The day before and the day of

The faint crack and delayed plink of the gunshot in the distance tells me dinner’s gonna be fresh, can’t wait to see what dad brings home this time. I wonder what story he’ll spin tonight about the catch, it’s always fun even if it’s over exaggerated. Dad promised he’ll take me out and teach me how to hunt tomorrow! Conar won’t say anything about the hunt, I have to be there is all he’ll say, he’s trying to hold it in but I can see his enthusiasm for it too.
Dad brought in some fresh Tribex; it’s been months since we’ve had a fresh catch, it’s good practise to keep his aim sharp he’ll say, but he doesn’t speak much about his past adventures except when mom found him, he knows we’re sick of that story but that doesn’t stop him from telling it every chance he gets.
 
I don’t know where grandma Renez goes to get all those spices and seasonings but that’s an adventure for another day she tells me. The scent always makes me feel like I’ve already eaten a plate before it reaches the table, it’s way too good. I eat three plates before I get a look telling me we’re storing the rest, I try to sneak a scrap from Auiton’s plate, I thought I was a bit too slow but the slap on my wrist he gave me sent the chunk straight for my head and I got the last laugh. Nevermind mom saw. Mom takes me to the library to read for a bit of the old books quietly while she studies with grandpa over the halls and ports in the home. When moms done lecturing me about dinner grandpa tells me the stories of the first days here and when he found the path many more walk within halls all across this world, I can’t wait to join him one day and see the world and the halls beyond, the journey seems so beyond my depth I can hardly wrap my head around it but he tells me some day the ports will be the easy part, like walking from one room to another, right now I can’t even walk in the light they shine across the room, it’s like a wall and it’s so annoying when you don’t pay attention and bump into it. I don’t know when grandpa stopped talking or if I fell asleep but the light’s in my eyes already, I’m rested but I hardly feel like a minute’s passed since he was talking.
 
I hear a voice calling me to get up I think but I’ll ignore it, bed’s too comfy. Dammit she’s got my ankle, I try to kick out but there’s no escape from Etha, she drags me out of bed and slumps onto it and tells me to get ready. Wait, it’s today. I tear through my things and stand outside at the table waiting for dad. When he sees me he laughs and points at my inside out shirt. Before we go he tells me we’ll be scaling some rocks and looking anywhere but up will make things difficult, fair enough, I nod so he stops trying to explain how to attach the carabiner for the fourth time. The morning dew coats me as we walk down the hill towards the mire and out to the lake, I’ll finally get to see the tops of the stuck stones. We take out the raft and row out to the middle, I never noticed how much debris came off those floating formations, it makes more sense how we get up though. It’s a long way to the top and I’m getting tired but I’m too excited to let that stop me, dad tells me to follow his lead but that last jump was way too distant, I try, and fail, I repel down and come back to the other side to try again, two more times and I think I’ve got it. I make it to the last ledge and we get up to the top. I expected more trees but the brush is still very dense, I could wade through water faster than I could get through these thickets. Dad tells me “slow down, you can’t race around looking for a target, they come to us”. It takes some restraint but I get the point and sit. It starts to feel like fishing but then dad comes over and puts the gun in my hand. “It’s going to take a while before they wake up and graze so let me explain” alright lets get the goopy stuff over with. “If you’re going to leave our house and set out to make a business or go on some adventure one day, you’re going to take this” hold on, I thought I’d make another? “It’s served me well and you’re the only one who’s not sneezed out a prestidigitated trinket or incessantly poked mom guiding her towards alchemical breakthroughs, so get used to the knockback and ringing ears, you’re going to need to, to provide for and defend yourself, and maybe others if you don’t get yourself in trouble taking their dinner, I saw that fathom, you know we’re not gonna starve ya, you could’ve done without it, after this hunt, what you get should feel like just enough, but if I see you or anyone taking anything from each other I’ll show you why stealing hurts us all, don’t do it again” I nod, I guess Aiuton might’ve got the short end of the stick since Conar raided the jerky I’d made the week before, I’d say something but dad’s got it now. “Over there, okay, now try and -SHIT!”
Oh there’s a perfect shot, and… a second later I feel horns on my side and the ground beneath me end, I see crystal vents and a small beam of light.
Darkness, I’m still able to think, why can’t I sense anything else? Light, it’s all white. Both, neither, what am I seeing now?
Oh hello, how’d you get here? I see, weird, I thought I put a timer on for another couple centuries? Hold on a moment. Before I can say anything the garden and this odd moving mannequin thing pokes me on the forehead and I’m back in the darkness. “You’re alive, dang, and I was just about to double my allowance” “Shut up, Elise” Conar and Etha say in unison. What happened? Did anyone see that mannequin? “What happened to your eyes, kid?” Grandpa's never confused, what’s going on?