Aldar secretly wakes up long before the others, wandering to a certain place in the cave to properly wake up. He had adjusted when he would wake up so he wouldn't leave Elene alone for so long when she slept so off schedule. He already went to bed long before she did, the least he could do was be awake and chipper for her in the morning, like she was for him the last two days. Coming to another world and smiling everyday like nothing was wrong? He knew she must be hiding her pain. He would ease it when he could. Waking up a bit early instead of secretly visiting his favorite place in the middle of the night like he used to was more efficient anyway.
Aldar returns to his crevice and crouches down before the girl who wakes too early. "Good morning Elene." Aldar says softly. "Good morning, Aldar." She says softly in return as she wakes up, her voice chipper despite being woken mere seconds ago. "We can't go for a while, the clan is still sleeping." He says. "Well, I've been thinking about what I could do with our spare time. Aldar, do you know how to write?" Elene asked. "No, that's a skill passed down to members of the highest order exclusively." Aldar said with a hint of longing. "Wait... you don't mean..." Aldar said with a hint of disbelief as he directed his senses at Elene. "Would you like to learn how to write in my language?" Elene says with a smile Elene was in a good mood since Aldar woke up early for her despite the fact he valued his sleep highly. "Really?!?" He says softly, but inside Aldar is screaming in glee. This was an opportunity to increase his value as an adult, which could increase his chances at becoming a member of The Meeting Of The Highest Order!
It might not be his language, but proving he could learn how to read and write in another language would prove his capacity for learning, something he would need to become an apprentice to a member of The Meeting Of The Highest Order. Once Aldar had confirmed his desire to learn, Elene traced a letter deep into the ground, and rubbed her hand over it gently to make sure it was correct despite the darkness she had to write in. "My father taught me my letters when I was younger." Elene murmurs wistfully.
Aldar didn't know how to comfort her, so he just removed his glove and carefully traces the letter with his finger, sensing the rough shape from the traces of Elene's mana. Despite not having the ability to utilize mana, mana still flowed through and emanated off Elene as it did every life form. Aldar traced the letter a few more times before copying it. He uses his other arm to guide his teacher's hand over to his letter. "Is this the right shape?" He asks softly.
"Yes, good job." Elene whispers backs. Aldar almost leaps for joy, whooping and hollering. Luckily, he remembers everyone's still asleep and restrains himself. "This is the letter A, it makes the ah sound and the A sound." Aldar ingrains her words into his mind. "I chose to start with this letter because while it is the first letter of the alphabet, it's also the first letter of your name." "My name..." He traces the letter again. He concentrates his senses on the letters, burning the traces of Elene's life energy spelling out his name into his memory.
"I don't have very good handwriting, so my letter shapes are imperfect..." Elene says apologetically, suddenly self conscious about her writing now that she was trying to teach him. Aldar pats her head with his glove. "No matter what, you're teaching me letters, and I'm... grateful." Aldar says carefully. Elene nods, and Aldar sighs inwardly. He's not quite sure what to think of his student.
As the clan stirs around him, Aldar slips on the glove he took off, and pats her head. "Alright, let's go hunt." They return two hours later, Elene still dripping wet and Aldar still in awe of her ability to swim. Once they had returned to their crevice in the cave, he turned to her.
"Now I'll begin with a lecture on basic technique. You hold a scythe like this..." After rotating through various weapons, he finally concluded Elene was best with a halberd. He adjusted her posture as she went through the motions, and she was picking it up fairly quickly, and while she practiced a few forms he taught her, he sharpened his tools before deciding to just go ahead and drop off the measly two beasts he had killed today. He walks over to the pile, summoning them from his inventory.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"Just two beasts today, eh Aldar?" Aldar inwardly groans. "Hello, Daleq." He says with a sigh. "Despite having the ability to hang outside for two hours, you only bring back half of what I do! Now you even have to be a mentor for the ugly summon." Daleq mocks Aldar. "Don't call her ugly." Aldar said, oddly irritated. "I'm just stating the truth. Why Aldar, are you feeling soft on her?" Daleq chuckles menacingly. Aldar's temper flares as he faces the man he once thought would be his friend. Wanting to be taken seriously, he speaks before he thinks about what he wants to say.
"She's my student, no matter her previous training. One day, she will be taken to The Meeting Of The Highest Order." Aldar said defiantly- and impulsively. "Are you insane? Neither of you have any chance, but her especially so! She's a girl, and girls don't hunt. They gather, they create, they guard the cave even, but girls don't hunt." Daleq growls. Aldar slowly exhaled. He was angry, and making promises he can't keep.
"Perhaps not." Aldar replied simply, and left Daleq behind him. He was furious at Daleq, at the whole clan for treating girls that way when his mentor was perfectly competent, but he couldn't disagree with Daleq about Elene. What am I thinking? Aldar asks himself. Why do I think she can be a hunter? She can't train, she can't sense or use mana at all! There is nothing that should let me think that she can do this. I should be disgusted with her, and her inability to be anything but ugly. Yet... Aldar senses the girl hugging the creature she calls Sneakers. He doesn't know why he thinks the girl without talent could learn to hunt, but he decides that as long as she will try, he shall teach. After all, he knows better than anyone that girls could be a hunter if they put their mind to it.
"Hey Elene." Aldar greets her. "Hey Aldar, I'm getting kind of hungry." Elene says, tilting her head towards him out of habit. "Well you're in luck, I just got back from the food pile. Here's your second meal." Aldar said, handing her two fruits, a vegetable, and some meat. As per usual, Elene made sure Sneakers was fed first before diving in herself.
"Aldar, can I spend time in the crevice of running water until it's time to sleep?" Elene asked. "Yeah, I can drop you off there before I look for today's cave work." Aldar said, taking her hand and dragging her to the crevice of running water through the small groups of hunters looking for where they could best contribute to the daily activities of the cave now that they had finished their hunting shift. Aldar noted a few afternoon hunters searching for gatherers who wanted to go out that day to offer their protection. It was a total coincidence that most of them were single.
Aldar wakes up early again, happily noticing Elene still curled up at the other end of the crevice. He had managed to wake up before her again, as evidenced by her quiet breathing. Aldar stands up and begins to navigate the cave using the difference between the breaths of his clan, stepping around his sleeping clanmates towards a corner, far from the Rock. He feels around the area where the wall and the floor meet, finally finding what he was looking for. He sits on the ground, and points his face upwards, constantly drawing in mana to reinforce his mana core.
After a few moments of peace, he finally allows himself to hear the distant swish of water falling. This secret space that only he knew about was how he managed to remain so calm despite the events in his life. He smiles softly, listening for a while longer before returning to his crevice as quietly as he can. He slows his breathing, matching Elene's.
Marking the passing of the third day since Elene had come to this world, they go out hunting again. He caught four beasts before testing her range of motion, stamina, and speed beside the river's edge. He concluded she would have to learn from the ground up before they washed off and returned to the cave. Elene was getting used to this lifestyle much faster than Aldar expected, but he took it as a blessing.
Elene, on the other hand, knew she was only keeping herself from going insane during the long nights of silence by talking to Sneakers and stretching. She wasn't sure how long she could keep this up. Elene would entertain herself with her imagination, but she knew she couldn't last forever. She needed to get Aldar to teach her something to keep her occupied during the long stretches of nighttime, and fast! She would talk to him about it tomorrow if he didn't give her something to do soon.
