Cutie suddenly stood up.
"Huh? Where are you going?" he asked, voice quick and a little panicked.
Kaya glanced at him, her tone calm but firm. "You brought me here when I was unconscious. I'm awake now. I'm fine. So I'm leaving."
She turned to go. No plan, no destination—but anywhere felt better than this place. Even if she had to sleep under trees or walk through the dark, it was better than staying here.
She didn't trust these people. Their eyes followed her like she was something strange. Their stares weren't kind—they were curious, maybe even greedy.
And the worst part? That man—Maru. The so-called tribe leader.
From the moment she saw him, she felt it. A deep, gut-level dislike. She couldn't explain it, but her instincts had never lied. And she wasn't about to start ignoring them now.
As she stepped forward, two figures moved to block her—Ren and Yen.
They smiled, too politely. But their eyes didn't match.
"You just woke up," one said. "You shouldn't leave yet."
Kaya narrowed her eyes, arms crossing over her chest. "Are you threatening me?"
Her voice was quiet, but it didn't need to be loud.
Kaya's eyes narrowed.
She didn't need to say anything more—her gaze alone was enough. Cold. Sharp. Tired of games.
But Ren and Yen still stood there, smiling like nothing was wrong.
"You're alone," Ren said calmly. "It's dangerous for a woman to wander the forest."
Kaya scoffed. That smirk returned.
"And you two are going to stop me?" she asked, voice laced with quiet threat.
The smile dropped.
"We don't want to hurt you," Ren said, tone colder now. "But if that's what it takes to make you stay... so be it."
Kaya took a step forward, not even flinching.
"Oh? And how exactly are you going to do that?"
That's when Yen moved.
Fast.
His hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, tight.
Her head turned slowly, eyes locking on his grip with a storm brewing behind them.
But before she could react—
"Hey! What are you doing? Let her go!"
Cutie's voice rang out, high and panicked. He rushed forward and tried to pull Yen's hand away.
Bad move.
Yen didn't hesitate. His foot came up in one brutal swing—
THUD.
Cutie's small body flew back and slammed into a tree.
Hard.
"Uggh… cough… cough…"
Blood trickled down his lip as he slumped to the ground, groaning.
No one moved.
Not a single one of them stepped forward.
They just stood there. Watching. Like he was trash. Like he deserved it.
Kaya stared at the boy, her jaw clenched. And in that moment…
Something snapped.
Her voice came low. Calm. Deadly.
"…Now I don't feel bad anymore."
In a blur, she twisted her arm free, grabbed Yen by the wrist, and slammed him into the dirt with one clean move.
CRACK.
Gasps.
Before Ren could react, her knee shot up—
WHAM.
Right between his legs.
He dropped with a pained grunt, but she wasn't done. A punch cracked across his face, sending blood splattering to the ground.
Silence.
Then Kaya straightened, turned toward the stunned crowd, and stared them all down.
"Well?" she asked, voice cool. "Anyone else want to try?"
No one answered.
They couldn't.
They were too stunned.
Sure, Ren and Yen were wrong. Everyone knew it.
But this woman?
She wasn't what they expected.
She didn't cry.
She didn't plead.
She fought back—with fire in her veins and hate in her eyes.
And worse than all of it?
She looked at them like she already knew who they were.
Actually… if she were being honest with herself—
She wasn't sure if she could win.
Not if all of them came at her at once.
Hell, she didn't even know what they really were. Mutants? Beasts? Monsters in disguise?
But still… she stood tall.
Because she'd learned two things from her captain.
Two rules that had kept her alive more times than she could count.
One: Never show fear in your eyes.
Especially when facing something stronger. The moment they smell it—it's over.
Two: When you're outnumbered, don't try to fight them all. Fight the top dog.
Take down the strongest one, or the one with the highest status. The rest will fall in line. Or at least hesitate long enough for you to survive.
It was the same logic animals used in the wild.
Like wolves.
A lone wolf doesn't pick fights at random.
No. It locks eyes with the alpha.
If it can bring the alpha to its knees—even once—the rest of the pack will never see it the same way again.
Respect is forged in blood and dominance.
Fear… even more so.
And right now?
Kaya had no idea who these people really were.
But she did know one thing—
Ren and Yen held status here. And by the way the others looked at them with wide eyes and frozen limbs?
Yeah.
She'd just taken down the alphas.
Kaya turned around, her eyes locking onto Cutie's battered figure.
She walked up to him without a word, then raised her hand.
"I'm getting out of this damn place," she said flatly. "If you want to come, then just come."
Cutie looked up, blood still trickling from the corner of his mouth. His hand trembled slightly—but then he clenched his fist, glanced back at his so-called tribe, and saw nothing but turned backs and silent stares.
No one moved.
Not one of them stepped forward.
So he did.
He lifted his hand and placed it in hers.
Kaya gave him a small smirk and yanked him to his feet.
Not out of kindness.
She wasn't some savior. Never had been.
But the guy had healing powers—strong ones. And frankly, her head was pounding with that damn migraine again. If he could help ease that or patch her up in a pinch, then yeah… keeping him around wasn't the worst idea.
Besides, looking at how much his people hated him… she doubted life here was a fairytale.