A little of this a little of that.

"We're all ears" you tell her. You see the group look at you confused.

"Oh come on...how did that phrase not make it here. It means we're all ready to listen...not that we're all literally piles of ears" you chuckle.

"Right...well where to start" Dawn says as you all sit down again.

"Before we get to that. Am I the only one wondering what a person made entirely of ears would look like" Jane asks the group.

"Not anymore" you reply making everyone chuckle.

"I wonder how well they could hear" Yvette asks seriously.

"Would all of them produce ear wax" Rene asks.

"What about their eyes? Would they even have eyes" Jane asks.

"Let's uh...let's worry about ear people later" you chuckle "Back to you Dawn. How did the meeting with the Amazons go" you ask her.

"It went exceedingly well. We now have an official trade agreement with them. Though I would not necessarily call it just a trade agreement. It is more of an agreement that they will make sure everyone has what they need. So more like we are an extension of their village, and they wish to make sure we prosper. They are currently helping us stockpile lumber right now for instance. With that wood cutting sword you have, and help from their Dinos, we already have enough to begin constructing homes for the slaves you have freed" Dawn states, and you nod your head.

"I also learned a little more about the spell limiting me" Dawn states. You raise your eyebrow and wait for her to explain.

"As it turns out it is mostly for my own protection. It takes a lot of magic to project myself at long distances. They were worried I would physically harm myself if I tried doing it too far away. My father did not agree, but someone snuck the spell in at the very end. He mentions the spell in his journals, but since he was not the one to implement it he did not list it as one of the spells used on me. It is also specific to immediate projection" she states.

"So if you traveled with us you wouldn't have a distance limitation, but if you tried to project yourself to us then the limit would be in effect" you ask her.

"That is correct. If I start at the Sanctuary and travel with you, then I would not use as much magic apparently, and it would not stress my physical form. My father theorized it would only be a concern if I tried projecting myself to another continent, and even then he calculated I would have to rapidly appear and disappear over and over for it to stress my physical form. However, in his journals he mentioned a woman who disagreed with him. He mentions this woman quite often actually. They did not agree on many things, but he still respected her opinion it seems" Dawn states.

"Oooooo, your daddy had a crush Dawn" Rene says teasingly making you all chuckle.

"You may be correct" Dawn chuckles "but if it was her, then I believe it was placed in good faith" Dawn adds.

"Is there any concern about removing it" you ask her.

"I do not know. There is no definitive knowledge on how magic would affect me in such a way. I am not the first of my kind, but my father gave me significantly more freedom, and I only have my father's mention of the spell to go off of. He may not have agreed with it, but it was still a topic of discussion he had with this woman, so I do not think the risk is insignificant. It may, for the time being, be prudent to leave it in place. If I wish to travel with you then I must leave with you next time. Rather then attempt to project myself at great distances" she replies.

"That's no fun" Jane states hugging Dawn from behind.

"It is not fun. I agree. It is, however, beneficial to have discovered this now, and not a **** time of need. We will just need to plan accordingly" Dawn states stroking Jane's arm.

"Well we're definitely glad to see you again. It hasn't been very fun being away from all of you" Yvette states smiling at Dawn.

"The others are eager for your return as well. In fact, Annabel has been hard at work planning something fun for all of us when you have returned" Dawn states smirking.

"Hmm...maybe we could travel a little bit faster, and we technically don't need to stop each night" you say smirking.

"We could also just let them make their own way to us while we take the vehicle the rest of the way back" Yvette says smirking making all of you laugh together for a moment until the laughter dies down.

"I will let the others know you are just as eager to get back to us" Dawn says smiling.

"Have the Amazon's given us any seeds for cultivating our own food" you ask as the thought pops into your head.

"No, but I am sure they would. We could also spend a day or two finding seeds of our own. There aren't fields of them, but there is an abundance of wheat scattered around outside of the Sanctuary" Dawn suggests.

"Hmm...that might be the way to do it. It would give all of them a job to do, and make them feel more connected to the land" you ponder the thought out loud.

"You are really going to let us build our own homes, and cultivate our own food" you hear a familiar voice ask you from behind you. You all turn to look at the man who had chastised Tom before.

"Sorry, I was just coming over to thank you and say good night. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I kind of did" the man states.

"It's no problem. I don't think I have gotten your name yet though" you tell him.

"It's Richard" he replies with a slight bow.

"Well met Richard. You can come have a seat if you wish" you gesture at the ground "but to answer your question yes. I want to have a thriving town eventually. We could build everything for you, and we'll certainly help you, but my goal is to give you all the tools and opportunity to build the town yourselves. It is unfortunate that none of you can really go live in a town somewhere else without being captured and turned into a **** again, so I want you all to feel a sense of responsibility and pride for the town, and I believe building it yourselves will help with that" you explain to him. He nods his head after sitting down.

"And you plan to free more slaves to live with us" he asks.

"Yep. Either slaves we free by raiding their caravans, or even just slaves who hear about the Sanctuary and travel to us. I want to give all of them a place where they can live freely. Like everyone on this continent should have the right to do" you tell him, and you can see he is lost in thought.

"Hard to envision" you ask him.

"Er...yah. It kind of is. Mostly because it doesn't seem like it would be allowed to survive. People will come to destroy it" Richard says sounding worried.

"I know. We have a significant advantage in the technology we have right now in terms of defending the town. What I hope for is that it will only take one or two failed attempts before others decide that it isn't possible to destroy us" you explain.

"Maybe...but it is a significant threat to those who profit from slavery" Richard replies seriously.

"It is indeed. They will be against us every way they can think of. I don't want it to seem like it will be an easy endeavor, and I am certainly not looking forward to the political issues that will arise from having a growing town. I will need to rely on strong leaders to help me" you tell him staring at him, and Richard chuckles.

"Surely you don't think I'm one of those strong leaders" Richard says dismissively.

"I've seen how the others listen to you. How you help them when you are able to. They respect you, and so do I" you tell him. Richards eyes widen for a second, but he looks away as he shakes his head.

"A small group of slaves is a lot different then an entire town of slaves" he says.

"Maybe, but a good leader will be someone who tries to do things that help people, regardless of how many there are, and there will be many positions in the town that will require leadership. So it won't be on just one person's shoulders, and I won't **** leadership on anyone who doesn't want it" you tell him.

"Would I be correct in thinking that you would all pester me until I took one of those positions" he asks looking around with a smirk.

"Maybe" Yvette replies smirking back.

"It is still quite early, so don't feel the need to make a decision now, but roll it around in your head a little bit, and think about how much you want to help everyone" you tell him. Richard nods his head as he lets out a sigh.

"Well shit. Here I was thinking I'd just be saying good night to all of you. Be friendly and such, and instead I'm thinking about what role I could play in this town of yours...this town of mine" he says with a chuckle as he stands up. He holds his hand out for you to take, and you grab his hand to shake hands.

"Goodnight Richard" you tell him warmly.

"Goodnight" he replies letting your hand go, and he waves to everyone else as they wave back. You watch Richard start walking away to find a place to sleep.

"Hey Mayor" Rene calls out, and you smile watching Richard turn around to see what she wanted. His jaw drops as he realizes what she'd called him. Rene grins widely, and points at him to show she got him.

"Goodnight" she calls out. He smiles for a moment before gesturing dismissively as he walks off into the night as the group chuckles and giggles.

"We should get some sleep as well I think" you tell the group, and they all nod their heads in agreement.

"Are you going to cuddle up with us tonight" Yvette asks Dawn.

"I already have some plans with Annabel and Nadine tonight actually, but certainly I will tomorrow night" Dawn replies.

"Aww...I want to have some plans with Annabel and Nadine too" Jane says pouting.

"But it's your turn to cuddle next to John tonight" Yvette says smirking at Jane.

"Well...I guess I wouldn't want to skip my turn" she says smiling making you all chuckle.

"With that I will wish you all a good night everyone" Dawn says to the group.

"Goodnight Dawn" the group says as Dawn fades away. You all get yourselves ready to sleep, and you lay down on your back. Rene and Jane quickly cuddle up against you on either side. The night was a little chilly, but the two women quickly warm you up, and sleep takes you quickly.