Halona stares at the totem, hands shaking slightly as she takes it into her hand. The all too familiar carving of the bear causes her to swallow thickly and glance towards Denahi and Mai. Her eyes are screaming for help, not sure what to do or how to react.
"Halona," Tanana strokes the side of Halona's face gently, bringing her face back towards her direction. "I know it's not what you were expecting, but the spirits know what they're doing. They know you. Let love guide your actions and one day, you'll be a woman and will place your mark upon those of our ancestors."
Tanana's hand motions over to the wall with the handprints and Halona's eyes follow suit. Halona forces a smile as Tanana pulls her into a congratulating hug. Halona can't help but to look into the distance, praying that the spirits know what they're doing.
After the ceremony had wrapped up, Halona had quickly escaped, making her way back towards her cliff. She needs to be alone right now to collect her thoughts.
"Halona!" Halona's attention is caught by the voices of Denahi and Mai calling out to her. She turns around, little to no emotion in her face.
"Oh, kid," Denahi sighs, pulling Halona into a hug. He strokes her hair softly. "I know this is hard, but Tanana's right. The spirits know what they're doing. Just…just follow your totem. Things will work out-"
"Follow my totem? Who's left to love? Everyone I loved is gone!" at this point, Halona has pushed Denahi away, tears stinging her blue eyes.
Denahi's mouth opens lightly to say something but shuts it and looks away. He's hurt by her words, there's no doubting that. Everyone she loved is gone? What about him? He's right here.
Halona sighs, and looks down to the ground. She rubs her eyes, freeing them of the tears that had blurred her vision, "Denahi…I didn't mean that-"
"I get it. Kenai and Sitka are gone. I miss them too, but you need to understand that there are still people around you that love you!" Denahi's voice becomes louder, the pain from Halona's words taking over as he speaks, "I love you! Mai loves you! You're stubborn and hard headed but we love you for that. But if you're not happy here…then maybe you should go find Kenai and live with him."
Halona can feel her heart breaking. She was upset and angry, but this isn't what she meant!
"Denahi, I-"
Denahi pushes her hand away, "I need some space." Denahi walks away, the storm clouds covering his heart are practically visible to Mai and Halona.
"Halona, you really hurt him. I don't blame him for being angry," Mai says softly.
"Then why don't you go after him? After all, I'm not the one in love with him," Halona spats. Mai is taken aback by her words.
"You know, maybe you do need some love in your heart. If you had it already, you wouldn't be acting like this," Mai's gray eyes burn with disappointment before she runs off to catch up with Denahi.
Halona watches Denahi and Mai's forms grow smaller as they move farther into the distance. Once they're out of sight, she pinches the bridge of her nose, mentally kicking herself for acting so selfish towards them. She just needs some space to cool off and then she'll apologize and talk things over with them. They both mean the world to her, even though her outburst seemed otherwise, and she doesn't want to lose more family than she already has.
Halona turns onto her heel and starts walking farther away from the village towards her cliffside spot.
It's midafternoon by the time she reaches the cliffside. The cooling winds blow softly through her wavy hair. Sunlight peeks through the gaps in the leaves of the trees in the woodland behind her. She sits on the edge, allowing her legs to dangle. She removes the totem that was placed upon her neck at the end of the ceremony and stares at the carving.
"Sitka," she mutters, "they say you know what you're doing, but…it almost feels as if you're mocking me. Please, give me some guidance here. I understand why Kenai deserved this totem, but me? Up until you left a few months ago, I was always a lover. I was nice to everyone."
Halona's soft lips tremble a bit as she continues praying to her brother, eyes beginning to get watery. She screams out her last question, tears falling, and clutching her totem in her right fist until the knuckles turn white, "So why do I of all people need more love in my heart? Haven't I loved and suffered enough?"
A snap in the brush behind her causes her to quickly silence herself. She throws her totem back over her head and stands up quickly, turning towards the source of the sound. Blue eyes narrow, eyeing every detail in the landscape in front of her, looking for the culprit of the sound. Right now, she's weaponless. She cautiously looks to the ground and spots a decently sized rock. It won't kill anyone, but it'll at least work as a distraction.
Halona picks up the rock and narrows her eyes as she watches the shrubbery. The sound of bustling that was once soft and distant grows closer. She draws her arm back slowly, preparing to catapult the rock. Just as she's getting ready to throw the rock, a small bear cub tumbles out of the bushes. His eyes are drenched in fear, heavily panting as if he were running for his life.
"He went this way!" Well, maybe he was. The sound of two men make their ways towards Halona and the cub. The cub looks at Halona, their eyes meeting. His eyes are begging her for protection. She swallows thickly before motioning him to get behind her. Suddenly, two men exit the brush and are met face to face with Halona. She recognizes them both as well distinguished hunters for her tribe. The man on the left is tall and well built. His muscles are made visible with the tightness of his shirt's sleeves. He has long dark hair that's tied tightly into a bun on his head. The facial hair on his face is nothing but a shadow, but still makes him look strong and fearsome.
The other one isn't as nice to look at but is just as good a hunter as the other. He's shorter than the first man by only a few inches and has a large, round stomach that protrudes from the bottom of his shirt a bit. He's clean shaven and his hair is short and slightly spiked.
"May I ask what you two are doing so far from the village, Koloku?" Halona asks the taller man, her arms folded across her chest.
"I could ask the same about you, sweets," Koloku smirks. As Halona and Koloku are exchanging words, the larger man notices the bear cub hiding behind Halona's legs.
"There he is!" he points out, grabbing both Halona and Koluku's attentions.
"Step aside, Halona. That little runt stole our catch for tomorrow's breakfast," Koloku spats. Halona gives slight glance to the cub behind her. He cowers more behind her.
"He's a cub! He was a hungry. Surely you could spare a few morsels for him," Halona adjusts herself, creating even more of a barrier between the bear cub and the two men.
"Sorry, but we value ourselves more than some dumb little bear," Halona growls at Koloku's words.
"Are you forgetting that one of our own tribesmen is a bear now? Killing this bear is equal to killing one of our own!" Halona yells, rage beginning to cloud her vision.
"Kenai was no longer a member of our village the second he made the decision to stay a bear."
Halona silently gasps, taken aback by the comment. The rage forming in her eyes disappears in an instant and is replaced with heartbreak. How could he say such a thing?
"Kai, get the cub," Koloku orders his companion. The larger man cracks his knuckles and takes step forward. Before Halona can even get a chance to process a decent plan, she swivels around, grabs the cub, and darts off into the forest.
"Hey! Get back here!" Halona hears Kai order. Halona ignores him and continues to run, her blood pumping in her ears, breathing heavy and loud.
The two men chase after her, their spears clutched tightly in hand. As Halona continues running with the little cub, she whispers for him to tuck and roll before throwing him into the brush. The men obviously don't see play this trick as they both run past the spot in which he was tossed and continue to run after Halona.
Halona glances back and chuckles mischievously at Koloku and Kai, amused by their obliviousness.
"Whoa!" Halona skids to a stop at the edge of a cliff. She's able to throw her body back just enough as to not fall off the edge. She's reached the other side of the cliffside, the edge being just as steep as the one where she had been residing prior.
"Nowhere to run now, huh? Gives us the cub," Kai chuckles darkly.
Halona turns around and shrugs, showing her empty arms and hands, "Sorry, I don't have him."
The two hunters glare at her, eyes darkening with pure resentment. For a moment, Halona believes that she sees evil in their hearts. Does Tanana know that they're not as good of people as everyone thought?
"Tell us where he is!" Koloku shouts, pointing his spear at Halona. Her blue eyes widen, trying to understand if he's truly threatening to kill her.
"Probably long gone by now," Halona seethes, hands raised in defense.
"Gah! These stupid bears! They cause nothing but trouble! They're-"
"Creatures. Innocent creatures," Halona finishes his sentence with her own words, "Yeah, I get it, they can suck sometimes, but they're still living beings. They're just following their instincts to survive just as we are."
"Of course, you would think that," Koloku drops his spear and walks over to Halona. She flinches when comes to stand only a few inches from her, "You're the bear of love, after all. It's written by the Spirits that you'll find a way to love anything regardless of what they do. Now, thanks to Kenai, the entire village thinks that bears are one of us. So, I'll make them realize, once again, that bears are not one of us. Thank you, Halona."
"Wha-" Koloku rips off her totem from its place on her neck and gently shoves her, sending her off the cliff.
She falls.