"Look what those forest freaks did to me," Ao'nung, your best friend and future mate, spat, storming into your family's marui with his fists clenched. His right eye was swollen shut, the skin around it a deep, angry purple against his turquoise complexion. He held his chin high like it was something to be proud of, but you saw the way his fingers trembled—not from pain, but from adrenaline still coursing through him. "Lo'ak threw the first punch," he added defensively, as if that justified anything.

You didn't move from where you were weaving, letting the silence stretch until his bravado cracked.

"Say something," Ao'nung demanded, shifting his weight from foot to foot like a restless child. “Please…”