During the time Naruto had gone to his cabin to gather his stuff, War Chief Sona, the leader of the Nora Braves, a woman past her prime but deadly as ever, walked callously through her home village of Mother's Cradle. She is off duty from the patrol of this morning, after getting reports from the braves at the North Gate that the outcast Rost and two other outcasts had the reason why the troublesome Sawtooth ended with many Nora that lived outside the walls of the Embrace having to relocate to all three villages within the Embrace.
Sona had sent out braves to deal with the beast but many got injured and few casualties were taken, this Sawtooth seemed to have been able to go through all their strategies, she had planned on going to end the machine's terror this morning, but when word came that it was stricken down she was left to return the new weapon she had borrowed from Karst, the Tripcaster. Leaving her to feel a small twinge of a sting in her right palm, it had been weeks since she had a good fight, and with her age, she thought she might be getting rusty.
With her commanding stride, the Nora people of Mother's Watch greeted her with respect, being the first female War Chief in a while she deserved to be praised for her accomplishment.
Walking silently the Nora War Chief made it to her home, a cabin by the western entrance of the village, just up the hill a small road was formed, and on top lived Karst, the Nora merchant that Sona trusted when it came to finding the best weaponry. Walking up the wooden steps onto the porch, the woman dusted her shoes a bit, not wanting any dirt to get into her home.
Opening the door, she was met with loud snoring. It filled the entire cabin with great bellows, Sona's eyes canned for the source and it lay there on a bed busy rolling about, sighing at the sight she just put her Tripcaster beside the wall. Going to one of the cabinets she took out a pair of eggs, planning on making herself some breakfast, she took a corrugated iron pan from a shelve.
Settling it on the fire, she broke the eggs beginning to cook. After a while, eventually, she placed three plates onto the table, portioning out the eggs between the plates equally, she placed a loaf of bread in the middle of the table. Sitting down she turned to the bed. "Varl wake up, I made breakfast."
Slowly the man named Varl, turned to face his mother, flickering his eyes a bit, he sat upright on the edge of his bed, stretching his back and yawning out of control. He felt a delightful rest as his stretch worked out well, returning his arms to the natural position, he got up to walk up to the table, and he pecked his mother's forehead as he sat across her.
"Thank you, Mother, for the wonderful meal." the man stated about to dig in Sona cleared her throat as Varl sighed looking at her. "I taught you better, Varl. Now say grace."
"Yes, mam." the man replied as he closed his eyes. "All Mother we thank you for the food, we thank you for protection and resurrection for without you're guiding light we would be lost. All said and done we thank you."
"We thank you," Sona added agreeing with what Varl said as they began to eat. "So how were you patrol?" Sona questioned as Varl looked at her, his eyes said it all. "I missed my bed all night long," he stated. "Any trouble?"
"No, quiet as usual, but there were movements just in the distance, I think it's those bandits once more, they seem to be getting more of a nuisance every time."
"How much of a nuisance?"
"Word is from one of the scouts I sent, they have made a camp right by Devil's Thirst, approximately a bunch of them took shelter there, if we attack their settlement, it will rid our lands of their tyranny."
"Well, I have been getting reports that people have been robbed."
"Well those reports didn't say the whole story mother, those people were stripped of their clothing to the point they were forced upon and their necks slit wide open, so much blood has been spilled on our roads, traveling from the Embrace to Mother's Crown is harder than before. Survivors say they hide in the shadows, waiting for the right time to strike, probably when they rest and make a fire, is when they attack, they're filth not needed in the Sacred Lands Mother, please we need to deal with this problem before they spread like a plague."
Sona hummed a bit and eyed her son, she could see the anger in his eyes, boiled up with a lot of hatred. "I see your point, Varl. We must deal with these bandits as a priority, but we'll do it after the Proving."
"After the Proving?! Why can't we go now!"
"Because my men are still recovering from the recent Sawtooth Attacks. I visited the infirmary in Mother's Watch, many of them are with their loved ones praying to All Mother as we speak, hoping to be able to heal nicely. I can't just take remnants of my men to fight bandits, like you said we'll be running into a settlement filled with them, it's too risky. The morale is dimmed very low right now, I plan to use the Proving as a way to boost morale."
"While you're boosting morale, more of our people are getting slaughtered. It's better if we just cut them down before more lives are taken!" Varl retorted. "Don't you hear me, boy! I can't just send in braves without having no intel."
"But as War Chief, you must protect the people from our tribe."
"And that's exactly what I am doing, my men need to be with their families in their time of rest, I can't start an extermination campaign right now."
"You're using the attacks as an excuse!" Varl shouted "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I'VE SEEN! WHILE I WAS INVESTIGATING THE KILLINGS, I FOUND A GROUP OF THEM RELAXING BY THE FIRE OF A CAMP. BESIDE IT I SAW THE BODIES OF NORA CHILDREN AND MOTHERS! MANY OF THEM! THE BEHEADED HEADS OF THEIR FATHER ON SPIKES, BEING HELD LIKE TROPHIES!" Varl began berating all the things he saw when he had been sent to protect the roads.
"THE MOST VULGAR THING WAS WHEN I CHECKED THE BODIES OF THE CHILDREN, THERE WERE MARKS OF THEM BEING FORCED UPON! CHILDREN OF ALL THINGS! DON'T YOU GET IT, WOMAN? THIS IS A PLAGUE AND YOU WANT A FEW MEN TO DRINK TEA AND PLAY HOUSE!" A massive echo of a slap to the face filled the house.
Sona had jolted out of her seat and slapped Varl's mouth shut. "Don't you dare call me 'woman' again! I am your mother, I brought you into this world and I will take you out, do you hear me boy!" the deadly glare sent at Varl made the man shiver and regret raising his voice.
"I...I'm sorry Mother, it's just we must do something." Varl made sure his voice remained soft, as he rubbed his cheek. "I understand you're concern Varl, as well am troubled by this. As War Chief I hold the job to protect everyone in our tribe, the expectations on my shoulders are more than you can understand, but just know I am trouble, I may not show it but I feel it inside." Sona explained to Varl.
"The reason I don't want to send in my men right now is that if they heard what you just told me, they'd pick up their bows not 100% ready for battle and it would lead to them dying."
"So you plan on lying to them that everything is okay?"
"Those are the challenges of being a leader, to protect your people, you must first protect themselves from their actions, just think what would they do if I told them this."
Varl thought for a moment and she was right, it would lead them to their deaths. "Mother...I...I didn't know you had to deal with such situations, I'm deeply sorry for my rudeness earlier, forgive me." he bowed his head in shame, to think his mother dealt with such ultimatum situations day in and out was hard to digest.
"Raise your head Varl, you are forgiven but as your punishment, you will wash the dishes." Sona continued to eat as Varl nodded. "I understand." the pair continued to eat till the door was swung open. "I'm back," Vala stated as she sat in between Varl and Sona. "A bit cold...but edible." she had taken a piece of bread and egg into her mouth. "So are you ready for the Proving?" Varl asked his little sister.
"Ah huh, been so pumped I needed to take a little stress out on some watchers."
"The poor watchers, to see your face before death I wouldn't wish it on my enemies," Varl stated with a smirk, as Vala took offense to that. "What you need to do is stop belittling me and find yourself someone, with your lonely ass."
"Language." Sona being the parent stated. "Sorry, but it's true how long have you been after Marea, Varl? It's been like what ten years now?"
"Yeah, so what? I asked you so many times to hook me up, but you said I'd be a distraction."
"You are a distraction, she was working to being a captain for Mother's Crown. She didn't need you to get all clingy for attention."
"I am not clingy, though I do agree with you saying I'm a distraction, right Mother?" Sona just looked at Varl, with no expression. "Don't bring me into this, I just want to tell you that I'm not getting any younger and I don't want to be a grandmother that's grey and wrinkly."
"Well, you're going to wait for a while Mom, for Varl here is too scared."
"I am not scared!" Varl answered very quickly. "Look you're already being defensive."
"Well, I don't want you to spread lies."
"Well if they are lies, then how about we make a bet? Next time you see Marea, if you tell her how you feel, I'll owe you some shards and if you chicken out you owe me some shards." hearing the bet Varl smirked. "Easy, shards I'll make in my entire life."
"We'll see about that." at that time Sona had gotten up from her chair. "Say Vala, where's my bow?" Vala pointed to the chest in the corner. "I put in there." retrieving her bow, Sona took the tripcaster. "I'm going to return this to Karst, I'll be right back. Varl remember your punishment." with that she left leaving Vala with a question, turning to her brother she asked.
"What punishment is she talking about?"
"It's nothing." Varl replied leaving Vala even more intrigued. "Varl, what did you do?" the older Nora simply got off his chair taking his and mother's plate he went to the bucket of water his mother had set, for the purpose of cleaning.
"I might've raised my voice to her," he stated as Vala looked shocked. "How are you still alive!? What were you thinking?" she seemed surprised by the answer. "We we're in a discussion, okay. But everything is fine, I apologised and accepted I was out of line."
"What exactly did you say?"
"I might've told her how to do her job properly." there was silence for a second. "I really don't know how you're not dead right now."
'Me neither.' Varl thought since it didn't matter that he was now a young adult, his mother still had the strength to knock him down a size.
To say his day was a big nuisance was half the truth, his day started off very poorly, but luckily Karst was able to finish cleaning his cabin in time, already he had packed all of his goods into his trusty wagon and had a nice hot bath. Ready to leave the man locked his home. "Hello, Karst." the man turned to be met by the War Chief's gaze. "Oh hello there War Chief Sona, have you come to get Vala's prayer lantern?"
"Yes, and to return your tripcaster." the woman gave the merchant his weapon, who smirked. "I'm sure it did its job flawlessly?"
"I didn't have the chance to use it, sadly it would seem Rost and two outcasts beat me to it, well from what the guards at the North Gate told me."
"Rost and two outcasts? You don't say!" Karst acted surprised "My, my that's bad luck, but don't worry if you need another test run, you can always come back."
"I'll think about it." putting the tripcaster in his wagon, he rummaged through the goods till he took out the deflated lantern. "Here you are," he handed it to Sona. "I also added some gas on the fuse so that it's easy to light." hearing that Sona was thankful.
"Thank you, Karst. Here's your payment." she gave the man a small bag filled with shards. "Why thank you, now I must be on my way to Mother's Heart, need to set up shop before sundown, good day War Chief." the woman watched as Karst lift up his wagon by the handles and push it down the road leading to Mother's Cradle.