"Are you ready, Inarashi?" Chato said to me with a very straight face. I could feel tension in his words, his nerves began to show today. I felt pressured, but I tried not to let on.

"Of course, grandfather," I replied.

"Revell will accompany you on your trip to the neutral zone. Although we currently have treaties with the surronding tribes, the credibility of them runs slim with the current standing of the Ardent Tribe. Word has already spread of Silva's vanishment, and although the tribes have been patient on this matter, they currently question whether our aliiance is worth it any longer. In particular, I have heard troubling rumors of the Jasah tribe. We can no longer be too careful in these dark days of Ardent."

I nodded, "Understood. I know with Revell I will be safe. Of the surrounding nations Ardent has stood among the top for years. Although my father is no longer here, Revell is a legend of battle himself. Any tribe would be a fool to take him on without their full tribe backing them."

Melissa began to speak, "Still... Don't you think it's a little dangerous to only send Revell with him? I will accompany them. I believe we should bring Sol and Sora with us as well."

Sol and Sora were twins and incredibly strong warriors of our tribe. If I had to rate them I would put them only behind Silva, Revell, and Chato in terms of stregnth. Sol was gifted with the ability to manipulate nature's life around him, making him unstoppable in certain terrains such as forests. In case their was no life though, he carried seeds around him which he could manipulate to instantly grow and use to battle with, but his power was then limited. Sora had the ability to create smoke and manipulate it. His primary use for it was to create clones of himself and allies to deceive the enemy, but he was also an exceptional hand to hand combatant. Some in the tribe say that if his gift was more aligned with his combat style he would be the strongest in the tribe. He still manages to use his gift exceptionally well for support though, especially when paired with Sol in battle.

Chato nodded his head horinzontally and began to speak, "I had considered that originally, but there's more to it than that. With my suspicions of the Jasah tribe growing, I believe it is time for us to confront them. We are going to send our top warriors to go do that. They should have most of their units sent to fight Revell, leaving their defenses easy to be penetrated. I will solely stay here to defend the remaining tribe members. I highly doubt they will come attack us straight on, but if they do so, we will need someone here to defend the less capable."

"But-" Melissa said.

"No 'buts,'" Chato interuppted, "have faith in Revell. He's the finest swordsman this clan has seen along with Silva. He can handle the whole Jasah tribe if he had to. The only threat Jasah really has is their four elementalists, and even then, I'm sure they couldn't take on Revell."

"Alright," I butted in, "I now understand everything that's going on. I'm going to head out. I'm sure Revell's waiting for me at his hut. Don't worry Melissa, Revell's the best." I said with a smile and a thumbs up.

As I was walking out of the hut Revell shouted, "Yoohoo, waiting out here buddy." I exited to see him standing right outside the enterance. "Just thought I'd evesdrop for a bit, my friend. I felt like I would've been more bored actually being in the conversation. The best I am, huh, Inarashi?"

"Oh don't get your head big," I said in a jesting tone, "I was only trying to make poor little Melissa feel better. The real reason I know we'll be okay is because once I get my gift I know I'll be able to protect a weakling like you."

"Hey!" Melissa shouted from the hut, "Who are you calling little! By the time I'm your age everyone predicts I'll be more skilled in the the dagger than you are with the katana!"

"Well well," Revell replied, "she's not wrong about that one."

"Yeah, but who's more skilled now?" I said with a chuckle, "besides, it's not fair, she's mentored by the villages 'most finest' " I continued changing to a mocking tone.

Revell retorted, "Ha! How's that an excuse when you were trained by the legend himself Silva?"

I shook my head and laughed, "Oh come on. The old man was a TERRIBLE mentor! I felt like I would've learned more from wolves than with him. . . Oh wait! I did learn more from them because his method of teaching WAS throwing me out to fend for myself with wolves! When I was 7!"

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Chato appeared outside from the hut with a stern look on his face. "I'm glad you're all getting along, but let's move it. Today is very important. Good luck, Inarashi. Revell. May the spirits be with you on your journey, and may you be blessed with a tremendous gift."

"I understand, grandfather. My apologies. Let's head out Revell." I said begining to walk away.

--------------------------------------------

We had been traveling 4 kilometers. The closest neutral zone was north of our tribes land. We were now crossing through the land of the Ferrah tribe. The Ferrah tribe was an incredibly talented tribe when it came to medical practices. A very intelligent bunch mainly focused on networking rather than war. Ferrah had strong alliances with every tribe and managed to stay out of any wars, offering healing and marketing to any other tribe. We didn't need to worry about any interruptions from them, however, to the east lied the Jasah tribe. The only land in between the Ferrah tribe and Jasah tribe was the land of the Oklam tribe. The Oklam tribe was an incredibly small tribe of only three. They somehow kept their land, and always defended attacks; although never attacked to gain more land. The Ardent tribe had no communications with the Oklam tribe so that is all the information I have on them.

"You worried?" I asked, looking at Revell.

"A little," he said with a sigh, "Chato didn't mention, but the son of the warchief of the Jasah tribe just got his gift yesterday. We know they have the elementalists which are already strong. That'll be enough of a hassle on it's own to defend against, but add in an unkown variable and it's a little troubling."

"I didn't know his son was born a day ahead of me. It's unlike Chato to not consider that." I replied.

"I'm sure he did" Revell said, "but Chato is an old head we have to remember. He believes that the strength in gifts mainly come from brute force. Because the power of a gift often resembles within families he just isn't worried. He thinks very little of the Jasah warchief's gift, but the truth is, Jasah's warchief has a tremendously powerful gift."

"What is it?" I asked, very confused. Most powerful gifts get spread around the tribes, and you often hear of them in war stories, but now that I think about it, I've never heard of the Jasah's warchief.

"They call it Euphoria," Revell answered. "although it's not a very useful gift on the battlefield, I hear that he has the power to uplift the spirits of his entire tribe, no matter how they're feeling. If they're sick, sad, heartbroken, angry, anything- they can go to their warchief and instantly be cured of negative emotion. His power to influence his troops and non-combative members alike is immense. I believe in any of the central tribes that would be an overwhelming power."

The central tribes were tribes far, far north. The central tribes were a lot larger than any tribes around Ardent. For example, central tribes typically held anywhere from 200-500 members. Ardent currently held 25 members, and Jasah held 18.

"Speaking of gifts though," Revell said changing the subject, "do you have any idea what yours is? I've never asked because you never decided to say, but since it's the big day I figured I'd finally let my curiosity get the best of me."

"I have an idea," I sighed and answered.

"Ouch, a sigh?" Revell retorted in a sympathetic tone.

"Yeah, I've never told anyone because I've honestly been a little disappointed, but I'm unsure if I'll be able to become warchief with it."

"Well, spit it out. What is it?" Revell asked.

I gently bumped into him very quickly.

"Whoa! watch where youre going clutz." he said with a laugh.

I pulled out a silver coin from his pocket and held it up, "Missing something?"

"Wait..." Revell said with wide eyes, patting his pockets, "How did you do that? That's amazing!"

"I dislike it, and I've hardly practiced it, but I'm naturally an undetectable thief. I'm sure it has something to do with my gift. I trained so hard on the katana hoping I would feel something while sparring, but I always knew that my gift had nothing to do with it. After growing up and seeing your sword skills, I was really hoping to become a great warrior like you. I'm afraid I'll have to work in espionage, not as acting warchief."

"Hey, hey hey. Don't be such a downer, Inarashi. I believe in you brother, don't start thinking like that. You remember Sora, right?" Revell said.

"Yeah of course I do. What of it?" I retorted.

"As you know, Sora and I are the same age. We grew up together and often trained together after receiving our gifts close to the same time. When Sora first got his gift, the tribe was often worried he'd fail as a warrior. He heard the rumors, but they never got to him. It's like they never even entered his ears, he never mentioned anyone looking down on his gift ever. And as you know, even now, people still say it doesn't suite him and he is one of the village's elite."

"Yeah, but-"

"No 'buts', Inarashi. Let me finish. Well some time after, we worked our way to earning the standings of the elite warriors we are known as. I finally decided to ask him. I asked, 'you know about all the rumors everyone use to say, right?' He replied that he did. And I asked how they never got to him or why he never mentioned them. He told me all that mattered was that he received his gift, and as soon as he did- he loved it. He thought it was so fun. He said before receiving his gift he was worried because he wasn't skilled in any sort of weaponery, so his hand to hand combat would mean nothing against something like a master swordsman like me. But he made it work. He said all that mattered was his love for his gift. He believed in it and thanked the spirit that gave it to him."

"To love my gift, huh?" I said hesitantly, "I sure hope I can..."