The stars in the cloudless night sky shone down upon the two of us. Even wrapped up in some spare clothing of my Father’s I was still cold. The fire which had been embers recently was smoldering quietly.

Though it seemed we two were alone in the dark, I could hear those quiet bark-like calls coming from all around us and see the silhouettes of birds hunting in the darkness gliding above us. For most people, I guess, they would say we were alone. And we were far from any other people. The closest person would probably be my Brother, out there all alone in the dark.

I wasn’t sure, but I guessed he would huddle up against the dark. Whereas I found the dark was comforting because I could see the stars which Silver Moon introduced to me to. They also reminded of Whirling Cloud, her beauty, and that kiss we shared. A kiss full of love and passion and full of promise. But I wasn’t sure of where I stood with her after that comment he’d made.

I had my fill of drink filling much more refreshed because of that. I’d also eaten a couple of strips of overly smoky and tough meat jerky. It wasn’t good, even if I had been hungry, but the time it had taken to chew through those strips was more time to allow me to think about what he had said about me, or what I thought was about me, even if he hadn’t been aware of it.

‘Father,’ I said after dwelling on it long enough. ‘I heard you say: The Defender shall break the world, tearing the clouds from the sky.’

‘What of it, son?’ He was sitting on the ground, his powerful body poised ready to flee if need be. I didn’t take offense. He had been like that since he had come to his senses from the shock after I had woken him. Though he was looking at me, he was still paying attention to his surroundings.

‘Where did you hear that phase?‘ I asked him. ’Do you know what it means, and why did you say it then?’

‘I know you have met with someone from the tribes. Do you know how they welcome each other?’

I shook my head.

‘Well, you never introduce yourself.‘ He took a brief moment to look around. ’They welcome you instead, or if you’re not on good terms with them, or… Forget about that, that’s a major topic. They either welcome you, or they say they see you.’

‘Okay.’ He, like me and my Brother seemed to have the same habit of talking around an issue.

‘But how do they know a person’s name without being told it? Even complete strangers use each other’s name.’

He was right. How did they manage it?

Something spooked him, and he made to move away. What happened? I had sensed nothing. Sense… Damn it, Analysis.

‘Go ahead,’ he said, settling back down again. ‘Use it on me.’

Name: Forlorn Hope

Concept: Self Exiled Leader of Men

Traits:

‎ Oracle: ?

‎ Follower of Sanctuary of Peace: ?

‎ Citizen of the Heartlands: ?

‎ Citizen of Fastidious House: ?

‎ Swordsman: ?

‎ Knowledge of Fissures: ?

‎ Husband of Number Three Piety and Radiant Flute: ?

‎ Combat Sports: ?

‎ Animal Instinct: ?

Removed Traits:

‎ Painting

‎ Leader of Fastidious House

‎ Riding

System Traits:

‎ Standard Broadcast Receiver: ?

‎ Standard Broadcaster: ?

‎ Standard Analysis: ?

‘You’re an Oracle?’ I said, partly in shock that he was one, and also shocked how many traits were used—maybe wasted was a better term—on what seemed nonessential traits. Maybe it was because of those traits that he was unable to fully turn his back upon his House. If that was so, then maybe traits were more powerful than I at first realised.

And if that is the case, then me being a Demi-God…

What did that mean for me?

Maybe I needed to call—no, not now, I shouted to myself to stop any potential call—Death to ask him.

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I realised Father was talking, and I wasn’t paying him any attention. From what I heard, I gathered it was important.

‘Sorry, Father, I missed what you said. I was thinking about the power of traits, and about my own traits. What you were saying seemed important.’

‘It both is, and isn’t, son.’ His legs were bouncing as if they wanted to move. Animal Instinct seemed like a really inconvenient trait. But it seemed to have served him well out here in the wilds, so that was something.

‘There are natural-born administrators. Within the Heartlands, they, and oracles, are trait wiped. Sometimes, if it seems like a hereditary thing, they destroy that bloodline. I was blessed in meeting with a tribal administrator, a powerful and well respected one, but even they were not as powerful as those dreaded altars in the Temples back in Heartland.

‘Even though my desire for my traits to change was, and is, immense, they could only change two slots. Birth Traits, even if overwritten, still hold priority, which is why that first trait, that which defined me for so long and performed at the highest level, could be removed.

‘Riding, was granted to me at our Temple within Fastidious House. It alone was weak enough to be overwritten by the administrator. So here I am,‘ he seemed to be growling now, ’stuck out in the wilderness, torn by my concept and my personal desire, and trapped by the traits forced upon me by our goddess and her Temple.’

‘This is all well, Father,‘ I said, trying to bring him onto a safer topic, ’yet we have strayed from talking about what you said.’

‘A bad habit of mine, I’m afraid.‘ He was eyeing me up now. Was he wary of me? Or was it I reminded him of what had set him off? ’What was it I said again?’

‘ “The Defender shall break the world, tearing the clouds from the sky.” ’

He seemed to dwell on it for a while, calming down for a moment, his body stilling as he looked not at me, but at the distant stars in the sky above.

‘Sorry, son, sometimes when hearing the oracle again, I get more. I didn’t this time. I don’t remember saying it in the first place, either. I’m a weak Oracle. It’s not even 2M. At my level, us oracles struggle even getting an oracle in the first place. Unless we go through some trial. And I guess meeting you was a trial enough for an oracle to be birthed.

‘Now, you must understand, son, that an oracle isn’t a flawless understanding of the future—’

I didn’t want to listen to the same conversation as I had with Whirling cloud, so I cut him off. ‘But an image of what could be, one that can be impacted by others.’

He flinched away from me slightly, his eyes watching me carefully. ‘Yes, how did you… Oh, you met with an oracle, didn’t you?’ He must’ve seen something on my face I wasn’t aware of and he chuckled, yet still not calming down. ‘Oh, you met with them, right? What was her name?’

‘What if it was a him, Father?’

His wrinkled brows furrowed further. ‘Was it a him?’

It was my turn to chuckle, ‘no, it was a beautiful woman who was not only a leader, but a seer, and a Tier Three as well.’

‘Well, seer is a term they use for oracles.‘ His eyes wandered around the hollow again. ’System blessed is a term they use for administrators and those who can impact, or view, the system in abnormal ways. Unlike us, they see not the number of traits but the potential of the traits.’

That made sense to me.

‘We do something similar here—‘ He shook his head, moving position slightly at the same time, enough for him to get ready to move quickly. ‘No. Things are deliberately limited. Tier Three are limited to having their traits maxed out at 3M. Just good enough to do what they’re needed for, but not too high that they could go it alone. Tier Five upwards are limited to 5M. With the exception of a few powerful people within the Temple who have all limits removed.

‘Even with this, not everyone reaches those limits. Personality, desire, personally trained skills, and natural trait potential all play a role.’

After that I let things go quiet, as did my Father. He slowly and carefully moved further, starting to crouch rather than sit. His eyes constantly darting between me and the rim of the hollow. I replayed the words I heard him say through my mind time and time again.

‘Her name was Whirling Cloud. I’m worried about what I heard from you and what I heard from her. It seemed we will become close. I had even heard some of the future from her. It was a wondrous future. But you talked about “tearing clouds from the sky” and as she was a cloud and in the image, she said she saw I was rooted to the ground, but of the sky too.’

I didn’t know what else to say. I didn’t even know why I brought it up.

My Father shifted further into a crouch, then moved forward to take me into his arms. For a moment he did his best to comfort me, even over-riding his natural instinct to gaze the wilds for danger. But under his loving hug he was unnaturally tense.

All too soon he pulled away and darted a couple of crouch-steps back. He was now next to his backpack.

‘Son, I don’t know what I can say, but the fact she suffers from the Curse of the Oracle shows she is a high level seer. Far higher than me, and as she was likely trained from a young age in her trait, then it is likely she’s far more knowledgeable about this than me.

‘All I can do is hope that your life with her is as blessed as it sounds.‘ He reached down and took hold of his rucksack. ’I must depart, son. I cannot remain around you much longer. If I do, then I’m afraid of what might happen. It is an oracle thing. It is something that works together with Animal Instinct. I was blessed to be able to meet you. To see how you have grown, and…’

I reached up to my neck. He darted a step back. As if appeasing a wild animal, I carefully took the clothes he had given me, and I had wrapped around my shoulders, and handed them back to him. With unwarranted care, he reached out and snatched them away from my grasp.

‘Sleep now, son. When you wake, I’ll be gone. Please don’t chase after me anymore. I love you and am grateful for all you have done for me. I just regret not being able to spend more time with you. Please tell your brother that I am proud of him and that I love him deeply. I never wanted to see him in pain. But he must move on. Tell him he needs to focus upon his family and his House.’

This time it wasn’t me who left, but my Father. I watched in silence as he fled from the hollow. A heavy weight pressed down within my empty chest. In hopeless emptiness, I stared at the trampled grass where he had fled from me.

Sleep was slow in coming.