The world was hazy and felt distant to Wren’s young mind. Everything felt like a dream, or a nightmare. As Wren began to recall the events of its last waking moment, all she could do is shiver and quake at the onslaught of the memories.
Flashes of large, looming, shadows wielding sharp humming blades. The screams of her loved ones as they are cut down as they run. Wren can feel the warmth on her skin still from the fire and smell the coppery blood that stained the land red.
Distantly Wren’s mind picked up another sensation, something was rocking her, carrying her. Wren’s mind flashed to a tall figure with long curly brown hair and warm eyes that always watched over her.
‘Mami’ Wren timidly whispered in her own head as she nestled closer.
-12 yr Wren-
Time can be a funny thing, distant memories sometimes become so memorable that it feels like they happened just yesterday. Wren is a tween now, and she can almost remember when she first came to Holden
The memory is hazy, but never completely forgotten. She still remembers the smoke and ashes from the fire. The distant fading screams and the cloying scent of blood from the warm body holding her tightly.
But, that’s all Wren can recall nothing bright nor happy, no smiles or laughter, just remnants of pain and loss. It leaves an aching in her chest, the feeling that she’s lost something important, something that was meant to remain apart of her for a very long time.
Still she wouldn’t give up her time in Holden for anything in the world. It wasn’t easy by no means living in Holden, especially being seen as an outsider and not truly accepted by everyone. Except for Henry.
Wren truly appreciated everything that Henry had done for her and she loved him like a daughter, He was her Da in all the ways that mattered. He tucked her in at night, comforted her when she had nightmares and protected her from the scorn and harsh comments of others.
“WREN!” A gruff voice shouts from the distance. It’s Henry of course, calling Wren in from her morning meditation. Something she especially needed to do today of all days before she left.
See, Wren had a bit of temper. It wasn’t her fault, she just tended to run hot most of the time…well all of the time. The rejection she faced from others in the settlement and even in her own home didn’t help her reign it in any better. But, Wren didn’t want her anger to ruin her first day at the academy.
That’s why Henry taught Wren how to meditate, to try and give her the means to control herself.
“WREN!” Henry shouts again. “Get in here girl! You’ve only got forty-five minutes before you need to be on your way!”
Wren takes a deep breath in and holds it to the count of twelve, It’s her first day at the academy. All of Holden’s youth congregate there to learn and connect with one another. It was both terrifying and exhilarating to think that she would finally be able to hangout with more than just the Metis clan and its closest allies. Wren was determined that this would be the first step to her marking her place in Holden as something more than just a charity case.
‘Today’s going to go great’ she thought, hyping herself up as she put on her carefully chosen outfit for the day. A navy blue hoodie with grey camouflage pattern and pair of dark green jeans. Checking herself in the mirror one final time she pulled her curly hazel hair into a loose bun and smiled at a reflection of bright excited similar hazel green eyes. She was ready to take on the world.
Walking into the large oval shaped room covered in polished redwood, Wren smiles at Henry’s giant bear shaped body moving gracefully through the kitchen as he throws together breakfast. At 6’9’ Henry was above average height. To Wren, he was bigger than life itself. When the world rocks and shifts around her, Wren knows that she can rely on Henry to be a safe place for her to find her footing once again.
“Mornin,” Henry says. “Took you a while to get down here, you excited for your first day at the academy?" He ask in a teasing tone.
Sitting down at the counter Wren can’t help but look at Henry’s face and listen closely to his voice, bright as if to encourage Wren with his demeanor alone to be excited for the day ahead. His hands never stop moving as he plates up a stack of pancakes, bacon and eggs for her to eat. Henry sets the plate n the other side of the island “Eat up! Ya don’t have long now before you gotta hit the trail into town” His voice rumbles like thunder on a dry day.
“Are any of the others here still Da?” Wren ask, fiddling with the breakfast spread before her. She was hopeful that her older siblings had stuck around to wish her well on her first day.
Wren’s relationship with Henry’s other children was, well rocky to say the least. Most of them were older than her by about a good decade or so and the children of his late wife Sarah who had passed away long before she was ever in the picture.
Before Wren arrived, Henry had four elder boys, all of whom were ‘TRUE’ Metis, as the youngest twin, Collin, always loved to remind her. Nicholas was the oldest at twenty-four, he was being groomed to take over the Metis seat on the council and as head of the family. He actually gave Wren more than a passing glance and tried his hardest to be a supportive brother figure to her. He just didn’t have a lot of time with his position and mounting responsibilities to the settlement.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Ryan was the second oldest at twenty-three, Ryan was a mystery to Wren rarely home and always with one foot out the door. Whenever she asked or tried to find out what was going on with him she was always blocked from finding answers or just left with with more questions than when she first started with. Though even he wasn’t as dismissive or cruel to her as the twins. Ryan always had a soft smile or kind word for her when she was feeling down and if he was around.
However, her initial tormentors and her first experience of blatant rejection in Holden were the twins, Collin and Harry. From the moment they laid eyes on her, they hated her. Collin’s hate was loud and violent; there was never a loving word or gesture. Harry remained silent and menacing, glaring and observing her as though she were a diseased animal breaking into their house.
Wren never could understand why they could not accept her as apart of the family, or at least try to. From the moment Henry brought her home they viewed her as the enemy and treated her the same.
Finishing her breakfast after those sad thoughts, Wren stood up and did some short jumps to try and get out the nerves. She was ready to face the rest of Holden and thought to herself if she can take on the bigots and recluse that make up this settlement, then she expects that she can take on the rest of wasteland. Proving to the rest of Metis clan that she deserves to be a Metis as well. Also proving to herself that she has what it takes to pursue her dream career as a Bounder.
Being a Bounder has always been a dream of Wren’s. From the moment she first recalled being told about them and then found out that Henry himself was a bounder and that it was one of the core careers of the Metis clan. Wren never saw herself as anything else. The idea of going out into the wasteland to act as a connection between Holden and other settlements out there. To bring hope to the hopeless, that has always been a dream of hers. Mostly because, that is what Henry did for her. Bounders pushed the boundaries of their world and dared to go where others never thought to venture. That’s what she wanted to do. At the same time a small part of her hoped to find answers for herself, and maybe out there she’d find them.
Skipping over to where Henry was washing up and putting away the leftovers from the overwhelming amount of breakfast he had made. Wren couldn’t help but give him a big hug.
“Oh!” Henry said to surprise at the affectionate gesture. As much as she liked to think to herself how much she appreciated and loved him, she admits that she finds it hard to show him the physical affection she thinks he deserves.
Her earliest memories of the closet thing she’d first received as a hug being her dead mother’s cooling body, made something in her reject most instances of physical affection. But, this was something she figured they both needed in the moment before she left for the first time by herself onto the streets of Holden.
Henry wraps his massive arms around her in return, squeezing tightly but, gently at the same time. “You’ll do fine my girl.” He says softly, “You’ll do more than fine.” Eyes bright with shushed tears.
Wren takes a deep breath of Henry’s woodsy scent. It reminds hers of evenings around the fire pit and hot walks among the tall redwood trees that surround their home. She doesn’t know if she completely believed his words but, she wants to trust them. Most of the time she’s sure Henry knows her better than she knows herself.
Giving him one more tight squeeze Wren lets him go. Henry gives her a soft smile and put his hands on her shoulder. Staring her towards the down an entryway towards the large blue front door of their house. “You’ve got about fifteen minutes to get down to town before you’re too late to make it to the academy.” he tells her, “Try to be swift on your feet and practice your running, when you get home this afternoon there’ll be a surprise waiting for you.”
Standing at the door, Wren can’t help but feel nervous as she pulls on her Sky blue windbreaker and yellow beanie. She’s scared and anxious about the day but, above all she’s excited.
“Okay.” She grins at Henry, “I’ll see you before the sunsets.” Giving one last hug to him, Wren quickly kisses his cheek and leaves with a quiet “I love you.”
Jogging slowly down the path from the Metis compound Wren begins to pick up her pace into a quick run as she follows the familiar path into town. She’s walked this path a few times with Henry when he went to attend clan business in the town or pick up supplies but, she’d never walked it alone. It was amazing how different it felt to do this without someone else at her side. In a way it was scary but, freeing at the same time.
Arriving at the slope that led down to the town of Holden, Wren can’t help but marvel at the valley below. The sight was something that always took her breath away. Bursting with excitement she began to take on speed. leaping over streams and rocks, as she hurdles towards her destination. Almost as if she had teleported, Wren only truly takes in her surroundings when she skids to a stop in front of the the large columns of marble that make up the entryway to the Academy.
Staring at the towering structure that looked as if it had been carved from one solid piece of stone. Wren can’t help but reminisce about it’s history. The “Academy” officially name Oikos Paideia, was one of the third major building projects supported by the majority of the settlement during its creation. Leading the project were two clans descendant from Greeks. Wrens own Metis and another founding clan Philomath, both had worked hard to spearhead the founding of the “Academy”.
‘Which explains the very Greek motifs built into and all around its construction,’ Wren couldn’t help but think as she looked at the very Greek inspired building. While not Greek herself Wren had grown up surrounded by it’s influence and language. The latest members of the Metis clan had strayed far from the their Greek roots but still held onto some of it’s language and customs. This probably explained why she could read most of the Greek words carved into the marble plaque suspended between the two towering columns in front of her. ‘ οἶκος παιδεία ' which translated into ‘House of learning’ and below it in smaller text was ' Αναζητήστε και σας δίνεται η ελευθερία ' this Wren made out to be something about seekers and freedom. She wasn’t one hundred percent sure on that last one given how faded the inscription had started to become after years of weathering.
As Wren walk up spiraling pathway towards the entrance she looked around in awe. This was her moment to spread her wings. She would be like any other youth in Holden starting there journey at the school, well, with the added bonus that she was adopted by one of the founding clans. So in truth she’d be like any other clan kid having there first day at the academy, Wren paused with that thought in mind. A whole new line a worry began to settle into her. ‘Oh. Oh no,’ Her thoughts began to race faster than her trip down the mountain.
Wren was so excited to get away from the distrust from the twins and many of her other clan members that she forgot about the fact that she’d be entering a whole nother arena. ‘Okay, okay,’ Wren thought hard to herself, ‘no big deal. I’ve been in rougher situations and honestly nobody here could top the twins in cruelty’ she silently hoped. In her head as got closer to the now ominously looming door she began to go over what she knew about the nine other clans. listing them ‘Philomath, Reyes, Barquero, Fuentes, Vero, Li, Yun, Bond, Howard.’ and of Metis her own clan.
Wren had not met many, if any, members of the other clans, so the details were fuzzy. Philomath and Vero are the Metis clan’s closest allies. Although all of the clans collaborated to manage the colony and help it thrive, politics still existed in a place as remote as this, and while the Metis did not tend to take sides or rock the boat too much, they were valuable allies in the eyes of the other clans. Wren would have to be wary of other clans’ youths seeking to court favor with her as the adoptive daughter of the current clan head and cherished younger sister of the next to succeed him. She also had to consider all of the non-clan members who simply sought to be in her good graces.
As she approached the doors that would define her future, Wren sighed at a shift in her thoughts. Dread had began to overpower any excitement she had begun the day with, and she couldn’t help but fidget as anxiousness took hold. Trying to shake off the overwhelming thoughts, she began shaking each of her limbs, beginning with her feet and working her way up to her head, until she gave one final full-body shake and exhaled deeply. Wren straightened her shoulders as she pushed through the shadowy halls. She was ready to confront anything that came her way.