An Uprising Begins

Elden's favorite part of the Desivion rite of passage ritual was when they tossed the shell into the Well with their prayers for the return of the Gods of the Desivian Sea's love for each other and then the participants all formed a circle and held hands and sang their prayers. The families of those receiving their Desivion Ceremony also formed a circle, behind theirs, and joined in the songs – teaching them, really, as they had not been taught outside of the home since before he could remember.

Soft plunk sounds echoed back up to them from the water at the bottom of the well. The sound of the chanting resonated in his ears and tingled along the hairs on his arms.

Knowing as he now did, that their Wishing Well was actually connected to the Desivian Ocean, the ceremonial words held even more intense meaning. He felt more connected with the ancient stories and the divine nature of the world than ever before.

A strange feeling crossed through him and left him feeling a little giddy and stoic, his rebellious attitudes temporarily quelled, as he found his family members and traipsed back through the forest and across the island toward their small cottage.

Is this what adulthood feels like? He wasn't sure he enjoyed it, this intense feeling of responsibility for his people and the land. Already he missed his carefree swims, his explorations to forbidden parts of the island – forbidden for fear of Captain Vitet and his pirate crew.

When he was a young child, Vitet and his crew had discovered the island and plunged it into darkness through cruel deeds, tolls, and taxes. There was an underworld here that hadn't existed before, according to his Father. Elden's Mother tried to shield him and his sisters from this information, but he heard the whispers. The rumors. He worried for his sisters' safety. For the safety of his Mother and Aunts. How were they even making enough money to pay Vitet the taxes for their little cottage and land with chickens? Does he accept eggs as payment? Elden felt these were his concerns now, as well as his Father's.

The humidity of the afternoon was high now that the rainy season was over and the growth season had begun. Elden shook his hair to release a trapped fly. Perhaps it was time to lose the curly locks he had so long treasured as a boy – he needed to be able to think clearly, which was difficult to do with sweat trickling down his forehead and neck every few moments.

While his sisters attended to their chickens, Elden strode across the field to the next family's house with a bag of coin in hand. The woman Lou-Ann had expressed a desire to cut hair for money during the ceremony earlier that day. She was much older than himself and the other teens involved, but the Elders had seen fit to open the Desivion to anyone who had missed theirs in the past, as they could only be held on the longest day of the year.

For years the ceremony had not been held at all due to fear of Vitet's cruelty corrupting what had been passed down faithfully through their ancestors. This one had only been planned because he and his entire crew had left the island for a few weeks to sail to another kingdom. Elden supposed their journey was for some nefarious piracy purpose.

Even with this new spirit of maturity upon his shoulders, Elden still didn't fear Vitet. He worried about the ways in which his family members could be caused pain and suffering, but he could not say that he had any fear for the man himself. Loathing, certainly. Anger, absolutely. Fear – no. He thought about all the people who had been denied their rites of passage that he had met at the ceremony this day. Perhaps there was a way they could rid their island of Vitet once and for all.

There was a funny look on Lou-Ann's face as she opened the door, as if she was lost in another world, but it quickly changed to a friendly smile of recognition when her eyes met his.

“You are Elden, right? You want to raise chickens and sell eggs like your father before you. I loved what you said at the Ceremony about wanting to help the community that you care about.”

He smiled in gratitude. She is pretty, it's a shame she is so much older than I am. Her soft blonde hair framed her features well, though it was tangled and frizzing from the humid air. Her nose was smaller than most on the island, as her mother had come here from another island to marry her father. He touched his own nose, a little annoyed at its length and curvature in comparison. Her brown eyes resembled raw cinnamon, like those of most of the people on this island, including her father.

“Yes. Actually, I remembered what you said, also. I was hoping to be your first customer.” He held up the light brown bag of coins. Her smile widened in response, her cheekbones nearly crushing her eyes into non-existence from how high they rose, and she opened the door as far as it could go, making room for him to enter.

“Please come in! I would love to cut your hair. What would you like me to do with it?”

“Cut it short. I have no time now to dally with tangles and things that get caught in it.” Internally, Elden sighed, thinking about the feeling of cool water dripping from his bouncing hair as he came up for air when out in the coastal waters. There would be much less time now for swimming and exploring hidden caverns.

“Oh, that's a shame, they are so beautiful. But, you are the boss here. I'll go grab a few things I'll need. Will this kitchen chair be comfortable for you?” She pulled a small and hard wooden chair out from the dining table that was squeezed into the kitchen space between the stove and the drying rack.

Elden gave her a nod and took a seat, emptying the bag of coins and building a tower with them until she returned. Scuffling sounds and her muttered words of surprise and frustration floated down to him as she rummaged for items in the upper half of the building. She returned wearing a triumphant smile and holding a small looking glass, a comb that seemed unused – or perhaps was recently washed, and a pair of sewing scissors.

Lou-Ann hummed as she worked, occasionally pausing to sweep up the bits of hair that fell in swaths at Elden's feet. She paused her humming, however, to listen to him speak.

“Lou-Ann, I was wondering...” he took a deep breath mid-sentence.

“Yes?” Her voice sounded a little more tense than it had as she was gently letting him know she'd be working near his ears so he wouldn't tug away or twitch.

“Vitet is awful.”

“Well, yes. Is that confusing to you?” Snip, snip! More chunks of his light brown hair fell to the wooden floorboards of her kitchen.

“No! I was merely thinking that... somebody should stop him. Maybe if a whole group of us got together, the younger people in the village, maybe together we could find a way. Make a plan. Get him arrested by the International Island Officials. Something.”

Lou-Ann hummed in response. She continued to trim his hair with quiet precision.

After a few more minutes of no response, he spoke up again.

“What do you think?”

She has more direct experience with that yucky crew of men than anyone, if the rumors are true. She must hate them more than anyone, but she's also older and wiser than I am. Elden knew Lou-Ann would know whether his dreams for their freedom were impossible.

“I think that there's a distinct possibility you are correct.” There was a thrumming note of excitement in her tone.

The ember of hope in Elden's chest ignited into a spark, a dancing flame.

“We should gather at night to discuss it, come up with a plan. As many people as we can convince to help us,” he said. She placed the mirror in his hands so he could admire his new hairdo. He looked nearly as grown up as he felt inside. “But where? Everyone scurries home at the end of the workday to avoid Vitet's men.” Elden felt his bright ideas dimming, until Lou-Ann looked down to him and met his gaze from where she stood sweeping between his feet and the stove. She spoke once more.

“I know a place.”