The Broken Briar

Chapter 1

I let out a soft sigh as I walk the thick forest path, the smell of dead and rotting wood filling my nostrils.

"I wasn't expecting running away being this hard..." I said aloud to the empty forest around me. It's almost been a full day since I had run and I've already covered a much greater distance than I had expected. Though then again none of this would be happening if my parents had treated me like I was seventeen instead of six. After a little while of walking I decided to sit down and rest against a tree, I reached into the small bag I had around my shoulder and took out a toy I had brought with me. It was a small teddy bear that was missing one of its black button eyes. One I've had since I was a little kid, and hugged onto it tightly, feeling the stress of the whole situation begin to overwhelm me.

And then in a flash a massive thicket of briars appeared in front of my face, the gleaming tip of a silver arrow shining in the sunlight. I feel my stress begin to build and bubble over a bit. The briars tighten their grip around the arrow until it snapped with a sickly crunch and fell to the ground with a quiet, dull thud. Off in the distance I hear a male's voice calling out to me, he sounded no older than myself. The sound of the brush in front of me rustled with a quick intensity, the male voice whispering to himself something I couldn't quite make out. Though once he came within my ear shot, it sounded as though he was mumbling cuss words to himself and seemingly panicking.

"Geez I really hope they're okay... I don't wanna be a murderer.." The boy said quietly as he finally reached me, seeing the arrow snapped in half on the ground and me up against a tree. It seemed his eyes were filled with several emotions, though once he had processed the situation he let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank Izuna you're alright..." Although he had a point and I wasn't harmed in any way, I was still furious about such a simple minded mistake.

"Are you serious?! You could have killed me, you idiot!" I shouted at the boy, my voice seething with anger. "What are you even doing out here anyways?" I asked in a less aggressive tone. The boy seemed taken aback at first and suddenly became a bit defensive.

"Well I'm sorry missy, I may have messed up but at least I came to make sure you weren't dead, any other hunter around probably wouldn't have even batted an eye!" He responded with a more snarky tone of voice, scoffing a bit as he picked up the two halves of the arrow. "Also thanks for snapping this I guess, do you even know how much that arrow costs..." He asked with a sigh. I gave a small shrug and gave the question a quick bit of thought.

"Uhm.... I don't know, like, a gold tal or two maybe?" I asked with a small shrug unsure of why that was a big deal.

"T-Two gold tal? Are you kidding me? That's like... enough to get me a luxury quiver from the capital! How sheltered were you to think that two gold is worth a single arrow..." The boy exclaimed in an almost concerned tone of voice. The about average height boy shook his head quietly, he had nearly pure black hair and ruby red eyes, his skin was a soft tan color and he was built most likely from working at a blacksmith or something. I was honestly very confused by his reaction, a lot of the stuff mom and dad had bought me before was at least thirty plus gold.

"Oh uhm... sorry then I guess I overestimated it a bit.." I admitted with a small, though embarrassed laugh, though the boy didn't even seem all that amused by it. He looked over in my direction with a somewhat annoyed expression.

"Well looks to me like you're a bloom.. So what's your name?" He asked in a somewhat annoyed sounding voice, it seemed as though he didn't like the nobles? Though he seemed serious.

"My name is Prim... " I said quietly, trying to avoid his attentive gaze. He seemed to play with my name in his mouth for a minute.

"Prim huh... like Primrose right?" He asked quietly, making the connection I was fearing he would, though I tried to hide it for now.

"Yeah.. well, what about you? What's your name, boy who almost shot me in the head." I said with a snarky tone to my voice glaring at him softly.

"Sorrel." He said bluntly, not seeming to really care about the situation of him almost shooting me. "Though in anycase, what are you doing out here prim? Shouldn't someone like you be at home living the life of luxury." He asked quietly, picking up the two pieces of the arrow and slid them into the small bag he was carrying over his shoulder.

"No... I ran away from home because my parents kept babying me." I explained quietly, feeling somewhat embarrassed of the fact I had to admit this. I felt my cheeks flush up with a soft burn, though when Sorrel noticed, he gave a small sigh and began to chuckle a bit. After further taking in his figure I noticed the dark green half cloak he had been wearing, and under it a small holster holding a book to his side. I looked at the book with a deep curiosity, it looked to have a black leather cover, albeit very beaten up and worn down. The pages, however, seemed to be a bright white, almost as if they were all brand new. Though staring at it gave me an odd sensation throughout my body, though I couldn't quite put my finger on why. He also had two small daggers sheathed at both of his hips and small little needles in loops on his belt. Though once I had taken my eyes away from the book and his weapons, he was offering his hand to help me get to my feet.

"Now that's a mentality I understand, my parents treated me like that all the time, though I understand where they come from due to what I do." He said with a small laugh. His hand was oddly warm in mine. I got back to my feet and dusted myself off quietly. Taking a look around I realized I had no idea where I was anymore due to all of the chaos that had transpired moments ago. "Do you possibly need a place to stay, miss runaway?" He asked in a teasing voice. I looked at him with a somewhat frustrated expression and huffed.

"M-Maybe... but what does that have anything to do with you?!" I asked in severe annoyance, he was just toying with me at this point. It was really frustrating, though I would eventually take a few deep breaths and put on a small smile, trying to at least be nice seeing he offered me a place to stay. "But in all seriousness... that would be great, thank you, Sorrel."

"Ahhh see I would love to and all, but I also don't have a place to stay~" He said with a happy go lucky smile on his face, sticking his tongue out afterward. I let out a pained sigh, having somewhat expected that bit of trickery to come from Sorrel. "Though there is a small inn over at Harspire if you'd be fine staying there, it's not the best but at least it's a roof over your head." I pondered his idea for a moment, on one hand I could stay out here in the woods with little to no knowledge of what I'm doing out here alone. And on the other I could at least spend a night or two at this inn and be more or less carefree as long as no guards show up. I looked at him and gave a soft smile.

"Sure! I've never been to an inn before! It seems like fun" I exclaimed happily. Sorrel on the other hand seemed very confused but shrugged.

"Well c'mon then, follow me." He started "We gotta follow the Sutakurosu path down south and eventually we'll reach Harspire after passing the temple of Izuna." He explained, walking off into the distance as I followed along in an almost timid manner. I was slightly nervous as I've never been so far from home before, but I also couldn't help but feel really excited as well.