Shora found a safe place between several rocks for her supplies of food and water. Last thing she needed was the wild beasts eating them.

She was nervous about the last leg of her trip, but rather than let this fear slow her down, set off immediately. Her journey had gone well so far, but bringing down beasts in the wild was stuff any she-orc could do. She'd been trained to live in the wild under the open sky. Her brother had always hated living in the caves of their mountain.

Now she was in human lands. She didn't have any way to know how this part of her journey would go. Finding Javad in a place with a lot of his people around would be difficult. How well guarded was this temple of his? She left her spear behind. Any weapons would just give her away. There was no answer to these questions but to reach the temple and find out.

Traveling beside the road and keeping to cover, she arrived at a wooden sign. According to her map, she was very close now. Javad hadn't taught her to read, but she guessed the Temple of Inferno was down the road.

The temple grounds were well forested, which let her get close enough to the buildings without being spotted. Shora saw humans, a lot of them. She plotted out the temple grounds in her head. A white pyramid composed of multiple distinct tiers or levels dominated the center. Off to the north were small, single room buildings. Deeper to the south were larger buildings.

The humans milling around the small buildings were smaller and younger. There were only a few of them around at the moment. Sneaking closer to one of these homes, Shora saw a white robe with orange trim hanging from a line. But she was far too large to fit it. After checking around a few more buildings, she found a robe that fit. Her disguise emboldened her, and she crept deeper into the temple grounds. More and more of the young humans headed towards the pyramid in the middle. Javad was sure to be there.

Disguise or no, she couldn't enter the pyramid itself. Instead, she figured out the main entrance to the place and found a hiding spot in some bushes with a good view of it. Most of the humans were wearing the same sort of clothing she was, making identifying them difficult. Shora planned on spotting Javad by his particular manner of walking. Even before he met her, he'd always walked with a unique swagger. Her training had exaggerated this; he was like a miniature orc warrior.

After an hour of waiting, the robed humans poured out of their pyramid. Sure enough, a little fellow with a lot of attitude stepped out the doors, but she wasn't the only one to notice him. A trio of larger boys drifted across his path. As he went to pass them, one stuck his foot in front of Javad. It surprised the bigger boy when Javad kicked out, shoving the offending foot out of his way. The boy yelped in pain, and his fellows stepped towards the small offender with their fists raised.

Shora considered what to do. Getting involved would bring nothing but trouble to them both. If discovered, she'd be lucky to get out of the temple grounds alive. But even without that reality, she was training Javad for a reason. If he couldn't deal with three bullies his age, then he'd accomplish none of his impossible goals.

A teacher exited the building and shouted at the four boys before the fight could break out. Shora couldn't make out all the rapidly spoken Qismat words. The gist of it was, if the four of them had energy to fight, then they had energy to do their evening chores. Shora marked Javad's path and followed him. Once he was alone, she found a good place ahead of him and waited. He passed beside her, barely acknowledging her presence. Not able to help herself, she stuck her own foot in front of his.

Javad reacted quickly, kicking out once again. His foot smacked against hers, stopped cold. He grunted in surprise and looked down, noticing her sharp toenails.

"By Inferno. You actually did it."

She pulled him into the cover of the bushes. "It was a longer trip than I expected."

"Shora. This is a really bad idea. You shouldn't be here. Do you know what would happen if they found you here?"

She tipped her hood down, shadowing her face. "I would expect a manhunt. But I'm not so clumsy I'd get caught."

He looked down at his foot again. "You pulled the same trick three idiots just did. Tell me you weren't close enough to the temple to see them try to pick a fight."

"I could tell you I wasn't," she said. "But you know."

"This is dangerous Shora."

"It was the only way to find you. I don't need to come here twice. But you need to sneak out tonight, and come with me."

"But if I get caught…"

"I've got a new camp. A little home near your school. You can't come train with me if you don't see where it is. You'd better meet me tonight. If not, I'll come pester you here every day."

"Geez. Okay, okay."

"Meet me in the northern woods, near the sign by the road."

*

She lurked there for the rest of the evening. Finally, hearing the rustling of the bushes as he reached her. She clicked her tongue at him, getting his attention.

"I can't believe you really came," he said. "I expected your brother to stop you. How did you get out without him noticing?"

"I wouldn't do that to my brother. He got an explanation, as I owed him. He knew I was serious about it."

"But, to let you leave at such a young age?"

"We mature faster than you do. We are born and able to walk within the hour. Everything we do comes sooner than you. But it wasn't easy, leaving my brother. He always said he enjoyed being alone. But I don't think he meant me. He probably feels lonely, as I do."

"I hope you're thinking clearly about this, Shora. How are you planning to get food and water? They aren't giving me enough to share it with you. Any human around is going to be a danger with you."

His nagging now annoyed her. "I don't need your people to welcome me. Just you. I live my life on my terms. The whims of the weak don't worry me. If I'm hungry, I bring down an animal. My camp has plenty of water nearby. Stop worrying and come see it."

He smiled at last. "I'm sorry. You caught me off-guard. I haven't been very welcoming myself."

She grinned back at him. "You dragged yourself out of bed in the early hours of the morning. That's enough. You're coming to my new home. So for tonight, you're my guest. It's a walk of an hour of a half."

"That far?" he complained.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Can't be too close. Too many people."

A change came over him then, and he straightened his posture. "Let's see how long it takes to run there. I need to get back by morning."

She nodded eagerly. "Follow me and try to keep up."