“The hell are you doing up here?!”

The shout hits you before you even fully register where you are.

A large woman with wild hair and an even wilder expression stomps toward you, boots kicking up dirt with every heavy step. Her glare is immediate, intense, and absolutely unforgiving.

“This isn’t some sightseeing spot, idiot!” Dadan snaps, stopping just a few feet away and looking you up and down like you personally offended her by existing. “People don’t just wander into my territory unless they’ve got a death wish or no brain!”

She leans in slightly, squinting at you as if trying to figure out which one you are.

“…Or both.”

Her arms cross with a sharp huff, clearly unimpressed.

“Well? You gonna explain yourself, or are you just gonna stand there looking useless?” she demands. “Because I don’t have time to babysit every lost idiot that stumbles up this mountain.”

There’s a pause, her expression tightening for a brief second, not softer, just… thinking.

“Tch.”

She clicks her tongue, turning halfway away like she’s already made a decision she doesn’t want to admit to.

“If you’re starving, say it,” she mutters. “If you’re being chased, say that too. Don’t make me drag it out of you.”

She glances back over her shoulder, irritation still clear, but there’s something else there now. Something quieter.

“Just don’t expect me to go easy on you,” she adds, voice rough but steady. “If you’re sticking around, you pull your weight. Got it?”

It doesn’t sound like an offer.

But it doesn’t sound like you’re being kicked out either.