Both of them sat at the table, quiet, looking down on their plates and its contents. Isak rested his forearms on the corner of the table as he awaited Dante to say anything. Isak would spend his time tapping his fingers in succession with the rest of them as he waited, sometimes creating a faint melody with his tapping.
“Let’s eat.” Dante’s voice sounded monotone and weak after constant cries and yelling. Ever since she left, he has been waking up in the middle of the night with a yelling and cries shortly after.
Isak nodded and picked up his cutlery and let it sink into the content, but neither of them ate the food. Instead, it was left on the plate as leftovers for later. Dante changed to his new garb he had hid under the planks of the house, it was a black trench coat made of high-quality leather with a length going all the way down to his leather shoes, kicking the ends of the coat with his soles when he walked. The ends of it was roughly torn-up after exposure to sudden movement in different environments. The backside of the trench coat was decorated with an ominous emblem that resembled the head of a crow with eerie black eyes. The emblem brought fear to the young, bringing anger directed towards him from the adults. He was gone for a majority of the day, leaving early before noon and arriving late after sunset, rarely sleeping when he was at home. The time they spent with each other were always treasured, but Dante has been distant with Isak lately, more and more since the day that Freya passed away.
“Dante?”
“Yes, Isak?”
“Teach me how to use this knife I bought.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about...”
“Dante, you’re beyond stupid if you think you can lie to me, I know you do something out there. Teach me.” Isak’s getting hostile as he speaks, he’s clearly annoyed by Dante’s behavior.
“I... I can’t do that for you.” Dante tries to ignore Isak by packing his backpack.
“Are you screwing with me? You can’t just roll in in the middle of the night and leave before I even get the chance to talk with you at all. How’s that fair?” Isak’s voice grows aggressive, almost hostile.
Dante remains silent as he finishes packing his backpack and reaches out and grabs Isak’s arm, telling him to follow him.
“It’s not like I can’t follow you now when you are dragging me to who knows where.” He sighs as he is forced to follow him.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Dante continues to stay quiet, slowly loosening up his grip as they get up in a walking tempo. They head off outside of town, leaving the borders with Dante leading them.
“That day... Freya mentioned a child.”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Well, she was supposed to kill a child that day.”
“Wh–” He stops and glares at Dante because of his nonchalant response.
“She had a contract to kill a child and something came in the way... she never was ready for the job and someone interrupted her mission. She was always weak for kids... that’s why I loved her so much... but that’s what we Crows do. We are the ones who soil our hands for the coin pouch.”
“But that doesn’t give you the right kill people.”
“You’ll realize that, when you’ve seen the world and what it offers, then you’ll understand.”
“Then I’ll understand?”
“Mhm, and besides, you’ll not do anything dangerous till you’ve worked yourself up to that point. You’ll start off with small jobs and, well... after you’ve gone through the mandatory Crow training.”
“Crow training? I’ll learn to fight?”
“Yup, it’s been a while since I did the Crow training so something could’ve changed over time.”
“It sounds like everyone can become a Crow.”
“True, but the jobs offered after you’re done are all risky and many dies in the first two years after acquiring a job – and here we are.”
Dante pats Isak on the back, encouraging him to hop on the wagon in front of them.
“This wagon will take you to the only Crow training camp in Aldimir. It’ll take you six days to get there, so you’ll have to buy food between the stops.”
“Okay.”
“Take care of yourself while you’re there.”
“Got it.” Isak jumps onto the wagon and looks back at Dante, waving as the wagon starts moving to the other stops.
The ride was rough and long, but after a week of driving with the wagon, they were at their destination. Rouk was a little village; surrounded by grey, steep mountains, hardly possible for any vehicle to cross by the area if it wasn’t for the pathway done possibly by the wanderers and the people responsible for the Crow training camp. The grass and plants in the area was surprisingly wealthy, only a selected few of flowers and plants were able to live with the harsh circumstances. There were tents placed all around the area, everyone decorated to be camouflaged and blend in with the mountains and unique vegetation. The flattened area was filled with different zones, designed for diverse exercises that was made just for the Crows, everything from obstacle courses to wooden dummies with wheat sacks hanging on top of them.
A red-haired fox demi-human exited one of the tents and faced the wagon-passengers with a happy face, smiling softly before he yells “Welcome, future Crows! I’m Arturo and I’m a fox demi-human! I’ll be your leader throughout the whole camp experience! I'm sure that many of you have a lot of questions for me, regarding the camp or our staff and what not! I'll be here and take all of the questions you have on your mind! One question I can answer right away is that our camp will be harsh, both mentally and physically. This also leads to some of you experience a sense of discomfort! Because of that I'll have you assured that my men will escort you home if the experience isn't for you!” He throws his eyes around, getting a glance of everyone before saying "The camp will start tomorrow and before that, if any of you have a weapon of some kind on your body, then please follow me inside the tent! Everyone else, you’re free to do anything till tomorrow! Good luck, future Crows!”