The Heartland Trials

Chapter One

         I grew impatient. My fingers were tapping to a familiar melody coming from the radio, next to my bed. It was nearly noon, the time I'd have to move from the foot of my bed to the opening of my narrow doorway. This was the day of the Moon Hunt. What once began as a small hunting unit, began to grow in popularity amongst the sects. My position in this was the gatherer. As the gatherer, I, and another from our sect must gather whatever the Moon Hunters capture and kill.

A loud bang reverberated around the room; jumping to my feet, I slammed my palm on the radio. The force was strong with this one, enough that it had knocked off my table. I started to walk; each step felt like my last, as I placed the palm of my hand against the wall to keep my balance as I slowly slipped into my boots, and using what balance I had left to tie my hair back. I fought as the strands of shortened hair in the back began to slip out of the grip of my hands. Gripping the last bit of hair, I unfurled my hands and watched the color change from a harsh red back to the color white of my skin.

A knock came from the other side, I spun myself around to see a masculine man stand in the narrow doorway. "Geneva, they are waiting. It is time," he spoke, his voice calm.

"I don't know if I am ready," I said, my eyes glanced away from him and towards my window, where the land was covered in dark green, and the sky was setting in a rosy pink.

The man, who stood at exactly five feet, seven inches, inched his way toward me, grasping my waist. He tugged harshly, my heels spinning on his command. "Listen carefully, you are our next leader, without you, or your family, we would not be where we are today. Geneva, you are a wonder to our sect, and you will make for a great gatherer. You and I will make the best team together." He sighed, dropping his arm is to my side, "I don't understand how you don't seem to get it. We are all counting on you. You will make us proud." He caressed my cheek, "you will make me proud." He planted a firm peck on my cheek.

"Oh, Jasp," I whispered. "If only I could believe in myself, then I would do tremendous things for the sect." I walked past him and headed for the door. "But first, we need to go." I chucked my bag over my head, letting it rest on my shoulder, and grabbed Jasp by the hand, and sped out the door. We were outside, the ground was rough under my boots, all around men, women, and children, gathered at a nearby tree, its branches caved inward; this was our hunting tree. It's been, as my family has said, here for over a century. As I walked near, my hand scraped across each name that had been engraved and immortalized. One of the most famous was Ishmael Monty — my father's, father.

Jasp followed behind, he wasn't one to leave anyone's side. Jasp came from a line of lurkers. His family's presence was not welcome at first, but over the last twenty years, and right as soon as I was born, his family was welcome with open arms. The strangest thing was, that was not the full story. There was an unknown that haunted Jasp, an unknown that he did not wish to know about, nor did his mother and father want to discuss. Jasp and I had a connection from the start, we would have adventures and at times, those adventures had gotten us into trouble. One of the adventures that got us in trouble was when we had snuck away from the sects hunting group during the earlier Moon Hunt. On our adventure, we had approached a cave; it was nearly dark by the time we had reached the mouth of the cave. There was no light in sight for us to lurk in. Luckily, I could see in the dark, as my vision was changing as I aged and was beginning to show signs of my early transitioning stage.

A club was thrown in my direction, Lewis approached; his blond hair blocked his sight of vision. He wasn't the most good-looking, nor was he the kindest man in the world. His family rivaled my own, and for the past few years, have been trying to overthrow mine for power, without any luck.

"You call yourself the future leader, but you can't focus and pay attention?" he snarled.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He pointed to the group that was circling around the three of us, Jasp gawked, but did not say a word to defend me. "Oh, right," I grimaced at the sound of impatient groans and yelling from those around me.

I climbed onto the first branch of the tree, this showed dominance over ones sect. The dominance of a leader was important to us, it was especially important to all of those in our sect who were hungry to be the submissive one. I looked around, my eyes gazed out at the horizon, and then back at the people who waited in anticipation. "Welcome, all, to the Moon Hunt. I, uh, I – I mean, we, have been awaiting this joyous night for quite some time now, and our wait has come to this." A roar of excitement and applause came from the crowd. Lewis looked on with disapproval. Jasp winked at me and motioned for me to keep going.

"Let's all begin with the first event of our hunt," I shouted, removing the bag from my shoulder, carefully opening it to reveal a whip. "The whip, as we all know, is a sacred item, passed down from the first-generation Monty, to my father, and then to me, your future leader of our sect." I shouted with enthusiasm.

"Let's get moving!" Lewis shouted, a few from the crowd agreeing as impatience was painted across their face.

"It is my duty, as the future leader, to grant this whip to tonight's Moon Hunt leader," I locked eye contact with Lewis. My heart was pounding beneath my chest. Pressure was building inside of me, my stomach felt uneasy as I kept close contact with him. "The leader for tonight's Moon Hunt is, Jasper Crowing." I sighed in relief as Jasp's name left my lips, and into the ears of the crowd.

Everyone in the crowd began to look around, and made a path for Jasp to walk through and approach. He did so, and gazed up as I slid down from the branch, the force being felt in my feet as I landed hard. "Congratulations, Jasper Crowing, you are the designated leader for this year's Moon Hunt. May you honor the title greatly." I gave him a playful smile, and held my hand out. He presumed to pull me in for a hug, his arms held tight, as if to hold onto the embrace for a while so that it'd still be with him longer. "Thank you, Monty," he pressed. His glazed eyes met mine, and our breathing was mutual as we kept the gaze for one more moment.

"Now," I began to speak, Jasp turned to the side of me, "let's begin. To the Moon Hunt!"

"To the Moon Hunt!" the crowd roared, and off they went, following right behind Jasp as he led the way into the forest, until the entire group, and I, were out of sight.