Another week had gone by. Vell had become used to her newly adopted way of life. She hadn't eaten any meat since the night the xei helped her eat. The xei had stuck around as well, watching her as she trained and occasionally coming to her to get warm on cold nights. The training had been going wonderfully. She now mixed in time to practice the ways her mother had taught her. She had never planned on going into the same path as her and still didn't but had come to find that it might be a useful set of skills to have. Randomly she would find herself playing with the younger xei. They were a lively bunch that found her amusing to spend time around. The older ones she believed only stuck around for her protections. That was fine. She enjoyed them being around more than she did spending long lonely nights. She missed her family dearly but knew she had to get better to save the village if it was even there still. The last she had heard from them they had planned to move the village elsewhere. She had not been able to work up the courage to go and check to see if they had done just that or not. Instead, she kept her eye on the price. She had begun to see the dragon moving about and had even come to believe she found its cave. Every day as she trained she watched the cave it sat in, and every night when she bathed she watched the cave. She found herself watching the cave every chance she got. Fear had overtaken her reasoning. She was terrified she would see the beast make a move before she had the chance to get strong enough to take it. Maybe she would never be strong enough. She found the second thought scarier than the first and had only come to one conclusion, at the end of the next week, whether she was strong enough for not, she was going to fight the dragon.
Halfway through the week, she began to see results from her spirit training her mother had taught her. After implementing them into her training her flames had grown by an astonishing amount. The more she focused on the things she learned about the spirit the more she was able to harness her ability. It excited her like nothing ever had before. She sat down in the center of the clearing on her knees and began to focus deeply within herself. She felt the flames inside. Let them caress her. She didn't know why but part of her still feared them, but only the smallest part of her did. She let them flow through her. As she did the flames began to come from her hands and feet. Standing up, she began her martial forms. Now it was time for her father's lessons. She focused on letting the flames stay alive as she punched and kicked, spinning about as she did. The form she practiced was one that even her brothers, the war captains, could not learn. They were too bulky with muscle to perform them. She on the other hand was perfect for the form. Her muscles were lean and quick. She could accelerate or stop at a moment's notice. The form still fainted her now as much as it did when she saw her father practicing it growing up. She admitted to herself that she partially loved it for the sole fact only she could learn it and not her brothers. It was nice to excel in something they did not. Still, she loved it more for the way it made her feel. Her father had explained to her when she was learning the form that it was an ancient form created by the first of the Torikk clan. The form could only be performed by a true Torikk member. She still believed her brothers were true members of the clan but she felt she knew what her father meant. Torikks had always been lean and agile, choosing to defeat the enemy with skill and witts, not brawn and brute power. Yes, they were still strong, some might say surprisingly so. But still, the smarts and agility were what made them shine. That had become more apparent now as she trained her flames and body then it had ever been to her.
She continued her form and flame training for the rest of the week. She put up a makeshift target course to practice with. It was made of spare logs and rocks she had around that she hung and placed in different parts of her camping area. When she destroyed them, she just replaced them with whatever worked. Every time she ran it she tried to get quicker, more accurate, and agile. She had pushed herself so hard that she actually collapsed once or twice. When she would come to, she would be so angry at herself for putting her body at risk that she would go to the river just to cool off and relax. The time went by so quickly that she was surprised when she had noticed the moon full in the sky. She only had two more days to get ready. She made another pot of stew and ate it, savoring every bite she took of it. She had come to realize she did not have a clue whether she would succeed in her quest to avenge her father. No that wasn't right, it had started that way. But over her short amount of time in the forest, it had become something else. She had seen how afraid the wildlife was in the forest. She even felt as if she had made her first friends in the xei. She had even given up eating xei meat. It felt wrong somehow, almost like eating her own family. She took the pot of stew that had cooled and put it in front of her. A few of the xei looked at her confused for a moment.
"Share this meal with me, it may be the last time we ever see each other." The xei all stared at her. She knew they didn't speak her language but she figured it was worth a shot. She grabbed another bowl full and began to eat more, she didn't know if she would get the chance to eat again before her fight and didn't want hunger to be her one weakness. As she did the oldest of the xei walked up to the pot and began to eat. Vell watched shocked for a moment then started to laugh. As she did the others all followed the eldest lead and began to eat as well, leaving when they had their fill so the next could have some as well. To her surprise, they hardly ate at all. Smiling, she finished her meal, went to the river and bathed, and finally went to sleep. The entire herd slept with her. It was the first time she felt the love of family from anything other than her own family. She slept soundly for the first time in the forest beneath a blanket of stars.
