The passion between Edic and Lays sparked and burned like their wild red hair. A Fletcher and his wife, await in a dimly lit room for the arrival of their family. The woman, Lays, places her delicate hand into her loving husband's, as she smiles at him. He returns the smile, and beams with pride as the hours move on. He kisses her gently on the forehead, and she screams one last time. The screaming did not end, however, it was continued by her family. Two boys and a girl, all crying and clutching the air.
Cian and Cael, the boys, grew quickly and were tall and build strong just like their father. Their sister, however, was not. Kena, the little one of the family, never grew quickly, and was frequently teased by her twin brothers. The brothers did not criticize her out of spite, but more out of endearment. The girl was not the target of their distaste, but rather each other fell victim. Each brother worked every day to punch harder, kick faster, and beat one another. This rivalry almost cost the life of Kena's dear brothers.
It was the Summer Season, and the trio was only seven years of age. They had practiced with bows before, and went on a hunting trip with their father and a handful of his friends. While Edic was not a hunter himself, he did join to gather more materials to craft bows and arrows.
"Now stick together, the three of you. It's dangerous out in the wild. Cael, Cian... Protect your little sister," commanded their father. He smiled, as the boys reacted with an almost exaggerated nod, and rustled their hair. The older man unslung two short bows, two daggers, and a dozen arrows. "These are for you. Make sure you don't lose the arrows," continued Edic as he prepared the boys for the wilderness, and the task for guarding their sister. The trio's father went to search for materials, and the boys began to wander off. Kena followed shortly after. Cael and Cian shot their bows at squirrels, trying to test their accuracy against one another. The day grew late, and was uneventful for the most part, and the group started their way back towards the rest of the group.
Cael stopped. He grabbed Cian's arm, and pointed with the bow towards a gray blur in the distance. They whispered back and forth, knocking an arrow each. "What are you doing?" questioned their sibling, as she stepped between them, arms folded, "We're going to be late!" Cian answered her, pulling the string back to his cheek, "I'm not going back until I've gotten that there." She rolled her eyes, and started walking back.
But a moment later, she became baffled by a blur. It was Cael, running as fast as he could, eyes filled with terror as he turned to look again. The bow and arrow dropped from his hand, as he lost interest in it. Kena turned to see the coyote running towards Cian. The boy was frozen in shock. His hand, stretched back as if he were holding another arrow to be fired, was empty. He too began to take paces backwards, as the oncoming creature snarled and barked. Kena's heart pounded. Her emerald eyes locked with the beast's for but a moment.
Thin legs pounded the earth, shoving leaves into the air behind them. Delicate hands stroked artfully crafted wood. A curve in one hand, and a kill in the other, tiny arms danced about the ranged weapon crafted by her father. The snarling, a dull echo in her ears, was drowned out by the beating of her own heart. Legs pounded the earth once more, and a back pulled tight as if to crush its own hesitations and fear. Fingers tightened for just a moment, then released their dance partner into the air. Hissing steel struck soft flesh and guided itself deep inwards. The coyote dove onto its prey, the young boy, snarling and barking over, ready for action. That action never came, but instead was replaced with heavy, loud breathing.
Kena stood in the woods, frozen in fear. Her hand, still stretched back as to fire another shaft, was empty. Her eyes, however, were not. Tears rested on her lashes, waiting to leap across her burning cheeks. Cian pushed the corpse over, and caught his own breath. His eyes were still wide with terror, and his hands shook as he slowly picked up his own bow.
Kena walked up to the dead by, tears now falling like waterfalls. She gripped the end of the arrow, that was sticking from the wild animal's eye socket. It was a once in a lifetime shot, she thought right then and there, and it was the luckiest thing that happened to her. A moment of pure zen, adrenaline, and fury all rolled up into one pull of a string.
She wept. Tears dripping down her face, and blood dripping from the arrow. She didn't drop to the ground, or move other than the heavy breathing of sobs. Cian stood up, and looked back and forth from the coyote to Kena. He picked up the body, and said to his sister, "Come on. Let's go home."
Back at camp, the two brothers never said less in their life. The quiet brought their father to ask what the problem was. The question did not elicit any answers from the boys, or the girl who spent the evening with her legs pulled to her chest, head buried in her arms which crossed over he knees. The brothers thought she was still upset, and had just simply run out of tears. The broad smile on her face would have said otherwise. While she was scared at the time, now that the danger had passed, she wanted to do it again. Of course, not with the risk of her brother's life, but the rush of adrenaline was immaculate. Her mother lined her Kanitu with the fure of the coyote she killed.
The next year, during an archery lesson from her father, where Kena had managed to perform at above average standards, a hunter and friend of her father's took notice of her skill. The girl was, by no means, an expert archer, but the bow was certainly an extension of herself. Wayl, the hunter, told young Kena that he wanted to take her under his wing, and teach her to hunt. The girl was ecstatic and immediately accepted the invitation.
Several years, and thousands of lessons passed. The plastic girl that had first slain her first beast had become well molded and armed with knowledge. Throughout the years, she had pestered Wayl with questions constantly. Why does an animal do what it does? Where do these animals come from? The thrill of the hunt was not the only thing that had been fed from this apprentice ship. She grew both a dream to become the world's greatest huntress, and a hungering curiosity. The unbound curiosity grew every day, and expanded to the point where Wayl could not give her the answers she wanted. She wanted to know more animals, and he knew nothing of them. He told her only what he knew in rumors.
This spurred a thought in her head. I should travel to hunt these foreign creatures, pondered the curious huntress in training. But that would require me to leave Wind Reach, and live outside. That's against the Laws though. These thoughts persisted though. Every night she questioned whether that law was right or wrong. It began to change her view on how the people around her lived. She questioned why people who worked in the kitchens to craft the gathered foods were considered less than those who retrieved it. She considered why the Dek did nothing to gain a place to sleep of their own. She conversed these thoughts with Wayl, though his guidance only seemed to tell her what she had always been told her whole life. More and more, these thoughts permeated her skull and pounded in her mind. It was the Inarta laws and society that were keeping her from reaching her dreams of becoming the greatest huntress. It starved her curiosity, and it was becoming unbearable.
Kena ran.
It was spring season, and she had recently turned 17 years of age. Wayl had given her permission to go meet the traders down at the docks of Thunder Bay. This is was mostly t o stop her from asking him questions. Traders from Avanthal had taken port in the Bay, and the curious girl immediately started asking the sailors stories of creatures around the land. While it was a futile attempt, she did spend a few more days down at port as the ship restocked. A few simple words in common started to connect, as she watched and listened. The poor girl knew nothing of the language. Words' meanings were jumbled in with the sounds and lost in her mind, but she kept fighting to collect it all. Night fell, and she began to find herself too tired to march back home. At first, Kena thought of taking refuge in one of the inns nearby, but then that thought beat on her skull again and again. Leave. She had to leave, and get out. The thought rang and echoed... Back and forth... until she got so caught up in the insanity and emotion of what it would take, that she found herself on the ship, coiled down below decks, tucked behind some well secured cargo. After the debate, she was too exhausted to move. She thought she heard one of the sailors mention "night" (one of the few words she understood) and then go into the inn. If she woke up and decided against leaving, she would simply walk back home.
This was not the case. Upon awaking, the huntress discovered she had not, in fact, stayed the night. The person said that they would be leaving that night. More importantly, the girl was feeling very sick. She rushed up to the deck, tripped, and rolled over to one side, catching the railing. She leaned her head over the edge, and heaved for several minutes.
After the sea-sickness discovery, Kena spent the next several months on board the vessel, managing not to be taken advantage of by the horde of sailors. In fact, she managed to start learning how to speak common, though nothing helped her learn to read it yet. It was some time before the ship arrived in Avanthal, where Kena's adventures would truly begin.
![[Verified by Memento]](./images/checkmark.png "[Verified by Memento]")
Kena