Chapter 1: Starfall

Dust filled the immediate vicinity of Roan Aditsan as he groggily began to wake from unconsciousness. The smell of metal and fire filled his nostrils, and with it vague memories of how he was in his current situation. He had wrecked his truck but the damage was not too bad, however, it was bad enough to eject the airbags. He looked to his right and noticed that his wife Sarah was missing, and in the back he could hear slight groans from his two children, Esther and Ethan. Worry invaded Roans mind as he did not know where Sarah was. Then that worry shifted back toward his children, as Roan pushed the release button for his seat belt and using a shoulder push, he opened his door. He stumbled slightly to the rear door of his truck and opened it.

Glancing at his children he thought to himself while unbuckling them from their booster seats.

'Not a scratch on these two, I guess they are yelling because of the sudden crash? Where could Sarah have gone too? The last thing I remember is us talking, and then-- then there was the thick fog that came out of nowhere and that bright bluish grey light that filled the sky! Something fell, yeah, it was right in front of our truck. What was it?'

With his children in his arms Roan began to look around the vehicle and noticed it was banged up in the front and it looked as if the truck had actually been pushed back, for about eight feet in front of the truck was a small crater. The crater looked to be about seven feet in circumference and about three feet deep. Dirt and gravel from the small country road was everywhere. After looking around for several minutes Roan found no clues to his wife's whereabouts. Slowly he started to lose hope.

Thoughts raced through Roans mind once again, 'How can I do this without her? Did I accidentally crash, what happened!? Damn, this is all my fault!'

Soon the authorities arrived, Seattle Sheriffs, they questioned Roan about what happened and began their own search for his wife.

[][]10 YEARS LATER[][]

On a plain not to far from a small mountain was a well kept home. The home had green shutters and was a white color. A gravel road stretched about a quarter mile from the road to this house. It was a two story home with a great and well kept yard. Trimmed bushes lined the outside of the home and a cobble stone walk way from the drive way to the porch made the home look very comfortable. Although some may think it's plain one could tell that someone put a lot of work into the home to keep it neat and clean. However, what's inside someone is not always correctly portrayed on what's outside of a person. Roan had become one of those people that wore a huge front around others, except for his kids. The turmoil within fed the negative side of Roan, and it showed itself in one way for Roan. That was long nights and plenty of empty alcohol bottles.

Beer bottles lined a dimly lit room as a man had his head laying on a wooden desk with a picture frame in hand. Drool could be seen on the desk flowing steadily from his mouth, his beard looked soaked, resembling a sponge. Quick and firm foot steps could be heard making its way to the room Roan was in.

BOOM!

"Dad, you're late for work! Ethan and I made breakfast again. You should really start to be more responsible than your own children. I looked at your schedule and I believe you have a guiding hike in less than an hour! Will you wake up! Wake---." Esther said screaming with an annoyed tone in her voice.

Her Father, Roan, was still soundly sleeping from a drunken stupor and noticing this she quickly ran to the window and drew back the curtains letting the sunlight flood into the room. The light brought on a sudden groan from Roan along with a long drawn out yawn. He looked at his daughter and she stared back as if saying with her mind, 'You better get up before I take more extreme measures!' With the staring contest going on between the two, Roan lost as his head smacked back down into the desk. It seemed like it hurt, however, when you've been drunk for so many times like that, a little bump on a desk such as that would not bother him much.

Esther sighed as she thought to herself, 'Well extreme measures it is. I know you've struggled since we lost mom but we all had to move on. You can't stay in the past, or we will lose you.'

Although Esther had sympathy for her father, but she too had lost a mother and in a way she felt she became a mother indirectly taking care of her father and her little brother. Esther was now sixteen and her brother Ethan was Fourteen.

She yelled for her brother Ethan, "Ethan~! Bring the usual!"

A few minutes later Ethan showed up his arms bulging from holding a gigantic bucket of water, which also had ice in it.

"So we are back to this, huh? Well like always I'm not cleaning this later, dad has to!" Ethan said, staring at this sister Esther.

"Duh, this is his own fault and we are both trying as hard as we can to support him, until he gets out of his... Funk." Replied Esther.

Ethan proceeded toward Roan, and dumped the bucket of ice cold water right on top of his head and made sure to pour a little on his neck and back. Roan shot up out of his seat and said a few grumbled words that nobody could make out. He shook his head left and right like an animal, clearing the water off of his dreaded hair and his beard. Roan stretched his body with his arms high in the air and as the stretch ended he looked at Ethan and Esther. A quietness filled the room and Esther broke it first.

With the usual annoyed tone she said, "Dad you have work today yo--"

Esther was cut off by Roan saying in a deep, direct and low voice, "Actually.. I got Bobby to fill in for me today. Its . . Today, we hunt in honor of your mom ..?"

Ethan looked at his sister and then back to his father saying, " Of course we know, we just thought that maybe you forgot because you're drunk, AGAIN."

"I don't think that you are in any condition to hunt for mom today after seeing how many bottles you had to get you this wasted, Dad." Esther said matter of factly.

Roan squeezed his right shoulder and shrugged it a bit to get rid of the stiffness from sleeping on the desk. The picture frame that was in his hand earlier was now back on the desk, face up. Roan stared at the picture of his wife Sarah, and his two kids Ethan and Esther. Thoughts of what he needed to do today engulfed his mind. He knew that hunting was a relief for him but this was not how he should cope with the turmoil that was within him. Hunting for sustenance was the way of his people, however, for needless slaughter or 'sport' it was against everything he ever believed. It proved how far he had fallen, mentally, since the unfortunate events from ten years ago.

"Take the day off of school, we will do what we've been doing since mom left us. Lets eat and then get started with hunting, I'll be fine after eating."

Knowing that his daughter wanted to retort, Roan raised his hand and shook it and walked past his kids. They made their way to the kitchen table to eat. The kitchen was designed in a modern style, an island counter was in there center where it had a metal rack hanging from the ceiling that housed different kitchen ware, such as pots and pans. The pale yellow color of the kitchen gave you that yellow makes me happy feeling. It was funny because the color didn't help the sour mood within the kitchen as they ate their bowls of eggs, rice, and turkey bacon. After they finished their meals they each went into their rooms.

Although Roan looked a mess, he always tried to keep a tidy appearance professionally. His study room where his kids had found him was his private room where he would go to think and try to recall all the details of his wife's disappearance ten years ago. Well that's what it had changed into anyhow. Before the unfortunate circumstances from ten years ago Roan used this room as a meditation room, as well as a research room for his work. Looking up different ways to interact with many different personalities, or information on different animals in the mountain range where he often led hikes. That said, the study was well organized, he just kept a lot of trash in there that needed to be thrown away. Like the empty bottles of booze that lined random areas around the room.

Even though his private study was messy with bottles and trash, his room seemed to be the complete opposite. A king size bed was placed in the center of the room against a wall. The black wood of the bed looked to not have dust on it and the bed was well made with grey sheets and covers. The walls of the room were an ash grey color, which was basic but just the way Roan liked things. Roan made his way to a walk-in closet, although, it was quite small for the type of closet it was. The clothes were neatly hung on their hangers and his shoes were also placed neatly. He walked to the furthest part of the closet and pulled back some of the clothes that were hanging. Behind it was a solid black case which was attached to the wall, the case itself was about two feet wide and five feet long. He opened the case which revealed a set of matte black axes.

A tomahawk, tactical axe, and a battle axe was neatly arranged within the case, along with a few straps for the axes. He grabbed a camouflaged hoodie from the clothes hanging next to him and put it on. Roan then attached the straps to his waist and one on his back, equipping the two smaller axes on his sides and the battle axe on his back. He glanced at a mirror as he walked out of the closet. The mirror along with the light of the room revealed a man that stood seventy-three inches tall and had an athletic build. Quite the handsome face, and narrow eyes made him look somewhat 'different', Roan was accustom to smiling a lot especially at work.

Although at home he had become a bit of a hard case. He wasn't on the heavy side, nor the skinny, for with just a look at him and anyone with brains would know he did something to stay fit and well built. The hoodie covered his muscles, but you could still see his light brown skin, black and grey speckled beard, and his dreads that was pulled back but hung down a little past his shoulders. Roan tugged on his axes and closed his eyes looking away from the mirror.

Feeling the weight of the axes he began to reminisce on the times he spent under his Grandfather, Mato, learning the ways of his tribe. He was thirty-five now and he spent most of that time with his Grandfather up until the point he met Sarah. Grandfather Mato taught him many different skills, which mostly dealt with the wilderness and engaging in combat with different crudely made weapons.

Roans favorite lessons were how to engage multiple enemies efficiently and come out on the winning end of a battle. Although this didn't have anything to do with today's society, it was something that had to be passed down. Which Roan accepted with open arms. Axes were what he fell in love with though, the tomahawk being his first proficient weapon.

He had self taught skills with the battle axe since it was not part of the axe skills his Grandfather taught him to use. All of Grandfathers teachings Roan also passed down to his kids, however, they weren't as good as he was at their age. Their lack of wanting to learn is what held up their progression and now the bottle, coupled with worry, is what chained Roans mind.

'The kids might of been better if I would put more effort into teaching them. I mean, they do get most of it. They just need more time to practice and give it all the effort they have. Ah and the damn sheriffs still accuse me of making a giant freakin' crater and hiding my own wife's body.. Bunch of idiots, ARGH! There are so many rumors of Sarah's disappearance. Where's the creator when you need him?' Roan thought to himself as he made his way out of his room.

In Esther's room she had already gotten dressed. Wearing a long digital grey camouflaged rain coat, and black fitted cargo pants, she observed herself in the mirror. Her face was a thing of true beauty, a lightly tanned skin tone with brown hair that had big curls on the ends. She favored the visage of her father, more than her mother.

So she always thought she was a girl version of her handsome dad. Her muscle in her legs could be seen through her fitted cargo pants, truly, legs of an Amazon. Also hanging on her right leg was some thinly 'O' shaped wire, held in place by some leather straps. In her hands she could be seen twirling a black matte spear that was about five and a half feet long.

The way she twirled the spear one could tell she felt comfortable with it, however, there was also slight signs that showed she lacked lacked in some areas. After approving of her outfit in the mirror she headed out of her room to meet her father and brother thinking 'Just another day!'.

"I wish we could just have the whole day to ourselves.. I'd just chill, play some video games, eat and probably mess with Esther." Ethan said quietly to himself with a slight chuckle.

Looking out of his white paned window, Ethan was staring off into the forest behind his house. Thoughts raced through his head, mostly random things that weren't note worthy. He wore a blank stare on his face that was reflected off the windows glass.

He had curly brown hair and the sides were faded, it was a hair cut that really enhanced the comely look of his face. He was a little shorter than Esther was, being about sixty-five inches tall and Esther was sixty-seven inches. One would probably say 'they get their height from their father'. His looks of course came from his mother, although he had not fully realized just how approachable and handsome he really is.

He was dressed in a rain proof hoodie, the only odd thing was that he had cut off the sleeves which revealed his fairly sculpted muscles. Upon both his thighs he had throwing knives that were matte black just as his dad and sisters weapons were colored. In his hands he began to draw his long bow back and forth, warming up his body before the hunt. This was something he did habitually to get his mind focused, because if he did not pay attention to the task at hand he always ended up screwing something up. He took a deep breath and stepped back from the window, did an about face and ran toward the door to exit his room.

The trio were all now making there way to the tree line while the rain fell upon them lightly. The view from the back yard of the Aditsan home was what some would call 'majestic'. Although right now it looked to be even more so. It had been raining lightly so there were still clouds out and the overcast had only a few rays of light brimming through here and there. With the back drop being the mountains and the forest below, which they were walking toward, it was enough for any person to appreciate nature. The awkward silence was killing Esther, so she was the first to speak up as they still had some distance to reach the tree line to the forest.

"Dad are you su--."

Roan cut Esther off from speaking, clearly annoyed he said, "I am fine, and you don't need to worry about me. How about you both take this seriously, you never know what could happen. I appreciate your worry, but I would like to get this done and then take a nap."

Roan cut his eyes at Esther. He loved his children very much, but sometimes he thought that his daughter, Esther, would over step boundaries and cross the line of respect. He may have turned into a bit of a drunkard since his wife's passing, but he still gave off the aura of leadership within his household. It could clearly be felt by the two siblings as they stared at each other and simply chose to remain quiet the rest of the walk to the tree line.

Roan had taught them different insights about their individual choice of weaponry. His hope was that they would master it and both be able to pass it on, or at least what they remember unto the next generations. If he learned anything over the past few years, it was that life does not wait to teach you a lesson.

'I hope the lessons have already been learned.' Roan said to himself with a smirk on his face.

The trio made it to the tree line and Roan gave them orders saying, "I'll take point, Esther has the kill shot, and Ethan's on scout duty."

"Finally got tired of Ethan choking on the kill shots, huh dad?" Esther said.

"I told you sometimes it just feels bad, even if we need to take a life." Ethan replied glaring at his sister.

"Well I'm sure it will come to you in time, son. Lets all just focus." said Roan as he took his tomahawk into his right hand and began walking forward through the brush.

Esther began jogging lightly in a North Eastern direction through the forest away from the others. It was still close to noon and the clouds were filling any patches of light that were in the sky. Light rain was falling something akin to a water sprinkler on a lawn over an endless amount of trees. She began to make sure she was still in a position that she could at least see a tiny bit of her father.

She knew that Ethan was gonna do his thing and find some 'poor animal', after all he was an exceptional tracker for his age. Of course he was not at Roans level of tracking but he was better than most people his age, and even some adults. Esther found a spot to crouch between a tree that was next to a few bushes, she laid her spear on the ground in front of her and placed her palms to the ground.

Esther began to rub her hands on the dirt, it was somewhat of a ritual for her, signifying that she was about to get dirty. Like all girls though, she did not really want to get dirty, but in times like these it helped her concentration and made her not mind getting messy.

Ethan was walking lazily but with care not to leave deep indentions upon the ground, he practiced a technique the indigenous people of the Americas used in order to no leave traces, as well as to not be heard. The slight rain annoyed Ethan as he walked because of the squelching noises it would make beneath his feet. Ethan then spotted a few broken twigs and what looked like a possible track on the ground, he checked the track and it belonged to a medium sized deer.

He waved to his dad, and roan nodded. Roan looked at the ground and followed the tracks through the mushy forest floor. Roan was ready, this is something he did many times and knew he would do many more. Steam flared from his breath as he jogged and opened all his senses. Soon enough he found the prey he was looking for, the deer had a good set of horns that many would hold as a small prize.

Roan knife handed his son in a direction a little more to the north west and Ethan began to disappear in the brush of the forest. He looked back toward where Esther should be, he couldn't really see her, so he made a small deer like noise, in order to not spook their prey. He heard a response similar to his and Roan took off toward the deer. The distinct smell of the wet deer was very pungent, it was a smell you could never forget.

Roan signaled for Ethan to stay ahead of the deer in case it got to far away to steer into Esther's direction. Ethan sprinted like a leopard through the brush attempting a flanking maneuver on the 'poor deer'. Ethan was stealthily quiet as he shot up a tree, kneeled on a thick branch, knocked an arrow and took aim near the prey.

Roan was still sprinting with all his might and simultaneously took three steps, raised his tomahawk from his leg and launched it at their prey. 'THWACK' It was a clean hit on the deer's hind quarters, however, the deer took off running west. Roan thought that he might of missed because the distance was a little farther than usual.

Ethan smirked as his readied arrow was loosed and he quickly knocked another arrow, and let it fly as well. Both arrows expertly landed in the intended spots which spooked the deer to run back South East toward Esther. Ethan jumped down from the tree he was perched in and rolled on the soft dirt as he picked up speed to catch up with his father. Their prey was slowing down from the tomahawk that was sunken in its hind quarters, leaking a trail of blood.

Esther was low to the ground as her legs were in a wild yet flexible pose, her spear was readied and she could hear the now loud sounds of her family chasing their target. She focused on hearing the deer and blocked everything else out, as the sound of the galloping hooves hit the dirt.

"It's close." she said to herself as she slightly moved to push the brush over to see where the deer was.

As Esther spotted the prey she quickly spun out from the brush, took two wide steps and released her spear. She was as an amazon in the jungle, the way she let the spear fly from her hand with murderous intent. As the spear screeched through the air, cutting rain droplets and a few twigs, it found its mark in the body of the deer. The trio stopped as they saw the deer get taken out mid gallop in the air and now barely breathing on the dirt.

"Damn, that was a good throw!" Roan said matter of factly.

Roan glanced at his two children as they both made their way to the deer.

'Man, my kids have a lot more room to grow. Many things to learn for them as they get older.' Roan looked toward them with a smile thinking this very thought. He had noticed that Ethan still lacked the killer instinct within himself. Although Roan did not want him to kill the prey this time, he knew Ethan never wanted harm animals unless absolutely necessary. He had a natural bond with the Earth and its creatures, especially bears.

Ethan loved bears as much as he loved his bow, which made no sense to Roan. Roan thought that bears are so lazy and do what they want, Ethan was the complete opposite of this. Ethan did as he was told, and was always thinking about random things. If anything Esther was a bear. Roan looked over to Esther and knew that even though she always wanted to finish a hunt, she only did it to impress her Father, Roan.

Although that's great Roan's Ancestors teachings were much deeper then a petty thought of pride and conceitedness. One would have to fully devote themselves to the tribe and be willing to follow the code. He knew she would struggle with that, because she always wanted to be in the spotlight. Even though she was great with the spear there are people out there that could outmatch her in pure combat. She just hadn't met that person yet.

The trio all had a smile on their faces, save for Ethan. He had a slight curl in the corner of his lips, not really taking pleasure in the dead carcass before them. Standing over the deer Roan pulled the spear from the deer and tossed it to Esther, while also grabbing his tomahawk. Suddenly, a thick fog consumed the area they were in, not even some of the trees and brush were able to be seen because of this thick fog. Roan grabbed Ethan and Esther because this was something that he had never forgotten. Roan yelled and said, "Take out your weap--."

With no chance to react, they were all cut off from speaking as a bluish grey fire filled the sky through the clouds, and only got brighter. It looked like a star falling toward them at a godly speed, and it landing dead center upon the carcass of the deer. The explosion created an overwhelmingly bright light, and an enormous amount of pressure as it sucked in everything around it. The only thing left was a crater twenty-one feet wide and ten feet deep. The ground sizzled as some of the earth within the crater was made dry and all that was heard after, was still the 'tap tap' sounds of rainfall.