Flashback Chosen

[Neci]

Day 32, Fall of 506 A.V. It was warm that early afternoon, but not to the point it became uncomfortable. The sky was colored a favorable blue with wisp like clouds stretching across it at random intervals, but Neci and her party knew that the storm it foreshadowed was still a few days south of them. A gentle breeze danced across the grass lands and ran its formless fingers through the strands of hair that had managed to escape Neci’s hastily put together braid, causing the girl to fling the long cord over her shoulder irritably when the hair playfully tickled the exposed skin of her neck. It hadn’t been too long ago the traveling city of Endrykas had left its summer trade routes on the northern coast in favor of traveling down along the Syliran Border. The steady migration south alerted Neci to the approach of her favorite season, Fall – the time hunter’s skills were put to the ultimate test. A bubble of excitement welled up inside of her at the thought of what the season entailed, and silently she promised herself to best her brother’s spoil amount and bring victory to her own hunting party this year. In order to do that, there was only one thing the competitive girl needed to do, and that was hone her skills. The party she was traveling with was comprised of members of her Pavilion, the Fieldstalker’s of the Emerald Clan, who were currently on their way to a nearby creek in order to teach the young members how to fish. Altogether, their group was made up of seven members counting Neci herself, who was currently the sole female traveling with them. Her father, Argus, rode his strider, Yvan, at the head of the group beside her uncle, Ciceron, and his strider, Nightsinger. After them came her two cousins Saxon and Yakh, the twin sons of Ciceron and her aunt Aeris, who was her father’s sister. The two eleven-year-olds were double mounted on a lame eared mare that was steadily moving up in years, neither of the two having a chosen strider. Beside them rode her youngest brother, Rowen, on a dirt brown stallion, chatting animatedly with the twins. Jin came after them. On his taller than average strider, Corr, her eldest brother towered completely over the other members of the group, a hard frown turning down the corners of his mouth as his stormy eyes stared sightlessly out into the grasslands ahead of them. From the angle she was at, she could see why the female gender found him so attractive. While lean, his muscled build seemed to fill him out perfectly, and that accompanied with his sun kissed skin and strawberry blonde hair he inherited from their father, made him seem mysterious and exotic in a way only the Drykas race seemed to be able to accomplish. Neci’s green eyes, which changed from a dark forest green to emerald depending on her mood, fell down to her own pale skin, the only thing that reminded her of the fact the two came from different mothers. That fact didn’t bother her in the least. As far as she was concerned, whether they had the same parents or not was unimportant. They shared the same father, and that automatically made him her full brother regardless of anything else. She slid her gaze back up to him while absently reaching out a hand to brush her fingers through the mane of the mare she was currently mounted upon, silently reaffirming the promise she made to herself with renewed determination. This year, she would finally usurp her brother's five year streak and turn that momentum in her favor. “If you keep staring at me so intently, I’ll end up having two holes on the side of my head.” Neci jumped, surprised to have been addressed by Jin so suddenly. While she had been lost in her thoughts about besting him, she hadn’t realized he’d turned his head in her direction – effectively catching the glowering look she had been sending him. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, as if amused, while his right eyebrow rose slightly in the way that always gave Neci the impression he knew something she didn’t. Snapping out of her stupor, she scoffed lightly and nudged her mare into a faster gait in order to keep pace with Corr. “Hmph, well maybe two holes on the side of your head will do you some good.” Neci had always been short, but now she felt completely dwarfed in the shadow of Jin and Corr. She had to crane her neck almost completely back in order to make eye contact with him, something Jin didn’t fail to notice and take extreme pleasure from. While at first he had found his sister rather troublesome, he couldn’t help but find her attachment to him rather amusing. She was always coming up with little games, or challenges as she liked to call them, for them to partake in, and couldn’t help feeling intrigued at her overwhelming competitive nature. He only worried for the day she would be chosen by a strider, quite certain that that would open up a whole new world of challenges for them. “Ah, but if that were to happen, little sister, I would have something that you lack, thus making me superior to you once more. Once you figured that out, you would certainly go about trying to find ways to put two holes on the side of your own head.” “What!?” Neci flushed in embarrassment, partly due to the fact he was laughing at her surprise and partly because he easily poked at her never ending need to best him in any aspect. “Who would want two holes on the side of their head? That’s crazy- You’re crazy, Jin! There’s no way I’d go about looking for ways to put holes in my head!” “As lively as ever, eh, brother?” “Ah,” Arkus merely shook his head at his brother in law, a half exasperated smile creeping across his face as he gazed fondly at his two offspring, “they’re a handful alright. Oy, Neci, if you turn any redder you’ll turn into a tomato – and you know what we do to tomatoes.” “But father,” Rowen quickly interjected, shooting a sly smile back at his sister who sat glowering at the males teasing her, “I don’t believe she’d make a very good one. We’d have to throw her out because she was rotten.” “Hey! Rowen!” Amused laughter burst from the group much to the displeasure of Neci, a scowl settling easily across her face. Weight falling upon the top of her head brought her attention back to Jin, whose hand had begun to pat a steady rhythm against her soft brown hair. “Don’t worry, little sister, I’m sure the horses would eat you at least.”

[Neci]

Neci grumbled to herself as she picked away the spare twigs sprouting from the body of a long, thin branch. The wood had caught her attention when she had been leading her horse down the path that lead to the water’s edge. It had been lying beneath the shadow of a small tree (really, it was more like a shrub, seeing how it was even shorter than she was), half buried under the plant’s protruding branches. It had looked like it would be sturdy enough to use as a fishing pole, so she had eagerly fished it from its place and began pulling off the tiny extensions that grew off of it. Her mood was still sour from all the teasing she had had to endure earlier, absently glaring off in her party’s direction as if they had still been laughing at her. Argus and Ciceron were huddled together with Rowen, Yakh, and Saxon, explaining how each part of the fishing equipment worked and what they were supposed to use it for. The three boys nodded enthusiastically, calling out questions all together and reaching out to touch everything as if simply doing so would reveal all of that object’s secrets. The horses grazed a few feet away on a patch of bright green grass, their tails swaying back and forth as if in an intimate dance with the breeze. Green eyes traveled back to the project in her hands, studying the work she had done so far and picking out any major imperfections. Once she was satisfied she had done an acceptable job, she reached over and grabbed a fishing line, tying one end to the tip of her make shift rod while fastening a hook to the other end. She gave the line a quick jerk to make sure it wouldn’t come apart should she get a bite, and when she was certain it would stay put, she gathered the pole and her bait and headed towards the water. One thing she had never been good at was getting the bait onto the hook – and keeping it there. The worms, which they normally used as bait, wiggled around too much and were slippery with their own slime. It was a constant battle for her to get the darn things on there, but she was much too stubborn to ask someone for help. Grabbing one of the little worms that sat in the cup which held her portion of the bait, she let her finger nails dig into its slimy surface, cringing at the feel of it under her nails, before trying to get it hooked. After trying and failing at least five times, she huffed in annoyance and glared down at the tiny worm in her hand. How could something so simple in theory be so hard to accomplish? What was it that she was doing wrong? She had tried to push the point of the hook through one end of the worm as her father had taught her, but she was afraid she’d prick her finger due to it wiggling around so much. Readjusting her pole, letting it lay on the ground beside her instead of resting up against her shoulder, she tried once more to bait the hook. Of course, it was a complete failure. “Seems you’re having a tough time there, little sister.” “No! I’m just waiting for the worm to tire itself out. It has too much energy for being half dead.” Jin laughed as he sat beside her, setting up his own rod and line in preparation. Pouting, she glanced off to the side, desperately wanting to ask him for assistance but knowing she’d regret it if she did. Unlike her, Jin had a proper fishing rod – one he had made himself. It was long and narrow, with just the right amount of thickness to keep it from snapping with a larger catch. Her fishing rod was less than mediocre in comparison, and suddenly she felt rather embarrassed to be using it. “If you do that, then it won’t have the energy to wiggle on the hook. And if it doesn’t wiggle at least a bit, then you won’t get any bites. Fish like to know that what they’re eating is fresh.” “W-well of course! I’d let it have enough energy to at least do that much.” The corners of Jin’s mouth twitched up slightly at his sister’s indignant tone. Plucking one of the worms from her bowl (which she didn’t hesitate to complain about), he expertly began winding it around his hook. It infuriated Neci that he made the task seem so easy, which it actually was in reality. He pushed one end of the worm threw the hook, wrapped the worm around it a couple times, and then pushed the other end of it through the tip. The bait stayed perfectly trapped there. “I can do that too.” Turning back to her own hook, she tried once again to bait it, albeit unsuccessfully. A loud, aggravated sigh escaped unchecked through her lips, her shoulders slumping forward as she tried to figure out what Jin was doing that she wasn’t. “If you’re afraid of the hook, you’ll never be able to bait it.” “What? I’m not-“ She paused, allowing herself a moment to consider his words before she out right tried to deny it. It was true that she was scared of pricking herself, but what did that have anything to do with it? It always paid to be cautious, and she wasn’t exactly trying to go home with a hole in her finger. “I’m not afraid of the hook, Jin. Only babies would be scared of something silly like that.” Turning her nose up, she continued to mentally visualize how Jin baited the hook so flawlessly. Her brother merely laughed at her stubbornness, laying his pole down and pushing himself up to his feet. Neci glanced up at him from the corner of her eye, watching as he turned to move back to where the rest of their party was practicing connecting a line to a pole. “I’ll go get some extra bait. If I’m right, then we’re going to need a lot.” Neci stared after him, not comprehending the emphasis on his words. It wasn’t until she saw him whisper something to Argus did it hit, flushing red in embarrassment as the two men laughed in amusement. After all, it was no secret Neci had a habit of letting the fish eat the bait right off the hook.