She was definitely worrying about it. Soon as he left, there were children wearing capes who began hustling around her the moment she stepped out of the tent. They kept a cautious distance but their eyes were dancing with curiosity.

"Where are your parents?" she asked one of them.

They looked to each other then back at her.

"Not answering." she sobered, wondering what their intentions were "Well, do you know where I should start looking for En'tum? The blacksmith?"

A kid with a boyish smile moved past the herd and reached out his hand to shake in greeting, "Welcome, behagthi." Unlike the ridiculous tall stature of the warriors, he was normal-sized for a kid with the top of his head going up to her hips. His skin was a rich tawny color, hair a golden blonde but his eyes popped up bright and glinting; it was a solid green shade with a burst of gold radiating outwards from around the pupil. It was like he had shiny gems for eyes.

River stifled a scream of surprise as she peered down to find a red spider crawling on the boy's hand, "Thank you. Lovely friend you have there."

"I am called U'tu and this is my little friend Widow." he said, the flock of kids behind him grinned. Some of them facing away, but she could definitely see others stifling a giggle.

"It's good to meet you, you can call me River." she said, shaking his hand and suppressing a shudder when the red spider jumped to her forearm.

He whispered, leaning to her ear. "You are not supposed to tell us your name."

"I never said it was my name, didn't I?" she whispered back.

He gave a cheeky grin. Ohh, this kid is trouble, she thought. The gleam in his eyes spoke of an enormous imagination. No doubt he was used to thinking up ways to torment adults as means to having some good fun. River had a friend just like him growing up. The sudden memory gave her a pang of ache. She missed that old friend. It was a shame they went their separate ways much too early. Like her old friend and family, they had left her at a young age, severing their ties completely. Her grandparents had helped but nothing really fixed the deep incisive wound sitting inside her growing up. Not even her therapist.

A sharp constricting pain bloomed inside her chest and she had to close her eyes. The thought of her family seeking her out after all those years for the sole reason of material convenience deepened a secret wound she had long kept forgotten.

Maturity, independence, informed decision-making; these are your badges of success from your childhood, River. You should be proud. Her therapist had said, Although you are left to learn one important thing: boundaries.

She let out a deep sigh. If only she had learned to exercise her boundaries just as Dr. Malia instructed, she wouldn't even be in this strange mess.

Lei'la, who was a few inches taller, appeared behind U'tu, catching him by the arm. "River, if you're not feeling well, we can always go to the healer before going to En'tum" she said, then blushed, "I realized I haven't welcomed you properly. My apologies, tehrurum galiyo luna. It means welcome to sun tribe."

"A most formal greeting." U'tu rolled his eyes, a grin spreading across his face "Lei'la likes to learn the first languages."

River gave a grateful smile to Lei'la, the thought of taking an aspirin or any painkillers was a relief and so far the best news she got since waking up. Sore muscles were grabbing her attention every time she moved a muscle and it was definitely feeding to her grumpiness. "I'd like that. Lead the way, please."

Both of them led the way after shooing the curious children off back to their respective elders. They gave a U'tu a two-finger salute over their temples before heading off. It was then she noticed that it was the girls who wore their orange capes and boys wore theirs in red. She glanced to U'tu's cape clasp, and it was the same that the children had: a bronze insignia of a wolf.

The three of them strolled down an avenue between rows of empty tents, the flapped entrances were pushed aside, leaving it open for the breeze to pass through. "Where is everyone?" River asked.

Lei'la took a glance back at her, "At the museum library. Our sun tribe is a teaching village so don't be surprised if you don't see any families. Those that live among us are in-training warriors, children, and the elders that teach."

River's footsteps made heavy thuds against the cobblestone pavement, it was embarrassing since it made noises in the otherwise quiet stroll. Unlike her, Lei'la and U'tu moved with the finesse of agile kittens "That must be hard." she said, resisting to slam her boots down on the pavement while catching up on the children "I can imagine how challenging it might be to be away from your family."

"Not really" she said, looking back to her and slowing her pace "Our home back in the dark tribe is cold and we usually don't get much sunlight. There isn't much light in the day, the sky is always overcast, our homes are built with weathered stones, and ash fall is getting more and more frequent than ever. It's getting dangerous to live back there, but dark tribespeople like me are bullheaded to a fault. We do not let go easy. We won't move even if volcanoes might explode to wreak devastation on our city."

Widow, the red spider crawled out of U'tu's collar and jumped to Lei'la's shoulder "Careful there!" he warned.

Lei'la giggled and tucked the spider in her hands.

River asked, "Are you saying there is real danger to your family right now?"

"Yes, but no worries. Sun tribe is under a peace talk to join villages with my dark tribe. That reminds me, how is that going, U'tu?"

He shrugged, "I don't want to lie." When he got punched lightly on the shoulder, he surrendered with both hands up "You don't want to hear it."

She giggled "Getting dark tribespeople to move is something of an impossible feat. I'd be surprised if it's actually going well in those peace talks. Dark tribespeople are notorious for being hard-headed to the core. Our last agreement with sun tribe took 15 years in the making."

U'tu gave a sympathetic look "It would go more smoothly had the dark prince been present."

Lei'la shot a spit sideways on the ground as if the mere mention left a bad taste in her mouth "We are better off without him."

River asked, "Dark prince?"

The boy answered, "It's because of him that we now understand what happens to us when a behagthi dies."

She stopped in her tracks, "Dies?"

They both turned to her at the same time. U'tu followed in haste, "That will never happen again. Ever."

"Yes, River, behagthis are friends of the divines. No harm should ever come to you. No one will let it happen. No one."

"The Great World pulled you here to bring us gifts." he said "No one in their right mind would turn away gifts of the divines. Not even from our Brumcia." U'tu held her hand while Lei'la did the same with her other hand, "The trip coming here must have been hard on you. Let's go this way to the healer and make sure everything is okay, teh?"

Lei'la peered up to River, her chubby cheeks turning pink "We don't mean to scare you. It's just our lives are hard and behagthis like you are supposed to make it better for us. Right now, I'm more optimistic than I've ever been. You make it better, teh?"

She felt her throat grow thick, and she had to swallow a couple times before she could speak, "I'll see what I can do."

The healer's main tent was huge with several smaller tents that lined up into a single row of tents connecting together. What she found most appealing were the white roses climbing on the walls of the beige tents, covering the structure almost completely. She stopped in her tracks, falling in love with how full and voluptuous the white roses looked. It paled in comparison to the skinny roses that she was used to seeing in city flower shops.

Lei'la gripped her hand tighter and glanced to where she was staring at, "Do you like it?"

"Yes," she said under her breath "It looks so.. complete."

"Go on in, I'm sure Hell'ina would love to hear you appreciate her flowers." said Lei'la whose deep brown eyes were etched with enthusiasm.

"I wonder what she does to make them so big. Aren't you coming with me?"

She scrunched up her nose, "Her apprentices kind of gets weird. Besides, I have much work left to do. Come see me when you can. I'd love to talk more about you, behagthi. Nothing exciting ever comes to the sun tribe. It's all elders and eager students patiently learning from old scrolls. No one ever tries something new."

"Except for my sun prince." U'tu said, "He's something else."

Lei'la waved a two-finger salute next to her temple then took off on a run, moving at a blinding speed that River couldn't follow. It left a gust of wind in her wake, blowing past her face. She turned to glancing in all directions, wondering which way she went but she was too far gone. For a young girl her age, she moved incredibly fast in a flash. One minute she was here holding her hand, then in a flash she was gone.

She remembered that the warriors at the battle competition yesterday had moved in the same capacity too, but then, when they rode back to the village, they didn't move as fast to travel.

It must have been exhaustion from the games.

She hoped that was the case. Otherwise, it would have been embarrassing to have a bunch of warriors slow themselves down on account of her lacking strength.

"I hope you didn't slow down on my account" she turned to the boy who crossed his arms, leaning his back to the wall of the tent.

He shrugged "It was our pleasure."

Her cheeks heated "Right. I'm guessing you're also not coming with me inside?"

He gave a toothy grin, "You guessed right."

With a nervous sigh, she stepped in the healer's tent, ducking through the flapped entrance where she found four children much younger than U'tu were sitting on a table, reading scrolls.

"Hey there, good morning. Is the healer available?" she said, taking a quick look around inside. Each corner of the healer's tent had stacks of crafted boxes with bottle jars on top of it in different sizes. A glass chandelier hung in the middle and sunbeams coming from the windows reflected on its hanging glass. It made the entire space of the tent glow with rainbow luminescent spots of light.

The children swiveled to her, standing all at once and running to the center of the tent where a giant black coffin sat on the floor. They moved as she had seen Lei'la had moved. In a matter of seconds, they ate up large strides without looking like it took any effort, their capes flowing in midair.

She looked to the coffin where they had gathered and said "Sorry, my apologies. I didn't realize I was in the wrong tent."

Then, all four of them knocked at the same time on the closed coffin. The kind of knock kids were known to be annoying about. Fast-paced. Banging. Like a battering ram dropping with big echoed booms from their tiny surprisingly-effective fists.

She began edging back to the main entrance hoping not to disturb them when the coffin began creaking as it opened. An elder woman emerged from inside it looking pissed, and her gaze automatically zeroed in on River. Even from waking up, her hair fell down in an elegant wave of untangled silver strands and nothing about her, from her gray leather dress and wrinkled face had looked displaced which creeped out River more than her suddenly emerging from a coffin. The elder woman's back was straight, eyes clear, and her skin looked healthy as peach blossoms. Yet, the sound coming out of her mouth was rasped and scratchy, "Behagthi" she crooned, her eyes squinting.

River was beginning to hate that word. "Hey," she said lightly, trying to sound casual "I had a rather vigorous exercise yesterday and I was wondering if you had something to alleviate sore muscles?"

The old woman's eyes sought its way to the top of the ceiling and she screeched, "Beh heh heh!" The sound was like a goat and the other children seemed to harmonize along with it, humming throaty sounds. This was the wrong tent, she was sure of it.

River quickly decided she wanted no part of this so she ducked through the flapped entrance but before she could move outside, a huge clawed hand grabbed her by the shoulder pinning her down. The old woman had moved fast from the center of the room to holding her in a split second "Beeeh! Beeeeeeh! Beh heh heh" she screeched, her throaty cries were shrill, ringing out like a megaphone.

And yet the choir of children did nothing and continued to blanket the fierceness of the old woman's wild distressed sounds with their cool gentle humming, eyes closed, pulling their focus to an even rhythm of music notes without words. As if nothing was amiss.

The old woman's animalistic chanting kept on going as she tried to break free from her hold. Soon after, she felt a light pressure coming from the crown of her head, spilling down to her spine until its pressure reached to her toes. The sensation had a dizzying effect, pulling her in one fell swoop into unconsciousness.

She gasped for air when she woke up, taking wild glances around the room. She was still in the healer's tent and now perched on a wooden chair made for giants.

The humming children were gone. The wooden table on the corner was left cluttered with opened scrolls. She found it odd that inside of its tent had a floor made of dampened black soil. She could have sworn the previous tents she had been in had stones or clay for its floors.

She rolled her shoulders and rubbed the sleep off her eyes. No one was in the room but there was a pressure in her scalp and it continued to rub around in circles. The pressure deepened and she discovered it was someone's bony fingers rubbing on her scalp, pulling the roots of her hair with sharp tugs. "What's happening?" she licked her lips "What are you doing to my hair?" the old woman behind her was taking great pains to brush her hair with bare hands.

"This ebony hair is not like what it used to. I will bring it back."

She gulped, "That's not really what I'm having a problem with. Really, I would be happy to have a little something for sore muscles and I'll be good to go."

"No. You are too sick. I can tell by the state of your hair."

"I assure you it is not a proble-"

"Hair is the crown of the head, teh? You will be fit to be presented to nobody in this state. No wonder his highness forgot his manners."

River remembered the impolite encounter, rolling her eyes, "I honestly don't know why he would think it's ok to treat any normal person the way he did this morning."

The old woman gave a harsh tug backwards and grunted, "You have no crown. It is indecent, teh?"

"I don't know why the hell would that even matte-" her protest died when she found a large-frame mirror made of gold being dragged across the room to sit right in front her. The elder made an impatient snap and two children poked their heads out from behind the mirror then began scurrying to the front entrance with their orange capes swirling behind them in their haste.

She stood abruptly, her eyes glued to the girl who also stood as she did. Turning her head from side to side, she studied how her midnight hair was pulled up in a crown braid and how her skin was blooming in an impossible glow.

It had never looked like this before.

She studied her arms, it was the warmest shade of golden brown "You made me beautiful." she said, feeling fresher than ever.

"Not at all. I made you healthy." she announced as a matter of fact then pulled River's shoulder, making her sit back down and continued her careful minstrations on what used to be a curly mess of a hair that cannot be tamed "Do not expect anything less from a healer such as Hell'ina."

She was a healer, all right. She frowned at the spots where her scars had disappeared, it used to be her badges of honor back when she was getting used to the Ylein Mountain trails. Freckles and acne had vanished and in its place was a coppery bronze color of healthy smooth skin. Unbelievably soft to the touch.

"This is unreal" staring at the mirror, in awe at how her black hair gleamed in freshness looking new, it was tugged in a tight braid around her head shaped like a crown. But the sheer lightness and volume of it made her feel like a pampered princess.

"Every inch of you was caked in mud, little one." she said, criticizing. "Here, the muscles behind your knees were stretched thin. It will take some time to heal, teh?"

She rolled her shoulders and found no aches. Stretching her neck, she found the air was filled in the clinical smell of vanilla, giving her ideas about chocolate-dipped bagels and heavenly baths after a long day's work. She sighed, smiling gratefully, "Thank you. This means a great deal to me."

She waved a dismissive hand. "They call me Hell'ina. It means a force of transformation, do you see?" she said, raising River's arm up to her eye-level.

"I definitely see that." At a closer look, there was a shimmer on her skin like a night sky with star-filled golden lights. "Tiny glitters."

Hell'ina chuckled, "It is the healing salve for your muscles. The golden-silver spots come from the bark of an old tree grown at the south sun tribe. When you put it on, it gives the skin a wonderful glow like the stars from the sky, teh?" Then she rolled River's arm slowly to a different angle by the light, and she sat breathless at how the dotted spots on her skin gleamed silver to gold.

"It's wonderful." she uttered under her breath, closing her eyes and willing herself to not be dazzled by its shiny luster. Back in her world, beauty and terror seemed to always go hand-in-hand. "But I don't have any idea how I passed out just now. This is twice in a row, and I never pass out. Ever." It was worrying that every time she did so, she didn't get to wake up outright to her own familiar room. If this isn't a nightmare, then what is it? she shuddered to think what the other option would be. If she was skirting on the edges of a psychosis then Dr. Malia would have told her. Right?

Hell'ina took a moment to stab and press flowers into her braided hair, "Stranger things have happened to behagthis before. We are accustomed and almost anticipate your body's adverse reactions to the Great World. Everything is different, teh?"

"You have no idea."

She grinned, seeming to devote her time in choosing colored flowers that would go well in her black hair, "Different is a defining trait for behagthis."

"You seem to be the only one who isn't spooked by my appearance." she said, noting how Hell'ina opted to put purple and white flowers as a wreath around her braid.

Satisfied, she softened with a smile that smoothed her old age away "That is because behagthis harbor change, and I am a force of transformation, teh?" she chuckled, "Not only one behagthi has arrived. But, two. You are the second to arrive. And, little girl," she said, pausing in her flower crown arrangement, "A single behagthi can change the tide of war let alone create a lone religion from scratch. Much too power there. The tribe is afraid of what sort of chaos can happen. Too unpredictable."

River stared at her from the mirror.

Hell'ina was growing pensive, both arms dropping to her sides. "Nothing like this has ever happened before. We fear the Great World has something in store for us. One that is not written in the prophecies like it always has been. Scary, teh?"

River met Hell'ina's eyes in the mirror, "I'm not looking to change anything."

Her reply was sharp, "It is not a matter of intention."

"What is it, then?"

"The answers you are looking for have long eluded us for thousands of yours. All we know is that if the Great World wills it, then it will happen for us no matter what."

"What do you mean by the Great World?"

She breathed an impatient sigh, bending down from the waist to speak next to River's ear while holding her gaze in the mirror, "The Great World is the water from oceans, the air we breath keeping us alive. It is the soil and rocks that hold us in this life and the fire that keeps us warm on a cold night."

The idea sounded way too familiar. "Where I come from, we call that Mother Nature."

She cackled in delight, "Natura Brumcia? You have her in your world, too. Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise."

Gulping, she stood up when the work was done, "I just wish everything made sense."

"You make it sound like you are entitled to it, little girl."

"I'm a grown adult. A grown woman. Everything should be making sense. Science, community, movies, food and culture make so much sense to me. It helps me cope. It keeps me safe. I work very hard to earn my place in my world but here, this is.. This is just-" she stuttered, blanking on a loss of words from her rising panic.

"Ah. You are not used to living with fear."

She nodded, biting her bottom lip.

"I fear that anything I can say will prove nothing to help you. A common adverse reaction to behagthis are homesickness. But I can leave you with this." she handed her a curvy bottle made with glass. The watery liquid inside was dark blue with silver and gold spots freckling it like a night sky. "Put this on your skin before you sleep. To help you with sores and pain. And no, you cannot drink it. Trust me, you won't like how it tastes. I make it special, too. Put in some of those violet berries my sun prince likes so much, what is it called?" scratching her head, "Bah, it's called something I can't remember. Eureka, yes. Eureka berries is what it's called. A good whiff of it helps one to sleep, teh? It will be good for you."

"Uh, I can't take this. It's too much. I don't have anything to give back."

"Hush, little girl, behagthis are a gift. We do what we can to help people like you on your way to saving the Great World. Now go on to En'tum. Make sure to mention that our sacred goddess Natura Brumcia graces your own world." she mumbled, while ushering her outside. "It will go a long way to stop the tribe from being frightened. It's time we help our behagthi. Put her on her way to destiny. Brumcia only wishes the best for us and it sometimes don't look pretty. Oh, and don't forget your package." she said, handing her the leather-wrapped weapon before pushing her outside

U'tu was there waiting at the front across the door, grinning like a trickster devil, "Allow me to show you to the smithery."

River nodded, thinking about how she made sure to never give the first impression that she was a doormat. But being pushed around like this, she wasn't sure if it came across. When it came to kids, she didn't want to be difficult.

The streets were empty, and there were no signs of the others "Where are your friends?" River asked.

"At their classes. Lei'la really wanted to come along but," he shrugged, "she needs more lessons."

"And what about you? I'd hate for you to miss your lessons."

"No need, River" he said, looking back over his shoulder with a cocky grin "I'm already the best."

She returned his smile, thinking back on how she herself kept making trouble as a kid.

At this point, she was in no position to scold a kid for playing hooky. God knows she did it oftentimes than what was sensible. She missed those days. She had friends back then. It was a time when they had lived for the thrill of danger, making fools of know-it-all older kids, and—

She frowned, looking overhead to the blue skies filled with squawking prehistoric birds. Shielding her eyes, she watched their movements as they retreated to a far horizon until they disappeared into tiny dots, its vanishing display gave her the grave reminder that nothing would last forever. There was no use getting attached.

Whatever happens, I'll do what they need me to do, she thought. The plan is to help the sun tribespeople, and hopefully, they will return the favor in getting me back home. Basic quid pro quo. Even this universe should know the essence of trading favors, right?