Skyward

Chapter 1: Daniel

        "Daniel? Hurry up dear, we're going to be late. Again."

        Groaning, sixteen year old Daniel O'Flaherty rose out of bed, his hair a mess and his clothes wrinkled and disheveled. Still half asleep, he staggered out of the small bedroom he shared with his brother and into the main room of the small house, where the rest of the family were eating breakfast in their best Sunday clothes. Of course, even their best wasn't much; despite being one of the better off families in the area, the O'Flaherty's were still quite poor. Before he could even say so much as "hello," or, "good morning," he was hit in the face by a spoonful of wet cereal from across the room.

        "Dan, ya dumb ass, we're gonna be late for mass. And I'm not sittin' with the O'Malleys again, like the last week ya overslept."

        Narrowing his eyes at his brother, Daniel wiped the cereal off his face and threw it back.

        "Fuck off, Matt. At least I never fell asleep durin' the sermon."

        Rolling her eyes, Elizabeth O'Flaherty took a sip of tea and swatted at Matt, Daniel being too far out of her reach.

        "I swear to God, you two act like children. Daniel, go get washed up. Your clothes are on the bed. Matthew, finish your breakfast. And hurry up, both of you, before your father gets angry."

        Muttering under his breath, Daniel did as he was told, not wanting to get his father in a bad mood. When he was happy, Patrick O'Flaherty was a saint, but when he got angry... well, it usually ended badly. When Daniel was much younger, his father drank. When he drank, he got angry. When he got angry, somebody broke a bone, and he ended up in jail. After his sister Shannon was born, he had gotten his drinking under control... at least, enough to stay out of trouble. By that point, however, the family's already bad reputation had worsened, leaving them more or less outcasts. Over time, people began to treat them normally again, but for the most part, they were looked down on by the rest of the town.

        Going outside, he filled up a bucket of water, and, after removing his shirt, poured it over himself. The water was warmer than he would have liked, having been out in the July sun for some time. Still, the coolness of it felt good in the heat, and he poured the rest of the bucket over his head when he was done. Quickly drying himself off, he ran back inside and put on his Sunday clothes: black trousers, a relatively nice buttoned shirt, a tie, and a pair of black shoes. They were a bit too small, and had been for some time, but there wasn't much chance of him getting new ones any time soon. Squeezing his feet into the shoes, he ran into the kitchen and stuffed a piece of sausage into his mouth before heading outside.

        In front of the house, his parents and siblings were already waiting in the car. It was an old model from about a decade earlier, and it broke down so much that they'd almost scrapped it on several occasions, but it was the cheapest that the family could afford. Due to a major war between the Empire of Kent and the Bremen Republic twelve years ago, one which was particularly destructive and drew in nations from all under the world, farmers in Ameria had gotten some of their highest profits ever, and the O'Flahertys had jumped at the chance to buy a car, partly for the convenience and partly to increase their already shaky social standing. Besides, everyone else in town, save for the poorest of the poor, had one. Why shouldn't they? 

        Climbing in the car, Daniel squeezed in between his younger siblings, trying to avoid elbowing one of them or sitting on their hands.  As soon as he was in the car, his father hit the gas, speeding off before he could even manage to get himself settled. The rough, bumpy road only made things worse, threatening to throw him out of the seat and onto either Matt or Shannon. The farm was about twenty minutes outside of Sheraton, a town with roughly two thousand residents. All in all, it wasn't a very significant town, only appearing on maps at all because the Amerian State Railroad Company ran a depot about a mile to the north. As a result, there was also a sizeable military base right outside Sheraton, and Daniel frequently saw soldiers patrolling out of the car window.