Disclaimer: Kristen Cashore is the rightful owner of the vast majority of the ideas and characters. Only some are of my creation.

Spoiler: Takes place 10 years after Fire and 20 before Graceling

I have recently redone this whole chapter in the attempt to make Thia's grace more clear and set the story up better. It's still not wonderful but I hope it's at least better than before.

I awoke to a mouthful of dog. Scout, my border collie, was wagging her tail and licking me, Thia Stonemason, all over. Clearly she needed to use the bathroom.

I pulled myself up and took a look at my surroundings. I'd been traveling for several days already on a boat through the mountains to the east of Estill. The mountains were gorgeous at this time of year. It was early spring, and the world was turning green again. Being in nature truly made me feel at home. I'm not sure if it had a connection to my grace, or if I was just born to be in the wild.

My grace. This single thought brought me back to the reason I was running away from Thigpen city. Everyone knows that gracelings must be reported to the King as soon as their eyes settle. So when my eyes turned black and green one day when I was two I was sent to the capital of Estill to wait until my grace showed itself.

I was treated like a servant until the day came when I was seven that my grace appeared. One night the cook was short one partridge for dinner, so I was assigned the task to go out to the woods and take one down.

I returned 15 minutes later with a partridge, 7 wild turkeys, and a deer.

My grace is hunting. Everything about it. It's much more than just accuracy with a bow or sling, although I have impeccable aim with both. I can track an animal from prints that are a week old. I can make myself invisible in the woods. I have amazing patience. I can stay in any position for hours on end without moving or cramping up. And when the time comes to make the kill I have an adrenaline rush that makes me as strong as a bear and as quick as a cheetah, although it doesn't last more than five minutes.

In addition to the physical part of my grace I also have a mental element. I can feel all life around me. Not necessarily see it, but just know that it's there. When I concentrate I can feel each consciousness of every creature for miles around me. I have to focus to see what's there, I'm not always aware of everything. For animals I can also sense their emotions, but not for humans. I think it's because humans are so complex, with many emotions all at once.

Most animals are extremely simple. They only have one emotion at a time, and mostly they are things like the need to find food, fear, or tiredness. It's within my abilities to soothe some of these simple emotions, or help an animal deal with their pain. Animals don't experience jealousy and hatred like humans can. I find that I can relate to animals better than to most humans. I'm ill suited for the complexities of politics and I don't enjoy gossiping about people that I don't even know.

My King took this to mean that I was simple minded and unable to work with other people. He kept me isolated in a cabin in the woods and only called upon me when I was needed. The King ignored every part of my grace, except for my exceptional ability with a bow, because to him this was my only valuable asset. I was his quiet assassin. I could sneak anywhere and take out five men with arrows before anyone else in the room was aware of what had just happened. By the time a search was mounted for the killer, I was hours away.

When I was alone in the woods with Scout as my only company I enjoyed reading. Reading about everything, from science to comedic plays. Most people I thought I was plain dumb, but I'm not. I admit my conversational skills are... lacking. But this is only because nobody wanted to talk to me in the first place. I must confess that it was a lonely existence, but I didn't really mind. Whenever the guards came to collect me after my king had decided that someone must die discretely by a poison dart, or a silent arrow; I always grew excited at the thought of going out and doing something. However, the momentary excitement passed as soon as I realized why I was going there and what I'd have to do.

For eight years I killed for my King. It took me eight years till I realized there was another option. So, four days ago, I gathered up my belongings, stole enough food for three weeks and took a considerable amount of money. Without a word to anybody I left everything and exchanged it for the untamed wilderness. When I reached the base of the mountains I bought a boat and took a river that flowed to the east.

It is my hope that I will reach the land that is only discussed in whispered rumors around a fire late at night. The land filled with monsters of many colors and people possessed by a terrible beauty. If I find no such land then I don't care. All I need is Scout and my grace. I'll build us a house and spend the rest of my days exploring the woods, and trying to unravel some of the mysteries of the natural world.

I pulled our boat over to the bank and dropped anchor. Scout jumped out and ran into the woods to relieve herself and explore some. I found a clear space of ground and stretched. Then I started doing one of my favorite activities in the world, acrobatics. I'm not a graced fighter, but when I was young I found that there are many who would wish to harm me, so I took it upon myself to learn. One of the best strengthening exercises out there is gymnastics. It works each and every muscle in your body, helps your stamina, and makes you feel endlessly weightless.

I kept my body strong and healthy. I'm not a big fan of swords, and to be honest I'm awful with them. They're too bulky and heavy. However, the one weapon that I enjoy using is one of my own designs. I favor two long curved knives that fit together and can be sheathed in the same case. It's a whole different fighting style that requires quickness and grace instead strength and brute force.

I practiced for an hour doing drills that I'd come up with during my time alone. Scout came back with a dead rabbit in between her teeth and looked up at me seeking approval.

"What a nice rabbit you have caught. Would you like me to cook it, or just eat it now?" Scout jumped into the boat and started devouring the rabbit; I guess that was her answer. Dogs are funny creatures, just when you think they are truly animals they do something that makes them seem more intelligent then you could have ever imagined.

I shrugged and got back in too. I pulled up the anchor and we were on our way again. I rowed the boat for added speed and sang a song to keep myself company. It was a mournful tune, about a woman who has lost her lover. I sang and rowed all day and into the night.

So what do you think of the new and improved chapter 1?

I hope it's better.

Please review, it'd be really nice.