Sleepyhead Jix

9

Ace heard the green-eyed girl the moment he left the tent, she was standing very close to where he was exiting and was busy reprimanding one of the other guards.

"how you became a guard is beyond me, how you even became a warrior is a wonder Jix. How much did they steal?"

In front of the green-eyed girl stood a boy with blond curly hair, and a very boyish appearance, especially compared to the other young guards. It looked like he had just woken up, and from what Ace could tell, that was exactly what had just happened.

"Rin please, I don't know how I fell asleep, someone must have tranquilized me or something"

Rin barely let him finish before she pushed him so hard he fell over backwards on the ground, the other guards started laughing but Rin send a furious glare around and they all fell quiet.

"enough about your excuses Jix! How much!?"

Jim was sitting on the ground and trying not to make eye contact while mumbling something so quietly that no one seemed to hear it, this made Rin even more furious and she was just about to start kicking Jim when he finally yelled out.

"everything, they took everything! The crystalized ether is all gone, at least thirty shards including the ether rock underneath Grays bed"

A howl of rage came from one of the young male guards and Ace knew it must have been Gray. Meanwhile Rin seemed to not care at all, like the crystalized ether was of no importance to her.

"very well Jix, I was given the unfortunate task of appointing a guard for the Necron trip and It would seem my job just became a lot easier. As you all know, guarding the trip is important to the tribe but also very dangerous. I also know none of you like having the task, since it means being unable to hunt for at least a year or more, so I am glad to say Jix has volunteered the task this year, let's all give Jix a big applause"

All the guards started to applaud and some where even cheering as Jix stood up from the ground, he was beet red in the face and wanted nothing more than to disappear.

Ace had almost forgotten why he was there and had even joined the applauding for a brief moment, he was still holding the piece of bone in his left hand, and when Rin saw him standing outside the red tent she raised a hand to call for order once again.

"alright everyone back to work. You, come here"

Ace approached Rin and gave her the bone piece, while the rest of the young guards scattered back to their duties, now that Jix had been dealt with.

"Tent number Fourteen, we will depart for Necron in nine days. Do not leave training grounds or you will be left behind when the time comes"

Ace still stood unmoving like he was waiting for more.

"Get a move on I don't have time deal with children"

But ace still had no idea what going to Necron meant, he thought he would either become a warrior or a laborer on this day, but Necron was the residing kingdom and leader of the entire wilderness.

Had he succeeded his trial he would have been given the title of warrior and become a part of the village. If he failed, he should have been taken inside the village and given a profession thereby becoming a laborer. They both meant entering the village, not leaving it.

"what's going to happen to me in Necron, great warrior?"

Ace asked with quivering voice, all his self-confidence had been shattered, when he realized he couldn't use ether and being confronted by so many powerful people had only made him feel smaller. Rin first thought of pushing him to the ground for not leaving fast enough like she did Jix, but when she saw the scared kid in front of her, she felt a sting of sympathy and decided to just answer him instead.

"your going to join the army in Necron, it's a great honor reserved only for those worthy. It is something few trainees could even dream of. Now leave"

Ace walked away deep in thought, he had only heard stories about Necron. It was something called a kingdom, a place full of people and was supposedly much larger than all the tribes in the wilderness combined, although Ace had a hard time believing that was true.

Except for the big red tent that stood out, all the rest where very similar in appearance. The only thing he had to go by was the number fourteen and had to count all the way.

The children of the tribe had been trained in reading and counting, part of becoming a great warrior was to train the mind, and education had been taught with brutal punishment, for those who didn't answer correctly.

Around his tent stood several other tents, all empty. It was beige and big enough for him to stand up, inside was a small chair as well as a bed with a fur covered piece of skin made to use as a blanket. Ace had never experienced such luxury in his life and kept telling himself it was too good to be true.

The days passed quickly for Ace who only left his tent to go to the bathroom. Three times a day someone would just show up and give him food and water, when he wasn't eating, he was sleeping a lot or checking up on his hunting gear.

Most of the days had been spent making his new clothes from the bear lords skin and fur as well as a couple of bones, it was hard work because of the durability of the bear lords body parts, but Ace just enjoyed it since that meant it would protect him better.