53 years ago
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A small village located deep within a forest, the village is lively and is filled to the brim with Joonkels. They are all gathering around a little hut that is holding a birth ceremony of the new first born baby they’ve had ever since they’ve escaped their captors. The town has food ready for anyone to take, drinks being poured out into carved mugs from the trees, and people playing instruments. It’s a whole festival, hosted by the leader of the village himself, Oukull Forecka’linser. Oukull’s wife, Greta, is the one giving birth to what they call their, ‘miracle child’. The whole town is lively, until the loud sound of Greta crying inside the tent, she was going into labor. Everyone drops what they’re doing and gives their full attention to the tent. The screaming went on for almost a full two hours, with no one except Oukull and the local village doctor, knowing what was going on inside it. After the two hours had passed, the screaming stopped but the crying still continued, though there was a new source for the crying, the newborn baby. Oukull came out of the tent, and held the baby up in the air as everyone cheered. The first baby born in this village was none other than Hillanter Forecka’linser.
After the birth ceremony, Oukull helped his wife get cleaned up, though the doctor did make a check up. He came in with bad news, due to the complications of birthing out Hillanter, Greta had developed some kind of disease or something that is inside her body, slowly killing her. Greta kept coughing up blood, and had a pretty high fever, the doctor doesn’t know what caused it or what to do to treat it. Oukull is now forced to raise Hillanter on his own, as his wife will stay in the hospital. The day after the birth ceremony took place, Oukull slept alongside his newborn for the first time, vowing to raise him as a strong warrior.
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6 years later
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Hillanter has grown up to be a normal six year old boy, doing little chores for his household, like fetching a pail of water from the well, and getting some food to bring back home. His home is the nicest hut out of them all, just down the road from the market. The village has become more populated ever since Hillanter was born, with more kids rummaging around town and having fun. Hillanter wants to join them, but his father told him he can’t, due to him needing to be ready to train. He brings the food back home to his mom, who is still sick but staying in their hut. Her condition has only gotten worse and worse over time, with no sign of getting better.
“Hey honey.” Greta greeted her son with her rundown raspy voice, that sounds like it’s on the brink of a cough. “Did you get the water like father asked?”
“Yes I did.” Hillanter happily responded back, placing the bucket full of water on the dirt floor, the water sloshing around. He places the food in the cooking center, a little makeshift center for making food for the hut. “Do you know where father is?”
“He’s out on a hunt.”
“Is he now?”
“I know he said he’ll take you one day, he just wants you to get some training before you go out into the wilderness. It’s a dangerous place.”
Hillanter looks away from his mom and gets out some cooking materials. He’s cooking his mom's favorite, some Licker soup. Including some greens, special red sauce you can only buy at the market, and some natural oils, to help with the fever. “Are you getting better?”
“I’d like to believe I am.” Greta said. “But, I don’t think so.”
Hillanter cut up some of the greens and placed them into a bowl, mixing them together, crunching them into almost dust. “Will you ever get better?”
“Hopefully.” Greta rolled over in her cot, to face Hillanter cooking.
Hillanter stops mixing and adds the red sauce to the bowl, the mashed up greens floating to the top. He adds a few droplets of the natural oils and mixes up the whole soup together. He walks over to his mother and gives her a bowl and spoon, she sits up and takes it.
“Thanks honey.” She patted him on the head.
“You’re welcome mother.” He got up off of the bed and walked to the cooking center to put all of the materials away in a little cubby underneath. “When’s father coming back?”
She took a sip of the soup and gulped it down, clearing up her throat. “He left an hour ago, he might even be back now.”
Hillanter completely cleaned up and walked to the front door of the hut. “I’ll go check.”
“Alright, be safe out there honey.” She said as she took another sip.
“I will.” He opened the door and ran out, slamming the door behind him. He walked out into the town and over to the nearby woods and sat on a tree stump, waiting for his father to come back. He sat on that stump for half an hour until he saw Oukull come back along with a few others, they were dragging carcasses of animals they killed on their hunt.
“Father!” Hillanter yelled out as he ran towards him with open arms.
“My boy!” Oukull grabbed Hillanter and threw him up into the air and catched as he came down, hugging him tightly. “How are ya today? Did you feed your mother?”
“Yes!” Hillanter hugged back. Oukull placed him down on the ground, picking up his weapon he dropped so he could hug him. “I made the soup just like you said.”
“Very good boy.” He grabbed the carcass up on his shoulder and looked behind him to face the other men that joined him on the hunt. “Let’s take our findings to the cafetorium.” The other men nodded and started hauling the carcass away. Oukull looked down at his son and smiled. “I think it’s time for you to start training.”
“Really!?” Hillanter jumped in excitement.
“Yes.”
“Woo!” He started to cheer and run around in circles.
Oukull laughed. “Don’t waste all of your energy now. Follow me.” He started walking back towards the woods, with Hillanter sticking close behind him, jittering around with excitement. They walked into the woods for a good five minutes until they found themselves at the training grounds. This place was packed with everything you need to train whatever skill, a target range, punching bag, a little track and field, and many weapons to use at your disposal. No one else was there which was very surprising, as many up and coming warriors stay here almost all day every day throughout the whole week. There is a little arena in the center of the training grounds.
“Wow.” Hillanter said in awe, he walked over to a weapons rack, gently touching the handles of them. “We have all of this?”
“Yes.” Oukull responded. “Anything you need to work on, you go here and train for hours on end.” He took an axe from the rack, and handed it over to Hillanter. “Here you go, it might be heavy.”
“I’ll be fine, I’m strong.” He took the axe from his fathers hand and as soon as his father let the axe drop into his hand, he immediately dropped the axe on the ground, being heavier than he thought.
“Be careful there bud.” Oukull picked the axe back up.
“Why is it so heavy?”
“Because you aren’t strong enough, don’t worry, that's natural. You’re only six after all. But that’s what we’re here to do. Let me get you something lighter.” He picked up a small dagger and tossed it into Hillanter’s hand, while also putting the axe back into the rack.
“A dagger?” Hillanter looked disappointed.
“For someone your size, we need to start small for you. Then, you can work your way up all the way to the axe.” He said, walking away and into the arena set up like a boxing ring.
“What am I gonna learn with this?”
“You’re gonna fight me.”
Hillanter felt a shiver up his spine. “What?” He trembled.
“Don’t worry, it’s not like I’m gonna go all out on you. It’s just a friendly sparring match.”
“What weapon are you gonna use?”
Oukull bent down and picked up a fallen branch that came from an oak tree, starting with a thick handle and ending in a sliver, just like a sword. “I’ll use this.”
“Then this’ll be easy.” Hillanter got his hopes higher than the ceiling as he climbed into the arena. His father is already in a fighting stance. “This kinda seems unfair.”
Oukull smiles cheekily. “You’ll eat those words.”
“Just need to get one stab at you and it’s over, seems easy enough.” Hillanter said to himself.
“On my go, we start.” He gripped the branch hard. “Ready.” Hillanter tensed up, he didn’t realize it up until now, but what if he stabs his father? Who’s gonna treat him if he actually does get to him? He was kinda scared that he’ll end his father’s ability to go on hunts anymore. But at the same time, he wanted to impress him, so he swallowed that fear. “Go!”
Hillanter charged at his father with an all out scream as Oukull just stood there, still holding the branch. He leapt off the ground with the dagger in the air, ready to stab directly at his father’s stomach. Oukull switched his handling of the branch so the thicker side was now acting as the blade. He swung all the way back and unloaded on his son's face, launching him across the arena and tumbling on the ground. Hillanter dropped the dagger on the ground as he laid face first in the dirt, his right cheek on his face swollen and red.
“Ow.” Hillanter grunted, his voice muffled. “That really hurt.”
“Get up!” Oukull’s voice completely changed into a much harsher tone.
“Huh?” He lifted his face off of the ground and looked back at his father.
“Get up and pick up that dagger! We’re going again!” He screamed at Hillanter. He shot up and picked up the dagger off the ground, his cheek still aching from the blow.
“Ok, I’ll-”
“Get ready!” Oukull yelled out.
“Wait, I'm not-”
“Go!” This time Oukull charged at Hillanter.
“Father! Stop, I wasn't-” Hillanter put his hands up in front of his face but it was futile. Oukull took a hard swing at his stomach, the swing making him fall to the ground on his knees, knocking all the wind out of him as he plopped down on the cold dirt.
“Get back up!” Hillanter’s arm started shaking, and he was drooling from his mouth. “I said get up!” Oukull kicked him in the stomach and he rolled over and grunted in pain. That’s when he started tearing up.
“W-Why, do you keep hitting me?” Hillanter said all choked up in the throat.
“Are you crying?” He asked.
“Ye-Yes.” Oukull stomped on his stomach, causing him to cry even more.
“I don’t want to see any crying!” He stomped on his stomach again. “True warriors never cry on the battlefield! You got that!?”
Hillanter sniffled. “Y-Y-”
“No stuttering!”
“Yes!” Hillanter collapsed, his whole body going limp as he laid down on the ground.
“The only way to get stronger is to be beaten down. Everytime this happens, you’ll learn from it. Get used to this, because this’ll happen everyday for the rest of your life until you are able to fully beat me.” Oukull threw the branch back into the woods and picked up the dagger Hillanter dropped. “You’ll get used to the pain until it won’t even phase you. You’ll no longer cry.” He got on his knees and picked up Hillanter and put him on his shoulder. “Now let’s get back to your mother.”
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4 years later
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Hillanter planted the spear into the boar's stomach as he cut it open with his knife, the entrails spilling out into the ground as the blood flooded out of the wild animal. Hillanter skinned it and cut up the boar into little pieces, putting them all in a knapsack. The remains of the carcass were picked up by him and thrown into a pile full of corpses. The barn he was in was littered with boar throughout the whole stead. He took his knapsack and skin, walking out of the farmstead with a fellow Joonkel waiting outside for him.
“Got all you needed?” The Joonkel asked.
“Yep!” Hillanter said as he continued walking.
“Hope you enjoy Hillanter! Tell your father I said hi!”
“Will do!” Hillanter went along and walked through the town, stopping by at the market to get more of the red sauce to cook the soup with. He bought the sauce and walked all the way home. He made it to his hut and opened the door. His mother was laying down with a cold rag over her hair. Her skin is a pale blue, her condition has only gotten worse over the years.
“Hey mother!” Hillanter greeted her, as he walked over to the cooking center. His mother didn’t respond to him, only eyed him down as he started making the soup, this time adding some little cooked chunks of meat into it. Hillanter looked over at his mother when he finished, picking the bowl up and slowly walked over to his mother. “Are you ok? You’re not talking.” He bent down and held the bowl out with the spoon sticking out. She took the bowl and started sipping on the soup, making loud slurping noises. “Hey mother, come on talk to me.”
“She can't,” Oukull walked into the hut, holding a big axe in his hands. “Her vocal cords have gone out, it's no use.”
“What!?” Hillanter screamed out, looking concernaly at his mother. “She was talking just fine yesterday!”
“She stopped talking to me after you left to get some food and water. We were having a conversation until suddenly, mid sentence she gave out a loud cough that sounded really painful. Next thing you know, everytime she tried to speak after that, only little breaths of air came out.” He walked inside, closing the door, laying the axe near it. He walked over to the mother’s cot and sat at the edge of it. “Took her to the doc and he told me that she’ll never be able to speak ever again.”
“There’s nothing he could do about it!?” Hillanter swung his arm around as he yelled it out.
“He doesn’t have the medical knowledge to cure it. He said he could perform surgery, but he doesn’t know if she’ll survive it or not.” Greta took another sip of the soup. “So she chose not to do it.”
Hillanter gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. “What do we even have a doctor for if he can’t even help us in the slightest! That ointment he provided us hasn’t done shit! Mother hasn’t gotten better at all, we should just fucking kill that doctor and-” Oukull stood up and slapped Hillanter in the face, knocking him to the ground.
“Don’t you dare say stuff like that again!” He shouted at Hillanter. “That doctor has worked harder than anybody else I know, I won’t let you drag his name in the dirt! He’s done everything he can to help us!”
Hillanter lifted himself off the ground. “Well he hasn’t done anything to help with her condition!” Oukull kicks him square in the face.
“He’s trying his best! It’s not like he wants her to die!” Greta reached over and tugged on his arm, signaling him to start. Her eyes were streaming with tears, dribbling down his arm, he looked over at Hillnter with a death stare. “Look at what you did, you made her cry.”
“That was your fault!” Hillanter snapped back at him as he got up, wiping the blood from his nose. “You’re the one who started throwing punches.”
“You wanna continue this fight boy, let’s take it outside.”
“I’d love to.”
Greta tugged on Oukulls arm even more, but he jerked away, pushing her back onto the bed. “Get away honey.” He looked bitterly at Hillanter, all stanced up. “This brat needs to learn a lesson!” He lunged at Hillanter and grabbed him by the shirt, dodging the punch he threw his way and threw him out the door of the hut and onto a walkway, multiple other people who were walking by looked in shock as he landed on the ground. Oukull came rushing outside after him. He kicked at Oukulls feet but he jumped in the air, and came down on him, his elbow pushing deep into his chest. He let out a huge wheezing breath, as all the air was launched out of him. “You want to make your mother cry!” Oukull punched Hillanter in the face. “Fine then,” He threw another swing at his face. “Be a bad son for all that I care for!” Another punch. “But you will never!” Another one came in. “Ever!” Another. “Get away with that shit!” One final punch pummeled Hillanters face, all bruised up and bloody. Onlookers were all chattering and some kept walking along. Though it seems really messed up, Joonkels usually punish their kids like this, so some people really didn’t mind. But this is different, it’s the leader's own son that was being a little troublemaker, which caught many by surprise. They thought Hillanter was already a strong warrior and kind person, it changed their whole view on the whole Forecka’linser family. Oukull picked up Hillanter by his clothes and slopped him on his back and carried him inside where he threw him on the ground. “Next time that you try that shit again, I won’t be afraid to take off an arm or leg. You don’t want to tempt me boy.”
Hillanter trembled as he hoisted his body up. “I hate you.” He said in a little bit of breath, almost incomprehensible.
“What did you say?” Oukull growled.
“I hate you!” Hillanter screamed out into the heavens, loud enough for any outsider to hear.
Oukull let out a little chuckle. “Like I give a shit.” Spitting in Hillanters face.
Hillanter planted his face into the ground as a sign of defeat as he soon fell asleep on the cold floor.
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8 years later
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“Pull!” A Joonkel yelled out as a heave of men pulled on a rope, hauling something up a steep cliff. Hillanter is one of the men pulling on the rope. They are making a steady pace, getting the target closer and closer. They finally got the target all the way up the cliff, a woman who fell down the cliff with her baby in hand. They gently get her to safety, with every single Joonkel out of breath. The woman thanked them all relentlessly, offering some food with them all declining.
“Good work men!” Oukull came up behind them. “You’ve all done great today!” He looked over at Hillanter, giving him a blank stare down. “Now get the rope back into the storage.” The men did as he said, wrapping up the rope in a coil and hauling it over to a shed. Hillanter just stood there and stared at his father, not helping with the moving at all.
“You still have a grudge don’t ya.” Oukull says as Hillanter walks up to him. “You’ll eventually grow out of it.”
Hillanter nudged past him, bumping into him on purpose. “That’s what you said two years ago.”
“Help!” A Joonkel came running out of the woods, his arms flailing in the air. “Someone help!” Oukull sprinted over to the guy, clenching him by his shoulders.
“What happened?” He asked concerningly.
“Our hunting group got ambushed by someone. Someone ravaged, he killed most of the group!” The guy was out of breath. “I was able to get away.”
“Do you remember what he looked like!?”
“I think it was a Purk.”
Hillanter’s eyes lit up, he’s only heard of Purks from his father, about how savage their kind is. They were forced into labor by them, once they were able to escape after throwing a riot and successfully bringing down the imprisonment camp. They escaped into the woods and built up a village. He wasn’t even given a brief description of what they looked like, but now it seems that the Purks are on to them again. Oukull must’ve felt the same way, as he marched over to the shed, bringing out a huge axe that Hillanter had never seen before.
“Hillanter!” Oukull's voice roared out. “Come with me, we’ll deal with this motherfucker!” Hillanter didn’t want to go with his father, but he knew what would happen if he didn't, his father would without a doubt beat him. He also knew what else was at stake here, the threat of them being forced into labor again. He swallowed his anger towards his father and picked up a sword nearby, not nearly being able to hold up an axe on his own, though he is getting very close. Joining his father by his side, they were about to fret the Purk in the woods, until the doctor came shouting from the village.
“Oukull! Leader sire!” The doctor’s voice echoed through the village.
“What is it! I’m busy!” He yelled back.
“It’s Greta! She’s dead!”
The world stopped in motion as Hillanter stood there, taking in the news, his eyes went blank and his mouth agape. The whole world was collapsing on him, he was trying to deny it, he couldn’t believe it. There was no way, right? She was in the same condition she has been in for years, she hasn’t gotten worse, in fact, she seemed to be getting better. Without hesitation, Oukull ran over to the doctor and into the village with Hillanter following close behind, where they made their way all the way to the doctors hut, where Greta was laying in a lifted cot, her eyes shut tightly closed. Oukull rushed over to her side, along with Hillanter.
“She died an hour ago.” The doctor said, “I tried almost every technique in the book to get her heart pumping again. I’m afraid those didn’t work.”
Hillanter fell to his knees, only being held up by his arms as his stomach sunk into a pit. His heart, feeling like it had been shot by a thousand arrows. His eyes were shaking with sadness, on the verge of tears, but they did not slip out, not even one. Oukulls forcibly lifted him up off the ground, and back onto his feet.
“Do you finally know what really killed her?” Oukull asked the doctor.
“Yes.” He responded. “Though I was too late when I made the discovery, these past eighteen years I gained more knowledge about the medical field. Her disease was a very hard one to find because it’s a super rare one that has infected a large population of Purks.”
“A Purk disease?” Hillanter asked in confusion and desperation to get a clearer answer.
“Yes, it’s called Skurk, it usually builds up in the stomach first, then spreads out to your whole entire body before shutting it down altogether. The only way I can see how she got it is when we were all stuck in that camp.”
Hillanters heart dropped, it was all those damn Purks fault. They were the people who enslaved them, the one that gave his mother the disease, the disease that killed his mother. It all started with those damn Purks. “Those fucking Purks.” He said under his breath. “They’ll pay, all of them.”
“Hillanter calm down.” Oukull nudged him in the shoulder.
“I shall kill them! Every last one of them, I’ll hunt them down!” He started shouting, with little bits of tears dropping from his face. Oukull drew his fist back and punched him to the ground.
“I told you to calm down, and stop crying! You’re a man aren’t you!?”
“Fuck you!”
“What did you say to me?”
“I said fuck you!” Hillanter bolted out of the doctor's hut, tears still popping out of his eyes.
“Get back here!” Oukull chased after him. Hillanter kept sprinting towards the woods, with a huge guy holding an axe and a spear. He ran directly up to the guy, knocked him down dropping all of his weapons. The man screamed at Hillanter, as he quickly snatched them up and kept sprinting into the woods.
‘You’re a man aren’t you!?’ Hillanter hated those words. He was a man without a doubt, but he never saw the reason why his dad always hated showing emotion. It’s natural to show tears right? He never understood, and probably never will.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re doing!?” Oukull screamed out at him, the voice rumbling throughout the village like an earthquake.
“There was a Purk out in the woods that killed a bunch of our hunters right?” Hillanter turned his head to face his father, with him still sprinting towards the woods. “I’m gonna kill that son of a bitch, every single Purk deserves to die!” He ran out of sight from Oukull, his tears dropping a little trail on the ground.
“Goddammit! Get back here boy!” He wielded his huge axe up in the air and chased after Hillanter in the woods but he’s faster by a long mile.
Hillanter kept running into the woods, not caring if he got too far into the woods and couldn’t find his way back. He only cared about killing that fucking Purk, how the thought of them angered him to his core.
Oukull tried tracking his son's tracks, but he couldn’t pick them up anymore, giving up the chase and coming back to the village, getting ready to make arrangements for the burial of his wife. Leaving Hillanter in the woods all alone.
He finally got out of breath and slowed down, ending in a heavily wooded area in the midst of the day, the sun just coming down making a beautiful sunset. He looked around him, the realization hitting him that he’s completely lost in the woods. He slammed his foot down on the ground and screamed out. “Get out here and fight me you damn Purk!” He clenched the axe and spear in his hand, ready for anything to come his way. If the Purk does show up, it’ll be Hillanters first real fight. Right at that second, he felt a presence staring him down, like a barrel of a gun. That’s when a shot came from the cover of a bunch of trees, smoke blowing out from them as the bullet came speeding towards his head. Thankfully, he was able to duck down and the bullet whizzed past his ear and crashed into a tree, making a loud cracking sound. “Holy shit!” He stumbled back as he snapped his head towards the smoke.
“You said come out!” A voice came from behind him, as another bullet came barreling towards him, dodging once more. “Here I am!” The voice kept coming from different directions, like it was constantly moving around him. The tone of a snarky teen, arrogant and cocky. The bullets kept coming one after another, with most of the shots being off target, or dead on, like the guy was shooting completely randomly.
“Stop using that rifle and fight me like a man!” Hillanter tried taunting the guy.
“Do you think I’m a fucking idiot!” The voice came from a bush, littles away. This whole time he hasn’t been able to get a good look at the Purk.
Hillanter’s ears perked up as he heard the guy reloading, and then moving around him again at such a speed it was pretty impressive. But he suppressed those compliments as he got to thinking on how to beat him. He knows that straight charging him would be foolish, as if he gets closer to him, it’ll be easier to get a clear shot. That’s when he had an idea, getting close would be impossible, but he would be able to throw the spear at him. Though, the throw he would make would be really hard, as the Purk kept moving, if only he would get ahold of the pattern that the guy moved at. It was a long shot, but it’s the only chance he’s got to kill him.
“You’re just gonna stand there!?” The Purk shot another bullet at him, only missing by a quarter of an inch. “That’s fine with me!”
Hillanter held the spear up, throwing it at a gap between two trees, a few feet where he heard the Purk’s snarky comment. The Purk moved directly in the spears path, the spear impaling his right shoulder, causing him to drop the rifle as he flung to the ground, digging the spear deeper into his arm. The guy screamed out in pain as Hillanter rushed over, struggling to carry the axe. The guy was on the ground, trying to pull the spear out of him, until he saw Hillanter jump into the air with the axe in hand. He screamed as Hillanter came crashing down onto him, chopping the guy's arm off, him screaming and crying in pain. He took the spear out from the severed arm and planted it into the guy's stomach.
“That’s for imprisoning us!” Hillanter then chopped the dude’s leg off. “That’s for giving my mother that disease!” He then took the other arm off. “That’s for killing those men!” He then took a big swing on the guy's stomach, splitting him in half. The guy lost so much blood that he had no energy to speak. He was on the brink of death. “And this!” He lifted the axe high up in the air. “Is for killing my mother!” He swung and took the guy's head off, with blood squirting everywhere. He picked up the head and started walking back towards the village, or at least tried to.
After about three hours, Hillanter came out of the woods, with the village lights plastered all over the place around a grave. Oukull was waiting outside the woods on a little wooden box as he saw Hillanter covered in blood walking over.
“My boy! You’re ok!” He came rushing over to give him a hug, but was cut off by Hillanter throwing the Purks head at his chest, catching it and pointing it towards his own face.
“That’ll be the first of many.” He said as he continued walking away, Oukull was too stunned to speak. That was the last time they said anything to each other.
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In the past twelve years, Hillanter moved out of Oukulls hut and built his own. When Hillanter turned thirty, Oukull passed away and the leader of the village was passed down to him. During that same year, a huge army of Purks raided their village and reimprisoned them all over again. He was forced into a labor camp for ten years before a huge law passed that forbid the act of keeping Joonkels and Purks as slaves. For the rest of his life up until he met the crew, he lived normally, in his own hut surviving off of the wilderness. One day, when he was going into town to get supplies, a rude Purk who was a vendor for a store, started talking about how Joonkels should all be killed. Hillanter stabbed the guy in the chest and left him to bleed, but guards soon caught Hillanter in his hut, where he was thrown into a prison cell. He was the first person in the crew to be locked up, soon joining him would be Shug, only a few days after he was. Next would be Zunci, then Shanta, and finally Yunga Elantra herself.219Please respect copyright.PENANAhH42vS3ecb
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