《Windwakers》 Prologue The night was just like any other. The branches outside swayed from side to side because of the breeze outside, poking the windows on this rustic, quaint-looking house. Isak always had a tendency to roll around a lot in his sleep. His snoring filled up his almost-empty room, there wasn''t much inside it; just a shelf with a few books on it, a desktop with a lamp and a laptop on top of it. Even though the room is one-colored with similar color scheme as the shelf and the desktop; the choice of books ignited the cave walls of the granite dungeon. The books are done with great detail as seen on the covers, many of them featuring illustrations with a wide range of motives such as: mythological beings, police officers, forests, and bodies of water. Some of them were left ajar with a little part of the page corner folded together as a form of bookmark. The light from the fireplace downstairs in the living room bounces between the walls, growing so effortlessly all the way up to Isak''s room. The flickering light illuminated the visible pages in his books from his open door, bringing a sudden life to the letters that jumps around on the page with the amber flicker. The flicker grew aggressive as a number of knocks could be heard at the door. The knocking grew stronger until Isak''s parents slowly approached the door. "Who could it be at this time?" said the old man as his voice shifted from soft to hard in an instant, "The fella behind the door better have a reason to knocking at four in the morning!". His wife stays silent as she wraps her arms around his left arm before he shakes her off, chuckling as he does it. "Stop laughing, Jacob!" the old lady cries as she finds his behavior to be teasing her. He grabs the door handle and looks back at her, saying "I''m just teasing you, honey¨C". The door is roughly kicked open by the intruder, pushing the old couple of balance. The intruder; wearing attire that makes him almost invisible with the night sky behind him, and the slender figure that sends chills down everyone¡¯s spine. The intruder looks around as the old is trying to get up from the fall, grabbing the frame of the fence connected to the stairway up to the second floor. "Who are you to intrude¨C" The intruder pulls out a gun and points it towards the old lady who''s shuddering as she lies down on the carpet in the hall. "Give me the jewelry, Jacob." The intruder talks to the old man as casually as a friend would, the voice gets stuck in Jacob''s head and flinches from the realization he just made. "Markus, don''t do this! I don''t know what is this that you''re looking for, wait¨C" he stops when he realizes one more thing, "Don¡¯t do anything rash¨C" Markus pulls back the barrel on his gun and places a finger on the trigger. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation."Jewelry or a hole in your ladies'' head. You choose, Jacob." The old man gets hesitant and stands up in front of the old lady, looking at Markus with displease. "We can talk about this." The intruder nods and looks at Jacob with a grotesque smile. "A hole in her head it is.¡± Markus fires a bullet at her and hits Jacob as he covers her. Isak suddenly wakes up from the gunshot and nears the stairway and hears another gunshot. He jumps back as he hears the second gunshot and stays close to the wall. Isak peeks around the corner and sees the black figure with a gun in his hand and his parents collapsed in the hall. "Come down here, Isak~" Isak scarily walks down the staircase with his hands in the air, his breath fluctuating as he looked down on his parents; he''s on the brink of fainting. "Don''t fall now." he laughed as he looked at Isak from the hall. Isak''s voice was weak as he spoke with Markus. "Markus, we can do this without anyone gettin¨C" He stopped as he heard himself; he wept and his legs couldn''t handle the situation and he fell down the stairs. Markus pulled him up and pushed his gun against the back of his head. "Show me the office." Isak nodded as he walked up the stairs with slow steps; he stops for a moment and looks at the office before Markus pushes him forward. The door to the office makes a cracking noise as they enter the room; the room was full of boxes, boxes filled with jewelry waiting for delivery. The boxes were everywhere, they were on the floor and on the desktop, there were enough boxes to block off the only window in the room completely shut, and on top on the rest of the furniture in the room. Markus pushed him over, commanding him to help out with the boxes. As they were moving the boxes a short crumble could be heard from the floor, and then it went silent. What happened after was unfathomable. A hole erupted from the planks that made up the floor, the hole was filled with nothing but a dark void and the crumbling got more forceful, eating the planks and the furniture on top of it. Eerie noises; what could be interpreted as voices of animals, crying in agony left the void and as soon as the noise reached Isak¡¯s ears, he was violently pulled into the void by a mysterious force. A void was seen from the outside of the hole, but what Isak saw was blinking of images surrounding him. The quick blinking made the images impossible to remember at first glance. The flicker went on for a short duration of time before it stopped. When it looked like the impending doom, the void, devoured Isak for eternity and with no way out, he moved again. And there was a sudden burst of light, light that transitioned to the natural sunlight gazing upon his face. It looked like everything was alright again, but what Isak didn¡¯t know was that he got transported to somewhere other-worldly. Other-worldly was the only way to describe this odd location. Chapter 1 - Born from dirt The sky was swarming with small clouds, slowly covering up the ocean sky. The honey sun peeked through the clouds, brightening up the faraway lands as the birds, chirping as they followed the wild animals that played their little games with their flock. Even though the birds¡¯ chirping was there and the constant cries and barks from the wild animals ¨C it was quiet. It was quiet, all so peaceful. And then there was a disturbance inside the dirt close to the surface. The damp dirt was shaking, as if someone was playing with the dirt on purpose. A couple; a fancy man with honey-yellow hair and indigo-blue eyes with a fine azure cape covering his leather armor, and an elegant lady with coal-black hair and brown eyes with a pair of leather leggings and a t-shirt covered by an identical azure cape, walked out on their daily walk as they saw the shaking dirt. The couple ran to the shaking dirt, curious by the movement of it, as well as they may be at the right place to see a cute animal appear. They stood right next to it, intrigued by it. ¡°What could it be, honey? It''s bigger than what it was from a distance, it could be a beast! Or a monster!?¡± The chatty lady accompaning the man now scared as to the unsure nature of the animal under it. ¡°Perhaps it''s an animal that¡¯s stuck beneath the ground, we gotta help the poor thing!¡± Says the man as he goes down on his knees as he starts digging the dirt up with his bare hands, ¡°C''mon, help!¡± The lady nodded as her face was clearly flustered by the situation she was in. They both grabbed dirt, tossing it to the side as they dug to help the helpless thing under the dirt. The dirt was shaking even more as they dug more and more closer to it, they even caught instances of cries for help from beneath. ¡°It''s not a thing, but a someone! We need to help them out, they''re suffocating!¡± They dug even more rapid until they felt a soft thing against their fingers. ¡°We''ll help you outta there, poor soul!¡± They managed to dig out the unconscious brown-haired raccoon-demi human that was trapped under the dirt, shaking the dirt as it tried to escape. The couple brushed off the dirt that was stuck on him and jumped back as he started to recover from the fainting. ¡°It''s so bright¡­¡± said the raccoon as he covered his blue-and-green eyes from the blazing sun almost blinding him, only seeing the couple as he covered himself by coincidence ¡°Um¡­ who are you guys?¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The couple exhaled in relief as they saw that he was alright ¡°I''m Dante! And they beauty with me is Freya!¡± They looked at him with a genuine smile as a result of them being able to save him from suffocating. ¡°This is a little awkward as I don''t have anything on me to pay you both for helping¨C¡° ¡°Don''t sweat it, sonny! It''s always a no-brainer to an opportunity that''ll make you look good in front of your lady, ya know?¡± Dante winks with confidence as he has a small-talk with him. ¡°I agree. By the way, I''m Isak. ¡± The raccoon reveals his name as he brushes off the dirt left in his hair, discovering his raccoon ears ¡°I''m also in need of help.¡± Freya has been quiet till now and looks at Isak with caring eyes, asking him ¡°What is it, Isak?¡± Isak helps them up from the ground and looks around with his ears fixed, pointing towards the ocean sky ¡°Where are we?¡± ¡°We are just outside of Aaron''s Split!¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± Isak thinks intensely for a moment, being quiet before he turns to them with a blank expression on his face ¡°Nothing.¡± Freya discreetly pulled Dante''s clothes and leans to his ear, whispering something Isak can''t pick up on and they turn around, Dante waved as a gesture for Isak to follow him. ¡°C''mon Isak, let''s head back to Aaron''s Split!¡± The three of them walked back to Aaron¡¯s Split, with Isak curious by the scenery, his attention was caught by the dream-like town, all done by the townsfolk. Isak stops for a second to admire the view of the town from a distant. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Isak¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s...¡± Isak¡¯s hearing was gone ¨C he was in his own world ¡°Beautiful¡± ¡°We¡¯re almost there! Just a little more, Isak!¡± The couple smiled as they enjoyed his reaction. They entered the town, a town full of life and wealth as seen by the huge marketplace and many interactions done by the many townsfolk and market enthusiasts. There was a big diversity in the townsfolk; race-wise, and economy-wise as well. The poor; marketing items of fishy quality with a no-brainer deal, hid from the honey sun as the day got warmer, pushing back the peasants and their little homemade marketplace. Meanwhile the rich praised the sun and enjoyed the warmth. The couple entered their house and Isak followed in. Dante opened up a chest close to the stairway to the second floor, digging through the clothes and picks out a leather outfit; a leather shirt and a pair of leather pants. ¡°Put this on Isak! I had another unused leather outfit in my chest! Talk about coming in handy!¡± Dante pushes the folded clothing down in Isak¡¯s arms. Isak was about to object the sudden gift of clothing, but he changed his mind and instead thought of something else much more important. ¡°Where can I change?¡± ¡°You can do it on the spot.¡± ¡°I¨C¡± ¡°Just kidding!¡± She laughed and replied ¡±The bathroom is to the right.¡± Isak exhales as a sign of relief and enters the bathroom. He thinks to himself as he changes clothes ¡°The town sure looks pretty, and there were people who were there to save me. I¡¯m glad for that, but... I still don¡¯t know what this place is. Maybe I¡¯ll unravel more stuff about this world soon anyway. Still though, Dante and Freya... thank you.¡± Chapter 2 - Deal after deal It¡¯s been a week since the couple found Isak on their daily walk outside of Aaron¡¯s Split, and despite the sudden move-in decided by the couple, Isak enjoyed his stay and the hospitality offered to him. Since he didn¡¯t know much about the town, Freya put him to work in the marketplace. The townsfolk were eager to see a new face, both the young and old. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration if every citizen in town were out and bought stuff today; it was rush hour. The attention to Isak grew more and more aggressive as a result of the offbeat rumor circulating around Isak. Everyone wanted to talk with the ¡°ground raccoon¡±, the mysterious raccoon found buried under the the dirt. ¡°How much is it for the chicken, young raccoon?¡± The old lady asked him as she coughed. ¡°That¡¯ll be... 20 silver per chicken.¡± ¡°20 silver? Isn¡¯t that a bit too much?¡± ¡°Alright granny I can throw in a piece of wolf pelt for let¡¯s say... 20 silver? The other stands would have been going ape-shit for an offer like this! It¡¯s a one-in-a-lifetime offer, granny!¡± The old lady grows hesitant for a second but quickly submits to his irresistible charisma. She reaches down in her coin pouch and hands him 40 silver coins, he then puts a cage with a chicken on the table and a piece of wolf pelt on top of it, waving as she takes the stuff, telling her to come back soon. The queue quickly decreased in length as the day went on, much of the stuff he had in his stand was already sold, he was earning quite a sum of money because of his charisma, but also the use of beginner manipulation. It was time for lunch and everyone took a break, including the townsfolk and the stand-owners, as a form of tradition that has been running through the town for decades. Isak walked back to the house, meeting up with Dante as he opened up the door. ¡°I was just gonna look after you, Isak! I got us some food, ready to eat!¡± Dante rushed back to the kitchen, waiting eagerly for Isak to sit down and eat the food he brought with him. ¡°So, where¡¯s Freya?¡± Dante already with his face down in the food, munching the meat that was served, looked up at Isak with a messy face and said ¡°She¡¯ll be back in an hour or so, she¡¯s a Crow, y¡¯know?¡±, his head fell down on the plate again, munching the savory piece of meat. Isak sighs and picks up the cutlery from the sides of the plate and began piecing out the meat, he did this on autopilot as he thought to himself ¡°A Crow? I¡¯ve seen notes with information aboutCrows needed outside of Aaron¡¯s Split all around the marketplace. I guess it¡¯s a normal job around here. I guess I don''t need to know anything about it since neither Dante or Freya has talked about it.¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.Dante interrupts Isak''s inner monologue with yelling ¡°You¡¯re not eating the meat! Is it really that bad?¡± Dante cries, putting up an act. ¡°I just got a lot going on in my head right now so I forgot about the food.¡± Isak takes a piece of it and chews it. You could see it in Isak¡¯s eyes that he enjoyed it as he said ¡°It¡¯s really good.¡± ¡°I knew it! Papa Dante is the supreme chef in all of Aldimir!¡± Dante performed a victory dance, flipping the chair as he rose up from it, dancing in a hilarious matter. Isak left the house as soon as Dante started dancing and went for a stroll in town, viewing the spectacular, quiant town. He soon saw where the name of the town derives from. There was a bridge, crossing a lake that splits the town in two halves, splitting the poor half from the wealthy half. Isak''s eyes were then caught by a sign hanging from the fa?ade of a sturdy house made of stone, differenciating itself from the other houses around it; it was a sign of an anvil. It was a blacksmith in town he didn''t know about. His curiousity piqued and thus entered the stone building. The old man behind the glass counter greeted Isak with a smile. The inside of the building was decorated with a wide range of weapons and a big collection of armor and shields. ¡°What brings you here, young raccoon?¡± ¡°Uhh, I went for a stroll and I was caught off-guard by your building and I just¡­ entered it for no reason.¡± ¡°I see.¡± The old man had his eyes travelling around the room before he left the counter, closing in on Isak and asked ¡°You''ve never used a weapon before, am I correct?¡± Isak looked at him before he exhaled ¡°Yeah.¡± The old man put his hand above his mouth, thinking. He jolts up as he comes up with something and runs back to the counter, reaching his hand for a knife beneath the glass. He runs back to Isak and shows him the knife, with slight panting that could be heard in his voice as he said ¡°Then this is perfect for you!¡± ¡°A knife?¡± ¡°It''s not just any knife, it''s a knife that is made out of Mythril!¡± ¡°Mythril?¡± Isak¡¯s laidback attention was suddenly caught again by the moss knife. ¡°Yes. Mythril has a perfect balance of hard and soft, not being too soft so that it bends and not too hard where it gets brittle. Also, feel the weight of it!¡± The old man flips the knife so that the handle was pointed to Isak. He picks it and firmly grasps it, circling it around with his wrist before he softly brushes the edge of the blade with his thumb. The blade was double-edged with a delicate design, the handle was just the continuation of the moss blade with the only exception that the handle had a smooth area. The guard that separated the blade and the handle was made so that the hands wouldn''t slide off the knife when used with force or at point of impact. He is generally intriguide by this mysterious material and the knife and so he asks ¡°How much for it?¡± ¡°I''ll give you a one-time offer¨C two gold! I''ll also throw in a sheath for your knife for free!¡± ¡°Deal.¡± Chapter 3 - Freyas Patch The honey sun''s position has left the middle of the sky and has entered the afternoon state, darkening the grass and houses that almost caught aflame by the heat. Isak fiddles with his sheathed knife as he walked back home with a joyous expression written across his almost-pale face. The marketplace ran again and Isak closed his stand as there was nothing left for him to sell. He hides his sheathed knife behind his back with his leather shirt covering it as he enters the house. ¡°Isak, come here and put some pressure! She¡¯s seeping out on us!¡± Dante shouts as he notices Isak at the doorframe. His hands were in the deepest black of red, pushing against the abdomen of a lady that was badly wounded. Isak, petrified and shook as seen on his non-moving eyes, the only thing he could say with a fragile voice was ¡°Freya...¡±. Dante pushes his palms against one of the three slash-wounds placed in a cluster on her abdomen. He desperately calls on Isak for help, but with no avail as Isak is still solidified at the doorframe. Dante gives out an emotional cry as he shakingly takes of his cloak, ripping off long stripes of it. He crumbles together a few of them for every wound and places them on top of it before he takes another stripe of his torn-off cloak and spins it around her belly, tightening a knot after the whole procedure was done. He pants heavily as he does all of this under one of his breaths, holding his breath as a result from the acute of level stress he¡¯s experiencing right then. Isak wakes up from his petrified state and rushes to Freya, his vision shaking, seeing doubles from the amount of blood seeping out of her wounds. He places one hand over the other and pushes on one of the cloak stripes to aid Dante with stopping the warm blood, gushing out of her. His memory flashes of his murdered parents; his posture sways back and forth a little, much like he¡¯s about to faint. Freya¡¯s eyes start moving due the pain coming from her wounds, she grunts ¡°Dante... I really messed it up¡±, trying to place her delicate hands on Dante¡¯s cheeks. ¡°I¡¯m gonna fix you, honey! A little flesh wound like this has never stopped you before! You know that!¡± Dante talks to her with an assuring voice; his words were spoken with desolate belief. ¡°Is the child okay?¡± Freya¡¯s hands reached Dante¡¯s face, warming up his cheeks with her bloody hands. She smiles as Dante nods, kissing her hand and she says ¡°I¡¯m glad...¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Honey! You¡¯re gonna be fine!¡± His eyes were fixed onto her, they were never leaving hers. She cries, tears running down her cheeks as she, with the life still left within her says ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Dante...¡± her closed bite tightens as her eyes closes for a moment before she says ¡°You know that... I love you here and in the next worlds to count... my... everything...¡± and dies with a sigh. Her hands fall from Dante¡¯s cheeks and everything goes silent. Dante¡¯s heart skips many beats as he realizes that the one he most cared about has passed away. Dante, partially-stoic throughout the whole thing, breaks down, both physically and emotionally, as he hugs her lifeless body. His cries, filled with sorrow; he weeps. Her blood stains his clothes as he holds her up, close in his grasp. Isak, caught up in the scene, silently weeps as the only thing he could do is to cry. His body felt weak, weak all the way down to the core of his bones as he couldn¡¯t stop looking at how Dante had his lady in his grasp, not letting go of her for anything in the world. The room was quiet. They were quiet. Nothing moved, except for a breeze from outside, kissing them all as it quickly left the room; the breeze left the house, and so did Freya with it. Time passed and the two of them didn¡¯t mention anything about the scene earlier today. They didn¡¯t communicate, instead, they both knew what their job now was to do: Dante would carry Freya and Isak would carry the shovel. They went outside of town and stopped at a patch of flowers. Isak, unsure of the sudden stop, silently waits for Dante to move again and he did; he starts walking to the flowers. Dante, twitches with his head towards the middle of the flower patch. Isak nods and sneaks past the flowers and plucks the flowers that stood in the way of him and the grave he was going to shovel. He proceeds to dig the grave, making a big pile of dirt at the end. Isak gets out of the flower patch and Dante enters it with Freya. He jumps down in the pit and carefully places her corpse on the ground before jumping up from the pit. He looks at the watery-eyed Isak and says ¡°Come, Isak. You were a part of our family too." He lets out an exhale as the tears in his eyes drip down his cheeks and he says, with a shaking voice ¡°Let¡¯s give her a proper burial.¡±. Isak¡¯s voice equally as shaky as it could be heard when he says ¡°O-Okay¡± and stands on the other side of the pile of dirt. They both grab a handful of dirt and lets it run down their palms down the grave. They took the whole night to bury her, getting rid of the pile by morning. Dante pats Isak¡¯s back, pointing first on the flowers and then at the middle of the grave. Isak sniffs and places the flowers he plucked in one spot. ¡°Let¡¯s head back home, Isak.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± They both put on a smile, not to make themselves feel better, but to not show any disrespect towards Freya. They knew she would now look at them from above and see how, even if she¡¯s gone, she will be remembered for her time being alive. Dante grabs Isak and pulls him closer to his body; he hugs Isak as they walk away from the flower patch east of Aaron¡¯s Split, away from Freya¡¯s Patch. Chapter 4 - Enter the wagon 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.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. 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¨C¡± 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 ¨C 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!¡± Chapter 5 - The pit The following days everyone that arrived with the multiple wagons in Rouk were placed in squads of four. In the end, there was 11 squads, every squad had a squad name that they were to be known by on the camp. ¡°Isak of Aaron¡¯s Split! You are a member of the Windwakers!¡± Arturo yelled as he pointed towards a group of people far to the right, ¡°Listen up! The people in your squad will be your friends for a year! You will treat each other with respect; your squad is your family, got it!?¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± The squads greeted each other with a short introduction of themselves. First there was Kalus; a blonde-haired, green-eyed human: ¡°I¡¯m Kalus, I¡¯m 16 and I like chicken!¡± Second was Yakken; a black-haired, brown-eyed dwarf: ¡°Yo, I¡¯m Yakken, I¡¯m 18 and I like making armor.¡± Third was Jonah; a red-haired, red-eyed bear demi-human: ¡°Hello. I¡¯m Jonah, I¡¯m 19 and I hate high-elves.¡± Last one was Isak: ¡°Uhhh I¡¯m Isak, I¡¯m 18 and... I guess I like steak.¡± ¡°So, what no¨C¡± ¡°It is time!¡± Everyone payed attention to Arturo from their group of squads as he once again yelled ¡°It is already time for Stormshakers, Galegrowlers, Breezebreakers and Hurricanehowlers to begin the physical exercises, and the rest of us; we¡¯ll start with the mental exercises! You¡¯ll follow Genkka to the big tent behind me!¡± A braided brown-haired dwarf looked at us with sincere brown eyes before he waved and beckoned the rest of the squads to follow him in the big tent. The inside of the tent sent chills down the spine to many of them; the inside was decorated with animal hide, animal heads, and on the ground, there was pits filled with diverse content, everything from; water, sand, mud, rocks and animal cadaver. ¡°It reeks...¡± said one of the guys in the other squads as they entered the tent. ¡°This¡¯ll be your mental exercise. You¡¯ll be placed in one of the pits and lie there for as long as you possibly can. This will improve your mental toughness, so the harder you push yourself, the more will you gain from the experience.¡± ¡°This is immoral! We can¡¯t do this!¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± ¡°Hey! The world outside is not for the faint of heart! You may have the physical brawn to tolerate physical damage, but your mental tolerance will be tested every day, and if you¡¯re weak, then you¡¯ll succumb to the strong and be left to something worse than death. When your mind is broken down, you can¡¯t do anything else but to blame yourself for your ignorance! Succumb to the strong and consider yourself dead!¡± Everyone went quiet. Genkka¡¯s speech gave everyone a new insight on the unknown world to the potential Crows, leaving them all in thought. ¡°I can do it.¡± Kalus stood out from the squad as he said it. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.¡°Hop into the sand pit, Kalus.¡± Genkka pointed down in the sand pit. Kalus hopped in the sand, lying down in it. Genkka took a big bucket, filled with sand and poured it over Kalus, covering his body except his face with sand. The uncomfortable expression on Kalus was easily seen as everyone else backed back a step after looking at him. Genkka stared everyone down before he approaches Isak. ¡°You. Which one of the pits would you not want to be in?¡± Isak gulps as he points down at the pit with animal cadaver. Genkka gestures with his open hand, telling Isak to jump in and he proceeds to go towards it as if he was mute. He thought to himself ¡°I saw those old people when Freya died... I don¡¯t know who you two are, but they made me feel even more emotional than what I was back then. They feel important to me, but I don''t remember them at all.¡± He sits down by the corner of the pit and falls into the cadaver. The lump pieces made disgusting noises as Isak moved in the pile of flesh, even as his chest rose up when he was breathing. The cadaver was still warm, which almost made him puke in disgust. When he finally found the least uncomfortable spot in the pit, someone threw in a bucket of animal content over his face. He panicked for a short moment as he tried to remove the lumps of soft organs from suffocating him. His eyes were shaking as he brushed of the pieces of meat from his eyes, but the blood kept dropping into his eyes. As Isak was still panicking in his pit, Kalus was freezing in his pit as Genkka poured ice-cold water over him. The cold water got even colder beneath him and the only way to keep his warmth intact was to constantly move. The situation was horrid. Both Kalus and Isak left their pit shortly after one another, both were a little traumatized after the pit experience so they left the tent to clean themselves up. ¡°A-Are you okay, Isak?¡± Kalus still froze after he left the pit and the sand left his skin all itchy. ¡°It was disgusting. I¡¯d rather not talk about the chicken brain that got inside my pants.¡± ¡°B-But... you just said it.¡± ¡°Oh... damn, I actually did¡± Isak chuckled as the blood was still dripping from his eyelashes. They asked one of the men that were in charge of them if they were any water source they could use. One of the men escorted them both to a river close to the camp, the river was bluer than any other river they¡¯ve seen. The amount of copper gave the river a blue tone like no other river in Aldimir. The man that escorted them had clothes with them for change and left them shortly after they arrived at the river. ¡°Let¡¯s jump in, Kalus!¡± Isak pulled of his clothes in one motion and hopped right in. ¡°O-Okay...¡± Kalus carefully dipped his foot into the water and jumped back from the coldness. ¡°C¡¯mon, pussy!¡± Isak flailed with his arms in an idiotic matter, making Kalus laugh. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going in!¡± They left the river after getting rid of the sand and blood on them, changing to the camp attire before they got back to camp again before the rest of them came to the river. As they entered the camp again, Genkka and Arturo concluded the first day to be over. Chapter 6 - Mustang & Sally Noon brought light with it as the squads were waking up from their slumbers. It was their last day on the camp, as well as their first day as Crows. Isak was the one to wake everyone up; Kalus rolled over to the other side on his bed, Yakken woke up without any issue whatsoever, and Jonah threw his pillow on Isak. ¡°It¡¯s time to get up, sonnies!¡± Isak blocks the exit to the tent before he leaves with saying ¡°It¡¯s our last day, guys.¡± Isak exits the tent and searches after Arturo; he found him almost immediately. ¡°Slept good, sir?¡± ¡°Just a rock poking my back all night, otherwise I¡¯ve slept... like a rock, haha! Have you told your guys to get up? Everyone¡¯s almost up.¡± ¡°Yeah, drowsy as always.¡± ¡°Oh yeah!¡± Arturo remembered something and pulled Isak with him inside his big tent. He picked up knives with a spiked brass knuckle guard. The piece of metal that made up the double-bladed blade, the sharp pommel, and the spiked knuckle guard contrasted the black leather-strap handle; the knife¡¯s overall design emits a menacing aura. He gave them to Isak and said ¡°Here they are! They look sick, and not in the good way... just kidding! I¡¯d not want to get in the way of those, really!¡± Laughing as he ends his sentence. Isak puts a firm grip on the handle, twirling them aroundhis index finger beforepushingthem in their respective sheath on his modified belt. ¡°They sure are creepy... just the way I envisioned them to be when I first thought of it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear you like them so much! Everyone at the camp has the chance to have one weapon tailor-made just for them, and yours is one of the finer exemplars of fine smithery and handicraft!¡± ¡°I agree. Thank you.¡± Isak almost exits the tent before Arturo calls him back, saying ¡°You should give them a name!¡± ¡°A name?¡± Isak thinks for a short moment before he exclaims ¡°I¡¯ll call them... Mustang & Sally!¡± ¡°Catchy! Let¡¯s get out and say goodbye to everyone!¡± Isak agrees and walks out the tent and runs back to his squad that have already been fixing a spot for them on the field. ¡°Sonnies... I GOT MY FUCKING KNIVES!!¡± ¡°AHHHHH¡±, ¡°HOOOOOLY SHIIIIT¡±, and ¡°DAAAAAAAMN¡± could be heard from the Windwakers as they cheered with Isak and his sheer happiness for finally holding the long-awaited knives he¡¯s been waiting for almost two months to get his hands on.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°That looks crazy sick!¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be cutting chicken with it like it¡¯s nothing!¡± ¡°It looks dangerous... amazingly dangerous!¡± Isak was happy to see how everyone reacted, it brought a big smile on his face. ¡°Dear Crows!¡± The Windwakers went awkwardly quiet as they realized that everyone was staring at them. Arturo then continued ¡°It is time for all of you to spread your wings, because... you are now Crows!!¡± Everyone cheered for each other¡¯s success, celebrating the time they spent together with good food and drinks. As the food slowly started disappearingand the drinks vanishing even faster, it was time for everyone to leave the camp. They got back to their tents and packed down all of their belongings they had before and acquired during the camp before they parted ways. The Windwakers stayed a bit longer in their tent than what the others did, they stayed and talked, planned the next time they would see each other again. ¡°Where¡¯s everyone going?¡± Kalus was the first one to reply ¡°I¡¯ll probably go back home to Bauran! I miss my sister back at home, and I did tell her that I¡¯d get back when I¡¯m done with the camp.¡± Yakken replied shortly after ¡°I¡¯ll head to Siderr! I heard there¡¯s a big smithery over there that take in disciples!¡± Jonah thought for a while before he said ¡°I¡¯ll take a wagon to Eathir and see if any of my relatives are still there, I got a letter from them not too long ago, so I¡¯m a little eager to see them again!¡± Isak was the last to reply as he waited for everyone to say what they had to say ¡°Hm... Eathir sounds fancy. Is it alright if I accompany you, Jonah?¡± Jonah laughed and patted Isak¡¯s back and said ¡°Of course, Isak! I might even be able to get you a very fancy job over there if I can get my hands on a few contacts!¡± ¡°Sounds great!¡± The squad then parted ways; all of them going somewhere. Kalus went for Bauran, a little town in Altaid;the Human kingdom¨C it was known for their farms andexotic breed of animals they had to offer, both for transport and for food. Yakken headed to Vettra, a city very much known in Kalippet; the Dwarven kingdom ¨C its inhabitants has an exceptional talent in smithery, being also themain source of the Dwarven kingdom¡¯s defense and offense. Isak and Jonah found the cheapest wagon that took them to Eathir, the capital of Aldimir;the Demi-human kingdom¨Ca lake city that earned its wealth and prosper from harvesting a colossal amount of fish and its distribution that would reach all of thefaraway kingdoms. Isak and Jonah got on board an empty wagon that led them to Eathir. As they casually chatted and enjoyed the view from the ride, something caught Isak¡¯s attention that he couldn¡¯t drop for a single second. It was the rumor that Jonah¡¯s relatives told him in the letter that he got; it was the rumor that magic entities in Eathir could learn out the dogmas of Manipulation. ¡°Dogmas of Manipulation? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a set of principles that, when followed after an exam is done, will bless the user to move objects with their mind!¡± ¡°What!? That¡¯s awesome! I could twirl and bend spoons then, right?¡± ¡°Oh my heavens EXACTLY!!¡± Isak was filled with eagerness as he heard the rumors about the Manipulators that could move an object with only their mind. Not much information was known about them since the letter didn¡¯t say much, but it still didn¡¯t stop Isak and Jonah from the excitement that dwelled within them. According to Jonah and his limited knowledge of the Manipulators was that they could move objects that had the same weight as a boulder with precise accuracy. It was also said that weapons would be combined with the art of Manipulation and create a martial art that Jonah called ¡°The way of the invisible limbs.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t wait to get there!¡± ¡°Me too, Isak!¡± Chapter 7 - Loss of Innocence The rustic houses that were seen from the view of the wagon was a normal sight for the humans, but it still made Kalus sentimental when he saw his hometown once again after being gone for a year. His feet tapped the trailer of the wagon, following a rhythmic melody as he closed his eyes and leaned back to hide from the sun, humming different tunes as to follow the foot-tapping. He tossed, what looked to be a scythe, between his hands so effortlessly with his eyes still closed. It was as if time was nothing more than a thought in his head, and he clearly enjoyed the peaceful moment he was in. Kalus then stopped all of his tapping and tossing with the scythe and put it on the floor of the trailer as he approached the upper-end of the wagon, asking the chauffeur ¡°How far away from Bauran are we now, gramps?¡± The old man heard him, and replied with a chuckle before saying ¡°Shouldn¡¯t take any more than five minutes from here, young one!¡± Kalus smiled a little before going to the far end of the wagon and looked at the wild animals on the sides of the track. There were Rotomonds running beside the wagon that looked directly at him. Rotomonds are particularly known for their magnificent red appearance and usability; these avian creatures excel as a one-person vehicle with their strong legs, and their crescent-like head are notorious for scaring away weak animals from the otherwise pacifistic creature. Rotomonds are usually reserved, but something made them curious in Kalus. Something bored them out as they quickly ran off from the wagon before it stopped; Kalus finally arrived in Bauran. He picked up his scythe and hopped of the wagon before paying the chauffeur a few coins. The chauffeur nodded and stationedhis wagon on the spot and Kalus wandered through the tiny town. There was nothing more than a couple of houses and a few shops ranging from animal shops that offer animals such as Rotomonds and Direwolfs, and shops that offer agriculture-relatedproducts such as soil and seeds. He then stopped in front of a house and looked around before knocking on the door. Something made him unsure about the house. A young lady opened up the door to Kalus; her appearance was near identical to his. ¡°K-Kalus?¡± She sounded hesitant, almost as if she was scared. ¡°Anava, what¡¯s the matter? You sound weird.¡± ¡°Let the boy in already!¡± A voice could be heard coming from the inside of the house, it was raspy and old. Kalus entered the house without a word with his scythe in his grasp. He then saw two middle-aged men in the living room, chatting about something. Their attire was other-worldy, compared to the rest of the townsfolk''s way of dressing. Anava wept as she kept speaking gibberish through her shaky voice. One of them had a whip hanging from his belt, while the other man had nothing on his belt. ¡°You know what happened with your parents, don¡¯t you?¡± The man with the whip removed the sweat dripping from his forehead before he said ¡°They played with their money and got themselves killed because of their greed. Your parents left you two to pay their debt, a debt that''ll take a lifetime to pay back. It''s sad it has to be this way, but it''s our livelihood. Sorry.¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°That¡¯s¨C¡± Kalus stopped himself before he continued, ¡°My parents would never do something like that, they just wouldn''t ¨C my sister''s ill. They would never risk her well-being.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need to rebel. We can give you and your sister time to save up money and get back to normal again, a start for a brand-new chapter, per se.¡± ¡°How much did you have to hold yourself back from puking to tell us this?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Our parents died four years ago, and you¡¯re telling me it¡¯ll be all good now?¡± He pauses himself as he takes inhales and exclaims ¡°Where was this amicable deal four years ago when my sister and I needed it the most!?¡± Both of the men sat in their chairs in silence before the one with the whip rose up from the chair and approached him with a hand directed toward Kalus'' scythe. He grabs the scythe and attempts to pull it out from his¡¯ grasp. Kalus successfully yanked off the man¡¯s hand from the scythe, scoffing ¡°Get your vile hands off of me, you bastard!¡± The man readies to use his whip, but Kalus retaliates; He lunges forward, walloping him and shoves him back into the chair, tipping over from the momentum. The other man snarls and leaps forward, pushing over Kalus with him on top. The man pins Kalus against the floor and pulls out a knife, attempting to repeatedly stab him, cutting Kalus¡¯ cheeks in the chaotic brawl it has turned into. Kalus struggles to get the towering man off of him before releasing one of his hands from the lock he was stuck in. He places his free hand onto the side of the man¡¯s face and pushes his thumb into his left eye. The man screams in pain and rolls over to the side of Kalus, covering his damaged eye with both of his hands. Kalus stands up to pick up his scythe, thwacking his face, mangling it more and more with every swing of the hammer-like end on the blade. Every successful swing pushes out a grunt from Kalus¡¯ gut. The other man gets up from the chair, terrified as he watches Kalus battering his friend past unconsciousness with no sign of stopping. "Kalus, stop!¡± The man with the whip shouts. Kalus stops his endless battering and comes back to his senses, surprised as his shaking eyesscatters the room, terrified by the violence he has caused in this very short moment. He looks down on his scythe that stood on top of the face of a now-unidentified man. He drops his scythe, grasping his face, hiding his eyes between his curled fingers from seeing the chaos he has created. The man with the whip nears his unconscious friend, helping him up onto his shoulder. "I... I''m sorry... I didn''t know what I was doing..." "It''s... okay... Kalus." He closes up to the door and turns around, saying "We''ll come back soon... be sure to pay a part of the debt by then, or else the guards will interfere and do it their way... just an advice." Kalus nodded and the men left. Kalus was terrified by himself and what he did to that man. He thought to himself "It was like I was blinded by something. I feel... furious. I really was going to kill him if he didn''t wake me up. Why did I do that?" ¡°Are you okay... Kalus?¡± She looks worried at him. ¡°I¡¯m... good.¡± He exhales, wiping off the blood dripping down his cheeks, ¡°We got to save up money to pay back the debt.¡± "Yeah..." "Anava." He hugs her, "I''ll save us from this debt... I promise." Chapter 8 - The Night of The Righteous Ones Kalus closely examines the billboard filled with posters; everything from requests for hard-labor, to aid someone with preventing wild animals from damaging someone¡¯s property. And then there was the desperate ones, the ones with a bounty on someone¡¯s head. The reward offers a substantial amount of gold, but the probability of getting the reward in a town like this is very unlikely. ¡°You¡¯re looking for work, young man?¡± ¡°Y-Yes, but there¡¯s no work that pays well. I really need the gold right now.¡± ¡°Lately I got wild animals destroying my crops and I need someone to get rid of the animals.¡± ¡°I-I don¡¯t know¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pay you 10 gold coins! Please!¡± Kalus exhales and nods ¡°Alright alright. I¡¯ll do it.¡± ¡°Oh thank you, young man!¡± The old lady walks back to home with Kalus, showing him a destroyed patch of crops. The crops were stomped and forcibly pulled out from the soil. ¡°It looks to be done by direwolves... possibly rotomonds.¡± ¡°Yes, I see the rotomonds pulling out my cabbage and carrots from my window, but I¡¯m too afraid to scare them away on my own! I haven¡¯t been able to get the food I¡¯ve worked so hard for!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make sure they won¡¯t ruin your crops anymore.¡± Kalus then waited till nighttime for the wild animals to appear. The direwolves were the first to approach the patch of crops, the sudden encounter with him made the direwolves hesitant. They growled at him before one of them attempted to attack Kalus, with no avail as he swayed with his scythe in front of them. One of them then ferociously charged Kalus, shutting it down by slamming its nose against the ground with the help of the scythe. The direwolves got scared and ran away. The night went on without any signs of wild animals and morning arrived early and he went back home after being payed 10 gold. ¡°Did you make any money?¡± Anava asks him as soon as he enters the door, coughing a lot. ¡°I made 10 gold last night.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± She coughed, ¡°I went out and sold items I found in the house; I got two gold.¡± ¡°Looks like we got around a hundred gold. That should be enough to pay a percentage of the debt.¡± Anava nodded. ¡°Anava?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You told me uncle never showed up.¡± ¡°Yeah, he didn¡¯t even send a letter explaining why he never showed up. It makes you question if we even are a part of a family now when they are gone.¡± ¡°I understand where you''re coming from, but we can''t have thoughts like that for the time being. We got a solid economy now!¡± Kalus tightens his fist as he states ¡°We have a chance to pay the debt and be free from it! For good!¡± His eyes were glowing from sheer aspiration. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.Anava sighs before she admits ¡°I got to say, when you put your mind on something you''ll never get rid of that thought until you''ve achieved your end goal ¨C there¡¯s something about that side of you is what makes me believe that it''s worth being curious of the future, even after what has happened to us.¡± She coughs ¡°You inspire me, Kalus" Kalus, surprised by her speech, draws closer to her and hugs her. He doesn''t let go of her before he says ¡°Thank you, Anava¡­ for those kind words. You''ve been so strong without me¡­ I''m proud of you.¡± Her smile grows bigger as Kalus stays in her grasp, she enjoyed the silent moment of his little brother in her arms. It''s like the old days. The day went on, and more and more townsfolk went outside, enjoying themselves before it grew too dark. The time before everyone retracted back to their homes were one of the most beautiful occasions on the day. People putting on the nicest clothes they got and just enjoying themselves with their loved ones ¨C it was very pleasing for the soul to see. The day were special after all; it was The Night of The Righteous Ones. It was a night, celebrating the group of Crows that saved the town from certain catastrophe. It was that night they sacrificed themselves for the greater good. It''s this night people show their respect to the group by living, cherishing the life they gave them and their generations to come. A knock on the door could be heard. Kalus opened up the door to a pair of guards, dressed in a more festive attire then usual. ¡°We know it''s a night to celebrate and cherish life, but we need you to pay for your debt.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Kalus opened up his coin pouch and handed the guards 40 gold. The guards put down the gold in their'' pouches and left after thanking him and leaving right after. ¡°A night to cherish...¡± Kalus muttered to himself. Anava already fell asleep, snoring loudly as she rolled around on the sofa. Her well-being good better ever since Kalus came back from the Crow camp. His presence made her smile more then what she has ever done before. He was filled with pride as he knew that he was able to make her feel happier. As the night kept on crawling to the surface, he thought ¡°Being back home is¡­ quite something. I don''t know what to feel when I''m here. Sure, I''m happy and proud of what I''ve accomplished for my sister, but¡­ I''ve already been in a fight. I don''t wanna disappoint her, I don''t wanna do it ever again! I''ll show her that I can be righteous too, just like my grandpa that night!¡± Kalus shook himself from his thought and looked through the window. The people were laughing, loving each other. Kalus looked at them a little longer before he looked back at Anava. His face clearly showed the struggle he had, thinking of how his image as a brother and a hero, smiling through the malice thoughts tormenting his mind. He thinks to himself ¡°I''ll be a hero too¡­ no matter what happens, one day I''ll be remembered for being a hero¡­ witness me, world!¡± A short hiatus I wanna thank everyone who have read my fiction, it means a bunch for me! I''ll take a break from writing this fiction as I''m currently been driving myself to a wall where I, honestly, don''t know where to go with this. I envisioned a beginning and an end to my fiction, but everything in between it is, right now, nothing more than bad and generic ideas and it repels me from staying motivated to continue writing. I''m not saying that I''ll stop the story here and not continue, that would be blasphemous; instead I''ll take a break and hopefully get motivated to write very soon again. It baffles me how my work has gotten almost 700 views since I started, it may not sound much, but to me... it''s just a great feeling to experience.Stolen novel; please report. But alas, don''t miss out on the other works that exists on this site while you wait for mine. Take care of yourselves! -Kamakarenji Thank you for reading thus far! I decided to not continue writing this story as I buried myself in something that I didn''t envision at first. There was a lot I wanted to do, but I ruined it after I continued in the polar-opposite direction of what I was dreaming of doing. Sorry for the bad news, but I got good news too!Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. I''ve started a new story now! I''ll stick to a better scheme of publishing my chapters now so that they feel more genuine and making more space for myself so that I can write better chapters for you all! I''ve already posted the first chapter of it and I''m super excited to see what all of you think of it! That was all and I hope you read my other story: Mob of mob!