"Hakkar, where are you going off to so early in the morning?" Mother said to me.
"Nowhere Mother, I'm just going outside to play." I responded.
"You do this every day honey, can't you just spend some time with Mommy?"
"Don't worry Mother, I'll pick you up something nice from the envoy today."
"*Sigh* I guess it can't be helped. Just don't do anything stupid like last time okay."
"Roger that, Mother." I said as I bolted out the 'door'.
As I ran out the 'door' my smile couldn't be contained anymore. It's only been a month since I've been allowed to leave the hut unsupervised, so every encounter I have is precious to me.
'I still can't believe Father allowed me to go outside alone after my 3rd birthday. I guess since it was my sole wish, he felt like he needed to grant it.'
Whatever the case may be, I'm just happy I can bathe whenever I feel like it now. I tried telling my family how beneficial taking baths are, but they didn't believe me. Apparently, they think it's a bore, and that they don't smell. I guess if you live in a dumpster for 40 years, you're bound to get used to the smell.
As I was walking down the cramped paths, 2 large men were carrying a moose-sized deer with 6 antlers and 4 eyes.
'Damn, I still can't believe I'm not on Earth anymore. When I first saw three moons in the sky, I was so confused that I passed out flat on the ground. Hahaha, Mother was so worried she started praying to the gods for me to wake up. Those were good times, but now that I've seen everything, stuff like 4-eyed deer are pretty common.'
When they passed, I continued down the paths which were more cramped than normal. The reason for that would be the envoy we have coming today.
They're emissaries from the empire that come every year on the same day. They mostly sell goods that we couldn't acquire ourselves, such as medical items and certain information.
Last year I caused a scene when I was found rummaging through their food supply. After eating the same thing every day, I decided it was a good idea to sneak in and grab some new stuff. Unfortunately, I was found and my parents had to both pay and apologize for what I did. I truly felt bad, but nothing I said got through to them.
In my past life, I had to live with the guilt of having my step-parents pay for my medical fees and even after death, they continued to pay for them. So when this happened, my guilt was so immense that I willingly stayed inside and behaved myself. I promised my parents I would never make them pay for my actions again.
Enough of that though, because today, I'm actually going to purchase items. During these 3 years, I've been collecting plants and herbs that the envoy considers useful. Instead of money, they use a barter system. I give you something and you give me something of equal value, pretty simple.
Hopefully, I can get some good food with the amount that I've collected.
After walking for a couple of minutes to the North, I came up to the river that I first bathed in as a child. I wasted no time and started taking my clothes off so I could take a quick bath. Although I've been taking baths every day for the past month, I can still feel the grime from when I was a kid. I don't think I'll ever get rid of this feeling.
As I was washing my face, I looked into the waters reflection and frowned. Although I don't have my father's gorilla face, I wasn't gifted my mother's flowery appearance either. I'm more of a mix between the 2, which ended up giving me a stoic face. It's neither bad nor good so I guess that's a plus.
I then put my hair underwater and scrubbed as hard as possible. When I came up, I flowed it back and looked at the tips of my hair. The one weird thing about me is my hair. I have my mother's black hair, but at the tips, it starts getting dark red. I never noticed it since the red looks almost black, but as my hair grows longer it becomes more noticeable. Even with my hair stretching down past my neck it's still barely noticeable. I was told it was because my grandfather had dark red hair, so I guess I can thank him for that.
I can also thank him for my eye color as well, since it's black with a red hue. Just like my hair, it's barely noticeable, and you can't really see it unless you look closely.
"What's the point in cool hair and cool eyes though? My face will eventually scare away 90% of women?" I said as a tear fell from my eye.
"I don't think that Hakkar." A person on the shore said.
"Ahhhh, Ulta look away. LOOK AWAY."
"Hahaha ok ok, I just wanted to hear you scream like a little girl."
'The devil spawn herself, I swore I would get my revenge on her as a child, but that was before I figured out who she was. Not only is she a girl, but she's also the tribal chiefs daughter… and… my fiancé.'
I proceeded to get out of the water and throw my cloths back on. All I had on was underwear and a deer hide 'skirt' to hide my privates. Wearing this type of clothing resulted in the tanned body I have now.
"Are you done Hakkar?"
"Yes."
I then walked straight past her and started heading for the forest to the East. Since the Envoy won't show up till midday, I'll go pick herbs for the time being.
"Ya know Hakkar, wives are meant to know everything about their partners." She said while following behind me.
"You're neither my wife, nor going to see everything about me. Now why are you following me?"
'I honestly don't want to act too rude, since she's still just 3, but she has to know now that she'll never be my wife. Well… I only wish she could understand that, but she's too far off the deep end.'
"What do you mean I'm not your wife?" She said with a wicked smile on her face.
"Oh god, I mean-" I tried getting a sentence off before she stepped on my foot.
"Daddy said that Hakkar is strong, and will make a wonderful husband… so you'll be my husband, ok?" She said with a 'cutesy' smile.
"Ow ow ow, ok yeah, you're my wife."
"WONDERFUL, now there's no reason I shouldn't be following you."
'I can't believe I'll have to deal with this for the rest of my life. She truly lives up to the nickname 'Devil Spawn'.