Tamarrio Washington's Arc

Chapter 2 of 5

Tamarrio sat on the steps of his new base when the first local appeared. A woman with a bow slung across her back. She didn't speak at first. Just looked at the flag above his head, then at him. Two more people came out of the trees behind her. Then five more. They'd been here before he arrived. The woman stepped forward. "We survived Oldgrowth without you. Why should we follow your flag now?" Tamarrio stood and pointed past the trees to where an old stone tower rose above the canopy. Vines crawled up its sides, but the structure still held. "Because I'm not asking you to follow. I'm giving you a chance to prove you're worth keeping." He walked toward the tower, and the locals followed. Inside, he set a flaming sword at the base of the spiral stairs. "Climb to the top. Bring back what you find. Do that, and you're part of this territory. Fail, and you can leave or stay quiet." Three locals turned back immediately. The woman and four others entered the tower. Tamarrio waited outside, leaning against the stone. He heard shouts, then silence, then footsteps descending fast. Two came back empty-handed and walked past him without a word. The woman emerged last, carrying a carved statue shaped like a twisting wind. She held it out to him. "There were creatures up there. We handled them." Tamarrio took the statue and handed her the flaming sword instead. "You earned it. This territory has rules now. Fight for it, and it's yours too." The woman gripped the sword and nodded. The other two who succeeded stood beside her. Tamarrio planted the wind statue outside his base next to Aldric's flag. It wasn't loyalty yet. But it was a start. He had people now who proved they could survive more than just the forest. They chose his territory because he gave them something to win, not something to obey. That mattered. The Pirate King would need more than flags and trophies. He'd need people who earned their place in the sky.