For a while, Gale had chosen not to go. But no matter how he looked at the situation, one very basic fact remained:

He still owed Tika a thank you for getting his arse out of that room with the female creatures.

It did not matter that he had helped her out during the final battle; there was a part of Gale that still felt guilty and that he had not shown the older hunter enough gratitude. For someone as independent and confident as Tikaanis, he knew full well that she had not had to do what she had done.

They might have been square, now that he had helped her out during the battle, but that did not mean he could get away with not saying thank you.

So a few days after their return to the school, he stood outside of the other hunter's dorm and knocked on the door.