(Shela and Charles are waiting in front of the cave near the house, the entrance covered with hanging vines and flowers)

Charles: How much longer do you think it’ll take those two?

Shela: It hasn’t even been that long, stop being so nervous.

Charles: How aren’t you nervous?

Shela: I guess because I kind of already know what’s going on. To an extent. 

Charles: You also don’t have to make important choices…

Shela: *smacks his arm* Knowing you, yeah I will.

(Roy and Desmond are seen walking up toward them)

Desmond: Getting in some training before the meeting?

Charles: Haha very funny.

Desmond: (smirks) Come on, let’s get inside and start this.

(Desmond leads them into the cave, to a hollowed out area where they’ve set a meeting table. Glowing mana crystals light the room slightly, Roy and Charles use torches to light the rest)

Charles: It’s a lot different being in here when you have a reason other than getting dad’s attention.

Shela: I’ll agree with you on that one…

Roy: Alright we’re ready, go ahead and sit down.

(They’re all seated. Roy and Desmond sit close to one side while Shela and Charles are on the other)

Roy: So I know you two obviously know about the black magic cult, as well as the reanimated soldiers. But as far as you’ve been aware, we hadn’t learned anything more on the leader.

Charles: Right.

Shela: Do you know who it is?

Desmond: No, that’s still been a mystery to all of us. Even other groups we’ve spoken to.

Roy: What has been kept hidden from you is just how badly it has taken over this continent, never mind the entire world. I’ve always posed it as the south west was safer and while that’s somewhat true, villages, towns, and even cities have been taken over. 

Desmond: Fox village basically doesn’t exist anymore. Many other survivors that we thought went to other camps have since passed. 

Shela: What?! That doesn’t make any sense, we’re trained to survive.

Desmond: We are, but we’ve never had a good defense for magic and that has been our greatest downfall.

Shela: Then how did we survive before?

Roy: Despite our village being build upon a magic dead zone, we came into possession of something very powerful.

Roy: It’s also the reason our village was attacked. A Caster Crystal.

Shela and Charles: Caster Crystal?

Roy: Yes. They’re limited in number but extremely powerful crystals containing magic. They’ve existed for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. 

Shela: I don’t understand how we haven’t heard about this before.

Roy: It’s generally been kept a secret. Especially the fact that we possessed one of them. With only eight of them in the world, they have to be kept incredibly safe and guarded at all times.

Desmond: Having one around also meant we could use it to keep a sort of bubble shield around the village. Anything using magic to attack just couldn’t. It’s already hard enough for casters to do anything on that land as is but with the crystal, we thought we’d be safe for a long time.

Charles: Until we weren’t.

Roy: Unfortunately yes. While the crystals are powerful, they came about in a time before black magic had even been discovered. As such, it wasn’t a perfect shield. 

Shela: So wait…what happens when you obtain a crystal? Hell, what happens when you obtain multiple?

(Charles gives her a confused look and Roy sighs)

Roy: We’ll get there, let me finish fully explaining things.

Roy: Once the shield was broken, everyone fought to protect our village and the crystal. A lot of people died trying. Those that didn’t escaped like us, however without proper magic training, a lot of us weren’t safe.

Desmond: Having been specially trained, our group stood a far better chance of making it. It’s why such a number followed our group. Others though, they weren’t as trained and didn’t get so far. The fox village was not as unbreakable as you kids had been told to believe. 

Roy: What we’re getting at is, whoever is behind our home being destroyed and the rest of the country falling to pieces, they stole the Crystal we had.

Shela: And they know where another one is located so-

Desmond: (whips his head to look at her, wide eyed)

Roy: Shela I appreciate the enthusiasm but we haven’t gotten there yet.

(Shela glares at him but gets quiet)

Roy: Those Crystals hold so much power, that shield we had was powered by that thing for ages with no sign of stopping. 

Roy: If one figured out how to harness a crystal using black magic, they could cause a lot of destruction.

Charles: A-And if they had more than one?

Desmond: If they collected all eight, they could likely destroy the entire planet. At least as we know it. 

Desmond: So what was that about them knowing the location of another one?

Roy: The group we exchanged materials with, they’ve been holding on to one. It was guarded in their city but they had enough people on hand that they managed to escape with it. 

Roy: They’ve kept safe for now but the reanimated soldiers are coming around more often. It’s likely they will move camp but I do worry about how things will progress for them.

Shela: Is there any way of knowing how many they’ve already collected?

(Charles looking uncomfortable as his sister asks all the questions)

Roy: As far as I know, we were the first to be attacked. So hopefully, only one. But there really is no way of knowing, things have progressed so quickly. 

Desmond: Our only saving grace for the time being is that it doesn’t seem like they’ve worked out how to use the crystal for their black magic. Whatever they’re doing is their own power right now.

Roy: Not that this makes it much better…

Charles: So should we be offering the other group help?

Roy: I offered but they didn’t want it, said they’d handle it on their own. I think a lot of them have been guarding the crystal for a long time and when it’s something that sacred, it’s pretty personal.

Shela: It still doesn’t feel right.

Roy: Maybe not, but my offering was more out of courtesy than reality. We don’t have the resources. Much of the group isn’t trained for it and I can not risk lives right now. 

Shela: I get that, it still just sucks though.

(Roy opens his mouth but then chuckles)

Roy: Yeah. I guess that is one way to put it.

Charles: So what can we do?

Roy: Keep an eye on things, keep in contact. Focus on building our skills and really, I think it might be time to start sending out regular supply gathering groups. Building better weapons would be a helpful start to things. 

Shela: We really need a better supply of mana crystals too. I know we’re not the most capable of using them, but others are. 

Roy: We’ll keep it in mind. I don’t want to send out teams for another week. Charles does need time to settle in to his role and others need to be used to it.

Desmond: I think they’re fine, it’s not like Charles is a whole new person to them. I think people like Eris and a few other old times are a little sour but they’ll get over it. 

Shela: Doesn’t it generally make more sense to pick a younger person anyway? At least in a situation like this?

Desmond: Typically yeah, but more experienced people are still going to feel a little shafted.

Roy: (sighs) For now, the meeting is dismissed. I’m going to do some thinking and we’ll meet back up again in two days. 

Desmond: Does that mean me too? I’m retired you know.

Roy: (glares) You’re welcome to be here but I guess I can’t force you.

Desmond: Then you need to let the kids do this on their own without Uncle Des. 

Roy: Desmond…

Desmond: Okay I get it, I’m pushing your buttons. I’m leaving. 

(Desmond heads out of the cave first, slower than he would have in the past but managing. Roy sighs and leaves after, heading back to the house. Shela and Charles follow behind.)

Charles: Should we be training or something today?

Roy: (quiet for a moment)

Roy: No. Charles, why don’t you check in with Celia. I think she mentioned having a big harvest soon and she could probably use the help. Maybe grab Mark and Ethan. 

Charles: Sure, those two knuckleheads could do with some hard work. (smirks)

(Charles waves at them before heading off)

Roy: Shela, can you please go assist Nick with the supplies we brought back? I know you saw a lot of it was just bulk packed and I’m sure he wants to dry some things and store some of it more effectively. 

Shela: Sure, do you mind if I bring Aero with me? Maybe Keeta too?

Roy: No, the more help the better.

Shela: (nods and leaves)

(Roy is seen entering the house, clearly off in his own head already. Shela knocks on Aero’s door)

Aero: Oh, hey. We training today?

Shela: No, actually dad asked if I would go help Doctor Nick with unpacking the supplies. I wanted to see if you would help. Keeta can join us if he wants.

Aero: He’s busy working on some prototype right now so I think you’ll have to settle for just me. But give me a few minutes.

Shela: Sure.

(Aero shuts the door and Shela waits patiently outside, crossing her arms and swaying side to side. When Aero returns, he’s dressed in something that looks a lot less like pajamas. Shela doesn’t comment and the two head to the clinic.)

Nick: (looks up from a note he’s scribbling at the side of his desk) Oh, what brings you two here?

Shela: My dad thought I should offer some help with the supplies, I know we didn’t really unpack last night.

Nick: Oh thank god. I’ve been trying to take inventory for an hour now and I’m not awake enough, losing track, and mixing things around.

(Shela and Aero realize the stacks of packaged herbs sitting around on the floor)

Nick: I’m overwhelmed.

Shela: Well no worries, we’re here now.

Nick: Thank you. There’s really a lot I need done here. A lot of this stuff is pretty fresh and that’s fine but the sooner I dry it out, the better. Otherwise it’ll grow mold. 

Nick: The stuff that is dry already, some of it needs to be set to the side and repackaged in smaller bundles. Some of it should be ground into a powder so I can mix it. 

Aero: It kind of seems like you need an assistant.

Nick: It would be nice but I understand that’s not really something I can ask for right now. 

(Aero in the background is already starting to pull more packages out of one of the crates. He’s gentle in setting things down and laying everything out)

Shela: I’ll talk to my dad. At the very least, we can get some more people over here to help get things sorted out. It’ll just be us today but I’m pretty sure this sounds like a multi-day process.

Nick: (chuckles) Definitely. But it’s nice to have so much to work with. Celia has been wonderful at helping me grow some things but with these, I can collect seeds for things we didn’t already have. 

Aero: Hey doc, I’ve got the first crate unpacked. Why don’t we sort through all this first and see where things go from here?

(Both Shela and Nick stop and blink at him)

Nick: That was fast.

Aero: I have to do this kind of thing for my brother all the time. When he’s stuck, sometimes I just take some things out and lay them in front of him all at once. It gets him to be able to reorganize and focus. 

Shela: Makes sense. I say we start sorting out herbs and medicine from things like bandages or bottles. 

Aero: I’m surprised they mixed the crates so much.

Shela: We helped pack them actually. It was done this way so we could more evenly distribute weight on the wagon. Since did have to pull it by hand and all.

Aero: (blushes) Oh. Well, serves you right for having to help sort this mess out then.

Shela: (shakes her head)

(Shela starts by sorting the already open packages, semi wrapping them back up. While she’s doing this, Aero and Nick open some new ones and start adding on to the piles. It doesn’t take them two long to sort things down into two piles.)

Shela: Okay so, I think for now if you have a room we could use for disorganized storage, we should stick all the non-perishable supplies there. We can think about sorting them later when all this stuff is taken care of first.

Nick: Sure. That room to the left has a bed in it but it should work just fine for this. 

(Shela nods and starts carrying things inside there without a second thought. Aero and Nick follow her lead once again)

Shela: (while carrying) So, you said there’s a mix of already dried herbs and more fresh ones?

Nick: I mean they’re not totally fresh but they were clearly pressed for a short period of time and not fully hung up to dry. 

Shela: Okay but is that something we can easily see without being trained doctors?

Nick: Yeah it’s easy enough to tell them apart.

Shela: Then we need to sort those down further. The dried ones can again be set to the side for a little bit. The other stuff should be set out to dry as soon as possible right?

Nick: Yes. I don’t think it’ll mold within the next 24 hours, but I don’t want to risk much longer than that.

(Shela already starts in on the pile, separating a package into a dry pile. She looks closely at another one and determines it goes in the ‘needs drying’ pile)

Aero: So what you’re saying is, we need to process through these next five crates as quickly as possible?

Nick: Well, yes. Don’t stress yourselves, I’ll stay up all night and finish this myself if I need to. But the more we can do while you’re around, the better.

(Nick begins helping Shela, Aero joining seconds later)

Shela: It shouldn’t really be that difficult. I don’t know if it’ll all be hung up by the time we leave, but with us sorting things down into manageable chunks, it’ll be easy.

(Once the herbs are sorted, Doctor Nick grabs a pile and heads into another room. It’s smaller and colder. Shela follows and they store the dried herbs there. Aero starts unpacking the box while they haul the dried herbs into the room and further set aside the unprocessed pile)

(They repeat this process several more times. When they’re unloading the second crate, it’s around 11am and by the time they’re on the sixth, it’s around 3pm)

Aero: I can not believe we got through all those.

Shela: I can’t believe I helped haul all of those.

Nick: (laughs) I think we need a break. Honestly if you two need to just go, I get it. The biggest stress so far for me is over.

Shela: No no, we’ll stay. Or at least, I will. But a break sounds like a good idea.

Aero: I’m staying. It would bother me to back out of the project now. Plus I think Keeta just wants some quiet right now.

Nick: Well I appreciate that. Let me grab some snacks from the back. (gets up and leaves the room)

Shela: Are you actually okay with staying?

Aero: Yeah of course, I like to help. I’m just exhausted. Stayed up way to late after helping haul supplies and someone keeps training us really hard lately.

Shela: (snorts) You all need it.