MAYYA (Eng ver.)

Chapter 1: The Journey Begins

"A little more!"

"Come on, don't give up!" That's the spirited shout from a man named Hikam Zephyr.

"How do I do it, Dad?" asked the young girl, eighteen-year-old Mayya, after the stone from her slingshot missed its mark.

Hikam approached the young girl, showing her how to aim properly. "Here's how."

Plekk... an apple fell from the tree.

Mayya was delighted, shouting and running to pick up the apple and eat it.

"Give it to me, Dad," Mayya requested the slingshot, eager for another chance. Her father handed it to her once again.

"Like this, how you hold it," Hikam said, adjusting her grip.

After he released his hand, her father stepped back. "Focus on the target!"

Plekk... Finally, for the first time, Mayya managed to hit the apple.

Mayya was overjoyed, running to retrieve the apple and then running back to her father, hugging him for her accomplishment after all the training.

"Dad, I did it!"

"I'm proud of you, dear, practice more and remember to stay focused!"

Mayya nodded happily, looking at her father, and resumed her training.

Her father continued to observe her progress in shooting until Mayya became proficient. In between training his daughter, her father also worked as a woodcarver to support their family.

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A month after Mayya continued training near their home, she had become quite skilled.

"Finish your practice, dear, and help your mother in the field," Hikam interrupted Mayya's training, now that she could be considered proficient.

"Alright, Dad," Mayya walked back home, putting her slingshot in her bag. She was now ready to help her mother in the field, not far from where they were.

"Mother," Mayya called out when she saw Eldoria, her mother, gathering some wheat in the field.

Her mother looked at her and hugged her. "Why are you here so soon?"

"It's okay, Mother, I just want to help you finish quickly."

"Good child," Eldoria said, then continued gathering wheat.

"Wait, Mother, I want to show you something," Mayya said as she took out her slingshot from her bag.

She began to focus her eyes on a branch near them.

Plekk... the branch fell to the ground from her slingshot shot.

"Great job, dear," her mother praised, patting her head. Now back to their routine, Mayya helped her mother gather some wheat. She put some in a bucket to sell at the market.

As the day turned into night, Eldoria and Mayya felt they had worked hard that day, harvesting a lot of wheat. They took a short break before heading home.

As they continued walking, suddenly a young girl of Mayya's age called out to her, "Mayya!"

It turned out the voice was from her own friend named Lyra Rasha, a girl with dark brown curly hair. Mayya was surprised to see her, halting her steps.

Unable to resist the call, she turned to her mother, "Mother, you go ahead home, I'll catch up!"

"Alright, take care, dear!" her mother nodded with a smile.

Mayya ran happily to Lyra, "What's up, Lyra?"

Mayya and Lyra were two friends brought together by her mother when they were toddlers, they lived in houses close to each other. They grew up together in similarly humble families.

"Is there any latest news about the dance festival?" she asked excitedly.

Lyra was surprised to hear the question, quickly covering Mayya's mouth. "Shh... be quiet, come with me."

Lyra held her friend's hand, leading her to a hidden spot behind the flower shop nearby.

They both sat on an empty crate, Lyra took something out of her pocket.

She unfolded it, revealing a large piece of paper, the map of the twenty-four districts. Mayya was amazed by the map that Lyra, the map expert, had marked many places on.

"Look at this," Lyra pointed to the red mark on her map, which was a village called Chuza.

"Yes, what about that village?"

"That's Chuza village, yes, it's been my dream for so long. The village has a very green mountain view, the people there often hold dance festivals, the market is always bustling, there's lots of music everywhere."

"And yes, there's also a slingshot and archery competition, you could win that. Anyway, we have to go there, Mayya!" she added, Lyra was so excited that Mayya was getting dizzy from being shaken continuously by Lyra.

"Wow, sounds amazing and interesting. I love festivals, why do we rarely have festivals in our village?" Mayya replied, also intrigued by Lyra's dream.

"So, when is the festival held?" she asked, curious.

"Next week, come on, we can go!" Lyra answered with a broad smile.

Hearing "next week" made Mayya's smile fade, "Lyra, I think next week is too soon."

"Why?" Lyra asked, puzzled.

"It's harvest season, so this week I have to keep helping my mother with harvesting and selling at the market until this season ends."

"And this season ends next month." she replied, her face glum.

Lyra also felt sad hearing Mayya's reason, but she still insisted on going to the village with Mayya. "Hmm.. b-but next week is the perfect time for us to go, Mayya."

"Hmm.. I think I could try asking my mother for permission," Mayya replied.

"But it seems like I won't be allowed especially since we're still too young to go, I guess our dream will have to be postponed for now, what do you think?" Mayya asked, sounding defeated.

"No! There's no harm in trying, persuade your mother to do your best. Prove that you can live independently with your skills," Lyra rejected Mayya's request to give up.

"Alright, I'll try asking her tomorrow! B-but what if my mother doesn't agree?"

"I'll go alone then."

"Don't, I want to go too!"

"Hahaha, yes, I'll go if you're going too."

"Okay, tomorrow I'll ask my mother about it."

"Good friend!" Lyra smiled, and they hugged each other warmly.

But there were footsteps coming from the owner of the flower shop. He walked to sit outside his shop to enjoy the fresh air because his shop was currently empty of customers.

Curious about the sound behind them, they stood up from the crate and stepped forward to peek behind the shop's wall.

"Who's that?" Lyra asked, curious.

"I think it's the owner of this flower shop, let's just go home," Mayya replied.

"We can't go home if the owner is there," Lyra panicked as they both peeked at the man who owned the shop.

"We'll be in trouble, what are we going to do, Mayya?"

Mayya thought hard, then she saw a beautiful ceramic flower vase standing on a shelf outside.

Mayya took out her slingshot and a stone from her bag.

She focused on the vase, put the stone in her slingshot, pulled back the rubber band, aimed, and released. Cling! The vase shattered. The shop owner, startled, stood up from his seat and approached the source of the noise.

Meanwhile, Mayya and Lyra, hidden from view, quietly made their escape.

As the flower shop owner examined the broken vase, Mayya and Lyra stealthily crept away, unnoticed.

They hurriedly ran off, relieved to have avoided detection. Their clever diversion had successfully diverted the shop owner's attention, allowing them to slip away unnoticed.