Shattered Songs of Faith

Chapter 9: Duscur Dawn: Part 1: Road to the Shadows

- Two Years Later: Imperial Year 1167: Pegasus Moon: February -

Panting.

Running.

Listening.

Smelling.

Touching.

Her prey was running swift like a deer. That's because her prey was a deer. She wasn't going to let this one escape. She made a bet after all. If she could manage to hunt down one deer by herself, she would be allowed to have the first sip of the sugar cane cider from Sreng. Sugar cane did not grow in Fodlan after all, but thanks to her love gardening and help from her uncle, she was able to successfully have a few grow. Of course, they are nothing but seedlings, so they have yet to be harvested till fall.

"There!" She mentally yelled as she heard the cry of the deer get trapped in the extra net she had set up.

With a smile on her lips as she climbed up a tree and stood on a thick tree branch, she readied her arrow, aiming to do an instant kill on the deer.

"I still hate doing this no matter if it's an animal or human...." she muttered as she steeled herself and her face became void of emotions as she was set to release the arrow.

The woods became still, only the small rustles of leaves could be heard. The deer looked up to her direction, it's big brown eyes almost made her crack.

"May you be reincarnated in the future. Thank you and I am sorry." She said and released her arrow.

Truly, she really did look like an Ashen Demon but her other name she had earned.....

The deer did not scream when the arrow pierced its heart. No sound was heard as it dropped to the ground. It was an instant kill, because she did not desire ever for her kill to suffer. All emotions came back to her as she let go a sigh of relief as she jumped down from the tree, landing on the tip of her boots because she used wind magic.

"Not bad, not bad. You improved in your form of landing and this time only a minimum amount." She heard the voice of the goddess as the said girl appeared before her with her hands behind her back, lightly swinging her legs.

"Well, I have a great teacher after all." She said and the goddess smiled proudly till she spoke.

"Florencio is amazing." She said.

"HUH?! How dare you?!" The goddess huffed till she began laughing.

"I'm joking Sothis!!! You're still my number one teacher." She grinned and Sothis huffed but gave her a small smile.

"So, Arisa, you won the bet then?" Sothis grinned and Arisa smirked smugly.

She turned back to the deer and smiled sadly as she bent down to remove the arrow from its chest.

"Thank you..." she muttered softly as she removed it.

She will never get used to the feeling of blood on her hands. She picked up the deer like it was a sack of potatoes and swung it over her shoulders. It was going to be a good 10-minute walk. As her and Sothis begin their journey back Remire village, Arisa couldn't help but look back at the memories of her past life and also this one.

"Look at you. Two years ago, you would turn stiff as a log at even the sight of an animal being killed, now you can hunt." Sothis said as she floated next to her.

"It's still hard to believe it's been two years. Time sure went by fast. I still hate killing. I'll never ever get used to it." Arisa said.

Sothis nodded to her and couldn't help but smile at the now 6-year-old girl. Arisa had grown quite a bit. She was much taller than the girls in her village. Since she was the 4th oldest of all the children in the village. Her once dark teal hair had grown long to her waist. It had streaks of light brown hair growing. The same hair color as Jeralt's. Everyone in her father's company was in shock when they saw she had begun to grow brown hair. It mixes well with her teal colored hair. Jeralt honestly had a swell of pride grow inside of him because she was growing the same colored hair as him. Her eyes had turned to a shade of both green and brown. The green faded halfway to brown. Truthfully, looking into the mirror, Arisa thought she looked like a fusion of her old self and Byleth, it was becoming more and more obvious as the years went by. Even her skin had turned a little bit of a tan but that was because of sun burns. Curses. She wore a simple black shirt with black baggy pants easy to move in. On her head, she wore the red jewel chain. And around her neck, the small little yarn doll and charm she got in Dadga. Arisa's black boots made no sound as she walked, both fortunately and unfortunately habit of walking silent like a ninja never went away. After a few more minutes, they arrived at the village and standing near the gate, were the village children and the three oldest ones.