"Besides," I continue, and she raises her eyebrows, "you should consider making a candle with that minty coffee breath of yours. I bet you would make a killing with it." 

Her face colors as her companion fails this time to hold back his laughter, and I don't even get the satisfaction of laughing myself before she slams her hand into my chest, forcing me further against the tree as she grits her teeth. 

"I'm not playing games with you," she growls, this time seeming to keep out of my face as she speaks. "Who are you? Why are you out here?" 

"Calm down, damn!" I grunt, wiggling under her as I attempt to breathe. "I just told you who I am, Lumber Jane; what part of 'hunter' did you not understand?" 

"Do you have any idea who we are?" She demands. 

"Well, you're obviously not Widows," I grunt, "and I certainly hope you aren't park rangers because you are doing an abhorrent job at keeping out the riffraff." 

"You didn't answer my question," she grits, pressing harder into my chest and forcing out what little air I have. "Do you know who we are?" 

Grunting and struggling under the force of her hand, I cough, which she takes as a sign to back off so I can talk. "Am I supposed to?"

Knowing she won't get any meaningful information from me, the young man steps up, pats her shoulder, and signals for her to stand. "Here," he says. "Let me." 

Grumbling under her breath, the woman stands and crosses her arms, keeping a close eye on me as the young man crouches before me. 

"The two young adults sleeping by the creek west of here," he starts, my blood freezing at his icy calmness, "are they with you?" 

Keeping my face neutral, I refuse to answer him, which he acknowledges with a nod and a sigh. 

"I thought so," he breathes. "Listen, I understand that we got off on the wrong foot. We can resolve this issue peacefully, but that will require your cooperation. This encounter wasn't supposed to get as messy as it did." 

"Maybe it would have gone over differently if your lumberjack friend over there didn't threaten me with a knife."

He opens his mouth for a retort, glances over at his companion - who has enough sense to look guilty - thinks better of his answer, and simply nods. 

"What's your relationship with those friends of yours by the creek?" He asks. 

"What's it to you?" I demand, wiggling my hands against the bindings while the two aggressors are distracted. 

"Well, we can never be too certain about strangers nowadays," he muses, rubbing his chest. "You never know if they're the good ones or the bad ones."

"And which does that make you?" 

The woman scoffs at that, looking mildly offended. "You're not dead, are you?" 

"Not yet," I spit. 

Seeing that the conversation is going nowhere, the woman crouches down before me again, the young man sighing and standing out of her way. "If we wanted you dead, we wouldn't have bothered capturing you. You're making this a lot harder than it needs to be." 

With my hands finally free of the bindings, I spit blood up in the woman's face, hitting her directly in the eyes as she rears back in disgust, her hands flying to wipe away the blood. "Oh, you nasty little shit!"

Taking advantage of their confusion, I roll out of the way of her boot as she attempts to kick me, and I spring to my feet, snatching my bow and quiver from the stump near the young man as I bolt past and dart through the trees. 

For a brief moment, the woman gives chase, but the young man calls out, "Just let her go!"

The woman breaks pursuit, but I don't bother looking back as I weave through the trees, tossing the bindings aside as I head straight for our camp. I sigh in relief when I spot the camouflaged tarp that covers our sleeping bags. Two heads pop up as I wade through the creek, startled at the sudden sound. 

"Damn, Cassy," my sister Octavia is the first to speak, her dark hair a mess and her dark eyes wide as she takes in the state I've returned in. "Did you pick a fight with a tree and lose?" 

"Something like that," I grunt, clambering onto the banks and tossing mud onto the fire. "Pack the essentials; we're getting the hell outta here." 

My brother Felix stands, towering over my sister and me, looking over me with worry. "Are you okay? What happened out there?" 

"I'm fine for now," I usher away his worried hands as I untie the tarp. "I'll be better once we're away from here. I was attacked by a couple assholes in the woods that stole our breakfast." 

Now understanding the danger we're in, my brother and sister quickly start to take down our little camp, shoving what few supplies we have into their bags as we prepare to leave. Behind the tent, at the sound of a twig snapping, I whirl about, my bow drawn and an arrow nocked, aimed directly at the chest of the young man from earlier. 

"Heya," he greets, his hands held up. 

"Ready for round two already, asshole?" I growl. 

Behind me, from the other side, the woman's voice replies with, "That wouldn't be wise." 

I whirl about again, aiming my bow at the woman as Octavia grabs her bat. She faces the young man, and Felix freezes, assessing the situation. 

"Cass?" Felix hisses towards me. "What's going on?" 

"These are the circus freaks that jumped me while I was out hunting," I explain. 

The woman looks mildly offended, and I hear the young man pout behind me. 

"Well," he huffs. "That's not very nice." 

"Neither is what you two did to my face, yet here we are," I snap back, turning my head in his direction, though never taking my eyes off the woman before me. 

The woman sighs, her face softening only by a fraction. "Look, we can still talk this out. How about we bring you to our camp, get you patched up, and smooth this whole thing over with some hot food?" 

I scoff. "Right, because talking it out worked so well for us five minutes ago." 

The woman furrows her brows at me. "All you had to do was disarm and answer some questions; you were the one who chose violence." 

"And all you had to do was approach like normal human beings; you were the one who stuck a knife to my throat. That doesn't exactly convey that you just wanna ask questions." 

The woman takes a small step as she opens her mouth, but I raise my bow a bit higher, aiming directly at her head this time. She pauses, holding her hands up in surrender. 

"Just walk away," I growl. "Walk away, and you won't ever have to see us again." 

Behind me, the man sighs. "I wish we could, but we can't do that. We don't know who you are, and besides that, you left your breakfast back in the clearing." 

My stomach lets out a growl of protest at the thought of food, reminding me of my hunger at the worst time. Perhaps it's a trick of the light, but I swear I see the woman before me smirk. After a blink, however, her face returns to a cautiously neutral expression as she eyes me. 

"I'm not asking you to trust us," the man says, and I hear Octavia shift behind me as she readies her bat. "If you come with us and talk to our leader and answer his questions, we can get you a bite to eat, have you patched up, and you can be on your merry way." 

"Somehow, I feel as though you're lying to me." 

The woman sighs, stepping closer and seeming unphased as I again adjust my aim to her face. "Listen," she starts. "I understand where you're coming from, I do. You're just trying to protect your people-"

"My family," I correct. 

She nods. "Right, your family. But we have to look out for our people, too. Understand that bringing you to our camp is a risk that we're all taking; it's a risk for us because you've proven yourself to be dangerous, and it's a risk for you because you don't know who we are." 

"Yeah, well, from where I'm standing, you have much less to lose if this doesn't work out in your favor," I growl. 

A brief flash of guilt crosses her face before her mask of neutrality falls back in place. "And from where I'm standing, if you don't get patched up soon, you could die of infection and leave your family without their protector." 

I flinch at that. We've been running low on medical supplies for months now, getting by on clean rags and luck for most scrapes and burns, but the cut on my neck and the cuts on my face require actual medical attention, and if they have a doctor or medical professional of any sort, I can at least get checked out. 

"Five minutes ago, you wanted to beat my face in," I state. "Why should I believe anything you have to say?" 

Behind me, the young man calls, "She's got a point!" 

The woman glares at him from over my shoulder before her attention returns to me. "Because you aren't marked," she says simply. "If you were, there wouldn't have been a discussion." 

"Wow," my sister drawls from behind me. "Such a poetic way with words."

The woman casts a confused look at my sister, and I scowl back at the woman, daring her to try something and give me a reason to bury an arrow between her eyes. If these two circus freaks had just minded their own business and left me alone, none of this would have happened, and I would be dragging home a deer and a pack of squirrels back to camp for breakfast to feed my family. Instead, I've been assaulted and blamed for the hostilities, and now I have to risk my siblings' safety because of these two. 

The woman's face is neutral; her mask of indifference slipped perfectly in place as she calmly watches me, though the intensity behind her stormy eyes has yet to disappear. 

"Cass," my sister ventures, glancing back at me. "What do we do?" 

I glance back at my siblings, lowering my bow. The strangers have a point; if they wanted us dead, we would have been killed by now, no questions asked. Though their approach in the woods was aggressive, they never aimed to kill me as I ran. On top of that, if I were to kill these two here, then there would be a widespread manhunt from their camp once they learned that two of their own didn't make it back. Considering how long my family and I have gone without substantial food and sleep, that's not a risk I'm willing to take. 

"Cassy?" Felix asks, slowly lowering his fists. 

Sighing, I lower my bow completely, withdraw my arrow, and slide it back into the quiver on my hip. "Fine," I growl. "We'll do it your way."

However much I hate giving up and being forced to waste time and go with these two, killing or maiming them and risking a manhunt with their camp would put my family and me in jeopardy, and I can't have that. Though we've taken too much time in our journey as it is, I know how to wait and play nice until the time for us to leave becomes apparent. 

"Good," the man sighs. "I hope you understand that we'll have to take your weapons while we escort you to camp." 

I nod as the woman adds, "We'll also have to check these two for markings." 

I eye the strangers as my siblings' attention snaps to me. "Isn't it enough that I'm clean?" 

"No," the woman simply replies. 

Felix and Octavia exchange nervous glances but eventually relent, understanding at last that I intend to cooperate for the time being. 

"I don't like this, Cassy," Octavia mutters as she cautiously removes her jacket. 

"Don't worry, Tavia," I assure her, glaring at the woman as she approaches to examine my sister's arms and neck. "I'm sure these nice people won't do anything untoward after going so far out of their way to be cordial. They're smarter than that."

The woman regards me with a guarded expression I can't quite place; respect? Caution? 

She checks my sister much more gently than she did with me - probably because Octavia hasn't hit her in the face yet - while the young man checks my brother. Felix and Octavia stand stiffly as the strangers check their arms, necks, and chests for the spider tattoo none of us have, and I watch them intently. 

Finally, the young man breathes a sigh. "They're clean." 

"They're my siblings," I deadpan. "I'd be concerned if they weren't." 

The strangers before me silently communicate something to one another, their faces blank, and the woman sighs. 

"Like we said earlier," she notes, "we can never be too safe. Drop the weapons and grab your bags; we'll take you to our camp." 

"Can I at least wash my face first?" I ask, touching my cheek and pulling away my fingers with halfway-dried blood. "I'm sure your camp won't appreciate it if you escort a bunch of strangers into their home with their faces covered in blood."