aged man felt he deserved some praise. Maybe it was his growing Attributes, maybe it was something to do with the faint connection that they shared from William technically being TJ's worshipper. TJ fixed his attention back to William as he continued walking and explaining.
"… haven't been able to find any potential source of water here, but with this bump here, I'm sure that we could cultivate a pond that you would fill with your storms. Sarah in particular emphasized that any community that had you around long term would never need water. Anyways. Over on this other side, where the walls are under construction, we can see why the walls are necessary. Down in that direction, there's some evidence of movement, and we just want to make sure that, if need be, we have this small spot to work on defending ourselves from."
"Movement? It doesn't look like it might be… bests, does it?" TJ felt his stomach drop even at the thought. If the thunderbirds were nesting here, then he'd absolutely need to ensure that he eradicated every single one of them, and as fast as possible. The fight he was planning soon would need to change to become a full on eradication.
"No." William shook his head. "Farid is convinced they're only game trails, and he knows better than me." TJ let out a small sigh of relief at that.
"Fearless leader! Welcome home. You know, or whatever else you'd call a couple tents on top of a freeway taken over by wild grass."
"Sarah, I thought you were supposed to be keeping an eye on the perimeter for Seth?" TJ felt a small twinge of alarm as he asked that, realizing that his counting had been in numbers not in individuals. That meant that there was one other person missing, not Sarah, so who was it? Had they wandered off? Been taken by something that his settlement didn't know about?
"Actually it was Gertrude who ended up wanting to work with him. You know, the lady whose locket was stolen by the people in the New Republic? She was saying something about wanting to be useful, and I didn't wanna tell her no. Besides, I wanted to make sure everything back here was safe!"
TJ continued watching Sarah for several seconds, squinting a little. She didn't seem to mind, her face remaining as innocent as ever. "If that's what my Valkyrie wishes to say, I suppose I'll trust her. After all, as the Nascent Storm Serpent, I should trust those who pledge themselves to my service and worship to give me the truth, right?"
Maybe he imagined it, but TJ was pretty sure he saw a twinge of unease or embarrassment when he said that, and that was his intent, so he didn't comment on it. Even so, he looked around. "I'm thinking that we'll just focus on making a couple buildings that people can live in for now. Nothing complex, just enough to make sure that all of my dependents can stay dry and comfortable. Has anybody looked into what materials we can find nearby that might be able to help us to do this?"
"Well, we were thinking of just making them out of stone." William said "I've got Untired Earth Manipulation, and that's letting me build the little walls that I have so far. Might not be as comfortable as other things, since it uninsulated and would be letting in the cold in the hot more easily than other things, but it'll be sturdy, and I figure that'll probably be better than something slightly more comfortable."
"I think you're right on that account." TJ nodded. "Go ahead with that, but make sure you're not making the freeway collapse. Better to bring stones from somewhere else to make sure that we aren't going to get ourselves killed for a couple hovels."
"I can check on the integrity of the road with my Skill." William assured him. "The ground is thickening itself while we're on it, something to do with the Integration, though the System won't tell me the specifics. With enough time, I can draw the stone from other parts and move it underground or make it a rock aboveground and let someone carry it that way."
"Great." TJ nodded. "I don't care what exactly the specific mechanics of it are, just that you're taking care of it. If you feel like you need my approval at any point, let me know, but move ahead with my blessing."
William nodded once as TJ turned his attention away and looked for—
"Hello, TJ." Farid's voice startled TJ a little, despite himself. He turned at looked at the Acolyte of Shiva, and Farid smiled. "Are we ready to begin our hunt?"
"Of course." TJ nodded once. "Is there anything that you need to do before we get moving?"
"No." Farid shook his head. "Do you want to say goodbye to Luz?"
"I won't say goodbye," TJ retorted, feeling a little superstitious, "but I will speak with her for a moment. How is she?"
"See for yourself." Farid answered, and TJ strode past to see the little girl giggling as she walked around in a cleared space. She toddled this way and that, her giggles piercing the air as she played with a couple willing adults. TJ grinned as she continued her play, but when she saw him, her little face lit up and she ran to him. She didn't say anything, but he felt his heart swell as the little girl stretched her arms up to him. He didn't hesitate to pick her up and spin for a moment, giving her a tight squeeze. After much too little time, she looked him in the face with deadly severity.
"Down." She demanded.
With a little smile, he bent down and did as she commanded, and once free, Luz ran towards the next person to play with. TJ saw Junior's little silhouette in hers in that moment, and his smile went brittle. Resolving himself, he turned to Farid, who still stood next to him.
"Let's go."