For All It Revolves Around

V1: Different Territory, Different Rules

What was going on here?

Why was Jovo acting like this all of a sudden?

I let out a deep breath, standing up from the ground as I looked down at Jovo, who was practically begging me to kill him.

While that was happening, Lenin was inching closer and closer to me.

"Move again, and you die." I declared.

Lenin stopped immediately.

"You're in my village, not yours. You don't have authority here." I answered as Lenin remained quiet.

He knew what I was saying was true; even Eleanor remained silent.

"Besides. . ." I looked at Jovo, "I never intended to kill Jovo; that wasn't my idea." I paused for a slight moment, looking over my shoulder at Svista.

"I promised I wouldn't kill him. . . Do it."

"Wa-" Jovo shouted

SLICE

I watched as his head rolled to my feet, his distorted, and I was distraught.

Svista spat onto the ground, "I've been waiting to do that for so long."

I stared straight into Lenin's eyes as he looked disappointed at me.

I signalled my soldiers to push the traitors onto the ground, causing them to drop to their knees.

"See, how I do things here differs greatly from where you come from." I declared.

"Sure, some of them are traitors, but some are innocent. They didn't know what they were doing." Lenin tried to throw some reasoning over at me, but I would reject and step aside from his suggestion.

I chuckled, shaking my head. "Maybe so," I answered, " but I have no use for these people."

"If you have no use for these people, hand them over to me!" Eleanor declared, chiming into our conversation.

She had remained quiet until now.

Her face was filled with such conviction and resolve that it almost impressed me.

I looked over at Svista as she slowly nodded.

"Fine." I declared, "You can have them, but not because you asked, but because we're even now." I directed my gaze to Lenin; something told him there was more to him.

If he could make Jovo react like that, pleading for me to kill him, he must have done something interesting.

"Thank you for your kindness." Lenin bowed, paying respect as I instructed Svista to free the traitors.

Soon enough, they were all freed and ready to go to whatever place they had in mind.

I watched them leave with the others as Lenin looked over his shoulder one last time.

We exchanged looks, not out of anger or anything like that, but a simple look.

But the question is, what was he thinking?

Svista stood beside me, too, watching them leave. "You probably don't want to hear this, but it might be wise to be more inclined to work with them."

"I know," I answered as they vanished from our sight.

After all, it was the most logical choice in this situation.

We had suffered a heavy blow from Jovo and would have to work extremely hard to recover from such losses.

But while thinking about all these thoughts, they would soon be disrupted.

"I thought you were going." I declared, seeing Lenin in front of us.

"I was. . . But I didn't want to leave without saying a few things." Lenin answered back with the same conviction that Eleanor had worn before.

"We can work together, our villages, together we would be better, and our people wouldn't have to suffer as much."

I remained silent, letting him speak his mind; that was the least I could do out of respect for him.

"I know the last thing you would want to do is work with us, but change is in the air, and we can both be a part of it." He smiled, slowly extending his hand out. "So what do you say?"

I slowly looked down at his extended hand.

His words were genuine.

He wanted us to be a part of something special.

There was only one thing I could do now. . . It was to accept his offer.

"I don't want a handshake; I want a treaty." I declared as Lenin's smile grew more expansive, and I nodded.

"We can do that. I'll ensure we have a treaty we can both sign."

"But not just that, to you personally." I looked him right in the eye.

He titled his head, "What is it?"

"I don't like lying, so I'll tell you this now. If danger comes and we must face it, I'll be sure to pick the superior side." I told him, continuing, "I hope you'll understand that. I will always place my people above anything."

A faint smile was plastered onto Lenin's face nodding, "Well. . . I'll assure you then, you'll stick to me for a very long time."

I was unsure whether that was arrogance or confidence in his tone.

Whatever it was, I listed my demands and intentions for him to know, and that was all I was required to do.

I said my peace, but now we must see how far that truly takes us.