Being a female Hyoite was at times intensely frustrating. The males, not all but the vast majority, considered themselves to be superior warriors, hunters and fishermen. The woman folk were enjoyed and valued as beautiful trinkets, objects of pleasure, home keepers and mothers but for some Hyoite females their use as wives and mothers was not enough. The younger female Hyoites were particularly vulnerable to the lure of wanting a life of their own, adventure, freedom to explore and the opportunity to do their own hunting and gathering. There was nothing worst in Elapheesa's opinion than being the taken-for-granted wife of a hunter who would leave you at behind to care for the homestead for months on end while he gathered fish, meat and furs to return home and expect to use or abuse you at will before leaving again. Perhaps there were some more decent Hyoite males, the kind with muscular chests and soft hearts who genuinely loved their wives and children and who returned home to lavish them with love, tales of their adventures and honest admissions of how much they missed their families while away but then their wives normally ended up pregnant after each end of season hunt and were left with child, alone for many months pining for their absent husband and not knowing whether he was alive or not. Either way there was far too much to suffer being a traditional wife and mother. This was not the life for Elapheesa.
Elapheesa praised herself for not having a family life. She didn't know whether any of her family remained living. She had no one to worry about, no one to please and no responsibility to any other living thing or person. It was liberating. She was free to do as she pleased. Choose her life path and make decisions based on nothing but thought for herself and her own pleasure. So she chose a hard life, a life plagued by danger and difficulty but one which gave her great satisfaction. Elapheesa was a huntress. She went out each season over the ice to find meat, preserve it and bring it back to sell to any offering a fair price. Her life was nomadic. The majority of her belongs strapped tight to her sledge and every night spent in a tent, mostly alone.
Of course, there is no silver lining to any other way of life, not really. Whilst Elapheesa was free and had no husband to suffer and no family to worry about, whether she admitted it or not her existence could be lonely and isolated which is why, every now and then after selling the meats she had brought back and the fish she had preserved she would linger a few days in Hyoite. She would watch people pass by, visit a few merchants and consume food that was a little more pleasing than her usual diet of open fire cooked flesh. In these days she met others interested in her way of life or with trade deals to present to her. Other times she met others whom held her interest and she would willingly enjoy their company a short while, not long enough to allow herself to become too fond though. She didn't want any attachments because that would risk heart break if they were lost to her. She guarded herself always. A distraction of companionship for a short while was acceptable but any real friendships, any relationships where there was genuine feeling would only cause her worry or obligation and she wasn't ready to risk that.
So it was she found herself in Hyoite again. Her stock sold and a few days to relax and take in the sights and sounds of families and merchant stall holders at work.