Chapter Text
The day I went hunting with Kinich was… something. From the moment I got my boot back into place and followed after him I had been a disaster. Our first hunting place had been close to the canopy and was a nest with a mother and some chicks.
I refused.
Even with Kinich’s explaining of the ‘circle of life’, I went as far as to make as many random sounds as I could to scare the family away. His deadpan expression wasn’t lost on me, I just told him I didn’t care. Yet I did. I did care. I had paid this boy to take me hunting for fowl, and I had hindered one of his catches.
There’s a reason papa never took me hunting, and it was for this very reason. Whenever he took me out with my older brothers I tended to cry over the corpses of boar, fish, fowl; anything that we had hunted really. It was then that mama put her foot down and said I was too sensitive for such a lifestyle and didn’t let me go anymore. I was upset of course; not being able to spend time with them in the woods of Springvale, but mama reassured me that I could still be with them at the tavern and when they boys were out me, her and granny could have girl time. So instead of hunting I learnt how to cook, sew, craft and utilize a dish cloth as a weapon.
I had told Kinich this after our hunting session, without as much detail; apologising, yet he never said anything about it. I figured I had just annoyed him, so I never brought it up again. The rest of the hunt went well, Kinich did the deed as he talked me through what to do in future. It was incredible watching him work, he seemed even more skilled then papa and I couldn’t help the awe I felt at his natural prowess. It wasn’t until the walk back to the canopy that he really spoke to me, other than hunting instructions.
“Why did you ask to come hunting with me?”
“Huh?”
His dual-coloured eyes shifted to meet mine at my dumb response, it didn’t last long as he turned back to face forward, hoisting the birds we caught onto his shoulder more snugly.
“You clearly don’t like it, so why pay to come with me? It would have been far quicker for me to go by myself.”
I swallowed at his unspoken words ‘You wasted both our time’ was clearly written between the lines. This guy was harsh, but I appreciated his bluntness.
“Sorry, I’ve always hated hunting. But granny can’t do it and my brother was being a lazy piece of shit so… I figured I had to get over it and put on my big girl pants.”
I watched him blink slowly for a moment.
“Hardly big girl pants when you did nothing.”
I felt my face flush in anger as his words metaphorically stabbed me through the heart. I tried dammit! At least I put myself out there! At least I still tried!
“At least I’m wearing pants!”
I gestured to the pelt he was wearing with an angry wave of my hand. The dirty, matted fur barely moved as the wind from the force of my thrust brushed by it.
“Why do you wear that anyway? Is it some kind of fashion in Natlan?”
I didn’t miss the way his eyes darkened, nor the tense of his shoulders as I said this. Had I said something wrong? Maybe he was sensitive about the way he looked? Or maybe his mother forced him to wear it just like mama made me wear that uncomfortable Fontainian dress for gatherings. Granny had told me that a lot of Natlanese people live off the land. Using fur for clothes, meat for food and bones for accessories. Maybe he was one of them? He didn’t reply to my question though, so I didn’t push it and we didn’t talk the rest of the way home. I think he got mad at me.
Surprisingly, the next time I saw him was merely 3 days later across the street. He had given me a brief nod of acknowledgement once I waved. He nodded at me; that meant he wasn’t mad, right? So, when I abandoned granny to go and say hello, I was happy he replied in kind. I then took the opportunity to ramble on my apologies; how I imbued hunting, how I got in the way, how I was an insensitive bitch. All the while gripping his dirtied fingers in fear he’d run away as I spoke at the speed of light. He never made a move though, his eyes trained on my own as I ranted. I eventually came to a stop with another apology, a deep huff leaving my lungs as I stared into his Natlan eyes. His mouth opened briefly, about to say something until it was cut off with a familiar sharp pain to my upper ear.
“Are you stupid?! Don’t go running off on your own!”
Granny’s nails dug into the cartilage, dragging her fingers back and forth in an unharming, yet painful way.
“Oooowwwhhhh! Get off! I saw my friend and came over! Get off! Sorry!”
What I didn’t know was that upon my whining she had heard ‘friend’. Granny had heard from my brother and elder Leich of me going hunting and she… wasn’t too happy with it when I told her myself with the fowl she wanted hanging on my arm. All throughout dinner though all I talked about was Kinich and how cool he was at hunting, but to know that I’d gone hunting and instead made a friend; well, she had many a jokes to tell me that night.
As I keeled over in pain to granny’s ear pinching, I never saw her sizing up Kinich. She knew he was a friend wearing a pelt, so compared to the other members of the canopy; this is clearly him. The one wearing pelts, the one dirty, the one without shoes. Granny knew; she’s seen it may a time in her life. No matter the country a forgotten child is still the same… This boy was alone in life.
After releasing her granny grip of grief, she smiled fondly at Kinich with a wrinkled hand pressed to her chest.
“Well, who knew this little nightmare could actually make friends? I’ve heard a lot about you Kinich, but I was starting to think you were a part of miss unsociable’s imagination.”
“I have friends granny! More than you, ya old fossil.”
Her words didn’t fall on deaf ears, even though I was rubbing a very sore one violently she was swift to pinch the other. Ignoring my yelp she smiled kindly at the confused boy, acting as if she isn’t trying to actually kill me.
“It’s nice to finally meet you my boy. My granddaughter here can be a bit of a handful, so thank you for taking care of her.”
“Ensuring her safety on the hunt was no problem, but…”
His eyes strayed to meet mine, I could just make him out through the squint I had from granny’s death grip as his head tilted briefly.
“We’re not friends?”