When we found Kierra, she wasn’t alone. In fact, it wasn’t just Adeline that accompanied her. The walk and short ride back to the Warren was relatively peaceful, not accounting for the low simmering tension from Alice.

It wasn’t too hard to ask around and while nobody really knew where anyone was, the place we found them made the most sense.

She wasn’t in the training room we used before, but rather the largest one I had only seen once when Alice and I made our way to one of the rooms to spar.

Kierra stood outside the arena, performing a series of stretches while two others wrestled inside the roped area. Adeline was near the back, talking with two other Grimms that I only vaguely recognized.

As we came to a stop near the entrance I nudged Alice’s arm. “Told you. Spear.”

She pointed to her leg where a knife was strapped to her thigh. “More than one.”

“Please. We both have knives. That’s not her weapon, just a backup. Which I don’t think I’ve seen a use for. Just use your claws if you can’t swing your axe.”

Adeline sniffed the air and looked up, her eyes widening. She waved us over and the two other Grimms she was talking to stopped to watch.

We skirted around the room, and avoided drawing the attention of the four near the arena.

“Cain,” Adeline greeted. “Is something wrong?”

“Why are you assuming something’s wrong? We’re just here to see how Kierra is doing.”

She pointed to Alice who outside of looking like well, Alice, was doing nothing other than observing the people in the pit.

“Cain, you and I both know I can tell when she’s angry. A sight that’s happening a lot more frequently than should be possible for her.”

Alice turned and stared. “I’m still a person. Not a golem.”

“And yet, you don’t get angry. So what’s wrong now?”

“My brother,” Alice stated, coolly.

I sucked my breath between my teeth, as did Adeline. But her eyes softened and she shook her head. “Fine. I won’t ask. Just know I’ll be there tomorrow. Unless that’s a problem.”

“No.”

Adeline didn’t quite smile but she transitioned the conversation by moving out of the way and motioning toward the other Grimms beside her.

“Cain, I’m not sure if you remember but this is Sabin and Territh”

I held out my hand and clasped the older man’s wrist. “I remember you, you were part of the hunt when you found me and Kierra.”

The older hunter sporting gray hair and a curly mustache nodded. “I remember you. You look nothing like the scared boy forced to give a speech in front of monsters.”

I dropped the wrist shake and offered the same to the older woman. She held the same curious eye as the man, but one that looked far less critical.

“The hair is unexpected, but he’s right. You’re not the boy we rescued in the woods.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Adeline lightly shoved the woman. “Knock it off. That’s not how you greet people.”

“Honestly, probably one of the nicest greetings I’ve had lately. And it's fine. I get I’m a bit of an oddity.”

The woman turned and looked over towards Alice. “You’ve changed too. Though, it's less notable.”

“I shall change with the Endless Hunt,” Alice replied.

“Enough about the past. So what do you think? I’m all for supporting the pup under my charge, but I believe he is outmatched,” Territh said as he gestured to the pit. He pointed toward the combatant on the left, the one currently struggling to escape the pin from the other boy.”

“He will need grapple training. He’s a red eye. There is no reason for him to avoid using his legs the way he is,” Sabin answered.

Territh’s pup tried to roll but found himself pressed into the sand for which Adeline finally called the match over. He sat up, frustrated, but his opponent offered him a hand up and they left with easy smiles.

“Kierra, Yerinn. You’re next, no weapons this round. You have thirty seconds to prepare,” Adeline ordered.

Kierra finished her stretching and hopped into the roped area while Yerinn did the same. While Kierra was a lithe woman with black hair cut short, Yerrin was bulky and squat. While Kierra tested her footing, Yerinn rolled her arms and punched her palm, seemingly psyching herself up.

“No weapons?’ I asked.

“Not for the first few rounds. Right now, their stats are out of balanced and new. They’re barely better than a stumbling calf. They can move onto weapon combat after they adjust to their new bodies.”

Makes sense. Though, I don’t remember being that clumsy.

Alice tapped my side and I turned around to her shaking her head. “Don’t compare yourself.”

“Meh.”

Thirty seconds came and went, and Adeline placed two fingers to her mouth.

The whistle filled the room and Yerinn attacked first. She launched herself like a ram and charged. Kierra waited till the last second and dodged, spinning on one foot to roll out of the way and launch a kick with her other.

It smacked into the back of Yerinns knee and brought her stumbling downward. Kierra capitalized on the moment and went for her neck, but as she did, Yerinn slammed her head back, smashing into Kierra’s chest.

I winced, as Kierra recoiled with the blow, managing to secure only one arm instead of two around Yerinn’s neck.

The next twenty seconds wasn’t much of a fight. While Yerinn had the strength and hit hard, at least far harder than Kierra could manage; Kierra kept herself standing by redirecting the attacks to her lower body. Her arms never left Yerinn’s neck, and the match was called.

“Kierra’s win. The four of you take three minutes and we’ll start again. Yerin versus Tyler. Marco against Kierra!” Adeline shouted.

The four practically saluted and Adeline turned her back before dropping her voice to a whisper.

“We’re expected to take them out to hunt a monster within the week. Idiocy. Reckless, and useless idiocy,” she growled.

“It's almost blasphemous to decide on their first hunt so soon, but we’ll make do. The faster they acquire the first blood achievement and gain their skills and titles, the better. We can’t change what's happened Adeline, we’ll just have to make do,” Sabin said.

“What skills they’ll acquire can change everything. Whether they live or die, or if they continue to grow and become a real Grimm. A week is nothing.”

“And the alternative is that they face the Harvest with even less? Their future is now, not years from now. I may find my pups vexing, but I prefer them alive. We don’t need more than we already will,” Territh added.

“Does it even matter?” Adeline grumbled. “If they survive the monsters, the Reds will come. What's the point of training when their stats are too low? There’ll be another corpse in the woods for us to carry home!”

I sighed. Adeline’s voice had risen in anger, drawing concerned looks from the pups. But even if she kept it to a whisper, all she had to do was look behind her to see her mistake.

“Alice?” I asked, softly.

Adeline turned around and her expression dropped. “Alice I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“I’ll see you at the burial. Goodnight,” Alice said.

She started to leave the room and I nodded politely toward the older Grimms before jogging to catch up. Her stride was fast enough we might as well have been lightly running.

Only as we got out of earshot of the training rooms did she finally slow long enough for me to overtake her and cross my arms.

“What do you need? Need to pummel me? More magic training?”

She shook her head. “Let’s go to the Haven.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She raised her head and brushed ice off the tips of her fingers. “I want to meditate and plan my goodbyes before I return him to the earth.”

“Alright, anything you need from me?”

“Your company. And Freki’s head.”

I jerked my thumb to the nearby Whisper wall and started walking. “Sure thing.”