Ranvir woke to Latresekt prowling within his mind, the creature hunching low and snarling. He sat up, putting his leg over the side, knowing from experience that he risked falling back asleep if he kept lying down. And Latresekt wouldn’t wake him a second time. His hair, mussed by sleep, fell around his face and hung down past his shoulders.

I should get it cut, Ranvir thought to himself with a sigh as he swept it back. The hair immediately fell back down his face again. Heaving another deep exhale, Ranvir swept his gaze across the small attached room. The burst of pride that had once shimmered in brilliant gold at the creation of his own hands, but after so long, it only burned a dim yellow. He had just enough room to manage a few bodyweight exercises without having to move any of the furniture, which included a bed, trunk, and a mostly empty bookcase.

Padding into the living room on bare feet, Ranvir shivered reflexively against the cold floor, but knew it helped wake him up in the morning. Slogging along, Ranvir checked what he had available. They were approaching the end of the month, so he mostly had dried meat and some fresh fruit from trees from the nearby land. He was allowed to hunt on his own grounds, but he had none of the skills for it.

Ranvir tottered about the living room in a half-sleep daze as he threw together some fresh fruit and dried meat into a wooden case. The kitchen made up half of the living room, which consisted mostly of the remains of the old shed he’d bought from Ione. He’d lifted the roof, and extended the building slightly so he and Frija had enough space to walk around and have dinner without knocking knees. There was even room for guests when that happened.

He pulled down a leather bag to fill the last open portion of the case with raisins. As he scooped up the dried up fruit, he founds his fingers sliding against smooth leather. He stilled, sighing softly. It wasn’t completely empty, but there certainly wasn’t enough for tomorrow. He put the last of the snack into the lunch box and slid the lid on it.

Grabbing his purse, Ranvir ran a hand over his chin, surprised to find it gritty with stubble once more. Didn’t I just shave? He thought, thinking back. Maybe last week, or no… the week before that, Ranvir shook his head and opened the purse to the chink of metal on metal.

The room was too dark and his senses too rough to make out the specifics of keys left in the purse. He considered turning on the lights or going outside and hoping the ‘moon’ showed enough light to actually see by. From what he could glance through the shutters, he didn’t think so.

Ranvir spun his tether up, feeling the power warm through him and into his eyes, bridging the connection from spiritual to physical as Latresekt purred as the mana output increased.

With his eyes glowing, Ranvir shed enough light to count the long rectangular bars of metal within the purse. He took a moment to count them before nodding with relief. He had enough to refill the bag, at least if the prices actually match the recent seasons.

They’d just had rafting, which had led directly into cracking, so raisin price should drop as grape prices rose. Hesitating, he brought the entire purse. They were closing in on the end of the month and his next paycheck. He could spend the last money on some better food until then.

Finishing up the lunch box and tying his key-purse to the inside of his pants, Ranvir went to the other door and knocked hard three times. He didn’t get any groans or other noises from inside, which was the closest thing to assent he was going to get, so he opened the door.

Ranvir stepped into the biggest of his work projects since taking the loan on the land and material from Ione. The room itself was almost as big as the rest of the house, with strong cornerstone pillars he’d risen himself as well as enough supports to hold an avalanche. Ranvir had taken no risks while building this room.

Underneath the window, he found Frija lying on her side. Her red hair was dull in the dark, her arms clutching a death grip on her pillow as she ignored the few stuffed toys around her. Chuckling, he carefully crossed the floor. Except for a carpet in the center, the room was mostly barren of toys. Stone figurines were the only toys scattered across the space. Ranvir wished it wasn’t so, but had to acknowledge defeat in that department.

Kneeling next to the bed, he stroked her hair. “Frija,” Her night clothes were fuzzed and fit poorly on her frame, bought with the idea that she’d grow into them as she got older. The four-year-old stirred on the bed as he kept calling her name.

“Dad?” Frija called in fiyan.

“Time to get up, Fireheart,” Ranvir said, lifting her to sitting.

Frija groaned and shook her head, but didn’t fight him. Instead, she groggily watched him as he fetched her clothes and put them on the bed next to her.

“Do you need help, or?” Ranvir asked in a challenging tone. He raised his eyebrow as well, though she could hardly see it in the dark.

“I can do it myself,” Frija exclaimed, somehow sounding both indignant and tired. She grabbed her clothes. “I’m not a baby, dad.”

Ranvir nodded. “Okay, a quarter flare and no longer,” he warned her before getting up to leave.

“You are too soft on her,” Latresekt growled. “Without giving her proper training, how is she ever going to grow into a powerful hunter?”

Ranvir stopped, making sure she didn’t go back to sleep before turning his attention to the dull and dark room. The coals in the fireplace occasionally let off a bit of glow as a breeze slipped past the shutters. He hadn’t yet gotten a proper stove and oven, as it was too expensive.

The room held no lights, neither of mana nor torch only a few windows strategically placed throughout to allow light when it wasn’t dark. Ranvir squeezed his hands into fists for a moment before sighing and rolling his neck. Stepping over to the basin of water, he rubbed some onto his face, then tied his hair back.

By the time he was done staring into the water, his daughter pushed the door open. She’d actually managed to get the shirt on properly this time and not turn it around in her exhaustion.

“Come here,” Ranvir called as he opened his arms to her. She didn’t falter as she went to him, trusting there were no obstacles between them. Ranvir scooped her up as she swung her arms around his neck. He hurried over and grabbed the lunchbox before they left for Eriene.

He used to contemplate locking the door, but they were in the middle of the woods. The broken lock might be the most expensive item, except maybe for some old books.

Walking through the forest had once been disconcerting and worrying, but now Ranvir trudged along with a disregard born from habit. Frija was soon deep asleep in his arms, snoring softly into his shirt. He walked straight through the dead town of Eriene, not even the workers on the newer constructions having showed up yet.

He headed directly for Elpir’s, letting himself in and finding the room with Frija’s bunk. Ranvir worked as early as possible so he could get home from work on time to pick up his daughter and at least have dinner with her. Thankfully, Tolis was flexible with his work hours.

Frija only stirred awake when Ranvir put her down to bed, where she briefly opened her eyes and clutched his shirt tighter. Ranvir sighed as he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “I gotta go, Fireheart. I’ll see you in the evening.”

His daughter did not relent in her grip, so he gently peeled her fingers off him and laid her down under the covers. The siren song of sleep was too tempting for the young girl, though she kept her quickly fading consciousness focused on Ranvir.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, dad.”

He left Frija’s lunch in the icebox in the kitchen and left the same way he entered. Walking through Eriene, he checked the ‘moon’ to see how long he had to wait for the potragos. There were only six flares lit, but the seventh had taken on a light glow.

Soon, then, Ranvir thought. He passed the baker, a newcomer who’d moved the town about a year ago, and the only other person awake when Ranvir left. The kortian nodded at Ranvir, his fur matted down on one side from sleep as he fired up old-fashioned ovens meant to lend his bread a rustic appeal. Just like back home.

He’d occasionally catch glimpses of the baker’s wife, her hulking form a shadowy outline in the night. This time, he saw no sign of her and moved on, picking up a rock before stopping at potragos station.

Ranvir patted his pockets and cursed himself. He’d forgotten his fare. He didn’t relish spending anything from his purse since it would come out on the other end when he went shopping on his way home. Sighing, Ranvir ran a hand over his hair, before touching the stone at the center of the station, activating it with Amanaris and signaling there was a rider.

Within a quarter flare, the potragos stopped in front of him and he got on the water-riding transportation. This one hardly had a people section at all, since so few people got on it, only a single car lodged between cargo held any personages. Even then, there were hardly ever more than three, or four, people in it.

Sitting down, Ranvir got started on his training. First, he began by gazing the lines as Kasos had taught him. Doing so was hard when moving, especially in potragos territory, but it was the only time he had for training that didn’t come at the cost of something else. Then he moved on to warming up exercises with stone, manipulating the stone in his hands to form a figurine. A bird, he decided. After a while, he switched to tether-exercises, working on all three of his Disciplines as the potragos rushed toward Legea.