Joseph squealed in alarm as he just barely ducked under what would have been a heavy blow from Taaz's spear. Following this evasion, he jumped backward and out of reach of the spear as it swung for his stomach. A sideways hop allowed him to effectively dodge the straight thrust that followed, and another hop kept his feet from being swept out from under him by the low strike that came next.

"Good, good," Taaz praised as the bright-eyed boy continued to dodge the flow of attacks. "Yer gettin' mighty good at evadin'!" It was true. After only three days of practice, Joseph was moving smoothly and quickly, predicting what would come next based on the man's body language and moving accordingly.

He knew what he needed to work on next, though he admitted to himself that the thought made him uneasy. Now that I've got defense pretty much down, I have to go on the offense. It was a daunting thought, considering that he was bare-handed and up against a man with a spear.

How do I go about this? His mind raced as he attempted to analyze the situation. Okay, first look for patterns. He's trying to change it up, but I should be able to predict patterns, at least situational ones. Second, I have to close the gap somehow, both figuratively and literally. I have to find some way to tip the balance so I can overcome his strength. Easier said than done... I also have to get closer, but let's save that for when I figure out how I'm going to beat him. He's strong and reasonably fast, so I while I can possibly hope to out-maneuver him, I can't overcome him with raw muscle. Maybe I can blind him? But then what? I figure out a way to take his spear? Yeah, I'll try that. And I know just how to get the job done.

The next time Taaz thrusted, Joseph ducked to the side and scooped up a handful of snow, hurling at at the man's face. Taaz sputtered as the snow struck him between the eyes and shook his head rapidly, trying to get rid of the irritating powder. Joseph took the chance he had and kicked Taaz's foot out from underneath him. As he did so, his fingers curled around the spear's long shaft and attempted to yank it free of its holder.

He might as well have tried pulling it out of a boulder. The man was balanced on his other leg in a low and surprisingly sturdy stance, gripping the spear tighter than ever. A quick shove of the man's arms caused the shaft to slam into Joseph's chest and throw him to the ground. At once, Taaz was on top of him, pinning him down with the spear.

"All right, you got me," Joseph conceded, sensing that to struggle would be futile.

"Ya got the spear when the critter struck, Flimsy Joe, but ya ain't gettin' it again."

"It was worth a shot," the boy replied, flashing a big, goofy smile.

Both Taaz and Joseph knew that he was getting close. With a bit more training, Joseph would be best Taaz and earn the right to leave. This, however, was not merely a result of their daily traning. It was a result of something else, something that Taaz wasn't aware of. In the man's eyes, Joseph was simply progressing rapidly, and that's all there was to it.

That evening, Joseph ate heartily as Taaz complimented his work. Not only was Joseph progressing rapidly, but his apetite was increasing as well. He wasn't the only one who was progressing either. As he headed into the bedroom with a full bowl of soup, Naya was already sitting up. She still seemed to be in a daze, but her getting up herself before being fed was an accomplisment of its own.

She held the bowl to her mouth, gulping down the chunky fluid before setting the bowl aside. "Thanks," she managed to utter, though the words were slightly slurred.

"How're you feeling?" the boy inquired.

"Ughh... Everything's blurry," she muttered before curling over and returning to sleep.

"She's been better today," came the voice of an elderly woman behind him. "She talked here and there, though everything is still fuzzy to her."

"Does this sort of thing happen a lot here?" Joseph asked concernedly.

The elderly lady came to his side and nodded slowly. "Aye. Usually men get it from wandering in the woods. They get it once, then never again, and it never spreads. So odd, this one."

Joseph had to agree with that. Thankfully, it meant that no one else would get sick. He returned to the fire after completing his check-in, and stared at it until it died. Once the settlement was asleep, he continued his nightly ritual of sorts.

He ducked into the supply closet and grabbed a coat and spear before slipping outside. The cold bit at his legs, but he ignored it. He had work to do. He stepped through the snow, making his way toward a tree. Once he reached it, he propped the spear between two branches and pulled himself up. He touched his chin to the spear's shaft before lowering himself, not allowing his feet to touch the ground. Though it took a massive effort for one so "flimsy" to lift his own weight, he managed to repeat the process multiple times before dropping. After allowing his arms to rest for a few moments, he grabbed the shaft and continued once more.

After repeating the cycle several more times, he pulled the spear down and began to swing and thrust it, repeating the same moves over and over several times. First he thrust, then he swung to the left, then to the right, then he swung straight down. After he repeated this ten times, he rested his arms for a minute before continuing.

Once that was done, he did pushups, and after that, he ran laps around the settlement. Then he practiced his side jumps, did jumping jacks, and then moved on to sit-ups. Once he had performed sixty, he stood up and stretched, satisfied with the number of excercises he had completed. His body was in pain, and probably would be the next time he sparred with Taaz, but he was okay with that. Ever late night spent working himself to the point of exhaustion was only boosting his strength and reflexes. He was about to return to the cabin when a sudden voice caused him to jump.

"So this is how ya been gettin' the jump on me, huh? Burnin' the late-night fuel?"

"I think you mean the 'midnight oil,' but whatever," Joseph huffed as he turned to face Taaz, who was leaning against a nearby tree.

"Ah, ya know what I mean anyhow," the man said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Gotta say, I admire yer dedication. First time any fella has hever put their money where their mout is and worked to leave this place."

Joseph pulled the spear out of the snow where it had been resting nearby. "What do you mean by that?"

"Ya think yer the first one to try runnin' off?"

"I mean, I guess it doesn't surprise me," the boy replied throughtfully. "Who tried to run?"

"Take a guess," Taaz said with a shrug.

"But the only person other than you that I really know is Naya. She helped me, sure, but she tried so hard to warn me against it too. I could tell she didn't want me to go. It couldn't have been her, that wouldn't make any sense."

Taaz began to let out a loud laugher that echoed into the nearby forest. "Kid, ya don't know squat! She tried to run, and she got farther than anyone else did! Ev'ry night she'd slip out to plan 'er route down. She got info from the hunters and elders, and figured out where the critter territories were. From there, she made 'er way down. I stopped her a day in like I did with you, and she couldn't take me on. Wasn't strong enough. So I brought 'er back and she didn't try again."

"You're joking," Joseph breathed incredulously. "Then why did she try so hard to stop me? Wouldn't we have shared a common goal?"

The man sighed and shrugged before continuing. "The lady was prolly pretty conflicted, for one thing. She saw 'erself in ya and couldn't bring 'erself to stop ya, but at the same time, she grew attached an' couldn't bring 'erself to see ya go. Wanted to support ya and didn't at once."

Joseph shook his head, still confused. "This still doesn't mkae sense though. Why would she change her mind so suddenly? She seems more stubborn than that, even if only a little."

"She came 'ere at fifteen years old, back when I was thirty," Taaz said, a strange look coming to his eyes, like he was reminiscing. "She was terrified at first, and do ya blame 'er? All alone all of a sudden? Well, we became 'er family. Once I brought 'er back the first time, it began to hit 'er just how it'd be out there. All alone all over again. Once that realization hit 'er, she didn't wanna leave no more. I'm sure ya felt it too, that feelin'." He raised an eyebrow toward Joseph, urging him to respond.

"Yeah, I have," the boy said with a short nod.

"Then ya know what it's like. Once ya think about it, it ain't strange that she stayed. Not the least bit strange at all."

Joseph realized that he had no response to that. He stared down at the snow, unsure of how to proceed. He didn't have to though, as Taaz continued.

"We've all said it," he said, "but are ya sure you wanna do this? Leave? The trip down there is brutal. Without a guide, it's a one-way trip. Ya do this, and that's that, no goin' back. I can't say it enough boy, are ya sure you want this?"

Josepn didn't say anything for several minutes, and Taaz didn't push him any further. After what felt like ages of empty silence, the boy gave his answer.

"Yeah," he whispered. "I'm sure."

"Yer willin' to leave me? Yer willin' to leave Naya?"
Joseph fell silent for another minute. Two minutes. Three minutes. Five minutes passed and he hadn't said a word. Instead, his shoulders began to tremble. He fell to his knees and clutched his shoulders as though he were hugging himself. Tears started to flow down his cheeks, and he had to choke just to keep from sobbing altogether.

Taaz's gave a small, sympathetic smile as he knelt down and grabbed Joseph in a tight hug. "Let it out, Joseph," he whispered. "We got time."

Joseph cried for several more minutes before finally forming the words that he'd wanted to say from the start. "I'm sorry," he choked. "It's not like I don't love you. All of you. It's just... much as I wish this was home... much as I feel like it is, it's not, and I know it. I don't know where home is, but I have to go back there. I might have had parents and siblings and friends, and I can't stand the idea of abandoning them. I don't even know if I had people that loved me, but if I did, then I can't stay here. I have to find my way back." His body began to heave violently as his sobs grew more intenst. "I'm sorry! I don't want to leave! I don't want to leave but I can't stand staying! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Taaz's grip tightened on the boy. "Ya don't hafta be sorry. Whether ya leave or stay, ya don't hafta be sorry fer anythin'. There's no rush to decide, either."

Joseph finally managed to bring himself under control, standing up and stepping away from the man before grabbing the spear and looking Taaz straight in the eye with the most serious look he could muster.

"No," he said with a slight sniffle. "I'm going. And I'm going to leave tomorrow, before my confliction gets any worse."

Taaz's sympathetic smile spread into a wider, more happy one as he stood up. "Pass me the spear then," he said.

Joseph's whole body screamed at him in protest as he dodged every swing from Taaz's weapon. I know I should have waited until I had recovered more strength. I spoke without thinking. No matter, I'll just have to win anyway. Duck. Sidestep. Jump. Roll. With every motion, it became easier to predict what the man's next move would be, and though Taaz was also learning Joseph's patterns, Joseph knew that he was a step ahead.

He probably thinks I'll try to blind him with snow again. I have a lot more options than he thinks that I do though. I've been focusing on trying to get the spear, but that's predictable. I have to find another way to get close, one that he won't anticipate.

Rather than try to get close, however, Joseph moved farther away every time he dodged, forcing Taaz to more aggressively close the gap between them. Joseph moved farther into the forest, navigating around the trees as Taaz pursued him. Whenever Taaz swung just to close to a tree, his spear would take a small chip out of the bark. It cut through bark and brush alike, threatening to do the same to Joseph if he didn't come up with a solution quickly.

That's it, Joseph told himself as his movements began to change. With every dodge, he made absolute sure that he was close to the trees at all times. At the same time, his eyes darted around, looking for the right tree. Finally, he located it, a large pine with a thick trunk. Joseph moved toward it and Taaz followed, swinging and lunging the whole time.

Gotcha, Joseph thought, allowing a triumphant smirk. This only managed to irritate Taaz, who thrust forcefully at the boy's midsection. In reality, he would only graze Joseph's side, but the force he put in had every intention of frightening the boy. Joseph was not daunted, however, and stepped quickly to the side as the spear's point dug into the bark of the tree. When Taaz initally attempted to free it, he found that it was lodged deeper than he had expected.

Joseph moved in. My arms are weak, they can't do much damage. On the other hand... he leaned back as his right leg shot up with a sideways kick that slammed hard into Taaz's side, just below his ribcage. The man was down in an instant, clutching his side as he rolled in the icy powder underneath him.

"Did I win?" Joseph asked as he tugged at the spear, freeing it from its place after a few attempts.

"Yeah," the man groaned, pain evident in his voice. "Ya got me." After a few minutes, he made his way to a standing position. "Flimsy Joe" actually did it, he thought to himself as he stared at the boy's triumphant face. A big enough tree that my spear wouldn't just roll off the side, a method to get me vulnerable, and a way to goad me into hitting harder than I normally woulda... the kid really thought ahead.

"Heh. Sweet," Joseph muttered. As he did, the pain in his body set in, his vision growing dark as he fell to his side. I actually did it... was his final thought before slipping out of consciousness.

When Joseph awoke at last, it felt as though he'd spent eternity in a deep and dreamless slumber. As he pulled on his glasses and everything came into view, he saw the face of every last outcast staring at him. Their expressions ranged from worried to excited to sorrowful to elated.

"Joseph!" one man exclaimed. "Is it true that you're going to be leaving?" His face was bright, like he was happy for the boy.

"Yeah," the boy mumbled, feeling his face grow hot.
"That's incredible," another man chimed in, "nobody has ever succeeded! How'd you convince Taaz to let you?"

"Well I-"

"Don't encourage him," an older woman snapped. "This is folly, and you know it! Of course he's not leaving, don't give him such insane ideas!"

"Ah lay off it," piped up an elderly woman with white hair. "He's a bigger man than any of y'all are, actually goin' through with it! Shame though that he's leavin', it's been a while since the place had anyone this cute." Joseph's face flushed as the woman tugged at his cheek playfully.

"Give him space, granny," a middle-aged man laughed. "You're gonna scare him into leaving even faster!"

"Hey, everyone, back up!" came a voice from the back. Everyone stopped, making way for Taaz. "Come on, fellas, back off and let the boy be. I'm sure 'e don' need y'all's incessant chatter! He gotta pack, after all!"

Joseph began to laugh, though tears formed in his eyes as well. "It's okay," he said. "Actually, this is really nice. Thank you guys." He got up and moved over to Taaz. The man raised an eyebrow and placed his hands on the boy's shoulders, turning him around to face the crowd of outcasts.

"Got somethin' to say?" the man asked, to which Joseph nodded.

"Yeah. Thank you all so much," he said, the tears in his eyes growing bigger. "I really felt like I was with a real family here." The tears began to trickle down his face. "To tell the truth, I don't really even want to leave." The tears began to flow steadily, falling to the floor below and soaking into the wood. "But this isn't home, and I have to get back to wherever home is." His shoulders began to shake, and he felt Taaz's grip on them tighten. "Because I probably have a family, and lots of people waiting for me to come back." His words were breaking apart, punctuated by sniffles and choked sobs. "So thank you. It really meant the world to me that you guys took me in like you did." With that, he broke down crying just as he had before.

This time, however, someone else responded. He felt the sudden weight around him as a woman threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. Through his tears, he couldn't quite see who it was, but he had a good guess.

"Naya," he croaked, hugging the woman back. He could hear and feel that she was crying too. One by one, the other outcasts joined. They wrapped their arms around him and around each other until the boy could hardly even breathe. They stayed like this for a few moments before slowly backing away, leaving just Joseph, Taaz, and Naya once again. At last, Naya pulled herself back. When she did, Joseph wiped his eyes before turning them to her as she did the same.

"I thought you were still sick," he breathed.

Her eyes widened. "I finally wake up and gather my senses to find you exhausted and sleeping for an entire day! And during that time, Taaz tells me that you're actually going to leave, so I spend an entire day tearing myself up over it, not to mention worrying about you! All that, and this is all you have to say to me!?"

"Sorry," Joseph said, unable to keep from snickering a little. "Welcome back, Naya. Sorry to throw this on you like that. I guess this is also kind-of a goodbye."

"Yeah," she replied. It wasn't hard to tell from her face that her heart was breaking. She turned around and rummaged through the storage room for a minute before coming back with a large knife. Both sides of the foot-long blade curved smoothly toward each other forming a precise point, and serrations on the blade told Joseph that it was quite dangerous. Naya extended the knife toward him with both hands. He recognized it as one of the knives the hunters used. However, the wooden handle was engraved with the single word: "Taaz."

Joseph's mouth hung open as he grabbed the knife by its handle. Turning it over, he saw that the other side of the handle had "Naya" engraved into the wood. His eyes widened, and a smile spread across his face. "It's incredible," he sighed.

"We're outcasts," Naya said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We need every tool we have for our own survival, so we have little to give you. But Taaz and I both want you to take this. Use it to keep yourself safe out there."

"I will," Joseph said, turning his eyes from the blade to Naya once more.

The woman cupped his face in her hands before pressing her lips gently to his forehead, planting a soft kiss. She then pulled back and smiled. "Stay safe." Those were her final words to him.

Joseph hugged her tightly one last time before turning to Taaz.

"Ya ready?" the man asked. Joseph noticed that his eyes were glistening with tears as well.

"Yes. I'm ready."

With that, Taaz turned and left the cabin. Joseph grabbed the sack filled with scales from the critter he had slain and slung it over his shoulder before following the man into the snow. Casting one last glance through the door and at the crowd of people within, Joseph felt two conflicting feelings: heartbreak and pride.

He was leaving the first group of people that he'd ever met in this strange new world. They had treated him as one of their own. They'd been family. At the same time, he'd proved his strength and his resolve. He was ready to enter the world, and the knife he carried was a reminder of that.

He took a deep breath. Now that it was really happening, he was scared of what lay ahead. I'll be alone, he thought. Don't worry though. I'll come back here someday, before I head home for good. I'll come back here, I promise. It wasn't so much of a promise to them as it was a promise to himself. With some effort, he pulled his eyes away from the crowd that waved at him, and followed Taaz into the woodland.

Four days later, Taaz and Joseph reached the final hill that separated the mountain range and the down below. Even with the shortcuts Taaz knew, progress had been slow, especially since they had taken time to hunt proper food on the way down. Though the journey had been tough, they had made it. Taaz noticed the sparkle in Joseph's eyes as he stared down at the houses and fields below.

"Can ya take the final hill yerself?" he asked.
"Yeah, I can."

"Good. Well then, this is where we part ways." A sad smile adorned the man's lips as he said that. Despite this, he didn't cry. There had already been enough tears.

"Thanks for everything, Taaz," Joseph said as he hugged the man one last time. Then he began to take off the winter coat Taaz had grabbed for him to use on the journey. He handed it to the man, who took it and began to head back.

"Hey, Taaz?" Joseph called right as he turned to leave. "Why don't you just bring everyone down to the valley?"

The man shook his head with a short laugh as he walked off. "Still full of questions, huh 'Flimsy Joe'? A big bunch o' people would prolly attract the critters. Even if not, if we're really outcasts like we all believe, the men down there would just put us back up here anyhow." He continued his march back up the hill. He suddenly stopped and turned to face Joseph one last time. "Much as I'd love to stay with ya, I got people to care for. Safe travels down there!"

"You too!" Joseph called back. Without another word, they both turned and headed their own ways. Taaz would return to his people and continue to lead them, but never once would he forget the blue-eyed boy that earned his respect.

Joseph would venture into the valley and embark on his own endeavor, but never once would he forget the funny-speaking man and the kind woman that took care of him. His heart raced as his steps quickened. Before he knew it, he was running down the side of the snowy hill and down into the valley. It felt like the whole, strange new world he was in was finally opening its doors to him. He charged through those doors, ready to finally begin the real journey.