Chapter 2

"I'm back!" Grey shouted as he stepped through an animal skin cloth into a modest wooden hut. A hushed ember was glowing in the center of the room, slightly dug into the earth, giving a warm embrace to him as he laid his quiver and bow down near the entranceway.

"Welcome back", a young girl stoking the embers responded with a smile as she turned to meet his gaze.

"How did the hunt go? You're back so late, I was getting worried," she cautiously asked.

"I had to stop at Keen's smokehouse. We had a pretty big haul today," Grey responded. As he explained himself, he brought out a slab of meat from his bag, "The rest of it is gonna take a couple of days so I'll need ya' to head over there the next few days and bring it back. I'll be gone tomorrow early so offer half of one of the legs to the guys there, they'll help you carry it back here."

"You're leaving again?" the young girl pouted.

Her pine eyes reflected the amber glow from the fire and in them loneliness; her small form huddled further into itself while one delicate hand reached for a couple of onyx-colored rocks.

"You just got back, plus you're not even supposed to be going out there. I've been here all day by myself you know?", she lightly grumbled as she began to hit the rocks together on a pile of grass she had placed on the bed of ashes.

Grey approached and sat down next to her, grabbing a thin smooth stone as she started the fire back up. He dropped the lightly marbled steak on the stone and spoke, "You didn't go out to play with the neighbors?"

"They were busy helping their parents, so no one could come out, plus it's too cold." She had already started the fire and Grey had put the stone evenly supported by some sticks above it. Their movements were smooth in this, displaying their practiced hands, and as they instinctively began to prepare for cooking, Grey stated,

"That's right, everyone is getting to the age when they start to work under their families. Time sure passes quickly doesn't it?"

There was no response to the question, only the crackle of the fire and the sound of the rock's pores drying resonated in the room. Although it was rare, not all children had to work for their families in the same trade. These exceptions, however, were done only between close friends, exchanging their children in each other's respective fields. The purpose of these exchanges varied, but often it was simply because the son or daughter was unsuitable for the task their family was in charge of.

There was no need to accept strangers into the family just to give them something to do, especially for no benefit, and with no support other than Grey, the young girl was doomed to spend her days and seasons before her naming day finding odd jobs to do as the other children her age learned and grew around her.

The meat had started sizzling now, its fragrance sweeping over the two as an idea struck Grey.

"Hey, Tear?"

"Mm?"

With her silence broken, albeit only slightly Grey continued, "I've been getting along pretty well with Keen and the others recently, plus I can offer them a couple of favors. He has one of the busiest smokehouses in the village, so I can ask him to let you train as a preserver."

"Really! You think you can convince him?"

Grey felt a little bad about lying to Tear about Keen and his relationship, but Keen had been the only one to let Grey accompany his squad, formally anyway, and only after showing his prowess in hunting the couple of days he had snuck out. And now with the opportunity he was offering to the squad, he believed he could easily bargain a place for Tear to train and spend her days socializing, getting closer to the villagers rather than being alone. Plus seeing her smile brought him more warmth than the fire in front of the two ever could.

"Yeah, it's no problem." He said as he bumped her shoulder with his arm. The smoke had been escaping through a tunnel dug through the floor to the outside, heating the floor as they spoke.

"So what did you end up getting? This doesn't look like a tree rodent." She asked with a tinge of sarcasm pointing at the sizzling meat.

"Are you sure? Maybe it was just a really big one," Grey chuckled.

She tried picturing the small bushy-tailed creature in her head as a size large enough to create such a big piece of meat. If it wasn't for the fact that they ate animals the same size as them, the squirrel-like beasts would be quite cute at such a size.

Tear smiled wryly, and pushed him, "Come on, stop messing around."

"It was a Hooded Horn."

Tear stared wide-eyed at Grey, "you mean from the paintings on the Elder's wall? I thought we could only see those on a Grand Hunt."

"Until now I hadn't ever seen one in person either, but it is even bigger than I imagined", described Grey. Bragging like this to her he found his pride gushing forth. He expounded on how he had braved the wilderness as they ate. So cold that even the Elms had started to crack from the water freezing inside their bark. The massive tracks were left behind by the colossal beast, how the density of the pelt could keep an entire household warm, and finally the majesty of its colossal horn protruding violently from its skull.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

By the time he was finishing, they had long passed finishing their luxurious meal, and Tear had already begun the steady breathing brought on by sleep. Seeing them like this, it would be easy to mistake the two as siblings. Although only five years separated them, the relationship they shared was not through blood, but instead one of chance.

Grey thought back to his 8th cycle, the day he found Tear.

—

A young boy, sitting on the porch outside a wooden hovel gazed at his new home. A shack had been given to him on the edge of the village just the month before as a favor from the Elder. He wasn't sure why but it was apparently due to a service performed by his family in the past.

While gazing at the stars, a small mouse scurried from the ancient heating tunnels under the foundation.

"There it is again", the boy thought. He had just recently begun to see pale red lights coming from many different living beings. Some even had thin trails they left behind as they walked around the village. The small mouse left no trail but instead was coated in a pale glow as it scurried away. As Grey lost his focus, the lights around him disappeared and resumed their normal appearance.

He initially thought he was losing his mind, but with the realization of the pattern the lights followed, that being they stuck to living creatures, he came to sense the immense opportunity this provided. He gazed back up at the hut in front of him when some footsteps sounded from behind.

"Are you sure you won't stay longer, I don't like you living alone here. I gave it to you to fulfill a promise not to kick you out", croaked a horse voice touched by pity. An old man held a walking stick, his figure was hunched over from age, but even still, in what was his later years, there was a touch of his past as the strongest individual in the village.

"Elder", the young Grey responded with a nod of his head in greeting.

"You have already taken care of me for so long, I want to try living here since you gave it to me. I'm happy to hear I'm welcome though."

Grey had truly not wanted to leave, after all, he was so young at the end of the day. Being alone here would be desperately lonely, but with his plans, there would be far too many questions had he decided to stay in the care of Elder.

"Hm, if you have made your decision then." The elder thought for a second, "I am concerned about the favor you asked me. You can't possibly think of going out there, can you? Even I did not go out alone in the Prowling Forest at your age."

"Don't worry Elder", Grey smiled, "I just want to practice for the future, I'll just try to hit anything that comes near the village."

Elder sighed, he took from his back a small bow and some long stone-tipped arrows and held out his hand, "I'll ask Bark to bring a pelt so you can practice, but I'll handle your food. I forbid you from going out to hunt. I also expect you to visit me personally to receive your share of meals." Perhaps sensing the young boy's deadly ideas, he enforced a strict restriction.

"Thank you, I promise I'll stay in the village." Grey knew Elder was only protecting him, but he lied knowing Elder was far too busy to keep an eye on him all night. He hated to lie to him, the man who raised him alone, but he was done feeling the eyes of all the villagers who saw him as nothing but a burden. In truth they were not wrong, even when in a few more seasons he would be old enough to train, there would be no time to show him, an outsider when everyone had their own families to worry about.

Grey received the bow and arrows from the elder. The ash color of the boy matched him quite well, at least it did his eyes. The wood was quite dense making the bow heavier than he first expected, but it was smooth to the touch.

Elder nodded at dwelling, "There is already a fire pit built in, I asked Keen to leave some pelts and an axe for wood in there. There is already a bit of firewood, but it won't last more than a couple nights."

The sun was already setting, and soon the full moon would illuminate the earth with its clear glow. Elder patted Grey on the shoulder, "I need to head back now, I'll see you tomorrow for dinner alright."

"Alright, thank you for everything." Grey's clear eyes stared at the back of the old man as he limbered away. He walked from the porch to the pelt entrance, pushing aside the coarse leather, he stepped into his own home for the first time. The fire pit was cleaned out, but there was some tinder, wood, and a fire starter next to the hole in the ground. Grey quickly started a fire to warm up the place and sat down on the animal pelt left behind for him.

He began to focus his thoughts on the sensations of his body, the radiating heat of the fire, and the cold seeping through the floor to the pelt, and finally to himself. The sounds of the wind rustling the decaying leaves outside, and the buzzing and scurrying of insects and small rodents. When he closed his eyes, suddenly these sensations became less clear, and in his mind small orbs of light appeared around him, all differing in color and intensity. Time passed and his breathing steadied, these orbs becoming more intense as he continued to focus his thoughts on them.

He started this process when he noticed the lights becoming more intense after he slept. As he became more active, it grew more difficult to notice and comprehend the trails that occasionally popped up around him. When he made his plans to become a solo hunter, he tried to imitate his mind right before sleep, removing all his thoughts away from the world, and focusing them only on his senses then removing even those thoughts. With practice, he became more and more proficient in clearing his thoughts.

Suddenly he opened his eyes and the world was unlike what was there before. The patches of grass sticking out from the floor had an ever so faint red tinge to them only really appearing for a moment when glanced at. He could already see several thin dimly lit red lines trailing the surface of the home, no doubt the mouse before had not been the only one frequenting the place. Following one direction led to the wilderness, while the other, a small crack in the wall.

"I guess I have a few roommates", Grey thought sarcastically. Enough time has passed and the fire had only a few embers still imbued with their orange light.

With his time spent reviving his strange sight, he stood up, grabbed the axe leaning on a wall, and walked outside. It was dark now, but the moon lit up the surroundings well. Even without it, the world was tinged with a red hue, the grass, trees, and dormant flowers all emitting a trace of color. Grey walked behind the house to a secluded part of the fence surrounding the village and plunged the axe into the coarse dirt. Due to his small size, it did not take long the burrow a hole deep enough for him to squeeze through the gap he excavated, and soon a red-tinged forest full of Elms waited in front of him.

Already several thicker light-red lines appeared in front of him. He gripped his axe in one hand and with the bow and quiver on his back, he took one step forward into the darkness.