33 Dawn's Past

I walked out of the hut knowing that Dawn needed to know that what happened to her before wouldn't happen again. Her tribe had broken laws that had her scared even if she didn't want to admit it. Ayame is the only one I could think of that may know how to settle Dawn's fears. Unfortunately, I would have to wait until tomorrow to talk to her.

I sat down with a sigh next to Ranald who handed me a plate of meat. "Has Dawn calmed down?"

I nodded while taking a large bite. After gulping down a few more I turned to Dad. "Please don't hold what happened against Dawn. She's been mistreated by males in her old tribe." I looked to Ranald "She doesn't trust men and that's why she lashed out at you both." Both bristled at what I said.

Dad spoke first "What do you mean mistreated?" his voice laced with venom.

"They tried to force me to mate with them." Dawn's voice was shaky as she walked over choosing the seat next to me. "They said females are only good for child bearing and should just…" She trailed off. I took her shaking hand in mine as encouragement. She gave me a small smile before continuing. "They said I should just pick a mate. I refused so they locked me up. They gave me little more than bones for days and when I still didn't pick a male they said they were just going to sell me to another tribe. I had heard that females sold are treated even worse in other villages so when I got the chance I ran. They chased me for so long I thought they would never give up but once I crossed the mountain they finally did." Dawn smiled and looked at me "Then two days later I got to see a dragon." She looked at the boys "I apologize for being rude to you both. I know you guys haven't tried to do anything to me. I just lash out when I am scared." Her eyes fell to her lap.

I looked at Ranald and Dad and both their faces dark with anger. Ranald spoke first "What's your old tribe's name."

Dawn flinched at the anger in his voice. I squeezed her hand to let her know it's okay. Ranald isn't mad at her but at her old tribe. Her voice squeaked "I come from the Tribe of Ash North of here. It would take over a month to get there on foot."

My head shot up and the sound of a large cracking sound. My Dad stood fist at his sides, his plate broken at his feet. He stormed off toward the village and I took off after him. "Dad! Where are you going?"

He turned his rage, making him shake "It is the same bastard tribe that tried to take your mother. I thought they were all dead but it seems the bastards just moved."

I reached out and took my Dad's hands "That doesn't answer my question. Where are you going?"

"I am going to go talk to Ayame before I take off and kill those muts once and for all." I stared at my Dad. Did he really think that whipping them out would solve the problem?

"You can't just go murder and entire tribe!" I yelled as I threw down his hands. "Murder doesn't solve anything. They broke the law but there must be some kind of system put in place to judge them, right?"

My Dad's eyes were wide as he stared at me. I don't think we had yet to fight and now here I was yelling at him. His face got hard again "There is but that takes proof and time which they could just take off and move again. Then the cycle of pain just continues."

"Is there no law that states you can't just off an entire tribe? Won't you be punished for murder?" What would they do to him for such a thing? Would I lose him so soon after finding him?

"No, as long as I don't harm the females, the killing of a tribe is allowed." My dad watched as I gasped in shock. I thought that Ayame didn't mention a law about murder because it would just be obvious not to do it. I never thought that there just wasn't one. How could there not be chaos if males could just go around killing each other? As I tried to make sense of it my dad walked away and I didn't stop him. Instead, I followed him to Ayame's. Maybe she would be able to talk some sense into him.