The morning light streamed through the tiny gaps in the redwood wall of the Dragonslayer’s hut.
Rion opened his ocean-like blue eyes and looked around with bated breath, "No one’s here," he mumbled and heaved a sigh of relief.
He jumped out of the bed and walked towards the door. He slightly opened the door and peeked outside, "Not there either."
After making sure that neither of his parents was at the hut, he quickly put on his leather sandals and stepped out of the hut without wasting a single moment.
He ran through the settlement and passed many huts before stopping at one that had a skull hung at its door.
He walked near the door and knocked on it with his small fists. He stepped back, and after a few moments, the door opened.
A trained woman with dishevelled black hair walked out. She rubbed her sleepy eyes while yawning.
Rion stood before her, waiting for Haria to look at him.
Haria slowly blinked her sleepy brown eyes open and stared ahead, "Hmm? No one?" she murmured, then turned around and shut the door right in Rion’s face.
"I did hear a knock, though... I did, right?" she mumbled to herself from inside as she climbed back into the bed.
"..." he went silent out of disbelief for a few moments until a curse slipped out of his lips, "Blasted hell..."
He stepped closer to the door and knocked on it one more time.
"What the... I can’t be imagining it again," Haria muttered as she stood up.
Hearing her, a vein throbbed at his forehead as he yelled in his head, ’You were never imagining anything!’
’Calm down, I can’t let others know that I am here,’ he said to himself as he took a few deep breaths.
The door creaked open, and Haria stepped out once again. She stared ahead of her with a frown as she muttered, "What’s going on? No one’s—"
"Look down! You stupidly tall woman!" Rion shouted with an annoyed face.
Haria furrowed her brows and looked down at Rion. Her eyes sparkled, she spoke with a smile, "Oh! It’s you, little Rio."
She turned around and stepped inside the hut while mumbling, "Come, come."
He shook his head and followed behind her. She closed the door, then suddenly lifted him by the armpits.
"W-wait! I am big now! You can’t do that!" He protested and flailed his arms.
"Oh? Are you shy to sit in my lap?" She teased, sitting on the bed and pulling him onto her lap.
He lowered his head to hide his reddened face. His thoughts screamed in defiance, ’That’s not the issue!’
"Why are you looking down?" She asked with a smirk, amusement gleaming in her brown eyes.
"I-I just don’t feel like looking up," he muttered, body stiffening against the warmth of her strong yet soft embrace.
’Oh gods! Why must you test me like this?’ He cried inwardly. Suddenly, he froze as he felt something press against his head.
His face turned beet red, his voice trembled as he asked, "W-what are you d-doing?"
"Heh." She smirked and answered, "Relaxing my back."
’No, you are not! Move those sacs of meat from my head!’ He screamed inwardly, but outwardly, he was still and silent.
He took a deep, shaky breath and finally managed to say, "I-I want your help."
She raised an eyebrow, stopped her teasing and asked, "My help? For what?"
He breathed in relief, jumped out of her lap and stared into her eyes, "I want to go on the hunts," he said.
Her smile faltered, and her eyes turned sharp as she spoke coldly, "Rion, hunting is not a children’s game."
He lowered his head at her unexpectedly cold tone.
Silence clouded the round hut until she asked in a tone softer than before, "Why do you even want to hunt now? Won’t you be taken into a hunting group after you turn 10 anyway?"
He lifted his head and answered, "Papa and Mama won’t allow me to join..."
Her eyes shimmered in understanding. She rubbed her chin and spoke. "That’s true..."
She heaved a sigh and continued, "Hah... but even knowing that I can’t allow you to hunt, not until you’ve reached 10."
His expression turned sombre, he gave her a faint nod and turned around to leave with his slow steps.
She stared at him for a few moments, then said, "Wait. I can’t bring you on a hunt, but you can join my group’s training."
All of his dark thoughts and emotions went up in smoke as he quickly turned towards her and asked with a wide smile, "Really?"
"Yep," she replied with a smile.
He ran towards her with wide arms, and she picked him up in her embrace, "Thank you, Haria," he said in a joyful tone.
She furrowed her brows and asked, "Huh? Are you still not going to call me big sis?"
He looked into her eyes, wrapped his thin arms around her neck, and spoke, "Thank you, big sis."
"Haha!" She began to laugh at his shamelessness while he was brimming with joy.
At the peak of the mountains that flanked the Redwood Basin.
"I wonder, how would they react if they knew that we can hear both of them?" Jura said with a small smile.
Haden nodded at his words and muttered, "No one would be happy knowing that."
"I only listened to it because of how sneaky he was being," Jura added. He turned to his left and asked, "What do you think, princess?"
Lara sat on a rock with a dark look on her face as she mumbled, "Wouldn’t it be better for him to stay away from blood? From battle?"
Neither Jura nor Haden replied, but someone else did.
"So he can get killed when it’s needed for him to kill?" Varok said as he walked out of the forest.
Lara raised her head and sharply looked at him before she spoke, "I don’t want to hear it from a man who abandoned his daughter."
"I never liked kids."