Divination

Prologue 2: Siyra Uruay

I darted through the high grass, some whipping me in the stomach, but I ignored the slight shots of pain. My long hair was flying behind me in the sharp, cold wind that made me feel only more alive. This was the place that was created for me.
I came upon a hilltop where I would always stay and watch the village. I ran up the hill, only smiling as the world felt as if it only needed me.
I reached the top and my eyes settled upon the village from where I grew up. The village was alive with the flurry of a Saturday morning. The sun was just barely peeking over the Northern Humbi Mountains. The sun warmed my skin. Winter was soon upon our clan. The Wanmei.
I brushed my hair back out of my face and wished for only a second that my family could be here to witness what the village had become. I brushed the thought away, wanting to enjoy this moment.
I stood up and walked calmly down the mountain. My hunting bow thrown behind my back and my quiver full of steel arrows. An unsuccessful hunt, but I knew that it would be hard to find anything. It was the beginning of winter, the winter animals were only just coming outside.
I reached the village and was met with the bustling sounds of the village life. A woman was rushing two children across the dirt path along the village to a small shack. Two warrior men were holding spears and talking about something I didn't care to hear for. Merchants were selling fruit and other meats.
"Kristiff." I said, walking up to my merchant friend, who was sitting in a slum-like style.
"Ah! Siyra Uruay." He said gesturing to my entire body. "What brings you to my shack of everything..." He said with a mystical yet comical voice.
"Save it Kristiff." I said smiling, he could always make me laugh. "I came to see what meat ya got. My hunt didn't go as planned." I said frowning.
"Did Argent go with you?" He asked me, while searching through a small wooden basket.
"Nah. She doesn't usually come. You know her. More of a nice type." I said giving a small smile, remembering one of my best friends. I had been friends with her since we had met in the village school.
Kristiff laughed. "How in this world are you two friends. I've never seen two more different people." He said still laughing. He stopped after a minute. "What about Lukas? He's the only youth scholar we have around the village, doesn't he usually come with you on these hunts, to like..." He paused for a moment. "Map the area around the village?"
I smiled. "Yea, he usually does. But not this time. He offered and practically demanded, but I wanted to go solo this hunt." I said and grabbed a chicken he placed on the table. "I'll take this." I said as I threw down the four pentills the chicken cost.
I waved "bye" to Kristiff and walked down the village.
We had a relatively big village, filled with lots of huts made of strong wood from the Eastern Forest. A dirt path allowed us to maneuver around the village, though it would sometimes get our wool shoes dirty and ruffed up. We had a large section in the northern part of the village, dedicated to only shopping. It had tons of merchant stands and merchant shops, that sold berries, vegetables, fruits, meats, herbs, tools, and lots of other goods. I would rarely visit them, seeing as to how poor I was.
My family died when I was at a young age and they really left me with nothing. Our house was burned down, so now I just slept in a tree that's near the West part of the village. My thoughts were suddenly interrupted.
"Siyra! Siyra! Siyra!" A loud piercing voice suddenly appeared behind me. I knew that squeal from anywhere. I turned slowly and breathed heavily. Argent.
"Hey, Argent." I said calmly.
"Siyra!" She looked at me angrily. "You went into the Eastern Woods without me today didn't you?"
I looked at her and rolled my eyes. "Yea. So? I thought you were with Juno today, going on a date or whatever." I said, disgusted in my tone. Juno, was her courter. Most muscular looking youth this side of the continent.
"Yea, I did. But only this morning." She said smiling, probably thinking of Juno. She stopped smiling and groaned. "Siyra. We are nearly 17 years old, and I've already courted 13 guys, 14 now, including Juno..." She trailed off and smiled again. She refocused herself a moment later and continued. "It's our responsibility as the near-women of the village to re-populate the our society after..." She looked down. "You know..."
I did know. I knew that it was my responsibility for the village. And I also knew what happened that forced us to make that a need. I looked down for a moment , then raised my head again.
"Yes, I know." I said frowning. I sighed heavily. "You know, Argent. None of the boys here are worth anything to me. They only care about how muscular or tough they are. They have no back-story, no kindness, and no hunting spirit." I put my hands around my head and leaned casually back on them. "I just don't see anything in them."
Argent sighed. She perked up quickly. "What about Lukas?" She said smiling and raising her eyebrows.
I gave her the death glare and began acting like I was throwing-up. She laughed hard and I laughed with her. It's nice to have someone to laugh with.
A blonde boy carrying a deer-skin satchel around his shoulder ran up to us. "Siyra! I got the map you wanted." He handed me a small paper.
"Thanks. You're not as dumb as I thought you were Lukas." I said smiling. Lukas rolled his eyes. Lukas was the only scholar of the village. He was by far the smartest one in the village, when it came to mapping, math, science, and the other languages, he had us beat by a long shot. He was practically the genius of the village. However, he couldn't throw a sword harder than a toddler.
The paper he handed me was a complete map of the Eastern Woods, my favorite place to hunt. The only place I felt safe. It was relatively blank with a few landmarks. Lukas knew that I liked to fill in the maps with their information myself. "Nice." I said. Now I could finally go mapping.
"What are you two doing?" He asked attentively.
Argent laughed. "Definitely not laughing at you." She said holding back a giggle. I smirked. My friends may annoy me to the hilt, but they always seem to cheer me up.
I said "bye" to the both of them and they both left. Lukas was going to study the trees and Argent was going to find Juno. Leaving me to tend to myself.
I didn't feel like going back into the forest until tomorrow morning. The sun had reached its peak and It was actually pretty hot for being near winter. I decided that I might as well visit the Elder, it was time I learned the truth. It had been a while since she last spoke to me.
I walked towards the south of the village and finally approached a large wooden home, with a beautiful white elk-skin in front of it. The one I had shot and given to the Elder. I stroked the soft, white fur. Feeling every hair rub against my palm. Such a beautiful animal, I thought. I put my thoughts aside and walked into the wooden home.
A man was standing near another large white elk-skin that was laying on the ground in the far-center of the room. He walked up to me.
"Siyra. What are you doing here?" The tall, muscled man asked.
"I don't have time Ugo. Where is the Elder?" I asked nicely, looking up at him.
He grunted. "What could you possibly want from her?" He reached for my hand to try and pull me out. I didn't resist. I didn't want to start another conflict like last week.
He pushed me out the elk-skin door, I stumbled, but regained my balance. "The Elder is on a trip to the Great Water. She'll be back early tomorrow morning." He said looking me over. I snorted and walked away. Nothing boiled my blood more than Ugo. He was the Elder's personal bodyguard. I hated him, like most other village guards and just village men in general.
With nothing left to do today, I retired to my tree. I climbed it, like every morning and afternoon and then reached a near-the-top branch. I carefully tied a silk rope around myself in case I stirred in my sleep and fell out. I closed my eyes as the sun slowly set behind me. How I missed my family. If only... Was the last thought that night.
The sun woke me up with a start. I rubbed my eyes, stretched, and yawned. I had overslept and missed my hunting time. Oh well, I thought. I guess it just wasn't meant for today.
I carefully climbed down the tree and landed with a thud. I threw on my silver and midnight blue wool pants and my silver top that extended down around my legs. Almost like a cloak. I threw my quiver over my head and followed with my bow. I placed my thick wool boots over my feet and started walking towards the Elder's home.
I stopped to pick up two apples and ate one of them on the way over. I placed the other in one of my large pockets, that I usually placed wild game in.
I brushed the elk-skin door aside and walked in. As usual, Ugo was standing at the door and grunted as I walked in. I simply rolled my eyes and kept walking.
The Elder was sitting peacefully, with her eyes closed on the center of the floor. She was practically the prophesier of the village. She was old and wore pure-white robes. Our culture believed that white symbolized the beauty and reality of death, so all our elderly were required to wear them out in the village streets. She pushed her dark, gray hair out of her face and opened her eyes. She smiled with her wrinkly face.
"Siyra, my dear, dear girl." She said, as she reached out her hand and pulled me down to sit in front of her. She had surprising strength for someone in their 80's. She had been in the village since the beginning of our tribe's existence. Since we broke away from the Tri-Clans, who still haunt our tribe. She was the only one who had survived since then.
"Now Siyra." She said in her groggy, old voice, yet there was a strange peace to the voice that soothed me. "I can already tell why you have visited me here today." The Elder said smiling. "You need to know." She said.
She took a heavy breath. "You want to know the truth about your family, don't you?" She said frowning heavily. I nodded. I needed to know. "Well... Okay then. You do have a right to know." She said. "I've been a part of this clan ever since I left my home in the Dandi's village with my mother, father, and three older brothers." She laughed. "We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into." She said smiling. "We traveled 87 miles north till we found the perfect fake-camp." She said, and took a pause breath. I sat quietly, trying to hear and imagine every single word. "We all built three small shelters and made them appear as though they were extremely weak. We waited until we heard the Tri-Clans armies were marching." She picked up a small rock and began tossing it slowly and catching it again. She continued, "We left there as soon as we could and started towards another 114 mile walk to the real location of the tribe, that our scouts had mapped."
"I don't get it. What does this have anything to do with my parents?" I asked.
She laughed softly. "Patience, Siyra Uruay. Your parents were very important people." She looked up at the sky, as if looking at something. She began again. "After 10 years of beginning our clan, we had already set up the village and the hut you stand in right now." She said gesturing to all of the room. I looked around, wondering how old this village truly was.
"Our first Chieftain, Deity Nuuk, died exactly 3 years after our village had been built. He had been the most important person of this clan's history. Our next Chieftain we elected was the downfall of our society." She said frowning. "Deity Nuuk the II." She said staring at the ground.
I could tell Ugo was listening intensely as he inched closer to the Elder and me on the ground, he was just as curious as I was.
"Don't get me wrong." The Elder said. "Deity Nuuk the II was a kind and gracious Chieftain and helped build the farms that currently feed our tribe."
The farms were one of my favorite places to visit as a child. Bees and other insects were always buzzing around and the ground was wet and muddy, it was a child's paradise. I snapped out of my thoughts and resumed my focus on the Elder.
"However," She said resuming her frown. "He made a fatal, fatal mistake in his leadership." She said as she picked a up a piece of paper that sat on her left. "He decided to officially create the tribe." She said. "To officially create a tribe, you must create the declaration, by which the tribe will be held to." She said beginning to unroll the parchment. "In doing so, he sent three messengers to the three tribes in an attempt to make them understand, that this tribe meant no harm." She said nearly done unfolding the parchment.
I could see small streaks of a red liquid now. My stomach was hurling with butterflies. Was I the first person to be told this much history of the tribe? This definitely wasn't taught in my childhood days of school.
The parchment finished unrolling. "This the response we got from the Tri-Clans, those many years ago." On the parchment, in blood, wrote "The armies approach." Under the words was a painting. A painting that showed our clan on their knees with spears sticking through each one of our clan member's heads. I was appalled. "The armies marched and did what they said they would." She said her eyes filling with tears. But, she kept her gaze forward at me. "Deity Nuuk the II told all the mothers and children to go and hide in the Eastern Woods. So that is what we did." She took a deep breath and calmed herself. "You and I ran into that forest alone. My husband and two sons expected to fight. And both of your parents disappeared." She took another breath and continued, "A gruesome and horrible war took place and nearly every man of our village was burned alive. The Tri-Clans army took pity upon us. As much as they wanted to kill us, they realized that our clan too, had children to take care of, they let the women and children live, plus a few of the men." She wiped the tears from her eyes slowly.
"Wait. Where did my parents go during the battle?" I asked. "Why did they just disappear when I needed their help?"
The Elder shook her head. "You were but a baby, no older than two months. I took care of you during the battle." She said. "Your parents were found the next day. They were put on trial for abandoning the tribe during times of need." She said. My eyes began to fill with water as well. "The new Chieftain was elected, Turuk Forent, a more mean and aggressive Chieftain." She paused. "He sentenced your parents as guilty of abandonment and then ordered them to death." She held her head down. "They died that day, nearly 17 years ago."
I ran from the tent, my eyes filled with water. I expected myself to feel better and have more understanding that I would finally know the cause of my parents death. But instead I was met the worst feeling of anger I had ever felt. My parents abandoned the tribe for nothing.
I kept running and didn't stop. Tears flooding my eyes, I could hardly see. Oh well, I didn't need my eyes for where I was going.