SWNOVELS Chapter 20
The day dragged on and Bart dragged with it. He skipped lunch and hadn’t seen Charlotte since their fight earlier. He wandered around what he thought to be the entire village without speaking to anyone for hours or engaging in any activities. On his journey through the small wooded population he saw many interesting things. He saw people hard at work, building different things out of wood and leaves. He saw kids playing in a field far out on the edge of the community. He found himself watching a group of men practicing wielding inside one wooden building over by the King’s tent. They were extremely talented at wielding the air and the earth alike but what surprised Bart the most was how they used vines as weapons. Often one man would challenge the other and they would duke it out with only wielding as their tools for fighting. In every battle, at least twice, someone would use a vine. Whether it was from a nearby tree or through the floorboards, a vine was used to try and subdue their opponent. It was amazing to Bart. After staring at them for a long time unnoticed, Bart found himself watching a guy instruct some younger men in martial arts. This entire village felt so close knit, which made Bart feel even more like an outsider. He wasn’t being greeted by anyone; in fact he was barely even being noticed. It irked him a little to feel so out of place and invisible.
After half the day had passed and the sun began to sink from its high seat in the sky, Bart found himself once again alone in his tent. There wasn’t much to do inside the tent except sleep really. He decided he wasn’t going to spend the entire night bored in his tent and he wasn’t ready to sleep either. So he made his way out to the fields where he saw children playing earlier. Out there, he found no tents or houses, just empty space surrounded by trees in the distance. Bart looked behind him at the village and no one paid him any mind as he headed further out into the field. He decided he wanted to practice some of his own wielding while he had the chance. If he ever wanted to get as good as those men he saw earlier, he would have to keep practicing. First he focused himself, which had become relatively easy with time. He could hear the birds chirping in the distance. He could easily hear the cries of a baby back in the village and he could also smell the vegetables that were being cooked in the same house. No wonder the baby was crying, no child likes to eat their vegetables, no matter how good they are for you. As Bart opened his eyes, they focused to near eagle sharpness. The vivid images would have been startling had Bart not become used to them by now. One thing that he wanted to learn was how to pick and choose when his senses were this sharp without the weakening of his other senses. He told himself to ask Victoria how to do it if he saw her again. He picked his hands up slowly and then called upon the wind. Like a dog responding to its owner, the wind came whistling to Bart’s fingertips and he began to command it. He could feel every single hair on his body being touched by it. When he told it to rise, it rose when he wanted it to dive, it dove. The more and more he practiced he could feel himself becoming very comfortable with it. The wind felt like a true friend in a time where Bart felt like he had lost his only one.
A good fifteen minutes went by before he decided to try and work on some of his weaker skills. He noticed a small rock on the ground near him. He focused on lifting it and then tried to turn it into a ball. At first it twisted and turned and then change but into a smaller rock. Then it turned into a bigger one, and then it returned to its normal size. In frustration he grabbed it and chucked it as far as he could.
“Well that won’t help you,” said a voice from behind Bart. He swung around, a little alarmed to see a girl, a little bit shorter than him but not by much standing there. She had on a long white skirt with a green tank top on. It was the same style of clothing Charlotte had been wearing just with different colors. She walked forward and the wind began to blow her long black hair in many different directions. Bart thought she couldn’t be older than sixteen.
“I didn’t know anyone was watching me,” Bart said, sounding embarrassed.
“I’ve been watching for quite some time,” the girl said with a smirk. “It’s nice to see a fresh face around here for once.” As she got closer the sun which had nearly completely retreated behind the horizon revealed her face. She was very pretty and her smile, which produced cute dimples in her cheeks, was sweet. “You are pretty good with wielding the wind,” she said. “A lot of people here would love to be as good as you with such a powerful tool.” Bart thought he might be blushing so he turned to look out at the field.
“I’m okay,” he said casually. “I haven’t been training that long to tell you the truth.”
“Well then I would love to see what you can do when you have some experience,” she said with a small giggle. “So what’s your name?”
“Oh, my name’s Bart” he said quickly.
“Nice to meet you, Bart; I’m Benita.” She walked up and stopped right next to Bart.
“Do you wield?” Bart asked as she bent down to pluck a flower from a small patch nearby.
“Of course,” she said without hesitation. “At the age of five, they start teaching us to wield in this village. It’s our main source of defending ourselves. You never know when the prince will attack us. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.”
“Right,” Bart said feeling dumb for asking a stupid question.
“So why did you throw that rock?” she asked as she looked out at the tree line.
“Just a little frustrated that’s all,” Bart said now wishing he hadn’t lost his cool. He was angry before but as soon as he saw this girl he felt calm and his anger vanished. She probably thought he was a hot head now, which Bart didn’t like. He didn’t want to give off a bad first impression.
“Ah I see,” she said still looking out into the distance. Bart couldn’t stop marveling at how beautiful she was. For a second Bart thought she was reading his mind when she flashed a smile but he couldn’t tell. “Well let me offer some advice if you don’t mind.”
“No problem, I’m always ready to learn,” Bart said truthfully.
“Frustration is something that can get you in a lot of trouble especially here Bart,” she said with such a definite tone. “If you can’t keep your cool it can end up really bad for you and those whom you care about.” Bart knew she was right. This was something his mom had told him his entire life. ‘Don’t get angry Bart it will only cause you unnecessary stress and you won’t be able to focus on what’s really important’. Bart had always had a hard time keeping his cool when things didn’t go right. His temper was something he definitely needed to work on.
“Yeah you’re right,” he said with a slight blush from embarrassment. Benita just smiled.
“And another word of advice when it comes to wielding,” she said, changing the subject. “Creation wielding is a very complicated and vast type of wielding. If mastered there are numerous things that can be done. For example,” she said as she revealed the flower in one hand. “You were trying to change the rock into something else, yes?”
“Yeah,” Bart said, suddenly really interested to see what she was going to do.
“With creation wielding, you don’t have to create something new from something old. It’s one of the beauties of it,” she said and then she opened her other hand. There was nothing in it but in a split second a flower bloomed in her palm identical to the one in her other hand. “You can create something entirely new out of nothing.” When Bart looked back at the new flower it had become a small green diamond. “Nothing is out of your reach Bart. Trust me.” Bart was amazed. It reminded Bart of when Victoria created a sword out of thin air. If this young girl could do it, Bart figured he could learn it too. “It’s getting awfully late,” she said suddenly and Bart realized the sun was completely gone. He looked back towards the village and saw that lamps had been lit.
“Wow, it really is late,” he said.
“It was wonderful talking to you, Bart. I hope we talk again soon.” Before Bart could respond she turned and started walking towards the village. “Goodnight my King,” he heard her say as she vanished in the crowd of people who were coming out towards the field. He looked beside him and saw the flower and the diamond side by side. Before he knew it, the diamond vanished leaving the flower alone.
“Amazing,” Bart whispered to himself.
“What are you doing out here alone,” yelled one of the men approaching.
“I wasn’t alone,” Bart said back. “I was with Benita.” They continued past him and Bart noticed many of them were carrying bows and arrows.
“Crazy girl,” someone said as they passed by. The daughter of the King stopped in front of Bart.
“So you met Benita ’ey?” Thalia said with a smile that Bart struggled to see in the dark. “She is from one of the other wood villages. She comes to visit with her older brother and their mother every once and a while. People think she is crazy but she is just very knowledgeable beyond her years. Our people think her mother may have had her taken to the isle of the immortals but since no one has ever returned from there, it would be impossible. It’s nothing but an urban legend around here.” Bart had never heard of the Isle of Immortals. It intrigued him and he was about to ask about it but she continued. “Anyway, we are going on a night hunt. Your friend was looking for you by your tent earlier.” Bart turned and looked towards the village. He had forgotten all about Charlotte and their fight. When he turned back around Thalia had left to catch up with the rest of the group. He took a glance back at the flower once more and smiled. Then he headed back to his tent.