When I woke up, brother was sleeping at the table, head in hands. I shook my head. When would that idiot stop pushing himself so hard? I slid out of bed with a yawn and went to make breakfast. I'm no chef, but mother had taught us both how to cook. She never thought I would get a wife, I was too hardheaded. I glanced over at Avis, who was slowly waking up. I smiled. Brother would easily get a wife, he was kind and didn't look too rugged like me. "Morning Aris!" Brother said cheerfully, standing up and stretching. "Good morning!" I replied back, grinning. His cheerful attitude was refreshing, especially after months of only an old grumpy blacksmith and his stuck-up customers.
Avis grinned. "Ready to go, Aris?" I nodded and glanced nervously at the two packs sitting on the counter. We were finally about to leave our childhood home, the little house in the middle of the huge woods. I finished my breakfast and slung the pack around my back. It was heavy, but I had been lifting anvils and swinging hammers. The pack felt as heavy as a feather pillow. I looked at my brother critically. He didn't look very strong, how could he carry the pack the distance we had to go? I reached for his pack, but Avis grabbed it before I could. "Ah, ah!" Brother smirked. "I'm no weakling! I haven't been just sitting around bored you know!" He shouldered the pack with ease and grinned at me. Avis could be as stubborn as a mule sometimes. He was soon to be a very sore mule. I shook my head and looked around one last time before stepping outside. We started walking east, not once looking back.
One month later
I laid out my bedroll and began making a fire while my brother started getting out ingredients for a stew. I glanced at the setting sun. The colors danced in the sky, reds, oranges, and yellows. The sky looked like the fire at my feet, and I wondered how it had been for our parents to die surrounded by the colors of the beautiful setting sun. I shook my head sadly and looked into the distance. We had passed through numerous small villages, but none of them had seemed to be a good home for us. We had heard about a large city to the south, and were heading towards it. We had walked about sixty leagues since leaving our old childhood home, so we had to be close by now. I estimated two leagues and brother estimated four.
I smiled to myself as I thought about my brother, he had surprised me in more ways than one. Avis had carried his pack the entire time and never complained, even though he was quite a bit weaker than me. He had also proven to be an excellent traveler, talking bandits out of robbing us twice. He loved the countryside, and he was at home in the woods. He had often insisted to go out of our way to walk under trees instead of on the bright open plains. The sky sank slowly into a deep blackness and stars started appearing, one by one, turning the blackness into a beautiful landscape dotted with small pictures, pictures that had stories. Da had always taken us out on clear nights like this and told us the stories of the stars. "Dinner! Come on and eat brother!" Avis's words interjected my thoughts. I walked over to him and ruffled his hair, suddenly grateful for the company.
The bandits attacked as we were asleep. One moment we were dreaming of the stars and sunsets, the next we were jerked awake and pinned to the ground. I struggled as hard as I could, but stopped as they held a knife to my throat. I glared angrily as they went through our packs. I glanced over at Avis, who was chatting with one of the guys and smiling, trying to save our lives by getting the men to like us. I saw the fear in his eyes, and wondered how the hell his voice wasn't shaking. Avis suddenly turned to look at me. "Isn't that right, Aris?" I stared blankly. "What?" One of the men snorted. "That idiot wasn't listening." Avis looked hurt. "My brother isn't an idiot! He just doesn't have much of an attention span." The man smirked at me. "I can tell." I glared at him and sighed. Clearly this was going to be a very long night.
The leader of their small group walked up, carrying what little valuables we had. "Well guys? Have you made your decision?" The men looked at each other and one spoke up. "This one here," he said, pointing to Avis, "We should take with us. He'd make a good con man. The other one we should kill." We both stared at him. Avis a con man? He would never be able to do it! He was way too kind to do anything cruel, and conning people out of their life savings was very cruel. The leader looked at the man in surprise. "Take on another person? We haven't done that in a while. I will trust your judgement, however." He untied Avis, who immediately scrambled up and stood in front of me. "Don't hurt him! Please! I normally would rather die than do anything like con people. If you spare him though, I promise to help you in any way that I can! Just please, don't hurt my brother!"
I looked at Avis in surprise. "Avis, what do you-" He cut me off with a glare. "Quiet Aris." I stared at him in shock. He had never been like this in the years I had known him. The men looked at Avis carefully. The leader looked at the man. "Is he worth it?" The man nodded, sealing Avis's fate. They untied me and started walking off. I saw Avis turn and wave tears in his eyes. I was in too much shock to go after them. I had never expected this to happen. Never.