Akira - The Energy Vampire

by Ashton Lumley

can do everything, Troy, Troy, Troy... If only I were as good as him, or had a father to teach me blacksmithing, I would be able to then prove to Isabella that I am better. Maybe when I fight in arenas and make good money she will see how good I am, because I know I would whoop his ass in a brawl.. She glanced at me worried, “are you okay Akira?” I kept my eyes to the fire and nodded. She lightly touched her hand onto my back, which made me blush. Good thing it's dark, I'd hate for her to see me blushing... She asked,” What's wrong? You know you can talk to me right, I mean we have been friends since we were kids because of our fathers!” I glanced back into her eyes. If only I could run my hands through your hair, and tell you how I really feel.. I would tell you how amazing you are, and how I could provide everything for her. I looked away again and said with a lie, “it is just my father, I hope he did good in this competition and won us some money, it would be very helpful and I would be able to take a break from hunting for a little.” She nodded understandingly and smiled, “I am sure he did fine! I am sure both of our fathers did, if not then maybe I could cook you dinner tomorrow so you could take a break from hunting for a day.” A smile appeared quickly on my face and I sighed in relief, “that would be awesome Isabella, you don't have to do that though.” She looked at me seriously and said back, “it is definitely happening Akira, if he doesn't do good or doesn't come back in time then I want you to take a day off from hunting. You really deserve it!” I looked back into the fire and grinned. Hopefully he doesn’t do to good, I know it is a wrong thing to think about, but having dinner with Isabella would be amazing.. “That would be great then, thank you miss.”

  We sat next to the fire chatting for another ten minutes while the rabbit cooked. I dont want this conversation to end with Isabella, but the rabbit is a nice golden brown and im sure mother is hungry, so I should bid her fairwell. I took the rabbit out of the fire and wrapped it in a wet cloth to cool. As I was about to say goodbye I heard some one call Isabella's name, it was Troy. She jumped up with joy and rushed over to him with a hug. He smiled and said, “Isabella be careful!! You don't want this raw cow juice all over you!” She smirked at him and winked, jokingly saying, “it's okay as long as your gonna clean it off me later!” He grinned back at her and said, “Sorry I took so long, I had to finish my next piece at the shop.” He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and glanced over at me with a slight nod, “Akira.” I gave him a painful nod back and grabbed my cooked rabbit. “Troy, it's nice to see you again.” He smirked and pulled Isabella closer to him, “yeah, sure. I haven’t been out much lately, too busy at the shop, you know, making money.” After a brief pause, I turned my head away from him and slowly stood up, “Well Isabella, it was nice talking to you. I hope you keep your word for dinner tomorrow, I'd really appreciate taking a break.” I could sense Troys muscles tighten and he let out a light grunt. She looked at me with a smile and said,” Of course Akira! I made you a promise and I always keep my promises.” I walked away feeling slightly empowered and as I did I could hear them two lightly arguing.

  I arrived at my hut and went inside to mother who was weaving clothes for us. She looked up gratefully and cleared the table she was working on, off. I laid the rabbit down onto a plate and cut into it, slicing off thin slivers of meat. Mother happily looked at me and said, “It smells delicious! I worked earlier in the fields today for Ron, so we have some fresh vegetables and more herbs for cooking. I also am working on making you another pair of shorts because I know the ones you are wearing are old and ragged.. Look at the tares in them!” I let out a light sigh of relief and said, “thank you mother, I really do need a new pair. Soon enough I am going to be walking around naked!” We both chuckled and ate our rabbit with a side of fresh corn. We had small talk about dad and how I could be competing soon. I am anxious about fighting other people. I have only trained on my own and with my father. I think I will do okay in the arena battles though, I mean, I have been practicing since I was a little kid. After, we cleaned up dinner and mother continued weaving my shorts. I went over to my stack of blankets which formed my bed and laid down, exhausted. I pondered, thinking about Isabella, my father, and what would happen tomorrow. Before I knew it the world around me grew dark and I sunk into a deep slumber.

  I awoke early in the morning with a smile on my face and looked around. Mother was already out, she was probably working in the fields again. I grabbed a banana and chomped away as I stood pondering what to do with myself today. It was a day off from hunting and that felt great. I should go out and carve a new bow and some arrows for myself, it would be a good way to waste time until mid-day, and the bow I have now is about to snap. I grabbed my bag and threw it over my shoulders, along with my quiver which held four arrows, a woodworking knife, and a string for my new bow. I then started heading into the woods. I wondered around aimlessly trying to find the perfect branch to carve my bow out of. Eventually, I found one that satisfied me and I continued walking around looking for sticks to carve arrows from. The only painful part about making arrows is putting the metal tip on. I have to go to Troy to buy the arrowheads and I sincerely hate that part. I found six sticks that would work perfectly to create arrows from and I made my way to my special carving spot. It was quite a hike but eventually I got to my destination which was by a mountain that overlooked a massive lake. A huge waterfall fell from the mountain and pounded into the lake beautifully, which created a soothing mist that wondered around delightfully with the wind. I sat by the waterfall and looked into its beauty. The gushing water that falls from the top of this mountain amazes me. The way the water hits the lake is gorgeous, and the sound of it falling is very peaceful. The way it continuously flows, non-stop, because mother nature allows it to amazes me. It is a process that I cannot grasp with my mind because it is so simplistic but at the same time it is so detailed. Watching it for a while always puts me into a delightful state of meditation, it is one of the most relaxing things I can do to ease my emotional stress. And my current stress is surely overwhelming. Everything from Isabella, the arena tournament and the direction my life is headed created a ripple through my mind that causes my body to ache. I just wish I KNEW what was going to happen. Wouldn't things be so much easier that way?

  After pondering about life a little more, I looked down at the branch that would form my new bow. I let out a sigh and grabbed my woodworking knife. This is an art that my father taught me , he was a great hunter at one point, but after teaching me he was able to make more money through fighting so we could all live a better life. I started carving fluently at the wood, forming my new bow. It took hours but I perfected it. After, I polished and smoothed it out, then I sighed deeply with a great sense of satisfaction. I looked back into the waterfall for a minute to take a break. Father should be home today, I wonder how long it will take for him to arrive? He will surely be impressed with my skills, it takes a while to master such an art. I grabbed the bow and my bow-string and weaved the two pieces together. The string felt like it was tight enough to satisfy me, so I got up to test my new bow against a tree. I grabbed an already-made arrow from my quiver and firmly let it sit in-between my fingers which connected onto my bow string. I pulled back steadily taking aim at a tree. I took a deep breath in and held it for a few seconds. As I let my breath out I released the arrow which flew directly at my target and it hit, spot on. I smiled with satisfaction as I flipped my bow in a circle and caught it. I retrieved my arrow that was sunk deep into the tree and I sat back down looking into the waterfall. Morning was going and lunch was near, but I wasn't hungry. Should I create a couple more arrows? I minus well, what else do I have to do? I started creating arrows out of the sticks I had picked up. This process is a lot faster, arrows are way easier to make once you find the right wood to manipulate them from. In about a half hours time I carved out eight new arrows. At some point in time I am going to have to use the little amount of gold I have to buy arrow heads, that really sucks because the best price will be from Troy and I really do hate that g
uy. Or is it that he is great and has everything he needs, including Isabella?

  I sat there thinking for a couple minutes about Troy and Isabella, and how I could possibly win her over by winning money in arenas. Life would be good, wouldn't it? It shall come soon enough. As I sat pondering, I heard a ruffle of leaves from behind me, it came from the bushes. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and a shock came down to my arms. I looked backwards and waited for a few seconds. I then called out, “hello..!?” There was no reply so I grabbed the bow from next to me and held onto it tightly, waiting. Another louder crunch came from the bushes and I jolted up quickly, trying to see what was there. The noise sounded like something big. A bunny would barely make a sound, whatever was over there was not some thing I wanted to face. Unless of course it was a human, but there was no reply... So what could it be? I saw a big paw take a step out of the bush, with it came a long nose, black fur, and