The medicine kept Andromeda asleep through the whole night, but was overpowered by her hunger early in the morning. Thankfully, breakfast came soon after a much-needed shower, where she was understandably ravenous.
Narayan and Malai were overflowing with questions. Sonam and Bulan told them not to hassle Andromeda, but she gave some answers. It only prompted the children to ask more. Andromeda didn't mind it, yet for some reason, Sonam did not want her to talk about her hunt.
Once she was sated and breakfast was cleaned up, Sonam took her outside to the backyard, with Narayan and Malai in tow. Two tarps had been laid over something very long, which took up most of the tiny yard. Sonam pulled them back to reveal the dead snake, laid out to its full length. It was more bloated than Andromeda remembered it being.
"After a First Hunt, the hunter must be the one to dress the carcass," He said. "Ever done that before?"
It had been many years since she had been involved in any sort of hunting. She could vaguely remember watching her father gut a deer; in northern Tenebrae, they hadn't tried to hide death. It was something even the smallest children experienced as a part of life. They realized that life went on at the expense of others. It seemed that Galahd had the same sentiment.
Deer and snakes were very different from one another. Andromeda shook her head. "I don't remember it very well. I don't even know how you'd do it to a snake."
"It's like cleaning out a fish," Sonam crouched near the body and pointed at the gaping throat. "Start here."
He guided her through the process. From the throat wound, she used her kukri to cut down to the snake's anus, opening the body cavity completely. Blood flowed down to the ground; the two wounds hadn't been enough to drain it out overnight. Narayan stayed to watch closely, but Malai soon lost interest once she got a look inside the snake. She went back inside to Bulan.
All of the organs came out next. Sonam lent Andromeda a proper carving knife and helped her sort the useful organs from the rest, keeping the two in separate piles. He instructed her on how to cut the meat from the sides, often carving it off of the ribs.
Once all of the meat was out, Andromeda hurried to take it to the kitchen. As she and Sonam worked outside, she had heard some voices in the house and didn't think too much about it. When she entered the kitchen, she was surprised to find it crammed full of women. Every bit of counter space was used as they worked and chatted.
Before she finished comprehending the sudden bustle in the much-too-small house, Bulan was suddenly in front of her. She took the meat out of Andromeda's hands, as if it had arrived just as she needed it. Andromeda nabbed some bowls before she was shooed back outside. She soon returned after putting the useful organs into one of the bowls. The women squawked as she put it in the refrigerator, finding it absolutely packed with other bowls and plates that weren't there a couple of hours ago.
With the meat and the useful organs taken out, Sonam had Andromeda gather the other organs and bits of the body that weren't deemed useful. He led her out of the village, into the jungle aways, and handed her a shovel. She passed the rest of the morning digging a hole where he pointed. When he deemed it deep and wide enough, she placed the organs and parts in the hole, along with a bushel of herbs that Sonam passed to her just for that purpose. He used the Galahdian word for "payment", but didn't offer much explanation beyond that.
When they returned to the house, Tshering was in the kitchen with the women. Once he spotted Andromeda, he took her and the bowl of useful organs back to the backyard (the only place where they could get some quiet and space). He explained how the organs were useful and walked her through preparing them. When dressing the carcass, she only had to pull the organs and meat out of the body cavity; she found preparing organs for medicinal use to be grosser than that.
After Tshering's lesson, Andromeda was finally done with the snake. Once she was cleaned up, Sonam had returned from taking the hide to the tanner. He took her for a walk through the village.
His house wasn't the only one buzzing with activity: many houses were in a bustle, with people going in between them or shouting from open doors and windows. Many were working about the village square, setting up rope overhead, tied to poles, and hanging lanterns off of them. Others accumulated tables and chairs to set up underneath the lights. Sonam and Andromeda did their best to stay out of everyone's way.
"There's a celebration after every successful First Hunt," Sonam explained briefly. "In honor of the hunter."
It was yet another thing he hadn't explained to her before she went out into the jungle. Of course, a successful First Hunt was something to be celebrated. Andromeda remembered a few instances from Tenebrae, but their celebrations had been much smaller; after all, the child did have an adult help them. But in Galahd, the hunter went alone, completely independent and responsible for getting their own bounty. Sometimes they didn't return at all. It was worth the larger celebration, but it baffled Andromeda to think that the party was in her honor.
They didn't join the preparations. Sonam led her to one of the quieter houses, on the other side of the village. She recognized the dark-skinned man who answered the door as the one who acted as a speaker at the Council meetings—Thaksin. He let them in, saying hardly anything.
There was talking in this house too. It wasn't exempt from the buzz around the village. To the right of the door was the living room, crowded with several Elders. Not all were present; Andromeda presumed some of them had already traveled back to their respective towns until the next Council meeting. Some had not yet decided to make the trip, though.
The eldest one of all—Andromeda had since learned that his name was Kunzang—smiled at their arrival. "Sonam, Andromeda."
It was the second time an Elder ever addressed her. Considering that they had mixed feelings about her, that there were so many gathered in one place as if it were a meeting, and that she was not supposed to speak at such meetings, she had presumed to avoid their attention. It was rather easy to do when she usually traveled around the islands in a camp and never attended Council meetings because she was a foreigner.
Sonam bowed his head towards the Elders, something Andromeda had never seen him do towards them before, but she parroted his gesture all the same. He addressed them in Galahdian, saying something that was still beyond her comprehension. All she could recognize was the word "home".
Kunzang responded with a phrase in Galahdian, then switched to the common language. "We have never let a foreigner participate in the First Hunt. Sonam told us that your people also practiced it. Given your deeds so far, we decided to grant you the right. Now we are interested to know the story."
He was rather long-winded for his age. Andromeda hesitated, still surprised to be addressed by him. She did want to explain what happened, but she had wanted to do it privately with Sonam—or better yet, Hira or Tshering. She was still trying to make sense of all she had experienced out there. She hadn't expected to have to explain it to near strangers.
Andromeda looked to Sonam. He was also waiting, no longer telling her that it wasn't the time to talk about it. Ever since she had returned, he and Bulan hadn't let her tell them anything. She knew that she wasn't supposed to speak in front of Elders at a meeting, and this was close enough to being a meeting.
"Tell them," He said, finally giving her permission.
So Andromeda did, her hesitance still obvious. "I wandered around until I found a watering hole. Decided to camp there during the night. Then I had a nightmare and accidentally summoned chaos in my sleep. I was really confused about where I was and what was going on. The daemons went wild and the warding charms almost didn't hold up. And then a huge coeurl appeared out of nowhere. It saw me through the charms, but it didn't cross the boundaries."
"What color were its eyes?" Kunzang asked.
She didn't see where the color mattered, but it had been the only feature she had seen clearly. "Blue. I found out it was a coeurl when I saw the sparks, but it didn't attack. It just disappeared."
She paused, waiting for an explanation behind his question. As far as she knew, coeurls didn't feign attacks: they went through with them.
"Go on," Kunzang said after Andromeda waited too long.
"I couldn't do anything in the moment. The chaos died out and the daemons calmed down. I fell asleep at some point, then moved the next morning because I didn't think anything would come through after that," She continued with less reluctance. "Then I found some tracks and followed them. I found a tapir. I planned on attacking it, but then I saw a snake was also about to attack it. The snake was going to be a problem no matter what, so I waited for it to attack the tapir first, then attacked the snake while it was distracted. I hadn't really thought it all through. The snake managed to bite my arm. So I stabbed it in the throat and it died. The tapir got away with its baby. I killed the snake, so I brought it back."
That was most of the story, without mentioning the illusions she had seen after her nightmare or while the snake had bitten her. She kept those to herself, especially as no one asked what the nightmare was about. The snake hadn't been venomous; the illusions and nightmares came from her own head. They were something to keep to herself.
"Did you dress the body properly?" One of the other men asked.
"She did. I saw to it this morning," Sonam spoke up. "She was feverish when she got back. The doctor said to let her sleep it off."
"The old magic paid you a visit," Kunzang stated, having been deep in thought while she explained herself. "It is the only explanation for why the coeurl did not attack. You must have realized by now that the First Hunt is a very personal trial, although most don't have such intense experiences. Most are much younger than you are, and have seen less of the world. Your own magic stirred up something that has long been dormant. That the coeurl did not attack or enter the boundary means that it didn't see any harm in your presence."
"Power acknowledging power," Sonam mumbled. "You might have woken something up out there."
Andromeda frowned, sensing that this was turning against her. "I didn't mean to."
"No one holds it against you," Kunzang assured with a raised hand, even though a couple of faces looked like they did. "It's just another reason to have sent you out on the hunt. That the old magic did not reject you shows that there might be yet another reason for your being here. Whatever may come, we can handle it. What would we have to fear from something our ancestors knew all about?"
No one spoke against him—not in his own house. That was another point in which this differed from an official Council meeting. The other point was that, as far as Andromeda knew, Kunzang hardly spoke at official meetings, letting the other Elders debate until they tired themselves out.
"Now, the animal that the hunter kills is representative of the hunter," He changed the subject, moving on.
Andromeda didn't see where she had anything in common with the snake. She recalled, "I had really meant to kill the tapir. It seemed more appropriate."
Kunzang shook his head. "It doesn't matter what you had intended. What happened is what a person is judged on. It's rare that a hunter brings back a snake. It's a very unique situation. They're very difficult to wrangle and kill, even for experienced hunters."
He raised his brows at her for confirmation. She mutely nodded. If it hadn't been for the tapir, Andromeda probably would have wound up dead if she had taken on the snake without a distraction. Then again, if the tapir hadn't been there, she would have passed on the snake, continuing on for hours for some other prey.
"In our traditions, snakes represent medicine and wisdom most of all," Kunzang explained, then added as an afterthought: "In later traditions, they can also represent cunning, deceit, and mystery. Perhaps you should focus on the Tenebraen aspects of the snake."
He waited for a response. When she realized this, she gave a shrug. "I don't think it's much different than yours."
It seemed to please him. "The snake will forever be a totem in your life. It has even marked you. I hope you had someone look at that to make sure it scars properly."
"I did," Andromeda nodded, now a little proud about her bandaged arm. The evening before, she had only been concerned about getting food and water, and babbling to whoever she could get to listen. In the moment, she had gone along with whatever her friends suggested. Now that she was coherent and the pain was dulled, she could appreciate the new scars on her arm, signifying that she had fulfilled a long-overdue rite of passage. She would never be a part of Galahdian society, but she felt like part of something.
"I'm glad to hear it," Kunzang smiled, not minding her foreignness at all. "Few are so lucky to receive such a marking from their First Hunt. We were curious to see how a foreigner would fare during this rite of passage, and it's certainly a unique situation. It makes a good story. Even those against you will have to acknowledge that you succeeded."
He looked to the other old men gathered about the room. Most of them nodded in affirmation, mumbling that it was true. A couple grumbled under their breaths, but Kunzang could hear them.
"From what you've done so far, it shouldn't be so surprising that your quarry was a snake," He said. "You've been emulating its attributes of healing since you arrived here. You're meant to be here—the old magic wants you here."
Again, no one argued what he said. Andromeda wasn't sure what to make of his claim. She hadn't thought there was anything peculiar about the coeurl, other than its size and sudden disappearance. Kunzang had to be right about it, though. Everyone seemed to think that.
She wanted to know more about what it all meant, but the old men moved on to hunts that happened way back in their days. They were no longer interested in her; Andromeda had nothing more to give them.
"You can go help out in the village," Sonam mentioned to her. "I'm going to stay here awhile."
Not wanting to overstay her welcome (knowing it was only for a limited time), Andromeda quietly left the house. She didn't care to be dismissed so soon like a child, but what could she do about it?
Most people turned away her help when she offered. Andromeda wandered back through the village, stopping every time she thought she could lend a hand to someone, but always got turned away. For the most part, it did seem like there was more than enough people preparing for the party anyway. Still, she didn't want to be useless.
Finally, when Andromeda returned to Sonam's house, Bulan gave her something to do with the rest of the women in the kitchen. She believed there was too much to be done for anyone to be idle.
By late afternoon, the most of the food was prepared. People from all over brought dishes to the center of the village and placed them on a long line of tables. With the furniture and lights having long been established, a lot of people had already began drinking.
One such grouping of drinkers caught sight of Andromeda as she placed a dish on the buffet table. A man called to her. "Hey Andromeda! Come sit with us awhile. Tell us what happened."
She recognized him as being one of Sonam's relatives, although she couldn't recall how closely related they were. It was surprising that he knew her name for how little she interacted with his extended family (she was rarely around his immediate family).
Andromeda complied, approaching the group. She repeated her hunt to them, although she omitted the part with all of the nightmares and the coeurl of the first night, making it rather boring. They only needed to know about the tapir and the snake. They thought it was funny that she chose to fight a snake, as if it was something only a fool would do. Yet they also thought it was great that she had received scars from it.
When she was finished telling them, they rewarded her with a beer. She drank it carefully, occasionally looking over her shoulder for Sonam. She didn't want a repeat of last time. Drinking would help her fit in and calm her nerves. Andromeda was still bewildered that this was all because of something she did.
While she lingered to talk with the group, the dish de résistance was brought out by Bulan and put in the center of the buffet table. It was a curry made with the snake meat. She had worked on it all afternoon while the other women made other recipes. The curry was a small dish compared to some of the others; there was not enough for even a quarter of the village.
Bulan waved Andromeda over, giving her the excuse she needed to get away from Sonam's relative and his friends. With the final dish added to the table, many others were coming to the village square, eager to get at the food.
"If anyone has to try this, it's you," Bulan said, spooning some of the curry over rice in a bowl. She handed it over to Andromeda.
Moving out of the way of everyone else, Andromeda took a bite while still within sight of Bulan. She had eaten plenty of her cooking before, and didn't think the snake meat would be terrible if the older woman was willing to cook with it. In fact, it was difficult to taste the meat; there were a lot of different spices in the curry, which either gave the meat flavor or covered it up. She supposed the former for how chewy it was and still didn't taste like anything.
Andromeda didn't get a chance to mention her observations to Bulan; the older woman had put together another plate, then hurried after Narayan and Malai to scold them about some trouble they were causing. Getting some distance from the table, Andromeda realized that the whole village had suddenly turned up when she hadn't been paying attention. The party was well under-way.
She looked around for several minutes for familiar faces. Finally, she saw Hira at a table, frantically waving for her to come over. Relieved, Andromeda crossed the square and sat next to her.
Hira sat with Dechen, Tshering, and others from camp. She grinned. "You can finally sit with the big kids now."
Andromeda smiled in return. Everyone at the table had had months to accept that she was around, but seemed more pleased now that she had gone on a First Hunt.
"Ever had snake before?" Tshering asked. He had a plate full of food in front of him, but none of it was the curry.
"No," She admitted. Assuming it was a normal thing to eat here, she hadn't questioned it. "It doesn't really taste like anything."
"It doesn't," He agreed. "Still, it's a delicacy here. Snakes are difficult to hunt."
Hira took the spoon in Andromeda's bowl and helped herself to the curry. "Good blend of spices."
Klahan came to their table, prompting two others to move aside to give him space. Other than that, no one noticed him join the table. He carried a bowl of curry. Andromeda was surprised; she had guessed he would pass on it.
"So what's the story?" Dechen asked. Everyone at the table hushed, listening. That was what they really wanted to know.
She told them the same story she had told the last table, leaving out the nightmares and the coeurl. If it had been old magic like Kunzang had said, it probably wasn't a good idea to talk about it so openly in front of everyone. Hardly anyone talked of old magic; they wouldn't like that a foreigner had experienced it. Andromeda did not want to be accused of lying.
As with the last group, everyone at the table found her tale amusing, and were excited about the "trophy" on her arm. They were certain that it would turn out well, despite the scarring that was already on her arms.
Once Andromeda was finished, the others started telling their First Hunt stories, all done years ago when they had turned twelve. Their stories were most likely the whole truth, with nothing hidden. Their prey ended up being creatures far more usual: Hira had killed a wild pig, and Tshering had gotten a turtle. Even Klahan joined in telling his story; he had killed a sea devil. Knowing that the quarry became the totem animal for the hunter, Andromeda reflected on their accounts, and how it had effected them.
Night settled in soon among them. Many others wanted to hear her story, and she was pulled away from Hira and the others. Sonam and Bulan also appeared to get almost as much attention from all of this as well. One of the older villagers explained that a First Hunt also meant something to the parents: that their child is growing up well and establishing their place in society, and the parents are lucky that the child has returned alive.
Of course, Andromeda wasn't their child, and hadn't been a child for a long time. Yet she was under Sonam's oath, so he and Bulan took the praise. The foreigner he had taken in was tougher than they all thought. She might be worth something after all.
Plenty of children heard of Andromeda's battle with the snake, possibly more impressed than the adults because they hadn't gone on a hunt yet. Narayan was the most excited. He made all sorts of claims through the night about what his First Hunt was going to be like. Andromeda found it mildly entertaining to listen to, when someone wasn't pulling her away.
It seemed like everyone but the children were drinking. Hira didn't seem to remember the lesson Sonam had given her and Andromeda; she had gone through a couple of beers and was a little rosy in the face. Andromeda drank more carefully, keeping an eye out for Sonam all the while.
A little before the snake curry had been brought to the party, music had started playing on a radio somewhere. Several people had chosen to dance. She steered clear from it, but no one seemed interested in roping her into it. She was the chief storyteller of the night. Everyone wanted to hear what had happened.
After it seemed like the entire village had heard her story, Andromeda went to the well-picked-over buffet table to get a second beer, and to get some space from the party. Only a couple of people were still coming to the table for food. The bowl of snake curry had been quickly cleaned out as soon as Bulan placed it on the table.
Observing the party from afar, Andromeda realized just how much fun she was having through the night. Repeating herself was tiring, but the camaraderie and acceptance everyone had for her now was worth it. She was comfortable around these people. No one had reminded her that she was a foreigner all night.
She didn't have much experiences with parties. There had been a couple when she lived in Lucis, in Little Gahald no less, but she had been such a wallflower then that she couldn't remember them. Still, she tried to remember the last time.
The last time she had been involved in such a large social gathering hadn't been much of a party at all: it had been almost two years ago, that dreadful ball in Gralea. The clothing there had cost an ungodly amount that these villagers couldn't even dream of. There had hardly been much for food and drink; at this party, there was an overabundance of both, as everyone had made something to bring.
Galahdian music was much more lively than the classical music favored by Imperials. Andromeda found that she like Galahdian music more. She had heard much of it since arriving to the islands. The dancing that went along with it was creative, telling stories through body movements. No one had ulterior motives; she really liked it here in Galahd.
Another person came up to the table. Andromeda realized too late that it was Sonam. She startled, setting her beer down on the table, in hopes that he wouldn't think it was hers.
"Relax," He chuckled. "I know you won't black out a second time. Hira's the one I need to watch."
Andromeda picked up her drink again, still carefully watching him. She didn't dare actually drink it in front of him.
He looked at the party as well, observing. He spoke again after another moment. "You did well."
"Thanks," She said. Through the excitement and pride of completing her First Hunt, she did have to admit that underneath, she felt rather foolish about it. After hearing others tell their tales, she thought she had been an idiot.
"I can't remember the last time someone brought back a snake," Sonam crossed his arms.
"Some of the Elders seemed impressed by it," Andromeda added. "Though I don't know what it means."
"Exactly as they told you: a snake is rare."
"What about the coeurl?" She asked. "Kunzang said it was old magic."
He gave a shrug. "It probably was. That's what the Elders are more interested in. It means something if old magic appeared, especially before a foreigner. My guess is that you made enough noise out there to stir something up. We'll leave it to the Elders to figure out what it means. It definitely has gotten more of them to like you."
Andromeda hadn't gotten that impression from the conversation earlier in the afternoon. Perhaps more had gone on after she left, when she presumed they were finished with her. But like Sonam had said, it was probably best to leave the pondering to the Elders. The two of them had enough on their hands. Maybe it didn't mean anything more beyond the moment that it had happened.
"You have a long way to go before the oath is fulfilled. You haven't even made a dent yet," Sonam said.
Just as he might be hiding something from his conversation with the Elders, Andromeda suspected that he might be fudging the numbers a little in his count. One Elder had told her months ago that she would never be free of the oath. Maybe the Elder hadn't been trying to threaten her.
"But you've proven your worth here. Most people have changed their opinions of you—even Klahan, although he's too prideful to admit he's ever been wrong," Sonam continued. "You've come a long way to adapting here. Maybe when the oath is fulfilled, you'll consider staying. It won't be difficult to convince the Elders at that point."
The suggestion surprised her. She hadn't thought he would ever consider it. She hadn't thought that far ahead; she knew it would be years before she fulfilled the oath and he would release her. She hadn't thought much of the future at all, nor what she wanted to do with it.
She was happy here in Galahd, even in her current situation of subservience. She hadn't been so happy since her time in Lucis, but back then she had had to hide herself, always on the edge that someone would find out one of her many horrible secrets, one of which would have gotten her deported. There was still the risk of capture by Niflheim in Galahd—there was no escaping that now no matter where Andromeda went—but there were plenty of hiding places, and the Imperials were not good at traversing the islands.
It was certain that something would happen in their fight against the Empire, that things would turn hopeless someday. Yet she could humor the dream of staying on in Galahd, even after she fulfilled her oath to Sonam. It wasn't like she could ever see the people she left behind in Lucis again. It was too dangerous for them.
When she took too long to respond, Sonam mentioned with a shrug, "Or maybe you can take everything you've learned here back to Tenebrae. Help your people finally regain their independence."
"No," Andromeda said quickly. "There's no hope for that. I'll consider staying here."
Tenebrae hadn't been an option since she had left. Her mind was leaning towards remaining in Galahd. She already had so much here.
She was shaken awake much earlier than she would have liked. Bulan stood over her cot in Malai's bedroom. The party had gone very late into the night; it didn't appear to be an acceptable excuse to sleep in.
"Get up," Bulan urged quietly, only wanting to wake Andromeda, not Malai. "Imperials are in the village."
That was all the reason she needed to get out of bed. Andromeda hurried to gather her few things and follow Bulan downstairs. Sonam was in the living room, speaking quietly with a couple of other rebels. After he gave an order, they left through the front door, to rouse others in the village.
He turned to Andromeda, looking her over. "Let's go."
They went out the back door, only telling Bulan a quick goodbye. In the backyard, they squeezed through a break in the fence that was in need of mending. From there, they hurried out into the jungle.
"Imperials came to Kotun this morning. Scouts spotted them on the road at sunrise," Sonam explained. "An Elder is speaking with the general at the store. Hopefully he can stall him long enough so everyone can escape. Everyone has thirty minutes to get to camp. It'll take that long to tear everything down."
He gave that order as soon as they came across the tents. There was no time to get a sense of homecoming; everything had to be packed up as soon as possible. Sonam and Andromeda joined the effort.
Others trickled in to camp and joined the tear down. He frequently stopped what he was doing in order to do a headcount. He sent some ahead west to scout.
The camp was officially taken down in less than the thirty minutes he had given them. With everyone accounted for, Sonam gave the order for everyone to go west.
Thus they snuck away without conflict, the Imperials none the wiser to their whereabouts.