It was already sunset when Alindog and his Mambabatok, or co-tattoo artist friend, finished my tattoo. They were truly professional, doing everything by hand with all natural materials, fast and satisfactory!
After we ate our dinner, Mayumi's young boy cousin, who was around my age and named Muda, said that he and his friends had seen a Diwata, a kind of lesser goddess, sitting and glowing with bluish light in the middle of the forest.
"You cannot go, both of you, Mayumi!" said Muda.
"Yes we can! See? I have a tattoo and I want more! So I just need to kill someone.
That is our culture, right? Besides, I am in a Timawa class too!" I bluffed to Mayumi's cousin.
"Haha! You seem so tough! Come on! Let us go!" Muda said enthusiastically.
"What? Go now?!" Mayumi and I said at the same time, surprised.
After we cleaned the dishes, we rushed to clean our teeth with salt and water. Toothpaste was not yet invented in this era, so that was the hygienic norm here.
"We are now packed and ready," Mayumi notified us.
"Hooray! Let the adventure begin!" I said to everyone with excitement.
Then Mayumi, Muda, his team of warrior companions, and I started our journey to the forest in the middle of the night.
"What would you do if you saw the Diwata?" I asked Muda while we were walking.
"Maybe I will wish that I may have a prosperous life and a beautiful wife like you," Muda replied.
"Oh, cool and flirty! Haha!" I replied to Muda, blushing, not because I liked him but because I was simply flattered.
"How about you, Mayumi? What would you do if you saw the Diwata?" I asked.
"Me? Well, I do not know, Patricia. Maybe because I am not sure if the Diwata was a benevolent or a malevolent one," Mayumi replied.
"Oh, that makes sense," I replied while nodding.
"How about you, Patricia? What will you do after we see the Diwata?" Muda asked.
"Me? Well, let me see..." I said, going into deep thought.
"Maybe I will ask her what cryptocurrency is going to the moon next!" I said to Muda.
"Crypto? Moon?" Muda asked, full of confusion.
"Nah! Nevermind. Just forget about it," I said, a little frustrated.
As I turned my head to Mayumi, I saw her smiling at me.
"Hey, girl! What?" I asked as I started to get annoyed.
"No, nothing, my friend. You are just amazing," she replied gracefully with wide eyes.
After a few hours of walking, an unexpected thing happened. We encountered a raid from another tribe in the middle of our journey. They were looking for the recipe for the so-called Ever-burning Lamp. This lamp literally does not run out of flame even after many years, as Mayumi's elders claimed.
The boys fought back, including Mayumi. But I just hid in the bushes as Mayumi instructed. I watched some warriors from our side be brutally killed. My eyes flowed with tears, and my heart was full of hatred because I did not know how to fight. I was just a burden to them.
While watching the battle, someone struck me on the nape and I went unconscious.