"Heya, wimpy," Soaring Wave greeted Strong River, a malignant grin plastered on his face.

As the tent's flap closed, River caught a glimpse of Stumpy's back. His silhouette stood sentinel over the opening, a clear sign that Soaring Wave did not wish for any interruptions.

River took a deep breath. "Is there something you need?"

"Don't think you're an equal, you little turd," Soaring Wave sneered, stepping forward in an attempt to loom over him.

River had to work at suppressing the urge to laugh in Soaring Wave's face. The brat no doubt thought that there was at worst a minor difference between their physiques. He could not have anticipated that River had leap-frogged so far over him as to be an entire stage and a half over him.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to get some breathing exercises done before bed," River replied. "If you're here to say or do something, then please get it over with. I've had a long day."

"It ain't over yet. I'd say the real fun in your day is just getting started," Soaring Wave's face contorted in rage.

And then the brat took a swing.

River could not help but observe how slow, how obviously telegraphed Soaring Wave's attack was. To him, it felt like time dilated as he determined the trajectory and force and casually brought up his right palm to enclose the fist, trapping it as solidly as amber traps an insect.

Thinking it over, River considered his next steps. With this contact, he could immediately suck Soaring Wave dry with the Blood Devouring Palm. It was only a fleeting temptation, though, as he knew it wasn't the moment for such a thing yet. He needed to maintain his secrets for as long as possible right now, meeting threats with enough to keep himself from harm. The correct time to strike was still days away now.

If he retaliated too weakly, this would drag on and entangle other parties, ones that may be less inclined to be helpful. If he countered too harshly, River would face retaliation of his own from those who stood behind Soaring Wave and his uncle, Elder Wave.

Elder Wave. River recalled some peculiarities. How he had no wife and no children. How he had almost gleefully offered a salacious punishment in the conference with the elders that was overheard when River was eavesdropping. An idea came together with an almost tangible click inside River's mind. River almost felt pity for Soaring Wave for what was about to happen. Almost.

The mixed consternation and astonishment from the successful block were just traveling across Soaring Wave's face when the decision was made. Looking up at his attacker with a grin on his face, River took in a deep breath.

"SCREW OFF, PERVERT!" he bellowed at almost eardrum-shattering volume, and with his left palm he struck out at Soaring Wave's abdomen, a blow strong enough to propel the youth backward and out of the tent. The flying youth smashed into his minion with enough force to topple them both over, rolling in the dirt.

River made a quick sharp tug at the waistband of his own pants, snapping the cord that held them up, and scrambled to his feet and outside the tent, using his left hand to make an obvious effort to keep his pants up. Soaring Wave and Stumpy were flailing at each other as they tried to disentangle from their pileup on the ground, dirt flying in the air as they did. From all around, tent flaps opened as warriors scrambled out, some with weapons in hand.

River took another deep breath. "YOU AND YOUR UNCLE MAY DO THAT KIND OF STUFF BACK IN THE CLAN, BUT YOU AREN'T TOUCHING ME THAT WAY HERE, YOU SICKO!" he shouted at the flailing youth on the ground.

Purple-faced, livid, Soaring Wave shoved Stumpy aside and finally managed to stand up. As he did, several of the warriors arrived and pulled him and Soaring Wave back from one another. A figure jogged in from outside the stockade; it was Blue Ripple, looking rather stern as the light of the camp's fires flickered over his features.

Soaring Wave had still not adjusted to the rapid change in the situation. Just a moment before he had been standing over an insignificant rodent, lording his superior status. Now, he had been sneak attacked and tossed out on his butt, and his reputation was being impugned in front of the whole camp. He tried to form words, but all that came out of his mouth was an incoherent sputtering.

"Men," Blue Ripple said, stepping in to take command over the situation, "what's going on here?"

As Soaring Wave sputtered, River took the initiative to answer. "Bro, boy I'm glad to see you! Th-that pervert, he tried to d-do something to me, so I kicked him out! H-his monkey there was blocking the way out, so I shouted so everybody could hear me. I guess he wasn't expecting it, 'cos I knocked him right out of there. D-don't tell me this is how you guys greet the newbies here?"

Many dark glares were aimed at the sputtering, incoherent youth. One of those was Blue Ripple's, the veins popping at his forehead revealing the effort with which he contained himself at this moment. "And you?" he asked grimly.

"Liar!" Soaring Wave managed to finally yell coherently. "He's a damn liar! I was not--I did not--" he returned to incoherently sputtering as he grasped for something to refute the accusations.

"So my drawstring just snapped out of nowhere too, you sick bastard?" River sneered, making a visible effort to pull up his pants a bit more.

"Enough," Blue Ripple closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath to calm down before reopening them. "River. There are a lot of people who should be sleeping right now. There are also animals that can be drawn to loud noises about. Try not to do that again, okay?"

River looked down at his feet. "Yes, sir."

Blue Ripple nodded in approval at this quick acquiescence. He then turned to the livid Soaring Wave and stepped up, a couple men tightening their grips on the youth's shoulders. "Soaring Wave," he addressed the youth, his voice quiet, "I don't know what your game is, but if you ever sneak into anybody else's tent at night again and I am around, I will separate you from your little spear and give it to the beasts. I don't care what your uncle will say or do about it, either, so you can spare me the threats. Now. Go. To. Sleep." He spun around and surveyed the surrounding warriors. "Everyone! The second watch is in a couple of hours. I'll hear no excuses." Blue Ripple turned and grabbed River by the arm and brought him into their tent.

"You okay?" he asked River as the sounds of tent flaps opening and closing came in from the outside.

River gulped and nodded. "Yeah. I was just a little startled when I came out of meditation, and he was..."

"It's okay, bro," Blue Ripple reassured him. "It wouldn't have done if you'd pummeled him into a paste on the spot. It's inconvenient, but letting the camp handle it is how we deal with disputes out here." He sighed. "You're really going to have to watch your back now, you know."

River nodded. "Better than not being able to sit on my backside, right?"

Blue Ripple shook his head and smirked a little at that. "I'm not even going there. Elder Wave... is one of those topics we don't discuss in mixed hearing. Anyway," he patted River on the shoulder, "you should try and get some sleep, you have a busy day ahead of you tomorrow. I'll be back in a couple hours, and nobody will bother you before then."

River laid down and threw the large woolen blanket around himself as Blue Ripple left the tent.

"Are you having fun making all this ruckus?" Mister Black complained.

"Welcome back to you too, Mister Black," River sourly noted. "It wasn't as though I wanted to draw everybody's attention to our little quarrel. I had to resolve the situation quickly, though, and since you were too busy to warn me he was coming, I had to think fast."

"Oh, so I'm now your very own door sentry, am I? Hmph." Mister Black sounded a bit peevish about his clear demotion.

"Now now, let's not be like that. I understand that I have to handle situations on my own if I'm going to grow," River tried to placate the grumpy old man living in his thumb ring. "It really wasn't the time to completely take him out, though. If I can wake the whole camp with a shout like that, so can he, and he had a minion on hand to boot. I did manage some gains in this, too."

"Oh? Besides yelling your head off and ruining a perfectly good lace for your pants?" Mister Black was less than impressed.

"Aw, crap. I'll have to impose on Brother Ripple to deal with that, won't I?"

"Brother Ripple?" Mister Black replied archly.

"He's an ally, Mister Black, the biggest one we have right now. I'm already at odds with Elder Wave's faction, it seems, and until I'm strong enough I need some backing in the clan to cut down on the number of interruptions and incidents."

"Just as long as you're clear on the lines here, River. If your secrets end up exposed because you're feeling loose-tongued with him, it'll be very bad for you."

"I understand. I won't be revealing all my cards in front of him. After all, everybody who sees my secrets has to die, right Mister Black? I'd really not want to waste a useful relationship like that."

"Mmhmm." Mister Black affirmed that judgment without further comment.

"Additionally," River noted, "I now think I have a handle on an avenue of leverage between Elder Wave and the Dragon's Den, disgusting as it is. I'm going to have to get some more information from Blue Ripple, but one of the things I have to consider right now is how to catch as many of them in my net at a time as possible."

"I'd think you might want to worry about being strong enough to deal with a netful of bandits with a corrupt elder thrown in on the side, but okay," Mister Black mused.

"That's what we're out here for. Which reminds me, I guess I should get some actual sleep now."

"That's okay. I have some literal cat-herding I should attend to now."

"Oh, is that what we're getting?" River asked, curious.

"It's a surprise, my young student," Mister Black cackled. Then he vanished from River's consciousness.

Left alone with his thoughts, River juggled future scenarios in his mind. Blue Ripple's friendship was the first warmth from another human being he had experienced since Sweet Nectar had gone away, and while River found himself chasing strength and vengeance, he wasn't too sure about wiping out all human connection from his life. As the fabric of possibilities spun before his closed eyes, he found himself only wishing one thing.

That none of those possibilities would require killing Blue Ripple.