Guardians of the Great Wood Villages (On Hold)

Chapter TWO

'The Ceremony is nothing for a little child to worry about, my dear' -  Falahi Omash

⚫⚫⚫

At the south end of the village, there lived a twelve year old boy called Nik Helk. He lived in a hut with his mother, his father and two younger siblings. Nik was standing in front of the wooden kitchen counter, cutting carrots. His parents had a small farm and they forced him to help out here and there.

He cut the carrots and put them into the bowl  on the small table against the wall and went outside to get some more. This continued with carrots and various other fruits and vegetables until there was a decent selection of breakfast on the wooden table. “Mom, Dad, Marie, Kaylo! Breakfast is ready!” He called out.
  
After he had finished breakfast, Nik went outside to meet up with his best friend, Logan and his cousin, Rita. They walked into the woods and trained a bit for the Ceremony. The first thing Nik and Logan did was sparring, while Rita went out to track some animals. Then they each tried to steal something from each other. Logan always failed while Nik managed to get away ‘unnoticed’ three times and Rita did once. They continued this until the sun was starting to go down.  

⚫⚫⚫

On their way home, Nik noticed an unusual shadow going across the hut near them. It wasn’t too unusual though since these shadows were appearing more often lately. Nik still took note of it. They continued  on their way home until they were standing in front of Logan and Rita’s hut. Nik went to his place after saying goodbye to the two.
  
He took off his shoes and jacket and headed to his room. Since their place was a farm, it had a few more rooms than the other huts. Nik was fortunate enough to have his own room since other kids often had to share one with their siblings or, in some cases, even their whole family.
  
He lay down on his mattress with exhaustion. He was quite tired to he drifted away into sleep quite easily. Nik usually kept an eye out for shadows but what he didn’t know, was that shadows also were thieves in a way. When the sun was down. They would drift around the villages taking things that could be of use.
  
Nik woke up to the great smell of eggs being warmed up on a stone plate which they used as a stove. Nik’s family didn’t have any chicken but other farmers did so there would be some trading going on here and there. Nik sat up on his bed and looked around. Everything seemed normal. Emphasis on seemed. He headed to the kitchen without noticing what was missing.

⚫⚫⚫

Logan Screetash and his cousin Rita Omash were both sitting at the table, eating breakfast with their families. Around the big table, seven people were sitting in the following order:
- Rita,
- Kayla, Rita’s little sister,
- Rita and Kayla’s mother, Falahi and father, Kenso,
- Logan; and
- Logan’s parents
  
They were all eating breakfast in peace, when there was a knock on the door from Nik who was coming to pick up Rita and Logan. “Can I come with you guys? Please?” Kayla begged. “No,” her mother said. “I wasn’t asking you,” Kayla said in a pouty voice. “But I know what’s best for you and it’s definitely not going with the big ones to practice for something that will not be present until in a few years,” her mother snapped back at her daughter. “I say so too,” her father agreed with a mouth full of egg. “I see you are also having eggs for breakfast, Mr. Omash,” Nik commented. Rita chuckled. “I see,” Ms. Omash said. Logan and Nik started laughing, as well as Rita and her mother. The rest, and especially Kayla, were a bit confused why this was.
  
Nik, Rita and Logan went to the same place in the forest where they had trained yesterday. They did something similar to what they had done the day before. This continued until they were ready for the Ceremony.

⚫⚫⚫

“But grandfather, you can’t just do that!” Flora Shaan reasoned with the Elder. No one was supposed to call the Elder by his or her first name. Not even their own family members. Flora was trying to talk the Elder out of her being the new recruit. Of course she wanted to be, but not without a proper competition. Since she was the Elder’s granddaughter, she would be accepted into the academy straight away, which Flora didn’t want but the Elder had already set his mind on it.

“I have made my decision and you will be quiet otherwise I will make you be quiet.” His voice was quite old but very strong and demanding. Flora didn’t like this tone so she went to her room to think about what a horrible Ceremony was coming her way.
  
“Everyone will hate me, Liza!” She complained as she lay on her bed shedding quite a few tears. “No they won’t. I’m pretty sure that they’ll understand,” Liza, Flora’s nanny replied with a soothing voice. “Of course the hate me,” Flora said, breaking out in tears again. Of course she was happy to have  spot in the academy but to her it was even more important how people thought about her. Especially children her age, since she didn’t have a lot of friends. In fact, the only person she met regularly was Liza and she was already twenty four and had graduated from the Guardian Academy a year before.
 

⚫⚫⚫ 

“So if I’m going to go there anyways, then tell me, how was the Academy Liza?” Flora asked her as she was dusting a few shelves. “Well, it’s definitely a lot about learning and…” Liza thought to herself for a while. “I’m sure that you’ll make some really good friends there!” She added with a bit of stuttering. “Of course,” Flora muttered. Liza didn’t like it when Flora muttered, “pick up that face of yours!” Flora tried her best to smile but it didn’t really pick up her mood. The worst thing was, the Ceremony was in a few weeks!

Flora had to get ready for all of those hating looks she’d get when the Elder made the announcement.