As quickly her feet touched the ground of the isle, Akhira moved away from the group of wicks that were together with her leaving the ferry. Too busy with avoiding them, Akhira at first didn’t even notice how beautiful this place was. Hurrying away from the dock and from wicks and witches that were loudly expressing their happiness to see others again, the dark haired witch found herself a lonely tree that would provide her some kind of a shelter against all that chaos.

She sat between the roots and looked in the direction of all happening. It was beautiful indeed; she had no idea what the flags meant though, but they were nice; like everything else actually. Now it really caught her interest and even though she was more or less bothered by the presence of her own kind, one part of her wanted to join them. Back in Dorhaven, she tolerated others, but felt no desire to be with them. This time it was different; maybe because they were her kind. However, she was still reluctant to approach them.

Anyway, approaching them needed to be done sooner or later since she still had to find someone who would tech her how to use her powers. Akhira stood up and headed towards the centre of happening.

Keiyra watched the woman as she cleaned her needles. She'd been watching her for a while. To be honest, the black haired witch reminded the pink haired one of a bander. The way she moved, the way she walked. Shaking off the last needle, she wrapped them in the soft rabbitskin roll and tied it off. Placing it on the table, she tied her dreds into a ponytail as the woman approached.

"Hesta chip. Lookin' for someone?" She asked, crossing her heavily tattooed arms. The piercings in her ears, nose and lip sparkled in the noon sun.

Her heart was beating rapidly as she came closer to the nearest group of wicks. Everyone was so happy; she would bet all her possesions there was no one sad on this island. Although, as far as she heard from others about that festival, there was no reason to be depressed here; reunions, marriages, new friends... did you actually have time to be sad?

Hm, thinking about that, her parents knew exactly what were they doing when they had sent her - they knew there was no way she would avoid the contact with other wicks, and so she would be in a way forced to have fun, meet new friends, and possibly even find a future mate for life. Akhira sighed. That last statement was rather annoying as she even in dreams couldn't imagine to be with someone like her foster mother and father were. And to let that someone touch her? She would bite his hand off before this would happen.



Was this question addressed to her? She remembered that on her way here another wick used the same expressions when he talked to her. Although she didn't understand much of Tek as her parents didn't really use it, she could imagine what it meant.

Turning to see if she was right, and that the question was indeed for her, she looked right at the pink haired girl. With many tatooes and peircings. And with pink hair. She couldn't help but to slightly tilt her head to left; she didn't see such hair colour every day, and it pretty impressed her.

"Hesta," she repeated quietly. "Yes, a teacher. I don't know magic much, and must learn."

Akhira didn't even notice, but she was creasing part of her dress again, like usually when she had to talk.

Keiyra rubbed her chin thoughtfully for a moment, before nodding.

"I would be going to the different camps set up around here and asking if anyone is taking on apprentices. Don't you have a tribe? They're who usually finds someone to teach you." The pink wick crossed her arms, head slightly tilted.

"A... tribe?" Akhira lifted her brows, confused. "I have Mother and Father. But they not a tribe, right?"

Glancing upon the flags again, she thought that that's what they probably represent; diferent tribes. Taking a good look of each one, she tried to remember if maybe she had belonged to one of the tribes. Akhira didn't remember much of her early childhood, and didn't know her true parents, so it seemed possible to her that maybe she was born in a tribe. But none of the flags cought her eye as something familiar.

She turned back to the young witch.

"Would you help me? I work good, and I can repay you."

((I think there's something wrong with the sentences. I miss my Word . Um, if you find a grammatical mistake, please let me know .))

(( your doing fine! ))



The tattooed woman shook her head slowly, face showing she was shocked the girl said that. How couldn't she know what a tribe was?



Keiyra grunted and nodded.

"Sure, why not. I ent got any customers lined up today, so lets go." Standing, she poked her head inside the blue kint and Akhira might have been able to hear another womans voice, an older one. Shortly after, the pink haired witch popped back.

"Alright, lets go. You got a name? Mine is Keiyra." She started walking, expecting the girl to follow. Keiyra figured the best place to start with a girl like this might be the Deep Water. They were a fairly laid back tribe, and not involved in the mess like the Crows and the Eyes. They entered the blue decorated section of the festival, indicating they were coming close to the Deep Waters. The stalls here consisted mostly of food, beverage and arts. It had a peaceful feel to it.

((Oh, cool . Thanks .))



Akhira stood still and waited, following the pink haired witch with her sight. Only when she heard another woman's voice, she moved her upper body slightly to the right as she was curious who has been in the kint. When the girl turned to her, Akhira straightened up again, wondering what she'll suggest.



"Akhira," she answered shortly, adding nothing else. Her parents usually said 'Nice to meet you' when they met new people, but she wasn't sure if it was so nice to meet someone. True, they might be glad to meet new people as they were always smiling, yet she wasn't sure why she should be glad; they were just someone new. Although, she felt a relief that someone was willing to help her and make her feel less lost.

She followed the girl to the blue decorated section, liking it immediately. It felt more peaceful than other parts of the festival.

''Lovely,'' she sighed. Curious, but she wasn't so nervous anymore; probably because of the blue colour. She was more fond of looking at everything that was blue than paying attention to others. From time to time she just made sure that she was still following Keiyra.

Keiyra nodded in response to the girls name, eyes scanning the blue camp. She spotted a familiar woman, dressed in a rich midnight blue dress and head wrap, sitting amongst a pile of different coloured fibres and strings. Her old hands were deftly weaving together a multi colored carry bag. The pink witch sat on her knees in front of the woman and touched her fingers to her forehead, bowing slightly, before resting her hands in her lap.

"Junta Heilia." Keiyra said respectfully. The older witch looked at her weaving for a moment, before placing it to one side and giving the younger woman her full attention with rich blue eyes.

"Junta Keiyra, is your balach about? I got a chip here, might be a drifter but I'm not so sure. She's looking to learn the vroo. I thought Deep Water might be a better place for her to start." Heilia looked at Akhira for a moment with a motherly expression. She was well into her life, but not so old as to be a crone. Lifting a hand, she motioned for the girl to come to her.

"Come here rosh, come sit with me." Keiyra moved over slightly to allow Akhira room.

Seeing that they went to an old witch, Akhira slightly slowed her pace, and when Keiyra stopped in front of her, she stopped too, good five steps away.

They greeted each other, she understood that much, but she was lost in the rest of the conversation; this made her a bit uneasy. She was gazing from one to another until the older witch looked at her; strange, but her kind expression made her more comfortable. It actually brought back memories of time, when she was still with her wolf mother. Oh, she missed her, her and life in woods.



Akhira hesitated at first, but she obeyed. She came closer and bowed, like Keiyra did before, and then sat next to her, curious what will happen next.

Heilia smiled at the girl, setting aside her weaving. She clasped her hands together and looked at Akhira in the eyes.

"Hello child, where have you come from." Her voice was kind and her eyes motherly. The older woman was like a grandmother in her attitude, radiating caring and kindness. Keiyra knelt, quietly watching.

Akhira stiffened and gazed down at her dress as the woman looked her in the eyes. She didn't mind if someone was looking at her, but when someone looked her in the eyes she suddenly felt exposed, and extremely uncomfortable. No matter how kind the person was, or how motherly. She have never looked her mother straightly in the eyes. Not even her foster parents.

"Dorhaven," Akhira answered to her skirt and started to fidget with her fingers. "But this not my home. They took me away from my home."

Her wolf mother considered her independent back then, and didn't follow her around like she used to do when Akhira was much younger. And so little Akhira wandered too far, without a guardian and following her own curiosity.

"Why this so important? Why you must know my home?" she asked harshly; she didn't like to be remembered of her own mistakes.

Heilia shot a glance at Keiyra, then back to Akhira. Her old eyes picked up on something the pink haired witch had missed.

"Thankyou for bringing Akhira to me Keiyra. You may go now." It was a gentle dismissal, and the young woman nodded respectfully, glad to be out of the awkward situation. She stood and left as Heilia sat watching Akhira. After a moment, she spoke.

"Would you care for something to eat Akhira? I have some jerky and bread here, and a little cheese." Without waiting for a response she brought the wooden platter of food from beside her to sit in between them. Purposely, she reached out and took a piece of cheese first, before gesturing for Akhira to take something.

As Keiyra disappeared from her sight, Akhira felt even more uncomfortable because this meant the old witch will be now focused at her, not Keiyra. Felling a growing knot in her throat, she fixed her look at the nearest blue object. The colour calmed her down a bit, but not much.



Twitching slightly at the mention of her name, she looked back at the witch, however avoiding her eyes stubbornly. Before she managed to say anything, Heilia was already back with a platter of food.

Inhaling the faint scent of cheese and jerky, Akhira felt slight emptiness in her stomach. Although she wasn’t hungry, she wished to eat.

As Heilia gestured her to take some, the dark haired witch gladly, yet with uncertainness, accepted the food. She took a piece of jerky and with pleasure chewed on it. However, her attention was mostly on Heilia, and a bit on the surroundings. That’s why she didn’t even remember when she managed to eat the jerky.

“Um, thank you?” this was said quietly and uncertainly. Her foster mother had taught her she should be grateful for everything she accepts from others; she still had problems with expressing that though. She had never asked for anything, yet they gave her a plenty of things and expected her to be grateful. Why should she be grateful for something she didn’t want? Saving life, helping her with something, leaving her alone when she wanted to be alone – those were things she was grateful for. Although, for food ... she was always grateful for food, and she thought this was clearly understandable and didn’t need verbal explanation.

The older woman chewed her cheese quietly, not answering Akhira immediately. Finishing her food, she spoke.

"You know, a tribe is a little like a pack. They care for one another, look out for each other. And you have a pecking order. The Durg is like an Alpha Male, his parter, the Alpha Female." Watching the girl closely, she laced her fingers together.

"I think you might find you would be happy in a tribe. I feel your going to need to live with a tribe before you learn the ways of the Spoke Almanac."

A tribe ... a pack? Akhira listened to Heilia’s words closely. She spoke true, yet Akhira had doubts. Those wicks here, they were members of different tribes; different ... packs. Still, in her eyes they were all individuals. Despite being in a way drawn to them, she didn’t feel she would fit among them. This ached; knowing you fit nowhere. And despite all those years among her own species, she still felt out of place.

“But tribe for humans. They... They scare me,” she answered. “How can I happy if I scared?”

Bitting her lower lip, Akhira looked down again, sighing. She knew there was no retreat. If learning the ways of magic meant living with humans, then it had to be done. If she managed to come here, then she could manage to stay with them for a while too.

“If I stay,” with a hint of hope in her eyes she moved her head slightly higher, “and you teach me, I allowed going to forest?”

Ever since her return to human society, she was forbidden to go back to the woods; and she obeyed. Now, there was new hope, and her heart jumped in excitement.

If she was allowed to go from time to time, then living with people wouldn’t be so bad. After all, everything had its price.

Heilia nodded to herself, slowly realizing she was correct about the girl. She'd been but a child in Dorhaven, but the old witch remembered her. Mort Brunbarrow and his wife had come to her seeking guidance with the young girl they had found in the woods. She was different, more animal than human. Heilia had noticed the way she moved then, and she noticed it now. The child had been in close contact with wolves. For a long time. It was not unheard of for animals to take on youngsters of different species. Perhaps Akhira had even been somewhat raised by the wolves.



The woman smiled warmly at her.

"I would allow that, you would never be confined. I want you to take a little time, explore the Festival, visit the camps. I will talk with my partner, my mate. He is the Alpha male, the Durg of this tribe. If you still choose to become a Deep Water, I will speak for you. You would be considered like a daughter to me. And I will teach you the art of Wick magic." Turning slightly, she picked up her weaving again.

"Return to me after the Fotomas ceremony and let me know your decision dear." Nodding, she started weaving again. A silent indication that Akhira was free to go if she chose so.

Akhira was vaguely taken aback at Heilia’s words, as she realized that she was finally free after all those years. The witch didn’t force her to stay, she gave her a choice. She ... understood. It felt almost like a great stone was lifted from her soul.

“I understand,” Akhira replayed eagerly. “I will go, try my best to know people. Fo-tamos.”

She stood up and bowed like she had seen Keiyra doing earlier before. Then, she left. She didn’t know where to go first, or whom to talk, but somehow she was sure that she’ll return to Heilia at the end. Although she had known her for only a short time, she felt deep respect toward her. Not because she told her she was Alpha’s mate, this was completely irrelevant. Authority doesn’t just come from nowhere, or in this case, with commitment. One just had to have it. And Heilia did have it. It was seen in her eyes and behaviour.

Akhira looked back before leaving the Deep Water territory; she was certain she’ll return here again.

((So this is the end, I assume?))

(( yup yup! ))