Town of Eversong, 13 years later

Connor

"Oh come now, Connor," Lydia said trying to get their small house into perfect order,
"Your sister will be here any minute, at least make your side of the house appear somewhat appealing."

Lydia had raised Connor and his sister Avalonna since they were children and their parents passed away from a sudden illness, but ever since Avalonna left to explore the world when she was 18, it was just the two of them. Now Connor was turning 18 and soon it would be his chance to go explore the world. Avalonna was returning to celebrate her 21st birthday along with Connor's and Lydia insisted the house looked spotless.

"Lydia please relax yourself," Connor said stretching and rolling out of his bed. He was somewhat unorganized and aloof, but worked hard when he felt the timing was right
"Val's here to visit us, not to admire the cleanliness of the floor." He smirked as Lydia had just started sweeping. She gave him a look halfway between frustration and humor and moved on to stringing up their clothes.

Lydia had a pleasant smile and she often tucked her long, black hair behind her ears. Her sparkling blue eyes usually seemed to shine even brighter in contrast to her pale skin. Connor thought it was odd that in all the years he had known her, she never seemed to appear any different. It was like she had not aged a day, though Connor knew better than to ask a woman her age. Even though she was rather attractive, Connor had only ever saw her as a mother figure. Well, his view of her had begun to change as of late since he became a young man, but he knew nothing good could come out of such feelings and usually set them aside. Connor put the random books and occasional dining ware back in their proper places.

"Chores in the house bore me, Lydia. Why can't I ever go and collect firewood in the woods or something like that?" He asked.
"I know they do, love. However, things need to be done, but since you are 18 now I suppose you have earned a little more freedom. Go get some wood and come back so we can start cooking before Val gets here." She smiled and opened the door and Connor grabbed his hunting knife for safety and ran full speed with a grin on his face.

Lydia was a tad bit over protective at times, but Connor knew she meant well. He ran off towards the outskirts of the town where there was nothing but forest lands as far as the eye could see. When they were young, Lydia told Connor and his sister a story about a kingdom that lay hidden on the other side of the forest. This kingdom was supposedly dangerous and vastly different than the small town Connor had been accustomed to and he was warned never to travel towards it. Even Avalonna had begun her travels in the opposite direction of the forest. Connor was not frightened but obeyed Lydia's wishes anyway. He enjoyed the outdoors and the forest always seemed to be full of life.

He found the every day village life rather boring and liked to escape it as much he could. Besides, the townspeople did not treat his family that well in the first place. His parent's sudden death left he and his sister with little money they could use. Though they were not living in poverty, they did not exactly live in luxury either. Some resentment also came from some of the more recent settlers in town who, seeing the apparent age of Lydia and now Connor, expected something inappropriate was happening. Connor did not care all that much of other's opinion of him. He never needed help from anyone outside his family before and did not plan to start anytime soon.

He eventually made his way to the forest and slowed down his pace. He would like to be able to come out here more often, but Lydia insisted on doing most of their outdoor activities after sunset. She said it was always too hot for her and she enjoyed the cool evening air much more. He walked through the forest and found random twigs and sticks. He carried a handful of them and sat down by a nearby creek. He placed the wood on the ground and knelt down for a drink of water and splashed some on his face as he relaxed.

After a few moments he gathered his things and went on to go back to his home. He stopped when he heard twigs snapping and splashing only several feet behind him. He breathed slowly and turned around and saw a small bear cub that had made it's way into the creek waters. Connor became cautious but did not let his fear get the best of him. He knew that where there was a bear cub, the mother bear was never too far off. He tried to relax and control his heart beat and stepped back from the cub slowly. That is when he heard the growl of what sounded like a much larger bear behind him.

Connor turned around to see a brown bear crouching on all four legs only about 10 yards away. He put up his hands slowly to try and show he intended no harm and backed up towards the creek so the bears were now on either side of him. The brown bear sniffed at the air and took a few steps towards him. Connor backed up further till he was at the edge of the creek and held his hands up, dropping the firewood. The bear slowed its approach but did not stop until it was only an arms length away from Connor. Connor felt his heartbeat quicken and tried his best not to let his fear show. The bear took a few more steps and Connor closed his eyes tight and winced to brace himself. He never thought about his death before, but mauled by a bear was not how he wanted to go.

He waited for what seemed like forever and was more than a little surprised when after a few moments nothing happened. He opened his eyes again and the bear simply stared at him with deep amber eyes.
"Ok, take it easy girl." Connor said hesitantly. The bear made sounds and noises almost as if responding, which made Connor consider laughing for a moment just from how ludicrous the notion was.

"Go on, go to your cub and go home." Connor stated plainly. He felt a weird sensation, which was most likely from the fear of talking to a wild bear, and almost stumbled. The bear got closer and licked Connor's hand before slowly trudging over to its cub and taking it out of sight. Connor felt relieved and nauseous all at the same time and fell to the ground. He took a few moments to collect himself and then gathered all the firewood he had dropped. He felt weak, but he knew it was just from the experience with the bear. He had never done anything close to that in his life and he was sure it was not something he wanted to do again. He knew there was no way he could convince a second bear to just leave him alone and go home.

He laughed out loud in spite of himself after the fear of the moment was gone. The whole situation was so absurd it made Connor wonder if he had imagined it all from drinking some bad water from the creek. He made his way back home and placed all the firewood by the fireplace for Lydia. He again felt rather weak so he laid back in his bed. As soon as his eyes closed he found himself drifting off to sleep.