The Five Nations Ever-War

Chapter One, The Nardishina

As Cinthia moved through the bushes, she stopped, after hearing a sound. She managed to trace the sound, through the dark windy forest to a field, where she found a wild deer. She took her bow, grabbed an arrow from her quiver, drew back her bowstring, aimed, and fired. Her hunting ability is superior to other races, being a nardishina, who have been known for their extreme hunting skills. As the arrow flew through the air, it curved in an arc and hit the deer square in the chest. She has never missed her target, and have been hunting since she was five, given her first bow by her father. Now 16, she was the best hunter in the village.

She walked to her village, burlap sacks full of rabbits, hares, and other small animals, the deer as her prized kill of the day. As the population of the village grew, the livestock and farms are slowly producing less and less food. Hunters mainly find rabbits and squirrels. The village leaders have been sending people far into the wilderness, in search of untapped hunting grounds.

When she got to her village, the townsfolk cheered, as she supplied a great chunk of the food. She was famous before she became a hunter too though. Her father is part of the village council. She did not like that kind of attention. It was annoying to hear, "Hey, there is the daughter of a councilman." She wanted to be famous for doing something, not being someone.

The village itself was pretty big. It had many houses, inns, markets. It had an overall population of over three thousand people. It was surrounded by forests. It was a beautiful village, and tourists come and go to see it.

After dropping off her kills, she headed over towards an inn, where she was supposed to be meeting her friend, Lucien who had been her friend since she was little. He was a small nardishina, with brown hair and brown cat-like eyes. His skin was pale white, as was the skin of all nardishinas.

"Good job hunting today," said Lucien. She blushed, as he said this with a twinkle in his eyes that had brought Cinthia to crush on him many years ago.

"Thank you, Lucien," Cinthia said, trying to keep cool. She didn't want him to know that she liked him. As hardcore as she is, she quivers at the thought of him rejecting her love. She just had to wait for the right moment. She had to be subtle about it. " Want me to teach you how to hunt?" she asked, hoping to get close to him.

" Sure" Lucien responded. " I have always wanted to go hunting. What time?" Nice, she thought to herself. " I am thinking probably sometime tomorrow night. The animals are getting smart and are starting to only come out at night," Cinthia said.

"That works," Lucien said. " See you then". He walked out of the inn, leaving her in utter shock that it worked. She was hoping to tell him about her feelings about him. Hopefully, he accepts her feelings for him.

They met outside at night, with a smell mask, to evade an animal picking up their scent. "Are you ready?", Cinthia asked. Lucien nodded his head, and she began showing him the proper way of handling a bow. After that, they were tracking and sneaking towards animals. They found a deer, meaning it was time for the actual hunting.

"Ok. Do exactly as I showed you", Cinthia instructed Lucien, giving him a nod to say shoot when ready. He drew back on his bowstring and fired his arrow, nearly missing the deer. He smiled at Cinthia, happy his first arrow was a hit. It was his first time actually hunting, as he only had used targets before

To celebrate, they went to a nearby inn, where Cinthia bought him whatever he wanted, for a good first hunt. She planned to open up to him now when he is in a very good mood.

"Hey Lucien", she said, very nervously. "Can I talk to you about something?". "Sure. What's up?" he responded. Ok. Here goes, she thought to herself. "I have to be honest. I have a crush on you" she said, reluctantly.

"I know" He replied, with a smile on his face. "The signs are obvious. You always want to be near me, yet you are nervous around me, and you blush when I compliment you."

She was not expecting that. "What do you mean, you know? Why didn't you tell me!?" she demanded. "I was scared to tell you, and I thought that you would reject my feelings." She was starting to get frustrated.

"It's okay, I have had a crush on you too. I was just waiting for you to come to me," he said, trying to cheer her up. Not only was she shocked that he knew, but that he also felt the same.

She smiled, and went in for a kiss. He obliged, and they stayed, lips locked, for five seconds of heaven. When they separated, they were nervous, not wanting to talk.

" Umm." " Uhh." " So...." All that would come from their mouths were incoherent mumbles.

" Well......, see you tomorrow, I guess," Lucien managed to say. Cinthia nodded, and they departed away

As they walked to their houses, they contemplated how a relationship would work between them, and hoped it would work out well.

When Cinthia got to her house, she was greeted by her little brother Thomas, who, as always, wanted to play with her. She could barely get any time alone.

"Hey big sis, wanna play?" Thomas asked in a high pitched tone. "Sorry, but I got things to do," Cinthia replied. As much as she would love to spend time with her brother, she had a lot on her mind. She just needed some time by herself. "Maybe a different time."

"Ok." Her brother replied. He went to his room and started playing with some blocks. As she made her way up the stairs of her house, she couldn't shake the nervousness of if her relationship with Lucien would work out. She made her way into her room, and proceeded to lie down on her bed, and just think to herself, and soon started to rest, tired after a long day of hunting.

When Cinthia woke up, she was startled, woken by the sound of her brother yelling into her room. " Hey sis, could you make dinner?" he called. Her father had a lot of political meetings and was often not there at night, and her mother was out of the picture, killed in a hunting accident, so it was mainly just her and her brother in the house. And since she was much older, it was her responsibility to take care of the house and her brother. She went down to start dinner, prepping some meat. Tonight's dinner was going to be roasted venison.

As Cinthia finished making dinner, she called her brother in to eat. As he waddled in, she made the table, served the food, and cut his venison into pieces. They said a blessing and started to eat.

Once they finished eating, she went to go and do the dishes, when she heard a knock on the door.