Children of the Stars

Chapter 1, The Scar-Faced man

Thwish was the sound the bowstring made as it propelled the arrow towards its target. A second later a soft thunk was heard as the arrow embedded itself into the head of a deer. A young boy by the name of Taki smiled triumphantly at the sight before him. He had been scouting the area for only a couple of hours before the deer made itself known to him. He had left on a hunting trip the morning before and had spent the night in the wilderness. After having no luck in the first spot he had moved to a new area where he found himself now.

He climbed down from the tree he had been hiding in and walked over to the deer. It was not a huge dear, but it was still a fine kill. The deer was of average size, but the fur made up for that. Its fur was light brown with snow-white spots that seemed to glisten in the sunlight. The fur felt soft and smooth and would make a mighty fine cloak. He flipped the deer onto its back and took out his large hunting knife, a gift from his father on his tenth birthday. After field dressing the deer, he strapped it into a sled he had taken from his family's barn. Hefting the straps over his shoulders he started his trek back to Peca, his home village.

It was about half a day's march from the southern reaches of the Venuian forest, where he was hunting, to Peca, which was higher up in the mountains. By the time he had reached the village night had long since fallen. The village had a small wall surrounding it to protect against bandit attacks as they were common in the north. On the north end and south end, gates were stationed with guards, however, on the north end, the gate was much smaller as there was much less traffic from the north.

"Who goes there!?" the Guard shouted into the darkness.

"It's just me," Taki said with a wave of his hand.

The Guard gave an audible sigh. "Back from your hunting trip already? Looks like you've had some luck out there," he said eyeing the deer.

"Aye, and it has quite a nice pelt too. I'm planning to take it to Mr. Dan, so he can make a nice cloak out of it." Taki said.

The guard smiled and let him through the gate. The inner part of the village was quite unorganized. As if it were built without any plan to as where anything was going to be. Houses and shops were intermingled with one another and a winding road slithered throughout the buildings. The houses all had tall slanted roofs to prevent snow from piling on them during the winter. Near the center of the village was a large building that's bright lights cut through the darkness. In contrary to the rest of the village, which seemed devoid of excitement as people turned in for the night, the Large building was full of it. The sound of people laughing, cheering, and even singing echoed through the bare village. Taki looked at the building, titled Sherry's Tavern, and smiled. He had many fond memories there. I'll have to come back here later tonight.

Finally, Taki arrived at his house the deer in tow. His house was large, not as large as Sherry's Tavern but nonetheless large. It had two layers and was styled similarly to the other houses in the village. The only difference was that the house simply looked more maintained and had a bit more detail. This was no doubt due to his father. His father, Mun, was the head of the village council. He had little more power than the other councilors but still had an incredibly vital role. As s result, his family well off compared to other families.

Taki knocked on the door to his home and was greeted by a young woman just a few years younger than Taki's age of seventeen.

"Brother! Your back already?" The young woman said to Taki, "I'll fetch father, I'm sure you would like to speak with him."

"Elora wait..."

She dashed off further into the home before he was able to say another word. Taki shrugged off the leather straps and entered the home. The interior of the home spoke much of their wealth as it was decorated with rugs and banisters and other various ornaments. On the far wall directly across from the door was a fireplace with a Curved sword on display above it. To both the right and the left were two staircases that led up to a hall where the sleeping rooms were. The living room and kitchen were beyond a door directly to the right of the fireplace. It was through this door that Taki's sister returned with their father.