Chapter 1: A New Legend Rises!
The sand of the desert was like that of water in an ocean, vast and untamed, rippling in the winds like waves. Plants were sparse, and beyond the rocky formations that housed some form of life was the seemingly infinite sea of sand. Traveling along this terrain was tough, a harsh exercise in futility. However, there was one daring young man willing to take on the danger. His name, or at least, what he liked to be called, was Geo the Storming Wind. Known for being wild and unpredictable in his hometown, it was no surprise when he was found packing his things for a journey. The journey of a lifetime, the path of the Hunter!
After preparing his sand skipper, a sort of small, angular boat meant for sailing over the sand with ease using the wind, Geo smiled to himself, "I'm almost there. Just wait for me, dad. I'm going to become a legend, just like you did." He hefted his knapsack, filled with the personal items and such that he couldn't simply store aboard, and tossed it into the skipper. Before he could hop aboard himself, however, a voice called out behind him.
"Oooooi! You're not just gonna leave without saying goodbye, are ya?" Geo chuckled a little, turning around to find the entirety of his people behind him, waving and wishing him good luck. The village was a small one, but despite the hard times that they went through, its people were tough. The farewell party included the elders of the village, the five adults that took care of the four children that just couldn't sit still and rushed Geo, knocking him to the ground with tears in their eyes, "Gah! What're you guys up to?" They cried out, "Don't go!" "Please!" "We don't want you to die!"
The voice that had called him earlier let out a hearty laugh, and stood over the fallen Geo, "You really have so little faith in him? Chin up! You forget who his father is!" The children reluctantly slid off of him, and Geo accepted the hand extended from his childhood friend, who was almost like a brother to him, to pull himself up, staring at him with a hurt look, "You told ALL of them?" Zachery smirked and punched Geo on the shoulder, "Oh, please, like I would've been able to keep them from knowing. The elders have special powers, y'know." He jokingly elbowed him, and Geo simply rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah." He bashfully faced what had become his family over the years he'd been there, "S-sorry for springing this outta nowhere like this. I just...I need to see the world like he did! I have to become a hunter!"
The Elder and his wife, a pair of older, wiser folk, walked through the crowding children. The male, a well-built man for his age, leaned down and placed a hand on Geo's shoulder, his tan face cracking into a smile, "We've known for years that you'd follow in the footsteps of your father, Geo." The woman, who looked not a day over 40, chuckled in that odd, hissing way she did, "Hss, hss, hss! You certainly have your father's eyes! Now that you've become a man, we expect great things from you." Geo nodded, a determined fire in his eyes, "I won't let you guys down." They both returned the gesture, backing away to allow the final farewell.
"Oh, Geo!" A sandy blonde woman passed the crowd and threw herself onto Geo, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him tightly. Geo yelped in surprise, "M-Ma, I know. You don't have to worry…" His guardian, his mother, looked up into his eyes. Even though they weren't connected by blood, the tears streaming down her face were a product of love, the love for who she considered her son leaving her side and going out on his own in the world. The young man embraced her for a moment, then pulled away, holding her at arm's length, "I'll come back someday. And when I do, I hope dinner is on the table." He grinned at her as she laughed, squeezing her son's hands for another moment before she, too, backed away.
Geo stepped onto the skipper and stood above his home, looking back on it with a smile, "I guess this is farewell, for now. I'm glad that I got to see you all one last time. You're the reason I have become who I am today, and I'll never forget that." He jumped up and pulled on the sail line, unfurling it just as a gust of wind came along, setting the boat onto the sandy shore, "The next time you see me, I'll be a legend!" Catching the wind in its sail, the skipper shot off into the sea of the desert, literally skipping across the sand a few times before settling into a solid pace. Geo didn't stop waving until the village became just a dot behind him, and he kept waving for minutes more, until he could no longer ignore the sound of his destiny awaiting him.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. No sense in letting the past hold me back, right? Dad?"