6 Life of a Villager
It was a late summer in the year of 3057. A large group of people were in the fields cutting wheat.
Even though this year was supposed to be one of the hotter ones no one complained and got on with their work.
While most of the men were cutting wheat with large scythes women and children gathered the wheat and bundled them together into sheaves, which then were left out in the sun to dry.
After everyone finished their work for that day the sky was already orange all over and everyone started going back home.
Like everyone else, a young brunette was walking back home accompanied by a young boy.
He was a brown haired child who looked to be about 10 years old.
"Let's hurry up Janna I'm starving." The small child complained to his sister with a funny face.
"It's time for you to grow up, you're a man aren't you?" the sister told-off her brother before mumbling to herself "Besides, you're not the only one who's hungry…"
The boy either did not hear what she said or chose to completely ignore her, because soon after he started playing with small children who were also on their way to their homes.
After 10 minutes of walking a small house came into view. It was a small wooden house and looked in no way different compared to the other houses of the village.
Janna looked towards the garden and the old swing she used to play with regularly when she was a child.
She missed those times and sometimes felt jealous of her younger brother because he has yet to come of age and had plenty of free time after handling the least amount of chores he was given.
A month ago she turned 15 years old, in short – an adult. She had the responsibility of helping around the house. Not to mention that her father was planning to betroth her to his old friend's son.
She hated the thought of having to marry without experiencing her first love, but at the same time she understood her family's financial situation. They were in debt and her future husband's family has been rich for decades.
Janna shook her head to disperse these thoughts and focus on living in the present.
She came through the wide open door of her home and walked straight to the kitchen. When she was younger she would always go play outside, but nowadays she had to work all the time.
For a second, a thought of running away from all the chores came through her mind, but soon all of them disappeared when she heard a familiar voice.
"Ah, Janna. Welcome back, how's work?" her mother said while sewing a small pair of socks.
"Hi mother, it's the usual. In a few days or so we will finish the harvest. Do you need any help?"
Janna knew that there's always work, but she still asked just in case a miracle happened when she wasn't needed. It didn't happen however.
"Well yes. Your father got into a fight today, again, and his clothes need sewing and…some cleaning." Her mother said with a big frown on her face.
Her father was a good man but he was very short-tempered and was weak with alcohol. One time, he got so drunk he got lost in the woods and the whole village went to look for him. After a week he came back on his own with a big scar on his cheek.
He fought an army of goblins – was his excuse, but most likely he got injured while he was drunk, or in some other stupid way…
Janna looked towards her mother, well, mostly her belly. She will be getting another sibling soon, but wondered whether to be happy or not. One part of her felt that it was an another mouth to feed, which they could not afford right now, while the other thought that her family is about to get filled with happiness once more.
After helping around house and dragging her brother back home the sun already set and she was lying in her bed, soon after she fell asleep.
She opened her eyes wide open as she was flying through the sky. She must be dreaming, she thought…
She flew through the sky and in the next moment appeared in a massive jungle. Everything around her was green and she could see a temple of pure gold in front of her.
Janna wished to travel the world, find the unknown, and maybe slay a few dragons on the way. It was a boyish dream, and she knew it.
In her village women had the responsibility of looking after their families, and very rarely someone would leave the village, even then they were mostly men, to become adventurers. However, they were usually forced to do so because of some circumstances.
Her dream led her to a massive underground dungeon filled with gold. Her eyes, however, wondered towards a dark statue. It looked bizarre among the pile of treasure it was surrounded with.
The statue was that of a cloaked figure carrying a lantern and a scythe.
"God of Death Ether…" she mumbled.
She looked around for a bit more before being forcibly pulled out of her dream.
"Janna! We need to run! Hurry up!"
She woke up to these words and saw her mother's worried face in front of her. Her little brother was also there, but she could not see her father.
"What's happening, where's dad?" Janna asked with a sleepy face and then peered through a small window of her room.
It was pitch black outside…apart from the burning buildings that filled the view. She froze for a second before hearing people scream in the distance.
"There's no time to explain! We need to run!" her mother shouted and grabbed Janna by her arm.
Janna felt her mother's strong grip and knew something very bad happened. She looked at her scared brother as if waiting for an answer.
Her brother noticed her and silently muttered "B-bandits…" before looking around franticly and hiding behind his mother's dress.
She ran together with her family through the woods while trying her hardest to not pay attention to the shouts of the dying people.
As they were running Janna did not notice when her mother let go of her hand. She was all alone in the pitch black forest.
"Mother! Mother!" She shouted, but only heard a silent "Janna, where are you?!" from somewhere within the forest.
She franticly ran as if chased by a monster. She shouted for her mother, but no one answered…
---------------------------
A cloaked figure was sleeping on a hard wooden chair. The figure was using an injured man instead of a pillow.
The room it was in was bland. The walls were made out of stone and the room itself was rather cold. Apart from a bed and a chair there was nothing else. Bloody bandages lay in one corner of the room together with a pile of armor and weapons.
A small window was open to let in the warm breeze. Spring was ending and the summer will soon take its place.
The figure eventually woke up and raised its cloak. Under the cloak was an attractive brunette woman. She wore tough leather armor and multiple pouches and knives can be seen on her person.
She looked tired and her eyes were watering, she was crying.
"Why now of all the times…" she mumbled silently.
Her name was Janna and she was a scout. She dreamt, or more like remembered, her past. She wondered why she remembered something like that. It happened almost 10 years ago and it has been ages since the last time she had that dream.
She looked around the room she was in. In front of her laid a sleeping figure. It was a man with dark brown hair and a young face. His body was covered in bandages and he reeked of various medicinal herbs.
Janna looked towards the males face. His name was Henry and he recently joined the mercenary band named Twelve Claws. She met him about a month ago and, apart from a few missions, they never really talked.
However, she could somewhat feel sympathy towards Henry. He did not talk a lot and she knew next to nothing about him...but still, there was this 'something' about him.
He was young, younger than her, and he joined the Twelve Claws with almost nothing. Even the dog he had brought with him ran away a week ago.
After fighting an Armor Golem he was severely injured and had not woken up for the last three weeks. She knew he had financial problems and understood him completely, well...mostly.
In the past Janna was forced to steal and there were more times than she could count when she almost sold her body.
The man in front joined the company with nothing, just like how she was left with nothing when her village was raided by a bandit gang.
In the past three weeks she looked after him. It's been a long time since she spent this much time together with the same person. That may be the main reason for the sense of familiarity she had.
She looked at Henry and wondered. Could her mother and brother survived? Her brother's age would be close to Henry's and he probably looked somewhat like him too.
After living in the slums for a couple of years Janna had forgotten to look for her family. At some point she gave up and thought that they died.
The forest was a dangerous place, not to mention that a young boy and a pregnant woman were in it. However, they could have made it. There were cities not too far away. You only had to follow the river for a couple of days.
"Now's not the time" Janna thought as she stood up.
She took out a roll of bandages from her pouch and started her daily routine. She had to switch out the bandages every day and apply the herbal medicine.
After three weeks of doing this, she had become quite proficient at it. She quickly took down the old bandages and looked at the man's chest. He looked horrible before, three weeks ago she could even see some ribs poking out. But now he was perfectly healed with only a few scars here and there.
She felt jealous of him sometimes. Henry was a greenhorn and did not have any talent whatsoever. But he was learning too fast… In a couple of battles he already had multiple kills and his proficiency with the bow got better and better each time he used it.
She always saw him train and knew it was the result of his hard work, however, she still felt jealous.
In the past she tried as hard as he did but she progressed way slower. It may have been because he had experienced multiple battles where he risked his life, while Janna always chose the easiest way to victory with no risks involved.
Though, in the last battle she had taken some risks…
As she remembered the last battle and the feeling of cutting a person's head off, she saw movement in the corner of her eye. Henry was about to wake up, and she was yet to replace his bandages.
