A cold sweat was running down his face, Gil like any normal son loved his mom, as much as he could fear her at times.
"You have 3 seconds to explain yourself.. now."
"Dad! It was Dad I swear! He said to come and enjoy the view!" He felt the fierceness in the gaze dissipate a bit. But his mom still gave him a hard stare for his absentmindedness. She knew her son wasn't infallible but had hoped he wasn't this much of an airhead sometimes.
"Slowly get up and go to the other springs these ones are currently occupied. As for your father… well… let's just say the only thing he's getting tonight is a stern talking too."
"I really didn't need to know that…" as he shook his head and crawled away Gil was able to keep his dignity and his presence hidden. He wasn't prude, nudity was a part of life, most animals have their genitals and breast bare in nature anyways. But peaking on the ladies while they bathe was still frowned upon and Gil would never appreciate being called a pervert. Those words would hurt more than any punch to his pride.
…
Gil walked a few minutes away and found Raheem sitting in one of the smaller sized pools. He simply looked up and chuckled, "Did you enjoy the view?"
"Shut it! You know how much I enjoy the horizon on the exterior pools. How could I know the women were all there?"
"We'll you could have not been lost in your own thoughts for starters. Or even remotely payed attention to your Dads "suggestion".
With a sigh Gil tossed aside his clothes and slipped into the warm and comforting spring. He glanced over and noticed that May-May was sprawled over a warm rock close by. He reached over and padded her wet scalp giving her a few chin scratches to pamper her.
"Are you excited for tonight? I remember my ceremony, nowhere near a spectacle as yours will probably be. Perks of being the next chief I suppose." Raheem sounded a bit jealous but in a subtle teasing kind of way.
Gil only sat there and pondered. Lost in his own thought reflecting about his life's future. He would go through the ceremony, get his warrior name, find a wife, have kids, slay a few monsters, take over the clan and that's about it.
"Honestly it'll be really boring and doesn't make me happy if you want my honest opinion. I feel like I'm missing out on a lot."
"What makes you say that?"
"I just… think that I want to… know more. See the world, try new things, meet foreign beauties, slay a colossal creature or two. I want to experience all those things…"
"Gil, you're the best fighter in the village second only to your father, next in line for the chiefdom. Meet a local babe, get laid a lot, have loads of kids and enjoy the life you've got. What more can you really aspire too be? Like seriously when was the last time anybody from Gripa did anything big In all of history?"
"Conrad the Fearless and Vivian the Frost Slayer did. Why can't I?"
Raheem was in thought for a bit…"I can't really argue with you on that case, but it has been 1000 years since then. I will say though, if by some miracle your dumb ass goes to see the world, you can bet your left nut I'll be there to see all of it with you."
Gil could only smirk. "I'm glad my left nut would never be in danger."
The two chuckled and left the bathe before they started to feel light headed.
…
On the way back, Gil and Raheem were talking about what they would enjoy most at the feast during the ceremony. Even though Gil was know as a glutton who could inhale food, Raheem was quite the foodie himself. Being a beast master was more than just raising animals or wild beasts and monsters, but a trade of butchering and cooking as well.
As expected, when making it to the main fire pit in the center of the village, the Great Chief Raphael was seen prostrating himself before his wife. How these two even wound up together is still talked about in the village.
Qiana's marriage to Raphael was one of the most weird and rare cases in recent history. Every succession of the chiefdom was usually handled by the firstborn son of the current Chief. However, Gils's grandfather, Odinson, was gifted with not..a single..male heir.
Six Daughters he was blessed, or cursed with, depending who you asked. Qiana was the youngest of the six and Grandpa O's absolute favorite. He called her his little princesses of the Forest. While most of the town would call her a freakish tomboy with a lacking personality.
Easily the most rugged of her five elder sisters she took to wielding axes and heavy handed weapons over daggers and bows like the rest of her siblings. What others thought was quite brutish, grandpa had overly adored.
Flash forward to her 20th birthday. Coming of age Is different for men and women in Gripa. Women start earlier because they are limited in having children past a certain age. The power balance between genders in the village is very neutral compared to other parts of the realm of earth. The main reason the chiefdom is given to a man is for business and political reasons.
Mostly to make trade and diplomatic affairs run smoother as sadly other places do not always hold the opinions and ideas of women as highly.
How Raphael came into the picture is a tale Gil likes a lot. It inspired his own ideal for hopeless romanticism and it makes only guess how amazing it would be to fall in love with while adventuring. There were many pretty girls in Gripa but they lacked a "glow" that Gil could not quite explain.
Recalling his mother's version of the story always managed to give him quite a chuckle as it was easy to tell his father was love struck at first site.
They met on a joint raid that was offered by the local Kingdom of Ironblood. In one of its most prestigious mines a rock worm had grown to a gargantuas size. By Consuming thousands of tons in rare ores and minerals, the largest creature was a threat to the very economy of the region as the mines were its major source of income. So a request was made and a rag-tag raid team was put together.
Turns out though, the mine was actually over the giants nest of the rock eaters and the largest, it's Queen, was made active due to the recent activity in the lower parts of the mine. This made the vast majority of the lesser creatures in the mountains very active.
Gil's father looked like another random suitor trying all sorts of ways to garner Qiana's attention. She was without a doubt a beautiful woman. Toned, tall, short brunette hair, cut in a boyish manner for fighting reasons and deep crystal blue eyes that pierced even a wild beasts very soul.
Gifts, magical tricks, showing off in combat, everything. Nothing worked. Eventually it seemed like the man had given up as he took took her lack of interest seriously and respectfully left her alone.
After that they didn't interact much, the man seemed a little dejected, but still focused on the rai. Soon there was an accident. The giant creature went on a rampage and collapsed much of the pathways that the raid team used.
His mother and father were separated from the rest of the team and were trapped in the cold dark mines for almost two whole months. Living off any and all creatures they could find in the maze of tunnels. His father being a fire mage was able to rid them of the cold at night due to using a few low level spells that combated the frigid air.
Being together for that amount of time lead to them opening up to one another because in her eyes if she was going to die, she at least wanted to know who she was going to end up watching get eaten by the worms first. Oddly his mother asked what Raphael saw in her and why he tried courting her though they had never met.
She always recalled his response as the first reason she ever paid his father even an ounce of attention. He said, "Because when I saw you slaying and fighting monsters I saw the most wonderful smile. I thought to my self that I would love to see that all the time and treasure it. More than any mountain of gold or legendary weapon. If I could have or see that every day for the rest of my life I'd feel quite lucky."
It was way off course from what she thought she'd hear. Usually it was "Because you have such beautiful eyes!" Or "…your wonderful ass…I mean slash!" After hearing what he said though she was a little bit touched despite the current situation they were in.