Kaara could feel her heart beating out of her chest and she wasn’t entirely sure if it was healthy to be using blood magic to calm it down. Night had fallen, and the memory of that cave in her dreams still haunted her. Not to mention, she had called Rorik and Arik to her tent to discuss her curse.

Maybe they wouldn’t mind if she just didn’t show up to her tent and slept outside in the snow? Kaara slapped her cheeks, it was time to stop putting it off. Letting them know about it now was better than never letting them know. Even if it weighed on their conscience during the ceremony, it was better that they did not get blindsided by it.

She stepped into her tent to see the two of them sitting nervously together. She had to break the air of tension with something, “Thank you both for coming. I must warn the both of you first though. Once I start, I dunno if I’ll stop, and it might keep you guys up all night.”

She usually never saw Rorik this flustered before. Even Arik seemed to be stunned by what she said. She had to put them at ease somehow, “But I’d rather do it now just in case one of us dies during the Siren Ceremony, and I’d rather not have any regrets. Maybe after this is all done, I’ll let everyone else in, even the Xirxus.”

“Kaara.” Arik raised her hand, “I know what Rorik told me this might be about, but just to confirm, what exactly did you bring us here for?”

Kaara took a deep breath, “One night a few months ago, I was woken up by a dream. I overheard my parents outside…”

“Wh- O-Outside? I mean, I guess that makes sense with how busy they are. Not a lot of time to see each other.”

Kaara nodded, “They were talking about me, and about how I was born-” Why was there a weird vibe in the room? Maybe she should just say it, “Basically, I’ve been cursed since my birth. Malaki are attracted to me somehow and they come in greater numbers because of me.”

“Oh, that’s not what I th- Wait. WHAT?!”

Kaara shushed her, “Keep it down ‘kay? I don’t want anyone else knowing. Just the two of you guys.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, I thought you might have something important to say, so I silenced the air around the tent. No sound’s gonna be coming out, and no one’s gonna get close without me knowing.”

“Good thinking!” Sometimes Kaara forgot how much foresight Arik had for these kinds of things.

Rorik seemed a lot less tense than before, a rare laugh coming from him, “Is that all?”

“What do you mean ‘is that all’? It’s a big deal since we’re all gonna be doing the ceremony in a few weeks, right?” Kaara said.

He nodded, “You’re right, it’s a serious matter to be sure, but it’s not like you can help it right? You’re cursed, and you’ve been cursed for the last twelve years right? Even before I knew you.”

“Well, yeah, but I never knew, and what happened to you was-”

Rorik raised his hand to stop her, “You’ve been worried about how we’d see you right? If you feel any guilt about what happened to my parents, then don’t. For one thing, I don’t think it was related since you didn’t live in my village. For another, even if it was, it’s not like I could blame you for it, right? You don’t control a curse.”

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Kaara felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She wanted to cry, but she stayed strong.

“Is that why you decided to be alone as a huntress for the past few months? Because you were afraid to tell us?” Arik said.

“Well… that’s one part of it. The other part is that I wanted to get stronger before I told you guys. I wanted to make sure that whatever burden I put on you I could help carry it.”

“Don’t worry about it Kar-Kar! You’re not a burden to us and you never will be. To be honest… you’ve saved me quite a bit since we were kids.”

There was a pause.

“I have?” Kaara asked, trying to recall any life or death situations Kaara rescued Arik from.

“Me too. But you already know that, right?”

Kaara shook her head, “What do you guys mean?”

“I can’t count the number of times that I’ve been feeling down, or dealing with a soul injury thinking I might never recover, only for you to come around and fix things right up just by talking with me.” Arik said.

Rorik nodded, “You’re…” He took a deep breath, “Since we’re sharing secrets and all I mean… You’re the reason I decided to join the clan.” He scratched his head, looking away, “Even though I was at my lowest, you always knew what to say. You knew how to listen and how to help me. Seeing you made me realize that there’s still hope in the world. Even if my own situation was bleak, I could still protect the happiness of others. Just like my parents did.”

It was Kaara’s turn to be flustered, “Right. Yeah, that… makes sense.”

Arik punched her arm before giving her a big squeezing hug, “You’re real cute, Kar-Kar!” She nuzzled her cheek.

Rorik looked like a statue.

“Oh cmon, Rorik, get in here.”

“I’m fi-”

The wind sucked him closer, “Cmon now, bring it in, it’s a hug not a date.”

Rorik was tense, but decided to take the plunge and hug the both of them, “Whatever comes during the Siren Ceremony, I won’t let anything happen to the two of you. I promise.”

“That better not be self sacrifice I hear!” Arik huffed, “We can take care of ourselves, but when’s the last time you took care of yourself, Rorik?”

“Yeah! You always push yourself way too hard for the sake of other people, and you end up getting hurt all the time. You know he lost his rematch against Anitus today cuz he fought with an injured soul?”

“That was because you were getting bullied!”

“Yeah, and if I decided I needed to defend myself then I would’ve. You could’ve won! I know it.”

“I don’t.” Rorik said pensively.

“Well you gotta at least see how far you can get before the Siren Ceremony right? We might die.”

“Yeah, y’know, that’s one thing I never really understood about the tribe.” Rorik said.

Kaara locked eyes with Arik, “What do you mean?” she asked.

“We’re just… kids at the end of the day, right? Why are we going out there to fight monsters who have the potential to end the world if they feast on enough souls? It’s playing with fire.”

“That’s why we’ve been training so hard. We can beat them, i’m sure of it.”

“Have either of you ever fully encountered a Malaki before? Do you know what they’re like?”

Kaara thought back to her visions, “Well… maybe when I was dreaming-”

“See? You don’t really know.” Rorik sighed, “The Malaki that destroyed my village. How do I say it?” He paused in contemplation, “Malaki don’t follow the same rules we do. And every Malaki has a different set of rules from one another.”

“What do you mean by that?” Arik said arms crossed.

“Let’s say it’s a rule that if you cut off my head, I die. Or maybe even crush me, or tear me to pieces, or burn me alive. Malaki aren’t like that. They don’t follow those rules, and the only way to properly kill them is to figure out that set of rules before it’s too late.”

Kaara recalled her mother teaching her something similar in the past, “That’s why there’s a lot of books written by our tribe, right? To go over their weaknesses.”

“Exactly, but here’s my question,” Rorik said, “If we’re expected to face Malaki during the ceremony, then why haven’t the Adults ever taught us how to kill a Malaki?”