- Are you certain you do not wish to descend with us, Fourchenault? After all we've accomplished, it is only right that we see this through together.
- I need only observe from the ocular lens for the answers we seek.
- …What of the answers you seek?
- We are not planning a private excursion, Gabriel. My work is and has always been for the good of the star.
- Of course.
- Individual pursuits are the luxury of men less burdened by our duty to maintain stewar—
- —ship of the star, yes. Have it your way, then.
As a boy, I didn’t quite have the dedication I do today. I was loose, easily distracted, and did not care much for the forest I was meant to protect. Instead, my passion lied in knowledge. And when one is denied answers, they are left to find them out themselves.
My mentor taught me how to make net traps. They were simple mechanisms, made of vines and rocks for weight. They were meant to capture without harming, but I simply didn’t see the point in that. Why would one want to capture a wild beast and let them free right after? Were we meant to kill them ourselves when more effective traps could do the job much easier? Or were they meant for people who didn’t belong in our forest? My mentor refused to answer at all.
I grew tired of having to search out answers myself, especially when I was scolded each time.
I made the net as he requested. I did it in record time, which I was proud of at the time. It was horrendous. I cut many corners, creating the worlds sorriest excuse for a net. But my mentor was too distracted to approve the net, simply assuming it was up to par. I strung it up as he told me, setting the trap perfectly… in a completely different spot than he had requested.
Later that night, he went for a walk. He often went for his walks when I pestered him with too many questions, leaving my curiosity to only grow. But that night, I heard a yell- and a scream- and next thing I know, my mentor was caught in my net trap.
I started to see the value in these traps. It was entertaining hearing and watching my mentor in the trap.
“Stuck, are we?” I called from down below.
He was furious, demanding I lower him with the rope holding him up. But I saw a flaw in the net holding him up… It wouldn’t be long before he was down on his own.
“No, I’m going for a walk.”
And walk I did! And soon after, I heard a crash… The weeks of chores I was assigned were worth the look of anger on my worthless mentors face.
My boy, should you ever read this, know that there are times and places to cut corners. Some people are undeserving of your best work- and sometimes, the entertainment value is higher than whatever the original goal was before.
lacking initiative or strength of character; irresponsible
Set in pre ARR for Kien’s timeline so he is currently known as Roh’to. The aftermath of a failed hunt. Take this a prequel to this story. It’s basically the event that finally got him to leave. I will probably add on to this more once I go through all the prompts to edit and post on Ao3 :3
Cw; minor physical and verbal abuse.
“Hey! You worthless child, get up!”
The young Miqo’te groaned, his head still throbbing terribly as he was pulled from the depths of unconsciousness. He couldn’t quite recall what occurred before now, only knowing he had yet another strange vision about a place he’d never been to and the voices around him sounded angry. What just happened...?
“Such incompetence. I can’t believe he let it get away!”
“Who said he could come along anyways?! He didn’t even have the proper rite of passage to hunt!”
“Stop groaning, and get up!”
Someone nudged him with their boot rather roughly, causing another groan to escape him. He forced his heavy eyelids open, blinking sluggishly as the faces above him slowly blurred into focus before sitting up and rubbing his temple to alleviate the lingering headache. “What happened…?”
“Tch. Typical,” one of his cousins scowled at him before straightening up and walking away, “We bring him on a hunt and he ruins it and doesn’t even recall how.”
The other person next to her remained at his level, her expression the only one to be one of concern as her eyes searched him up and down for any visible signs of injury. “Are you alright Roh’to? You passed out just now.”
The young Miqo’te, Roh’to, opened his mouth to speak as he slowly began to recall his vision but his other sister who was hovering behind Sahja with her arms crossed cut him off with a scowl.
“Don’t ask if he’s alright, Sahja!” She snapped. “He ruined the biggest hunt of the week!” She stepped forward and grabbed Roh’to up to his feet rather roughly, causing him to flinch as her grasp tightened on his arm.
“Rhaya! Let him go!” Sahja stood up, reaching a hand to her shoulder but she pushed her back roughly, ignoring her younger sisters pleas.
She yanked on Roh’to’s arm again, a jolt of pain tearing through him, causing him to cry out. “You want to know what happened?!” She growled as the younger Miqo’te flinched again. “You were supposed to be look-out and you failed us all! The biggest game we had been tracking for weeks got away because you went and passed out on us!”
“I didn’t do it on purpose!” Roh’to cried out as he tried to break free of Rhaya’s vice grip. “It was a headache! I didn’t have any control over it!” He tried to reason with her but all it did was earn him a swift slap to the cheek.
“Shut up! Thanks to your feckless behavior, we have to return empty handed!” She finally let go and he stumbled back from her, holding his still burning cheek. “Don’t bother following us for the rest of this hunt. Yurhi, take him back to the tribe and tell Roh’a what happened. Let the others deal with this useless sibling.” She turned on her heel to with a glare, moving to rejoin the rest of the hunting group who were all whispering and pointing at him.
Roh’to looked away, his head hanging in shame as tears began to prick his eyes. Why did he have to get a headache and vision during his first hunt? He finally had a chance to prove his worth to his tribe and he ruined it.
“It’s not your fault Roh’to,” Sahja began quietly but Roh’to couldn’t bring himself to meet her gaze. “Don’t worry, I’ll come too so Roh’a will go easy on you.” That small gesture brought a little relief to the young Miqo’te but Rhaya was suddenly facing them again.
“Sahja, don’t even think about helping him.” Her command caused Sahja to wince. “You’re to stay with us, that’s an order.”
Sahja squeezed his shoulder in apology, her gaze sympathetic before she quickly retreated to rejoin the others. Roh’to watched them leave with a heavy sense of uncertainty looming over him. He wasn’t sure what would happen from here. The last time he messed up this badly, his brother attacked him-he shuddered to know what he would do to him this time. Lost in his fear, he nearly forgot Yurhi was behind him, her voice causing a jolt to go through him.
“Come on Roh’to.” Yurhi snapped but she thankfully didn’t push him. “The sooner I get you back to the tribe, the sooner I can get the hell away from you. I rather not see what Roh’a and the elders will do once they know what you did.”
And she would be sure to exaggerate the story...as she always did.
“...Coming...” Roh’to tried to keep the quiver out of his voice as he dragged behind his sister back to the tribe. He wouldn’t be staying around long enough either to know what his older brother would do to him. As soon as he got back to his tribe, he planned to run away. Enough was enough. He wasn’t going to take this anymore.
This time for sure, he was going to start a new life.
