1 I - A tribe of fools

A bright light shone into my closed eyes, and the sound of a horn resounded through my ears.

It cut off my dream, a dream that left me, confused?

I couldn't recall what it was about, nor why I was left in such a state of confusion and shock. Must have been a nightmare..

I stared out of my tent I was sleeping in, a tipi tent, made out of minor beast hide. Yes, it may sound uncommon, but beast hunting does in fact exist. No one is allowed to hunt beasts higher than the 'minor' level, but things like chuckens, porgs and cews are huntable.

Anyways, as I was staring out the opening of my tent, after placing my wild red locks of hair behind my ears, I found a horde of hunters and their desert tigers. Was a hunt about to commence?

I gazed up at the sun, which stood up on around 11 o'clock in the morning, had they lost their mind? This was the hottest period of the day in the desert of Atlas, all animals were seeking shade or were basically hidden. If hunters were to run around in the sunlight they would be roasted alive around 12 o'clock.

I quickly shot into my clothes and a few pieces of armor, and then grabbed my white veil to cover my already tanned skin, which everyone in my tribe wore against major sunburn.

I then swung my tent open and stepped out, the sun was harsh and hot on my body, even though it was covered, and I had to put in effort to get used to the sharp light of the golden sand.

"What the in the name of divinity is happening here?!" I spoke loudly, as I walked towards the group of hunters.

"Shei'Iki! These idiots don't know what they're doing, please speak some sense!" A hunter responded.

Shei'Iki is Atlasian for Shaman's daughter. It's also an honorable title, as a shaman is a respected being in a tribe. She bestows her blessing and wisdom upon those who seek her aid, they are in direct contact with a divine beast, which gives them their wisdom.

"Shei'Iki, the water resources are running low, besides, we spotted a group of cews heading south. If we're quick, we can follow their tracks!" Another hunter said annoyed, the group was obviously divided between opinions.

"Where is leader Hadan? You should take advice from him, and he should be the one to initiate a hunt." I responded calmly, this wasn't my business to interfere in.

"Hadan-ssa fell ill by the red sun, he cannot hunt." The same hunter spoke.

Red sun is a turning point in time, it refers to dawn or noon. Meaning that the leader of our tribe, Hadan, had fallen ill by dawn. This always poses as a problem, our tribe isn't neccisarily the smartest, as no one ever attended school. I was lucky to be the daughter of a shaman, she teached me a lot about the world, and I got my sense of strategy and fighting technique teached by Hadan himself.

"If you wish to be cooked and ready to serve, I would suggest heading for a hunt right now. If you don't, I'd suggest waiting for the next red sun, which gives enough light to commence a hunt, and also a chance to seek water." I said with a light shrug, and then turned and walked away. They could choose their fate, although I already knew that the hunters got the message.

I went towards the shaman's hut, maybe mother had a way to cure Hadan, so that he could smack some sense into these ridiculous fools as a punishment.

I slowly opened the tent and walked in.

The shaman's hut was bigger than an average tent, with a large carpet on the ground. She had sacks filled with herbs and plants, and she was always smoking some odd purple stuff through her pipe, which left pink-ish smoke. It said it helped her remain a clear sense of her surroundings, so I guess it's some magic plant... Though I'm not that convinced.

I coughed a bit and waved my hand in front of my face. The smoke hit my face and went straight to my lungs, how was this healthy in the slightest??

I saw her with her legs crossed on the ground, her eyes closed, one hand on her knee, and one hand holding her intricatily designed pipe.

"Have you come for Hadan?" She said with her usual low and raspy voice.

"Yes- How do you know?" I responded while crossing my arms.

She opened one eye and stared at me disaprovingly. I wore too male of a getup, my mother always complained about it.

"The ruckus you all made outside disrupted my meditation. Especially that damned Horn. Hadan was never such a fool to blow the hunters horn this early, he must be sick. Isn't that it?" She answered, perceptive as always.

"You are correct mother, he has fallen ill by the red sun, could you heal him? The hunters are going to keep bothering ME for advice." I asked with a groan.

"Maybe if you weren't constantly wearing such getup and fighting and sparring they wouldn't! They consider you one of the males by now. How are you going to find a husband and get children?!" She complained as she stood up. She turned around to some of her herbs and started to look around.

I rolled my eyes and sighed deeply, which led to me breathing in more smoke and coughing louder. "By the divines mother! From the moment he pointed at me I was forced to marry the son of Hadan, you needn't worry for my marriage. Rather worry about this ridiculous smoke!"

"Hah, that bloodthirsty animal is nowhere in your league, Valkyrie." She said in an insulting tone.

"But I suppose your right, the laws of our tribe are absolute, he chose you, when you reach the age of 21 you are forced to marry that empty-brained killer."

She then grabbed onto some herbs, put them in a little pouch, and gave them to me. "I suppose it's nothing out of ordinary, grind these plants in some water and let him drink it, let him eat the plants for extra effect even! Aha hahah Hhhahahah!!" She laughed in a crazy manner.

I just shook my head and went out of the tent after thanking mother. I made my way to the largest tent in our temporary camp, guarded by two hunters. When they saw my face they gave me a small nod, and I was free to go inside.

I opened the tent and stepped through, a few ladies were already taking care of Hadan. I gave them a small bow.

Hadan was laying on his bed, obviously in a horrible condition. He was sweating madly and one lady was constantly applying a wet towel, and thus wasting water. I stepped closer to him, his breath was irregular and he seemed to be having a nightmare.

"I went to mother, she told me to place these herbs in water, then give it to Hadan." The eyes of the ladies widened at my lack of honorifics. No one ever got used to my informal way of speaking, except my mother and Hadan himself.

One lady, who recovered from the initial shock, accepted the herbs and placed them in a bowl. She softly spoke something to another woman, who then came up to me.

"Shei'Iki... The water resource.. We're running very low. It's as if multiple jars of water just dissapeared.."

I stared at the lady applying a wet towel.

"It isn't a suprise with such water consumer." I said in a low and insulting tone.

"Yes.. Hadan-ssa's son asked if you'd join the hunt. They are going to search water as well." She asked, this wasn't much of a question though, the boy would nag me with this question, insisting me on going, until I eventually say yes.

I rolled my eyes and sighed deeply, then gave a small nod and excused myself.

I quickly went out of the tent and was met by the insane presence of the sun. I stared up, 12 o clock most likely.

I went back to my tent first, and found the hunters no longer there. Had they truly gone into the desert? Or were they waiting indoors? I shrugged, whatever.

I went inside my tent and started sorting out some stuff. I attached a cew hide water bag to the belt of my white pants, and put part of my bright red hair up in a ponytail. I grabbed onto a sand-colored veil this time, if used right, it was hard to spot you with the veil, a great hunters asset.

Aside from that I wore a simple beige tube top, which seemed pale against my caramel skin color, and simple gauntlets without protection on the fingers, you needed every inch of your fingers during a fight. Especially in the hot and dangerous desert of Atlas.

I then stayed inside for the remaining afternoon, it was practically dangerous to set food outside at this time, so instead, I took a nap which is quite a common tradition for my tribe.

It was hours later that I woke up once again, and it wasn't by my own will that I did. Instead, someone had thrown open my tent and light was shining into my eyes. I pushed myself up to take a look at the improper fool who would dare wake me up from my sleep.. And what did I expect.

before my by sleep consumed eyes stood Ja'far Rikh'shi, the son of Hadan, and my husband-to-be.