Lana decided she should do something else as well. Max, can you come out and go invisible? I need you to find Quinn and show him where we are but I don't want Kaz to know about you still. Just point him in the right direction.
Max appeared and immediately disappeared. About an hour later, Quinn and his group appeared.
Lana felt Max land on her shoulder then desummon to reduce the amount of smoke that would be created by the act.
She then noticed Quinn and his group approaching. Good job, Max!
Quinn looked at Lana then at the rest of her people. He decided to approach telling his team to wait there. "Not joining the fight, Lana?"
"Nah," She replied. "At first I was upset that Dobin told me to sit on the sidelines for a few but now that I have been observing, this looks really boring. I think I'm best set for advising them on how to improve."
Quinn laughed, "Boring is good! It means the team is safe."
Lana chuckled, "Yes, it does. Just so you know, Dobin spilled the beans yesterday. The team, Nate, Blip and Sam know I'm pregnant now… I'm not happy about it but that's where we are right now. It's why I was sidelined."
Quinn nodded. "We need you safe."
"Quinn, I can't get stronger if I'm safe. I need that B-rank. That means I need to fight. And more than just slugs. It needs to be something that fights back. None of us are happy about this situation but I need to be able to protect myself and get a following to join my faction once I move. I can take a few from here but I need my own people. I did ask Sam yesterday to find a few that are prospects. I know Dilly is in. I promised her no fighting. She is to make my clothing. That will be her job."
"Lana, clothing won't keep you safe," Nate said.
Lana chuckled, "Then why am I wearing intermediate clothing?"
Nate was shocked and Quinn smirked. "The girl is resourceful. She's not even wearing her ability armor yet so she doesn't think it's serious yet. I'm sorry Lana, I really don't mean to treat you like a child. It's just that I made a promise and I feel conflicted."
Lana nodded, "I feel conflicted as well." She sighed then looked at all the people around her. "I don't know if I should be offended so many people want to keep me safe or if I should feel flattered by it. I'm not weak by any means but at the same time, I protected Dobin for nine years. I can understand why he'd want to protect me now that he's strong."
Quinn and Nate both smiled. Nate responded, "It sounds like a good problem to have."
Lana chuckled, "If you say so. I guess I am lucky... A spear! What do you think, Nate, should Duff be using a spear? Watch what he's doing."
"I have been. I think I agree but I also think a spear is too long. It would get in his way."
Nate watched and thought for a while longer. "He needs a pair of sai. You've been teaching him martial arts, haven't you?"
"Not just me. My whole team was charged with teaching him. It's been a little over 4 months. He did jump into Beast Weapons class for the last two months of school. I'll see if I can have some made for him. Thank you!"
Quinn moved his team away but not too far. He wanted to be able to see her group.
About an hour in, Lana was excruciatingly bored. But she also realized she had not put up her tree and Shalt would be needing it in 90 minutes. Quinn's group probably needed it sooner since they traveled farther. She decided to put the tree between the two groups then head over to Quinn and let him know they could use the tree to rest.
Lana grew her tree then was heading into Quinn's area to let him know it was up when she saw a similar beast to what her team was fighting but bigger and it was running her direction. She smirked.
Lana flipped in the direction of the oncoming beast putting on both levels of plant armor enroute. She leapt into the air, and threw a whip around its throat with her right hand. She landed on its back with her feet then threw a vine around its neck with her other hand. She had always wanted to try horse-back riding. Here she was standing while riding a wild enraged beast. Her smile filled her face. She heard shouting and looked behind her. Quinn was running toward her. She also realized she was heading toward her own area. Dobin would see her soon. She sighed and extended the 4-inch spikes through her feet to get the beast to rear up. She then channeled more of her Qi into the vines and pulled. She withered the vines and leaned forward so the headless body would fall in the right direction, on top of its own head. She released the spikes and allowed herself to slide down a little but didn't want to get any blood on her. She had managed to evade it somehow and wanted to see if she could get away without it. She didn't count the bottoms of her feet in this category. As she approached the bloody part, she flipped off the beast, landing on her feet.
Quinn arrived seconds later. Meanwhile Lana was looking to see if anyone from her direction noticed. The beast did make a ghastly sound between a roar and a whinny. Sure enough, she spotted Dobin and Shalt. She turned back to see an unhappy Quinn with a very happy Fex coming up behind him.
"That looked fun!" Fex exclaimed.
She couldn't help it, she smirked. "I think it would have been more fun if it could have gone faster… Can you do me a favor and extract my crystal? I did that without getting yucky. I'd like to remain so."
Fex got right on it, handing it to her when he finished, while the three stewing men tried to decided which was going to yell at her first.
She decided to speak first. "When your team gets tired, you are welcome to rest under my willow tree."
Quinn was taking deep breaths trying to calm down. Shalt was able to get himself under control as well. Dobin, however, "Sis, if you want to fight, please do it around someone. You could have gotten seriously hurt!"
"I think I'm more in danger of dying of boredom."
"Good," said Quinn. "It means safer kills. Noone will die."
"Ranking up will take eons as well. We talked about this, Quinn."
"Is this why you want to spend the night out?"
She nodded. "Nate has agreed to stay out with us."
Another of Quinn's team had caught up with them. Lana noticed Kaz and Paul were staying where they were. "What's this about staying out all night?"
"Nothing that concerns you," Lana replied. Looking at Quinn, "I'll be cooking in an hour and a half. I brought steaks so be hungry." With that, she turned back to her own hunting area.
The stranger, who was covered head to toe, stared after her.