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."