Zero to Hero (Prequel/prototype)

Chapter 30. Wedding

"Ken! We should get up now and go join the hunt." Lovetta whispered to the sleeping young man who's clinging on to her tightly as the two shared the warmth under a thick fur blanket.

A week had passed since Ken joined Lovetta at her tribe and today on December 24th, Lovetta's brother is getting married and per the tribal traditions, the two families of the groom and bride will be competing in a hunt to see which family would bring in more kills for the festival that will take place later tonight.

"Morning Lovetta." Ken answered sleepily as the two slowly got ready to get out of bed.

While Boris was totally against the two sharing a bed at first, since the house only had 3 bedrooms and with Zeev was still living at home, Lovetta refused to let Ken sleep in the living room or share a room with Zeev and with her showing her parents the protection spell that was cast on her so the two couldn't make love, the father eventually give in to her demand and Ken had spent his nights snuggling and making out with Lovetta.

During the first few days of Ken's stay, while Lovetta's little sister and mom warmed up to Ken instantly, it took a few days before her brother and finally her father to warm up to the young man. But after a week, Boris had taken quite a liking to Ken.

Not only did Boris like Ken's straightforward personality, his directness and his confidence, when he learned that Ken had only been training for a single year to reach the mastery he had already reached, the chieftain was thoroughly impressed.

Along with Ken's curious nature to learn new things and his ability to pick up most things after been shown just once, even with his promiscuous side been of concern for the chieftain, Boris had changed his option on Ken to the point where he no longer thinks Lovetta had made the wrong choice and is now a supporter of the relationship.

"Come on my boy! Time for us to show the in-laws what a strong family their daughter married into!" Boris declared as Ken and Lovetta greeted the family in the living room.

Wearing a thick fur coat that was gifted to him by Lovetta's mother, Ken is now well prepared for the cold while they are within the settlement. However, the thoughts of leaving the much warmer insulated settlement and go hunting in the bitter cold has Ken questioning his decision to help with the wedding.

When the family left the house and arrived at the center square area of the settlement where a large platform was built on top of many intersecting giant branches, it was already filled with family and friends who were eager to see the start of the ceremony.

As Ken greeted all the now familiar faces, the elder who was tasked with the important job of hosting this wedding went over the tradition and reasoning for this hunting competition.

To show that the family is strong enough to support an additional member, for the tribe that survived in the harsh forest, food is the number one concern. The competition determines who gets married into whose family as gender matters not to the tribe that only values strength and as the chieftain, Boris is not here to win the competition, he is here to put on a show and welcome his new daughter-in-law to the family with a giant feast.

As the participants got ready, three from the Wulric side including Ken and Lovetta went up against six members from in-laws. And as the elder announced the start of the hunt, Boris disappeared from sight almost instantly while Ken and Lovetta slowly jogged to the exit.

The strategy was simple, Boris alone was more than enough to provide enough for the whole feast while Ken and Lovetta are simply there to get some practice in and explore the great forest of Chelmswell.

Over the past week, Ken had learned many things from the tribe and while he was dreading the cold, he was glad to get some exploring done and maybe also hunt down a game or two and offer them for Zeev's wedding celebration.