Headmaster Pierce is walking down the hallway of the Academy to his office when Master Liu spots him and calls out. "Alistair!"

He stops and waits for her to catch up to him. Even though the hallway is empty, she pulls him to the side, behind a pillar to give them an extra measure of privacy.

"Look, I know you wanted me to wait until Farid returned from the mission," she says with a sigh as she leans against the pillar. "But I need to get Fiona and Sebastian started on the live feeding program and the sooner the better. Ibrahim tells me they're getting tired far too easily and falling behind in their combat class."

Headmaster Pierce frowns, a look of concern clouding his elegant features. "I was hoping to talk to all of the students at the same time before you launched your program," he confesses. "I fear if we do this piecemeal, Ronnie, we increase the chances of fueling controversy and then this entire integrated school endeavor will just blow up in our faces. We need time for the idea of the program to settle in and for the students to become comfortable with it before we inform their parents..." He leans back against the wall. "You realize that when we launch this program, we'll be opening up a Pandora's Box of trouble."

"I do." Master Liu nods and then crosses her arms over her chest. "And you've just barely recovered from the last parent's meeting." They share a sympathetic smile before she continues. "But none of the Vampyr kids have fed live before, Alistair, and I could really use this time to at least get Sebastian and Fiona acclimated."

"I hate that I had to send Farid out into the field without its benefits," Headmaster Pierce admits.

"I know you do," Master Liu rests a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I appreciate the respect you've given to our custom. As far as sending Farid out early, you did what you had to do. Working with the other two, I'm sure he'll be fine."

A beat of silence passes before she catches Pierce's gaze. "Listen, you don't have to decide now, okay? But do give it some thought? Maybe we can connect again on it tomorrow?"

Headmaster Pierce nods and gives Master Liu the most confident smile he can muster. But the tremendous weight of what he's taken on with the school and what he's asking of the student is evident in every aspect of his posture.

*****

Farid and Aidan stand outside their tent, looking up and down the various footpaths that cut across the compound, trying to figure out how to make their way back to the Spirit House.

Aidan looks over at Farid. "How's your back?"

"Not bad." Farid smiles. "That poultice you put together? It really worked!" His smile widens. And while I've still got a few scars, overall, I'd say I'm in good shape."

"You know, I've never seen it work that fast before," Aidan says. "There must be something in your Vampyr blood that accelerates what the poultice can do." He shrugs and adds, "In any case, I'm glad to hear it." Then without thinking, he gives Farid a friendly pat on the back.

"Ow!" Farid winces as he raises his hands. "Not a hundred percent! I'm not a hundred percent healed, dude!"

"Oh, I'm sorry! Habit." Aidan grimaces.

"It's okay," Farid says reassuringly. Then, he sighs and turns his attention back to the paths again. He looks left, then right, then left again. He hooks his thumb to the left. "I'm pretty sure it's this way."

As the boys head off, Aidan stuffs his hands deep into his pockets and follows, falling a few steps behind Farid. He's unusually quiet, lost in thought. After a moment, he blurts out... "I don't think Patrick likes me very much."

Farid stops. He turns to face Aidan. "That's not true."

Aidan jogs to catch up with him. "You don't think so?"

"No," Farid replies. "I don't." Then sliding Aidan a glance, he tries to be gentle but honest. "Although, I do think you sometimes frustrate him."

"Oh..." Aidan frowns. He looks like a puppy who's just been kicked in the face by his master.

Farid quickly adds, "But then again, Patrick is easily frustrated."

"I know, right?!" Aidan perks up, spreading his hands in a sign of relief. "I mean the guy really needs some serious anger management. Or at least therapy, preferably of the medicinal sort." He snorts. Then, he casts a gaze at Farid, "On the other hand, you, my friend, seem to be a bottomless pit of patience."

Farid lets out a hearty laugh. "Well, when you grow up in a family as large and complicated as mine, you learn patience is not only a virtue, it's an absolute necessity."

"You see, it was the exact opposite in my family," Aidan explains. "I have three older brothers. Three!" he practically screeches as he holds up three fingers before him. "So, in my household, you had to be loud, you had to be fast, and you had to be bold or else you'd perish. It was survival of the fittest, through and through. It was brutal." He shakes his head laughing and jokes. "Big families, huh? At least they're character-builders."

"That they are," Farid says as they both laugh in solidarity.

As they wend their way down the path, they pass various members of the Shifter compound, headed towards the community meeting. The hostility lacing the stares and glares aimed at them is palpable.

Aidan looks back suspiciously at a large group of Shifters, convinced he just heard one of them growl.

Sensing the general level of discomfort they seem to be generating, Farid and Aidan keep their heads down and keep moving forward, until they're stopped by two boys from the tribe, roughly about their age.

Farid looks up and produces a very polite smile. "Excuse us," he says.

He and Aidan step to the right to make their way around them, but both boys step into their path.

Farid and Aidan exchange quick, concerned glances, then step to the left.

The two boys step in time with them and block them again, this time planting their feet firmly in a hostile manner and crossing their arms over their puffed out chests.

Farid, sensing trouble, narrows his eyes.

Boy #1 sneers at them and says, "Oh, look. What do we have here? I think it's the sparkly Vampire and the Fairy."

Boy #2 lets loose a cackle in support of his friend.

Farid takes a step forward, and squaring his shoulders so that he now stands a good five inches taller than Boy #1, calmly looks down his nose at the aspiring bully and says, "First, clearly I'm not sparkling, and it's pronounced 'Vampeer' and spelled with a 'y.' Make sure you get it right next time. Second..." He points back at Aidan, "...he's an Enchanted, not a Fairy."

Aidan stands straighter as well, mimicking Farid's defiant stance. "Yeah, dude. Get it straight! I'm not Fae!" he demands forcefully, pointing at the boys too but from the safe distance and protected position behind Farid's back.

Boy #1 looks past Farid to pinpoint his glare on Aidan. "That's funny because you look Fae to me!"

All four boys close in, standing in opposition to each other. And with hackles raised, it's clear a fight is imminent...

...until a voice cuts through the tension.

"All right, that's enough!" the commanding voice, low but more youthful than an adult's voice, booms.

Farid and Aidan turn to see a third boy from the Shifter tribe come over and join them. He's slightly older than the two teenage Shifters they've been dealing with.

He's tall, thin, with a very long face and long black hair pulled back into a low ponytail. He's also the spitting image of Minuk.

When the Shifter boys don't move, the young man raises his voice and speaks more forcefully this time. "I said, that's enough!" He trains a laser-like gaze on his friends.

The Shifter boys stare at the young man, in both fear and awe, as he arches a brow and adds, "I'm serious. You should really get going or else you'll be late for the meeting. And you know how Chief Qa'watil gets when you're late."

His steely stare and stern warning finally prompt the troublesome boys to take off.

The young man remains. He turns to Aidan and Farid. "I'm sorry about that." He gently rolls his eyes. "They're idiots. Just ignore them." He extends his hand in greeting. "My name's Ahmik. I'm Minuk's younger brother."

As their silent question is answered and the connection between the young man and Minuk is made, Farid nods then shakes Ahmik's hand. Aidan does as well.

Ahmik looks down the path that Farid and Aidan had been taking and then points in the opposite direction where the bullies had run off to. "Are you guys headed to the community meeting?"

"Uh, no," Farid replies coolly. "We have to check in with our headmaster at the academy and this is the only time he could speak with us. We can't seem to get a decent signal in the tent." Farid pulls his phone out of his back pocket and holds it up as if it's indisputable evidence of the lousy cell phone service they're getting in the yurt.

"Ah, yes," Ahmik says. "That part of the compound is notorious for spotty reception."

Aidan's got his hands shoved deep in his jeans pockets and is repeatedly rolling up onto the balls of his feet, the adrenaline from just having escaped a probable fist fight making it impossible for him to stay still. "Yeah," he interjects, needlessly. "We've got a very important conference call with Headmaster Pierce," he adds.

Ahmik gives a weak smile in return, more confused than impressed by Aidan's additional, but entirely redundant, contribution to the conversation. "Okay," he says. "Well, look if you guys are free tonight, we're having a bonfire down in the gulch. It's a celebration of the Hanwi Moon. The celebration is called the Eman'yatta. You should join us! In fact, you should participate as our guests," he adds enthusiastically.

Aidan and Farid simultaneously relax. Ahmik seems very different from the other boys.

Farid casts Aidan a questioning glance, trying to gauge whether or not Aidan thinks it's wise to accept an invitation like this, on the spot, without Patrick around.

Aidan's lip dips into a grimace as he just gives Farid a shrug in return.

Ahmik, seeing their hesitation, adds, "Oh, c'mon. It'll be a blast! And after the formal ceremony, we have a second one, just for the younger tribal members-no adults allowed." He winks. "At that point, it turns into a raging party. Lot's of fun."

"That sounds great!" Aidan blurts out. He's sold!

Eyes wide, Farid stares at Aidan in disbelief as if to say, "Dude! Slow your roll!"

Aidan's shoulders slump and he gives Farid an apologetic look back and mouths "Sorry."

But before the two can actually reach a consensus, Ahmik spreads his arms wide and exclaims, "Perfect! then, consider yourself invited! Nine o'clock?" He starts to walk away, but oddly, not in the direction of the community meeting. Instead, halfway down the path, looks over his shoulder at them and warns, "Now, don't be late. In our culture, it's considered extremely rude." He raises a brow.

Aidan nods, "Understood."

Ahmik flashes them a big grin before heading off to wherever it was that he was going.

As Aidan and Farid continue on to the Spirit House, Aidan looks over at Farid and says, "Well, he seemed nice, huh? Nothing like Minuk."

"Yeah..." Farid's eyes narrow in suspicion. "He did seem pretty cool, but..." He looks back over his shoulder and watches as Ahmik disappears behind what they were told was the part of the compound where the Chief, the elders, and their councilors lived. "I'm a bit unnerved by anyone associated with Minuk being that nice and welcoming to us."

**********

A/N - Fun Fact: The Hanwi Moon is an actual thing. It's a moon spirit goddess in Sioux mythology. Her name means "Night Sun". There are three main groups who speak the Sioux language. It's apparently the fifth most spoken language in North America. As the moon spirit, Hanwi guards her people during the night, protecting them from harm from evil spirits.

You can learn more about it here: https://www.lakotatimes.com/articles/wi-makatanhan-or-diminishing-full-moon (I'll put all links in their respective comments.)

I based the Eman'yatta ceremony on an actual ceremony, but I can't remember which one at the moment. I think it was based on a Mali warrior ritual. I'll have to look it up for the FAQ.

In the meantime, you can learn more about the ancient Mali empire at the sites below. Did you know one of their historic leaders was Mansa Musa, and because Mali was practically swimming in gold (this is 1312 C.E. to 1337 C.E.), Mansa Musa was the richest man on earth, both then and now (when his wealth is calculated into US dollars.) Supposedly, he was richer than Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk... COMBINED! I watched a documentary on him and it was fascinating!

Mansa Musa - https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/mansa-musa-musa-i-mali/

The Ancient Mail Empire - https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/section/african-history/the-mali-empire

Until next week!

~ Paula ❤️