"Here is your flower." McCoy said to Damien, as I handed him the entree flower.

"Beautiful," Damien replied, taking it, and ripping it in half. I gasped as he tossed the orange petals onto the dirt. "Welcome to the Hunters. This way to initiation." Damien turned, and started walking into the house structure.

Ace was waiting for us inside.

"You made it back, yay." Oh yes he sounded quite delighted to see us again.

"Is it ready?" Damien asked, motioning to the fire behind Ace.

"Yup." He agreed, turning back to the flames.

"Alright, welcome to the Hunters." Damien said, clapping and smiling at McCoy and I.

"We made it?" I asked, incredibly pleased.

"Indeed you did." Damien agreed. "You successfully collected an entree flower in a week without killing each other."

"I'm telling you Day, there should be a much more rigorous process to get in." Ace grumbled. The sound of metal hitting bricks, and tried to look over Damiens shoulder, but he blocked me with this head.

"You may be right, but they fit don't you think?" Damien looked over at McCoy and I again. "Welcome my new friends." He stepped to the side, and took a metal bit from Ace. Damien grabbed my head, pushing it to the side.

"Wait wh- AAH!" I cut myself off with a cry of pain as hot metal made contact with the skin of the side of my neck. After about 5 seconds of Damien pressing the metal to my neck, he released. Apparently Ace had been doing the same thing to McCoy. I groaned in pain, my eyes fluttering.

My skin was boiling, my heart pounding, and my chest tightening. My eyes glassed over, and I couldn't see for a moment. I looked over at McCoy who was having the same reaction as I was.

Damien tossed the metal to the side as Ace doused the fire they had been heated in. "Alright then! Give that a few days to heal, and you'll be fine." Damien insisted, before he and Ace left the room, making normal conversation with each other like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

McCoy clutched my arm, and I clutched his hand, the two of us holding each other, silently suffering with the other.

My 'healers' instinct kicked in, and I dragged the two of us outside to the snow. I pushed McCoy down into the snow, making the new burn have contact with the frozen liquid. Then I fell onto it myself.

The snow made my skin singe for a moment before bringing both relief and stinging. "M-M-McCoy,"

"Miaread, are-are you okay?"

"No," I replied, trying to build up the snow around the new burn on my neck. I inched over to McCoy, who inched over to me. When we met, I grasped his hand, and he held mine tightly. The two of us laid in the snow, the ice numbing the burn just enough for us to be able to be aware of the others hand in ours.

Next day---

McCoy and I had gotten up out of the snow after about an hour of laying in it. We'd been given a blanket each, and were told to find some where to lay down. So we did. We ended up on opposite sides of the hut.

Damien had me sewing blankets and clothing back together all the next day. Sewing wasn't my strong suit, and it's rather hard for me to focus sometimes, especially on mundane and repetitive tasks.

"Aah," I hissed under my breath as the needle lodged itself into my finger... again.

"You alright?" Someone asked, coming up to me, and dumping an arm full of fire wood next to me. I looked up to see one of the Hunters I don't know. Then again, I knew Damien and Ace vaguely; and McCoy was my best friend... besides Stevie and Seth. But I haven't seen them in a week.

"You're Miaread right?" He asked, checking his arms for bits of wood that might get stuck in them.

"Yes that is me." I agreed, wiping the small droplets of blood on my pants. "And yes I am alright." I looked up at him, and met his dark blue eyes with mine.

"So, Miaread, how are you liking it here with us?"

"I have been here for a day, and it has been... quite the adventure."

"Yeah, it's pretty rough the first week or so. But it does get better."

"How long have you been a Hunter?" I asked, going back to stitching up a ripped towel.

"About 4 or so years." He replied, sitting next to me, and starting to de-bark the logs he had brought.

There was comfortable silence between the two of us, until something that's been nipping at the back of my mind presented itself to my tongue. "Do you ever get used to it?"

"Used to what?"

"This way of life. It is incredible far from what I am used to."

"Oh so you are of noble birth." This made me freak out, just a bit. Not only internally, but I wasn't quick enough to stop the outward reaction. My reaction made the Hunter laugh.

"What do you mean noble birth?" I asked, trying to regain myself. But the Hunter just kept laughing.

"No, it's too late ant. I already know. Don't worry though, I won't tell anyone."

"How do I know if I can trust you?"

"Well that's the ticket isn't it?" He asked, prying his knife out of a knot in the wood. "None of us really know who we can trust do we?"

"I do not even know your name."

"Fred. I'm Fred Comminuciatizions."

"Like Communications?"

"No, it's nothing like Communications; why does everyone ask me that?"

"Because your name sounds like communications." Another Hunter added, joining us with an axe in hand.

"They're nothing alike!" Fred insisted, chucking a near by pinecone at the Hunter. The Hunter and I exchanged a look.

"They're practically the same thing." The Hunter insisted.

"Shove off Talbott. At least I don't have Rock as a last name."

"Rock and Rockimin are not the same word." I sort of simply stared at the two of them, smiling a bit, listening to the two of them argue about their last names.

"Back me up ant." Fred insisted, turning to look at me.

"Ant?" I asked, confused, wondering what he meant by the nick-name.

"Ant. That's you, you're ant, now back me up." He insisted again. Still unsure if it was mean to be a compliment or not, I giggled.

"No, don't back him up!" Talbott countered, halving one of the de-barked logs with his axe. "Back me up!"

"No,"

"No,"

"No,"

"No,"

"No,"

"No,"

"No,"

"No,"

"What's your last name Ant?"

"My what?" I asked, taken aback by the question; clearing my throat in an attempt to calm myself.

"Your last name." Talbott and Fred said at the same time.

"Oh, well... I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Talbott pushed.

"My mother died when I was 8, and my father... wasn't the kindest to me. So I learned to block out his name in my memory."

"Oh," Was all that was said in return.

I ended up being stuck making dinner for the 9 of us. And after we ate, we made a large bonfire.

The bark that Fred got off of the logs, was used to initially start the fire, and the actual logs that Talbott had cut were then put into it. After we had eaten, we all gathered around the fire as the pinks, oranges, and reds slowly swirled and transformed into purples, deep blues, and blacks. But there wasn't a star in the sky.

"Alright," Damien said, grunting after he sat down on one of the logs around the fire pit. "We have 2 new members to welcome. Why don't you two introduce yourselves."

McCoy and I locked eyes and I tried to communicate the fact that I would really like him to go first.

"My name's McCoy." He said, getting what I was trying to 'say'.

"That's a last name, you got a first?" One of the Hunters I didn't know asked.

"No,"

"No?"

"No." McCoy insisted, making eye contact with the Hunter. "I come from the kingdom of Marilest, I don't know what else you would need to know about me."

"Wonderful," Ace said, "You next." He stated, pointing at me.

"My name is Miaread. I traveled all the way from Petrei."

"Got a surname?" The same Hunter who questioned McCoy asked. And I just shook my head in response.

"I am not exactly proud of who my family is." I explained, hoping that I had given enough information to avoid questions.

"Okay, why don't we do introductions for everyone else?" Ace offered. "My name is Ace Marshin, and I'm from Takomerade."

"Damien Nahasapeemapetilon, also from Takomerade." Damien was sitting on Ace's right, so we followed the circle around the fire that way.

"Seamus Tren, from Hertia." Seamus (Sha-mus) had short dusty red hair, and his face was covered in freckles. And I knew when he stood, he and I would be the same height.

"Tyrone Morrle, originally from Primexou." He was the one who had pressed McCoy and I for more details about ourselves. He had much darker skin than the other Hunters I knew, obviously curtesy of Primeoux -the desert kingdom. His long jet black hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail.

"McCoy, from Marilest." McCoy repeated, as he was next in the circle.

"Miaread, Petri." Because I hadn't used a towel to dry my hair, and hadn't properly washed in -rather simply dunked it in cold water- it had bounced up and gotten really fluffy. Due to the fact that my hair was normally around my waist, it's been far to heavy to behave like this.

"Fred Comminuciatizions, here from Lesm." Fred's hair was also mainly red, but instead of red and brown like Seamus' was, his was red and blonde. His eyes were also the colour of ice, but I could see the reflection of the fire dancing in his eyes.

"Talbott Rockimin, raised in United Aneary." Talbott had darker skin than Tyrone, but equally dark hair. His eyes however, were like chocolate left in the sun. Just as deep and exactly at shiny.

"Mantreiin Cannde, L'mack." His jaw was tight as she spoke, and he didn't pronounce more syllables than absolutely necessary. Guess he wasn't one for conversation. His skin was darker than mine, but lighter than Tyrone's. But his arms were tinted red, as well as his face, ears, and tops of his feet. He was sunburnt. L'mack -the sea side kingdom- has no mercy for skin.

We spent most of the night talking until Damien got tired, and left for bed. Tyrone, Mantreiin, and Ace followed soon after.

"So, what's your story Miaread?" Seamus asked, sticking another log in the fire, and making the flames leap.

I know it's been a month, sorry about that.

-Eliza