A young man sighed after hours of restless labour, he wiped off the sweat on his forehead before he turned to look at the sky, the clouds drifting past, just like time itself.
He then turned to look at the people around him, some older and some at his age, working tirelessly at the fields just like what he did a few moments ago.
My name is Nate Greywind. I'm twenty-one years old, and have been working in my village for awhile now. Doing something that I don't have the slightest of interest on and yearned for something more in my life.
"Hey, Nate! Slackin' off again?! Don't forget what I told you God knows how many times before, keep slacking and you'll get to be a slacker for good!" An older man yelled at him, Mr Brown. Or what the young man would named him as 'Brown Potato'. He's not brown but looks like a potato.
Nate groaned and rolles his eyes before he continued his work. The man walked away, looking over his workers in the paddy fields and just yells for no apparent reason. "I got to get outta here..." Nate mumbled. He turned when he heard someone chuckled at him. "Again with that? It's not so bad, you know? It is life to work and get yelled at from time to time?" A woman at the same age as Nate and his best friend, Diana.
"Ah, let him be, Diana. He doesn't have the guts, anyway. Besides, only an idiot would go out out there where danger lurks every corner except and or maybe your own butthole." A young man, the same age as the other two and Nate's best friend, Wallen. Nate and Diana lookes at Wallen in silence with either feeling confused or judging him from what he had just said. "And what danger could be lurking out of your own butthole, butthole?" I asked with disinterest.
Wallen stopped and lookes at Nate and Diana with his finger up in a 'matter of fact' manner, "Uncontrollable diarrhea due to spoilet fire sprout. I seen it happen before, it was nasty." He said, as if talking from experience.
"Can we stop talking about buttholes? Seriously?" Diana asked.
"No objections here." Said Nate.
The bell rung by Mr Brown as it was tome for a short break. Everyone stretches and put away their equipment before sitting under little huts around the paddy fields, resting and chatting.
Nate sat down and pulled out a ring tied with a thin rope around his neck. A black ring with green gemstone on it, glistening under the sunlight. Diana and Wallen sat next to him, looking at him as he gazed into the ring, that was given to him by his father.
Wallen sighed, "Just let it go, will ya? You're going to make your mother sad. She has gone through enough." Said Wallen, drinking a cup of tea. Diana nodded, agreeing with Wallen. "I know that you don't need us to tell you, to remind you what your mother went through after what happened with your father, right, Nate?" She said, with a sympathetic expression on her face.
Nate remembered as if it was yesterday.
It was warm yesterday, when the news came reached both Nate and his mother. He was helping her with some chores around the house when a group of knights from the capital arrived at the village gates, with a coffin.
Nate's father was a strong and dedicated knight. He fought and defeated countless enemies and monsters until he had the misfortune of angering and finally fought the infamous witch, Elra Sinis. She is the master of the dark arts, destroying villages, torturing any living being that she wants and also a sworn enemy of the King. As she was the one who murdered the Queen while she was bearing their first heir.
Nate looked at the coffin,void of any emotion while his mother fell onto her knees and cried for the loss of the love of her life. The leader of the group of knights knelt down with her, putting his hand on her shoulder as he comfort her.
Nate sighed and tucked the ring back inside her shirt. "I know...but despite that, the thought of what was out there, meeting all kinds of people. And maybe, just maybe kill the witch." Said Nate but he said in a whisper at the end. Diana leaned intk him, "What was that?" She asked.
Nate shook his head, "Nevermind." He said and finished his tea. He got up and walked out under the cool shade of the hut. Wallen puts down his empty cup and followed behind, "Come on. Time to work." He said to Diana who just sat there and stared Nate's back. She looked down into her tea and drank it before she ran after them.
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After another long day of work, the three walked home together. Chatted and laughed until Nate was alone. Diana stopped and turned to Nate, homding his hand. "Look, whatever you want to do. Just remember that you're not alone. We'll support you. Wallen and I." She said with an assuring smile. Nate snorted, "Even Wallen? Yeah, right...Thanks, Ana. Really." He said and smiled back at her.
Ana is Diana's nickname that was given by Nate and she only call her that when they are alone. While Wallen would sometimes called her Di, which really sounds like die, so that nickname didn't caught on and buried like it should be.
Diana let go of Nate's hand and walked back to her house where smoke is coming out of the chimney. Nate watched the silhouettes behind the curtain as Diana hugged her parents and the sound of them talking and laughing. Despite it being just a day after his father died, he already missed the conversations that he will never had with his father again.
He continued to walk home. As he did, he walked past a homeless man that claims he was from another world. And what was ridiculous was when he told the villagers that in his world they use these small boxes to communicate people, he showed one to them but said that these small things called batteries had died. Someone threw a stick at him and everyone went about their business as usual.
His house was a bit further than the rest of the houses because of how big of the land his parents inherited from his granparents. He noticed the house was dark, as if no one is staying there. Putting his in his pockets and walked through the gate. The gate made a loud creaking sound and almost immediately the front door of the house swung opened, revealing a beautiful woman, if her hair wasn't a mess and she didn't looked like her sould was sucked out of her.
"Dear! Oh..." She looked disappointed as the person before her was not her husband, but her son. "Oh, Nate...w-welcome back, sweetie." She said, in a soft and quiet voice. Nate walked up to her and hugged her.
"I know you missed him, mom..I missed him too..but when you called out 'dear', it kinda made me crave for dear tonight." He said and his mother chuckled. She softly smacked him for making a joke to cheer her up.
"Enough with your nonsense, boy. Get inside and cleaned up while I see if there is even anything edible." She said, pushing him inside and closed the door. She headed to the kitchen.
"Well, we can always eat that weird homeless guy." Nate suggested as he made his way to his room. His mother let out a tired laugh, "Only if I make sure there is nothing to eat, Nate." She said as she opened the cupboards and checked the storage that has an ice spell enchanted on it. She clicked her tongue after she looked inside.
Nate grinned and walked into tje bathroom with a towel in hand, "One homeless guy, coming up!" He said and closed the door. Nate's mother, Selena, smiled and shook her head over her son's jokes. Well, she really hope he was joking or she will be very worried that she will lose her son as well.
Nate later had a change of heart and hunt in the forest behind his house while at the same time scarring little animals such as rabbits and fawns, making them run into the backyard where his mother was waiting with a cup of tea in her hand while a bow and quiver full of arrows on the table next to her.
Nate walked into his mother view, dragging two dead dears and a bear. He didn't came out unscathed however, just minor scratches. Selena was pulling out her arrows from her prey and smiled at her son, impressed with how much they have gotten.
After helping his mother preparing dinner, the two of them sat at the table and eat in silence. Nate looked over his mother whom had cleaned up herself. She seemed to be in loss in thought. Nate was thinking of asking her blessing to let him venture out but the voices of his friends, Wallen and Diana echoed in his head.
Selena noticed something was troubling hee son. She could think of one of the many reasons why he looked so trouble and her cooking was not one of them.
"You want to to go out on an adventure out there, are you, Nate?" Selena broke the deafening silence and surprised her son. Nate looked down and nodded, "Yeah but, what Wallen and Diana said was right...You're my priority right now, mom." Said Nate, giving his mom a warm smile. But his mother knew, there is some pain under that smile. "Get some rest, I'll clean up." Said Nate, taking his and his mother's plates and took them to the kitchen. Selena watch over him with sadness in her eyes and pain in her torn heart.
"I want to let him go but I'm too scared that I will lose him too...Dear, what should I do?" Selena thought and turned to the picture of her family.
Then, a memory came to her mind when Nate lwft the house after one of his friends told him that a group of bullies picking on one of his friends. Ignoring the calls of his mother, he ran without a second thought."You gotta trust him, honey. Yes, he's our only boy but we, as his parents, gotta put faith in him. I know what kind of man he is, albeit still green. However, he has our will. Plus with that stubborn head, I'm sure he'll be fine." Her husband, Andrew, said and laughed.
Selena got up and walked into her room. Nate noticed and continued washing the dishes, accepting the fact that he won't be selfish and go after his dream when his mother needed him most.
Selena knelt down by her bed, and pulled out a small chest tucked under. She held out her hand and cast a spell to unlock the chest. With a glow and a click, the chest was unlocked. "Maybe, you're right, dear..." She said, picking up a book and wiped off the dust on the cover, revealing an emblem of a dragon and a phoenix.
"If you want to go on an adventure, to leave a mark of your own and follow your path..."
Selena said as she stood by the dining room looked at Nate in the kktchen whom had turned to look at her.
"Prove it to me, that you can really take care of yourself. Then, I will decide to let you go, Nathan." Selena said, holding out the book, now glowing in orange light with the eyes of the dragon and phoenix gleamed brightly.