Zarah's hand curled around Zigma as he hovered near her shoulder but didn't quite touch him. She knew that her father could see that she was as tight as sinew stretched to dry. Lyra's vehement assurances that she wasn't here to hurt Trazie did nothing to cause her to relax. Zigma's nerves were evident by the subtle pulsing that wasn't bright enough to be blinding, but frequent enough to be noticeable. Zarah wished she could calm down since she didn't want to alarm her Tribe, but just because Lyra wasn't a threat to Trazie didn't mean she wasn't a threat to Zigma. 

Several people let out a gasp as Jessica appeared, but all Headman Kilpatrick did was draw himself up to display his full frame. He was massive and had worked as a quarryman his whole life. Normally it was difficult to break him out of his calm shell; he typically had a jovial demeanor, but right now he looked ready to break something. In response to his reaction to Jessica, Harper, the best archer Zarah's age, stood up from her crouch in the watchtower. She had an arrow nocked and ready to fly. Several people took steps to the side or forward to block the Jameson Family from view. Zigma and Zarah had thought the atmosphere of the crowd couldn't get worse. They had been wrong. 

Headman Kilpatrick spoke in a low cool voice, [b]"Let me ask another question. Are you a threat to Ms. Jameson or Zigma?[/b]

It seemed that the Headman had come to the same conclusion that Zarah had. Someone could be a threat to a person and not a threat to a planet. She was only slightly surprised by the Tribe's reaction to the potential threat. They had reached the same way to the wanderer that had been just a little bit too interested in the young boys, specifically seven-year-old Barden. They had also reacted to the man who had attempted to assault 24-year-old Frei. Mountain Lake Tribe protected its own. Yet, Lyra had said it herself. Could they hope to stand against the strange technology? Neither of them wanted to lose the whole Tribe in the foolish attempt to defend them. 

Zigma frantically flashed faster, [i][color=63e42d]"Zarah! We need to do something! Or say something![/color][/i]

She was just as ready to react rashly, [i][color=c2be89]“What? What can we do? Don't you remember what happened the last time we attempted to argued with Headman Kilpatrick when he was like this, in this type of mood?"[/color][/i]

That had been a long time ago. Zigma was new. Zarah had been 14. Every teenager tried arguing with Headman Kilpatrick at least once. It never ended well. They only tried it once. It was almost a rite of passage at this point. Zigma and Zarah had been trying to defend themselves and their successful prank. No one had been hurt and that had been the basis of their defense. They still had to clean up all the dye. Zarah had been scrubbing purple, blue, red, and green from her skin forever. She had been made at Zigma until her skin was normal again. It had been his idea and mostly his actions. This was not a dye prank. This was serious. Did they really want to face Headman Kilpatrick's wrath for someone that may want to hurt them? The answer was no. As such Zarah just took one step closer to her father as her hand curled tighter over Zigma. Her gaze never left Lyra or Jessica.