When Yoa returned fifteen sunrises later, he was a little… different. He looked like he'd lost weight, and his eyes they shown with ancient wisdom, looking unnatural on a boy who had to become a man, a guardian of Tayun so young. For a while, Yoa kept to himself more, leaving at first light and returning to the tribe late afternoon.
His parents were proud of him, though they couldn't show off his achievement as only a select few knew about it. One day, Atia caught him on his return to the Oncari lands, before the village, and pulled him to the side. Aiyana dropped from a tree, who'd also been spying on Atia because of his jittery, sneaky behaviour that he couldn't quite mask in front of her.
Atia frowned at her, and she gave him a smug look that suggested he should have been paying more attention to his surroundings. "You're ambushing me now?" Yoa's eyes flicked between them, narrowing slightly, noticing the differences between them.
