The Legendary _______

It was October of 1132, and everyone was preparing for the annual peacock hunt. Every single farmer and their families were required to participate. This hunt was the one thing that the peasants enjoyed about their lives. There was two families in particular though, who enjoyed this sport more than anyone. They looked at it as a competition. The Bauers and the Bachmeiers would challenge each other on how many peacocks were caught and how big they were.

The most competitive were Emma Bauer and Michael Bachmeier. Everything that one did, the other had to be better. Every year it had been the same, yet still Michael was the champion. He had either caught more peacocks or much bigger ones. It drove Emma crazy. No matter how hard she tried, Michael would always beat her.

Besides just winning, Michael had a tendency to brag. A lot. He would go around and tell anyone who’d listen about how good of a hunter he was and that one day, he’d end up catching the legendary _____. The villagers would just laugh at him and call him a fool, telling him he shouldn’t believe such silly stories. He didn’t listen.

According to Michael’s great-grandpa, he had once caught a glimpse of Idonea. That little whim of a story was enough to make Michael believe. He was a mature young man at the age of seventeen, but he was a child at heart.

Emma, on the other hand, wanted cold hard facts. She didn’t believe these stories. Her motto was “You’ve got to see it to believe it.” Even though she didn’t believe in the so-called “Idonea,” she still appreciated the sport of hunting peacocks.

Being a farmer has gotten Emma far in life. She earned the privilege of hunting with the men four years ago at the age of twelve. She’s very strong from having to plow all of her father’s wheat fields and does most of the jobs that are meant for men.

Emma’s father was permanently crippled in an accident involving him getting bucked off his horse. Since he could no longer make money and support his family, Emma took over.That left Emma’s mom and her two sisters, Marsilia and Avelina, to take care of the housework.

Marsilia was the eldest of the two. At the age of twelve, she was tending to the cows and maintaining the household whenever her mother was gone. She helped cook all the meals, while her sister, Avelina, prepared the table. Avelina tended the garden, pulling the weeds and harvesting the vegetables when they were ready. Her hands were rough with calluses from always using her hands. She also assisted in taking care of her little brother, Bennet.

Bennet was a very obedient child for a five-year-old. He tried to help whenever he could, but usually he just messed things up even more. Bennet tried as hard as he could to fit in and help, but his family found him as just a nuisance. The only one who didn’t quite mind him was Avelina. She knew what is was like to be a kid for she was still one herself. Being nine with a lot of responsibilities was hard for Avelina, but she managed to always find some time to spend with Bennet.

Every day, they would go outside and run around, catching tons of little bugs for Bennet’s collection. He had almost every insect you could imagine in his collection. HIs collection ranged from millipedes all the way down to the tiniest grub. Emma always turned nose to Avelina for indulging in such “horrific” hobbies as so she put it and Marsilia could not even stand the look of bugs, but Avelina didn’t mind. Even though she was not a big fan of bugs either, she loved the alone time that she got with her brother. It reminded her that she too was still a kid. She was just a little kid with a huge amount of responsibilities.

Her responsibilities did not range as high as Emma’s did though. Emma was pretty much like the father of the household since her father could no longer function. She plowed the fields, helped harvest with her sister when the time was right, and she did all the hunting.

Emma’s whole life revolved around hunting. Whenever her mind had time to wonder, she would always think about how great it would be to finally be able to beat Michael, her best friend and major rival. She told herself that one day she would finally prevail, but every time she got close too, Michael would be there and he would have the better catch.

That was the story of Emma’s life. She would proudly go hunting find some fair game, take it down, and bring it home for her family while thinking about how jealous Michael would be when he saw what she had caught that day. To Emma’s great dismay, she would always come home to Michael going around and boasting about his catch of the day, which always ended up better than hers.

Besides always bragging, Michael was a good-hearted boy. His dad being a farmer had to deal with the fields all day long, which left Michael to catch all the meals. He was a skilled hunter from having ten long years of experience. Ever since he was able to wield a bow and arrow, he was hunting.

Michael liked to believe he had learned to hunt from the most skilled man in the world, Emma’s dad, Wimarc Bauer. He always had hunted with Michael and had taught him all his tricks. Since the accident, he and Emma had now spent pretty much every waking day together hunting.

They enjoyed each other’s company. Being alone in the woods could make even the bravest scared. They talked about...