Springtime came with its usual flowers and bees that buzzed. The townspeople had their festival for the new season and Sabele, for the first time, didn't go. Or perhaps it was more like she couldn't. But with the townspeople out and partying, nobody would be even thinking about the priestess. So, Sabele took this opportunity to explore the woods.

With winter around, it was too cold to really leave the comforting fire for too long but now that the snow had died down and the cold became much more bearable, Sabele could walk freely. She left her makeshift boots in the cave thinking she wouldn't really need them. About halfway through her walk, she ran across somebody quite unexpectedly.

A hunter perched himself right by a tree watching a herd of deer graze. He remained relaxed with a bow strapped to his back. It didn't look like he'd be hunting.

The deer must have heard her feet crunching along the leftover iced snow long before she had seen them herself because they were already staring at her. They hesitated then took off in the other direction.

"You should be quieter, Ven."

"My name isn't Ven, mister." Sabele stayed by the tree, partially out of his view.

"It's an endearment for a child. Why are you out here? There is a city festival, isn't there?" This time he stood and looked in her direction.

"Yes, but I'm not allowed to go," tears pricked her eyes at the thought.

She had always had so much fun before but now she remained isolated from everyone, even her childhood friends. Sabele had slowly forgotten about them. They were great to play with but her mind didn't seem to want to linger on them like she wasn't sad about losing them like she had lost her parents.

"You must be the priestess." He walked up to her and kneeled to look her in the eye. A glimpse of pity could be seen in his steel irises. "I expected someone older but you're just a child," taking a look over her appearance, he grimaced, "a very skinny child."

Sabele squirmed under his gaze while he inspected her arm. He poked around her ribs to feel bones there and Sabele couldn't help but laugh when he did.

"A ticklish spot, heh?" The hunter smiled kindly at her.

"What were you doing, mister? You didn't look to be hunting..." She shyly shuffled her feet and looked down, wondering if it was proper to ask such questions. At one time, she would have thought nothing of it but ever since she became a priestess, everything seemed backward.

"I was watching the herd. I'm technically not allowed to hunt here because I'm not part of the city here and this is their land but I was once told by a priestess to the north to hunt wherever I please. If I do, I will find something pitiful but spectacular. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?" He looked at her, cocking his head to the side, in mild curiosity.

"No, sir. I don't know anything of the sort."

"Oh well, that's okay. Say, I know they rarely bring things to you and only do when you help them. How are you able to feed yourself?"

"M-My daddy used to hunt and he showed me how to make some traps. I'm lucky I remembered and was able to use what I had to recreate them. Would you like to see?" The hunter raised an eyebrow, surprised.

He knew most priestesses were orphans. He never believed the rumors true that the city had, in fact, burned her parents at the stake but hearing the child slightly tremble at the mention of her father was enough to prove it.

"I would love to. Perhaps I may be of some assistance as well?" Sabele's eyes widened and a grin spread across her face. The sad look in her eyes washed away by joy and hope at the prospect.

Another thought occurred to him and without thought, he voiced it out loud.

"Aren't priestess suppose to not kill or hunt?"

Just like that, the child fled. Her legs pumped her faster and faster until she finally got back to her cave. She knew the hunter would follow and in her mind, she saw him. Sabele had lost him along the way but he was a hunter, a tracker, and it wouldn't take long to find her. Crawling on her hands and knees, she hid under a fur pelt and behind weaved baskets where clothes and other things were stored.

His footsteps echoed off the cave walls and he gasped at the sight. A bookshelf filled with books sat to his left, a small pile of furs made up a bed all the way in the back of the cave, and then there were tools and baskets piled randomly by the cave wall. This was no place for a priestess, most importantly a child as she, to live in.

Walking forward, he looked around more, for anything out of place. Her footprints had led to the cave but they never came back out. Curious about the baskets, he came forward to inspect them. Behind them, he could see a moving bundle of fur and he smiled. Reaching down, he grabbed the pelt and lifted it to see the child huddled. Scared.

"I'm not going to tell. I was just confused," moving the fur aside, he motioned her forward and she crawled out of her hiding place.

"No, I'm not supposed to." She refused to meet his eyes.

"Alright. Well, will you still show me your traps? I swear I won't tell, child. I know you must eat. Let me help you. Please." Finally, she nodded and they walked silently to where one trap sat.

Sabele led him to a bush, only beginning to return to color, where a trap sat hidden. It remained just visible enough for any trained eye to see and avoid. The materials were poor and a little rotten, but if she had managed to survive the winter with it… Impressive.

"Where are your shoes?"

"It's warmer out so I didn't think I'd need them," she shrugged nonchalantly and pointed off to where her fur boots were kept. Back in the cave.

"Let's get you a thinner pair, huh? That way you can wear shoes no matter the temperature." He held his hand out and she took it with a new sense of hope.

During the year, the hunter, Zack, stayed with Sabele. Together, they made the cave a much more bearable place to live. It wasn't hard for him to go into town and buy supplies such as metal and wood. He used the metal to fashion her a bed, preferring to sleep on the floor himself, and the wood went to making a new desk and tools.

Zack fixed the chimes that were wearing by the day and replaced the silk curtains that kept the world out, with new ones that weren't as thin. He also placed such curtains around her new bed to make a more private bedroom.

Zack taught her the ways of the bow. How to make one, how to shoot one, how to fight with one. By the end of the year, Sabele could make a bow and arrows and hunt. While she wasn't an expert, she grew in her skill every day.

"Good, Sabele. Very good. You grow stronger by the day!" Zack applauded her successful kill of a buck.

"Wait!" He instantly quieted. He knew she could tell when someone approached, doing as she asked without question.

Leaving Zack there to hide among the brush, Sabele ran back and dressed in her priestess clothes. Her bow and arrows were hidden in the baskets and she sat by the bushes, picking for herbs and berries.

The couple approached with haste, a screaming child in their arms.

"Priestess! Summon the goddess of children, Venés! We acquire her assistance!" The mother bounced her child on her hip, trying to soothe her, but nothing worked.

Sabele stood with confidence, a confidence she found with the help of Zack. She nodded to them before shooing them off. Back inside the cave, she summoned the goddess.

"Hello, Sabele. How are you?"

"I'm doing well, ma'am. How are you?"

"I'm doing alright, I guess. I've been summoned for a reason, yes?" The goddess circled around Sabele, a habit she found they had when they talked to her.

"Yes, ma'am. A couple with a screaming babe came to me earlier asking for your assistance. They told me no more than that so I believe the child may be giving them trouble or sick." Sabele kept her head bowed even though it began to cramp.

"You may lift your head, Sabele. I don't mind if you wish to look me in the eye while we talk," the goddess lifted Sabele's chin and smiled down at her.

Memories flashed through her head, remembering the joy Sabele’s parents had when they received their child. They didn't rail on her for not letting them have a boy. Despite what the mortals thought, she didn't control that, Fate did. She was a goddess of fertility, luck, and children, not a goddess of gender choosing.

"What shall I tell them?"

"The child just needs more attention. It's hard for parents who have little time. They must work and take care of the child. It’s touch starved and stressed."

"No sacrifice?"

"No, not this time. I don't see a point. Anyway, how is the hunter treating you? I see he has helped you spice this place up." Sabele watched as the goddess strangely seemed fixed on the blank and empty wall between the bookshelves and where her bedroom curtain fell.

"Miss Venés? The hunter has treated me well but is something wrong?"

"No dear," she patted her head, "I need to go now. Pass on my advice." Venés disappeared from sight.

Sabele smiled, touching the top of her head before she changed and raced back into the woods to meet Zack. Once she had returned, she helped him take the deer back to the cave where they skinned it and stored the meat.

"Everything go okay?" Zack busily wrapped up the meat, not bothering to look at her but just knowing she was there behind him.

"Yes. I need to go deliver a message. I'll be back soon if that's alright?"

"Of course," this time he looked at her and smiled. The old wrinkles had begun to set in and his hair turned grey as the months passed.

Sabele changed out of her hunting clothes again and raced to the city wall where a guard would pass on the message for her. Once that was taken care of, she headed back to the cave.