AN: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima! How many of you has he had in tears these last few weeks?! Ruined the first half of my holiday! (I only got caught up at 3am the day we were leaving...HUGE mistake!)

Hey! Very quick update and very early in the morning compared to usual! Graduation is today and I'm not looking forward to it, but hopefully you'll enjoy this update!

Thank you, MakeItHale, for being wonderful!

For anyone curious about how to pronounce the brothers' names:

Kurro - Koor-oh (I was laughing when I realised that one of the possible translations of his name was 'Happy', which was completely unintentional)

Vupoan - Vu-po-an

Vkkur - Vk-koor


Chapter Eight

Levy sat silently on the hut floor, uncomfortably aware of the older woman blatantly staring at her. She had asked Gajeel to wait outside, inviting her in alone. Vkkur was outside with Gajeel and all she knew was that this woman was Vkkur's 'Pirkar'. Apparently young males did not think to give their mother's name when introducing them. Hopefully his father would introduce her when he finally arrived, but Levy had no idea how much longer they still needed to sit in this awkward silence.

"You have three sons?" She offered, her words echoing slightly in the large hut.

The female nodded silently, a smile twitching at the corner of her lips. Should she try again? The female had found her question at least mildly amusing. She glanced around the single room of the hut, searching for something she could ask about. There were no pictures on the walls, but would they even have someone to make them? Did they value things like pictures? Could she ask about that? No, she did not even know the word for 'picture'. Her eyes travelled around the floor area, skimming past the stove in the centre. Her eyes fell on the bundle of furs in the corner behind the female. What were they for? She checked the other corners, but other than the single log burning, stone stove and the one large bundle of furs, the room was clear of anything.

"Do your sons still live here with you?" Levy asked hopefully, watching as the female glanced behind her at the pile of furs and frowned.

"How would we fit five under three furs?" The female returned, still frowning. "Only Vkkur lives with us – our elder three have Purav."

"I could not tell how many furs there were." Levy smiled back, glad to finally hear her voice again. "You also have a daughter?"

"Raddna is no longer a Drirtirrar...My daughter is now a Rkerakiz. They are very high up, but the life of their people is not easy. The Ragkiz are actually becoming a threat to them…" She paused, chuckling quietly to herself as Levy leaned forward in her curiosity to learn more of her future family. "The Ragkiz were the lowest of the hunting families, but that was just due to their preference to keep out of the way. They are not a big family as such, but now that the sister of the Head is the Pura of the King, Metarikana has been forced to be more than just a sly friend to the King – he has to show face!" The female smirked, seeming as if she were declaring that it had been inevitable. "Many families do not approve of the influence of Metarikana, but he still remains undefeated. We of the Drirtirrar consider the Ragkiz long friends. They are the one family whose border has never moved from ours."

"When you say that their border has never moved from yours, are you implying that territories move?" Levy frowned thoughtfully, hoping she had her words right.

"Girl, you are asking a strange question." The female grinned, shaking her head at her. "They move regularly and the families sometimes argue over land...The grandfather of Metarikana defeated the Head of the Ragkiz after the Ragkiz lost most of their ground. They had been forced out of the forest and into the mountains by the Dnukmrinxareta and their range within the mountains was being taken by the Rkerakiz. They had begun to starve to death and their numbers became dangerously low. We helped them from our range, for back then, we controlled both the south and the east banks of the lower mountain lake. Once his grandfather took over, the family managed to regain some source of food – enough, at least, to keep them alive."

"How did the Ragkiz manage to regain their ground? Surely if their numbers were low, they would not be able to risk fighting, but if they did not gain more land, how could they support a larger family with which to fight back?" Levy rushed, subconsciously leaning forward as she began biting her lip.

"You are discussing survival tactics? Was my son correct then in telling me that your uncle was a 'Generar' and your father a military man also?" The familiar male voice from earlier interrupted from the now open door.

"What your son says is true, but I would be of no use to a military." She mused, turning her head to smile at the giant male.

"We may yet find out." He replied, shaking his head in mild amusement. "As for the Ragkiz history, his grandfather stabilised their numbers, but it was his father that regained the forest land that they had lost. I believe he even offered one of his own daughters in return for the east bank of the lower mountain lake, but the trade was declined – he was given the east bank in return for help whenever we need it against other families. Drirtirrar and Ragkiz are allies of sorts, but if it had not been Metarikana or Gajiru asking for our help for such a...normal injury, we would not have given our aid. Many Ragkiz are foolhardy enough to risk fighting a boar for its flesh and tusks, but few live through the encounter. They should leave them to the Hraorink who hunt in packs, rather than in pairs."

"Gajeel managed a boar on a lone hunt." Levy nodded proudly, faltering as the older male gave her a reprimanding look.

"Do not boast of foolishness, or he will find himself in the same situation as his father currently is." The male frowned, narrowing his eyes at her. "Were you the reason that Metarikana was hunting that boar on his own?"

"He was not hunting alone. Gajeel put me in a tree and then the two of them went stalking into the bushes. Next thing I knew, Metalicana was completely deranged and trying to kill Gajeel." Levy puffed, folding her arms in front of her chest. "He was not hunting alone."

"Have the two never hunted together before?" The male questioned, looking mildly puzzled.

Levy paused for a moment, remembering their perfectly synchronised silent stopping. She had wondered at the time how they had managed it and perhaps it was the key to the accident after all? There was no possible way that they could have hunted together before. According to Gajeel, a male of his family only began hunting at sixteen seasons of their birth and, according to Gajeel, his father had left four summers before him. If that was true, Gajeel must have only been fourteen winters. Even when they had been returning through the Boscan forests, Metalicana had been the one hunting, not Gajeel .They truly could not have hunted together, so how had they been perfectly synchronised?

"They had not." She stated, wondering how much she should explain to him. "However, they were keeping perfect time with each other without having to speak."

"Fools." The older male hissed, a hand moving to his forehead. "They both tried to take the lead...Has Gajiru never hunted with another before? Who would let a male as young as him lead a paired hunt?! They both tried to hunt the boar, without even establishing a lead! They are fools! They both tried to lead and Metarikana paid the price! I hope that Dnoavkrepr charges him azrirreiturano!"

"I do not understand?" Levy frowned, not understanding how he had reached his conclusion, or his final word.

"You say they were keeping perfect time?" He repeated, waiting for her to nod before continuing. "They were not – they were reacting to the exact same signals. They were acting independently, not together. Had they been acting together, they would have been signalling each other. From what you have said, they are both excellent hunters, but they did not think to establish a lead. Metarikana assumed that he had the lead, but Gajiru was acting on instinct. Gajiru is a lone hunter and clearly has very little experience hunting in a pair."

"...That explains why Gajeel feels guilty..." Levy mumbled quietly, her hands tightening around her upper arms. "I should have realised...I should have said something..."

"What are you saying, child?" Vkkur's mother soothed, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"Nuha, you do not need to understand her words to understand her feeling of guilt. She has been baring it since they left Fiore, I am sure. Now she feels responsible for injury of Metarikana." The male explained, his voice surprisingly soft. "She has no reason to feel responsible. The two males were unfamiliar with each other and they let that be their downfall – there was nothing she could have done. They were the fools and it was Gajiru who lead her to feel she had a reason to come with him. He should have kept his feelings to himself and hidden any sign of attraction or fondness."

"He is still but a boy, even if his traditions say otherwise, Zikar." Nuha lectured, holding Levy closer as if she were trying to protect her from her own shadow.

"I know, my Pura...but the fool has dragged this poor, innocent girl into the forests of Bosco, while her country is at war with it...Young love is too foolish." Zikar sighed, sitting down next to them heavily.

"I would not change my mind. However I do wish to learn of the fate of my family...? Gajeel has said that the only connection with Fiore would be through Princess Juvia?" Levy bit her lip, not sure if she really wanted the older male to confirm what she had been told.

"She is, but I do not know if she will be able to gain information for you? How is your Boscan?" He frowned, watching her carefully.

"My Boscan is fluent, thank you." She grinned back, blushing as she heard a chuckle through the apparently still open doorway.

"I do not know what you have just said to me, but it certainly sounded Boscan rather than Fiorian." Zikar mused, flashing his Natsu-like grin at her.

"Do you know where I will find Gajeel? We need to discuss our plans for our time here and for our journey to continue searching for his family." She smiled happily, pulling back from Nuha slightly to sit up straight once more.

"I have already sent him to join the Hraorink males – he told me to say that he will gather what he can so that he does not have to leave you in order to hunt while you are walking." Zikar mused, smiling down at her. "He also asked where he could find his family, but all I know is that they have withdrawn. It seemed to have meant something to him?"

"He will know camps of his family well." She nodded, moving to stand up. "If you do not mind, I would like to go for a walk around your camp?"

"I will keep an eye on her, Kurkar!" Vkkur grinned, sticking his head unceremoniously through the open doorway.

"As you wish." He replied, shaking his head at his son's enthusiasm.

"Thank you." Levy chimed as she spun towards the door, quickly making her way outside.

She took a deep breath as she stepped out of the large hut, closing her eyes as she felt the sun caress her skin and the cool breeze encircle her. They had been travelling through the forest for so long. She had not even realised she had missed the sunshine and breeze. She opened her eyes and smiled as she ran a hand over her pale skin. Even without the direct sunlight of the open plains, she had managed to gain some colour. Perhaps her family would actually approve if they could see her now? She was stronger and, even without a mirror, she knew she looked healthier.

"Would you like to visit the lake?" The young male grinned, taking hold of her wrist before she could answer.

She laughed as she found herself running through the middle of the fairly large gathering of various sized huts, each looking like a scaled version of the one before. Vkkur's parents' was easily the largest, but there were other large ones that she knew must house big families. After almost a minute of being dragged through what she could only guess classified as 'streets' to the Drirtirrar, they reached the wooden jetty where they had landed. Levy smiled as Kurro waved at her, his expression surprisingly bright. Vupoan nodded to her as he tied the boat to the jetty, throwing Vkkur a disappointed look. Kurro pointed to the tools in the bottom of the boat, earning a guilty look from Vkkur.

"I am looking after our guest...She is to stay with us..." He replied sheepishly, looking towards her for support.

"I had not realised he should have returned to his duties, or I would have sent him away." Levy grinned, earning a chuckle from Vupoan as Vkkur adopted a look of utter betrayal. "He is taking me to see the lake now, but I assume your tasks are done for the day?"

"They are indeed, Revy." Vupoan nodded, still smirking. "Enjoy your time by the lake – make sure he teaches you some interesting fishing tricks!"

"I shall!" She called back as Vkkur pulled her off again at high speed, moving upstream. "I did not know you were giving up your duties to entertain Gajeel and I? I truly must thank you, V-,V-...Ok, I do not wish to insult you, so I shall just come clean now...I cannot say your name – I struggle with the first sound." She sighed, glad that his brothers could no longer hear her as they dropped down on the bank at the side of the vast body of dark water.

"I did wonder if you would be able to." Vkkur laughed, nudging her arm with his shoulder. "It is fine! You may call me 'Kur' if you prefer? I do not mind. My family have called me it for years."

"Well, thank you, Kur, for helping us when we were in need and for allowing us into your home."