The Mysterious Fledgeling

Seven years later, Muta is seven. It has been quite some time since the passing of Muta's mother and even so, Gavin, Muta's father has not even once stopped caring about his dear son. The time in Centriole had gone by so fast that even Gavin had not realized tomorrow was the Aura Test.

The Aura Test is where all the youngsters that are aged seven and above, take a proficiency test to see what type of Aura they possess. This year was Muta's turn and he was nowhere to be found. Gavin started to panic for the test commences tomorrow noon in the nearby village, Golgia. The time was seven in the morning.

Muta sat on the giant boulder by the hill. The young boy laid upon the smooth black surface as he stared at the expansive cerulean sky. Every time he came to the hills to graze the sheep, he would lay down on this rock and look above. There was something about the sky that always captivated him. Maybe it was how he could never see past the horizon that got him addicted to this view. Every morning since he had discovered the most optimum watching location for the sunrise, he would gather his family's sheep and take them to the hill to graze, while watching the sunrise. The big orange globe gradually rose over the skyline. Never once did he ever get sick of the view. The sun peeked its head out in between the two mountains as it continued its ascension. Slowly but surely, you could see the sun's rays hitting upon the village's land and continue its way to the hill where Muta would sit. The gradual change over time was what Muta enjoyed the most. He enjoyed seeing the sun slowly cover the land with it's warm glow.

"I knew you would be sitting here." The sound came from below the boulder. Muta sat up and peered below, only to see his father. "Morning father."

Gavin stood below the boulder's shadow, hands inside his pockets. "I have something exciting installed for you tomorrow son."

Muta's face suddenly had an oblivious look. Over the years, he realized when his father said something exciting was happening, it would usually turn out to be the opposite. "What is it this time?"

"Well you see Muta, this year you are finally seven, which means you are officially counted as a young man. And well, after that age, people are allowed to take an Aura Test and it would determine your spirit(s)."

"Oh come on father. I have told you this many times before. I do not want to take the Aura Test as I have no interest what so ever in that kind of thing." Muta crossed his arms as he looked down on his father, who has a pleading face on. "Muta, just do this for your father. I have been looking forward to the day when you get to stand in front of everyone and realize what Aura you have."

The boy sighed as he finally listened to his father's plea. "Fine! Just this once. Although I will probably only receive the Grief Aura, considering everyone in this village has the Water Power." Hence, the father and son duo left the village at noon with intent to reach Golgia by tomorrow morning.

The pair had to walk through the Evergreen forest in the east to reach their destination. Muta walked in long strides, trying to keep up with his father. From the back, Gavin looked super tall and sturdy, his shoulders were broad from all the log lifting he carries out in the afternoon. The man had a stubby beard with a small scar acquired seven years ago. Ever since the war with Plantis, the twenty-nine-year-old man developed an injury on his left knee, resulting in a slight limp everywhere he walks. Muta carefully scans through his father. For the longest time, he had never walk alongside his father in the forest. Usually, Gavin would be gone for most of the day, helping out with the wood mill and Muta would be stuck with their neighbour, Auntie and Uncle Nat. They would teach him an array of valuable skills.

The only time he gets to hang out with his father would be to learn a series of martial art stances which involved a long sequence of movements. His favourite hang out session with Gavin would probably be sparring. The pair would go on for hours without a stop and they truly bonded through their fighting experience. Muta would try to exchange a series of punches and kicks with utmost determination and Gavin would retaliate back. He would try to not injure his son too gravely, but would still try to put forth some damage on him. He wants him to learn resilience and build up his endurance level. By age seven, the boy had the physique of a 12-year-old and it was all thanks to his exchanges with his father.

Muta stared into the sky and started thinking. How far was he out of the village? This was the first time he genuinely left the peaceful town of Centriole. How long more would it take to reach to Golgia? He had been walking for probably five hours. As he passed a giant Evergreen tree, Muta noticed an orange object upon a branch on the upper canopy of the tree. He scrutinized his eyes in hope of seeing what it was. Slowly, the image of a fledgeling entered his vision. The bird's eyes were closed and from the looks of it, one of its wings was slightly bent the wrong way. As soon as Muta notice the orange fledgeling, he called out for Gavin, "Father! There is an injured bird laying on the top of this tree! It looks like it is in pain." Gavin turned around and looked up. "I think we should help it."

The man nodded and started his climb to the branch that the animal was laying on. With swift leaps, Gavin climbed with ease as if he was a bird himself. Muta stared in awe for his father had not taken much energy to reach to one of the highest branches of the tree. Gavin carefully wrapped his hand around the injured bird and jumped off the structure. Muta shouted out in shock as he witnessed his father descended smoothly. Never did he realize his father possessed the Ecstasy Aura. Actually, he never knew what Aura Gavin possesses since he never revealed it to his son. Once, the man landed on the ground safely, he placed the injured fledgeling on a clean white cloth and started treating it. He retrieved a boar skin water bottle from his bag and drew out the water effortlessly. The liquid floated in the air as Gavin slowly moved it towards the bird. Muta once again found out that his father also possessed the Grief Aura. Even though he was shocked, he sat beside his father and watch him work his Aura.

Gavin slowly focused the water onto the injured wing of the bird. The water started glowing as it came into contact with the bright orange wing. The ambience started emitting outwards and Muta felt it immediately. It was subtle but possessed a soft calm flow. He smiled in excitement as he finally saw his father in action with his Auras. Thirty minutes have passed and suddenly steam started formulating on the top of the sphere. Muta and Gavin were both surprised by the evaporation for it was not meant to happen. The steam slowly dissipated away after a minute and the duo forgotten about the anomaly. The fledgeling's expressions had finally loosened up. Gavin tied up the bird's repaired wing and allowed it to rest on the cloth. He walked towards the tree that the bird was found and leaned against it, while he took a breather.

After staring at the resting bird for a while, Muta finally got up and walked towards his father. He had so many things he wanted to ask him. "Father. You have two Auras?"

"Yes, indeed I do." Gavin nodded.

There was a short pause in their conversation, Muta was processing the information that he just received. "Why didn't you tell me about it?" Every time when Muta was young and asked Gavin about his Aura, he just said: " I have what everyone has." Clearly, it wasn't true, for having two Auras was a rare occurrence.

"I didn't want to tell you since there wasn't a point in time where I had to. You are who you are my dear son. My own Aura is my own only." Muta understood what he just said. Normally the inheritance of Aura is derived from their parents. It depends on what Aura gene was recessive or dominant. For example, if the parent's both have a dominant Grief Aura, their offspring would inherit the Grief Aura. At times, there may be a slight chance of acquiring a recessive Aura too and this applied to Gavin.

Muta was also curious on what Aura mother had too, but every time he asked about his mother, Gavin would go quiet and would simply just ignore his question. He decided to let it go for now and just sat by his father. After a short while, Gavin broke the silence. "Muta lets set up camp here for tonight, we shall let the young bird rest for now and we can take it with us to Golgia tomorrow." The boy nodded in agreement. He was tired too and wanted to rest for a while.

Gavin went ahead to creating a small fire to survive the cold autumn night and soon after eating, the pair and their newfound bird fell into a deep slumber.