Location - Teine Kingdom of Flames
"No."
"But Mother!"
"Absolutely not Ren. Do you have any idea how dangerous it would be?"
"Of course I do Mother. It is called the Royal Army for a reason."
It was yet another normal evening in the Adle household. With Ren trying to convince his mother that it was a good idea for him to join the Royal Army.
"Mother, they pay for actually signing up with the army. You and Enya would be able to get new coats for the winter!" He tried to reason with his mother who stood with her back to him as she tended to the stew bubbling away atop the fire. Shaking her copper-colored hair, his mother, Laila, finally turned around to look at him.
"We make do just fine and don't need any more money Ren. Certainly not from the Army. And as far as joining them goes, I forbid you from even thinking about it."
Ren gritted his teeth, his knuckles turning white from where he gripped the edges of the table. "Why won't you let me join them?" His voice was almost desperate, though the anger he felt at the unfairness of the situation simmered just underneath his skin.
"Because nothing good ever comes out of joining the Army, Ren. Certainly not in this family."
Was she referring to her own father and brothers, or was she referring to his and Enya's father. Ren had no idea, and certainly wasn't about to ask her, not when she was already upset.
Knowing there would be no winning when it came to his headstrong mother, at least not at the moment, he pushed himself away from the table and strode out of the kitchen. Grabbing a pail along the way to give the pretense that he was going to get water from the well, he made sure to slam the door behind him as he stepped outside.
As he approached the well, his steps slowed and his mind began to calm. Feeling his anger ebb away, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty at his outburst. He couldn't help his feelings though. Every since he was little he had wanted to join the army. Not only would it benefit his family, but perhaps he would finally have some respect in his village.
As he lowered the bucket into the well, his grey eyes flickered to the large white patches all along his arms. They didn't stop there though. Almost his entire body had white patches at irregular intervals. And given the tanned complexion he had inherited from his mother, as well as the copper colored hair, they stood out even more. The patches on his body were easy enough to hide, but the ones on his face?
They had been a source of teasing and ridicule from boys at his school since he and his mother had arrived at the village. So much so that he had gotten quite good and escaping and outrunning almost every single one of them. He was probably the fastest boy for miles.
Maybe that was why his mother didn't want him to sign up? What if he was rejected based on his skin? Would they overlook the fact that he was quite tall and strong for his age? Working as a helping hand on a farm meant long grueling hours of work, which meant that he had the upper body strength of an ox. But would that all matter? What if he was ridiculed even more at the military?
He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even see a small head pop up from the other side of the well and chirp.
"You thinking of making a wish Ren?"
His gaze snapped up to meet Enya's mischievous blue eyes. "Wishes are for babies, En." He said, beginning to pull on the rope as he pulled the bucket up. He knew she was rolling her eyes at him as she skipped over to stand next to him.
"I don't think so. I heard a story that if you make a wish and truly want it to come true then even the Power of the Dragons cannot stop it from happening." He shook his head at his innocent sister, smiling fondly as he did.
"And who told you that?" He asked. "Mother did. She was telling me stories her mother used to tell her when she was a little girl." Enya pushed herself on her tiptoes, leaning a little too far into the well then to his liking. On instinct he grabbed the back of her shirt to avoid an accident.
Enya looked nothing like him or his mother. Where their skins were dark and hair copper, her hair was a light brown, in soft curls that hung past her shoulders. Her eyes were an anomaly as well. While one eye was a deep brown, the other was a green, while the former was rather common, the green eye was certainly a rarity. Glancing over her shoulder she grinned at him.
"And I've made several wishes and I know that they'll all come true?"
Deciding to humor his little sister he raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh? And what have you wished for today?"
She finally stepped away from the well.
"That I get to see a Dragon."
Ren blinked. "Enya? You do know no one has seen one for nearly hundreds of years right?" He said, picking up the bucket of water and leading the way back to the house. Dinner should be ready by now, and he was starving. Enya fell into step beside him. Of course she had to skip along to keep up with his much larger strides.
"I know that, but you never know what might happen Ren. I believe anything is possible."
It was strange how she could be so optimistic despite everyone telling her otherwise. Sometimes Enya was the one to help calm things in the house when either he or their mother was feeling tense about some situation or the other. She just had this lightness about her that made everyone enjoy her company and chat with her. A lot of people had spilled their secrets to Enya, and never once had she betrayed their confidence.
"Hey Ren?"
"Yeah?"
"Will you really join the army?"
He stopped short, glancing at the younger girl staring up at him with such a wide and open expression. Maybe the argument had become loud enough for her to hear what their mother and he had said to one another.
He cleared his throat before replying. "Its my wish to join the army Enya. And you just said how wishes have a way of coming true."
With a small nod she hummed. "True, I did say that. But Mama and I wish that you not join the army, so does that mean your wish won't come true, since ours is in majority?" He blinked at his little sister, feeling more then a little surprised at what she had just said.
Ren was about to reply but then their Mother called them in and eager to get to dinner, Enya bounded inside. Biting his lower lip, that feeling of guilt increased tenfold as he watched his mother and Enya interact through the small kitchen window. Pursing his lips, he was just about to enter the kitchen himself when he felt that all too familiar tug in his stomach.
Sighing to himself, and knowing if he didn't tend to it, it would annoy him for the rest of the day, he adjusted his grip on the bucket handle and allowed the pull to lead the way. As the pull got stronger and stronger, he continued to walk further from his home.
He could only see the smoke from the chimney when he finally reached his destination. A small pathetic looking sapling awaited him. Sighing to himself, Ren made quick work to dump the bucket of water on top of the sapling. Feeling the tug inside him lessen before disappearing completely, he knew he had done the right job.
As if his white patches weren't strange enough, but on his sixteenth, he had begun to hear plants and trees as well. They didn't speak to him, per se. They communicated with him through emotions and feelings, something he was well-versed in. Smiling a little at the feeling of content and happiness that radiated from the sapling, Ren turned his gaze back from where he came, hope his sister hadn't cleaned out his bowl of stew while he had been gone.