-Peace, Land, and Bread-
Times were good. I lived in a peaceful village with my parents and younger sister. The village wasn't very big, only a few other families lived in it. We weren't rich, but we had enough, and we didn't need anything else. My father was a big, burly man. He was a craftsman by trade. He was teaching me so that I would one day be able to take over the family business. My mother was short, with long green hair, and big blue eyes. She was kind, sweet, and a bit overprotective at times. But she meant well, and she kept the family in order. My sister, what can I say about her, there is so much I could. She was short, with thick brown hair, and deep brown eyes that she could use to get out of trouble with a big, puppy dog style look. She was a little bratty, but what sisters aren't? We shared a close bond, and we were friends as well as siblings.
However, one day, everything changed. It was a day like any other day. The sun was shining, and the air was warm, with a cool breeze blowing through the window of our cottage. My father was currently teaching me how to craft a table. I was sanding the legs, when it happened all of a sudden. First, I heard a sound like rumbling thunder. I ran outside, and I saw a massive group of soldiers on horseback riding towards me. I immediately thought of our own army, of whom I had heard many tales of heroic actions and impossible feats.
"Dad, are those the Renais cavaliers?" I asked.
"No, son. They aren't of Renais, but I think that they are of Grado. There is nothing to worry about, although I do wonder why they are here. Maybe they are escorting the prince, for he is a good friend of the Prince Ephraim and Princess Eirika," he said, putting my mind at ease, since we had been longtime friends with the nation of Grado. In fact, we were allies with all of the nations on our continent. I had never known of war. However, I should have known something was wrong by the tone in my dad's voice, and by the way he continued to try to think of a good reason of why they would be here. Well, anyway, we watched them ride by, and then I went back into the small house to continue my work.
A day or two later, right after breakfast, a weary knight of Renais rode into our town. We offered him rest, seeing how tired he was, but he refused. I remember thinking that the boy was younger than me, for he looked like he was only twelve or thirteen years old. I asked him what his mission could be, since he was so young.
"Renais has fallen to the hands of Grado, that is all I can say," the blonde-haired lad replied, obviously in a hurry. He refilled his canteen in our village, we gave him some of my mother's fresh meat pie, and he rode off, leaving us all very puzzled.
The next few weeks were full of turmoil. A bandit group raided our village. They were the famous bandits lead by the wicked Bazba. I remember the flashing of their axes as they destroyed our homes. I remember the face of the bandit leading them. He was a large man, with a beard, and a heartless sneer upon his face. I remember how they killed my father and mother in cold blood. I saw my father brutally chopped down with an axe, when all he was holding was a small hammer, which wasn't a weapon that he would be able to use to defend himself. I saw my mother laying there, dying. I saw her fading away from this life. I wanted to run out there and help her, but I couldn't. I was frozen in fear, and this is what I remember most. That is what has haunted me to this day. I did nothing! I was too scared, and I just hid under a pile of hay with my sister. I have carried those images with me from that day forth.
Our village was destroyed. Only a few people survived the attack. We appealed to the government to help us, but they did nothing. Ever since the takeover, the government had become as heartless as the bandits. We were left alone, no one to protect us from the criminals. We tried to rebuild, we tried to farm, we tried to move on, but we got nowhere. Every time that we would get a little garden started to grow our food, it was destroyed by bandits.
Something had to be done. We were dying. I remember the look on my sister's face. I remember looking into her big brown eyes, and having to tell her that we had no food, and that she would have to go to bed hungry. I tried to forage for food, but I could never find enough. The situation was similar in other villages. Renais was in ruins. That is why we rallied together. We wanted the bandits to be stopped. We wanted Renais to be restored as a nation. . We just wanted some food to keep us alive. That is why took up the cry of "Peace, Land, and Bread".
The End.
Author's Note: Hope you like it. Thanks to Gunlord500 for the beta! It really improved the story. Also, I leave you with a quote: "There are two things in this world that are infinite: The universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not too sure about the former." -Albert Einstein