Yabang stared at the back of the two until they turned in the path where he could not see them anymore. He was thinking deeply until he was distracted once again by someone calling his name.
"Yabang! Lino! I'm sorry I wasn't able to help." Once he reached his friends position while still panting, he looked around the clearing. "Haa-haa.. Hnn? Where is the beast? I heard you already won."
Not deigning his friend's question with an answer, Yabang started to walk back to the village too. He was still angry with himself especially since he bragged that he would also get the win today. The two children who won were not present when the week's training started. Then, only watched these past two days. What could have happened if he also fought with them during those days?
That thought made him walk faster with his two friends still following. Later, he could hear them whispering behind him.
Yabang became more irritated since Tang'ga did not actually know how to whisper. "Hey, Lino! Hey! But I thought he said he will catch it again. That's why I didn't go near him so I won't be a bother."
"It's not that you didn't go near him but that you couldn't, idiot."
A frown appeared on Tang'ga's face. Thinking that the argument with this idiot was done, Lino opened his mouth to gauge Yabang's mood. However, the idiot spoke again, "That doesn't make me an idiot. I still didn't get in Yabang's way so why did you call me an idiot?"
Feeling helpless, Lino wanted to laugh at his friend but he knew the other was really serious with this question. When he looked behind him, Lino could see that the other boy was still frowning, waiting for his apology.
"Okay, I'm sorry. That does not make you an idiot." Lino sighed but the sarcasm in his voice was not caught by the other.
'It was the fact that you didn't understand what I meant was what makes it stupid.' The thought was not voiced as usual. Lino felt it was annoying but he was already used to it. Making Tang'ga understand something he had not understood at first will take forever to finish. If it will.
Lino was aware of this since he had been friends with Tang'ga since they started school at three. When they reached five, he was the one who approached the always solitary figure of Yabang to become friends while pulling his then two-year annoying friend along.
Satisfied with the apology, Tang'ga wanted to return to his first question. "I forgive you. So wha–"
"Contrary to what I predicted," a soft voice chimed in before Tang'ga could finish, "I didn't win this time so let's go back to rest first then practice again for us to have a better performance on the actual the test. Next time, let's show them who's better."
Fortunately for Lino, Yabang chose to explain himself. Their friend's stubborn personality was also known to him aside from Tang'ga always being slow to understand so Lino was not surprised.
"Okay!" the two replied.
"Then, let's increase our pace. Regulate your 'mist' too as an early practice."
The nod from both was not seen by the one ahead but he continued giving out instructions. "Go back home first then meet here again after noon."
Their immediate response showed that Yabang had always acted as the leader of their small group. Due to frequently watching their fathers during hunts, the three also adopted their attitude.
___
Quite ahead of the others by now, the two winners were accompanied by their instructor while returning to the village. As it was just a practice, the hunting was held somewhere near the village so it did not take long for them to see the border.
Since Ling and Rin could carry their catch on their own by using their 'mist', the instructor left them to go back to school while the two decided to proceed to Rin's house first.
"We still have a lot of meat from father's hunting yesterday so let's just take all these to Old Lady Burha's."
Rin nodded to show agreement. Hoeever, a second later, Rin realized that Ling probably could not see it since the body of the beast they were carrying was blocking the view of Ling's front so Rin later mumbled a yes.
These serious looking children were not stopped by any villagers they passed by. They only congratulated the two then returned to their own business. They were also busy with their own lives.
Once the two reached the healer's house, they heard another voice conversing with the old woman inside. They shared a look first before Rin opened the door.
"I'm home!" The quiet greeting stopped the ongoing conversation inside.
"Ling!"
As he dropped the carcass on the floor, Ling was immediately hugged before it registered that the other person in the house was her mother. "I knew you were going to come here first. Let's eat so you can replenish your exerted energy."
She pulled the two children to the table and prepared a large serving on Ling's plate.
"But mother, I can't eat a lot. We still have to practice after this for the coming test."
Mahina frowned when she heard the complaint. "If I remember it right, that's still in three days. You still have a lot of time. You just went out today so you can practice tomorrow again."
After his mother's reasoning, Ling explained himself, "Yes, mother. But I want to be strong like father so I want to go out with Rin again to train."
Seeing the determined look on her son's face, quite unlike his father's, she sighed. "Okay, but come back by dinner time. I know I can't persuade you to start training a little later tomorrow too."
Mahina understood the boys' ambition so she did not delay them further. However, she still kept staring at the corner they disappeared to which garnered her several calls from the old woman from inside the house before she noticed it.
Meanwhile, Ling and Rin were walking quietly in the forest when they heard a rustling noise behind them. When they turned around for a look, they saw a familiar sight. The group of three twelve year-olds also started their own training.
As they both reached the previous clearing, even Tang'ga could feel the tension between the two groups. He kept shifting his eyes from his leader, Yabang to the leader of the other.