A PALE ONE WILL RISE

PART III: THE PAST

14 Years before.

The village of Holloway was a rather peaceful and relatively untroubled settlement located just off the coast of Tulthania, the country it resided in. It was also a place that found visitors coming in on a fairly average basis. This being due greatly to it's location next to the sea and it's harbors. Many traders and seaman would stop by the merchant shops and stock up on the provided supplies that they needed to help endure through their journeys through the waves. Business was blooming and profiting and had been for the many years since the town first stood tall. Among many others, one family was lucky enough to be a part of this position of opportunity.

"Father? Wasn't your dad a sailor too?" a young, feminine voice asked from within the confines of a particular shop. An older gent gave out a hardy laugh and set down one of his newly crafted arrows, a big smile forming on the man's face.

"Yes! More than just a sailor laddie. He was a First Mate. I believe I've told you before when you were younger." Her father's face darkened just a bit. "However, he got lost at sea along with his fellow crew, trying to cross over to Mecchan...to try and join the forces there that needed help fighting a civil war that threatened the country's freedom."

The young, white furred cat's face darkened along with her father's. "Well...that got dark real fast."

The father's mood shifted back in a heartbeat. "Mecchan was my father's birth country. He joined the Calvary of Sunden Knights when he was younger and of age to fight in the name of his country there. I understood why he decided to go back...it just took me years to truly understand." A small pause ensued before he knelt down to his daughters height. "Listen Evelyn. My father told me something before he departed. He said to me, "If you ever get the chance to be a hero, be the hero. 'Cause someone might end up being that to you."

The young cat, Evelyn, pondered the words deeply, every letter already instilled inside of her bright little heart. Kinda.

"Woow. I'll remember that...or maybe I should just jot it down on some parchment."

Her father let out another hardy chuckle. "Yes, you are a forgetful laddie."

A sudden youthful voice shouted out in the near distance. "Hey! Hey, Evelyn!" Evelyn turned, looking out of the merchant shop and her eyes widened as she found her two friends running for her.

"Looks like you're needed elsewhere," Evelyn's father arose to his full height, opening the door for her. "Go ahead. We can resume arrow making lessons for later. Just watch yourselves and don't wander out beyond the forest." Evelyn gave her dad a nod and went out to greet them. Her father's smile failed to fade as he watched her join her companions and disappear behind another home. He turned and resumed his efforts on his arrow crafting.

The small thumps of footsteps against the fall laves were made as Evelyn was guided by her two friends to the edge of the town. Looking up, the sun's rays shined through the crevices and gaps of the leaves that had yet to fall, the tall trees of the forest that gave home to them bearing down on her like the skinny giants that they were. Little Evelyn had been to the edge of the forest many times before like she was now, but had never ventured more than a few feet into it. Her father had warned her sternly, out of care that she avoided any unwarranted trouble. Crime was far from rampant in her town, but the forest was a portal that led into another world on the other side. A world her father wanted to keep her away from until she was old enough.

"Hey, ever been past that cut down tree over there?"

But peer pressure got the best of her.

Evelyn eyed out the tree stump that her friend gestured a finger towards. She quickly deducted that it was sliced down by the force of a heavy, sharp object, likely an axe due to the way the remainder of the tree looked. It was cut through relatively cleanly. "Um, yeah, I see it." Evelyn replied. "Looks like someone chopped it down for some wood. Maybe to burn."