Morning came and the sun roused the sleepy-eyed man. Bones popped as he stretched his limbs one by one, feeling blood flow back into them. Lady Hammer came back at some point late last night, she slept soundly with a silver and gold warhammer in hand. Closer to the entrance was Grusha, rolled up just as he had left her. The sun was high, meaning he had another morning that was wasted.

He sighed.

Trying to not wake anyone up, he treaded carefully to the snowmobile to check his inventory. Supplies were bare minimum, he was not expecting to be banished, much less taking on an extra member in this band of freaks.

Guess that is my penance.

Slapping the lid shut, he leaned onto the bike unsure what his next move was going to be. Then again, he was not exactly sure what he was doing to begin with. A bit of rustling caught his attention, Grusha sat up and was staring at him.

“Morning.” He greeted her.

Grusha tilted her head.

“It is customary to respond with a morning when someone greets you.” He said.

Grusha struggled. “Mor-ning.”

He could not help but chuckle. It was remarkable that she strained to say a simple ‘morning’.

“It can’t be that awkward for you to say morning. Here, let me try again. Morning, Grusha.”

Grusha’s eyes diverted attention elsewhere. “You’re my first.”

Aput scratched the back of his head. “Your first? First what?”

Her hands doodled on the ground. “First person to greet.”

“You’ve never greeted anyone before?” He asked.

A pause. “Not ever since my rebirth.”

There was an awkward silence, Aput rubbed his head.

“Well, I feel doubly privileged for being your first. First being the one to show compassion, and to receive that greeting.”

Grusha changed topics. “Something is on your mind, what is it?”

He looked back at the container. “Oh, nothing really.” He lied.

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “You lie.”

“Does nothing escape your attention?”

“Wildebeest knows all. You lie, she knows.”

He sighed. “Very well, might as well live up to the fact then.”

Clunking and rattling of rubbing metal came from the behind, Lady Hammer roused from her sleep. She was much more pristine, almost royally dignified. Her silky red cape draped over her shoulders, slightly smudged from her scuffles from yesterday. It seemed she had taken the opportunity to wash up at some point last night, having cleared up the mud that caked her entire body. Only now he noticed her beauty matched her inhuman strength, it was like a whole new person was standing before him.

Lady Hammer pulled her hair back, it glistened like gold coins in the sunlight. Using the hammer as a pole to help herself up, she settled her helmet on the handle like an armor stand. Supple muscles were cunningly deceptive, he would never have been able to tell the difference between her and an average well-fit woman, if it were not for the armor and acts of incredible strength. Lady Hammer could get away as an extremely appealing woman for most men, but not for him.

The warrior twisted her head, noticing him sizing her up. She huffed. Joining the two of them that were in idle chatter, she rested her hand on her hip, attentive of what was going on.

“Carry on, mortal.” Lady Hammer said.

“Were you listening the whole time?” He asked.

“Aye. Although, my senses are not as keen to that of Wildebeest.”

Hammer's missing arm caught his attention. “We need to get you some medical care.”

The warrior glanced at the stubbed shoulder wrapped in rags. “Nevermind my deformities. I’ll live and that shall be all that matters.”

“Still, you might get an infection, we wouldn’t want you-”

Grusha interrupted. “Remember what we are. Demis. It matters not where we go, the instant they test us, we are probed for the demi markers. There is nowhere for us to go to begin with.”

“Furthermore,” Lady Hammer added. “I will be fine. This is nothing but a small price, Greater Olympus will reward me ten fold whatever my sacrifices may be for glory.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Even so.” Aput started.

After giving it little thought, he realized it mattered very little whatever he said. They knew themselves better, and what they said was true. No way was there any chance in getting them checked out without raising red flags, so much could go wrong at any point.

“You know what, nevermind. Both of you are right. Besides, I have my own troubles.” He admitted, drooping his head depressingly.

He half expected them to ask him what was wrong, but their response was silence. Lifting his head, he finds that they were waiting patiently for what he had to say.

“I am banished from my village.”

Grusha blinked. “What will be your next move, then?”

“That’s what I was trying to figure out. There are supplies that I need to gather, and some of my belongings that I need to gather.”

“Then let us go and gather them.” Grusha said.

“Problem is that Nukilik knows what you are, he wants nothing to do with you in our village.”

“I fail to see how that is a concern of mine.”

“Please, let me handle this. I will simply slip in and slip out, no need to raise any tensions.”

There was an exchange of silence, the air hummed. Humidity was rising, making it somewhat suffocating even though it was freezing temperatures.

“Fine.” Grusha conceded.

“Thank you. I promise I will be back before you know it, I have a plan of what we can do for next.” He said.

Lady Hammer beat her chest, holding her fist there. “As long it’s just a to-and-fro, I see no reason to be anxious.”

He nodded.

Gathering some of the belongings that were scattered around, he packed them back onto the snowmobile and rode back towards the village, leaving Grusha and Lady Hammer behind. Snow began to flake again, taking the place of the downpour that there was from yesterday. He never had seen it rain quite as much before, it would seem ever since Grusha had appeared that things were much more mysterious. There would be plenty of time to catch up onto what her world was like, he wanted to turn around his life to what it had become.

For now, he had to prioritize what he needed to do. In an hour, he reached the outskirts of his village. Steering clear from plain view, he turned the engine off and hopped off. Like a badger in the night, he crept his way up to his house that was near the edge. Children were playing among themselves, one of them ran right across Aput, forcing him to hold his breath. Of course, kids being kids meant that they paid no attention to their surroundings, they did not recognize him or care. Wiping his brows, he walked confidently around the village, avoiding the villagers to not arouse any attention.

Having walked past everyone to the entrance of his hut, he slipped inside out of sight. Immediately he started going through his belongings, adding an extra layer of clothing inside a pack, a sharp dagger and keys to an automobile he had parked in the nearest District. Pulling out his coffer, he opened it and pulled out some of his other belongings. At the bottom a picture frame caught his attention. He had forgotten all about it.

Shaking as he reached out for it, he picked it up with trembling fingers. It was a family, his family. It was not their photoshoot, their hair was messy and drenched, and they wore the worst combination of raincoats that they had. He held them in his open arms as they all looked at the camera, his daughter made silly faces and the wife held her fingers up in a V-shape. Everything about the image was cheesy and silly. Still, this one of his last happy memories.

He sniffled.

It was difficult to hold back emotions he had backed up for so long, thinking he had done the right thing. The hurt from then was still there even now, only he could feel his chest tightening even more, making it hurt even more than what it ever had done before.

If only I had known. He said to himself.

Except, he knew that knowing had nothing to do with it, he had always known. The one time he had to act on what he knew was the one time he fell short, he was weak, and for that reason he lost everything that was dear to him. Settling the picture frame back in the bottom, he was well past that, even if it hurt. To move forward, he had to let go of the past. That is what drove his actions now.

The door clapped behind him, startling him. Aput saw Nukilik at the entrance.

“You’ve come back to your senses, brother?” Nukilik asked him.

Aput was not going to disgrace his brother further with his cowardly acts here, he turned to exit. Nukilik slapped the door shut as he tried to peel it open, setting himself between him and the doorway.

“You still seek the beast?” He asked.

“Leave me be, Nukilik. I promise this will be the last time we will meet, you’ll never have to worry about me being trouble to you ever again.”

A pause. “I take that to mean you found her. Good, that will save us the effort.” There was coldness in his tone.

“What do you mean by that?”

Nukilik grinned. “I’ve called a demi-dispatcher from the District Ergatuk.”

Panic forced Aput to make a break for it by forcing his way through Nukilik, his older brother grabbed him by the shoulder in an armlock and flipped him over onto his back, knocking the air out of him.

“Why brother?” He yelled. “Why side yourself with one of them? You know what those things did to your family! MY NIECE! MY SISTER! Our flesh and blood.”

Aput coughed, trying to catch his breath. “No.” Cough. “It was not them, I did it.”

Nukilik lifted him by the collar. “Please, oh god, no. Please don’t tell me you still have these ideas you are at fault? No, it was the demis, move past that brother. End of story, live your life and let go.”

Slapping Nukilik’s hands away. “That is precisely what I am doing.”

Nukilik stepped back, shocked and at a loss for words. Then a sudden wave of anger burned in his eyes, fists and teeth clenched from unrighteous anger. In one powerful, he punched him in the face, sending Aput falling backwards. Aput could feel his senses slip away as he drifted into an unconscious state.

In what felt like just moments passing by, his eyes fluttered awake. His left side of the face felt swollen and bruised, hurting from his brother’s merciless punch. Trying to move, but unable to do so. There was a tightening around his wrists. Chatter directed his attention upwards, he moaned as he struggled to lift his swollen head. His brother Nukilik stood with his son, handing him a hunting rifle.

“If tries anything, do not hesitate to shoot him. He has lost his mind, and he needs help.” Nukilik said.

Nukilik shot daggers at Aput. “Today, we end this. Don’t worry brother, we will bear through this together.”

He slapped the door shut behind as he exited, leaving Aput within the watchful duty of his son.

“Let me go.” Aput moaned pitifully.

“No uncle. We will help you. Don’t worry, we will release you from her spell.” The nephew promised.

He tugged on his binded hands, but to no avail. All he could do was pray that they would just abandon him. At least he had found what he had been looking for, he wanted to die at no one else's expense.