A Heart Of Fire (Final Fantasy XV)

Chapter 2

I quietly closed the door behind me and made my way into my hut and set the sack down onto the old coffee table in the middle of my room. I sat in front of it on the blankets I arranged on the floor that formed my bed and opened the sack, dumping the contents inside onto the table.

The bread, cheese, and orange had a lot of dirt on them, but if I cleaned off as much as I could, they would still be fairly edible. I hadn't bothered to grab the sunflower seeds, since they were most likely lost in the dirt somewhere. They would be food to the crows, now. The apple seemed fine, so I turned to the fish that was about half a foot long and unwrapped the long leaves I tied around it on my way back so it wouldn't spoil the rest of the food.

As soon as the leaves came off, a wave of a nauseating stench burned my nose, causing me to hold it out at arms length away from me as I covered my nose with my other hand. I then realized that the fish had gone bad at some point, and I was too busy running that I hadn't checked to make sure that the damn thing was actually edible.

"Is Biers trying to get everyone sick, or is he just a moron?" I muttered under my breath. I chucked the fish out of the single window and turned back to the food laid out in front of me. I gave a tired sigh as I gathered them in my arms and made my way over to the pail of water in the corner of the shed. I dusted off the dirt on the bread and cheese as best as I could and rinsed off the orange and apple until they were free of dirt.

Once I finished cleaning up I made my over to my bed with the food and began eating. I scarffed down the bread and cheese in just a few bites and took my time eating the fruit, mostly because they were a little bad, but that didn't stop me from scarffing it down. With the way things are in Solis, you can't afford to be picky. Even if your bread or fruit are caked in mud or dirt, you wash it off as best as you can and eat it without complaint.

I finished off the last of my meal with one last bite of my apple, then leaned back on my hands with a sigh. That was the most food I think I've ever had in my life. I've always ate whatever I could get my hands on back at the village, scavenging for scraps like a vulture. I manage to get by somehow, but I'm not always so lucky.

I got up from my spot and made my way back to the pail of water, cupping some into my hands and taking large gulps to quench my thirst. After I finished drinking, I took another handful of water and scrubbed my face, cleaning off the dirt and sweat on my face. I was thankful that we had a nearby stream that had flowing water. I think that if we were unfortunate enough to not have a source of water nearby, we'd be in a state much worse than where we are now.

After I finished washing my face I made my way back to my bed and curled up on the blankets and sheets, not bothering to dry off the water on my face. I bunched up a few blankets to give myself a pillow to rest my head on and closed my eyes to fall asleep. As I laid there my mind thought back to Biers and his reaction to my identity.

Outsiders would wonder why a grown man would have such a reaction like he did to a kid, but here, that reaction is common once people see my hair. My hair is a deep red color that stood out from the brunettes and blondes. No one else in Solis has my hair color,which makes me look strange to them. However, that's not the only reason why the other vilagers give me such attention like that. I have a special ability, a power that no one else has. Although it really is nothing great, it's still enough to spark something up within the people.

I only use this ability to entertain the kids, nothing more, but the parents that catch me performing these tricks get upset and send me away. The reason they are so afraid is because of legends spoken down from thousands of years ago, legends of those who developed abilities such as mine and how they used it to corrupt everything around them in the village, using it to instill fear in the hearts of many. It is believed that they are servants of evil. No one is allowed to wield such power if it is not granted by Ifrit, the God of Fire himself. Every generation he chooses a random unborn child to be the one who can wield his gift, and the child will grow up to become the Sun Priest or Priestess. The job of the Sun Priest is to watch over and protect the village in Ifrit's stead, to keep the peace and to bless everyone with the light of the Sun.