\n Mea hadn't been wrong when she said they'd reach the village before the sun set. When they surfaced, the beach was only a few yards away. The sky was being lit on fire by the setting sun, and the water and beach were being cast with an amber glow. Seeing the trees at the top of the beach, as well as the tide gently flowing rhythmically up and down the sand, helped to calm Stahl down a considerable degree. Being in the ruins had been exhilarating, but he hadn't been able to explore them in the way he had dreamed of his entire life. Worrying about Kai kept his mind occupied, and his pain and exhaustion kept his body occupied.

\n Treading water next to Mea, Stahl looked towards the horizon and at the sun, watching the day come to a close. She treaded next to him, staying still and quiet, waiting for him to be ready. He thought back to earlier in the day, when the monster had attacked them. He could have acted in plenty of different ways, any of which could have protected Kai better. He knew he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if Kai hadn't made it home. If Kai was hurt, or worse, Stahl felt he would be the one to blame. He turned his head to Mea and nodded.

\n "Let's get back to the village. It's been a long day." He waited for her to lead the way back, since he wasn't sure which direction around the island would take him home.

\n "Yeah, it sure has been. It's hard to believe I woke up today, way out there somewhere on my raft." Mea looked out over the ocean as she began to swim along the shoreline.

\n Stahl followed at her side. In between her words, he could hear the nocturnal forest life beginning to wake, and he valued their noise. The dead silence of the ruins had bothered him more than he realized. "Why do you do it, Mea? I know you said before you're looking for Heaven's Tear to learn about what happened to the ancients. But why do you do that? What gets you out of the holt in the morning, and into those terrible ruins?"

\n Mea kept her gaze forward as she responded. "Not all of them are as bad as that one. Most aren't filled with as much death, or sadness. Some are beautiful, and contain wonderful things that you couldn't see anywhere else. It's an unfortunate fact of life, though, that when you look for something so many people want, you're bound to find that bad things follow close behind."

\n Stahl considered this for a moment. "Wonderful things, huh? I guess it is kind of amazing that the technology used by the ancients still works so long after they're gone. I wonder what other kinds of things are down in that cave."

\n "Exactly, you only saw a small portion of the ruins. Imagine the technology that must be down there, and how it could benefit the tribe. Think about how many lives could be saved." Mea glanced back at Stahl to make sure he was keeping pace with her.

\n Stahl was still swimming at her side. His muzzle held a sad expression, as if something was weighing very heavily on him.

\n "Kai's disappearance isn't the only thing that is bothering you, is it? You had that same look earlier, when we first met." Mea looked away from him, to give him a chance to respond.

\n "The person I want to save, ancient technology isn't going to do anything to help him." Stahl went silent after he said it.

\n Up ahead, Stahl could see the salvager's storehouse. They would be back to the village soon. He couldn't see any Lahu around the storehouse, but the other salvagers would either be out looking for him and Kai, or they would be getting ready to enjoy the night's festivities. The latter would only be true if Kai had gotten back safely, though.

\n "You asked why I do it, Stahl?" Mea asked him, as they approached the mouth of the Kahawai.

\n "Yeah. Didn't you answer, though?" Stahl looked at her, confused, as they swam into the river and started upstream.

\n Mea's paw reached up and grasped gently at the necklace around her neck. "I'll just say that I understand where you're coming from, even if you don't yet. I do what I do for someone very close to me."

\n "Huh? You're right, I really don't understand." Stahl scanned the bank of the Kahawai, upriver. He could see a large, muscular Lahu pacing on the shore ahead. Alaka. If Alaka was here, then that meant that Kai must be okay. Stahl breathed a sigh of relief as he swam over to the bank and crawled out of the river. Mea followed slightly behind him, and she stayed back as Stahl walked towards Alaka.

\n "Alaka! Sir!" Stahl waved as he approached the larger Lahu, his worry almost completely lifted.

\n In a heartbeat, Alaka rushed over and slammed his fist into Stahl's jaw, who had time only to tense up in preparation for the strike. At first, there was no pain, but rage instead flooded into Stahl as the ground rose up to meet him. He planted his paws onto the ground and pushed himself back up, and the pain started to overtake him. Then he felt paws on his back, wrapping around him, pulling him gently to his feet. The warm body behind him held him tight, keeping him from lashing out at Alaka. His anger faded slowly as he struggled in Mea's arms, trying to get at Alaka.

\n Stahl eventually looked up and winced as he saw Alaka moving in to hit him again. He threw his paws up in the air to protect himself from the blow, but it never came. After opening his eyes, he saw Lakeland standing behind Alaka, with his large paw holding Alaka by the scruff of his neck.

\n "Hey!" Mea shouted, still holding tight onto Stahl.

\n Alaka struggled in Lakeland's grip, his face twisted with rage. He swung back, trying to hit Lakeland, but the punches were ineffective against the much larger creature. "Don't touch him. What happened isn't his fault." Lakeland growled into Alaka's ear.

\n "That's not true! This is your fault, Stahl!" Alaka didn't stop trying to get to Stahl, who was now standing calmly in Mea's arms, confused.

\n "What? What is my fault?" Stahl asked looking up to Lakeland, and back to Alaka. "What happened to Kai?"

\n "Stahl, it's not your fault." Lakeland turned to look at the nearby holt, which Alaka had been pacing in front of.

\n It was then that Stahl first noticed the trail of blood leading into the holt, and the blood that stained Alaka's fur. Stahl pushed from Mea's grip now, and ran past Alaka and Lakeland, past the blood and to the entrance of the holt. His heart had dropped further than it had been all day. For the first time, it actually occurred to him that Kai might be gone. That couldn't be true, he repeated it to himself as he forced himself to look inside the holt.

\n "That's on you! If you hadn't run away, if you had done what I trained you to do, Kai would be fine!" Lakeland had put Alaka down, after he had calmed somewhat, and he walked slowly over to stand next to Stahl.

\n Inside the holt, another Lahu was standing over a hammock, on which Kai was laying. He was unconscious, and covered in blood. In the darkness, Stahl could make out wounds on his tail, and along his side and back, all of which were dripping blood onto the dirt. The Lahu standing over him was applying bandages and trying to close the wounds as best she could, but most serious injuries were handled by the shaman.

\n "What happened? Why is Kauka treating him? Where is Len? Alaka, what's going on?" Stahl turned to look at Alaka, Lakeland, and Mea. Guilt threatened to overwhelm him. He couldn't watch the doctor work anymore. He felt as if he was going to throw up.

\n Alaka snarled at him. "Kai got attacked, and Len is missing. You let Kai get hurt, and now he is going to die if we don't find Len. Even if Len were here, imagine the amount of his life it would take to heal Kai, in that state!"

\n Stahl took a step back from Alaka, unsure of what to say. Alaka was right, this was his fault. He should have protected Kai. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to run away. I tried to help him. He just disappeared." Tears began to well up in Stahl's eyes.

\n "Shut up. Just shut up, Stahl. As of right now, you're off the salvaging team. Without a partner, you can't go anyway. Even if Kai pulls through, you're not going on another one of my expeditions. " Alaka couldn't lash out at Stahl physically, because of Lakeland, but he could take away the only thing he knew Stahl cared about.

\n Stahl shook his head, and he pleaded with Alaka. "No, please. I don't have anything else I can do. Without my job..."

\n "You'll have to leave the tribe." Alaka turned and focused his attention on Kai. "Good."

\n Behind Alaka, Stahl noticed someone approaching slowly in the distance, coming out of the forest. Far behind them, the sun was finally disappearing completely over the horizon. The sky above was dark blue, and clouds lingered gently in stasis. Focusing his vision, Stahl could make out the form of Len. A spark of hope lit inside of him, and he pushed past Alaka to run to the shaman.

\n "Len!" he shouted to him as he ran towards him. Something was wrong. Len wasn't walking very fast. In fact, he was nearly stumbling. "Len? What happened to you?"

\n Len walked with his shoulders slumped, and his head down. His tail dragged lazily along the ground. He glanced up wearily and looked at Stahl. "I don't want to talk about it." He kept moving towards Stahl, keeping his attention on Stahl as he passed by him. "You're bleeding. Right about here." He raised his paw and pointed at his own jaw.

\n Stahl stood still as Len passed. He raised his paw and dabbed it at his muzzle, to find the blood Len mentioned trickling from his cheek. "That doesn't matter. Don't worry about me. Kai needs you."

\n Len looked up at Alaka, who was hurrying over. "Where have you been, shaman? Kai needs you, now, or he's going to die." Alaka put an arm around Len and helped him walk faster. He whispered in his ear as he led him towards Kauka's holt. "That death circle did a number on you, didn't it? I need you to focus now, buddy. Someone needs you."

\n Len was still groggy, but he walked with Alaka into the holt as the situation was explained to him. Stahl watched from outside, with Mea and Lakeland at his side. Lakeland raised his heavy paw and rested it on Stahl's shoulder as they watched. From outside, they couldn't hear much. Len had to improvise, so he used Kai's blood to draw the healing inscriptions directly onto Kai's body. By the time he was finished, Kai's side and lower back, as well as his tail, were covered in a complex pattern of inscriptions.

\n Over head, fireworks began to explode in the sky, as the celebrations began upstream. Stahl looked up, and remembered for the first time in awhile that it was the first day of the new year. As far as he could tell, his life as he knew it was over now, though. The Kahawai was lit by a series of torches placed by the side of the river, running up and down it on both sides for as long as the river ran along the village. It was in the light of one of these torches that the three stood and waited for Kauka, Alaka, and Len to finish treating Kai.

\n Len placed his paws flat on Kai, and Stahl could see his muzzle open as he spoke the arcane words used to invoke his magic. The inscriptions on Kai's body began to glow, and they lit the holt from the inside. The light grew, and engulfed the entirety of Kai's lower body. After it faded, the wounds were gone, instead replaced by a permanent marking on his body in the shape of the inscriptions used to heal him. Len stumbled backwards, and Alaka caught him, keeping him from falling.

\n Somewhere along the line, Mea had said her goodnight and left for the communal bunk. Stahl didn't pay attention. He was instead lost inside himself, watching the scene before him, but thinking about what he was going to do. Without contributing anything to the tribe, he would be kicked out. Even Chief Allwaters, who was as forgiving as any tribe's chief, wouldn't budge when it came to that fact.

\n "Kid, you should go to bed." Lakeland said, startling Stahl out of his trance.

\n Stahl shook his head and looked up at his large friend. "How can I sleep without knowing if Kai is going to wake up?"

\n "Its easy, you wake up in the morning and you find out then. Come on, lets get you home." He wrapped his heavy paw around Stahl's side and gently pulled him away from where they had been standing.

\n Stahl kept his eyes on the ground as they walked, Lakeland leading the way towards his holt. Fireworks kept going off in the sky from time to time, shining down on them in vibrant shades of red, blue, green, purple, gold. Stahl was vaguely aware of some Lahu pups in the river nearby, still playing sports using a fruit from a tree nearby. Up ahead, he could see some of the older Lahu swimming together, playing with each other, almost dancing in the water. Stahl didn't even consider joining them, after what had happened. His guilt and worry over Kai weighed him down, and he felt as if he would sink when he got into the river.

\n Across the river, Stahl could see Mekala and Kui hard at work on their smithing. The rest of the tribe hadn't even heard about Kai yet. They would just keep celebrating like everything was normal. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself, since he knew that they had to have been working all day, with the exception of the ceremony, without fail. Their day had been simple and predictable. He wished he could go back and not get out of bed at all.

\n When they reached his patchwork holt, Lakeland patted Stahl on his shoulder once more. "What happened to Kai isn't your fault. Don't let Alaka make you feel guilty about it."

\n Stahl looked down at the ground, exhausted and beaten. "It is my fault. That's not Alaka talking. It's me." He removed Lakeland's paw from his shoulder and slipped into the water so he could swim up into his holt.

\n Once inside, he took a seat in his hammock and took off his belt and pouches, and he threw them to the floor in the dirt below him. Then he watched, through the entrance of his holt, as the rest of the tribe celebrated the day and the new year to come. As he watched, he sat on the edge of sleep, in a sort of trance, unable to work up the energy to do anything else.


\n --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

\n Mea was born in a nearby tribe, but she had grown up in a city far away from the islands. As such, she wasn't really familiar with the Lahu style celebrations. As she wandered down the bank of the Kahawai, away from the doctor's holt, and towards the celebrating Lahu upstream, she found herself enamored with the events going on around her. Every couple of seconds, a firework would go off overhead, and light the dark landscape a bright and warming shade. Upstream, she could see the tribe all gathered together, on the bank and in the water. Torches were set up to provide light, and the fires flickered gently as the night breeze blew against them.

\n She gathered that the doctor, Kauka, hadn't broken the news about Kai to the tribe yet. It made sense, there was no reason to ruin the celebration to just make everyone worry. Watching from the treeline, she slowly approached the festivities. She didn't want to intrude on official tribe business, and she wasn't sure if she would be welcome to celebrate, even after Chief Allwaters had invited her to stay with them. This close, she could hear singing coming from within the cacophony of the crowd.

\n "Here, miss!" Before her eyes, Mea suddenly found a small brown paw, wrapped around a small bouquet of island flowers.

\n Mea looked down and saw a small Lahu girl in the darkness before her. The girl lit up green as a firework went off high above them. "Oh, hello." She wasn't sure what to say. She slowly reached out a paw and took the bouquet from the girl, who smiled up at her unwaveringly. "Thank you very much, they're very pretty."

\n The girl lowered her paw. "I saw you standing over here. You don't look like you're having fun, and my brother said everyone here is supposed to be having fun today."

\n Mea frowned and looked back up at the rest of the tribe. "Well, I'm not actually part of your tribe. I'm just visiting. I don't really think anyone wants me getting in the way."

\n With a shake of her head, the pup wrapped her paw around Mea's and started to pull her towards the water. Three quick pops in the air above them, and the landscape flashed red, blue, and green again. "Come on, miss." The girl stopped pulling. "I'm Ria. You should come have fun with us. What's your name?"

\n "I'm Mea." She didn't pull her hand back from the young girl, who she decided must be under the age of 13, since she didn't have a tattoo on her shoulder.

\n She glanced up, and saw another Lahu approaching. This one was male, and was much closer to her own age. He was dressed up very elaborately, with plenty of jewelry and a very ornate loin cloth. He walked with a joyous bounce in his step and was carrying a flask in one of his paws. He took a swig of it as he got closer.

\n "Ria, are you bothering her?" He asked, his voice was smooth and crisp, but not as deep as she would have expected from looking at him.

\n Ria shook her head adamantly. "No, brother. I was just trying to get her to come have fun, like you said everyone was supposed to."

\n He chuckled and looked up at Mea, making eye contact with her, a smile on his face. "Well, I didn't mean you were supposed to force everyone to. I mainly just said it to keep you from being grumpy." Though he looked at Mea, he spoke to Ria. "Go back to the river, okay? We'll be there in just a minute."

\n Ria frowned, but she obeyed, waving to Mea as she ran off and jumped into the river, swimming back to the others. Mea turned her attention back to Ria's brother. "She wasn't really bothering me all that much."

\n "I know, but she is a handful. I figured I'd give you a paw. So you," he looked up and down at her, "you're the treasure hunter. I heard all about you today, ever since you showed up. I bet Stalwart spent most of it chasing your tail?" He chuckled at the end, and took another drink from his flask.

\n "Uh, something like that. Stalwart? Do you not like him? I don't take it that its a very endearing nickname." She shuffled a paw on the ground. Stahl was a bit wet behind the ears, but she still liked him well enough.

\n "Oh! Well, I didn't make it up. It's just sort of the tribe's nickname for him. Because he's all talk and he never actually does what he says he's going to do. I'm not sure he's ever found a real treasure." He scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I shouldn't have been so rude."

\n Mea decided to change the subject, rather than get into an argument about Stahl. "I'm not used to celebrations like this, since I grew up in the city. So what all are you guys doing? What for?"

\n He turned and waved his paw. "Follow me, I'll show you around. I'm Makai, by the way. Pleasure to meet you."

\n "Mea, and likewise." Mea responded, looking down at his tail as the walked towards the river. It was adorned with rings of metal and a few straps made of leather. "You're very...uh...decorated, Makai."

\n Makai didn't answer immediately, instead waiting until they reached the bank of the river. Makai then raised his paws, gesturing to the pack of Lahu in the water. In the middle, many of the sleekest male and female Lahu swam together in a carefully choreographed pattern. Many of the pups swam around and through them as they did, but they didn't get in the way of the dance-like routine. The other Lahu watched from the side, or were instead giving their attention to riverside stands that were handing out various trinkets, from shell necklaces and tail rings to bouquets of flowers collected by Ria herself.

\n "I'm decorated because I only get to dress up like this once a year, Mea." Makai smiled, now lit by the torches, so Mea could see his bright white fangs when he did so.

\n "I guess that makes sense." She said, still standing on the side of the river, watching the dancing Lahu. "So whats so special about the first day of the year, then?"

\n "I'll tell you if you join me in the river. I hate standing on dry land." Makai grinned and jumped into the river, swimming off into the throng of Lahu.

\n Mea sighed and watched him as he threatened to disappear into the crowd. Among the noise, the singing and the cheering and the chanting, among the bright torch light and the colorful fireworks, she couldn't help but be drawn into the festivities. With a quick movement, she found herself weaving through the water and around the crowd, heading for Makai. When she got close enough, she reached her paw forward and tapped his shoulder.

\n He began speaking as he spun around, treading the water with ease. "The first day of the year is that day we celebrate getting through the previous year, as a tribe. The point is to remind everyone that we all keep each other afloat, and that none of us can live without the rest of the tribe by our sides. We also look forward to the year ahead, as a challenge and as a blessing."

\n Mea chuckled under her breath. "But that isn't true. I've survived almost my entire life on my own."

\n Makai locked his eyes with Mea's, and put a serious expression on his muzzle. "You've survived, sure. But have you lived?"

\n Suddenly, Mea felt her heart sink. Makai's comment had brought back unwanted memories, and she didn't feel very much like celebrating anymore. "Of course I have. I live every day of my life like it'll be the very last one."

\n Makai looked down at the water. "I'm sorry. I upset you, didn't I? I was just trying to sound deep." He looked up and smiled. "I keep putting my paw in my mouth, don't I?" He brought a paw up from under the water, holding the flask from before. He unscrewed the top and took a quick swig.

\n Mea held out her paw towards the flask. "May I?" Makai nodded and handed the flask to Mea, who took a large drink of whatever was inside. It tasted horrible and burned at her mouth and throat as she swallowed. This brought a smile to her muzzle. It was something she had missed since she had left the city. "Thanks."

\n "So how long will you be staying, Mea?" Makai asked as he took back his flask.

\n Mea shrugged, looking up at the fireworks above them. "I'm not sure. Until I find what it is I'm looking for."

\n "What are you looking for? Maybe I can help you find it." Makai kept his attention on Mea's eyes, which were reflecting the colorful fireworks brilliantly.

\n "That's a secret, sorry." Mea smiled and looked back down at Makai. "Don't worry, I've already got help. You know, I think I'm going to go to bed now. I've had a really long day."

\n Makai looked surprised. "Did I say something wrong again?"

\n Mea shook her head as she started to swim back to the shore. It would be easier to walk back to the communal bunk. "No, I'm just tired, don't worry about it. I'll be around, okay?"

\n Makai followed her to the shore, but he stayed in the water as she climbed onto the bank. "Alright, well, sleep well." He waved at her as she started to walk away.

\n She glanced back as she headed down river, and saw Makai's face lit by a nearby torch, looking somewhat defeated. She waved back quickly and then turned around after she saw his muzzle spread into a slight smile. The bank up ahead was lit by torches as well, so she walked in the darkness by the treeline, for privacy. She kept her eyes down, watching the ground as she walked. Makai's words still hung in her head, bothering her more than she wished they would.

\n When Mea lifted her head, she noticed a large figure directly in front of her in the darkness. She didn't have time to stop or move out of the way, so instead she just bounced lightly off of his rotund, furry belly. She let out a sigh and relaxed, stepping back. "Lakeland, jeez, you startled me."

\n Lakeland stood before her, looking down, with a smile on his face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that."

\n Mea crossed her arms across her chest, raising an eyebrow as she looked over the larger creature, noting his vest and loin cloth. "So Lakeland is what they call you, now? You've gone all tribal on me."

\n Lakeland shrugged his massive shoulders. "It has a nice ring to it. You know, I have to admit, I never thought I'd run into you here."

\n "I have to admit that I thought you were off looking for Heaven's Tear. What happened with that?"

\n "I'm here, aren't I?" He spread his arms wide, gesturing to their surroundings.

\n Mea frowned, tapping a paw on the ground. "If that were why you were here, why didn't you send word back to me? Why didn't you get in touch with anyone?"

\n Lakeland matched the Lahu's expression. "Okay, maybe I didn't leave just to find the Tear. Maybe I left to get away from it all. To start over."

\n "To run away, you mean? I thought you were made of tougher stuff than that."

\n "Look, Mea, I was tired of the things that happen to the people who look for the Tear. It wasn't worth it anymore. I've found a new place to belong, here." He sighed, glancing past Mea, towards where the celebrations were still going on.

\n "You belong in the city, where you can actually be of use. What good is it, spending your life building trinkets for these guys? They're behind the times, and you know it." Mea said with a biting tone in her voice.

\n "I'm happy here, Mea, that's all I care about. I don't want the Tear anymore." Lakeland said, crossing his arms now.

\n "The Tear is here, I found it. It's somewhere underneath this island, in a ruin underground." Mea bent down, pressing her palm into the dirt. The artifact she had devoted her life to was so close now. She wished she didn't need to eat or sleep, that she could just look tirelessly for it until it was in her paws.

\n "Mea, don't. Please, you know nothing good follows that stone." Lakeland growled, becoming slightly agitated.

\n In a quick movement, Mea stood and leaned up to get as close to Lakeland's face as possible. "I'm going to find the Tear, and if you don't help me, you can stay here with your little tribe mates when I take it with me. I don't really care either way."

\n Lakeland pushed Mea away gently with his large paws. "If anything happens to my tribe, if anything happens to Stahl, because you're looking for that stone, I'm going to hold you responsible."

\n Mea rolled her eyes, pushing past Lakeland's large frame. "Ooh, I'm so scared." She said, as she walked off into the darkness, towards the communal bunk.

\n --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

\n Stahl sat in his hammock, half dozing and half in a trance, somehow too exhausted to fall completely asleep. Just before he closed his eyes, Stahl was snapped back to attention by what he saw across the river. Len and Alaka stood next to each other, apparently having a heated argument. He couldn't hear anything they were saying, but they were definitely shouting at each other. He flinched as the argument ended when Len raised a paw and slapped Alaka across his muzzle before turning and jumping into the river. Alaka watched, either unwilling to retaliate, or unsure of how to, as Len swam across the river and towards Stahl's holt.

\n "What was that all about?" Stahl asked as Len swam in and up onto the bank of the river.

\n He took a seat in the hammock next to Stahl as he answered. "Alaka is kicking you off his expeditions."

\n Stahl looked down at the water. "I know, he told me before."

\n To Stahl, Len appeared as beat up as he felt. He spoke slowly and deliberately, trying to keep each word clear, and he sounded as stern and serious as ever. "I want you to be my apprentice."

\n Stahl looked up at the older Lahu, and he shook his head. "After what I let happen to Kai, there is no way anyone in the tribe would let me become Shaman."

\n "That choice is mine to make, not theirs. And without a job, you'll have to leave the village. So I'm offering this to help you out. Stahl." Len looked down into Stahl's eyes. "What happened to Kai isn't something you did. You can't blame yourself."

\n "But I do." Stahl said, and he was startled when Len turned and pulled him into a hug. He didn't resist, it was too tempting to rest his head on Len's shoulder. After a few minutes, he spoke again. "I'm scared, Len." With that, the tears finally escaped from his eyes, and streamed down his muzzle as he cried on Len's shoulder. All the guilt, worry, fear, excitement; the entirety of the day finally caught up with him.

\n Len gently stroked Stahl's back as he leaned them to the side in the hammock, laying together, with Stahl held safely in his arms. "It's okay to be scared. I was too, when I started. You can learn to get past that, and I'll help you."

\n Silence filled the holt for some time. The celebrations outside were still going strong, with the sounds of the forest, of the fireworks, and of the games and songs of the Lahu all mixing together. Stahl nodded. "Alright, Len." He paused, trying to force himself to say it. "I'll do it. I'll be your apprentice." His heavy eyes felt as if they were closing themselves, and he gave himself to sleep. The last thing he remembered was Len's strong paw stroking along his back, and thinking how grateful he was for the day to finally be done.