Kaara always knew she would not be returning to camp when the sun rose, but that did not make it any easier. She was going to become a huntress of the Tibur. She had to. If not for herself, than for the people who had been slain tonight. For everyone she would put in danger just by existing. There was no question what her decision should be.
In some way, she needed to be the one who fought back. She hated the idea of being protected for the rest of her life. No one deserved to suffer on her behalf. She refused to be a burden to anyone.
She sat alone in her tent, contemplating what life would be like as a huntress in training. She was already in training long before this, but now it sounded as if they were meant to learn on their own.
It made sense. A hunter of the Altix would need an inquisitive mind to do their job. If a hunter could not teach themselves or observe and understand the world around them, they would not be equipped to decipher a Malaki’s weaknesses. She found herself thinking of Argo. A person like him would be a fantastic hunter. She only wondered where he had gone, even if she knew why he’d left.
Shiira had mentioned everything about The Gray Order, and her curse. She had known the whole time, and Kaara wondered how much more she knew. Shiira was always the best liar because she always told the truth. It was simply the truth someone wanted to hear, and nothing more. Somehow, she’d managed to use that skill to quell the noble’s displeasure with the ceremony.
Still, though, Kaara waited to share her decision even if she knew what her answer was. From what she could gather, she would be on her own. The Tibur would provide her with contracts that someone of her skill level should have been able to handle. She would get a cut of the money from completing those contracts. While the Tibur were a nomadic tribe with many branches, the camp Kaara grew up in was for children and families. It was for training young Tibur to be able to survive wherever they went. After the Siren Ceremony, they were given this choice to pursue the life of a hunter, or to rejoin society. It was probably why they were exposed to Malaki by the ceremony. The life of a hunter was wrought with danger. It was not glamorous, but it was honorable and laudable.
Once Kaara accepted, she would be assigned an overseer. They would offer training, advice, and contracts, but nothing more. When Kaara went out, she would be on her own. It was possible for her to simply stay with the overseer and never take a contract, but the caveat was that she would likely fail the test.
It did not matter how many contracts she failed either. Failure was part of the process. If she could not complete her contract, someone else would. In a way, she was also competing with the others at her skill level. There was a sense of urgency. If she did not complete her contracts she did not get paid, and therefore she could not eat in the cities. That did not sound too bad to Kaara, though, she could always just hunt what she wanted.
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Still, she wanted to earn money to eat the food from the city. While she loved the food of her tribe, the city offered a completely different layer of flavors. Neither foods were truly better than the other in her eyes, but Kaara had not yet explored everything the cities had to offer.
Thinking about things like that were what got Kaara excited for the next phase. She chose to think more about those things. Sure, she would be facing monsters, likely struggling for every bit of coin she could scrounge together, but she would be happily looking forward to the next day knowing that bit of coin could buy some joy.
Kaara didn’t have to separate from her friends either. She could form groups if she wanted to. She, Rorik, Arik, Tadios, and anyone else could travel with her as a party camping under the stars, sharing a campfire, looking after one another during hunts. The only drawback was that the reward from contracts would be shared. If that’s all she needed to do to stay with the people she loved, she would gladly do it.
There was a gleeful joy filling her gut. Where would she go first? She would need to purchase some maps, but in order to do that she’d need money. Kaara had always heard about ancient ruins lying deep within the Altix. Places only dragons would remember the haydays of. Speaking of dragons, she could always head towards dragon territory and meet the people there. The ones who lived close with dragons. She wondered what they were like. In the Altix there was also a massive cavernous hole in the ground which seemingly had no bottom. It was filled with lush forests, and strange creatures both Magakos and Malaki. Legend had it, that the bottom was the abyss itself.
She imagined a world with her friends at her side, exploring the lands she’d only heard stories about around the campfire. Places beyond imagination which sparked that sense of wonder and mystery.
For her entire life, though she had travelled, she had always traveled wherever the tribe was meant to go. Since the day she could walk, she had always been going off the beaten path. The only reason she had not branched off sooner was because it would have worried her parents. Now that the ceremony was over, the world was hers to explore!
Still, there was something sad about leaving the place she grew up, but at least the ones she grew up with would stay by her side. As long as she had Rorik and Arik, she could go anywhere.
She heard someone enter the tent behind her, turning to see Rorik.
“Hey,” he said simply.
“Hello!” Kaara grinned before sensing an awkward air between them.
“So what’s your answer?” he said finally.
“I’m gonna be saying yes. I’m gonna be a huntress. I have to be. I’ve always wanted to explore the world and fight monsters, and now-”
“That’s not what I was asking about. I already knew that’d be your answer for that.”
“Then what are you-” Kaara’s heart leaped into her throat, her ears flushing red. She had completely forgotten Rorik had confessed to her. She had promised to tell Rorik her answer after the Siren Ceremony.