"Greatness is never achieved through hopes and dreams. It is achieved by those able to endure sacrifice and times of hardship when others would falter and fade." Aaron Amos, father of Skye Amos.
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"Skye let your mother know I'm heading out, Micah just called for a meeting. I should be back before the sun begins to set, try and get as much of that boar skinned as you can. I'll finish the rest when I return," said a husky voice that seemed to be fading away.
I looked around from the boar on the hook as my dad waved and jogged off through the door with one of the hunters of the village. I'd never seen her before so she must have just joined the hunting party. I looked back at the boar and continued to work. It was tiring work and my muscles burned from the strain but I did it happily. When I was younger I could hardly stand the sight of dead animals much less the smell of blood and guts that came with skinning and cleaning an animal. My father had caught the boar earlier this morning when he was out patrolling with the other hunters earlier in the morning.
I was about halfway done with skinning the boar, the sun was still out in full force. From where it sat in the sky, it was about mid-afternoon. I put the knife down on the table, took off my gloves and apron, and then hung them up on the hook on the wall. I walked over to the barrel of water in the corner of the room and turned on the faucet to clean myself up. The water was cold thanks to the rune engraved on it by runemaster Taka, my dad had just recently refilled it with soul. I couldn't wait to be able to use sol and become a hunter like my dad, helping around the house was nice and I was content with skinning. Yet I couldn't deny the want I felt towards being the one who went out and hunted instead. Not to mention Dad had been training me to be a hunter since Mom finally allowed it when I turned 8 around 4 summers ago.
After cleaning I walked out of the shed and closed the door with the latch behind me.
Our shed was right behind our house so I didn't have to walk far to get home. Our house was pretty much the same as everyone else in the village, a simple wooden house with two rooms, a kitchen, and a small living room. My dad liked to spend time in the rocking chair by the fireplace and work on strengthening and understanding his soul. I walked through the back door of our house and the door creaked as I swung it open. Sniffing the air I was greeted with the savory smell of beef wafting through the entrance. My mom looked up from the pot she had over the coals and greeted me with a small.
"If it isn't my little Skye. You're back pretty early, no training today?" she asked as she covered the pot up with a lid and stood up.
She looked the same as any other day hair tied back in a ponytail. In the same way, I kept mine as I didn't need it in my face while training or dealing with dead animals. We were similar in pretty much every way from our cinnamon-like skin tone, and the sharpness of our eyebrows. The only thing I had in common with my dad was my eyes. Whereas my mom had eyes the color of amber, my dad and I had eyes the color of a lake. Or so my mom told me I've never seen a lake in person.
"Maybe later, Dad went off with a hunter not too long ago Micah called for a meeting. We were in the middle of skinning the boar when he left. He said he should be back before the sun starts to go down," I said as I hugged my mom. She smelt like the vanilla Amber's mom used when she baked.
"I see I wonder what the meeting could be about? They usually have their meetings before they go out in the morning, I hope it isn't anything serious," She said as we let go of each other she had a look of concern on her face.
"Me too, but I'm sure everything is fine Dad didn't seem worried when he left," I said even though I was slightly worried the last time a meeting like this happened I was 7 and an ascended beast had been spotted too close for comfort to the village.
"You're probably right, but just to be safe don't go too far from the house for the rest of the day, I'm still a little worried," She said as she walked over to the window by the pot and looked out.
"I won't, I still have the work Mr.Khan gave us to finish up so I'll be working on that, I'll be in my room if you need me," I said as I walked towards the stairs to the right of the house.
Looking away from the window she flashed me a nervous smile. "Okay, my little Skye I'll let you know when dinner is ready hopefully your father's back before then."
I smiled at her and continued up the stairs. "Thanks, mom."
I got up the stairs and turned to the right, my room door was still open from when I had rushed downstairs when Dad had called for help with the boar. I like my room. It was as simple as most things in the village were. A bed in the right corner, a chest at the end of it with my clothes. My table was to the left of my bed just right of the window. I walked over to it and sat down on the wooden chair. I had left the book Mr.Khan had given us open to a page on the connection between spirit and soul.
As it got closer to the day of awakening for all the teens in the village he wanted to make sure we knew the nature of what would happen when the day came. I looked down at the book and continued where I had left off.
The connection between one's spirit and the soul energy that resides within. Is the same as the connection between our bodies and their need for blood. Just as we can not function without it our spirits can not function without soul. When one first awakens they can feel their spirit for the first time, it has no form it exists as nothing more than energy. As people or beasts get older their spirits grow with them affected by their experiences and inner feelings until eventually, it reaches a point where it can be felt within oneself.
I continued reading for a time taking notes on a separate piece of paper, then I heard the sound of the door opening and I knew my dad had come home. "Aaron," I heard my mom shout as my dad came through the door.
"Skye, come downstairs. Your dad's home and dinner is ready," Called my mom.