There is a young man drowning deep deep in the ocean, He falls deeper into the depths each second he passes. His short brown hair with a ponytail around the back of it tied with a small string. His brown eyes shot open and flailed around in desperation, his light green and dark green shirt and pants respectively turning darker and darker as he dragged into the depths.
His breath sticks, bubbles keep coming out but it feels like the air dried up long ago and was replaced with water and salt to burn and drown the lungs. He flails his toned arms and legs in desperation as he tries to swim or climb upwards to no avail. His vision is going darker and darker by the second. But as it's about to go black, he sees something shine from above.
It slinks downwards like a snake, the shining threads dancing in the depths like it owns the place, and as it grows closer it becomes known. It's a hook, a fishing hook made from an old but well maintained reddish metal. My mind tells me to give up, but my body grabs for the hook in a desperate last struggle for survival. The darkness grows heavy on my body, as my finger manages to gently grab and pull down upon the hook before it all goes black.
Justus would shoot awake to the sounds of bubbling water and footsteps coming from the other side of the door, The sounds of a slow paced walk, grass and dirt crunching under the feet of a familiar presence. He gets up and stretches leisurely, while the footsteps grow louder and as they grow the loudest the wooden door to the shack opens with a creak. The old man has arrived at last, He looks like he had a good time like usual. He gives his goofy looking old man smile at me and simply asks in a slightly drunken tone "Is the food done?" to which Justus would look over at the steaming cooking pot, floating in it are small chunks of reddish grey meat and Kar-roots. The salty, gamey and sweet smell would waft around the room of the Kar-root stew, the sweetness of the Kar-roots overpowering the other smells after a bit of time passes. "Looks like it's done, old man." Justus would say, getting up and walking over to the pot and grabbing the wooden spoon on the counter to taste it. He would experience a salty broth with a nice hint of sweetness that lingers on the tongue. "The salted meat kind of wrecks the taste of the root." Justus would state before dishing up two bowls, one for each of them and a wooden spoon to eat it with. He would reduce the heat of the fire to avoid burning or boiling too much more of the leftover stew, but keeps it on a bit to keep it warm. They would enjoy the nice gamey meat and sweet root stew, sipping away at it over the next bit of time in silence. When Justus finished, he looked over at the old man, who just about managed to finish half of his bowl. "The first meal back on shore after a voyage should be savored." He states solemnly when he sees Justus looking over, Justus doesn't say anything but simply smiles in response at the old man eating his stew. He sits back down and his smile drops a bit, He starts thinking again while waiting for the old man to finish and once again he starts thinking about what the old man said. He starts thinking about what the old man said and then he remembers his dream from earlier. He was drowning and he still remembers how it felt just a bit deep down, but he doesn't remember much else.
The old man finishes his bowl, looking down and cupping his hands together in prayer for another good meal. He looks over to Justus, who seems to be deep I thought. His smile has faded and instead there sits worry and uncertainty. He gently puts his spoon in the bowl, turning his chair gently before placing his hand on Justus's shoulder. This takes Justus out of his own head and back to reality, and he turns to see the concerned look of the old man before him once more. "Justus, I know that you probably have doubts about what to do in life." He says in a gentle but strained tone. "I am… Hesitant to let you leave, like your father. I wish you could stay here and take over the Heffer. " He says his voice starting to falter a bit as he seemingly waits to find the words for a few moments before continuing "However, soon we will need to go to deeper waters. For the Shallows are running out." He continues, tears welling up a bit in his eyes. "If you go with me to the deep, I fear you will not return with me intact. However, to send you off to war is also not a safe sentence, for your father went off to fight the mana creatures back and never returned." He says calmly but the tears are forming and falling, This makes Justus start to tear up at the old man's words. He doesn't understand why hes speaking of this now but he intends to hear him to the end before answering. The old man continues, slowly forming words and speaking. "But you only get so many paths in life, my boy. Some paths can unlock others but right now I can only see one. I talked to the captain of the Strawson militia and I signed you up for service." The old man falls backwards into his seat and puts his hands to his eyes and wipes them off with his sleeves. Justus would stare in shock after hearing that, His anger and resentment boiling to the top as he shouted out. "Gramps! I don't want to leave to go fight! Why can't I stay here with you?! We can go out to the depths together! We can watch each other's backs like normal! Why can't I come with you!?" He is standing now, shouting full force with tears streaming down his cheeks at the old man he calls his only family. The old man is sobbing and covering his eyes, but he still manages a shaky but resolved response. "Because we are going somewhere more dangerous than war, Boy. You might survive on the front lines or you might meet an early end, but out in the depths the risks are too great. Few come back and fewer come back with their minds intact." Justus would turn around and kick the wooden door to the shack, his boot thumping harshly against the old creaky door. His fists are balled and shaking and his mind is going red. He pulls himself back from leaving now and asks in desperation. "Do you… Do you have to go that far…? Can't we just fish in the shallows for a little bit longer, Gramps?" He says with sheer sadness and desperation in his voice. The old man would finish his sobbing mess, getting up and straightening himself out. Tears still in his eyes as he wipes the tears from Justus's eyes only to respond calmly but shakily. "Orders from the Outer Lord… All Active Fishermen in the Western Region are to go Dredge the Depths, while the majority of able bodied men are sent to the draft… You and Me both know what happens when we refuse an order from the Outer Lord." He says with a calm sadness in his voice.
"You will go tomorrow to the town centre, A man will meet you there by the name of "Lance" and he will take you to the caravan that is travelling around to grab the fresh recruits. Please, do not do anything reckless and please live a long life." Those words lingered in my head for the rest of the night, I didn't get much sleep that night either.
Dawn breaks and Justus awakes from my short and poor slumber. Justus quickly gets up and stretches, looking around the room to notice the door is open and the old man's bed is empty. Justus stressed all night and went over the old man's words in my head hundreds or even a thousand times, until sleep finally took him. Maybe he's come to terms with it, or maybe he just managed to embrace my new future, but now is not the time. Justus would get up and get dressed in his nicest looking hemp shirt and pants. One of the villagers made a light blue dye from some shells that were found along the sand a few years ago. Blue was the big thing in Salt Village for a few months before it finally died down. He got dressed quickly, and walked out to the main room of the shack to notice a wooden board, a copper dagger and a Roll of bread on the table. "Do your best, Come back alive." It was carved there hastily. I put the board down on the table, flip it over and proceed to carve in "You better come back too, Gramps." on the other side before grabbing the dagger and leaving. He closes this door for what feels like it will be the last time.
Justus walks briskly down the path to the village, and eventually the dirt path leads onto the old cobblestones of the centre proper. There is a man, dressed with a Copper breastplate, copper hat and a copper tipped spear posted up outside of the the Little Salt Tavern. He would catch Justus's Eye, walking over briskly. "Are you waiting for a new recruit for the militia?" He asks carefully. The soldier would look down at the man wearing blue and scoff at him before grabbing him by the arm and leading him down the cobblestone pathway. They would walk like this for a bit, neither of them saying a word until the Caravan pops up below the hill. "Keep going towards the Wagons, The captain is waiting for you and a few others. You will know him when you see him" The soldier says flatly before walking off back towards his previous position at the tavern. Justus, while a bit confused, would walk forward. He would pass a few similar looking men both old and young alike just waiting for the caravan to continue onwards. Some of the older looking men are holding copper or even bronze weaponry, while most of the younger guys are holding makeshift weaponry like a pitchfork or a kitchen knife. He himself merely had a copper dagger tucked away in the back of his pants, so he wasn't much better off then the rest.
Justus would finally reach the front, where three wagons are sitting with horses leashed off to the size grazing out in the field. Two of the wagons have covers made from some sort of dark brown cloth, while the third was open and filled with sealed crates and barrels in the back. He looks to the left as he joins the line, there are three or four young men ahead of him, the Captain is the one Justus assumes is ahead reading out names. He just looks around and listens to what's being said "Maybe I can learn something" Justus thinks to himself as he listens intently. "Hannes, Sixteen, Five foot Seven, One Twenty Pounds. Smith apprentice. You will join the Rear Line as a Blacksmith. Now go quickly and grab your orders from Quartermeister Kleig." The man would say in a low gruff voice with an ounce of authority. "Yes, Captain, Sir!" The man in the front would say quickly in response, He has short brown hair and Green eyes, and he is wearing a hemp shirt and pants, same as most people in line. He would almost run from the line back behind me. "Next!" The captain would say in his gruff voice. "Hey! You from here?" A young man with a mix of silver and black hair and light green eyes ahead of me would try to say to the man ahead of him. The man ahead of him, with black hair looking at him from behind, wouldn't even turn to look nor respond and completely ignore the man behind him. He would sigh and turn back to look at Justus. "Hello, are you from around here?" He asks Justus with a cheery smile. "Yeah, I live here.." Justus would respond in a cold tone. The man would seemingly be ignoring the tone Justus gave off, instead incredibly happy that someone actually spoke to him around here. "Nice village! My village was a lot more run down then this place. You all even got a nice stone path." He says quickly as he moves forward, the man ahead of him moving up to meet the Captain. "Yeah it's not bad, where are you from?" He asks with a cold tone still. The mans eyes would sparkle a bit as if he was asked if he wanted a gold coin. "I'm from the Capital, I came here to the Captain to join the Strawson Militia." He says eagerly. "Next!" The Captain would say gruffly, The silver and black haired man winking to Justus before walking forward to the Captain. This is where Justus gets a good look at who the Captain really is. He is wearing a half plate armor and leggings made from what looks like Bronze, and he even has a nice looking helmet to boot. "Dude must make some serious coin." Justus thinks to himself briefly before tuning back into the conversation. "Fifthteen, Five Foot Ten, Eighty pounds.. That's a bit low, but we can work with that. Say's here you used to… " The man would stop walking and would stare at the paper then back at the black and silver haired man before continuing instead. "You will be joining the Rear Line, but come speak to me privately later." He looks over to me and a few others nwo formed up behind me. "Dismissed." He states as the black and silver haired man simply says "Yes! Sir!" in an enthusiastic tone and walks off swiftly past the line to the rear. He meets eyes with Justus and winks one eye at him before running off. "Next!" He says, Justus walks forward nervously and simply stands there and looks at the Captain. The Captain looks down at Justus and frowns before looking at the block in his hand. "Justus, Five Foot Eight, One Twenty Pounds, Says you were a… Fisherman?!" He looks confused at the block and at you before continuing. "I thought you all left last night, but I suppose I can take you." He states dryly. "Yo are to join the Front line. Go up there and speak to the man with two feathers on his hat." He states while pointing up past the wagon. Justus would nervously yell "Yes, Sir!" before moving to the designated location past the wagons. He could feel the gaze of someone hitting the back of his neck, but he dared not turn around. He does what he is told and he walks forward nervously, walking past the three wagons.
Justus would walk forward, finally getting past the second covered wagon to find a thin man wearing some kind of gambeson around his torso and a thick type of cloth leggings. He is carving what looks like arrow shafts out of common wood and placing them in a thick cloth quiver with what looks like a hide or leather bottom section. He has a obviously hand made bow made from what looks to be a type of hardwood or dense common wood, though Justus can't tell which one. He would look up only after he finished the current arrow shaft and stored it in the quiver to the side. "Name?" He states coldly. "Justus, Sir." Justus would say nervously. He looks over at the bow again, it's darker than most woods. The man notices him looking at his bow, and simply picks it up and shows it to Justus. "It's made from hardwood from deep in the Bittergreen Forest." He states dryly. "If you want to be one of my Messengers, You need to be able to Run fast, Follow Orders and Shoot a Bow." He says harshly, while looking Justus up and down. "And from the looks of you, You haven't shot a bow in your life, nor are you a seasoned soldier… Can you even run?" He asks the question with a condescending tone. "Y- Yes Sir!" Justus says nervously, Not knowing what else to say. The man would look into his eyes for a moment then sit back down, picking up another piece of common wood to carve into another arrow shaft. "Show me you can run then. Run until I say to stop." He orders "If you stop before I say so, I won't accept you. Now go! Run laps around the Village." He states coldly and dryly, He has already started to carve the arrow shaft and seems distracted now. Justus would turn and start running around the Village, He was in good physical shape from consistently moving heavy barrels of fish and salvage for years, but he could only run for so long. Soon the caravan was ready to depart. He was however, not given orders to stop running, so he continued running as long as he could until finally he hit the dirt and couldn't get back up. Justus's heavy panting would be heard on the outskirts, he rolled over onto his back to see the sky. The sun was past noon. He had been running for a few hours already. He hits the ground in frustration, remembering what the man with the bow had said. He thinks to himself "If I can't make it here, maybe I could just go home." He starts to think deeper, thinking to himself that maybe he should go home. He was just a fisherman with his gramps for years and now he was sent off to do militia service, and he can't even follow a simple order? "Pathetic" He says out loud to himself in a low voice. He was laying there wallowing in himself when he thought of something. He thought of his gramps leaving and his words that he can open up more paths if he can manage to join. This frustrates him more but he manages to get himself up and he starts to run again. He can barely feel his legs and his breaths draw heavy, but he still continues to run. Eventually, he collapses and he blacks out from over exertion. He cannot see anything in the darkness, but his ears can still work somehow. He picks up a cold voice talking and an enthusiastic one answering "You wish to join the messengers?" The Bowman says coldly. "Yes! Yes! I've always wanted to be a great messenger! I can run, I can use a bow! Please let me try! Please!" The man from earlier in the line can be heard, speaking enthusiastically. "Are you sure? Someone like you doesn't have to see frontline combat." The Bowman says coldly again. "Yes, I'm sure of it." The enthusiastic man would say again. "And I'd like him as my partner too.." He states proudly. "Are you sure you want a Fisherman as your partner?" The bowman would state, in a cold and now annoyed tone. Before simply stating "Do what you like, You both report to me now. You will call me Sarge and only Sarge. Tell that guy when he wakes up." He states one last time in his cold tone before I hear the grass and stones moving and footsteps moving back. I hear a light rustling approaching me, as the rustling stops and gets lower as if he is crouching or sitting. "I wonder how you will turn out…" The enthusiastic man states in a lower voice. Then the sound goes to dark, and I'm back in the water once more.