Chapter 1

I shifted uncomfortably in my bed, wishing I could get some sleep. I had never really had a problem getting to sleep before, but tonight was different. In two days I would be old enough to be considered a man.

It was my islands tradition to hold a big ceremony when males turned 15. It was a rather long ceremony that stretched from the night before the males' birthday and long into the night of the next day.

I had only seen one before in my life, and that was when Mesa had had his ceremony. It was tradition for male to find somewhere on the island, or neighboring islands, to build their homes. But since Mesa's parents had died, and left him the house he hadn't had to do that part of the ceremony.

That part was my main concern. I liked living with my grandmother, and little sister, and I wasn't sure how I would take to living alone.

Then there was the Question of where. It was a well known fact that there wasn't much room left on our small island, and Joel and Zill would still have to find their places when they hit the respective age for the ceremony.

There was really only four options that I had on where I was going to build my future home. The first, and probably most reasonable, was right on the cliff beside grandma's house. I could easily get up there if I build a ladder. The second choice would be on top of the summit over looking Mesa's house. It had a nice view, and it wouldn't be hard to keep the trees, that usually blocked the entrance to the summits, trimmed. The third would be in the forest on the other summit. Thought it was the most dangerous location, that was still on the island anyway, and I would have to have Orca teach me sword skills, as monsters were said to inhabit the area. The fourth option was, of course, to find a home on another island.

While I wasn't too keen on the fourth or third one, those seemed the most logical. After all I knew for a fact that Joel and Zill wanted to stay as close to their parents as possible, which would leave the first two for them. And I wasn't born on this island like they were.

"Big Brother?" a small voice whispered into the darkness, startling me out of my thoughts. I clasped my hands over my mouth to muffle the yell that had escaped my lips, my heart beating loudly in my chest.

I listened intently for a second, for any noise that would inform me that I had woken my grandmother. After a few more moments of silence, I sat up in my bed as quietly as I could, and looked over the end of my bed. "Aryll?" I responded back in a quiet whisper.

My little sisters' eyes snapped open and she smiled up at me. I glance over at Grandmas' still form, which lay beside Aryll, and noted the gentle rise and fall of her chest that told me she was still asleep.

"What exactly happens in a Hero's Ceremony?" She whispered, her usually bright blue eyes now black in the moon light lit room. She was a girl, so she wouldn't go through the Hero's Ceremony, instead she would go through another one on her eighteenth birthday. I wasn't sure of the details of that ceremony though…

I sighed and tried to remember all the things I had been told about it. "Well… It starts tomorrow as soon as the sun sets. I will have to survive a night outside on my own." For that I was really glad that I didn't have winter birthday. Orca had once told me that he knew someone when he was younger that had frozen to death. But then again you couldn't always trust what Orca had to say…

"Then in the morning, ill be given the clothes that grandma's been making the past couple of weeks. Then the fasting starts. I – "

"What's 'fasting'?" Aryll whispered, tilting her blond head to the side a bit.

"It's where you can't eat for a certain amount of time." I explained. "Tonight was my last meal until the night of my birthday."

Aryll gasped softly. "How horrible."

I only shrugged. There were worse things then going hungry for a day or two. "It's not that bad," I continued. "Because the night of my birthday there's going to be a big feast. That's what you're going to be helping grandma with in the morning and the next day. And while you're doing that, I have to help Abe, Mesa, Orca, and Sturgeon out with whatever they need." 'As well as look of wood to build my house' I added on silently. I wasn't sure if Aryll knew just yet that I wouldn't be living with her anymore….

"Sounds boring…" Aryll commented.

Grandma shifted then, turning her head to the side and fixing me with a tired gaze. I gasped and quickly flopped down on my bed, even though I knew I had already been caught.

"Go to sleep children. We all have busy days ahead of us. Especially you Link." Grandma's tired voice drifted up to me, and I nodded, even if she couldn't see me.

"Okay, sorry grandma!" Aryll chimed back, and after that she was quiet.

I drew the blanket up to my shoulders and turned onto my side, gazing at the glowing embers in the fire pit. My thoughts from earlier once again entered my head. I'd have to let Orca know of my decision in the morning. There was no way I could leave the island, or my grandmother and sister behind, and no way I would make Joel or Zill live in the forest. So it looked like I would have to go with the third option.

I was also going to have to tell Aryll that I would no longer live with her and grandma. But I wasn't too good at breaking news to people, let alone to my own sister, so maybe I could have grandma do it…

I sighed and bit my lip. I turned towards the wall, and brought the blanket over my head hoping that the immediate darkness would stop my raging thoughts and help me get to sleep.

It didn't work as good as I hoped it would, but soon enough I was able to close my eyes and drift off to sleep.

~/~

"Hurry it up boy! I need that floor cleaned before Sue-Belle comes back!" Sturgeon's shrill voice cut through the air like a blade.

I sighed softly and resisted the urge to pout. I hadn't even been here for two minutes and he was already yelling at me. "Yes sir!" I called back respectfully, and grabbed the broom from its place beside the door.

Stifling a yawn, I set to work sweeping the floor. I hadn't been able to get much sleep last night, maybe three four hours at the most, before grandma woke me up to start the day. She had shooed me out of the house as soon as I had gotten dressed in my usual attire. It was then that I had met up with Sue-Belle, who was out on her usual trip to get water from the well. She told me that Sturgeon needed me to sweep his house.

It wasn't unusual for Sturgeon or Orca to ask me to clean their houses. Though Sturgeon asked more then Orca, because he didn't want to be a burden to his granddaughter all the time. I was more then happy to help the two brothers out whenever they needed it, so it didn't bother me.

I bent down to pick up several papers that had dropped off his desk, and glanced them over a bit in feigned interest. Most of his work didn't interest me, or was beyond able to read as his penmanship wasn't the best.

His desk was scattered with stacks of papers, and I was unsure of where the ones in my hands went. Sturgeon was very picky about the placement of his papers.

I bit my lip and glanced over at him. He was currently standing on his balcony, enjoying the fresh morning air of the ocean. "Umm… Sir?" I called his attention.

He turned towards me, his wise eyes gazing indifferently at me. "Yes, yes, what is it boy?" He snapped kindly.

I held the papers in my hands up. "Where do I put these?" I asked, looking back at the piles on his desk.

"What do they say on them?" Sturgeon asked, the hand not on his large cane stroking his long beard.

I glanced down at the first paper in my hand, and squinted. "'Sturgeon's One – Point Lessons'" I quoted, and flipped through them. "I have Lessons four, eight, two and ten."

"Ah confound it!" Sturgeon fumed, his giant head turning red in anger, as he stomped his foot on the ground. "He knows damn well how important those papers are to me!" He continued, making his way over to me and snatching the papers out of my hands. If he was this mad he must be talking about Orca, who was about the only one who would mess with Sturgeons' papers anyway. "I'll take care of these, you just keep sweeping lad."

I nodded quickly. "Yes, sir." I said, grabbing the broom again, and picked up where I had left off.

~/~

By the time I had managed to sweep all the dirt and dust out of Sturgeons' house, Sue-Belle had made it back from her trip to the well.

"Good morning again, Link." She called out to me, as she neared the latter that lead up to Sturgeon's part of the house.

I smiled at her, wondering, not for the first time, how she could carry a heavy jar full of water on her head. "Morning. Do you need help getting that up here?"

"Oh please, it's always hard getting this up there." She said, getting close to the ladder. She lifted her other hand, and heaved the vase high over her head. I leaned down and quickly maneuvered it onto the wood planks. It was a lot lighter then I had expected it to be…

I waited for her to climb up the ladder, before I lifted the jar up. "Where does this go?" I asked, moving into the house.

"On the balcony," She said, bending down to grab the broom.

I nodded quickly, and made my way carefully to the balcony. While I wasn't normally clumsy, it was times like this that I was.

Thankfully I was able to make it to the balcony without tripping and I set the jar down on the wooden planks. Heaving a sigh of relief I went back into the house. "Okay, sir, is there anything else you need?" I asked, hoping that he wouldn't. I still hadn't been able to speak to Orca yet, and I needed to do that as soon as possible.

Sturgeon waved a hand in the air, too focused in his papers to really notice me. "No, no, you may go." He dismissed me.

I nodded, and made my way out the front door, but Sue-Belle stopped me before I could get to the ladder. "Link wait!" She cried suddenly. I turned to look at her, curious about what she might want.

She turned and picked up something off of the desk right by the front door. She made her way over to me and handed me a red rupee. "Here you are. Thank you for helping out around here."

My eyes widened, and I quickly shook my head. "No its fine, I do it because I want to. Not because I wanna get paid!" I said quickly. I wasn't used to having people giving me money. It was usually something I happened to stumble upon, like on ledges and in the grass.

"Oh but I insist!" She said, grabbing my hand and placing the rupee in it. "You do so much around here for all of us. And if you're uncomfortable with receiving it, just give it to your grandma." She moved back into the house and shut the door in my face before I could try and give it back to her again.

I sighed and glanced at the rupee in my hand, feeling a little guilty. I shrugged it off and slid it into my pocket. "T – Thank you!" I called out, hoping she could hear me through the door.

I turned around and climbed down the ladder. I would give the rupee to grandma later, when I got the chance, but I had to go speak to Orca about my decision to live in the forest.

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Phew… that took a while… If you have questions don't be afraid to ask! Reviews are always welcome!