The Adventures of a Champion

Chapter One: A Tragic End But A New Beginning

TW: Brief talk of parental death

Kenna's POV
Trials will come when you least expect them. At least that's what my parents always taught me. They will prove your strength and reveal all your weaknesses. My father taught me that the trials you will face are what shape you into your best most refined self.

For weeks I have been begging my parents to let me go to the market to buy my brother and birthday gift. You see it's just my parents, my brother and I. Keeran and I are twins. My parents said they were going to take us on a trip this year. They won't tell us where we are going, but that doesn't matter to me. I've never been out of Urulu. Any trip would be a big adventure for me. Keeran and I will be turning 16 in 5 days.

Today is the day they decided to let me go to the market. The only bad thing was that they are making Keeran go with me. How am I supposed to get him a gift when he is standing right next to me. We decided to leave as early as we could so we could avoid the rush or travelers and traders coming into the city square.

My parents sent Keeran and I with 10 gold pieces to buy the fruits and vegetables that we would need to eat for the week. I also brought along 6 silver pieces and 2 gold pieces that I had saved up over the past few months. I am planning on buying Keeran's birthday gift with my saved up coins.

I was trying to pay close attention to Keeran to see if anything caught his eye. So far he was dead set on finding the food stands to purchase the fruits and veggies for mom and dad. He was making a straight shot for a fruit and spice stand when he got side tracked by a villagers stand that had a bunch of beautifully hand crafted wooden toys and house decorations. He had kept looking and a medium sized wooden horse painted in gorgeous shades of reds, blacks and gold.

He started walking away while shaking his head slightly looking somewhat sad and kind of dejected. Seeing my brother look so upset made my heart hurt.
"Come on Kenna!" He called back to me.
"I'll be at the fruit stand in a minute. Go on ahead without me." I replied in a quick manner.
"Fine! But make it quick Kenzy." He snapped back as he kept walking toward the fruit stand.

As soon as he was out of my sight I walked back to the villager selling the wooden toys. I found the horse the Keeran had found. I had taken it to the merchant and bought it. It only took 3 silver pieces and 1 gold piece. I quickly put the horse into my bag and headed to find Keeran. As I was getting close to the fruit stand I had lost attention and accidentally bumped into a man who was looking at different potions and what looked to be magic spells.

I had accidentally knocked what appeared to be a spell book out of his hands and it fell to the ground. After hastily apologizing a few times I went to pick up the book. He had turned to me and I noticed the man was at least 7 to 8 inches taller than I was. I couldn't really tell how old he was, but one thing I did notice was that he appeared to be blind. I quickly apologized once more and said a goodbye to the man.

Afterward I made my way to the fruit and spices stands. I found Keeran shortly after as the sun was starting to set. He had purchased enough food to last us at least a week. With him doing most of the shopping before I was done we decided to head back home early before mobs started coming out into the open.

As we were walking our normal route home we started noticing an uncommon commotion in the town square. Diverting from our normal path home we decided to investigate what was going on despite my gut telling us to walk away. Oh how right I was to want to walk away. I would never be ready to see what was on the path ahead of us.

It's not uncommon in Urulu to run into bandits, thieves, gangs, and downright shady people. I never expected my family and I to be caught in the middle of the violence.

As we got closer to the square we heard angry shouts from some men as well as begging and pleading from a couple. I recognize their voices though. I hurried closer to the main group. As I got to the center of the crowd I became shocked realizing who the couple was. It was our parents.

As I started walking to them I felt a hand on my shoulder holding me back. I glanced behind and saw the man from the fruit stand. I tried to struggle out of his hands but he pulled me closer to him drawing us back into the crowd.

"If you try and help them you will only get you and your brother hurt." He said in a calm tone.

"No I won't. We'll be fine! We have to help them! They are my parents. Who knows what those thugs are going to do to them." I yelled quite harshly.

Not hearing the argument between my parents and the bandits I rushed back into the crowd as a cold silence fell over the crowd. I pushed passed as many people as I could but I was already too late. As I got to the front of the crowd again there were some quiet gasps coming from some of the older people that were gathered around the town square.

As Keeran rushed to my side I began to feel a panic attack settling in. I had never felt so crushed then I did in this moment. The moment I was face to face with my dead parents. Keeran pulled me into a tight hug once his gaze fell on the bodies. As we sat broken and in tears on the ground everyone began to leave the square.

It felt as if hours had passed. When in reality it was only minutes. The only people left in the town square were Keeran and I, and the stranger from the market. As town guards began to come and take our parents bodies away I finally mustered up the strength to go to them. After a quiet conversation with one of the guards I had found out they were taking their bodies to the nearby infirmary. After I had spoken to them I had walked back to Keeran who was talking with the stranger from earlier.

"Who are you?" I asked, interrupting their conversation.

"I am just a traveler. I came to this town to find someone, but it seems like I was not able to find them." He replied.

"Then why did you help us? And how did you know Keeran was my brother?" I continued to question him.

"I had a feeling. I could sense how protective he was of you. Now that you both are safe I must be heading back to my travels. If we ever cross paths again please let me know if you need assistance with anything!" He answered me quickly.

"Well, thank you I suppose. You did keep us safe. We probably would've ended up the same as our parents." I thanked him in an almost inaudible tone.

"It's my pleasure child. Please keep yourselves safe from here on out."  He said, giving a final small wave goodbye.

As he turned and walked back towards the market I quickly gathered my bag that somehow ended up kicked a few feet away from where I was standing I turned to Keeran after grabbing my bag.

"Keeran, come on. We have to head home before it gets too dark. We will have to go to the infirmary tomorrow morning." I stated as I guided Keeran back on our path towards home.

"What are we gonna do sis? How are we gonna survive in Urulu without mom and dad?" He asked in a quiet panic.

"I don't know Keeran. But all I know right now is that we have each other. Right now we just have to go home and try and get through tomorrow." I replied with hope in my voice. That was a hope that was fake. I wanted to break. I couldn't let myself drown in what I was feeling. I had to keep going. If not for myself, I had to keep going for Keeran.