{Arisa}
Finally, it was time for Arisa's Illian Hunt. The time when Arisa would journey beyond the confines of her tribe and she would search the world around her for worthy prey, as all Drasen did as they came of age.
Presumably, she would find a great beast, fight that great beast, and then return to her tribe with its head as her trophy. Upon doing so, she would be considered a fully grown adult and, more importantly, her family would stop complaining about how she didn't train enough.
Not everyone in a drasen tribe had to be a warrior, but everyone, man or woman, had to complete an Illian Hunt before they could be considered grown. At 20 years of age, it was now Arisa's turn.
"Please," her mother told her as she stood in front of her, a spear on her back and a bag thrown over her shoulder carrying some food and equipment, "don't get yourself killed."
Mustering up a small amount of fake confidence, Arisa replied:
"I won't."
[No, actually, I probably will.]
Arisa had always been honest with herself. She knew her limitations and she knew them well.
Fighting had simply never been one of her strong points.
People tolerated her around the tribe, if only because of her light-hearted and friendly exterior, but Arisa knew she didn't have any real respect here. And, now, that disrespect was about to be validated.
"The easiest beast to take down would be the miran. Rangers often find them to the west. The far west. It will likely be some time before we see you again, should you choose to go after them," her father informed her.
"I know, but don't worry. I will come back with a miran's head before long."
The looks on their faces betrayed the lack of confidence they felt in her. Arisa couldn't really blame them for that, though. No matter how much she trained, she would consistently lose her sparring sessions against the other adolescents of the tribe.
She just couldn't get the hang of this whole "fighting" stuff.
Regardless, she stopped stalling and began walking out of the tribe.
On her way, she found a couple of drasen whose eyes followed her as she walked past them.
"Oh, she's actually going on the hunt?" She heard someone whisper. Well, it was a half-whisper. One of those things where the person really didn't care if they were heard but didn't want to seem *that* rude. Not that it worked. Arisa was still annoyed. "Guess our population's going down by one today."
With a sigh, Arisa pushed those words out of her mind.
Just before she left, she caught a glimpse of the fruit and vegetable fields. Small portions of the tribe that were dedicated to agriculture, just in case they went through rough times when it came to hunting. For a moment, Arisa wondered why she couldn't just do that.
Of course, as the daughter of a soldier, she knew damn well why she couldn't, but she wished she could kick those expectations away.
She didn't like spears, she didn't like fighting, she didn't like the feeling of her knuckles crashing into an opponent's bones or the feeling of blood trickling down her face after having an opponent's elbow cut her skin open.
If she could trade her spear for a rake, she would do it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, however, one couldn't just choose to be a farmer. The relan would hand pick them, as they would with all professions. It was outside of Arisa's control.
And, because she wasn't really a fighter, that hunt went about as well as everyone suspected that it would.
…
Arisa's eyes opened sometime after she fought that beast.
She hadn't expected to open her eyes ever again.
When that monster she'd come across had raked her waist with its thick claws, Arisa had been certain that her tale had abruptly come to an end. That her soul would leave her as she laid in a pool of blood intermingling with crushed grass, feeling the sun scold her for even trying to fight that beast.
Instead, though, her eyes opened once more, and the first thing she saw was what she could only describe as beauty itself, wrapped up and packaged into the form of a woman.
With a cloudless sky behind her, Arisa looked into a pair of bewitching pink irises. Concerned eyes looked down at her as Arisa regained consciousness.
Seeing that bright, green-white hair and her strangely grey skin, she quickly understood that her savior was not one of her people.
So, she asked the first question she could think of.
"Are you an angel?"
The woman's beautiful, soft-looking lips curved up and a laugh that sounded like honey to Arisa's ears came out of her.
"No, no, I… I'm not."
Her voice, however, was so sweet that Arisa felt she was being lied to.
Regardless, the woman would go on to explain what had happened, and Arisa would learn that whether she knew it herself or not, she had met someone important.
---
{Liri}
As Arisa finished telling the relan about everything that had happened, Liri looked around to gauge the reaction of the drasen near them.
Surprise and skepticism were to be found in equal measure. The relan, however, simply nodded.
"Hand me your spear," he ordered one of his nearby men. The warrior did so instantly.
The relan then proceeded to cut his own left palm open with the blade of that weapon, earning a gasp from some of the people there, Arisa included.
Liri, however, could guess where he was going with this.
"There is one easy way to confirm Arisa's story," he stated. "If you managed to save her from a fatal wound, then, surely, doing away with something like this would be of no issue to you."
"It wouldn't," Liri confirmed, stepping forward. "May I?"
The relan nodded and Liri approached him where he sat.
She took his hand and, as calmly as she could, knowing she'd practiced this so many times already, she recited the Mantra she needed.
"Liz mer narin."
The wound on the relan's hand then slowly closed.
All the warriors around him, who saw this happen, were so shocked that one nearly dropped his weapon.
The relan gave his first smile then since Arisa and Liri had stepped into his hut.
"It seems her words were true," he stated. "As such, you will be allowed to stay here, so long as you do not cause problems for us. As for Arisa's request, you will be allowed to look through our archives for two days, under her supervision. Any more than that and you might steal something. I'm sure you can understand our caution."
"I do," Liri replied, bowing her head.
[Obviously, I'd rather have an unlimited amount of time, but, well, these people don't look too trusting of strangers. This might be the best I can hope for.]
"While you stay here, you will have to abide by our customs. Are you prepared to do so?"
Liri blinked.
Suddenly, this question had taken her off-guard.
[What? W-Well, it's probably nothing. I'll just try not to offend anyone.]
"Sure."
"In that case, go ahead and leave. You are dismissed."
She and Arisa left quickly.
"Well, that's probably the best that could have gone," Arisa noted, stretching her arms.
"Were you nervous at all when he cut himself?" Liri asked.
"Nope," Arisa shook her head. "I had complete faith in you. I was just surprised is all."
"Heh, I see."
"Anyway," Arisa stood before her. "Come on, I'll take you to the archives."
"Thanks. I-"
"And," Arisa quickly followed up, leaning down and speaking softly into Liri's ear, "maybe later, you could give me a reward?"
"… What?"
Liri's face heated up.
"You know, for handling that so well! It's only fitting, right?" Arisa winked. "It may only be temporary, but I'm still your lover, aren't I?"