Kiria was on the verge of crying. Never had she felt this alone — this betrayed. “Why? Why did it turn out this way?”

“Because you didn’t bleed the fish, dummy,” retorted Nel, her long-time friend. “Seriously, don’t you have water magic? You should’ve been able to rinse these out in a few seconds.”

“But the megalodon came right after the glowbites did, so there wasn’t any time,” Kiria sniffled as she took another bite of the slightly charred fish. “And then I ran out of mana keeping [Tailwind] up and I didn’t have any food to restore it and fell asleep.”

Nel sighed. “I have so many things I could respond to there. But any advice would just be wasted on you, wouldn’t it, Kir?”

“Aw, thanks Nel,” Kiria smiled.

“That wasn’t a compliment!” Nel chopped Kiria’s head with her hand, making the cat beastkin choke on her lunch. Although it wasn’t a certainty that it was the light impact that had anything to do with Kiria’s gag reflex. “You do realize you could’ve just eaten one of the cleaner pieces you scattered across your boat to regenerate enough mana to clean a larger piece, and then progressed from there? Raw fish is perfectly healthy when cleaned properly, and even if you got sick, your sister could’ve just healed you after.”

Kiria abruptly paused with her skewer held just before her mouth. One of the slimy fish cubes began to tear and drip off. Then she dove in for a hug. “Nel, you’re a genius!”

“No, you’re just stupid!” Nel deftly dodged the cat and her half-eaten fish skewer, which looked about as delectable as the bloodied bag the rest of her “loot” was in. “Aren’t you a [Scout]? How do you not know simple survival strategies?”

“Back in the Kingdom I always just found food in the woods where we grew up,” Kiria said as she settled back down and reluctantly resumed her lunch. “And here on Luna, there are plenty of fruits and berries everywhere.”

“What about when you’re on the water?” Nel asked, wrinkling her nose at the stench of another glowbite being roasted over the campfire. “You can’t forage on the ocean. What do you do then?”

“When I’m at sea, I’ll just munch on dried meat and nuts and stuff,” Kiria said, finishing the skewer in a single painful bite. “You know, snacks that are easy to carry.”

“And how well did that work out for you this time?” Nel asked, giving Kiria a judgmental stare.

“Eh heh heh,” Kiria shrunk and glanced aside. They both knew the answer to that one. “It was just the one time.”

Nel’s expression blanked for a moment, then her eyes narrowed. “Oh, really? The only time, huh? Then I must have imagined the time when you forgot to bring food on that boar hunt and your rumbling stomach scared off our prey.”

“Wait, Nel, I can— “

“Or that time you passed out from hunger in the Brouer Plains and got nibbled on by that auroch?”

“Oh yeah, that tickled…”

“Or how about when you came crying to me at training camp saying you forgot to pack provisions and begged to share mine because you were too afraid to go back home in case your mom was still there?”

“Ack,” Kiria flinched at that last one. “Okay, so maybe more than once.”

“Those are only the times you’ve forgotten food!” Nel exclaimed. “You always act impulsively! Can’t you take a minute to actually think about what you’re doing?”

Kiria winced and looked down. She’d messed up. She knew that venturing off into the ocean had its risks, but had admittedly underestimated them. Her and Micah’s survival had been due in large part to luck, and Fortune was not a goddess you wanted to pray to often.

She glanced up, expecting to see Nel’s angry glare, but instead was met with tears. “I was so worried, Kir.”

“Oh, Nel,” Kiria dropped the skewer and pulled her friend into a tight hug, petting her pink platinum hair. “I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful from now on. Promise.”

“Liar,” Nel turned her head, letting her tall ears softly slap Kiria’s face. “You’ll be running off into danger before you know it. Probably won’t last a day.”

“Come on, Nel,” Kiria groaned. “Only a day? At least say a week.”

“Humph.” Nel pulled herself from Kiria’s grasp. “You smell rank. And your food’s burning.”

Kiria turned to the campfire, where a glowbite was already turning black on the spear positioned above the flame. “Ah! No, wait! [Waterball]!”

A sphere of liquid water swirled and condensed in Kiria’s palm, instantly shooting toward the scorched seafood. The impact sent the fish and spear careening into the sand. “No, my lunch! It’s ruined!”

“I doubt the sand made a difference,” said Nel. “Also, why are you using my spear to cook your lunch?”

“Setting up a proper spit roast takes time, and I want to check on Micah soon,” Kiria said. She slid the fish off the spear, conjured a stream of water to rinse off the sand, and took a bite. “Blegh.”

“Seriously, can you just throw that out already?” Nel asked, gesturing to the sack of fish parts. “Most of these glowbites are in pieces anyway after your overzealous application of wind magic. You really couldn’t help yourself, could you?”

“[Air Cutter]’s a fun skill though,” Kiria defended, tossing Nel’s spear back to her.

“You were fighting fish,” Nel pointed out. “Literal fish. Not monster-fish; fish-fish. Just suspend them in midair with your wind magic until they suffocate. Not like they can use skills to break free.”

“Oh my gods, Nel,” Kiria eyes widened. “You’re a genius.”

“You’re an idiot,” Nel muttered as she turned away. “You wanted to meet up with your new friend, right? Just go. I’ll finish this up here.”

Kiria gasped and covered her mouth. “You don’t mean…”

“Of course not,” Nel rolled her eyes. “I’ll use these as bait for the afternoon’s hunt. Maybe the stench will help lure a boar or something in the jungle.”

“Eh? But the food…” Kiria looked painfully at the sack of fish.

“Kiria, we’re not that bad off anymore,” Nel pointed out. “We may not have surplus, but there’s plenty of food in the surrounding areas, and we [Hunters] are doing our best to expand the safe zone out from the beach.”

Kiria nodded. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I saw Bea carrying in a basket of fruits while I was gutting these.”

“Exactly,” said Nel. “It won’t last forever, but there’s plenty to forage here now that the winter has finally passed. We may not have arrived in time to plant any crops, but Luna island has a plentiful bounty for us to harvest now.”

“And maybe we can start planting things now,” Kiria said. “Not that I know anything about farming.”

Nel looked askance at her friend. “Wouldn’t agriculture have been part of your education as the Chieftain’s daughter?”

“Alright!” Kiria tossed her skewer into the garbage bag with the rest of the bait. “Thanks and good luck with the hunt, Nel! I’ll introduce you to Micah tonight when you get back!”

Nel shook her head and sighed. “I’ll look forward to it.”

Having secured permission to leave, Kiria took off toward the camp. On the way, she wondered why they didn’t just call it a village. It had a wall (fence), gates (gaps) to pass through, and several homes (communal tents) already. It was a lot smaller and less developed than Borath Village back in the Kingdom, but it wasn’t like they could go back there anyway. Why not call this settlement a village?

Such thoughts occupied Kiria’s mind as she approached the camp’s south gate, where the familiar dwarf girl was standing guard. “Hey, Gru!”

“Hey, Kiria!” Grubelle waved. “Welcome back!”

Kiria slowed down and stopped for a quick chat. “Anything interesting happen while I was gone?”

“Nothing to report!” Grubelle grinned, standing tall. “Oh! Except a couple hours ago the chief came in with a human boy. Or a human man? I don’t remember their age of adulthood.”

“I think it’s twenty,” Kiria struggled to remember some of her mom’s lessons. “Yeah, humans are considered adults at twenty. Two years later than most beastkin.”

“Oh, okay,” Grubelle nodded. “I don’t think he was twenty yet.”

“I don’t think so either,” Kiria shook her head. Micah acted mature enough to pass as one, but she didn’t get the feeling he was that much older than her. “Where are they now? The chief’s yurt?”

“No, the chief is inspecting the new field with Madam Fir,” Gru said. “As for the human — Micah, I think was name was? The chief banished him.”

Kiria stopped. “Say that again.”

“The chief is—”

“The next part.”

“The human, Micah, was banished?” Gru tilted her head.

“Explain. Now.” Kiria’s voice possessed the undercurrent of a growl common with cat beastkin when they were angry. While not as frightening as Chief Borath’s, Gru instinctively shrunk, but still stood firm in her role as the south gate guardian.

“Understood!” Gru saluted by habit. “When they arrived, Chief Borath treated Micah to lunch in his yurt. After their discussion, they retrieved some gear from Gerik and Micah left through the north gate.”

“And how do you know this?” Kiria inquired. “Did the chief make some sort of announcement?”

“No, ma’am,” Gru answered. “The chief asked not to be disturbed, so I was standing guard nearby and happened to see. I didn’t hear any specifics though, and he hasn’t said anything about it.”

“How long ago did this happen?”

“Just over an hour. Maybe two? They weren’t here for long.”

Kiria was mad. She had promised Micah that he would be safe with them, that the chief would help him. Luna was too dangerous for most of the settlement to explore, and even she had to be careful when venturing into its depths. Micah wouldn’t know where those depths were.

“If anyone asks, I’m going hunting,” Kiria stated, staring directly into Grubelle’s eyes. “Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Grubelle saluted. “If anyone asks, you’re out hunting. I shall continue my vigil over the south gate in the meantime!” She then dropped to a whisper and added, “I don’t know what’s going on, but he seemed nice. I’m rooting for you. Good luck, Kiria.”

Kiria nodded, her expression softening slightly. “Thanks, Gru.”

She considered rushing to her father and demanding answers, but she knew that wouldn’t amount to anything. He was too stubborn to ever change his mind, and strong enough to stop Kiria if he knew what she was about to do. Besides, it was just like her mom always said. Knowledge was power, and only the fool surrendered it without a fight.

Kiria may not be smart, but she was no fool. She activated [Wind Veil] and coated her body with concealment mana. Any eyes that looked in her direction would be guided away unless they were seeking her specifically, and even then she had trained the skill enough to obfuscate their gaze. More importantly in a community of beastkin, the veil would mask her scent. Though it would be easy enough for the chief to deduce where she had gone, by the time he completed his duties for the day, she would be long gone.

Before she left, though, she took Nel’s request to heart. She went to her family’s yurt and packed a shoulder bag full of all the provisions she could stuff it with. While it would be possible to forage, depending on how far in Micah managed to go, it may be too dangerous to take foods in a predator’s territory.

And if when she found him he didn’t want to come back to the camp with her, she’d help him find somewhere he could stay. Luna may be the largest island in the archipelago, but it wasn’t the only one. They could find a safer island to live on, or maybe secure a spot somewhere else on this one. There were several options, but she was getting ahead of herself. First, she had to find her friend.

Bag packed, she grabbed a spare waterskin — the chief’s, actually — just in case (maybe out of spite) and clipped it to her belt. Both were empty, but she could fill them at the river nearby after she left. Kiria then returned everything in the yurt to its original position to conceal for a short while longer that she had been there and snuck out the door. On her way to the north gate, Kiria cast the lowest level of [Air Hop] to create cushions of wind to step on and prevent footprints from forming in the dirt. No one would know where she had gone, and even Gru could honestly say the last time she had seen Kiria was at the south gate, never entering the camp.

Before she left, though, Kiria spared a final thought for her best friend, Nel. She’d be expecting her at dinner, and probably be disappointed at her absence. Nel was smart enough to figure out where Kiria had gone, and would be mad, too. Maybe sad. Kiria didn’t want to worry her, but she didn’t have a choice. This was something she had to do.

Resolved, Kiria sprinted past the north gate and, with her [Enhanced Perception], quickly found a recent trail of footsteps about an hour and a half old leading away from the village. Hunters wouldn’t leave footsteps while foragers would travel in groups for safety. This had to be Micah.

“I’m on my way,” Kiria vowed. “Just hold on until then.”

Casting [Tailwind] to boost her speed, Kiria left the settlement behind.