The final scream of a woman is heard. Another, a few moments later, another can be heard, though this one, more defiant, more high-pitched. The woman, now a deceased mother, lies quietly on the bed in the small room. Tears roll down her cheeks, along with the man who is now a father. He quietly holds his child, a small girl.

"Yulen..." He says quietly, bestowing his most powerful gift to his new daughter, the gift of a name, the gift being...

... Year 2980 ...

The young child was bored. It was four in the afternoon, with most of the midday heat disappearing from the woods. Her father was outside on the back porch, making dinner. She stared at his head, in full concentration. One of the elders had told her that she had great powers, both of mind and body. Her father, for some reason, seemed very angry to hear that.

The people they lived with were not small and white like her, but were tall, large and had blue fur. At first she was scared of them, but she was starting to learn how to interpret their looks. They looked angry most of the time, but she had started to learn what looks meant anger and what meant joy.

They were also very, very tall. The shortest one was one foot taller then her father. Most of them were between seven and eight feet. They had horns on the top of their head and tails. They also didn't wear that much clothing like her and her father, instead, they mainly wore loincloths. She found it very hard to tell between males and females.

She didn't look very much like her father. She had short brown hair(which, for some reason, refused to grow beyond her shoulders). She was also short in appearance. She sometimes felt clumsy. There would be days she would wander around in the forest and would stay there till late into the night. Her father never seemed to be too upset by this, but, he never seemed to say that much about her behaviour.

She had once asked her father why they didn't live with the other humans. He seemed very surprised by the question, but he immediately replied, "Because they aren't nice to us, and the other humans don't like us very much." She tried to question him further, but he wouldn't respond. She also tried to ask about her mother, but he wouldn't say much about that either. It made her a little mad. She really wanted to know about her mother, but her father wouldn't talk about her often. When he did, it looked like he would start crying at any moment, and then he would stop talking and leave the room. The three-year-old didn't understand why.

... Year 2982 ...

Yulen was so excited. She was finally starting school. Her new pack buckles glistened in the sun. She ran put the lunch her father and her had packed this morning. Ransik stood by the door, smiling and looking very proud of his young daughter. They were about to leave, when a tall man with black glasses came to their door. He was a human, and wore a white uniform. He had brown hair, which was slicked back. The man also wore sunglasses, so she couldn't see his eyes. He seemed a bit scary to her. Ransik looked angry at the sight of him, but Yulen was curious

"Who are you?" Yulen asked.

"I am Ensign… You can call me Alex. I'm here to speak to your father. "

"He's over there. " She said, pointing to her father, who was standing beside her.

"Thank you. " He said, looking at him

Ransik eyed Alex, a hard look on his face. "Yulen, go to school. I'll see you after school. "

Yulen pouted and put her hands on her hips. "But Daaad! It's my first day of school! You HAVE to be there! "

The father then looked at his child. He tossed a look to Alex. Alex shifted uneasily. "Fine. " He grumbled. "But don't make me wait too long Ransik, or we'll have problems. "

Ransik continued glaring at Alex, but then his look softened when he turned towards his daughter. "Good, let's go Yulen, or you'll be late. "

"YAY! "

…Year 2385 …

"Father! Why can't I learn the Rohirim?"

"Because you aren't as strong as the Ronsos! They might hurt you. " He said angrily. "We've had this conversation too many times and I'm not about to change my position, so you might as well get used to it!"

She wanted to cry. It wasn't fair. It was just another thing that made her different from the Ronsos. They spoke elegantly, but she didn't. They were tall, she wasn't. They were strong, she wasn't. Now she couldn't learn how to fight like the other children. She glared at him and stormed out of the kitchen. She ran up to her room and cried. As she fell on the bed, the tears freely rolled from her face.

"It's not fair! " She screamed into her pillow. "I want to be normal! I want to be like everyone else! I don't want to be a human or a mutant, I want to be a Ronso! "

Ransik leaned against the closed door of Yulen's room. He felt so angry at their situation. He understood all of it completely. He understood that she was being alienated because of her race. Even within the Ronsos, some wanted the mutants to be forced to leave. And to make it worse, she was half-human too. She would have to deal with what would come with that later. With the humans practically making war against the mutants, she would have to come to terms with the atrocities that both races had committed. He could understand why she wanted to be a Ronso. They were so poetic in the speech and their strength was formidable. More over, they a society based on the honour of the individual, not the parents, not the clan, not anything. That was what made the humans and the mutants different from the Ronso. So much more idealistic. The most the ironic part was that they had almost forsaken technology. While humanity had embraced it, they had also used it to create the object of their misgivings: The mutants. Ransik was a mutant and was a shadow of a man. His left eye was covered with metal plating. His skin was warped. His hands were the worst, so he covered them with gloves. He used to wear a shoulder guard with large metal spikes, but that was during his days as the leader of the mutant resistance. Now, he wore a simple black shirt with a black leather pants. He almost laughed at the thought of him wearing a black cape with the leather black shirt he used to wear. He remembered that the clothes made him feel like a revolutionary. It was hard to be a revolutionary when he was the single parent of a small child.

He knew that Yulen was gifted with special abilities. But he was too afraid to develop her powers and strength. Though she developed her mental abilities by herself. She could communicate telepathically and he could've sworn that she had read his mind a few times. But the more she pushed her abilities, the more she would have been asked to join the revolution. And he couldn't let her do that. Never. Ever.

… Two Days Later, After-school …

Yulen skipped home. She was happy, her father was making a roast for dinner tonight. While she was walking, a Ronso named Ireko Ihefi walked by. He was a Rohirim master and a friend of the family.

Sometimes she was a little scared of him. She knew he was a bit different then all the Ronsos, he didn't speak as poetically as the others. But he was still nice to her.

"Yulen! Good to see you! " Ireko said enthusiastically. He was an older Ronso, and some of his blue fur was starting to turn grey. But he was still one of the best Rohirim masters in the village.

"Ireko! The sun has smiled on this day! " Yulen said, trying to practice her poetry.

"I see you're doing some fine work with your words, Yulen. Though, I would like to see you about something else." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "I hear that your father doesn't want to you learn Rohirim. "

"That is true. " She said, looking away.

"Well, I would like to teach you. Come to my house tomorrow, and, for your training, please wear that nice dress you wore to festival. "

"Huh? Why?"

"Because, my dear, you will understand later. "

"Er, well, okay. I guess so. "

"Very good! I'll see you then. And don't tell your father! "

"Yes sir! " Yulen said and skipped home. She knew she couldn't tell her father, it was so obvious. But something bothered her. Why would Ireko want her to dress up? It was her best dress. Wouldn't Ireko want her to protect it instead of destroying it? The whole thing didn't make sense. But she figured a Rohirim master would know what he is doing.

… The next day …

Ransik stared. It was fifteen minutes after Yulen normally arrived home. He worried. For some reason, she had chosen to wear her best dress to school. And she seemed very secretive as to why. He reached out his mind to find her. Then, his face melted from one of concern to one of anger. Rage. And uncontrollable fury.

… Ireko's House …

"Ah good, you have arrived. Now, you will understand why I have asked you to wear this dress. You see, you must give me payment for the work I am going to do for you. So, you must pay me in return. "

"You want my dress?" She asked curiously.

"No my dear. " He paused. "How about we start with you taking off that dress and we'll go on from there. "

To be continued….