Astrid breathes deeply as she looks around the living area and kitchen. The hearth is on the far left wall of the living area. A long wooden tea table is stationed near it with a rug underneath. The kitchen has two wooden chairs and a wooden table propped next to the window. Home doesn’t feel like home anymore. All memory of her has been wiped from this building. The books that were scattered throughout the living area are gone. The dried herbs by the windows are gone. Even the clay bowls and cups she made for them are nowhere to be seen. It’s been two years so this should have been expected. When she left it was incredibly impromptu and there was no way for her to gather any of the few belongings she had.
Arkane may have kept some things for her in the hopes that she may return someday. She heads through the living area towards their shared room. She passes by her mother’s bedroom–the door stands closed–a soft sleeping breath can be heard. Astrid tries to be silent but the floorboards creak more than they used to.
When she gets to the end of the small hall she finds the door closed. When the door opens–it’s immediate–the realization that her mother expected her not to return. To never come back home. The room that once held two small beds only contains one. The desk Astrid fashioned out of old barrel wood has been moved next to the window where Arkane must be using it to study. All of her books and all of the clothes she had are now gone. The wardrobe that she and Arkane pawned off of one of their neighbours is filled with Arkane’s clothes. Splinters stick out of it sharply. I taught him how to sand it down but he must’ve forgotten.
The bed frame she made for herself has now become Arkane’s. The simple wood she put together is now filled with carvings of creatures. When did he get into wood carving?
Astrid kneels and looks underneath the raised bed. Piles of her books are underneath the bed. Some of which were meant to be returned to their rightful owners. Not a piece of clothing in sight. Behind the books sits something familiar to Astrid. She lays down on her stomach and crawls underneath. Arkane must have put this stuff underneath the bed to prevent their mother from destroying it all. The village fire is not the reason that all traces of Astrid are gone–their mother has always hated her.
She pushes aside the books and grabs at the familiar cloth. It’s heavy and confirms her suspicions. As Astrid shimmies backwards to pull it out from under the bed she smacks her head on the frame above her. Pangs of white invade her vision. In the days before going away to the institution she used to be able to endure pain well. Now it feels as if she has been pulled apart. Constantly about to tear and fall to pieces.
Astrid lays there on the floor for a while. Cursing the fact that this is her life. That she must find her brother because no one else would believe her and find him. That her mother ever sent her off to the institution in the first place. That the blame for the fires in the village was placed entirely on her. It isn’t fair. Arkane gets to live a normal life. Gets a room to himself while she struggles to keep herself together. Being treated like an animal. Now that the school has kicked her out she has nowhere to stay and has to go find Arkane. The same brother that shrunk into the corner as the whole town rallied against her. Arkane the handsome and innocent. Who never said a word in her defence.
There’s nothing else to do. Astrid taps her forehead on the cold floor and begrudgingly begins to pull the cloth out from under the bed. If there’s anything to do; it’s not going to be staying here. Especially if Arkane called for her specifically. Arkane the weak and innocent. He would not survive out there. Arkane always told Astrid how she must have siphoned all his powers away in the womb–so he never attempted to practice. All these books underneath the bed could have led him to become someone powerful but instead, he did what? Carve into her wood. Destroy the frame she made.
Astrid shakes her head and tugs one last time–pulling the cloth out. A few piles of books under the bed scatter onto the floor. Leaning back until she sits on her butt with knees crossed in front of her. The cloth is pulled close. Filled with things she knows will be needed. While unfolding it she smiles.
The things inside this cloth are something of her father’s that he would take with him when it was time to go hunting. When the creatures of the wood got too close to the village–the hunters would get together to kill or scare them away. Astrid’s family was given this gear when her father died. The body was never found but his stuff was retrieved by the company since it was all found at a campsite. Mother would say he disappeared and is in a new town with a new family. Though Astrid knows he died. She remembers what she saw the night before his death. That’s not something she wants to think about right now so instead Astrid makes a checklist of what’s inside.
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The cloth itself is woven with magic that protects it from harsh weather. Astrid unwraps the cloth and inside is a thick leather pack. She lifts it up and pulls the cloth away from underneath it. The pack itself is filled with items as well. This brightens up her hopes of survival. A smile softens her face and she is glad that these things were never sold or given away. The two leather clasps undo easily as the muscle memory kicks in Astrid. The flap of leather that covers the mouth of the bag lifts and Astrid begins to pull things out. There’s a small black waterproof notebook, multiple jars of dried herbs, a star map, a cloak, and at the very bottom is her father’s dagger.
The notebook is scrawled with her father’s handwriting. Instructions on how to purify water, how to make a fire, how to make bug repellant and even a spell of temporary invisibility are written down in his hand. Astrid’s chest tightens at the memory of him. Gone now, but the only one that can help her find Arkane. With the bag now empty, she rolls up the cloth and sets it into the bag. The herbs are indiscernible to Astrid so she puts them back into the backpack along with the notebook. The star map is put back into the bag without looking at it. The cloak–made to hide the smell of the wearer from any predators is placed off to the side. It was made specifically for her father but it will protect Astrid instead. The cloak is fairly soft other than where his quiver scratched at from continual movement. Astrid runs fingers along the rough indents. This’ll be a big cloak for her to wear but it’ll keep her safe.
She stands up with the cloak flung over one arm, the bag in her hand, and the dagger in the other. There’s no clothing for her to wear and she doesn’t want to ask her mother so she goes through Arkanes' wardrobe. Her eyes scan for greens or browns to wear and she pulls them out. A long green sweater and a brown shirt. She places everything on the bed and turns back to the wardrobe. The institution was keen on making the girls wear skirts but that won’t do in the forest. At the bottom of the wardrobe is where she finds a brown pair of trousers.
Astrid begins changing into the clothes and realizes how tall her brother has gotten. The sleeves of the sweater go past her fingertips and the pants fall in folds at her ankles. Without taking any of the clothes off she grabs the dagger, unsheaths it, and cuts the clothing to fit. She ties the scraps of fabric together and fashions a belt of mismatched fabrics. While pulling the waist of the trousers away from her she stabs little holes in it. The makeshift belt goes through the holes and she ties it in front of her. Astrid contemplates whether to cut the shirt and sweater to size or to tuck them into the trousers but chooses instead to leave it as is.
As Astrid begins to resheath the dagger–the jewels glisten and catch her eye. This was made before she was born. Before father was a stagnant hunter for a village–he would travel through kingdoms on quests. Astrid can not fathom how a man like him was struck by mother enough to stay. To give up the life he had before. Now mother just lies about who he was and how he is no brave man since he left his family. As if he had a choice.
She puts the dagger into the loop of the belt by her left hip. It’s getting close to leaving time. The bed looks so comfortable to sleep in right now. The stiffness of her muscles becomes more prominent as she lets the thought of lying down linger for too long. Maybe a few minutes won’t hurt.
Astrid crawls onto the bed. Sharp hay stabs into her through the thin fabric but the act of laying down soothes her aching body. She pulls the pillow closer to her head and the sound of crinkling paper resonates through the room. Astrid’s eyes open sharply–sitting up to grab the paper underneath the pillow. It reads “CALLING ALL HUNTERS. Young Girl Taken. Black Ooze Left. 3rd Victim of This Moon,” It clicks in her head. Arkane said that he was trying to find a girl or he found her? At the moment of the vision, she thought that he had meant that she found him? It never made sense before but now it does. Arkane was trying to be like father. Now he’s gone like him too.
Astrid gets up swiftly and grabs the bag, throwing the cloak over her arm. She goes to the kitchen and finds a couple of drink pouches. Throws them into the bag. Then grabbing some clean cloths she wraps up cheese and a loaf of bread. Without guilt, those go into the bag too. Her mother would throw a fit if she finds Astrid doing this so she does it quicker. Eyes sweep swiftly through the room to find anything else that may be needed.
The sound of a door creaking open makes Astrid move. Mother is awake and is remembering that Astrid is home. Astrid gets to the front door before her mother notices and steals her gardening boots. She makes sure the door closes softly behind before quickly putting the boots on. They need to be tied up but the woods will be where she ties them.
Sprinting–Astrid makes it to the woods before her mother opens the front door. The carriage from earlier is gone. She watches her mother from behind a tree as mother looks around the front garden but promptly goes back inside. She thinks Astrid might be in the house. A wide grin has spread over Astrid's face as she realizes that no one owns her anymore. The school wants nothing to do with her and her mother can’t go to the village to find Astrid since that would mean admitting that she is back in the village.
She can start fresh. Astrid closes up the backpack and swings it over her shoulders. Then she puts the cloak on while walking further into the woods. The light of the morning shines over the valley of the village as she enters the dark wood.