After oddly waking up before everyone I decide to take the advantage and start my day quickly, today I needed to do as much as possible in my power to find my Emblem – ‘I have to’.

I slowly get up quietly and go over to grab the cloak hung up and put the shoes on which are next to the door.

Finally, all I need to do was get out of the screeching door without waking the others, it seems like a formidable obstacle but even so I stand in front of the door thinking of a way.

‘Oh well…’ I think to myself and go to remove a piece of wood locking the door from the inside, and the door slowly creeps forwards. I grab it and slowly guide it forward minimising the sound. I close the door as best as I could and set off towards the Water Village.

“There had to be more the old man can tell me, surely!”

With my watch out I click it and its face waves me good morning.

It reads ten minutes past six O’clock and part of me knows Jim is up to something crazy in the river for the soul purpose of ‘tuning his soul with the water’ or something spiritual like that.

I come out of the forest path and the sun only starts to rise glaring across the river, I see the bridge in the distance as well as the work district fast asleep under the mostly dark sky.

I approach the bridge and hear the water splashing and it sounds like a fisherman is trying to reel in a shark as it fights back.

I’m at the bridge and I look directly down to see a very familiar old man completely shirtless handling nun chucks and waving it into the air then slamming into the face of the water after doing a kick.

“Oi! Old man!”

I shout to him and he seems to stop and look around slowly before looking directly up at me.

“Ed? What are you doing up there?”

He shouts even louder and I don’t want this to become a shouting contest so I walk across the bridge and down below next to the water.

He approaches me and I gaze at his very impressive physique for an old man – abdominal muscles all budging like towers.

I was about to counter back to him with a simple ‘I could ask you the same’ but that was petty and I wouldn’t be getting anywhere.

“About yesterday-!”

“Save it.”

He cuts me down but waits for me to finish first, I look at him confused.

“Just forget about the Emblem magic thing. I was an idiot to let you adventure out when you don’t even have a clue what your Emblem could be.”

“But… Yesterday you were with it!”

“Look Ed, unlike your sister who most likely inherits Arthur’s peace Emblem. There’s no chance. Because you don’t share the same blood as them.”

“I know that! I already know how I was found and I already know everything about it!”

I shout spitefully.

“Ed. Follow me.”

He says, walking through the deep water into the shallow water and right past me, he continues whilst annoyed, I follow him.

He recites some sort of spell and the water soaking him gives way to dry skin, I follow him inside the one room building. He sits down onto the floor with his legs crossed and wears a shirt that was neatly folded to the side.

“It’ too dangerous for you Ed.”

“Then how do you explain yesterday!?”

“Well, because I realise there are more productive things for you to do then peruse the title and status of an emblem caster.”

I get up and walk out in a rush, I run up the slope towards the path and run away from the bridge opposite to the forest.

I want to stop, and think about everything, I want to just sit down and process these emotions building up in me.

I stop breathless. Looking to my front I can see another bridge far in the distance, and when I turn back around. I see the working sect of this village like a departing ship.

From here I can see the inner-city clearer, there is another wall that similar to the one next to the market place I visited yesterday going around in a circular shape.

I’ve been inside the inner-city once when I was younger, I don’t remember much other than the fact there was an awfully crowded centre.

I see the houses as I walk closer, not really knowing where I am going or why. All I know is that I want to do something to get this mood off my mind.

The second bridge stemming over the river approaches and I can hear a voice coming from near it. It’s a sweat voice. It sounds as if it longs for the fading stars as the brightest one in the sky seems to give way to sunlight.

I approach quieter and slower than before hoping that I couldn’t be heard. I find myself lost within the voice, it’s like a string attached to me pulling me closer.

I am next to the bridge and I listen to what the voice seems to be singing but I can’t make out any distinctive word.

‘Is it from another language?’ I ask myself and decide quickly that’s the most likely reason. The language seems to flow in the wind as if a cloth let go carried by the rushing air.

‘I have to see who it is,’ I say inside my head and peak as much as possible through the corner of the bridge pillar until I can see a leg pointing out.

The ground become more unstable as apply the pressure of my bodyweight on top it, and I can feel the slope becoming more slanted but choose to ignore it.

‘Maybe just a bit more and I can see who it is?’ I say un-sure, as extend just a bit more. And I can feel my feet becoming rather heavily as I lose my balance.

I rush to put my other leg forward but realise it’s already too late, the ground under my foot becomes a muddy mess and pulls my foot upwards.

“Oh, oh!”

I scream right before I impact the ground and tumble right next to the river’s force on top of a few jagged rocks.

I look upwards and the voice seems to stop, there’s a girl holding both her arms forwards ready to cast emblem magic.

I feel fate closing a door on me as I hear the girl start to whisper what sounds like an emblem cast.

“Waterbeweging.”

She looks at my face and I see hers clearly under the sun-rays that manage to cross through the bridge and reflect off the moving water.

I suddenly look up as I can feel the air around me rush away. What looks like to be a large ocean starts to collapse onto me and I can feel slight shards of Ice pass through me.

“Not again-!“

A familiar sensation of not being able to breathe as water dives into my mouth and tries to get deep into my lung.

I can feel my lungs explode every time I cough with a loud bang.

“Angela… What the hell…”

I speak to the same girl who I can see much more clearly now.

“You don’t sneak up on a girl like that!”

“But I really didn’t mean it like that, how was I supposed to know you sing at seven in the morning!?”

“Shut up or else I’m going to freeze you this time! And don’t you dare tell anyone about that!”

I look at her in her usual dress calm down a bit after noticing it was me, and I guess it really was my fault that I am soaking right now, but surely this all is an over-reation.

“Hey Ed, do you think that just maybe, maybe we could-“

The atmosphere changes to a tender sensation.

“Could what?”

I push further on her random statement or rather what seemed like a question. She turns around to me with her eyes glistening as the sun becomes more prevalent, flashing into the waters and into her eyes.

“Don’t you ever just, want to run away with someone – forever? Doesn’t that sound nice?”

She says playing with a couple strands of hair.

“I guess but where would you ever go, how would you get food and shelter, there’s just so much unanswe-“

“Forget about that for a moment.”

She sighs and I think I should just be quiet for once and instead listen.

“Love… It’s so, so weird Ed. I wonder what or who created it.”

Even if I want to comment right now there wasn’t anything I could comment about. It was such a weird conversation anyway – about Love.

‘Who’s his person?’ I start to shallowly think about rather intrigued, but then a spark collides with my thoughts and reminds me about what I wanted to talk to her about.

“I feel like following your heart is what’s right, is that a reasonable way to live though?”

She looks at me now actually expecting an answer.

“I don’t think so… Why follow emotions you can’t even grasp right now?”

“I guess so…”

She responds disappointed.

I feel like this is the perfect moment to talk and try to take my opportunity, I open my mouth to speak and she speaks first.

Whatever it was only half a syllable comes out of her mouth before stopping herself and shaking her head.

“Angela I’ve been meaning to tell you something.”

“What...?”

She looks at me, breaking out of a haze.

“About Emblems…”

Her face changes suddenly and no longer revolve around her tender feelings, but rather a calmer natural state – something I am unlikely to see any time soon.

“How did you get your emblem?”

“I’m not one hundred percent certain, but by a certain age some emblems seem to appear, and mine certainly did – but the water emblem is known for appearing at a young age, why though?”

“I want to an Emblem power – to protect everyone who I love, I don’t want this world to control my every action as if fate was my destiny…”

She remains quiet, and so I ask myself.

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“Where do I start after Old Man Jim tells me to quit?”

“Ignore him. Do what you think is right.”

“Is this another one of your non-logical beliefs about life?”

“No, unless you overthink like you always do, just sort of let go. Why endlessly research and overthink because at the end of the day a diamond is just some carbon atoms.”

“But that’s not why diamonds are expensive-“

“My point is, control what’s actually in your reach, stop going over-board. Who cares If Jim tells you not to do something are you going to let that stop you from doing anything else.”

“This feels like the best and worse advice I’ve ever heard I can’t lie, but I guess I’ll keep it in the back of my mind – for now."

I slowly get up and accept I can’t do much about being soaked, I then realised what the old man could do and how he had gotten dry.

“Angela by any chance could you cast any spell to make me dry?”

She scratches her head thinking and hey eyes light up momentarily.

“Maybe… But I’m not too sure if it would work.”

“Go ahead and try it, I’ll be your test subject!”

“Alright, don’t blame me if something happens to you though!”

“Breken.”

She says softly and her arms wave around as if she is channelling something, at the end of it she points at me and slowly from my hair to my feet the water seems to disappear.

“Woah! Thanks Angela! And for everything else!”

“No worries.”

She says turning her head back towards the water and I can see a faint smile start to form from the water’s reflection of her face.

I start walking up the slope and the normal stresses start to come back to me about everyone’s safety.

“Hey Angela! Promise me we’ll go to that new tea house outside of town sometime soon!”

I shout looking back and she looks a bit embarrassed.

“S-sure thing – It’s a promise!”

I start thinking to myself about what Angela suggested to me – ‘let go’.

I hate thinking about it like that, but I try. One deep breath in, and one out as I walk forward blindly, I keep doing it until I feel like everything sort of fades away. And there’s nothing apart from my body.

I come back to my visual sense and I see the houses made from what looks clay bricks and straw or wooden roofs.

The area looks a lot more pleasant than the work district, filled with sleeping houses in an open field, and with the assumption in a couple hours I would be able to hear the laughter of children echo through the rivers here.

I look up, some light clouds start to appear and I wonder if today was going to hold good or bad weather.

“I’m already here sooo, why not wake up Gaven and Rob.”

I silently laugh after flowing my thoughts outload, I don’t remember specifically where they’re houses were but if I saw them I would one hundred percent recognise them.

I start walking down one of the few main roads and from familiar memory, I walk down one of the sub-streets and onto a smaller road where the houses look almost identical.

All I remember about the house is a distinctive frame of window as I had done this exact same thing a long time ago.

I walk through the street passing houses that could very well be Rob’s, as I try to recount everything, I did last time I had been here.

I suddenly see a window with a wooden cross frame that’s painted white but it seems the paint is wearing off. I sense a weird déjà vu and I know it is my sub-consciousness alerting me I have hit a gold mine.

I cautiously walk to the window; extra careful I don’t make any noise and go to peak through it when a thought comes to me.

‘This feels awfully illegal’

And I almost let out a gasp for air as I cover my mouth to stop any sound pre-determining my location.

The wall is rough and I extend my hand across it to reach a slight crack in the open window, a slight breeze rushes past me and creates a whistling noise as it forces itself through the window.

‘Shit… Please don’t tell me that did it.’ I listen more carefully and hear some movement but not too much and theorise Rob is moving around in his sleep.

‘Come on… You got this...’

I pull the window and it holds some resistance and when I finally do I prepare myself for the riskiest part. I put both my hands on the edge of the window ledge and with my arms fully extending outwards I pull myself up.

I’m not heavy but I would certainly not call myself too light.

I start contemplating my past actions and how I should have spent my time wiser doing anything but messing around – specifically about getting any amount of muscle to do this.

I jump and get my elbows onto the small ledge, I can see into the room, but it is pitch black other than the bit I could see of where the floor is.

I then oddly see a stone placed onto the window frame presumably to keep it slightly open, I decide to pick it up and aim into the darkness. Now this is a very stupid idea to begin with, and I know that – he could be laying anywhere so it was like playing a game of battleships.

I throw the stone right in front of me and I’m not sure what it actually hits but it creates a large metallic noise. I hear him grunt and wake up with a shocking expression on his face as he sits upright.

I see Rob’s face and he rub his eyes before looking in my direction.

“Ed w-what the hell!?”

He shouts realising what a maniac and menace I am to society.

“Shhh! You gonna wake someone up! Come outside!”

I whisper sharply to him.

“Oh, what the hell…”

He finally responds in a quiet voice.

“Just do it!”

He groans once more and I jump down and feel my knees almost break on impact – since having poor bracing technique properly.

I wait for a couple minutes and hear a hatch click from the front door, I go towards there and see Rob dressed closing the door behind him.

“Anyways, what exactly was this for?”

“It was about time you woke up its already morning, anyways follow me we’re going on an adventure!”

The thought of actually going on an adventure out the kingdom with Rob or anyone else is ludicrous. Although it always has been a childish thing we would announce it to go and play instead of do something better.

“Don’t tell me we’re going to wake up Gav-“

He already knows my inner thoughts. I also have the temptation to mention Jack, but I realise if his parents find out he sneaked out, we would never see him again.

“That’s exactly what we’re going to do!”

We laugh together at the stupidity of the whole thing, but none the less it was all we needed for an efficient laugh, after all no one was hurt at the end of the day – most the time.

“Do you remember where his house is?”

I ask.

“Of course, let me take you there, captain Ed! It seems to be at 10 O’clock from here!”

He laughs to himself and we both willingly endure a short silence to look up at the sky above at the sky now turning a blue from an orange haze that seized the skies and clouds.

“Quick! We might not make it in time if he wakes up!”

“Go! Go! Go!”

I respond to his alert of emergency; we jog at a slow pace and he stops to point at a small house with almost the identical lay out at Rob’s.

“This village really doesn’t know the meaning of originality.”

He looks at me confused and shrugs it off.

“Which one is his room?”

I ask and he just signals to me to follow him, I do so and it result with nothing less than perfection. Gaven’s room isn’t like the one Rob was in. It is a room with a bigger window which wasn’t too high up compared to Rob’s window.

His curtain is blocking most the view, but just like Rob’s, his window is open.

“What’s with everyone opening their windows isn’t that a security risk?”

I whisper into Rob’s ears.

“Now you say that – it does kinda feel un-secure. But it was deadly humid last night so I guess that explains it. You're also forgetting this is a community.”

“I see…”

I whisper sharply.

We have our eyes on the prize.

“Rob, would you like to do the honours?”

“Say less mate.”

He opens the window outwards, the sight of Rob doing this out of all people makes me laugh without stop.

I step a few metres back to contain his silent ‘break-in’.

He pulls back the curtains very carefully and he looks back at me with a grin, I expect him now to get a rock or something to throw and do what I did.

But he does the unthinkable he puts on leg onto the ledge and looks back to me one last time as I mouth the words ‘no way, you are a legend’ and leave my mouth wide open in awe.

His grin seems to extend further than before and he looks back into Gaven’s room. He puts his other leg into the actual room and finally puts his foot which is on the ledge into the room.

I move closer begging myself to stop laughing and observe the bigger thing at hand.

He slowly moves to the bed and from the sunlight entering the room we both clearly see Gaven’s face stick out of a cover on his bed.

He moves closer to Gaven, every step fills my head with anticipating tension. He’s right next to Gaven.

“This is all it.”

I say to myself. All of a sudden, he pounces onto Gaven and frantically shakes him around.

Gaven wakes up.

Gasping.

And suddenly a look of disapproval reigns over Gaven’s face and he pulls the cover over his head.

“Rob!? What the hell!?”

He tries to shout but seems too tired to do so.

I relate to him on a personal level as I recall the face of Aella waking me up every time, I’m in a dream, where I am living the best life ever.

Even so, I can’t help the laughter and the ridiculous nature of the entire situation.

“Oh, come on man… Stop it already!”

Gaven Says a bit louder and he finally opens his eyes.

“What the hell Rob! Again?!”

I specifically focus on the word ‘again’ and wonder what those two had been up to alone.

“Wake up its like eight already.”

Rob states quieting a little bit down now.

“Really though...?”

He says doubtfully, and truthfully it is almost eight, which sounds unreal to me. But time goes so fast when you are having fun.

“Fine I'll get out but you better not go back to sleep or that’s ten push ups!”

“Fine!”

Rob goes back outside the window and towards me.

“Rob... What did he mean by ‘again’..?”

“Don’t worry about it…”

He awkwardly laughs.

“Wait just a moment... This is regular for you!?”

“Ed, don’t worry be happy.”

Gaven quietly comes out with not a single trace of tiredness or fatigue and I feel impressed by his presence alone.

“Alright… So, what now.”

Rob looks at me blankly and I feel like I want to relinquish that un-spoken role of ‘captain’ but I did get both of them up, so I should at least decide on something.

My attention splits to the distance where I can see a large peak of what looks like a really big hill – but I know for a fact it has to be some sort of small mountain.

I point towards it without really thinking and decide that, this was our mission – climb that mountain.

“Your joking…”

Rob says sluggishly, and Gaven has a burst of excitement and actually starts jogging ion the spot.

“Hold on!”

Gaven says before going into his house and re-emerging almost silently to not wake up his parents but seems to be speaking to someone behind the door.

He has a straw basket and me and Rob both question him with our puzzling expressions. He closes the door firmly shut and speaks.

“You don’t want to starve up there, do you?”’

And then he laughs at me for even asking or implying such a stupid question.

“So, let’s go I guess – this is it, the start of our adventure. Objective – get to that peak!”

We embark towards the horizon and it’s not that far until we leave the village, and as we do so we see a large cargo carrying carts driven by a tamed strange hybrid-like animal. Like a mix of a horse and an ostrich.

We travel towards the cart in the mostly flat land showing nothing but agricultural works.

The cart passes next to us along with the man who is holding the animal on a leash, he shouts to us:

“It's not safe children! Run away!”

We laugh at the old man, after all – nothing was going to stop me from reaching the peak of that mountain, to me it almost felt like it was going to be the peak of my ambitions and dreams.

“I think the old man has lost his mind.”

Rob giggles a little trying to mimic his voice and the way his facial skin hangs downwards.

“I guess so...”

I respond and soon enough the memory is thrown in the bin of my mind.

We eventually get to the start of the mountain encountering no one else and filling the path with the chaos of laughter.

It feels like twenty minutes but when I discretely check the time on my pocket watch it reads nine O’clock. But if we try I assume that the way back would be no longer than twenty minutes.

The stable path turns sour and the only way up is by making your own way up, there does however seem to be a cheat way – and that was to follow what looked like an un-official path people had travelled on before.

There’re small streams running from the top and trees seem to glow vibrantly in response to the array of resources at their disposable will. Moss grows on large rocks and there is a lack of grass and more dark, brown dirt.

“I don’t think we can make It up there.”

Rob says but continues.

“I’m determined we can find a path though”

“Of course!”

Me and Gaven reply in a formidable show of sheer ambition.

“Rob kneel downwards in front of the rock.”

Without even questioning it he does it, I then go in between the space from him and the rock.

He does give me a weird look, but I just smirk smugly.

“Gaven do your thing.”

It feels perfectly harmonious and he goes a steady pace stepping onto Rob’s knees and then onto my shoulders and as he stands there momentarily, I push him up and he gets over the ledge.

I then jump and automatically Gaven pulls me upwards and he holds my legs while I pull up Rob with us.

“That was awesome!”

I start disrupting the elegant silent.

“What do you mean awesome!? That was so much better than ‘awesome’!”

Gaven responds. And as we keep going up the land becomes steeper, and we kind of hold up each other as a safety precaution.

“So, what do you guys plan on doing now? I mean at some point we have to work.”

I ask.

“I mean I’ll probably just go into the work sector, start learning skills. Slowly, I’ll get better and better. Until one day I can start my own trade practice in the market. And If I am successful enough, I’ll make my way to the capital. Just like how everyone does it.”

Rob responds in a disengaging tone. And Gaven nods along with what he’s saying.

“Why go down the regular, boring path when you can be a traveller? Seeking adventures and once here and there being a merchant?”

I respond with excitement.

“And when would you ever know when to settle...?”

Gaven points out.

“Well... I guess when you want to have a family... Or make enough profit?”

“Well, it sounds good on paper... But then why doesn’t everyone do it if it is a good model and plan?”

He counters.

“Because people are too scared, you only have one shot at life, and if you mess it up you can’t restart. But the adventures must be worth it. To go out, set your aim on something great and becoming a someone on the journey!”

“Now that you say that, it does sound really tempting... Maybe one day I’ll join you if you ever go down that path!”

Rob says.

The scenery continued on and on. And the only thing that slowly changes it how much lighter the air feels. It's not by a lot but if you really focus on it.

The trees come to stop all of a sudden and the amount of greenery halts, up ahead but not too close is the peak.

The ground resembles the mouth of some dinosaur with its similarities of sharp, jagged rocks like teeth, and emerald green ponds of water. We approach another obstacle that we need to climb and I start first.

Before grabbing onto a rock, I smack down on it to see its strength and it seems sturdy.

I put one foot on another ledge and repeat.

“Let’s not fail now – there’s no going back after all.”

I say not looking back down as I keep going up. We’re climbing higher than ever before and adrenaline keeps my heart pumping at this point, as I feel my grip wear out.

‘Focus, focus, focus!’ I think to myself controlling a regular breathing pattern.

“We’re almost there!”

I excitedly announce as every step now takes me a few inches closer to the top which is almost in hand’s reach.

“Finally!”

I shout, jumping recklessly on the study, flat ground I am standing on.

I’m over.

And this is no longer a challenge, but an achievement of the past.

I help the others to get here.

I look into the far horizon and I can’t help but admire the absolute glory of it. Birds look like particles flowing in the wind in packs. Trees at the base look like tooth picks.

And most astonishingly is the river which I can clearly see with little figures in the water, as it stretches towards the capital and into the ocean.

The sun blazes across the lands and we can see the water village from here, letting me realise how small the village really is when comparing it to the capital.

“So how about we eat now?”

Gaven excitedly begins.

“Say less.”

Rob ends and we get out the packaged food onto the cloth separating the food from the stone floor.

And start beginning a feast.

Sandwiches filled with jam, some with slices of delicate chicken and beef, some with a fine, strong succulent aura of cheese radiating.

Biscuits covered in a creamy layer of frosting, and the list seems endless.

Leaving me wondering how he managed to get all of this so fast.

However, I am beyond the realms of intrigue and I would very much rather start eating as soon as possible.

“Thanks for the food Gaven!”

Me and Rob rejoice.

As we share the food and then start eating away, all whilst we enjoy probably the best view within the entire kingdom.