"A fair point. Maybe we can-" From what seemed like the south came a snap...then another. Justin turned, hand quickly going to the hilt of his knife. The snapping stopped for a few moments, Justin's eyes scanning for any hint of disarray, but to no avail. Cameron mumbled something about it being nothing, but Justin knew better than that. They were in hostile territory, isolated from any remnant of civilization and were being hunted by the armored bandits that had slaughtered two(probably more) settlements. More snapping came, Justin nodding to himself as he looked south to the path they had taken to get to the clearing. 
"Step back." He commanded, the scout complying with his own directive as he slowly unsheathed his knife just as two forms appeared in the clearing. The sun's beaming rays revealed that it was one man and one woman, their faces marked with dark green paint underneath their eyes and across their chins. They held curved wooden bows in their hands, arrows loaded, but not pointed at the duo. Justin's hand lingered on the hilt of the knife, totally unaware of how they would behave. He knew stories, but this was his first time encountering anyone from the tribes on his own. He would have to read them, fast. 

The man pointed at Justin, then Cameron, speaking in a hoarse, gravely tone:
"You both do not belong here." The woman shook her head, adding in a very similar delivery:
"The land rejected you, yet you come. Why?" Their slight builds tensed as they moved forward, hands steady on their bows. They wore little clothing other than coverings for their more modest parts, which consisted of aqua colored cloth cinched together, allowing Justin to see that while they weren't large by any stretch, their muscles were defined, trained. Around their necks were small, glass beads with liquid inside them. While the jewelry was a nice touch, it was the trained reflexes he was worried about. He assumed that within a few seconds the bows could be leveled, aimed and fired. 
He needed to be careful. 
"We just need to move through your land. We won't touch anything, harm anyone. We just need to move through." The woman smirked.
"That is something we hear rather frequently, but that is never the case."
"You desire what the others seek, do you not?" Justin's brow furrowed.
"I don't know what you mean."
"The Life-Giver, nourisher of the Earth. Many have come. They offer us steel, wood and coverings. We reject them and they killed many of us in retaliation, yet we continue on. The Life-Giver created us, made us whole and sustains us." The man closed his eyes as the woman spoke, seeming to lose himself in the proclamation of faith. 
"What exactly is the 'Life-Giver'?" 
The duo looked down at their necklaces, then back to the intruders. 
"The Earth gave us the Gift. She revealed it to us in ruins of stone and steel in the vast North. We use the Life-Giver as a way to ensure our people are safe...from you." Their bows were now parallel to the ground, arrows kicked back on the string. 
"We're after the same people." Justin placed both hands in the air as he continued:
"Those people that killed your friends...we want them gone just as much as you." He looked to Cameron, whispering hurriedly:
"Help me out here!"