Heart of the Wild

Chapter 3

"So what about this bird you've written to me 'bout so much?" Adoette asked. Adoette and her father arrived earlier in the week from their last trading point.

"He's a raven, and I think it's about time we get that wing splint taken off. Come on!" The girls hurried upstairs.

The raven greeted Skye with a caw and she pulled out a handful of blueberries from her pocket which got him even more excited.

"Hey, Clyde. How's your wing today?" Skye held out her hand flat and the bird started eating the berries excitedly. After a few weeks of her fingers being pinched between the bird's beak, Skye didn't seem to care much as the bird ate from her hand while she inspected his splint.

Skye waited until he was done to take her hand away and slowly took off the splint. She sat back and moved her wrists up and down, Clyde understood and tested his wings.

"So are you gonna to let him go now?" Adoette asked suddenly.

"Well, my friend suggested letting him stay for another week or so, so he can strengthen his wings." Skye gazed back at her cousin, "He has been off them for a while."

"So you're not keeping him?"

"Of course not, he's a wild animal, he shouldn't be confined to my room." Skye got up and held out her arm toward the raven, he jumped up on her forearm.

"Come," Adoette ordered. For the first time in a while, it wasn't raining in Gilneas and was actually decent. "Just don't bring the raven."

Clyde cawed at Adoette, and Skye shushed him. Skye led the recovering raven back to his perch and followed her cousin downstairs.

Adoette went to open the front door only to have it open by itself and almost hit her. Skye's father came back inside after meeting with that strange man again.

The strange man came over more frequently and Skye started to notice her father looking a bit older every time he came home as more and more gray hairs began appearing in his dark beard.

"Where are you two going?" He asked gruffly.

Adoette simply smiled and slipped out the door.

Skye smiled at her father and followed her cousin. Adoette was already mounted, bareback, on one her father's horses and led the dark grey stallion toward the Cathedral District.

Skye mounted her horse and followed carefully, as she wasn't used to riding bareback.

Adoette led the two across the bridge onto the road that cuts through the Northern Headlands.

Though the Northern Headlands were larger compared to the one near Keel Harbor, a path leading from Gilneas to Silverpine Forest cut the loosely wooded area from the actual headlands.

Skye noticed plenty of ewes and lambs grazing, and a couple shepherds watching over their flocks in case a fox happened to jump out of the woods. Birds chirped happily in the trees as they took a rest before flying off as the riders came into the tree line.

The Gilnean Peninsula may be a dark and gloomy place most days, but even Skye had to agree that there's still some sort of beauty inside the Kingdom. A small sense of freedom and tranquility passed as a breeze caressed her cheek.

The two walked into the woods, birdsong stopped as Adoette told her loud boisterous stories about the travels with her father. But Skye never heard anything about Adoette's mother, and what she did hear was that her mother was dead with no explanation as to how—it was something her family never mentioned.

The bird-song seemed to stop as Skye noticed, between the trees, a caravan of mules hulling carts of large wooden beams that were taller than trees, and large amounts of stone bricks on the road.

Adoette seemed to notice them too and urged the horse into a canter into the trees following the direction of the pack animals, Skye reluctantly followed. The girls crested the hill and found themselves facing a large, uneven wall on the edge of the forest and workers working endlessly to complete it.

The king was always uncertain about joining the Alliance and Skye heard stories about Genn's father telling to not accept help from anyone causing Gilneas to be mostly self-sufficient. Because of this, after the second war, Genn decided to abruptly cut ties with the whole of the Alliance. What the Alliance was facing with the orcs never really affected Gilneas, so why be apart of it?

Adoette's brows furrowed. Skye understood, she wasn't too happy about the whole situation either and was tempted to start making plans to leave with a small group of Gilneans. But Gilneas was her home, it may not be the most pleasant place but it's still hers. Is our king right? Does Gilneas really need the Alliance, or does the Alliance just need Gilneas?

Skye took a step back from her thoughts and tried to focus on the other things going on around her, but all she could focus on were the mules and her cousin cursing under her breath. The shimmer of beauty she first saw when she first entered the headlands faded and left dread and anger in its wake.

Skye decided it best to leave the wall before Adoette noticed. The horse gave a quiet winey in protest but turned back the way they came. Instinctively, Skye led the horse to Aria's cottage but stopped. Skye breathed in deeply and closed her eyes.

~•~

"Just listen to the life around you." Aria instructed, "Let your mind open to their feelings and thoughts."

Skye opened her eyes and lost her concentration, "So wait, why are we doing this now instead of spring?"

"The leaves may be falling, and the animals may be preparing for winter, but that is just the way of things," Aria replied.

"If the snow falls at all." Skye breathed as she closed her eyes again, luckily Aria didn't hear the remark.

"Don't worry about anything right now. Focus."

Skye relaxed and sat back on her knees, she breathed in deeply then let breath slow to a constant rhythm. She let her mind wander as a part of her felt for the trees. But a sliver of uncertainty caressed her mind.

Skye bit her lip and pulled back once again. "This is stupid."

"Did you even try?" Aria replied.

"If it's so easy then why don't you do it?" Skye snapped.

Aria sighed and stood to turn toward her cottage, "If you don't want to do this anymore I understand."

Skye watched Aria leave, she opened her mouth to retort but no words came. Skye huffed and closed her eyes again, this time only focusing on what's around her. My brother will come back and all will back as it should be, not even a wall will separate us. She thought hopefully, Everything will be fine.

Without distractions, she let her mind feel for the growing sprout. She sensed its desire to sprout and grow not in the sun, but the moonlight. Skye, though confused, pushed that thought away and slowly moved her open palms from her side toward the sprout. An emerald green glow came from her hands as she gently moved her hands up and the sprout followed.

A bush looking plant grew from where the sprout once was. At first glance, it could've been mistaken for silverleaf, but Skye noticed the tips of its leaves were tapered and were a lighter silver—almost white. The plant also was a bit smaller than a silverleaf.

"I knew you could do it." Aria's warm voice commented proudly, as Skye realized she watched the whole time. Skye turned to face her mentor and friend with a proud smile.