Making Heads Roll

The last few women whom had stayed to watch would find themselves growing pale as well at the harsh display of reality that Julia and Alex showed them. They would hurry themselves to the cargo carts and await the two. When Julia went to check the other tents, she would find bunks, torture devices, sex toys, slave materials, and food. In the main tent, she would find a large bed roll, and scattered documents besides a burned out insulated camp fire.

Most of the documents were just messages from other camps detailing what's going on. Julia would find a map with four of the known camps closer to the Night Terran and Vale Canyon. The one they were in was the most close and labeled as the newest camp. It was probably why there weren't many bandits there yet. The other camps even noted an estimate of how many slaves they had. One would only guess what Julia was feeling when she saw that the lowest number on the other camps was 210.

Other than that, Julia would find a note with an offical red seal. The paper was half burned, most likely Solar trying to get rid of it just before Julia's attack. Most of it was illegible, but Julia would see Night Terran, New Kage, assassins, and people's trust. The seal itself was from a royal house within Grande.

Alex had already slung the sword over her shoulder and jumped in the bandit technical, awaiting Julia to finish up whatever she was doing.

When Julia checked the tents and saw their contents, she could only feel the disgust in her stomach swell further. She herself didn't show any emotion on her face, but decided that these were nothing but tools used by monsters. Julia chuckled softly to herself, though, for she found it extremely amusing that there were people who did worse things to others, as compared to what Julia and possibly Alex do as their professions. After leaving the tents and checking the main ones, Julia found a treasure trove information. Messages, an official documents, and a map detailing the other tents, plus the number of slaves.

"Hinata would like to see these." She said to herself and started to put all of the information into her shadow. Even thought the note with the seal on it was burnt, she still took it. By the time she was done with everything, all the papers, messages, and maps that Julia could find, were inside of her shadow for safe keeping. Julia exited the tent, went into the cargo crate with the rest of the women, then banged on the wall closest to where Alex was driving, to let her know that it was all clear to start heading out. "Let's get going, Alex!" She announced, then worked her way through the crowd of women once more, to get to the doors of the crate. That way, should they be attacked, Julia would immediately be at the front and ready to defend them.

After she positioned herself, Julia turned towards the women. Her gaze was softer and more welcoming this time around. What she saw in these women, were damages. Damages that couldn't be fixed completely, only mended to make the pain hurt less. She took in a deep breath and prepared for her second round of information gathering. Julia figured that the ride was going to take a bit, so she decided that while the women were still freshly freed, they'd be able to tell her a bit more about their abductions.

"To all who Alex and I have rescued, I am Shadow. A genin of the Night Terran Village. I am taking you all there for treatment and safety, before you all make the decision to either leave, or stay within its protective walls." She started off with a bit of an introduction and the place where she was taking them. Julia made sure to word her sentence carefully, so that she can get the maximum amount of calm and bring it into the women. "I understand a lot of you had suffered great abuse from those bandits. There are many more camps, with hundreds of more women who are in the same situation as you all once were. Any information will be appreciated from those who would like to step forward and tell me where they were abducted from, how they were abducted, any sort of bits of information heard from around the camp, that you all deem important. I know the horrid experience is still fresh within your minds, so let tell you that this is not mandatory. You do not have to come up and tell me, if you don't want to. I'll understand." She finished talking and took a deep breath.

A soft smile graced her lips. She didn't know why, but even though she quite literally slaughtered many people, the fact that she saved this small group of people resonated with her. Julia took a look at her hands. The tools that were used for killing, actually saved other people.

As the cart got moving with Alex as the wheel man, the air within the vehicle would fluctuate from small cluster of women to the next. Some were holding each other, others sat alone not trusting a single person around them. The look fear was in a majority of them. One could only imagine how this would have turned out if a male had come to rescue them instead of Julia. When Julia made her speech, most of the girls listened, but others just shook their heads to themselves.

They were still in denial about being free. Julia's words, while pretty, were just echos within a nightmare that many of them still believed they were living.

One brave girl, looking to be about 13 years old with half white, half black hair slid from her small cluster to stand near Julia. She obviously held all the pain that Julia would expect in her eyes, and her clothes were nothing more than a torn brown cloth with a rope tied around her waist to make it look like a skirt. She was skinny and scrawny, a sure sign that she had been a captive for some time.

"Is it true?" She choked out in a raspy, dry voice. "The Night Terran...is it truly an all female village?" The other women all perked up at that information. Some of them had heard the rumor just like the girl, but none believed it. Now that they had someone who was actually from the Night Terran, they could have their answer. A sanctuary just for women? Could such a place really exist after they had presumably escaped from a sexist nightmare?

Julia expected all of this negativity within the atmosphere. The look of fear, the hopelessness, the unwilling urge to trust nobody. Julia had only been exposed to it in small doses, but being cooped up in a transportation crate, and being exposed to it fully really got to her. Her small smile vanished and she resumed the persona of the cold-blooded killer.

It wasn't until a small girl, around the age of a teenager, stepped up to her that Julia realized all of this had to be stopped. Julia looked upon the girl in hidden shock. She was thin, small, had a dried voice, and was filled with nothing but pain. Julia knelt before the girl, took off the glove on her right hand, and softly caressed the young one's cheek. Julia nodded to her question.

"Yes. The Night Terran Village is in fact, an all female village. The village had been recently liberated by the kage, Hinata. I can assure you with my own eyes, that I saw as Hinata merely marched into the small village by herself, and helped bring it from the ashes." She looked the girl straight in the eyes. Julia wasn't telling a lie and her eyes held the hope that the small girl was looking for. "She's a capable leader. You'll all be safe there, you have my word." Julia said loud enough for everyone else to hear.

She soon softly embraced the small girl and softly whispered in her ear.

"You're a strong girl. Continue to be strong from here on and when you're older. You may not think it, but you'll one day turn into a hope for girls and women who have suffered just like you." She said to the girl and finished the embrace. She would stand up and take a final look at all the women. They were all strong and capable, no matter what they suffered or lacked. These were people of conviction and those who stayed to look at the deeds Alex and Julia herself performed, then they are strong-willed enough to become great warriors.

"How bout ya let the little ladies get some rest love!" Alex called from the front, her voice seeming to echo through some form of metal. "We're just about there anyway. Once everyone gets settled and aquainted, I'm sure we can let this Hinata know everything, yeah?"

The women in the cart all seemed to hold just a little more hope than before. Julia's words had sparked the right fuse. The teenage girl in front of her tried, but couldn't hold back her tears. She leaned into Julia's chest and clung to her as she let it all out. Julia's words put an extrea beat into her heart. There was life where there once was nothing but wanting for a quick and peaceful death.

"Ladies and gals, welcome to the Night Terran!" Alex called as they began to cross into the village that would turn into something far greater.

It would turn into salvation.

To Be Continued...