Yllnor had actually liked the peace and quiet… up until she remembered that it was never quiet. So she sighed, left her tent, and followed the not-so-subtle tracks of where Zanrel and Rainne had run off to.

And what she found was Zanrel wrapped up in a giant snake, Rainne yelling at him to stand still so she could shoot it, and Ely panicking nearby. Suffice to say Yllnor scared the snake off and dragged Zanrel and Rainne—Ely dutifully followed behind—back to camp.

“What the hell do you think you were doing?” Yllnor asked bluntly. She pulled out some medical supplies she kept specifically for this reason, then started taking care of Zanrel’s cuts.

“Defeating the giant snake,” Rainne responded effortlessly.

“Getting the crap beaten out of you by a giant snake,” Yllnor corrected.

“Well, we can’t all have pets technically taller than us! We’ve got to start somewhere! And snakes are just as annoying as lesser demons, right? So we thought we’d take one down! And we almost did! Then you came and ruined everything!”

“From where I was standing, Zanrel was practically being suffocated by that thing.”

Zanrel defended himself with, “It’s called playing dead! You know, to get them to let their guard down! Then—bam!” He used his uninjured arm to punch the air beside him. “A dead snake and Chief’s approval!”

Ely nervously shuffled. “Come on, you two, you know that was dangerous. Something serious could’ve happened…” She glanced at Yllnor. “I’m sorry. I should’ve tried to stop them b-but Rainne wouldn’t stop and I couldn’t think of anything to distract them both…”

“Well, it’s not your fault your sister has a death wish…” Yllnor mumbled with a sigh. “Next time, though, please get someone else in the tribe. The sooner an adult can handle the situation, the better.”

“We are adults, though!” Rainne argued. “Well, Ely and I still have another couple of months, but still! Practically adults!”

“So have you, while I wasn’t looking, actually fought and killed a demon? Is the golden blood that you drew hanging with the tears of our ancestors?”

“Well, no, but—“

Zanrel was more than willing to step in for Rainne. “It will soon! I know it will. Chief practically said as much earlier.” Rather casually, he continued, “Besides, Yllnor, you can’t say anything. You’re his favorite kid and you’re two years older than all of his other kids when they did the rite.”

“Counter argument,” Yllnor said as she tied Zanrel’s bandage, “none of my siblings were friends with headstrong idiots like you two. And at this point, I can’t exactly let you die on your own. I’m not letting you die for something stupid.” Having finished tending to Zanrel, she turned to Rainne and asked, “Could you show me your hand? I noticed you scratched it.”

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Rainne almost seemed surprised. “How’d you notice that? I don’t even think it’s bled at all.”

“Maybe not, but it only takes a little bit of the wrong thing and you’ve got a bigger problem. So let me take care of this.”

A part of Yllnor wanted, but not expected, some kind of apology from Zanrel or Rainne themselves… but she knew she’d never get it. They were always chasing dreams or trying to do the impossible. And neither ever looked back to see who cleaned up their messes.

Not like Yllnor was bitter about the fact. She just wished, ultimately, that they’d be more careful…

“I-is there something I can help with?” Ely nervously prompted after a moment. “I feel bad not doing anything…”

“I don’t think I need anything,” Yllnor offered thoughtfully. “Though, if you could get Dad and ask him when we all need to gather together, that would be appreciated. It just depends how long I’ve got to keep an eye on these two to make sure they don’t cause more trouble.”

Ely nodded and left. It only took a moment, though, for her to return again.

Yllnor was about to ask why—she’d turned her back to the entrance—when she heard the chief’s laugh. She, Rainne, and Zanrel stood up and gave small nods of acknowledgement to the elder.

“You were just talking about me, weren’t you?” the chief prompted. “Seems like I’ve come just in time!” Except, he paid closer attention to the rest of what he’d interrupted, and asked, “Did someone leave the camp?”

Ely looked ready to defend them—provide some half-truth to try to lessen their punishment, as if they ever really got punished to begin with.

But Rainne also knew the punishment wasn’t going to be severe, and had long since lost that sense of self-preservation. “We heard from Aunty that there was a giant snake and we tried to fight it! And we almost got it, I swear!” She dug through the little bag she had on her pelt and pulled out a scale. “See? This came from it! I took it off!”

“Yeah, it was super close to being dead!” Zanrel agreed.

Yllnor remarked, “You were close to being dead… or at least getting strangled.”

Quieter, Ely said, “Rainne, I saw you pick up that scale after it had just brushed against a tree…”

“Zanrel, Rainne, what did I tell you about rushing into danger?” the chief prompted.

“Don’t do it…” they sighed in unison.

“And what did I say to do if you thought something or someone was at risk?”

“Tell you…”

“And what did you do?”

“Neither of those things…”

“So what should you do now?”

“Apologize…”

“Go on, then.”

“Sorry, Chief…”

“I don’t think that’s all of it.”

They looked at Yllnor and Ely and said, “Sorry, you two. Thank you for helping…”

Yllnor, knowing that that part was over, looked at the chief. “Do you need us for something?”

“Well, I don’t really want to reward this kind of behavior… but yes, I do have something planned for you.” The chief smiled. “Something I think you’d all like. Would you like to follow me to the main tent? If the others aren’t there already, they’re going to be soon.”

That could mean one of two things. It simply meant they were terribly late for a meeting… or it was finally time.

Maybe their rites weren’t too far off after all.