the hidden quirkless Village

an easy day

A month later.

It was cold, but I was right. We got used to it, and it didn't bother us as much. Papa and the big kids started giving each of us chores to do, mini versions of what parts we wanted to do. Some went to doing smaller things like Papa does, and focus on plants and things like that, some went to Mimi and focused on battle, they trained when they could, and helped with smaller things with them, and some started to help with getting the animals ready for food, they were the ones wanting to be hunters.

Some switched around a bit to try and find what they wanted, I'm not fully sure what I want, but I might go to Mimi, as I want to help keep us safe. But I was stuck on what I wanted to do. We got two new people, Chei, who went to the hunters, and Minow, who went to Papa. Chei is 10 while Minow is 4, so we are now at 33 people in the Valley.

I was training as it was still early in the morning, and the ones going into the Hunters are helping with breakfast, so I wanted to speed up time, thanks to Chei we knew it was Thursday when she got here, but we didn't use that type of schedule, as Papa said. I finished my warm-up training as one of them yelled that food was done, so we all gathered around and ate together, well, without the day patrol.

We talked to each other as we ate, it was fun. Chei was telling us animal facts that she knew. They were very interesting. Mimi was with the patrol right now. A few quirked have been in our territory,not close to the valley, thankfully, but they managed to get them away without revealing us.

Kio was talking about plants with his siblings. They all went to Papa to be gatherers, and they wanted to stay together. Vivi was learning fast as she wanted us not to get sick. Thinking about it, she might become our first 'medic' as I heard the big kids say. We think that her birthday passed so she is now 14 years old. We also think that Yama and Yima's birthdays passed, so they are 9 years old now. As well as Jen, who is 5 now, Milo, who is 7, and Akumu, who is 6.

My birthday wasn't until the warm months, so after the cold months are done, I would be a few days after the warm months have started that I'll turn 5. I liked all days, but I was kinda happy we were getting close to the warming months, just before the warm months. We needed the warmth and the animals and plants that came with it.

We finished eating and went to our classes. The gatherers went to Papa, mimi had just gotten back to help her group, and a hunter stayed back to teach their group. I went to mimi and asked if I could be both a gatherer and patrol. She said she would ask Papa to see if I could.

We worked on getting better at what we could currently do, so just practice, and some sparing. It was an easy day today, but we still got hurt sometimes, we are getting better, and hopefully, soon, we won't get hurt.

We did this for a bit and took a small break, Vivi came to see if we were hurt. We just had some bumps, maybe a bruise or two, but we are fine. We went back to training until lunch when the hunters came back, the little ones wanting to be hunters helping and doing what they did until we could eat. Some of the hunters had new wounds, Ashi having three claw marks on her shoulder, Shio, who now had a bite mark on his right arm, and some of the others, Vivi patched them up and had them rest, even if it was just for a bit.

Chei had a herb book on her, so we had some ideas for what could be used to treat injuries. But it was still in the cold months. We are close to the warming months. The hunters were resting, and the rest of us went back to what we were doing. My group was sparing to get better and to start learning to change our fighting styles on the go.

It was hard and me and my partner and I did get hit, and we did fall, but we kept getting back up, not wanting to give up. We did this for a while, both of us trying to get the upper hand. They pushed me back a bit, but I kept going, trying not to fail. I suddenly dropped myself and shot out a leg, making them fall. I did help them back up smiling, and we laughed a bit before going to Vivi to patch us up.

It was now around lunch, and the hunters, who left a bit after we started sparing, got back with more food. They put it away as we still had some from lunch. And we all ate, the day patrol and Mimi came back, I saw Mimi go to Ashi and asked her if she was ok, I think it's because she saw the claw marks on Ashis' shoulder. I think it's sweet that Mimi shows how much she cares for Ashi.

We finished eating, and Papa stayed by as the night patrol came out to go and patrol. He made sure they ate before they left. Some of them were even going to hunt while they did their patrol. I went to the river to get a drink, Ashi came and got a drink too.

"Ashi?" I asked before I took a drink. She looked at me.

"Yes, Izuku?" I asked after she took a drink from the river.

"Do the marks hurt?" I asked, pointing to the claw marks she had gotten today.

She looked at them, then to me "yes, but the pain will go away. It means I was able to protect someone else from getting hurt."

"Like a protector?" I asked, confused.

She laughed a bit and nodded, "Yeah. Like a protector, " she said, ruffling my hair.

I took my drink of water, wished her a good night, and went to my fort and into my nest. I waited until I heard Papa start to sing the lullaby.

"Sleep, my little ones, for today we learned… Sleep my little ones, as warming months come close…. Rest your eyes now… for a new day comes… and we continue to learn…. Sleep my little ones, and together we will live…"