II. GIANT WALKERS
The entire village was called forth to learn of their home's origins, and its possible linkage to the red blur the children had seen. The principled guinea pig, Mayor Gianluca, took a deep breath before beginning his speech. He tongue tied as he opened his mouth. After a few seconds of wordless breath, he was able to reach his voice.
"This is a secret that is to be thrown into the casket with my passing, but I feel it best if I am transparent with the beginnings of our home, Billowing Embers. While we have been celebrating the coming of summer with our Ember Festival, partaking in the appreciation of our tomatoes, and the warm sunlight, there is another reason it is called so. Years ago when many of our ancestors were scattered across the land, there was a terrible storm that burned down many homes, split many grounds, and flames engulfing the last of our produce.
By sheer coincidence, many of your forefathers came to a central location, our very own Billowing Embers. For many of them, diplomacy was unheard of. Battles were fought, and many were lost to primal instincts. Yet, somehow, all but one family still live in Billowing Embers. They thought it swift to make a hasty escape from the fighting. The family that originally lived in Billowing Embers without disturbance of any other were four legged creatures of ember fur, and a tail that moved like a gentle flame. While fierce, they were also fabulous, almost fictitious in a way. They were the foxes. They ran off high up into the mountains, but the river ran red soon after.
When the foxes made their way up, way past our village border, they stumbled on a brown beast we later learned slept through the winters. They were the Giant Walkers. Unluckily for the foxes, it was summer time when they made their escape from the fighting in Billowing Embers. When the water up north became tainted with their blood, many of the more cautious of us negotiated, while the more ferocious of us, like the lions, ventured forth and lost their lives. We came together knowing a border would keep us from our untimely demise. With much democracy, the fierce ones joined us. We knew that someday we would need fine warriors for if these Giant Walkers were to ever come down for us.
The Wolves devised a police system to keep the village safe. For the cost of full access to our produce at no cost, they would be the ones inside Billowing Embers to keep the order in, and the reason chaos would not enter our home. While they are our formal guardians, we also had the lions.
The lions weren't ones to be persuaded to be within the system. They isolated themselves, but were still treated to our produce, but it would be only if they could prove they've earned it based on all the foreign creatures being disposed of before they could bring disaster upon us...there have been many creatures who are no longer with us thanks to their aid, like the crazy coyotes who saw us as livestock. Rules and constraints were of no interest to them, but they knew we could be a valuable asset to help themselves grow as warriors if we supplied them with food. They hunted for their meat, and during scarce hunting seasons, we provided them with our--prisoners. Due to the lion's vigilantism, they do not get the same recognition and admiration as our wolves’ police force, the Wynter Force.
I know trust for the Wynter Force has been rocky lately, but I assure you, we will do our due diligence to clean any smudge on their blue visor so the wolf insignia will emit a clean white light to shine upon the village with peace and prosperity. With the new leadership coming from the structured demeanor of Offycer Whyte, rest assured: order and precision will restore our great village to its peak glory. Not a single plot of dirt shall remain. Huzza!"
Not a single cheer or smile showed through the crowd. While Gianluca's words of Billowing Embers and the monstrous beasts were of great urgency, all the strife and distrust with the Wynter Force prevented the citizens from feeling safe within their own homes. Many of its citizens had walked out or gossiped during his speech, claiming: could Gianluca be trusted since the Wynter Force has been abusing their power over its vulnerable citizens the past few weeks?
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