Us vs World, The Beginning

Chapter Three

I grabbed a wing and thigh and scuffed it down to finish my work. I washed my hands in a small barrel of clean water. I grabbed some string and strung the bows.

After that, I made fences for around the archery range. It took a while, but by then, everyone was out of bed (surprisingly).

Harleen asked to try out the archery range. "Sure, just don't break anything because that took forever to make." I answered instantly. THUD!
"Oops," I pulled the arrow out of the fence.

"Fix your posture, Harleen," I sighed. She fixed her posture. "Aim and sight." She aimed and sighted the closest target. "Now shoot!" Harleen shoots... and misses.

I grabbed a bow from the stand. I stood, aimed and sighted, and shot. I hit the dead centre of the furthest target. "When I'm done with you guys, you'll all learn how to do that." Harleen was shocked.

I turned around, and Jade and Georgia were standing there, mouths agape. None of them knew that Moon could do that, too. If they did, they wouldn't be as surprised.

I backed up into the trees. They didn't follow me, they didn't even move. I circled the clearing, which was about as long as a three story house is tall. It is about a two story house in width.

The huts were built on one side, and I built the archery range on the other side with the weapons store and the food store. The campfire was in front of the cabins.

I circled from one side of the clearing to the other. They still sat there. I should probably tell you that the trees surrounding our villages are oak, with some redwood further in.

I was working on a secret project, and only Genocide knew what it was. I was almost finished with it, and it took a while as it's not a one person job, but I was doing it solo.

Genocide, Kylie, and Moon are extremely close friends with me, though I only met Kylie through Moon. We all had training with knives, bows, swords, and our fists.

Moon and I are better than the others because we hunted, so we often spar. If Moon or I fought the others, they would be on the floor in the next five seconds.

Kylie and Genocide are equal to Layla, Harleen, James, and Jason, though they have different skills. When we first spared, Moon and I were dying on the floor, laughing.

The battles were going on for ages until they all ended up forfeiting. So Kylie and Genocide end up helping anyone who gets hurt when we spar.

The hunters started remembering some good herbs, berries, and mushrooms. The gatherers had started remembering some good gathering spots.

Some of us are only twelve, so we have to stay with our parents for a while longer. Layla, Jasmine, Tayyè and Jason are all twelve. James, Harleen, and Genocide are triplets and are thirteen.

When you're thirteen, you're allowed to be without parents. Moon, Kylie, Jade, and I are thirteen. Georgia is fourteen, though Genocide is in charge. She always has been and always will.

There are seven villages. All our parents are village elders and that's how we met. The elders and their eldest kids (I traded places with Georgia as she didn't want to go) walk until they reach a gathering.

One day, it caught on fire, and James, Jason, and I built our camp in its place. So now, on the first of every single month, the elders walk to our camp. If we have to, one of us kids will substitute our parents.

We have something to do now, at least. Go in our cabins, go hunting/gathering, do target practise (now) or spar. This is our home. Not our villages, here. When we were nine, we started to come here every day after school and back again.

Now we walk to school and back from here. It's good exercise. I was walking to school when I discovered the village burned down. At that moment, pure horror had taken over my face.

I went ahead and continued my secret project. I was building my sister and Jade a cabin because I'm half sure that if the boys were here, they'd be pissed that they're in their cabin.

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One week later

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It's done. Their cabin is done. I regret my decision on doing this alone. This is at least a two person job. I grabbed blindfolds and blindfolded everyone. They hadn't seen it yet as it had a cover on it.

I herded them towards the gate in front of the build. They asked when they could take the blindfolds off. "Now!" I said, pulling on a piece of string to pull the cover down. They took the blindfolds off, and everyone, including Genocide who knew what I was building, gasped.

"It's beautiful!" Tayyè exclaimed.
"It's redwood. I ventured out further into the forest to find it and made sure to plant the saplings back." I told them. "It's a guest house when Jade and Georgia leave." Oh, if I knew, I would regret those words.

Everyone was stunned into silence. "Luke, I thought you said cabins were the hardest thing to do alone!" Tayyè pointed out, confused.
"They are, hence why it took a month. I wanted a guest house a month ago, and Genocide knew that this entire time."

Genocide nodded, confirming what I just said. I smiled slightly, knowing full well that she would get swarmed as soon as I left. "I, umm, need to go." I said. "Where?" Genocide asked suspicious of what I was doing.
"I'm going to go find chickens, so we can have eggs," I replied, calm on the outside but gulping on the inside.

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The end was made up on the spot...😂 it probably sucks and I know that, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway!

I did not know what else to put - feel free to laugh at me!

I hope you have a good morning/afternoon/evening/night!

Published on 27th of August 2023

Word count: 993 (including this)