As the sun rose and villagers awakened, Aryan continued his monotonous life of ploughing, seeding, picking and his rare journey to the town market in hopes of selling his meagre crops.
As the sun started to set, Aryan excitedly wiped the sweat from his face, the dirt failing to hide his anticipating smile, the thought of his mothers mouth-watering delicacies caused his muscular stomach to rumble in defiance for him not already running back to his dilapidated house. As soon as he entered the welcoming structure he realised the mood felt off, There was no steaming soup at the table, the mood was more depressed than usual, even the spirited Adam stayed quiet in his chair,
"What happened?", asked Aryan in a confused and worried tone, as he sat down,
"Nothing, honey.", replied his caring mother in hopes of restoring the once peaceful atmosphere, but her concerned face did little to conceal her thoughts.
Furthermore, Michael quickly affirmed Aryans growing distress with a tired and worn voice,
"Not yet anyway.", Aryan, now truly worried, pleaded, "Will someone please tell me what is going on?".
His mother finally caved and told him what had happened, "Cultivators have arrived."
"Cultivators?", Replied Aryan, bewildered, 'Like farmers?', 'No, surely not.', Aryan quickly wiped the brainless thought from his head.
"Yes, Cultivators", his father replied, "I know very little of those who go by the name 'Cultivators' but what I do know is that they are humans like you and me, but they are able to wield impossible power, they are able to take out the beasts we spend hours hunting with a mere breath, run for hours on end without tire, and they, are only the weak Cultivators.", seeing Aryans reverential face, his father sighed.
"However such power in hands of humans who only wish for personal gain is a heavenly mistake".
"They plunder, murder, destroy , and commit any other atrocities that they could even slightly profit from, at the behest of those weaker.", saying this, resentment flared in Michael's azure eyes, eyes that held unending wrath.
"How do you know so much about Cultivators, Dad?", questioned Adam after hearing his fathers explanation, whose fury seemed to come from first hand experience.
As if expecting the inquiry, Michael replied with a sigh, "You see boys, I wasn't born in Yandiroo Village like your mother, I was born in a distant village that was given the name, Erinup, and when I was at the age of 10 my father made a fatal mistake, he stood up against a Cultivator. After a visit from the powerful tyrants, much like today, they saw a pretty 15 year old girl that they took a liking to, and thus they decided that she was theirs. Of course she resisted, but she was just the daughter of a small farming family, who knew they would be slaughtered by the Cultivators at the slightest disagreement and thus she had no ability to stand up for herself.", with a wry smile, Michael continued, "So my courageous father did something no other would, he stood up for the poor girl, and that was the fatal mistake, the cultivators without looking, as if it would dirty there eyes, beheaded my father, with a sneer, in front of me. Scared and alone, in hope of pleasing the Cultivators, we were forced to leave the village by the populace, my distraught mother and I travelled for days with nothing but scraps of meat and river water until we arrived here, in Yandiroo. The people of Yandiroo took us in without a second thought, gave us opportunities to work and build a new life. Years later your grandmother passed, I met your mother and we had you two".
Tears welled in the three audiences' eyes from the heart wrenching story.
Without much more to say, the family decided to go to bed early, even Adam was too melancholy to talk of today's adventures with his friends, so Aryan laid there in his own thoughts until he succumbed from fatigue.
Waking up the next morning, recharged, Aryan and Adam bathed, dressed and went to the dilapidated dining table for breakfast, seeing only his mother, Aryan realised his father must have already left with the village hunting squad. After finishing another delectable meal, he left, with his trusty hoe and sickle, for work, while walking the harsh and rugged dirt path he saw an unusual sight, villagers were rushing past conversing quickly, "Hurry! I want to see what foolish soul stood up to those strong men."
A nauseating, dreaded feeling arose in Aryans stomach, "Please father, please dont be you!". Aryan sprinted past his house, only to see it empty, realising his Mother and Adam must have gone to the market for tonight's dinner, he continued running towards the town center. Upon arriving, he saw a crowd surrounding the village exit, he pushed through while hearing snippets of conversations.
"What happened?"
"I heard the Cultivators demanded meat."
"What! We barely have enough for ourselves as it is."
"I know! And so does everyone else, but no one would dare stand up against those killers. Except for that man over there, but it's not looking good for him because of it."
Yandiroo Village, as well as the surrounding others, were situated in an area called the Forgotten lands, a place with few wildlife and baron planes with little vegetation, practically the worst place for life to belong, thus it was very difficult to find animals in this wasteland and was even harder to hunt them, thus the idea of giving meat away was simply preposterous, but what can you do when Cultivators are asking.