"Ouch. I hate waking up in the morning now." Star sat up in her bed and changed her bandages. "They haven't split open again that's a good sign. Time to stretch and exercise." She stood up and walked to the middle of her small room and started her stretching routine.
"Stretches done, now to the bar and the wall." She stared at the iron bar and the wooden pegs in the wall with a smile. "Slouen thought of everything." She jumped and wrapped her fingers around the iron bar and started to pull herself up. She groaned. "I must get through the pain. I need to find out." She pulled herself up and watched as fresh blood escaped from her wounds. "I no longer want to be in someone's shadow. It's time I made my own shadow."
She stopped and fell to the fall of her room panting heavily with sweat and blood over her arms and legs. "I was able to do five more then yesterday." She smiled. "That's a good sign."She looked at the wall. "Now it's time for the legs and my fingertips."
She jumped onto the wall grabbing the small pegs with her fingertips and feet. "Good start…" She lifted her leg and placed her foot on the next peg near her waist.
"Ahhhhhhhhh it hurts… I… must… not… stop" She bit her tongue to stop herself from screaming.
"Thud!" She fell off the wall and landed on her back panting heavily with tears in her eyes.
"Knock, Knock. Girl, you better not be trying to do something you're not ready for?"
She cursed as she saw the door open and Maseli walk in with bandages and a tub of sweet-smelling water. She closed her eyes as Maseli's angry voice filled the room.
"Girl. You push yourself too much. If you keep opening your wounds everyday then I'm just going to tie you down in the bed until they have healed,"
Star nodded and slowly sat up. "Sorry Maseli… I was able to touch the ceiling with my foot this time. The bar I also was able to beat my old record." She smiled happily and sat on the bed slowly taking off the bandages.
She watched as Maseli shook her head and sigh. "Your stubborn girl. No wonder you never missed in your shows. You practice and work too hard. Now let's see these cuts…"
Star watched her in silence, and as Maseli washed and wrapped the new bandages. Star looked at Maseli's arm as a small patch of tattooed skin.
"What's that tattoo? Red had one as well." She frowned
She watched Maseli's eyes open wide. "Red had this tattoo as well?" Star nodded. "He told me it was special, but he didn't tell me no matter how much I asked him."
"This is the tattoo of a seeker… They must have found one of them and were killed for it."
Star looked at her confused. "What do you mean? What did they find that was so precious and important for them to die?"
She watched Maseli stand up with a mix between a smile and frown at the same time. "Girl. This afternoon for your class we're going to talk about the factions. Then you'll know. For now, you need to bathe and get ready for the lunch rush."
Star nodded and smiled watching Maseli wiping her hands and walking towards the door. "Girl did they both have that tattoo or just Red?"
"I only saw the tattoo on Red. Agnia wasn't the type of person who had or even wanted a tattoo to touch their skin. She was very conscious of her beauty and didn't want anything to ruin it." She smiled at Maseli.
"Okay, we'll talk after lunch downstairs. Now bathe and hurry downstairs." She watched the door close behind Maseli and fell back onto her bed. "I better hurry, Maseli isn't one known for people disobeying her."
She went to the small bath quickly washing her hair and body. Drying off and dressing in plain clothes and went downstairs to join the other tavern staff and Maseli for the arrival of those coming in for lunch.
"Good you're here girl. Get ready to carry the trays out to the guests when they arrive."
Star nodded and smiled walking to the large wooden trays in the kitchen wiping the trays and listening to the cooks cursing each other.
"Bang!"
Star looked up and saw the door open to the tavern and the first transport load of people walk in. She smiled and took a deep breath. "Show time. I can do it."
"Girl lets go. Foods up where's the tray?" She took a tray to the table placing plates and bowls of food onto it. Picked it up and place it on her shoulder and walked out of the hot kitchen. She walked into the masses of people sitting or walking around the tavern. She spun on her feet dodging the customers, placing the food at their tables and dodging through the crowds around the bar until she was back in the kitchen. She smiled and took a deep breath.
"Easy. I'm a lot better getting through the crowd now." She placed the tray on the table collecting food and spent the next few marks until the crowds returned to the transports.
"Girl, good job. You did well. Now let's eat and talk." She nodded looking at Maseli who was standing behind her. They sat at the table closest to the map. Star looked at the map and smiled. "It really is beautiful."
"You don't feel bored or tired in doing this and then spend all your time either staring at the map or upstairs causing a mess?"Star shook her head. "Not at all. I feel this is helping me get closer to what I want. It's a steppingstone for me to make my own shadow." Star filled her mouth full of roasted meat and vegetables smiling.
She swallowed. "I'm learning a lot from being here. It's making me stronger, and this map and your lessons are making me more aware of the world around me." She looked at her plate of food and took a drink from the clay pitcher. "Back where I was, I wasn't taught about the world, just how to read and write." She sighed and shook her head.
She looked at Maseli. "You said we'll talk about your tattoo. I'm curious as to why Red had one as well. Maybe it will reveal a clue as to what happened to them."
"Maseli… There is another question that I want to ask as well. You've been talking about the people serving the Supreme and how there is always someone above giving the orders to the people below." She saw Maseli nod. "Does that work for the underground as well?"
"Girl… If you want to ask something just ask it. Stop going sideways and be straight like an arrow shot from your bow." Star felt her cheek heat up and nodded.
"Sorry. If Red and Agnia were killed by people. Who gave the order for their death?"
"BANG!"
She hit the table with the clay pitcher.
"What happened to Agnia. He should have been buried with Red. But there was nothing for her." She looked at her empty plate sadly. "I saw her body on the arena floor. But there has been nothing for her. It's like she has disappeared off the face of Athlos."
She looked down at the table sadly, Maseli's words filling her ears.
"Girl… From the things you've told me, it seems that there is more to this then people admit." She watched her point to where the tattoo was on her arm. "It's all to do with this…"
Star looked at Maseli in confusion. "What do you mean. It's just a tattoo. Maseli shook her head. "No. It's not just a normal tattoo. It's a symbol and a promise. You need to listen to today's lesson."
She sat watching as Maseli took a drink from her clay pitcher. "Girl, it's good you're starting to think the right way. The people who did it are just small fry. The one you're looking for is their boss. And their boss is one of the leaders of the factions in Athlos."
Star's eyes opened wide. "One of the three faction leaders?" She saw Maseli shake her head and her mouth fell open as she watched Maseli show her hand to reveal four fingers.
"You know the three factions, the royals, the rebels and the islanders." Star nodded. "However, there is another faction that has members across all the three factions. The seekers."
Star looked at Maseli in dismay. "That is only a legend. They were around a long time ago, seeking the pieces of the Creator." She sighed. "Red would tell me stories of the seekers when I was little and all their adventures."
She saw Maseli nod. "This tattoo that I have is the symbol of a seeker. Only those whose life duty is to find the pieces will have this tattoo."Star slipped into quiet thought before looking up at Maseli.
"Are you saying that the reason why Red was killed was because of the faction he belonged to and others took action because he found something?"
"Exactly. That's what I'm thinking." Star took a drink. "Girl, let me ask you this. A circus usually travels all over the globe. So why did it stay in Eternia?"
Star nodded. "Before I joined, they told me they traveled all over Athlos, it wasn't until a decision was made to stay in Eternia by Red…" She opened her eyes wide. "Could it be he found a piece and was staying near it in Eternia?"
"Then they were killed for one of the most powerful objects in existence." Star's face darkened.
"So, it's possible that some faction now has access to it and will kill anyone who tries to get near them." She watched Maseli nod.
"When people talk about the duty of seekers or get wind of some of their knowledge about the location of the pieces then death is usually following them." She heard Maseli sigh. "It seems that my sources about the circus were right. Red had found the location of a piece, and it seems that someone was able to guess Red's actions and went to confront them."
Star sighed. "My first clue is on top of stormy mountain. Thank you Maseli. You're telling me things about Red I never knew about. He kept a lot of secrets… They both had secrets, and I could see it in his eyes every time he looked at me."
She sat still watching Maseli as she leaned forward whispering. "You must never let others know of the words we have spoken. Because if the ones who got to Red and Agnia then, they'll have no trouble in dealing with you." Star nodded staring into Maseli's eyes.
"BANG!"
They both jumped and turned staring at the open tavern door as Slouen walked into the tavern. Star let out a deep breath, she heard Maseli do the same. "Slouen you almost killed me. Why are you sneaking into taverns now?"
Star looked at Slouen's frown. "What do you mean sneaking in?"
He pointed to the door he had just walked through and cursed. "You just saw me walk through that door."
Maseli handed him a clay pitcher as Star walked up to Slouen. She stood silently as he looked over her. "I hope this one here hasn't given you too much trouble." She looked at Maseli who smiled. "She's been an excellent student and also has helped out during the busy times."
She nodded watching as Slouen turned and looked at her. "What about you? Have you been doing the exercises I've shown you?" Star smiled. "Yes. I've been practicing well. This morning my leg was able to reach the ceiling from the wall pegs." She frowned. "However, I'm still having trouble pulling a bowstring."
"Hahahaha. Girl you're moving and pushing yourself too much. Show me how you pull the bow."
Star nodded and walked upstairs with Slouen and Maseli following behind her.
She walked into her room and picked up Agnia's bow, stringing it and then pulling the string with Slouen watching her.
"Ouch…"
She grimaced under the pressure of holding the string and let it go. She looked at Slouen with hope in her eyes. "The person who taught you to use a bow was a great teacher…"
She put the bow down on the bed and frowned. "My bow was destroyed. This is a bow of a very close friend."
"It's not about the bow, but the person holding it…" She watched him pull out a small hunter's bow and hand it to her. "Here try this bow. It doesn't look like much, but it has power where it is needed."
She nodded and pulled the bowstring listening to Slouen as he walked around her. "Holding the bowstring taut places a lot of pressure on your wrists, fingertips, shoulders and arms." She let the bowstring go and looked at the bow.
"As I said, they taught you to shoot and hit your targets, but they never taught you how to draw a bow properly."
She looked at him confused."What do you mean?"
"I mean that when you pull a string on a bow, it isn't about your scars and wounds. It's all in your head." He felt her tap his head and watched him pull an arrow out of its quiver. "You see this arrow?" Star nodded.
"An arrow will go anywhere, but what it needs most of all from the archer that fires it… Is the archer's heart. Your heart is not in the bow, nor in the arrow. You're just going through the motions. You have too much going on in your mind."
She sat down on the bed in silence.
"Your right. There is too much going on in my mind." She looked at her hands and sighed. "How can I move forward when I don't know where forward is?" She looked at Slouen. "All I know is the Stormy Mountain, but what happens after I get there, or if there is someone there waiting?"
She hit her legs with her fists. "All my life I've been following Red. Always in his and Agnia's shadow." She looked at the small window. "I keep saying I want to make my own shadow. But today I mean it." She looked at Slouen and Maseli with determination in her eyes. "Make me stronger so I can make my own shadow, and it's a shadow that covers Athlos."
"Hahahaha. Girl, I like you. Here was just basic training. Out there the real training begins, but first we need to get you some equipment."
Star looked at Slouen and smiled. "Where are we going to get it?"
"This evening we head towards the Ancient Tower…"