A Twist of Tales (On Hold)

4. Aaravon

AARAVON

I woke up to something being splashed into my face. Startled from the sudden coldness that wrapped around I jolted up from my bed only to find my mother standing in front of it with an empty bucket in her hands. I stared at her for a moment while trying to remember what happened last night. As soon as the events from last night came flooding back into my mind, I let myself fall back on the bed with a sigh.

"Really? That's it? You're not going to say anything, you're just going back to sleep?" I heard the all to familiar voice of the woman who raised me.

I carefully opened one eye only to see her throwing daggers at me with her eyes. "Just give me five more minutes, Ma, please?"

I was about to fall back asleep when suddenly another splash of water hit me. Seriously, where did she get the water from so fast?

"I will give you ten seconds, if you're not up till then, the next thing I will throw at you won't be water," she warned me with her usual serious voice.

"Alright, alright, I will be up in a minute." I sat up with a tired sigh and tried to rub the sleep from my eyes.

"Good, I will wait in the house for you." Ma turned around and started to walk out of the small barn. Once her words had registered in my head, I realized that it wasn't my bed, I was lying in, but rather a straw heap. I let out another sigh before standing up and trying to brush off some of the haulms that stuck on me thanks to my earlier shower.

The events of last night still hadn't returned fully. I remembered going to the inn and having a few drinks, but other than that nothing. I had no idea how I got home, Gordon probably must have brought me home.

Gordon was an old family friend, at least that's what Ma always told me. He was a smith who lived only a mile and a half away from our home. Ma and I lived near the edge of the forest, that was at least three miles away from the next village. That's why I couldn't have come back home without help if I was drunk, which I was pretty sure that I was.

The two of us have been living in this old hut that consisted of two rooms and a small fireplace for about as long as I could remember, which had to be around twelve, thirteen years. When I was around nine years old I apparently fell down from the rooftop of the barn which led to my memory loss. At least that's what Ma always told me.

It was weird at first; the only thing I could remember were brief flashbacks of a woman with dark blond hair. I still knew my own name and who Ma was but other than that I had no idea where I was or what happened to me. For the first couple of months I hoped that my memory would return to me eventually, but with time passing by I accepted the fact that it wouldn't.

I let out a yawn and stretched my hands above my head. Walking out of the barn I came to a hold in front of the water trough for the two horses,the mare Piper and the young stallion Ryder. After taking off my shirt I took a deep breath and dived my head into the cold water.

"You really should stop doing that, you know."

Startled by the sudden presence of another person I quickly got my head out of the water and turned around. Once my eyes landed on the man in front of me I instantly relaxed. "You almost scared me to death, you idiot. What are you doing here, Gordon?" I asked him while putting my shirt back on.

"No thank you for bringing you home last night?" the man in question asked me with a raised brow. " Should have known it better, next time I will just leave you somewhere in the dark for the wolves to get you."

"Very funny, man." I let out a dry laugh and shook my head. "But seriously, what are you still doing here?"

"What do you mean? It's almost three o'clock in the afternoon."

"What?" I asked him with a confused voice and looked up to the sky only to realize that he was right. I let out a low curse before remembering that Ma was waiting for me in the house. "Have you talked to Ma yet? Is she very angry at me?"

"I wouldn't call it angry," Gordon stated with a skeptical gaze. "More like rage mixed with disappointment and a little bit of blood lust."

I stared at him with a blank face. "Thanks, man, you know exactly how to encourage me."

"Anytime, son, anytime."

I let out a sigh and walked over to the house. When I entered it, I found Ma sitting on a chair next to the small window while shucking the peas. Her blonde hair with gray strands seemed brighter due to the light rays falling on it. As soon as she heard the door creaking she averted her blue eyes on me.

"Sit," she ordered me and set the basket filled with peas away. I did as she told me and sat down on the chair next to her.

"What is Gordon doing here?" I asked her curiously while trying to avoid what happened last night.

"I asked him last night if he could shoe Piper. One of her hoofs fell down yesterday," she explained to me. Her narrowed eyes kept staring at me; she knew that I wanted to avoid last night. "So, are you going to tell me about your little incident at the inn last night or are we going to keep staring at each other?"

I let out an uncomfortable laugh before deciding that it would be best to just get it over with. "Well, you see I was sitting at the bar, minding my own business when all of a sudden Egon came over to me and punched me in the face without a reason. And so in order to defend my honor, I had to fight back."

"Really?" she looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "He just attacked you without a reason?"

"Yep, out of the blue," I confirmed it with a nod. "I didn't even see it coming."

"So, it didn't have anything to do with you insulting him?"

"What? No, he deserved every word I said."

"Oh, really? And why is that?" Ma wondered with raised eyebrows.

I let out a sigh and ran a hand through my curly dark blond hair. "Because he was being a prick. He acted disrespectfully towards Erin and..." I trailed off.

"And you had to put him in his place?" she finished my sentence. I only nodded, not wanting to elaborate. Ma let out a tired sigh and looked at me thoughtfully. "You can't always start a fight, Aaron. What if you got hurt?"

"Ma..."

"Don't you 'Ma' me. I just want for you to stay safe."

"But Ma, you can't lock me up. I'm not eight anymore," I told her with an angry voice.

"You know that I only do it to protect you."

"Protect me from what, Ma?" I asked her, my voice growing louder. "It's not like someone's after us. We have lived in peace for as long as I can remember. Nothing is going to happen to us, we are safe from whatever it is that you are so afraid of."

Ma looked at me with wide eyes and put her hand over mine. "Aaron, you have to calm down." I stared at her confused as to why she was looking at me like I had suddenly grown a second head. Nevertheless, I took a deep breath and close my eyes.

Once I looked back at my mother again, she let out a relieved sigh. "That's better." She let go of my hand and got up. "You have to learn how to control your temper better, Aaron."

"I'm trying, Ma. It's just, that... sometimes it's hard for me." I let out a sigh.

"I know, honey, and that's why I don't want you to go to this inn. You always end up in a fight and Gordon has to bring you back home. I'm always worried about you."

"I know, Ma. I'm sorry."

She let out a sigh and put the basket with the peas on the table. "It's alright," she kissed the top of my head in an all too familiar way and gave me a side hug. "Come on, have you eaten yet?" she asked me while letting go of me and walking over to the fireplace.

"What did you make today?"