Dawn.
'Damn it all...'
With a fishing rod in hand, a pale young man—no older than seventeen years old—shakes his head in disbelief. Plastered on his face are a minimal amount of freckles resting on his nose and under-eyes. Ear-length, raven-black hair cascades down his neck in waves. His pupils are a dull, black color of darkness with no life nor amusement in them. Wearing a tattered white tunic as he stares into the distance, his averagely modest stature and frail physique loom over the river flowing at his feet. The calm flow of water emits a pure gold color as it endlessly moves in the same direction, never changing. However, deep below, one could see an endless expanse of abyssal darkness. Sighing dramatically, he whispers under his breath:
'I refuse to believe this is it...'
The young man has been fishing from the great river, The Radiance, ever since he was nine. He has long since become a seasoned pro at his craft, and in recent times has grown agitated at how monotonous such a job is.
'Why couldn't I have been an architect or something... or better yet, a member of the Radii?!'
The tough impression of the brave warriors who venture out into the Dark: a veil of umbral blackness that looms in the distant west of the village, glimmers vividly in the boys' mind. Before he was heart-wrenchingly assigned this job—he had constantly dreamed day and night of the moment he would go out and conquer the menacing wall. Obviously, that day never came.
'What use would my unimpressive frame even be in such a prestigious Task?'
Reeling in an extremely large fish with ease, to which he reckons must be around the size of a polar bear, he once more shakes his head as he dislodges the massive hook of the rod gruesomely and places the absurd fish in a pile stacked beside his chair. The stack of eight fish, all similar in size, have all stopped squirming... their lives long snuffed out. He cranes his neck up at the scene before walking back to his seat.
'Whatever a polar bear is anyways...'
The Sunflower had always tried to jam this unnecessary, strange knowledge into the minds of the villagers. She always preached that the day would inevitably come when they would need this information. What nonsense. Why would he listen to the damned old woman who appointed him this dreadful Task in the first place?!
"How rude! I am only forty-two for your information!"
The boy jumps in place and nearly drops his rod into the water as a mature woman approaches from afar. Snapping his head at her, he nearly yells- his face turning red, "Just incase you somehow don't recall me telling you this before... I prefer not to be spoken to. Especially when I wasn't even talking." Turning back to face the water, he inwardly sighs.
'Cursed mind-reader...'
The woman, a striking blonde with otherworldly yellow eyes, smirks knowingly as she eventually reaches the boy. She places a hand on his shoulder, gazing into the unmoving dawn. If she wasn't such an old woman, her shapely, full figure would have made his heart race. With her chest hovering right above his head, she opens her mouth, "It's getting late... I came to retrieve you. Why don't we return to Sol?" She turns to face the stack of fish, her pupils widening, "Eight?! Someone's been working hard, huh..."
Scoffing, the young man looks back at her as she studies the pile. Responding, he says, "I guess I just lost track of time. No land creature dares come this close to The Radiance in the first place anyway... it's quite easy to get comfortable knowing that my life won't be in danger."
Deep within his heart, the boy knows in actuality that he just detests being in the village. As the sole fisherman in Sol, his job is irreplaceable and utterly essential... and yet, all his peers gaze at him with indifferent, condescending eyes. For whatever reason, the common understanding his fellow peers reached when they were little was that the fishing Task was given to the runt of the place. His antisocial temperament didn't help in this regard either.
Looking yet again towards the body of water, the boy can't help but remember all the innumerable times he had been played with. The brunt of all jokes. Getting kicked for no reason. Spit on. The constant arrogant "holier-than-thou" looks. Countless memories play back in his mind like a horror film on loop as he packs up his fishing rod.
'When can I ever get out of this damned place...?'
"The Sun will guide us."
Hearing the mature woman answer his unspoken question, he once again shoots her a stern look, before placing a dumbfounded expression on his face. "Hey! I literally just told you I prefer to think in private!" The boy runs his frail hand over his face as he exhales silently.
This woman had always drove him crazy.
Laughing boisterously, the woman looks back at the young man, "Don't be like that... What harm is there in answering such a question!" With a snarky smirk and a swivel of her hips, The Sunflower begins walking back in the direction of Sol, speaking loudly so the boy can hear, "Rather... instead of that question, I believe the one you should be asking is this: 'How fast do I need to run with the fish in order to make it to Sol in time, thus withstanding a severe punishment from this so-called "cursed mind reader"...!'"
The boy's eyes bulge wide as he springs into action. Despite how he acts around the retreating lady, everyone in Sol knows that it is not wise to disobey her. The dreadful woman is the only "adult" among the villagers, an extremely old lady. Whatever that means... Adults were a strange concept to the boy who only ever saw individuals around his age. Pushing those thoughts aside, the boy quickly grabbed a massive sack lying beside the piles of dead fish. With precision that only an individual with countless repetitions could reenact, he stuffs the sack full, launching the eight fish inside dismissively. From an outsider's perspective the scene was quite hilarious, and indeed, some distance away the refined lady was giggling:
"Oh my! This never gets old!"
'Curse it! Why must this old hag hang around me so much... Leave me alone for gods sake!'
"Maybe I should just give you the punishment now?!"
Ignoring the woman's playful remarks, the young man cinches the bag and heaves it over his shoulder. Another comical scene. The boy is the only one in Sol that hasn't been blessed with Strength. Instead, the boy possesses a meager amount of physical "strength." Quite ironic really. All of his peers had possessed blessings that allowed them to do all manner of things. From abilities to breathe fire... to ones like The Sunflower—reading minds. Of course, no one really knew the full extent of her capabilities—the boy wouldn't even consider it ridiculous if he had found out the hag could time travel.
Dismissing these wandering thoughts, the boy squats down, engaging his quads. With a slight forward lean, he grits his teeth as he begins to haul the fish—placing one foot in front of the other.
'All in a day's work I guess...'