“What you are is God's gift to you, what you become is your gift to God.” 

- Hans Urs von Balthasar, Prayer

"Where were you yesterday, Sehun?" Quime asked as he walked by his tent. No matter where he was, Quime somehow always found time in his "busy" schedule to single him out and mess with him, and by busy Sehun meant day filled with raiding and god knows what else. "Just drifting a bit," Sehun answered softly, not even glancing at the older as he passed by. Quime snickered before taking hold of Sehun's shoulder, pulling him around to face him, "Heard you brought some girl with you, did you two have fun?" Sehun raised an eyebrow at the other, who smirked at him with a disgusting look on his face. Sehun wanted to throw up, but kept a clam demeanor and shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, I always have fun. She screamed pretty loudly though..." he answered flatly.

Quime's eyes grew slyer as he leaned against the younger, which caused Sehun to grunt a bit since the older was much heavier than he was, especially since Quime was still adorned in all of his armor (not that anyone ever really took theirs off). "Oh, really? You must have been pretty good then," Quime laughed and shook Sehun's shoulders up a bit. Sehun tilted his head and looked at the other with a puzzled expression, before the underlying meaning of Quime's words came to his realization. "Wait... you thought..." "Well, didn't you? Why else would you bring a girl back with you?" The older laughed, slapping Sehun hard in the back and causing him to fall forward into the sand. He quickly caught his fall with his hand. The sand and gravel indented his palms sharply. Luckily his hands were thickly calloused, hardened over from living in the Ökenna for so many years. 

Sehun brushed himself off before glaring at the twisted man. "You're sick. I found her in the desert and brought her back because it's the right thing to do." "Ah, little Sehun, when will you ever learn?" Quime looked at him with a loopy smile that made Sehun's stomach churn, "You've lived here for what, 18 years now? You should know that women are a luxury here. Real women anyway... Ugh, why are all of ours so plain? Anyway, the point is that, if they're decent enough, have your way with them."  

Sehun let out a soft grumble as he stood to his feet, dusting his clothes off with his hands before straightening up and sending a glare at the other man. "I don't appreciate the fact that you're objectifying women like that," he said with a distant voice. The other chuckled, "Every man does it. It's just the way things are here. You should know that by now, bird boy."  Sehun paused for a second at the sound of that nickname. He didn't like it, nor did he like what it insinuated about himself. He looked down at his feet and let out a sigh. "Well that's not the way I am... And don't call me that!" He answered, clenching his fists tightly and shoving them in his pockets.

"Aw, why not?" Quime asked with a devious look on his face, "You know everyone else calls you that too. And why shouldn't we?" Sehun let out a sharp exhale before moving his feet forward. He couldn't stand a conversation with the older man for more than five minutes without becoming enraged, and Quime knew this. He would go as far as to say that messing with Sehun was a guilty pleasure of his. Quime watched the younger begin to walk away, and desiring to add more oil to the fire, added, "You know, I heard Yeja call you that to Keshi the other day." The comment caused Sehun to freeze in his tracks, eyes widened and mouth slightly agape. Quime smirked as he saw how his words effected the kid. "She was saying how she only saw you as a friend, probably because she's going to get together with Keshi soon. But it's not like none of us saw this coming. She's only friends with you because she pities you. And Keshi's only friends with you because Yeja told him to. Man, that guy is so whipped," he snickered, enjoying how ticked off Sehun looked. 

"Shut up. Yeja would never call me that." Sehun spat, his knuckles turning white. "Oh, sorry. Did I strike a nerve?" Quime said with a sadistic laugh. "Shut up! Just Shut up!" Sehun shouted, turning around and glaring at the other, and in his anger, accidentally sent a gust of shooting towards Quime. The blow swept through the sand and knocked Quime off his feet. The older man fell back and slammed his head flat against the ground. Quime groaned in pain, ready to give the younger the beat down of his life as he cursed loudly, "Sehun you little-!" But Sehun was gone already gone. Quime stood up quickly and whipped his head around, looking for him before quickly gazing up in the sky. And in his line of sight he could make out the outline of the brunette boy, flying quickly away from his tent towards the east side of the settlement. "I swear, one day I'm going to kill him," Quime hissed as he winced in pain.

-

"These people are nuts..." one of the apprentice healers whispered to her co-worker. It had been around a day since they had found these strangers in the middle of the desert. They had actually fallen upon some of the tribe's supply platforms. It was a good thing they had landed near them, or else they would have died in the midst of the barren wasteland. "How did they even get here? And why?" She continued as she dabbed a damp clothe on Kai's face, wiping some dried dirt off the unconscious boy's nose. "Maybe the Bird Spirit sent them, like how it sent Sehun. Maybe they're here to take him away," the second healer answered quietly. The two giggled to each other. Unfortunately, they did not realize Yeja's presence behind them until the girl cleared , gaining their horrified attention.

"What was that?" the older asked, raising an eyebrow at her two subordinates. The girls choked on their words and began to babble nonsense, trying to cover up their previous conversation. "N-Nothing really. We were just talking about how to keep dirt and sand away from the patients," the second stuttered. Yeja tilted her head to the side and eyed them judging. She didn't believe them for a second. The two girls stood up straight and bowed their heads down, staring at their feet in embarrassment. "It's quite rude to gossip about people behind their backs, and even more so in front of people's fa