Suwa's departure from his village was one made with resolve. Although it left a lump in his throat, he knew that it would be the only way he could free his village from the oppression of Rashendala and his beasts. He couldn't help but wonder if his father had left under similar circumstances, but whenever the thought came to his mind, he would shake it away; he had no intention of following whatever path his father had. Unlike his father, he would return, and he would get rid of the stupid rules that bound everyone.

If there was one regret that tested his resolve, it was the fact that he wasn't given the chance to tell anyone the intention behind him leaving. Denda had said that he would tell Suwa’s mother and sister, but it was highly unlikely that his story would be spun in Suwa's favor. The most likely scenario was that Denda would claim that Suwa was exiled along with the outsiders and would not be returning. The lying rat.

“What's got you making a face like that?” Moiya asked Suwa, breaking him away from his thoughts. “Still bitter about the whole situation with that weasel of an elder?”

“No, I don't care about him. Besides, I can't even count the days it's been since then. It's not on my mind at all.”

“Forty-eight.”

“What?”

“Forty-eight. It's been forty-eight days since you told that jerk what's what. And it's been zero days since you've gotten over it.”

“Wha— Shut up. And how do you even know that? Have you been counting?”

“What can I say? It’s what I do. And I'm not making fun of you. I think you handled the situation perfectly,” Moiya made a hand gesture to emphasize her support.

“Okay, you two. Enough talking.” Sezio interrupted the conversation to guide the two back to the present. “If we don't start clearing camp now, it's going to be dark again before we've made any progress.”

“Oh, come on, Sezio, let them have their fun,” one of the others joked. Suwa had only recently remembered his name to be Luika. Before then, he just considered him to be the skinny one.

“Yeah, let them be. Moiya has been so much more tolerable now that there's someone at the same level as her that she can flirt with.” The other one to speak up was Dobin. He had a bit of a scruffy face, and Suwa remembered him being the first one to have arrived after Sezio saved him from the Sisrien vine.

Sezio chuckled, but Moiya seemed much less amused. She sent Dobin a glare that could kill a man of lesser will. At least, that's what it felt like she was trying to achieve. As for Suwa, he tried to ignore the whole conversation. He didn't do well with uncomfortable situations.

“All jokes aside, Sezio is right. Let's get moving as soon as we can,” Belo added. He was the largest of the group, but also the quietest and most reserved. Despite his intimidating presence, Belo was the one whom Suwa was most comfortable with. Maybe because he seemed to have the same energy as a tree, which was something that Suwa was very used to being around. Back in his village, trees often represented stability for one's home, so maybe it wasn't so surprising after all.

“Suwa, do you remember what you learned?” Sezio questioned with a coy smile. “I bet everyone is hungry, why not get us some food while we break camp?”

“Oh, okay. I'll be right back.”

“Let's hope he's more successful than the last time you sent him on an errand.”

“Yeah. You weren't wrong when you said we’re hungry,” Luika and Dobin teased as Suwa took his leave.

Sezio’s lessons had been great for learning the things that Suwa was most curious about. The more time he spent with Sezio's group the more deeply he learned to understand era. But not all the lessons Suwa learned came from Sezio. There were some things that he had taught himself as well.

One such lesson was particularly handy in situations like this. It wasn't that long ago when he used to use his environment and his own dexterity to keep his presence hidden from the many dangerous beasts that roamed the land, but with his situation changed, he found that that talent could serve a different purpose. His experience of living life as prey became indispensable in times where he became the hunter.

“There you are,” Suwa whispered to himself as he spotted his prey.

Suwa had been keeping his posture low as he moved through the tall grass to avoid notice. He had also covered himself with mud and local flora, an act which served two purposes: First, it camouflaged his silhouette against the plants around him, second, and more importantly, it masks his scent. This was necessary because he was approaching his prey from upwind as to hide his movement through the grass by following the same path taken by the wind.

Now, he just had to decide what the best method of capture was.

To do that, he continued to stalk the animal he found until he could nearly touch it. When he was close enough, he placed his hands on the ground and closed his eyes. He could sense the era in the soil, firm and hardly moving. Now for another trick he taught himself, based on Sezio's training.

Suwa focused on the energy he sensed in the soil. With this much focus, he could even sense the grass growing out from the dirt which the animal was feeding on. With his senses at their limit, he finally put his own intentions into the soil, and the era lying dormant began to vibrate. Suwa could feel the soil becoming softer and thinner, and then he heard the animal shriek as its feet sank into the previously firm ground.

The animal flailed about as it tried to escape the quagmire. However, before it could escape, Suwa hardened the ground again and trapped the creature within the earth.

For a first-time experiment, Suwa’s plan worked out surprisingly well. The animal, a creature resembling a tusked capybara with a rat-like tail, was stuck in the ground with only its head poking out from the surface. Unfortunately, Suwa wasn’t able to celebrate his success for long because he, too, was stuck waist deep in the earth.

The captured animal began to cry in distress as it continued trying to pull its way out of the earth, and even Suwa felt like shouting for help. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. If the others found out what kind of situation he had put himself in, he would never live it down. Especially if it were—

“Well, doesn't that look comfortable?”

—Moiya.

“What are you doing here? You didn't think I could handle it myself?”

“Well, clearly, I was right. I'm surprised you managed something so ridiculous. For now, I'll ignore how you literally dug yourself into a hole, but let me ask: How were you planning to kill this fellit? It's impressive that you caught one, but you didn't plan all the way through, did you?”

“Well, I …”

“Whatever. Let me get you out of there. When we get back, Belo is sure to be excited about the opportunity to eat some real food for a change. Not that you'll be able to tell.”

“Actually, Belo is surprisingly easy to read. It's Luika I can never seem to fully understand. For example,” Suwa continued explaining even as Moiya pulled him from the ground, “If Belo is excited like you said, then he will wipe his mouth and chin, then scratch his cheek, and then avert his eyes.”

“Seriously? He can't be that simple.”

“You'll see.”

Suwa brushed off his legs after being fully removed from the ground while grinning from the thought that he might know more about Moiya's companion than she did. His grin disappeared, however, and he looked away when he realized that Moiya was about to finish his hunt by killing the animal he captured.

“Well, you're even easier to read, Suwa,” Moiya said without looking away from the trapped creature.

“What do you mean?”

“Like right now. I know exactly what you're thinking even without seeing you or having you tell me. You have your eyes turned away so that you don't need to see the moment that the animal you yourself caught dies.”

“That's not—” Suwa began to protest, turning his eyes back to Moiya as he did. But even that was predicted by Moiya, and the moment he looked in her direction, she slit the fellit’s throat, causing it to cry out one last time before going limp. “Urgh!”

Suwa fell backwards in that moment, and Moiya scoffed. It wasn't a ridiculing scoff, but more of a “See, I told you,” kind of scoff. Followed by a sigh as she shook her head.

“If you want to be a hunter, then you'll need to learn how to finish your prey. If you can't do that much, then how do you plan to defend your family from any beasts or dangers?”

“I know, all right? I know …” a dejected look appeared on Suwa's face as he acknowledged his shortcomings, but Moiya just smiled and offered him a hand to help him stand.

“If you know, then that's good. Now let's get this thing back to camp. I'm sure everyone will be excited to see it. No more bitter nuts or meatless squirrels tonight!”