The Girl in the Woods

I sat, toes pressed into the sand and head in hands, as I watched Jaydan stomp the hard earth around him, bringing up pieces of rock and throwing them towards boulders and trees, where the cracked and shattered and fell to the ground. His hands moved from side to side in harsh, solid motions, telling the rocks what to do as they floated midair by his manipulation. His legs were bent and his stance was wide, and his dark green eyes were glowing with concentration. I let out a long, loud sigh, hoping to get my elder brother’s attention. He paid me no mind, continuing his rigid movements. I sighed again, and was ignored once more.

“Jaydan,” I sighed his name finally, louder and longer than before. The noise came out more like a groan than a sigh.

He paused, and I could see a twinkle of irritation in his eyes, the concentration disappearing. “What?”

“Can we please do something else? I’m tired of watching you train,” I complained. Usually I could sit and watch him manipulate rocks and fragments of earth for hours on end while I dreamed of what Keeper I would become one day. But today something was itching at me, wanting me to move around and pace back and forth.

Jaydan looked slightly confused, as if he was thinking the same thing I was. “Uh yeah,” he replied, crushing the rock he held midair into three pieces and twirling them above his hand. “What do you want to do?”

I thought for a moment, trying to come up with something that would keep me moving and keep my mind off of tomorrow. “We could head up to the old pine tree by the house and climb it,” I suggested. 

He shrugged. “Okay, lead the way,” he replied. I stood, stretching the soreness from my shoulders. The two of us began to make the long walk back to the house, and I tilted my head back to watch the trees wave their long branches above us. The silence between us was filled with the rustling of the lime green leaves and the gentle buzzing of insects floating around our faces.

“You’re nervous about tomorrow, aren’t you?” Jaydan asked suddenly, breaking the peaceful quiet as if he had just dropped a glass cup.

I stiffened and tried to quicken my pace so we could get to the tree and not have to talk about anything. “Of course not, why would you say that? It’s not like it’s some huge deal that in the end decides the rest of your life for you,” my tone was a bit more sarcastic than I wanted it to be and I bit my bottom lip.

“That’s exactly what it is,” Jaydan replied. After a brief moment, he continued in a thoughtful voice, as if he didn’t notice my tone. “It’s okay to be nervous, Arieya. The Keeper Ceremony is a big deal, but you have to trust that Kiowa will make the correct decision in deciding what type of Keeper you should be.”

“Iriena says it’s all about genetics. Dad’s and Earth Keeper, you’re an Earth Keeper. Mom’s a Life Keeper and she’s a Life Keeper. Is there any doubt that I will be a Life Keeper as well?” I ask. Almost everyone took after their parents when receiving their ability to manipulate one of the six elements. And my mother’s family was stock-full of gardeners, healers, and landscapers, all careers I wanted nothing to do with.

“There’s a fifty-fifty chance you’ll be an Earth Keeper if it works that way then,” Jaydan pointed out. He wasn’t a true believer in the genetics theory, but rather in the ‘always get what you want’ theory. That was easy for him though, he got to be what he always wanted.

“And do what with my life? Build houses? Shape rock sculptures? No thanks,” I would have preferred being an Earth Keeper over a Life Keeper any day, but their situation for women wasn’t any better. “It’s easy for you. You got to be the Keeper you wanted to be, and you’re able to try out to be a Keeper Warrior.”

Jaydan didn’t have a reply for that. He thought it was just as stupid as I did that women couldn’t be Keeper Warriors. “There’s always a possibility�"“ he began after a moment, but I cut him off.

“Don’t even. There’s no way in hell I’d ever be Kiña,” I said. He was silent, and I knew he agreed with me. Women Fire Keepers only came once every few thousand years, when the Kingdom of Alaurien was in absolute danger. 

We walked in silence the rest of the way to the tree, and I let myself enjoy the grass between my toes and not having to think about the ceremony. I tilted my head back as the tree emerged over us, reaching my arms up and grabbing the nearest branch. I pulled myself up to stand on the branch, and continued this process until I was high enough to see over the rest of the trees. I straddled the branch I was sitting on and closed my eyes as the wind threw itself through my auburn hair. Something in my head was screaming at me to stay here forever and forget about the ceremony the next day. But I knew my parents would never let me do anything like that in the first place.

*Unfinished*