Shadows of Ash- Re-writing!!

Chapter One-Teaser

I told Tom I was going to go get Astraea, or Zero as i've come to call her. I got up from my chair and made my way over to the waiting room she was in. I got many hellos and greetings from workers and janitors as I walked. I was happy to get such a fine young and healthy person for my soldiers yet I was also sad to see that it was... her. I had watched her grow up with her family and brothers through the window of my house in district 5. I would always see her run around with her brothers up until the Designation day. The day we all got our carriers.

I was in the big auditorium of the Reign academy in the cloudless district. I was walking around looking for her when I finally saw her standing with her oldest brother. She was wearing black shorts with a loose forest green shirt. Her auburn hair was curled and when she turned to me something struck me in the chest. She had a black and yellow eye. The sign of a Shaker. I turned away and walked back to my family and waited for my turn. I watched her as she went up and did the blood fusion test with all the animals. The last of them was the Black Sparrowhawk. As she walked up to it the bird suddenly flew up and around the room. People gasped and backed away as the girl watched the hawk fly in wonder...

I fell out of my trance and looked to see who I bumped into only to see the door to the waiting room. I sighed to myself and walked in, seeing Zero sitting on the white couch lazily playing with her hood. I coughed and she stood up, fixed her straps, and then we walked out.

*******

I sat up but soon regretted it when my head exploded in pain. I groaned and held my head in my hands for a while before looking around. I was in a thick forest full of tall luscious trees everywhere along with bushes full of ripe berries here and there. How did I get here? I looked around one more time, "Where am I? How...?" I couldn't think of how I got here... nothing before waking up.

I used the tree next to me to help me stand. Something clanked on the ground behind me and I turn around to see a deep brownish red bow laying on the floor. I pick it up and feel my back for a strap, luckily I found one and hitched the bow onto it. Something caught my eye in the trees and I look up. There was a black bird sitting on a branch. It looked familiar but I couldn't quite place my finger on it. As I was looking up I got a decent amount of direction based off the sun. Looking around one more time I walked Westward toward the fading sun.

As I walk the black bird seemed to fallow me before disappearing when the sun had finally set. I stop at a small clearing and look inside the satchel that I had on my hip. It had some bread and oats along with paper and charcoal. A small bag of coins was at the bottom. I scrummage up some dry sticks and make a small fire pit. It took me a while to finally get the fire going but when I did the heat was amazing as the forest had cooled down without the sun beating on it.

The bird from earlier suddenly swooped down and landed across the fire from me. It tilted its head and let out a shriek, "You're a Black Sparrowhawk!" I suddenly yell and the bird hopped back a few steps. I tell it sorry and look at the animal for a while. It looked back at me. This isn't a good place to rest. I jump as the male ghostly voice echos. I look around for someone but to no avail. No one is out there... yet. Put out the fire and fallow me before they come. The bird flies up into a tree and looks down at me. I look up at it then at the fire. It seemed to nod at me. I threw some dirt on the fire and put the bow on my back and the satchel on my side.

I looked up at the bird and jogged over to the tree the bird was standing under. The bird then moved to another tree and I followed. We went from tree to tree before we came upon a wall with a gate. There were guards on either side of the gate. They had white steel looking armor with what looks like a grey and black wolf on the chestplate. I heard shouting somewhere in the forest and then rushed over to the man with the armor on. He looked me over once and opened his arm, facing the gate, signaling for me to move on.

I rushed into the city and found that even though it was night, people were everywhere. There were big brown and grey stone buildings with ringlets of smoke coming from the chimneys. The ground was a rough cobblestone that had vines and plants growing here and there. When I looked up across the way was a town square and beyond that was a huge long house on top of a small hill. I looked at the people and found smiling faces and little kids running around. The girls wearing simple dresses and the men, colorful shirts with coats and either pants or skirts. The men definitely had more flamboyant clothing in this town.

As soon as I took a few steps into the town I got tackled by a man around my age. I groaned and rubbed my head since he fell on top of me, "Heh sorry lass didn't mean to run into ya" he got off me and smiled shyly, offering me a hand up. I took my hood down and reached up for his hand, "It's uh.. Fine" the way he talked took me by surprise. He sounded... Scottish..? I think that is the word.

I brushed off the dirt on me after i stood up. I looked him over once and took in his appearance. He had dark brown hair and a oval face with softish features. He couldn't have been older than twenty. He also had light brown eyes with hints of grey in them. He looked back and forth then he looked back at me, waved, and then ran off. I looked down the ally that he went down before walking up the main street and into the town square. It had different colored trading stands randomly placed about. It had a beautiful looking well in the middle.

The buildings around the town square were seemingly larger and had signs hanging above the doors. One had a small crescent moon engraved on it. I took a step towards it again but was stopped by a very deep voice. "Excuse me Miss?" I turned around and saw a guard standing there in front of me, "Yes?" He gave me a once over and then looked back at me "I will need to take that bow off you're back, along with the arrows" he said in a gruff voice. I looked at him confused.

"Why would I need to do that?" I said in a surprisingly calm voice. He didn't answer and just stared at me. I stood there for a minute before turning around and walking away, "If you don't have a reason then don't ask." He didn't follow me as I walked away. That was weird...

I made it to the door of what looks like the inn without another person trying to stop me or tackling me to the floor. I tried opening the door and it easily swung open. When I opened the door I was greeted by the smell of stew cooking and of a fire burning. I looked around the large lower floor as I closed the door behind me. It had a large fireplace in the far left corner with a few chairs around it. On the left of me was a staircase and to my right was what looks like a bar with a kitchen in a room behind that. In the middle of the room was a large dining table and the far right corner had more chairs and a large bookshelf. And to top it all of, there were people everywhere.

They all ignored me but when I looked at the bar I saw the guy to ran into me when I first came into the city. He looked up from cleaning and saw me. He smiled and walked over to me, "Hello lass, sorry about running into ya earlier. Have you come for a room?" He asked while scratching the back of his head. I think for a minute before nodding. His face brightens and he motions for me to follow him.