The whole tribe began to stir to life, with everyone heading towards the clearing.
Mikhail bid his farewells to the group of adults, and Amir followed him to see how he would react to Chief Cazadora's unrivaled beauty.
And when they approached the mouth of the North Path, everyone cheered as an imposingly large beast that Mikhail had never seen before came into view from afar.
It had pale-yellow scales at its underbelly that slowly transitioned into light-brown and then finally dark brown as the scales continued upwards. Small clusters of white scales adorned it all over, and on its head was a crown made of shimmering teal ice.
It had many other such spiky ice formations on its body, but that crown was the most notable one. Furthermore, they looked natural on it, rather than as the result of someone's elemental attacks.
Mikhail then watched as an imposingly tall woman entered the clearing through the North Path's mouth.
She had a great many battle scars visible on her freckled white skin. Her muscles were extremely well defined, and bursting with power. Her womanly features were way above-average. Her crimson hair flowed out and downward like a majestic, fiery lion's mane.
She had an olive-green sleeveless shirt that exposed her toned midriff, and matching shorts that went above her knees. She wore a leather hide choker that was plated with some kind of metallic material, probably some sort of scales.
And similar leather adornments could be seen on her shoulders, wrists, as well her knees and elbows. Even her leather boots had been partially outfitted with the metallic scales around her ankles.
And her face… It had an imposing X shaped scar that went across the bridge of her nose.
Staring was all Mikhail could muster as his brain short circuited.
"Do you think she's stunning?" Amir asked genuinely. He didn't really get all the hype about carnal pleasure. It seemed messy.
"...She's more than stunning," Mikhail said as a single tear formed in the corner of his eye.
Auburn hair with a mystical metallic sheen. Enchanting emerald eyes… And a familiar face, to boot. Even with the badass scar, Mikhail could never forget the face of his childhood sweetheart.
He could never forget Ruby's face.
He stood in silence as she walked into the clearing casually.
Despite the suppression of his emotions… His heart hurt.
"Hey, Mikhail? Are you alright?" Amir asked with concern, noticing how a single tear slid down the side of his cheek.
"...I've been better."
Mikhail wiped away the tear, and when his arm came down from his face, he flinched.
Chief Cazadora's gaze and his own had suddenly locked together.
Those enchanting emerald green eyes seemed to pierce through his very being…
An eternity passed in an instant. And like nothing happened, Chief Cazadora resumed her nonchalant walk towards the bonfire at the center of the clearing.
A handful of other individuals followed behind her, but Mikhail's gaze didn't leave Cazadora's figure. Not until the beast she was pulling obscured his line of sight, anyway.
"Right then… I suppose we should go find the others, Mikhail. Follow me!"
"Yeah, sure thing…"
Mikhail turned his attention back onto Amir and followed him through the bustling clearing. He tried to anyway, but after a little while, they both had to stop.
"Jeez. See, this is why I told you to pace yourself two days ago."
"Whatever, man… Just help me out if you're that concerned."
Amir scratched his cleanly shaven chin. And then he shook his head.
"No. You've made your choice, you can reap the consequences on your own," he said while shaking his head helplessly.
"Fair," Mikhail said while rolling his eyes.
Their slow jaunt through the clearing continued, but they were soon interrupted by four younglings.
"Ah, hey there, dudes…"
"Hey there, Mikhail," Tybalt said with a smile.
"What up, Scourgeborn," Mercutio said with a sly grin.
"How's it going, our dear Harbinger of Misfortune?" Benvolio asked with another sly grin.
"Hey, knock it off you two!" Romeo said, berating them for their poor taste in greetings.
Mikhail chuckled lightly in response when he heard the brief introductions and the reprimand. "It's fine, Romeo. I can tell that these two tools are only playing around."
"Ah, that so? Well, suit yourself I guess. Greetings, by the way."
"Greetings," Mikhail repeated.
Amir walked over and was intrigued by the presence of these youngsters.
"Oh, I remember one of you guys… Your name is Tybalt, isn't it?"
Tybalt's eyes shined when one of the six elite talents took notice of him.
"Yes!" he said, the excitement clearly laced into his voice.
"Ah, how nice. Would you and your friends care to join us?" he asked with a cheery smile.
Tybalt's mind went blank at the offer, while the others gave a casual thumbs up, not really quite understanding what it meant to be an elite talent.
"Hey, fool. Help me out here," Mikhail said, flicking Tybalt's ear to get him back to his senses.
"Ah, right! Come here, bastard."
Like two days ago, Mikhail's arm was draped over Tybalt's shoulder. And Tybalt was supporting Mikhail with his other arm.
And like this, the unbearably slow jaunt turned into a tolerable one.
In another set of minutes, Amir led the group of five over to his group of five. And with Myles' help — erecting stone stools for the newcomers — they became a group of eleven.
"It's nice that you found a group of pals your own age, Mikhail," Lirim said with a cheery smile once everyone got themselves situated comfortably.
"Ah, this crap again. Listen, Lirim… I am — and listen to me carefully, because I'm not lying; or being ridiculous — twenty-one years old. Okay?"
Lirim looked at him skeptically for a bit, scratching at his chin as he closely inspected Mikhail's beat up body.
"Ordinarily, I wouldn't be inclined to believe you. But after seeing how hard you push yourself, I think I can understand it. Because, you know… I myself happen to look five years younger than I should, as well."