Chương 45: Eavesdrop
"Poor Tang'ga. You don't have to be so harsh on him since it looked like he was repentant, Lino."
"Hmmp! Not really. He hasn't even learned his lesson! Mark my words, he will do another stupid thing. That idiot!"
"That's enough. We'll separate here to get our things then meet outside the border in half an hour. Let's go." Yabang was still acting as the leader of their group especially since he has the most stable personality. Despite Ling being the son of the clan's chief, it was Yabang's father who had the most qualifications to be the chief before except for the votes of the elders.
That didn't mean he was not satisfied with the elders decision but he wanted his son to get the role next time. These days, he was bewildered that Yabang was associating himself with a rival but of course Yabang knew that would not be the case since Ling has his own plans.
After separating with his friends, Ling was walking back to their house that afternoon. The sun had still not set but it was nearing dark so he walked faster. They still had to travel far to get to Maga's cave. Fortunately, it was not as far as it was two years ago since Maga had explored the caves further and found another cave nearer the village.
Upon reaching home, Ling saw that his family members were all clustering around the dinner table. He suddenly remembered that it was time for Una's letter from Syudad, a city in Gitna where the other people of the Mal'it Clan resides, to be delivered like how it was a year ago.
Although Ling could not remember what this sister looked like, he could feel her love for him through her letters and the stories told by his other sisters. That was why he excitedly skipped inside the house to force himself between the gaps left by his sisters so he could also listen while their mother read the letter.
As was usual, the letter contained Una's update on her everyday life. She was still an apprentice training under Alon's father and not surprisingly, she was one of the top students in the school there. She often helps in the infirmary and joins excursions to the place where the 'homeless' clans stays.
The next page was asking for the status of their family. Has Ling grown strong? Were Dawa and Talto helping their parents properly? Were Atap, Alim and Mina able to do well in their chosen works?
"Oh, there was another page. This is the longest your sister has written." While turning to the next page, Mahina's face was also showing her excitement about the news from her daughter. It was a really good decision for Una to move to the central island. However, before reading the letter aloud, she scanned the first sentences first, then her expression changed.
Mahina was disappointed with the content of the extra page but she immediately referred to her son after a few seconds of pausing. "Ling, this one was for Shaman Matnaad. His grandson might have made a mistake of including it in Una's envelope. You better run to the shaman's house to give it to him. It might be urgent." Of course she hasn't read the details except for a grandson's greeting to his grandfather.
Hearing this, the others also became disappointed but asked for the letter to be read again. As for Ling, after getting his stuff, his slouched back walking outside their door was ignored by the women inside the house while he still heard their clamor before the door shut between them. "Remember to give me back the letter. I still have to read it to your father."
"Yes, we will. Father will take a long time reading this again so we have to take our time before he came back."
It was approaching his meet up time with his friends so Ling decided to ran to his master's house. His figure whizzed by the other villagers, making them unable to greet the child. Ling reached the house on record them and was about to knock after getting his breath back but he heard his master talking to someone.
"I received another letter from Syudad. They were telling us to investigate the volcano first instead of sending the people there this early." A sigh followed that voice then it continued, "It seems like the clan was also having problems there."
"Do they think we could do something about the nature's will here?"
"Maybe we could really have a team explore again? The behavior of the volcano was weird. A few years ago, it started having activities again. Surprisingly, it stopped before we could even start preparing to evacuate a few of our clanmates. And the inactivity was unlike any we've seen before. I thought we'll start having cold weather that time. But then, it spewed smoke and lava again a few years after that, to stop again immediately. It was alarming. We have no idea if the activity now was going to lead to its eruption."
"But the previous team returned with only injuries from the earthquakes and beasts' attacks," another voice interrupted.
"Then, we could wait until the activities slowed down. Unless it won't this time. Thst was why we were asking our clanmates at Syudad!"
"Based on the letter, they wanted us to check if there were other causes for the volcano to start being this active again. I heard from my previous travel to Dag'at Port that the dragons in Kal'wa Island was visiting other islands at this time of the year."
"Let's talk about this later. It seems I have a visitor."
When Ling heard his master's voice, he inhaled sharply which made him lose control of his 'mist' to hide his presence. Hesistantly, he knocked on the door before opening it since the people inside already sensed him. He stepped in front of his master without looking at the others, acting repentant for his eavesdropping on their serious conversation.
"Sorry to disturb, Master. A letter for you was with my sister's so I came here." After hastily passing the letter, Ling walking slowly to the door so the others won't notice he was trying to run away. "Then, I will be taking my leave."
Before he could reach the door however, his master spoke, "Ling, I don't want any of what you've heard spreading around."
"Yes, Master." Ling turned back with a bow to his elders, then hastily opened the door and left before he was detained further.
"That boy has gone strong. I didn't notice his presence." The praise seemed like it was received by deaf ears since Shaman Matnaad was still staring at the door where the boy just exited.
After he had gone a few meters away from his master's house, Ling was still lost in his thoughts. Is this the time he had to leave the village and his family? Should he visit the other islands to get more information about dragons? Maga was not yet born when the volcano last erupted so what happened then?
His thoughts was broken once he noticed that he had walked past the border. The surge of life 'mist' in the forest was a huge distraction after the clear atmosphere in the village.
Since he was thinking deeply, the guards were ignored by him but they didn't concern themselves much about their chief's son. He often went to the forest and they thought the boy was still training. They kept comparing the child to their sons who ate dinner after every hunt then went to sleep after.
Back to Ling, he was about to increase his pace to reach the meet up place when he sensed two people behind him. He first thought they were the guards near the border until he was called, "Hey, Ling!"
When he turned around, he saw Magna and Wakan, the two thieves from Tub'ig Village he met seven years ago, running to him. The two were now part of Ling's hunting group so he knew them well. Same as Ling, they had their knives as well as spear with them like they were going to go hunting even with the time nearing sunset.
"Where are you going? Take us with you. You always get good game even during practice."
"None of your business." Since he had experienced hunting with these two, he never hunt with them if he had a choice. Besides, the excursion this time was not to hunt so he had to leave these two before he met with his friends.
All the 'homeless' people from Tub'ig clan chose to move to the Mal'it village even though they were informed of the active volcano. They still thought it was better to reside here with abundant food than beg or steal in Tub'ig Village. Since then, Magna and Wakan became one of the strong hunters of the clan because they were getting more food and guidance now.
"Come on. We don't steal game anymore. It's just that the others were to weak to finish their catch in time before we arrive to 'help'."
"Then, try to keep up with me if you can." Ling moved before the other two understood what he said and their shouts for him to slow down gradually faded behind him. Ling soon lost them since he was still faster even compared to the older hunters.
When he reached the place where his friends were waiting, he was panting but readily apologized to them. "Sorry I'm late. I had to pass a letter to my master then some people intercepted me while I'm leaving the village. Don't worry, I've lost them now."
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