Alleran

[SDJFDSJNFDSLKJVNDFBN 315]

*A smooth leather book lays on the ground.  You decide either to stop and read it or carry on.  It starts on the first page and a simple title is visible. It reads "Alleran".  The ink is near and legible, but whoever wrote it seems to have been educated personally and not formally.*

"There.....there it is...." whispers my father in my ear.  I shoot him a glance and slowly extract an arrow from my quickly made quiver.  The end of the arrow fits nicely onto the sinew drawstring.  The blue feathers brush my cheek as I pull back the fine string.

  "I see it." I say before letting an arrow glide through the soft breeze at an oblivious deer.  The animal drops as the arrow pierces it's soft body.  Dinner.  I look to father before hopping down from the tree in which we sat perched and sprinting to my fresh meat.

  My name is Alleran Vallark.  I live with my father, Ferro Vallark and my cousin, Aerios Vallark.  My uncle is the famed King Renati of Seventis.  He lives on the mainland and we live on a small archipelago off the coast of the northern wilderness.  We travel from island to island depending on where the animals move as my father is teaching me the way of the Ranger.  I aspire to become an archer, trapper, pathfinder, beastmaster, sailor, and hunter.  Maybe even more.  I have a myriad of goals but I also have the determination to live up to them.

  The sun set lazily beneath the clear horizon and we all sat underneath a shady tree to eat the deer meat we had cooked over a campfire earlier.

  "Good hunt today!" praises my father only to be met by a grunt from Aerios.  I chuckle at his jealousy and take a bite out of the deer that's laid out on my eating cloth.  The air isn't exactly cold this night, but a gentle breeze makes it a bit chilly.

  "Go light a torch, children." says my father as we run off to find a stick and coal.

  "We aren't children for god's sake, old man, we're both 19!" curses my cousin under his breath.

  "Don't take everything so personal.  He IS teaching us slot after all.." I chime in only to be met by a pair of rolling eyes.

  "I should be in Seventis with my father.  I'm a damn -Prince- and I'm in the middle of nowhere with a stuck-up uncle and a naive cousin.  If this is what Royalty is like, I'm pissed!" he rants and stops only when a small crack of dry leaves and twigs is heard to the right.  I peer into the trees that are lit by shallow blue moonlight.  He nods to me and I withdraw a sinew tripwire and string it between a couple of large tree trunks.  I then remove two sticks of hastily put together TnT and attach their ends to the string.  They are the pull-to-activate kind.  I then nail their bodies into the soft earth and step back.

  "I got the bait." Aerios remarks proudly as he holds up a rabbit on the end of his Halberd.  I nod, taking the bloody rabbit carcass and setting it just behind the tripwire that seems invisible in the dark forest.  The trap is all set and I hop to cover behind a nearby tree as Aerios does the same.  That's when I catch a glimpse of the beast.

  The giant bear roars and swipes it's claws at the tree, making giant slashes in the rough bark.  It sticks it's giant muzzle into the air and takes a large whiff.  It then stammers over to the rabbit.

  "Perfect.." I say, as this event has played over many of times in our training.  The bear does exactly as planned and triggers the TnT.  Boom.  He growls loudly and falls with an abrupt explosion that rips his arms off.  He roars and falls to the ground just as Aerios runs at the vicious bear screaming his war-cry.  I wince secretly as his long Halberd slams through the bear, ending him quickly.

  "Now that's how it's done!" I exclaim, jumping from my cover and running to Aerios.  He looks up and simply nods.  What is he thinking about?  I don't know.  I stand confused but with the will not to let his odd attitude ruin the tiny victory we just had.  We then run off to find the simple stick and coal we set out to about an hour ago.

  "Now you just smear it on the arrowhead like this.  Make sure its thorough and not lumpy." explains father under the torchlight by our camp.  The fire long since died out and we all agreed it would be easier with a torch, as the breeze disappeared and there was no need for heat.

  "Like this?  Right?" I ask while smearing the poison the best I can on the steel arrowhead.

  "Yes Alleran.  Only do about 3 of these, the rest we will use for actual hunting." I nod and continue working.  Aerios sat under the tree, sharpening his signature Halberd as always.  I hurry up with my job and walk over to him, plopping onto the grass beside his large, almost intimidating body.  He was much stronger than I was, much more prideful, but in the end we were always best friends.

  "Nice trapping today Alleran." he smiles and looks to the stars that sparkle in the black expanse.

  "We make a good team, don't we?" I chuckle and gaze at the never-ending field of dots in the sky.  My eyes droop and next thing I know father is yelling in my ear urgently.

  "Get up!  Aleran, get the nether up!" he shouts as I sprout up attentively in the shadow of the fresh morning sun.

  "What, what?  What is it?" I ask before hearing a few words that meant my life would never be the same again.

  "Plague struck the south." he says with a slight tear.  Let me establish something; my father NEVER cries.  I question him to what this means to us and he explains desperately that Uncle Renati has passed and Aerios is being called as heir to the Seventian Throne and all the nations were locking outlanders like us out.  I just stood there, paralyzed.  Things would never be the same.  Our scheduled huntings and methodical routines were going to end.  I did the only thing I could, I cried.

  

[SDJFDSJNFDSLKJVNDFBN 315]

[Reserved for Part 2]

[SDJFDSJNFDSLKJVNDFBN 315]

[Reserved for Part 3]

[nppeck 601]

Ranger Viper picks up the book and reads it

"Ah a ranger. Eagle will be quite pleased at our growing ranks."

[Josh △ 87]

((So are you changing characters? ))

[SDJFDSJNFDSLKJVNDFBN 315]

((So are you changing characters? ))

((Nope, this is my secondary character.))

[steelersfan1221 300]

Moved to the Great Library. It shall be sorted into appropriate category shortly.