Aldar dropped a few beasts on the hunting pile, listening in on his fellow clan members. They were all avoiding him and his crevice for the most part anyway, his personality wasn't exactly open and friendly most of the time, but now his clan was avoiding his crevice like they would avoid the medical crevice. Aldar felt a sting in his chest. He had never felt like he truly belonged, but this was a new level of non-acceptance. All because of the Ugly Stranger of a Saviour.

  There was a moment when he thought that. But then he saw things from Elene's point of view. Thrown into a world completely unlike her own, where she was ugly and avoided, where everyone she knew and loved was left behind in another world. She would spend several years living with complete strangers. Aldar tried to give the Saviour a break, according to the chief, it wasn't its fault it was ugly.

  He also noted the Saviour was quite intelligent, finding weak points on the Squirrelaire, which deserved some measure of respect if the Saviour could keep it up. Aldar still couldn't fully bring himself the stranger as an individual. Elene was an 'it', 'his student', or 'the Saviour', and nothing more. But he knew it was his charge, so he wasn't going to let the Saviour remain useless for long.

  He felt the hint of bitterness clogging his throat dissipate with the memory of Elene's small gesture of respect. He found himself unhappy with the thought of anyone judging him for Elene's incapabilities, though he knew it would happen, and unconsciously decided to take insults against his student personally. After all, the student was a reflection of the master.

  Aldar stepped away from the hunting pile and sensed Daleq dropping into his sensory range. Aldar felt anger boiling inside him, and was waiting for Daleq to say something. Almost dared him to, just so Aldar would have someone to let his energy out on. Aldar took a deep breath. Anger would not do him any good. He walked away slowly, but didn't miss Daleqs small energy of anger and disbelief that Aldar had managed to catch more than him today. Aldar took it as a small victory, and smugly returned to the crevice the Saviour and him shared.

  Aldar hummed a small tune as he gave Elene her lunchtime rations, a few pieces of fruit and a single piece of meat. Elene was very hungry, but made sure Sneakers got enough food first by giving him small chunks of meat as he finished them, and eating the fruit first. One fruit was shaped like a strawberry, but tasted like sweet iced coffee. It was a small bite, but Elene immediately fell in love. Aldar, eating the same fruit, was swallowing it whole to avoid tasting it. "Do all the fruit in this world taste like drinks?" Elene asked. "What do you mean?" Aldar asked.

  "Well, the fruit from yesterday was like lemonade and this little one tastes like iced coffee. I really like them, I just think it's odd how different fruits are here." Elene said, tracing the both familiar and unfamiliar fruit shapes with her hands. "Your world didn't have mana, right? These fruits are actually byproducts of a mana tree. Depending on the mana in the environment, it will condense a different fruit. The fruit from yesterday grew in a warm, humid, and mana-rich area, which usually creates sour flavoured fruit. Today's fruit grew in an area that has spells of humidity and dryness, and a thinner mana concentration, which usually creates more bitter flavours. The mana concentration adds its second taste, such as sweetness or saltiness, depending on the type of mana it was grown with." Aldar instructs her as he polishes off the remains of his fruit.

  "That's really interesting. I didn't think about how the area fruits were grown in could affect their flavor before." Elene said, fascinated by the new flavors she might be able to experience. Sneakers seemed to be full, so Elene started munching on what was left of the meat. She saved one last piece of the coffee flavored fruit as a dessert. Aldar sensed Elene make sure Sneakers was fed first.

  He couldn't help but recall someone doing the same for him, when there was a particularly harsh winter a few years back. Their fading figure, despite being completely different, inexplicably overlapped with Elenes. This was his student. He was not going to lose his student in the same way he lost his mentor. Aldar would need to figure out how to double his hunting efficiency.

  Aldar was always the first hunter to leave for the day. Many in the clan considered him lucky to be able to withstand sunlight for nearly twice as long as every other hunter. Aldar, like the rest of them, thought this was an inherent ability. He just happened to be born with a better tolerance for the sun. It didn't cross his mind that if he consulted Elene, he might learn he was going out in the milder times of day and had built up a tolerance, so the idea to train his ability to stay outside didn't cross his mind. It was a given that he couldn't. No one could.

  So, he focused on the thought of cutting down travel. If he could pre-plan to hit areas with more prey, he wouldn't have to spend as much time going after them. The other option was to have Elene identify more weak points so he could take down each individual beast quicker and spend less time fighting. Aldar decided both were valid options for being more economical with his time. Elene was fairly healthy, so he had a month to practice before Elene started to fall into the range of unhealthy. After another moment of thought, he concluded he could chase both avenues because it wouldn't take much time to implement either. He could focus on routing when they were outside, and dismantle beasts inside with Elene.

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  The rest of the day, Aldar helped Elene with her stance in cave. Elene just had to hold poses Aldar taught her, so she managed somehow. Even then, she was exhausted when it came time for bed, not even registering Sneakers curling up next to her as she fell asleep.

  Elene wakes up early, as she did the night before. She wakes up to the darkness, and panics. Only after Sneakers rubs against her does she manage to keep herself from crying. She feels a fire in her throat, but swallows it down so she doesn't wake the clan snoozing around her. Only after hearing Aldar's breathing does she calm down. He is the one figure she has made a connection to in this world, and just knowing she wasn't alone put her at ease.

  She was scared of nothing more than the loneliness that came with being alone in a world of strangers. Elene doesn't wake up Aldar this time either, rather choosing to sit there bored again. After what he said last night, she realized how highly he valued his sleep. He was short and to the point, speaking in an exhausted voice as he expressed disbelief at the clan members who only had to sleep a few hours, so Elene was able to infer he feels like he hardly gets enough sleep already. Sneakers nuzzles against her hand.

  While she waits for Aldar to wake up, Elene pets Sneakers slowly as she whispers to him her worries. "I don't know, Sneakers. Why I was brought here, how I can help, what I'm supposed to do... I just don't know. But Aldar has welcomed me into his home as his student. For as long as he cares to help me, what he teaches, I will learn. I will return generosity with generosity, kindness with kindness, and every favor for another. I owe him that much." Elene was subconsciously looking to solidify in her mind what she expected of him, and what she could do as a good student in exchange.

  Elene continues petting Sneakers as she waits for Aldar to wake up. The occasional shift of her foot causes her to softly wince in pain because of her various small bruises. Unbeknownst to her, Sneakers blinks softly. His eyes dart between her face, Aldar, and Elene's feet. He hangs his head.

  Aldar feels his consciousness flickering in and out of focus to the sound of whispers, the sound of his name drawing some traces of his consciousness. 'Aldar is the one person who has cared... What he teaches... Kindness with kindness... Every favor for another...' This is all he remembers as he starts to awaken, but it is swiftly forgotten after he has fully woken up. "Good morning Aldar!" Elene says cheerfully but quietly as she hears a rustle. "Good morning Elene... You wake up so early..." Aldar comments drearily as he rubs his face.

  "I'm used to it. School starts early." Elene comments softly in return. Aldar just nods his head, not properly processing everything that the Saviour is saying. "Wait a bit and we'll go hunting. I'll start teaching you tomorrow. I don't have mana to spare today." "I understand." Elene dips her head, aware that he can somehow feel her movements.

  Aldar sits there groggily as the rest of the clan wakes up. He stands up and trudges over to the food pile. Remembering the Saviour's comments from yesterday, he grabbed three different types of fruit for her to try rather than three of the same. He grabbed a couple of chunks of meat for her as well before selecting an onion-like vegetable and the boiled leg of the Squirellaire he caught yesterday. He returns to his crevice and asks Elene to hold out her hands. He places her portion in her hands before sitting across from her to eat his own lunch. As he's forcing his way through the large onion-like vegetable in his hands he knows as an Abernion, he watches Elene.

  He senses the Saviours hands trace the food in its hands, and after finding the meat, the Saviour tears it into bits and starts feeding the tiny relative of a Tigerooth that remains near the Saviour at all times. Once the animal the Saviour called "Sneakers'' bumps the Saviour's hand with its head, Elene scratches the animals ears before beginning to eat. The Saviour eats through what's left of the meat first, setting aside a small portion. The Saviour then begins to eat the fruit, relishing each bite. Aldar wonders if he ate more like Elene, he would enjoy his food more. So he gnawed on his leg of Squirellaire a little slower than usual, trying to savour the taste of each bit like Elene was instead of scarfing it down as quickly as humanly possible, which was his usual. He wasn't sure if it tasted any better, but strangely, he felt as if he was a little more satisfied after lunch than usual.

  "Okay let's go Elene." He lifts her up and walks to the Rock. Pushing it out of the way, Aldar walks out with Elene right behind him. "I'll start. You watch. Learn what you can today from observation, and tomorrow I'll begin teaching you." "Okay." After Elene replies, Aldar charges off the cliff. Elene just watches appreciatively for nearly an hour before he returns, having unfortunately only caught four beasts today. A respectable amount, but nothing like the bounty from yesterday. "A hunter isn't always lucky. Time to head back." Aldar says, moving past Elene towards the Rock.

  "You should wash up." She says before he opens the Rock. "Wash up?" He asks as he stops. "You know, get in water and let the dirt and blood come off of you... Do you have soap?" Elene asks. "I don't know what soap is, but we do go in the river once a year, and we rinse our clothes every week or so- they feel nicer that way. Isn't that enough?" Aldar asks, confused.

  "No, ew. I plan to wash up, my hair is greasy and I guess I'll have to find something similar to soap." Elene suddenly felt that Aldar was gross. "Suit yourself... No actually, I'll join you." He changed his mind when he realized he should do his best to keep the Saviour placated, as the clan had abducted Elene from another world with different customs, it was only fair for there to be some level of exchange between them. Elene would learn to hunt from him and was slated to do the Clan some unidentified huge favor in the future, putting up with a few strange rituals was nothing compared to what they asked of Elene.

  Even if 'washing up' more than once a year seemed excessive to Aldar. Wasn't it fine to go through the river during the yearly 'crossing' to get rid of your scent after you had emptied your power into the home crystal? What he didn't know was that by joining her, he protected his image in her mind as her 'mentor,' someone she could trust to teach her.

  "Come on! For now we can just use water, but I'll find something like soap soon!" Elene says excitedly over her shoulder.