Two people wander deep in the forest—a forest just on the outskirts of this insignificant village, deep in the mountain valleys that the North of Zeral is so famous for. A young man and woman, two people from vastly different corners of the world. Two people who somehow ended up in the same small mountain village. Two people who couldn’t possibly imagine the events they would set into motion.

  Ross and Neimi—the son of a retired soldier and an orphaned girl raised by a thief. The tall, fit boy, a practised lumberjack, leads the ambiguous way, scanning the frostbitten trees for a good cut. The slender, nimble girl, a self-taught archer, follows with her bow hung around her shoulder with a quiver on her back, humming a listful tune to herself.

  They get a good distance away from their home, but they know these woods well. Every landmark, be it a river, unusual shrubbery or even a bird's nest, is how they’ve traversed these plains since they were children. Ross’ boots clench against the hardening ground, piled with frosted sticks and leaves, making a satisfying crushing sound. A sound, Neimi appreciates, who begins to deliberately bounce on larger stacks for the loudest effect.

  Ross hunches down, finding a particularly thick but old tree. His frame fills his leather jacket very nicely, helped by the fact that it's too small for him. He takes off the brown bandana around his forehead and straightens it out as long as possible. Wrapping it around the tree lets him gauge its width.

  Neimi bends down, staring at the same bark over his shoulder.

  “Hey so… how do you do that?” She chirps.

  “Do what?”

  “Decide which tree to cut down. We’ve been walking past dozens of trees for the last half hour. Seems a little pointless”

  Ross looks up at her with a stone-faced expression as she backs away to stare at the tree.

  “We cut down the biggest old and damaged ones.”

  “But why? How can you even tell? They look the same to me”

  “Firstly, they don’t. Secondly, for many reasons. They can be harmful to nearby plants, animals or people. They can fall over or die, in which case they’ll be shredded by decay and bugs. We want to make use of the tree and make sure it doesn’t harm anything or anyone”

  “Huh. But do you need to do this every time we go out to chop wood? We spent so long getting here that it’ll take forever to bring all the wood back.”

  “It's not THAT far. Besides, we have a higher chance of spotting a good hunt for you.”

  “Hmpf.. I guess. But my arms get tired carrying so much…”

  Ross finishes inspecting the tree, tying the bandana around his head again and unhooking the broad iron axe from his back.

  “Is it really that heavy for you?”

  “Yes! You're like.. Twice my size.”

  “Don’t archers have great strength and stamina? I’ve tried stringing your bow before, it's tough.”

  “Drawing strength isn't the same as lifting!”

  “Fine, fine. I’ll just carry it all myself today.” He prepares to swing at the tree.

  “Wait, no! That's not fair!”

  “What isn’t?”

  “I won’t let you carry everything yourself!”

  “Can you stop shouting?”

  “S-sorry…”

  Ross relaxes his stance.

  “So what would you have me do? Cut or no cut?”

  “Well…I- uh…”

  She stumbles a little, trying to decide. He sighs and gives her a pat on the shoulder with a light chuckle.

  “Forget it. I’ll be coming out here with the Boss tomorrow anyway. We can head back now if you want”

  She gives him an annoyed look as he begins to retrace his steps.

  “Nu-uh”

  “Huh?” He stops, turning back around.

  “Nu-uh, I said”

  “Yeah, and I said huh?”

  “We are NOT going back after coming all this way for nothing”

  “...Right, so-”

  “Cmon. Let’s go to that one stream. It should be… south-west from here?”

  “More like south-south”

  “Shut it”

  This time, the girl takes charge. She would blend in with the green-greyish forest perfectly if it weren’t for the early winter stages coming so soon. Her commoner's clothes are hidden by the oversized green tunic and short skirt she likes to wear.

  It doesn’t take much time or effort before they manage to reach her desired place. A small, lonely, quiet creek that runs a fairly large but soft stream of water down to the lowest parts of the valley. She hurriedly starts skipping from one stone to another before reaching the outstandingly large boulder in the centre, splitting the flow in twain. She sits, making herself comfortable while Ross takes a seat on the edge of the stream's bank.

  “Are you always going to sit there?” She asks, feeling mighty from her place atop the large stone.

  “I’d rather not get wet again, thanks”

  “Cmon. You only tried once. It takes practice”

  “A lot of practice and luck that I don’t want to spend falling in over and over. I’m perfectly content over here”

  “But this one is the best, especially without the clouds”

  As if on command, a breeze blows. Above, a gap in the clouds allows for a beam of light to shine down on the forest. One particular angle allows for a glimmering light to pierce the trees and surrounds the boulder dead-on. The girls' auburn hair and matching eyes seem to glow almost a bright red, painting a divine-like image.

  She basks in the sun, enjoying the warmth by closing her eyes and turning to face it.

  “That does look nice…” Ross mutters to himself.

  “What was that?”

  “Nothin”

  “Just admit it Ross”

  “Never”

  The moment goes on for a short few silent minutes. But the clouds cover up the sky again. In the far-off distance, dark ones begin to gather.

  “How’s your mom doing?” Neimi asks suddenly, twiddling with her bowstring.

  Ross, who was tossing stones into the water, stops for a moment to look at the ground.

  “S-sorry, you don’t have to answer that, I was just-”

  “You’re fine. She’s doing okay. Not better but not worse”

  “Have you gotten any letters from your dad?”

  “Not yet. But I’m not worried”

  “... I hope he does find that Monk.. like you said”

  “He won’t come home empty-handed, that’s for sure” He takes a moment before throwing another rock.

  “Thanks for asking”

  “Of course. Your village took us in, the least I can do is be sympathetic…”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “It’s your village too. We’re family Neimi”

  A foreign voice appears, startling both of them. “Hey there, family”

  Ross zips around. Neimi almost slides off the boulder.

  It’s another young man, Colm.

  He has a circular but confident face. Always seen wearing his copper earrings and tattered dark blue cloak.

  “Jesus Colm, you scared us”, Ross reprimands as Neimi clutches herself together, looking unreasonably guilty.

  “Mhm, and what is 'us' doin alone so far out?” His voice is tainted with some sort of prejudice Ross doesn’t fully get.

  “Nothing, we were gonna bring some logs back but decided against it”

  “Sure, sure. Well, we need to get back home, Neimi, come on”

  Neimi gets up and skips her way back across the water. She keeps her head lowered and silent. Colm turns to leave with her, but she waits and looks back at Ross.

  “Are you coming?”

  Ross looks to her, then to Colm. Visibly frustrated, Colm folds his arms together.

  “No.. I think I’ll stick around. Maybe mark a couple more trees for tomorrow. Go on ahead”

  Neimi, disappointed, joins Colm and starts walking back to the village. Ross, meanwhile, sits by the water a while longer. He only moves to stand once he knows the two are far enough away and he sees the dark clouds getting closer.

  “Why are you so rude to him?...” Neimi asks with a quiet tone, walking just a couple steps behind Colm.

  “Rude? I’m not rude”

  “Mmn…”

  “Hey, I’m not!” He looks back at her but doesn’t stop moving. He takes in her downtrodden expression and quickly focuses back on the path instead.

  “I’m not. You’re just being a crybaby again”

  “Yeah”

  “...”

  His pace slows. His frustration slowly weakens.

  “Why do you come out here with him so often?”

  “I hunt”

  “I know you do, but why with him?”

  She stops. Colm, not looking, immediately takes notice anyway and freezes. But he doesn’t turn around.

  “Why do you hate him?”

  “I don’t hate him”

  “You do!”

  “I don’t! Will you just-!” He turns around to find her glaring at him with watery eyes. His voice drops, but his annoyance doesn’t budge.

  “For fucks sake, why are you such a crybaby”

  He reaches into his pocket for a tissue. He holds her head, gently wiping her eyes.

  “You cry around everyone about anything! Except him..”

  “He’s different”

  “How!?”

  “He took us in”

  “And I didn’t!? We were just fine without them. I fed you, protected you-”

  “He understands me!”

  “And I don’t?”

  “It’s just different! Why do you hate him!?”

  “Because you’re replacing me!”

  “What?..”

  “No- no you’re not but- That’s what it looks like!”

  “Colm..”

  “Whatever. Forget it”

  He turns around and continues walking. Neimi takes a moment before quickly running up to catch up. They walk in awkward silence. Clouds gather. Dark and thick smog covers the sky.

  “For the record. We were better off before”

  “We were thieves”

  “I was the thief”

  “That’s not better! We’re criminals”

  “It is better. We took from the rich and gave to ourselves. I was keeping us alive and independent”

  “But we have a new home now! For many years now,”

  “This is NOT my home”

  “We’re safe here”

  “You think we’re safe? We were safer before!”

  “How!?”

  Colm turns around to face her with anger.

  “Where do you think we are huh? We are STILL in Zeral”

  “So??”

  “So, what do you think? You think this place is safe because it's farther away? Because it’s in a valley? This is JUST like Talmor. Same Kingdom, same problems. The Vapians will invade, conquer and soon the place and people you met and call home will all be destroyed or killed”

  “Colm!”

  “We were better off goin city to city, livin off our backs with no places or people to keep us down”

  “COLM!”

  He stops, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, aware that he has pushed too far.

  Neimi embraces him, planting her face in his chest. He feels the tears coming back up.

  “I don’t want that Colm…” Her voice is muffled by his dirty, cheap tunic.

  “I know you’re right, I know Colm. But I’m just not strong enough for that anymore. I’m not like you! I need people… I need a home…”

  Colm's heart sinks. The first drops of rain begin to fall. He lifts his cloak over the two of them, drawing her closer and stroking her hair.

  “I’m… I’m sorry Neimi. I just wanted the best for us… I didn’t realise you… ”

  “It’s okay Colm. I love you, forever and ever I will”

  “...”

  The rain starts to pour. A stormy night approaches.

  “But… will you be strong enough to handle what comes after?”

  “I don’t know. It’s been so so many years… But I’ll survive it… as long as you’re with me”

  “I will. Like always”

  In the distance, Ross approaches, also heading back to the village. Colm stares at him. Ross, carefully observing the two of them, seeing Colm’s remorseful face, decides to join them.

  No words are exchanged. The three continue home together in silence. The increasing intensity of the rain drowns out all noise. A storm approaches.