An Autumn Loss

Characters
Ginger Goldenrod - Protagonist, POV

Adoma Goldenrod - Sister/Cousin

Fire Warrior Aish Goldenrod - Mentor

Elder Terryal - Grandfather

Chapter One: Goldenrod Village
Deep in the wilderness of vale, Goldenrod village must fight for its existence.

By the time I was born, this village had almost a dozen adults. That may not sound like much, but out here. It is. We've all seen family die.

They say the attacks used to happen daily. I can only imagine what that must have been like, fighting daily for survival. Now though, we only get Grimm once or twice a month and usually in small numbers. Except when tragedy strikes. Collective loss and pain is almost always followed by an attack.

Enough about those beasts though.

Let me tell you about the village.

I didn't know this until I applied to Beacon, but I'm what's called a faunas. According to Doctor Oobleck, I'm a Faunas Panthera Leo, whatever that is. Anyway, back home we're all faunas, and I guess we're all the same variety too.

The whole idea is a bit foreign to be honest. As is the idea of parents. I'm not sure which of my elders gave birth to me, but I suppose you could say they're all my parents.

Siblings though, I get that. A sibling is someone you protect, love, cherish, and dote on.

A have two siblings who are my favorites.

Only one actually got named. The other died two weeks before her naming ceremony. Infection.

Oh, I guess I should tell you... Goldenrods don't get a name until we're eight years old. I guess it's because a lot of the us die before then. After eight, we're considered strong enough to fight, and once we prove it, our alpha names us. I was called Ginger, for my hair. I was the second bravest and strongest of my siblings. Only my sister Adoma was stronger.

She was my other favorite. I suppose she's still there, raising the young like all the others.

In our village, there were four warriors, who protected it. Air, Earth, Water, and Fire. If things had been different, I'd have become the Fire Warrior after Aish.

Aish was my mentor from my Naming up until I left.

I learned the way of the sword from him.

He taught me all about fire. He also let me explore, a little farther with each passing day.

I learned the woods around my home. I knew all the hiding places and dangers.

Chapter Two: Plague
One day, a human stumbled in. Just a small thing. Six years old at the most.

We didn't know much about humans, but we could tell he was sick, so we tried our best to care for it.

Only... we failed. It died. We buried it.

But that wasn't the end. One of my siblings started showing signs of the disease, and within the next few weeks, all the little boys in our clan were bed ridden. Even Dash, the wind warrior. He was eleven.

Every one of them died.

The sadness in our hearts was unimaginable.

And of course, this meant that the Grimm would come.

Despite our grief, we summoned enough strength to fend off the first few.

But then, the a second wave of Grimm attacked. More then I'd ever seen. These weren't the normal diggers. These were huge. Ursas and Beowulves, according to my books.

Many died. Aish among them. I loved him.

He once told me he'd always be there to help me. He'd been wrong. I decided then and there to keep every promise I make.

We fought for hours, Grimm and Goldenrod. By dawn, the last three Ursas started to retreat.

I refused to let that happen, and, in a rage, ran after them. None of the beasts that had killed my family were going to live.

I only realized I was outmatched after I'd tracked them some distance, and they turned on me. A beowulf grabbed me by the neck and I would have died, had it not been for Adoma. She'd followed me, and she fought them off, but not without getting herself badly hurt in the process. I could do nothing. I couldn't move. My neck and face were bleeding badly. I watched helplessly as they tore into her.

Days later, I woke up, back in my village. Elder Terryal told me that Adoma had carried me home.

He held up a small chain with a Onyx Jewel. Her necklace. I took it in my hands.

There was her name etched into the back of the Jewel's seat. If he was giving this to me... that meant she had died.

I... can't. Sorry. I just...

Chapter Three: A New Home
Once I'd accepted that she was gone, I started helping to rebuild, but I everywhere I looked, I'd see places where she used to hide when we played. I'd see Aish's shack. It all just hurt to much. I had to leave.

I had to get out of this place full of pain, and I also had to destroy the things that had caused all this.

When I told Terryal about it, he gave me his sword and told me of A school in Vale called beacon.

I knew I'd miss him, and all my family, but I just... couldn't stay a day more.

I departed for a place I'd never seen to join a school I knew barely anything about with people I didn't know.

I was terrified.

It took my a long time to get there, but when I saw the spires of Beacon Academy, I somehow knew it wouldn't be quite as terrifying as I'd imagined.