Chapter I – A Past of a Past

The Silverbane name meant nothing before Alstar was born, but once the boy joined the Ala Mhigan army it became a name spoken with pride. By the end of his military career Alstar "The Silver-Lance" Silverbane, was a minor general in one of the many Ala Mhigan military divisions and also the father of the four children. He was a tall, strong, well-built Hyurian highlander with a charming yet rugged look. He had mid-length dark hair, a well kept beard and a single scar that marked his face. The scar cut from his cheek bone down to his chin and crossed over his lips. His eyes were both deep yet welcoming shades of blue and purple, you could easily stare into those eyes for days never knowing the destruction that they had witnessed. He was ever perfecting his fighting techniques and his grace with the lance knew few equals, superior to other Ala Mhigan lancers and the Elezen wood-wailers of Gridania. Those who saw him in combat would swear that he had flown across the battlefield raining death from above. Although originally he only had a simple suit of chain-mail armour, after his promotion to captain he brought a suit of silver armour, which he wore around the city. Alstar was also given a second suit of armour as a gift, which he wore into battle, this suit was pitch black with a trim of pure silver, to look at it would remind you of the creatures that had once ruled the skies.

Alstar was born into a poor merchant family early in the year 1531, his father passed away only a few months later. Alstar, twelve years after his birth, had become a ruffian competing in street fights for extra gil, it was during one of these fights that he was spotted by a monk who offered to train the boy. After accepting the offer Alstar found out that the man was an exiled Ishgardian dragoon turned monk of the fist of Rhalgr. The Ishgardian trained Alstar for a total of five years, during the first two years he taught the boy the ways of the monkhood, training him as a pugilist. Then in the next two years the monk taught the boy lance-play, during the final year his master taught him the secrets of Ishgard, the city of the dragoons. At the end of his fifth year of training Alstar drafted himself into the Ala Mhigan military, at the time of his acceptance he was seventeen. Within the first few months it became obvious to his captain that he was extremely talented with his lance, and within the first year he'd been promoted to lieutenant. Only two years into his military career and Alstar was promoted to a captain by the king's council, for the battles he'd fought across the Ala Mhigan/Garlean borders. Throughout his advancement in the military he drew wealth into his poor family, raising their status from nothing to somewhat nobility within the city. Along with the new rank he was given an estate in the noble district of the city and command over his first squad. The estate was used in three ways, it functioned mostly as the Silverbane family home, but it was also the second home to the nine men now under his command and later the house served as a training ground for Alstar's new recruits.

Y'Fran Orho, the mother of the four children was a Miqo'te and a very beautiful one at that. She had long sky blue hair with fine strokes of pink, both her ears and tail were also sky blue with a pink tips. Her gem-like eyes were said to outshine the sun during the day and glow brighter than the moon at night. Y'Fran much like most Miqo'tes had two differently coloured eyes, her right eye was ruby-red and her left sapphire-blue. Being a Miqo'te she was shorter than most hyurian women, even more so when it came to those of the highlander clan. She always had a spring in her step and there was hardly ever a time when she wasn't smiling. She would hum to herself as she walked around from place to place, with that near-famous Miqo'te strut. Y'Fran had a rare voice for her kind, it was soft and gentle, unlike most miqo'te's who commonly have high-pitched or childish voices. Her voice could be heard in the many hospitals of Ala Mhigo, lifting the spirits of those who had nothing left. It was said, by those she healed, that her voice was powerful enough to guide even the most lost souls back to their bodies. She also had amazing abilities when it came to mixing herbs and creating medicines, which she would deliver to the many Ala Mhigan garrisons to help with their wounded soldiers. She wore a blue conjurers robe like most healers and a necklace which seemed to have an aura of magic. When not pre-occupied she would go wondering around outside the city, visiting the smaller towns making sure everyone was in good health. Far too often she would find houses and stalls abandoned, it pained her to see it. She knew times were getting harder for most outside the city, but to leave everything and just run away.. She never understood hyur logic.. Yet she could relate to them.

Y'Fran was born in 1533, as the offspring of two different clans, her mother was a moon keeper and her father was a sun seeker. Her mother died in child birth, which the leader of her tribe saw as the child taking the life of the mother. Unaccepted by her mothers tribe she was given to her father. His tribe accepted the child but at a great cost, her father had to be banished before they would take her in. Orho accepted the banishment so that his daughter would be kept safe by his clan, after he left their camp he was never seen or heard of again. Even though she was accepted into the clan and given the tribes prefix Y', the child grew up shunned by the tribes majority. When she became of age, which like in all miqo'te clans was just sixteen summers, she was given to the tribes nunh as his eighteenth breeding mate. When he attempted to take Y'Fran she lashed out, having unexpectedly sharper claws than the other females in the clan, due to her moon keeper lineage. When her claws caught his face, instead of the enticing scrapes which he'd become accustomed to, her claws cut four deep wounds across his face. Knowing the tribe would probably sentence her to death she fled the camp and never looked back. She arrived in Gridania soon after, where she learnt curative spells in the conjurer's guild. After mastering white magic she moved onto botany and refined her potion making skills. Two years later she moved to Ala Mhigo to help with their war effort against the Garleans, working in the cities hospitals as a healer and a teacher.

A/N: I would like to take a chance to thank you for reading my story, and also to tell everyone the usual stuff. I do not own FFXIV, I wish I did but the god-like Square Enix does. As for my story I hope it has been a good read for yourself.. Again many thanks for reading. Please feel free to follow me/the story, review or leave a comment.

So the first chapter, is a brief insight into the pasts of the two main characters for the most part of this story, I didn't want to introduce the children right from the beginning because I wanted to build on the parents relationship first. I didn't want it to be one of those stories where you only get to know the parents from when the children are born, oh no. So this was my brief summery of this chapter (Yes I have updated to put this in, I will also be doing them for all my chapters, as I need to work on making decent summaries)

Chapters will normally consist of at least two paragraphs with a few larger/massive chapters hiding about, I have 75 chapters planned to complete the first book, there is a small chance of bonus chapters at the end of the 75 but we will see how many of you lovely guys and gals want them when the time comes. I would like to thank a few people;
Mamelukki, for inspiring me to write my own story after you wrote of my characters so well.
S. Tracey, for always keeping me on track, and of course proof-reading my very first drafts.
J. Hart, an brilliant friend who has helped me loads by being my main proof-reader.
J. Jones, another great friend who also helped by asking about the story, therefore making sure I didn't forget about it.
You have been amazing, thank you all.

And thank you too, for reading.

Have a great day everyone!

01L