Chapter 1
It was still early morning. The sun was already rising, but none of it's rays seeped through the thick trunks of the spruces surrounding me.
The snow crunched beneath me, with each step I took. Absolute silence reigned over the woods, it wouldn't last for long though. The certain sound of bones hitting against the ground reached my ears, and I pull out my stone sword.
I peek around some trees, looking for the source of the noise. They were definitely close, I could even hear their joints moving.
At the sight of the strays, I press my back against a spruce. The ghostly skeletons were gathered in a small group, their bows armed and on the ready. I knew that their arrows were dipped with slowness potions, so I had to be extra careful around these monsters.
I round the strays with as less noise as I can, to try and sneak up on them from behind like a creeper would. 'Silent like a creeper' as my people say. Creepers never let themselves be heard until they are ready to strike. It seems that they are better at it than I am.
Stepping on a twig, I accidentally alert them of my presence. The skeletons raise their bows, already heading to my direction. I press my lips in a thin line, realizing that I screwed up.
"Screw this.", I mutter, as I jump out from my hiding spot and with a battle cry, throw myself on the group. It wasn't hard to slay one, it took just about 3 blows to kill it. One down, three more to go.
I go for the one closest to me, and I kill it too, all while dodging the shots coming from the other two strays. Just moments after finishing it off, I feel a sharp pain in the back of my shoulder. I turn my head around just a bit to see the arrow stuck through my leather armor (my parents say that the others are still a bit too heavy for me).
I try to run towards the stray that was responsible for this, but I rather go in a medium pace. It seems that the slowness is already in action. It was a wonder I made it to dodge the other shots and even slay the third one.
I was about to go and get done with the final stray, but a iron sword got stabbed through the chest from behind, puffing into dust and bones. I look up to see Felix, my older brother.
He's just five years older than me. He's a redhead like me, with the same dark eyes. Except for the slight different facial features, one could have passed him for a male, older version of myself. We're siblings after all.
"Not bad, Petra. Not bad at all. But I see that you still don't apply the stealth techniques I showed you?"
I try to smile, even through the pain, especially as I shrug. "Eh, twigs. They are everywhere."
"I see... Still, you should be more cautious. If you just practice that little bit some more, you will perfect it eventually.", Felix said, grabbing my hurt shoulder.
"Owww... Watch it.", I hiss, wincing.
"What's wrong- Ohh, I see.", he says, spotting the arrow in my back. "The strays got you?"
"Yes."
"It must hurt something fierce... We better treat that."
"Indeed...", I mutter, reaching for the hurt area. My eyes widen a little at the red staining my fingers.
Felix sits me on a stump left from a cut tree. He inspects the damage for a while, drawing out some bandages from his inventory.
"Hold that for me.", he says, tossing them over to me. I try not to cry out as he testingly budges the arrow. "Sorry if I'm hurting you, we just need to evaluate if this is something we can deal with on the spot, or we need to go home and let someone more specialized to treat it."
I nod, feeling a little lightheaded.
"Nonetheless, we got to pull this out now. I will do it real fast. It will hurt, but just for a moment. Then it won't be that bad. Feel free to swear like a sailor. Just for this case. Alright?"
"Yeah."
"Ready?"
"I think."
"Three... Two... One..."
A strong tug and the arrow is out. I almost blacked out for a single moment.
"OWWW!"
"It's ok, it's ok. Are you alright?"
I didn't say something, and I opted to simply nod instead.
"Now, I need you-"
"To get the leather armor off.", I state weakly. "If we bandage it over the armor, it will have no effect. Dad taught me well."
"Right."
In less than 5 minutes we're done. Donning the armor again, I try to move my arm as less as possible. Felix said that he would apply some kind of painkiller, but he didn't think of bringing it with him at the time.
We walk back home. The sunrise painted the normally white snowy plains a orange colour, the sky transitioning from a dark blue to a lighter shade. By a pretty big ice lake surrounded by more spruces, there it was, our house.
A large two storey building with large windows, made mostly out of iron. Cold and imposing on the outside, but (somewhat) warmer on the inside. The guards at the entrance greet us shortly, letting us inside.
Felix drops me by my room after a short stop at the storeroom, and helped me with treating the wound. Luckily it was just mostly a flesh wound and that the arrow could have penetrated deeper, so it would heal fully. Just a potion of regeneration was all that it took and I was just fine.
The door to the room opened, a guard appearing.
"Master Felix, your parents wish you to be present at the meeting, in the main hall."
"I'm coming.", he said getting up from his spot next to me. I watch as he leaves the room, somewhat disappointed. I am the youngest in the family, and I have limited privileges as to what I can do other than the training. My parents, brother and soldiers are allowed to go out on fights to defend our home from the Ice nomads. I want to help my people too! I'm asking that much?
The guard who was still standing at the door, stares at me for a few moments. I notice that and give him a strange look.
"Well. Since you are thirteen now, you are considered old enough to attend the strategy meeting."
"Really?", I say, my face brighter than the Polar star.
"Just attend. You can't say anything without permission and whatever you say, it better not be stupid. You won't make a good impression."
"I will have that in mind.", I grin and run out of the room.
I make my way through the corridors, and find Felix heading to the main hall.
"Sis? What are you doing here?"
"The guard said I can attend the meeting too."
He sighs. "Alright, but I suggest you don't say anything. It will be a very serious meeting."
"He told me already. I will keep my mouth shut.", I smile.
"I hope you will."
Felix opens the big spruce doors to the main hall, the largest room in the building. In the far wall, was a map that covered the entire tundra, with various strategic locations pinned. Armor stands were set around the hall, donning sturdy armors. A table surrounded by chairs was in the middle of the room.
There were sat my parents and some of our best strategists. They all looked on as we entered the room. My mother seemed surprised at my presence here, but said nothing... Mostly because she couldn't. She had red hair and vibrant green eyes. It was hard not to miss the scars on her neck. Dad told us that even before me and Felix were born, she was badly hurt in a fight with the Ice nomads and because of it, she had lost her ability to talk.
My father frowned and cleared his throat. "Take a seat, kids". We immediately complied. My father was a pretty stout figure. Dark brown hair, dark eyes and a goatee. He looked a little different from the others in the clan, because he came from elsewhere. I'm not so sure from where in the world.
"Petra, I see you have joined us?", he said, raising a brow. I nod in response. "Well, it was about time."
Mother shot a look at him, and he immediately knew what she meant by that. I didn't and only knew when he directed towards me again. "Yeah, just a reminder, you don't interrupt, don't talk unless you're addressed to. And attend carefully. Everything you'll hear is very important. One day, when you finally gain some kind of rank in the hierarchy, you need to keep track of all the strategies."
I nod again and diverted my look again elsewhere. Strategies? I'm mostly one to come up with a plan on the spot. Thinking ahead was never quite my thing. Watching the meeting is something that I did anyways, because I indeed would become some high ranked person in the clan... no matter I like strategies or not.
Outpost Delta... Backup plan Lantern... Phalanxes... What are even these things? How was I supposed to know all these things? They make no sense! And obviously noone even got in the cope to explain them to the newcomer. Thanks fam!
"... Ice nomads have been sighted in our far outpost, where we get most of our iron resources. It is extremely important to keep the mines safe, so we are going to send some soldiers to help them out. Felix, you're going to be in charge of the mission. Keep in mind the tactics we talked about today, regarding defenses. We will prepare to leave tomorrow. Meeting dismissed!"
As everyone slowly left the room, I slowly near Felix and father who had picked up a conversation. "Dad, can I borrow you for a sec?"
"I'm listening."
"I heard how you talked about this defense thing for our mining outpost and I thought... Could I take place in this? So far I've only been practicing my fighting skills on mobs. I want to try the things I have learnt on actual targets that are actually intelligent."
"Petra, you know the rules. No taking place in operations, any kind of operation, until you're fifteen. Having-"
"But have you seen what I can do? I took down a pack of strays by myself!", a Felix clearing his throat made me change my choice of words. "By myself with very little intervention."
"And you got out of it unscathed?"
He knew?
"You thought I wouldn't get informed of your little incident? Also your brother has been informing me of your progress. While you're doing well at close quarter combat, you're not applying stealth tactics and you've been told over and over again how valuable they can prove. And if there's one thing sure, never take out your frustration and anger on your opponents. That makes good attacks, but leaves your defenses low. A good warrior always keeps their cool and stays focused on the battle.
"Besides... You didn't let me complete earlier. Having any kind of exceptional skills does not make you an exception to the rules. So, if you want to be a warrior till your fifteen years, Petra, keep practicing. Because you're not ready for this."
I roll my eyes, hoping that he wouldn't notice. These kind of sermons are getting tiring after several times and dad never seems to get tired of giving them. "Gee, I didn't have you as a overprotective dad.", I mutter.
"Did you just try to pull one on me, missy?"
I gulp, realizing the mistake. Dang, he's good! "I gotta do something now, talk to you later!", I say quickly, and getting away in one piece.
Dad said no. There's no point to ask mum, cause she would basically give the whole sermon again with just one glance, Felix would also say no too, cause he's always abiding by the rules, so there's only one thing I can do...
The author still insists on writing new stories while still being very busy with two other ones and doing fan art.Anyways my weird headcanon on Petra's backstory and I'm sure I have kinda confused you all, but all shall be explained in due time.