Mira woke up feeling warm and revitalized, her last three exhausting days of travel were over and she could now relax at home. She had managed to fall asleep in a decent amount of time last night, even while thoughts of the dreaded conversation she was going to have today continued to pester her mind. Eventually the exhaustion from traveling overwhelmed her thoughts and she had passed out.

She sat up inside her little closed off corner of the tent, before opening the curtains and getting out of bed. She brushed her white hair out of her face, yawned while stretching her arms, and rubbed her crusty eyes.

The tent was large enough to fit her standing up, it was even big enough to fit her dad standing, so that said something. She looked around the tent and spotted her mother sitting crossed legged on the floor while sharpening her sword's blade.

Myral spotted her and patted the floor next to herself with a smile, waiting for Mira to come join her. Mira plopped down beside her mother and watched as she continued sharpening her beautiful thin blade.

Its handle was wrapped in a white leather while the blade itself was a gray-blue color that radiated sharpness. The blade was slightly curled backwards but both of its sides were deadly sharp which is why her mother made sure to take her time with the process, lest she cut herself.

“Good morning sweety, how was your rest?” Myral said after she put away her blade into its sheath, done with its daily checkup and repair.

“I feel refreshed now. How long was I asleep for?” Mira asked, not able to see the light of the outside from where she was sitting.

“Well it's just past afternoon, so quite a while.” Myral answered. “Are you gonna be rested for the feast tonight, or do you need another night of good sleep?

“Feast?” Mira wasn't sure what her mother meant.

“Yes, the feast for your return. There will be food and drinks like always, but as the star of the feast it will be your job to answer everyone's questions they have for you.”

“Everyone's questions? All night?” Mira's natural blank face began to take a faint frown.

“You answer whatever questions you want, but you must be there for the feast to happen.” Myral explained. “And at the very least stay for a few hours, you can leave before the feast ends if you’d like.”

Mira nodded and then sat still, not sure what to do. Before she left the academy she would spend her days at the ‘school’ learning from their elders and at night she would spend it with her family..

Then they'd have the traveling days which were the most boring since everyone had to walk or ride one of the carriages as they went to new locations. She wasn't like the other kids who enjoyed running around and playing games— now she might be more open to this idea— back then she kept to herself a lot.

Either reading, eating, training with her blade, or occasionally talking to her family— of course this wasn't always the case because her sister loved to drag her into doing stuff.

But right now, it was mid day and she had no idea what to do until her father got home. Talk with her mother? Get back into training? Hearing her stomach grumble she decided she would eat first before deciding what to do in the meantime.

After a quick breakfast that Myral helped her make, she heard heavy footsteps and saw Yuroth walk into the tent with a mighty grin on his face. “I'm home!” He shouted and thumped through the tent but got stopped by Myral.

“Make sure you take off your boots before walking inside, we don't wanna dirty the floor anymore than it already is!” She yelled while looking down at the tents floor sheet covered in mud that Yuroth had dragged in. “How many times do I gotta remind you, now take off your boots and clean this up!”

Yuroth couldn't argue against his angry wife and simply did as she said. Mira thought she had more time before her parents were home and she started to get nervous. The time of the big conversation was approaching since she wanted to get it out of the way before anything else happened.

She would first start by loosening them up with some small talk. “Where were you Papa? Hunting?” She asked.

“Mm, we hunted a few more beasts to fuel the feast.” Yuroth gave her a toothy grin. “I’m looking forward to eating and drinking till I’m full tonight!”

“Alright calm down big fella, here have some leftover breakfast for a snack.” Myral sat her husband down and gave him some of their leftovers to eat.

Mira sighed and then moved herself to the opposite side of the table from her parents before asking them, “is Yura in school?”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Yes she’s with the elders learning with the other kids like normal, why?” Myral asked her a question in return.

“I guess I’ll have to tell her later.”

“Tell her what?”

Mira composed herself by taking a deep breath. This was an important conversation she needed to have with her parents. Yura also needed to know this but she’d rather not wait until evening when Yura got back home— by then the feast would almost be ready to start.

“There’s something important I must tell you.” Mira gulped and waited for her parents to respond but they just sat there silently waiting for her to continue speaking.

“I…I will be leaving the tribe and stepping down as heir.”

An immediate response came from her father, “For what reason would you abandon this important role given to you. And why would you ever leave the tribe?”

“Because there are other things I want to do in life that I won’t be able to do if I’m still a part of the tribe.” Mira explained.

“Like what?” Her father's tone had a faint hint of anger and impatience.

“Well after seeing the capital, I want to visit more cities, meet more people, or confer with elementalists like myself. There’s so much more to life outside of the tribe.”

“Elementalist? Is that your class?” He asked not exactly sure what she meant.

“Yes, do you not remember all the 12 classes?” Mira said and partially regretted saying that because her fathers face darkened.

“What does it matter if I know them or not? Classes don’t matter here!” Her father started raising his voice. “You better give me a better reason to abandon your tribe, abandon your role as heir— a blessed role you should be thankful to have— then to travel to other cities and talk to other elemental folk, we’re bloody nomads, traveling is what we do!”

“That’s not it, it’s part of the reason but there’s more!” Mira raised her voice back.

“Like what!? Explain so your unknowledgeable father can understand properly, cause if not, there’s no way I’m letting you leave!”

“Because I have a girlfriend I want to live with!…” Her fathers face immediately turned back to neutral and Mira couldn’t contain herself anymore “And friends I want to hang out with whenever I want too, and… and I can’t do any of that if I’m part of the tribe.”

Silence. No one said a word and only the deep breathing of Mira was heard in the tent as she had just yelled.

Finally her father spoke up in a soft tone. “A girlfriend you want to live with?”

Mira recomposed herself and nodded. “Her name is Jane and we’ve been together for over three years, and I'm not gonna leave her.”

“Three years…” her father whispered, before he sighed and leaned back, his massive body thumped against the floor.

“So much of your life we missed.” Yuroth said with a forlorn expression. “You're a different woman now aren’t you.”

“I am.” Mira nodded, not sure where he was going with the conversation.

“Sigh, okay… I accept your decision.”

“Huh, really? Just like that?” Mira was a little surprised that it went easier than she thought.

“Mm, there’s no way as a father that I can keep you away from your loved one.“ Yuroth tenderly grabbed Myral’s hand. “I couldn’t imagine what I would do if Myral wasn’t originally a part of the tribe in the first place.”

“What about an heir to the tribe?”

“Yura can take your place.” Her father answered.

“She won’t like that.”

“She won’t have a choice.” She and her father paused, before laughing together— one more boisterous and loud than the other.

Mira then looked at her mom wondering what she thought about this whole ordeal. “Mama you're okay with this?” Mira questioned.

“Mm, of course, but… I want to meet her first, make sure she’s good enough for my baby.” Myral said, both serious and joking at the same time.

“Oh me too, I want to meet her and her family, where does she live?” Yuroth chimed in, his angry expression gone and had become one of excitement

“Redwood.” Mira said then explained. “I forgot to tell you that my friends and I are planning to visit Redwood in a month from now, but I'm getting there by teleportation so…”

“Redwood huh? Hmmm.” Her father caressed his mighty white beard before his eyes lit up, “Ah i remember where that is! it should only be… roughly a month of travel from where we are now.”

“What?” Mira didn't know what her father was talking about.

“That's perfect then!” He announced. “We’ll all travel to Redwood to see this Jane of yours and meet her family. Then we can stay and meet your other friend as well before we leave!”

“We will all— as in… the entire tribe?” Mira’s eyebrows were raised waiting for a response and got a heavy nod from Yuroth.

“Yep, it's a perfect plan, no?”

Mira didn't know what to say, she guessed she was happy that everyone was going to come with her along to Redwood. She couldn't imagine what kind of face Jane would wear seeing her family and her entire tribe visit her at the same time. It would be a sight to see.

Mira chuckled in her head, picturing Jane’s flabbergasted face before she looked her parents in the eyes and said. “I guess that can work.” If her parents approved of her leaving, the lest she good do was approve of their visit,

“Good! During the feast we will announce everything important that has been discussed, then we can start packing up to leave for Redwood!” Yuroth said, but then his happy face turned serious and he looked Mira dead in the eyes. “But I need you to remember something-.”

“What?” Mira asked.

“You said you wanted to leave the tribe so you could be with your girlfriend BUT, no matter what happens, or where you are in the world, you are always a part of the tribe. We are family, and even if we're not together in body, we're together in heart and soul.”

Her father reached over the table and gently grabbed her head and brought it towards his own forehead until they touched. “Live life the way you want, but if you ever want to come back to us for whatever reason, you're always welcome too.”

“Mm.” Mira held back a tear. She touched heads with her mother as well, both of them smiling at each other once they separated.

She was so happy this conversation went so smoothly. It was a little worrisome when her father began to get angry with her, but they had come to an understanding once Mira explained her actual reason for wanting to leave.

It went so well that her parents wanted to take the entire tribe to Redwood with her to meet Jane and her family. She hoped Jane was ready for the big surprise but even if she wasn't, Mira knew she would be able to handle it, that's just how Jane was.

“Hey, I'm back early since Mrs.Redhorn said it's a special day today and we could leave earlier— what's with the atmosphere here?” Yura came into the tent and saw the red eyed Mira and smiley looking parents.

“Yur, I have great news for you!” Yuroth stood up, walked over to Yura and grabbed her shoulders. ”Starting from today you are the new heir to the horn tribe!”

“Huh?” Yura's face went blank.